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Editor’s Picks From Around the Web
VT: Vermont takes custody of unprecedented number of young kids
As Vermont has grown stricter about heroin and parenting during the past 18 months, the number of young children in state custody has spiked by 75 percent. This summer, newborns, toddlers and preschoolers surpassed 12-to-17-year-olds as the largest group in state care.
LA: Louisiana governor loses federal Common Core lawsuit
A federal judge in Baton Rouge denied Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s attempt to block Common Core education standards nationwide. Countering the Republican governor’s arguments, the judge wrote that Common Core is not a curriculum and that federal education laws don’t infringe on states’ rights.
ME: Maine to subject food stamp recipients to new asset test
Under the proposed rule, food stamps would be denied to anyone with $5,000 in the bank or in possession of a snowmobile, boat or other asset worth that much. Critics say the Maine test creates a disincentive for low-income people to save money.
TX: Texas’ uninsured rate dips, remains highest in nation
For the first time in more than a decade, the percentage of Texans without health insurance dipped below 20 percent, according to new U.S. Census data. Nationwide, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act helped reduce the uninsured rate from about 15 to 12 percent.
FL: Bill would get rid of Florida’s anti-cohabitation law
Florida has a 147-year-old law that bans unmarried men and women from living together. Bills to repeal the law died in both chambers this spring, but now lawmakers are trying again.
MO: House votes to override Missouri governor on minimum wage bill
Missouri House members voted to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a measure banning cities from setting their own minimum wage. The override now moves to the Senate. Both St. Louis and Kansas City have passed minimum wage increases since Nixon vetoed the measure in July.
AZ: Arizona treasurer tells governor not to spend education endowment
State Treasurer Jeff DeWit said his investment staff’s most recent performance to help put money into Arizona schools is yet another reason Republican Gov. Doug Ducey shouldn’t raid the state’s $5 billion endowment for education funding.
CO: Colorado marijuana tax holiday saves growers thousands
Marijuana cultivation operations throughout Colorado saved tens of thousands of dollars as they seized a tax holiday that freed them of duties charged when pot is moved from a cultivation center to a shop.
PA: Pennsylvania police departments slow to adopt body cameras
Outside of Pennsylvania’s two largest cities—Philadelphia and Pittsburgh—few police departments are using officer-worn body cameras. The devices have become popular amid national attention on how police officers interact with minorities.
ND: North Dakota’s AP exam pass rate jumps
North Dakota showed the largest gain in students who passed Advanced Placement exams last school year. The number of passing exams grew 17 percent in the state compared to a national average of 5.5 percent.
ID: Wild horse refuge planned for Idaho
A 150-square-mile area in southwestern Idaho will become home for several hundred non-reproducing wild horses from around the West that have not been adopted, federal officials say.
OH: Ohio schools oppose legalizing pot
Board members adopted a resolution opposing the legalization of marijuana in the state, which voters will decide in November. Members said they were concerned legalization would create health and discipline problems in Ohio schools.
NE: Career education expanding in Nebraska
Vocational or career-oriented education is on the rise in schools across Nebraska. The popularity of this alternative curriculum is spreading faster than some school districts can keep up.
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