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House Bill 3416 Proposes Allocation Of Gambling Proceeds In Missouri To Support State’s HBCUs

A bill has been proposed to find new ways to support Missouri’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). According to the News Tribune, the Missouri House Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee held a discussion on House Bill 3416 in early April. The legislation proposes funding for Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State University and would launch the “Strengthening HBCUs Fund,” which would allocate 1% — about $3.3 million — from Missouri’s excursion gambling proceeds and an additional 1% from the Classroom Trust Fund, as well as gifts and donations, to support HBCUs. Democratic Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, who represents Missouri House District 79 in St.

Trump administration moves to ease restrictions on medical marijuana

By Megan Lebowitz The Justice Department on Thursday announced that it was moving to ease restrictions on state-licensed medical marijuana, opening the door for more research and treatment options. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a post to X that he had signed an executive order to immediately reschedule FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III and ordered an “expedited hearing” to fully reschedule the drug. Schedule I drugs, which also include heroin, ecstasy and LSD, are considered to be more dangerous and are more strictly regulated, and advocates have had high hopes for cannabis to be rescheduled to a lower

Cassidy clashes with RFK Jr. on vaccines and abortion medicine

By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Aria Bendix Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a Senate hearing Wednesday afternoon, criticizing the secretary over his vaccine policy and abortion medications and debunking an interpretation of a scientific study. It was a change in tone from the senator, who had at a Finance Committee hearing earlier in the day limited his questions for Kennedy to fraud and health care costs. Kennedy’s afternoon hearing was before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Cassidy chairs. It was the health secretary’s first appearance before the committee in nearly a

Navy Secretary John Phelan fired from administration amid Iran war

By Raquel Coronell Uribe, Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube and Monica Alba Navy Secretary John Phelan will leave the Trump administration “effective immediately,” the Pentagon announced Wednesday, marking the latest departure of a top defense official this year. “On behalf of the Secretary of War and Deputy Secretary of War, we are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement posted on X. Parnell did not provide a reason for Phelan’s exit, but said that the new acting Navy secretary will be Undersecretary Hung Cao. The abrupt firing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came after

Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security

By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Senate took the first steps in a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security early Thursday, voting to adopt a budget plan that would fund ICE and Border Patrol over Democratic objections and sending it to the House. The entire department has been shut down since mid-February as Democrats have demanded policy changes in the wake of fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents. Republicans are now trying to fund the two agencies through the complicated, time-consuming process called budget reconciliation, a maneuver that they also used to pass President Donald Trump’s package of

Democrats want FBI Director Kash Patel to fill out alcohol use screening test

By Rebecca Shabad, Ryan J. Reilly and Corky Siemaszko Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding that FBI Director Kash Patel fill out a screening test used to assess “harmful patterns of alcohol consumption and routinely used by individuals to help identify hazardous drinking behaviors,” following allegations published in an Atlantic article. In a letter to Patel on Tuesday, ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and more than a dozen other Democrats suggested the alleged behavior could harm U.S. national security. Some of the screening questions, attached to the letter, ask “How many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are

U.S. News and World Report ranks Langston University’s Rehab Counseling Program 10th in nation

 U.S. News and World Report named Langston University’s Rehabilitation and Counseling Program as the 10th best program in the United States, making it the highest ranked Historically Black College or University (HBCU) on the list. “We are incredibly proud to see our Rehabilitation Counseling Program break into the Top 10 nationally,” said Dr. Corey Moore, the Founding Director of the Rehab Counseling program. “While the ranking is a high honor, the true reward is watching our graduates enter the workforce fully equipped to lead, and seeing our research translate into better outcomes for the communities we serve.” Last year, Langston

Los Angeles becomes the first major school district to require screen time limits

By Tyler Kingkade The Los Angeles Unified School District’s board voted Tuesday to restrict students’ use of laptops and tablets in class and encourage pen-and-paper assignments instead, making it the first major American school system to do so. The sweeping resolution, which passed 6-0 with one recusal, requires the district to create a screen time policy for each grade and subject, prohibit students in first grade and younger from using devices, clarify the process for parents to opt their child out of using technology at school, and audit its education technology contracts. “We have responsibility as one of the largest districts

In rare interviews, George W. Bush hails the First Amendment and Obama says America doesn’t have ‘kings’

By Sahil Kapur Ahead of America’s 250th anniversary this summer, former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each shared a message about what they value about the country and how it can emerge from a difficult era. “The fact that you can speak in the public square without being jailed. The fact that we have a press that’s willing to hold the powerful to account,” Bush said in an interview with NBC News, referring to the First Amendment. “I mean, these are all things that should and generally do unite us.” He voiced optimism about the future of

Trump administration begins refunding more than $166bn in tariffs

By Joseph Gideon The Trump administration has begun accepting applications from businesses seeking refunds for more than $166bn in tariffs, months after the supreme court ruled that the president had no legal authority to impose them. The administration launched on Monday the digital claims system, named Cape, which they said in court filings could handle about 63% of affected import filings, with the remainder to follow. Writing for the majority in February, Chief Justice John Roberts said the 1977 emergency statute Trump had invoked provided no such sweeping authority to implement the tariffs. Two of the president’s own appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney

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