The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that states’ school choice laws may not discriminate against religiously affiliated schools. Montana’s tax credit scholarship program, passed in 2015, enabled families to send their children to the private schools of their choice. The program was ruled unconstitutional by the Montana […]
Chances are, these Supreme Court justices will never meet the parents of Jamie Lee Morales. They’ll never have to look in the eyes of the little boy left behind by Tonya Reaves or console the husband of Jennifer Morbelli. They won’t have to explain how Karnamaya Mongar survived war in Nepal only to die in […]
Ronald Reagan once noted, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children […]
Governor Kate Brown took carbon policy into her own hands earlier this year after the failure of Oregon’s cap-and-trade bill by issuing Executive Order 20-04. This order creates new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals and directs various agencies to take actions and exercise their authority to reduce GHG emissions. Four agencies, the Department of […]
Alcohol-lovers may have a reason for a toast. Oregon’s Liquor Control Commission is taking steps to decrease regulations on sellers, thereby expanding economic opportunity in the food and beverage industry, which was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Alcohol sales are tightly controlled by the OLCC, which imposes stringent rules on individuals and businesses […]
Why don’t African black lives and ecological values matter? or impacts in and beyond Virginia? The US Supreme Court recently ruled 7-2 to reverse a lower court ruling that had invalidated a permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which will bring West Virginia natural gas to Virginia and North Carolina, for home heating, factory power, […]
George Floyd’s tragic death has led to growing calls for changes to antiquated policing systems. The recent protests asking for police reform over these past few weeks have caused many families to question the systemic discrimination that is hardwired into the assignment of students to public schools. Census data reports U.S. spending per student has […]
The 2020 we’re living in is very different from the 2020 we rang in at the beginning of the year. In January, there were about a dozen Democrats seeking the nomination for President. Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, free college tuition, and universal basic income were seriously debated as potential policies for a […]
We’ve all heard horror stories about asbestos, lead and talcum powder, but what about the other toxins we are living with? Could we be exposed to other “toxic soup” ingredients that are potentially stealing years from us, encouraging cancer, or altering our hormones and genes? From the foods we eat, to the soap we use, […]
Last week, during some of the race-related protests, President Trump famously held up a Bible in one hand outside of an historic D.C. church that rioters had set afire. Actress Debra Messing (Will and Grace) then sent out a tweet, in which she showed Trump with the Bible and next to it she juxtaposed a […]