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US: States are investigating potential cover-ups of sex abuse in Catholic dioceses
Newly emboldened attorneys general across the United States — including in Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York — have begun to take an aggressive stance toward investigating sex abuse by Catholic clergy, examining whether church officials covered up malfeasance, issuing subpoenas for documents and convening special task forces.
TN: Blue Cross to stop covering OxyContin in Tennessee next year
The largest health insurance company in Tennessee will stop covering OxyContin prescriptions next year as part of sweeping policy changes intended to combat opioid addiction and make pain pills less valuable on the black market.
AK: Fentanyl deaths in Alaska quadrupled in 2017
Thirty-seven people died of overdoses involving fentanyl and related synthetic opioids in Alaska in 2017. In 2016, there were eight fentanyl-related deaths.
CA: California fire agency requests more money
The California agency that fights wildfires says it’s about to exceed its budget and needs $234 million more. Fire season generally picks up in fall, when winds and high temperatures can combine with dried-out forest and grasslands to create dangerous conditions.
MS: Mississippi governor and lieutenant governor call for teacher pay raise
The Mississippi governor and lieutenant governor, both Republicans, say they will support teacher pay raises in the 2019 legislative session, months before state elections. The Mississippi Department of Education says teachers made an average of $44,659 in the 2016-2017 school year.
GA: Atlanta calls for ICE to move its detainees out of the city jail
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, signed an executive order for transferring all remaining U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees out of the city jail and declaring that Atlanta will no longer hold anyone for the federal agency.
AR: ‘Sporadic’ issues with work rule reporting site, according to Arkansas officials
Arkansas officials say the website that people on the state’s expanded Medicaid program use to report work activities under a new requirement to keep their coverage is experiencing “sporadic” issues.
MA: Massachusetts governor proposes bail changes
Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, unveiled a legislative proposal that would expand the criteria for ordering bail in the wake of high-profile crimes allegedly committed by defendants who had been released on bail. The legislation would make it easier for prosecutors to seek a hearing to determine if criminal defendants pose a danger to the public.
UT: Tribal leaders say Utah county has incorrect voter rolls
Navajo leaders say voter rolls in San Juan County, Utah, list about 1 of every 4 tribal members in the wrong political boundaries — meaning they might receive incorrect ballots — despite the court-ordered redrawing of the boundaries that is intended to end political domination of largely Republican whites over Democratic American Indians there.
NV: University of Nevada Board of Regents grants tuition waiver for foster youth
The Nevada program will allow students who grew up in foster care to register for tuition credit without paying certain fees, similar to the waiver available to members of the state National Guard. Nevada is the 29th state to provide tuition assistance for foster youth.
DC: The robots are coming, and they could affect a big part of Washington’s workforce
Cashiers account for more than 76,000 workers in and around Washington, D.C. — more than the region’s total number of surgeons, chief executives, lawyers and computer systems managers. Over time, all of those point-of-sale jobs could be outsourced to technology.
NM: New Mexico settles lawsuit over sex bias at prisons
Current and former employees of a New Mexico prison have reached a $2.5 million settlement with the state to resolve allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
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