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Editor’s Picks From Around the Web
US: States get reprieve on ratings of teachers
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said states could delay the use of test results in teacher-performance ratings by another year, an acknowledgment of the enormous pressures mounting on the nation’s teachers because of new academic standards and more rigorous standardized testing.
SD: South Dakota DUI implied consent law ruled unconstitutional
South Dakota’s highest court has ruled that the state’s implied consent law allowing blood to be drawn from suspected drunk drivers without their permission or a warrant is unconstitutional.
TX: Texas buys conservation land with oil spill money
Amid frustration that Texas has lagged behind in taking advantage of money that became available in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, state officials announced the largest conservation land purchase in Texas history.
KS: Governor says federal wage rule threatens Kansas home health care
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback says a federal labor rule that requires home care attendants be paid minimum wage and overtime threatens in-home care for many elderly and disabled Kansans.
FL: Federal judge rules Florida gay marriage ban unconstitutional
A federal judge ruled Florida’s law is unconstitutional and ordered the state to recognize same-sex couples married elsewhere.
OH: Billboards highlight Ohio women’s pay, benefits
Visitors to three Ohio cities in the next few weeks will be welcomed by billboards drawing attention to how the state doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave and nearly one in five Ohio women live in poverty.
CA: Lawmakers, actors press for film tax credit
Thirty-five members of California’s congressional delegation are pressing Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to support an expanded film tax credit significant to the state’s TV and movie industry, while actors and crew members rallied in support of the measure.
NY: Online course for lobbyists readied
Registered lobbyists in New York will soon have to take a mandated online ethics training course through the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
NM: Ticket sales slump drops lottery revenue 6 percent
The New Mexico Lottery generated $40.9 million in the most recent budget year for a popular college scholarship program, but the revenue is down about 6 percent because of a slump in ticket sales.
CO: The simple policy that led America’s biggest drop in teen birth rates
Colorado has had success through a sustained, focused effort to offer low-income women free or low-cost long-acting reversible contraception, that is, intrauterine devices or implants.
GA: State board of education bucks federal government on school meals
The state Board of Education has voted to give Georgia schools exemptions from new federal requirements limiting the sale of unhealthy foods during school hours.
NC: Breweries working together to make a state beer
It took official acts and legislative debate to get North Carolina a state dog (Plott hound), state flower (dogwood) and state tree (longleaf pine). It will take more than 20 breweries to get a state beer.
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