In February we rolled out our “Blue State/Red District” series, which found significant voter discontent expressed against Congresspeople representing previously “safe” Republican districts. This week we present updated summaries of our reports.
Co-published by Newsweek
“Is he threatening the Democrats?” asks former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman about Brett Kavanaugh. “Is he threatening people who oppose his nomination? We don’t need a Supreme Court justice who is going to use his position to get revenge.”
The former U.S. Supreme Court Justice said he had thought Brett Kavanaugh to be “a fine federal judge and should [have] been confirmed, [but] his performance during the hearings changed my mind.”
Co-published by Westword
Colorado gubernatorial nominee Walker Stapleton gets bankrolled by dark money and financial donors — as he oversees state investments.
Co-published by Fast Company
It’s all about housing. And health care. And student loan debt and more. “Entitled” Millennials have had enough.
Whoever is elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in November will have a historic opportunity to correct the course of a system in which the public good has increasingly been compromised by the competing demands of private interest.
In trying to elude his Senate interrogators by offering what appeared to be a filigree of fibs and half-truths, Brett Kavanaugh continually painted himself into corners.
Co-published by Newsweek
Senator Charles Grassley has raced to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, in spite of sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. Contrast this with Grassley’s public support for victims of sexual harassment in the judicial branch during a June hearing of his committee.
California’s Medically Tailored Meals pilot program could lead the medical industry, and especially insurers, to include nutrition as part of overall health care.
Co-published by WNYC and Sludge
Revolving Doors: New York state’s chief investment officer invested millions of retirement dollars in a fossil fuel company – and then joined the company’s board the same week she retired.
Good news/bad news for state schools. Charter lobby’s burned bridge problem. Austin Beutner ratchets up tensions with Los Angeles teachers.
Co-published by Fast Company
Much of the recent gathering in San Francisco involved corporate and government backslapping — noble but too easily mocked.
Environmentalists are hoping that a trial, due to begin October 29, will explain to the public how the government has known for decades about the dangers of fossil fuels but failed to act on this knowledge.
Co-published by MapLight
For most of his time in office, Florida’s governor has shielded his investments from public view. A new disclosure shows Rick Scott and his wife have invested at least $18 million in financial firms managing money for the state’s pension system that he oversees.
Wanted: Black College Students (just not at our college). Diane Ravitch’s Power Elitists. An inconvenient truth for LAUSD.
ICE contended that forcing Contra Costa County to divest from cooperation in immigrant detention would harm the detainees — an argument similar to those heard during the fight for divestment from apartheid in South Africa.
“Those of us who’ve been working on environmental justice and climate justice,” says Mustafa Ali, “understand we’re talking about housing, transportation, the environment, public health and jobs.”
Why Betsy can’t count. How school kids lost 11 million days of class. Will CAVA cave?
Since 1983 six inmate firefighters have died while working on fire containment. Today they are paid $2 per day — and an extra $1 when fighting active fires.
Co-published by Sludge
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo halted an investigation into the Manhattan DA’s handling of the Harvey Weinstein case just as the law firm representing the Hollywood producer gave Cuomo’s campaign $25,000.