What We're Reading: Top State Stories 6/25
TX: Feds remove migrant children from troubled Texas site
The U.S. government has removed most of the children from a remote Border Patrol station near El Paso, Texas, following Associated Press reports that more than 300 children were detained there, caring for one another with inadequate food, water and sanitation.
OR: Oregon Senate Republican walkout continues
The political standoff over a massive bill to regulate carbon emissions by the 11 Republicans in the Oregon Senate continued, with no end in sight.
MD: Maryland judge says census question might have discriminatory motive
New evidence paints a "disturbing picture" that racial discrimination may be the motive behind the Trump administration's push to ask everyone in the country about citizenship status, a federal judge wrote in a filing in Baltimore, Maryland.
MO: Judge extends Planned Parenthood's license to allow appeal to Missouri commission
A judge’s ruling extended Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic license through Friday, allowing Missouri’s only abortion clinic time to appeal to a state commission.
RI: Rhode Island House panel approves bill to change write-in rules
Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Abraham Lincoln, God Almighty and Warren Buffett could lose their already improbable chances of winning election in Rhode Island if state lawmakers approve new restrictions that the Board of Elections wants to place on write-in candidates.
SD: Supreme Court limits access to government records in loss for South Dakota newspaper
The Supreme Court limited public and media access to government records by expanding a federal law's definition of what can be deemed confidential in a loss for a South Dakota newspaper, the Argus Leader.
CA: NCAA says California schools could be banned from championships if bill isn't dropped
The NCAA is ratcheting up its opposition to a California bill that would allow college athletes in the state to earn compensation for the use of their own name, image or likeness, beginning in 2023.
NJ: Nurse who exposed hospital problems will be New Jersey’s top health official
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is expected to announce Judith Persichilli as the next health commissioner and a member of his cabinet. She would be the first nurse to hold the job.
LA: Louisiana businesses receive first CBD permits
The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco issued temporary permits to sell legal cannabidiol, or CBD products, to 20 businesses. Louisiana legalized hemp and CBD several weeks ago, but its new law prohibits the sale of products that can be inhaled and doesn’t allow CBD to be added to alcoholic beverages or food.
HI: Hawaii hit hardest in modern-day plant extinctions
A decades-long study has revealed that Hawaii leads the world in modern extinctions of plant species. In a study published by the Nature Ecology and Evolution journal, researchers from the United Kingdom and Sweden spent nearly 30 years evaluating over 200,000 plant species from around the world.
NC: Governor opposes North Carolina bill forcing sheriffs to cooperate with ICE
Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, called an effort by North Carolina lawmakers to require sheriffs to cooperate with immigration authorities "unconstitutional." The bill, now headed for a state Senate vote, would need approval from Cooper or supermajorities in the legislature.
KS: Kansas becomes 48th state to allow gender change on birth certificate
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has entered a consent judgment in a federal lawsuit to allow people to legally change the gender in their birth records by submitting a personal sworn statement of gender identity.
UT: Utahns are losing millions in growing real estate scam
The Utah Department of Commerce issued an alert and launched a public awareness campaign warning consumers and real estate agents of the burgeoning threat. The FBI estimates that Utahns lost more than $20 million to such scams in 2018.
