Editor’s Picks From Around the Web

WA: Washington legislature in contempt, gets reprieve to try again on school aid

seattletimes.com

The Washington Supreme Court has held the state legislature in contempt for failing to obey a court order to come up with a detailed plan to provide more funding for public education. The court will hold off punishing lawmakers to see whether they hammer out an acceptable school funding plan in the 2015 legislative session.

OH: Ohio cannot bust politicians for lying

cincinnati.com

A federal judge has struck down Ohio’s law forbidding lies in political campaigns, saying voters—not the government—should decide whether a campaign is telling the truth.

TX: Davis’ abortion draws attention to new restrictions in Texas

texastribune.org

Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis’ revelation that she had an abortion late in her 1997 pregnancy is shedding light on a provision in the restrictive abortion legislation she tried in vain to stop last year.

CT: Efficiency, renewables cut New England energy use forecast

courant.com

Efficiency efforts throughout New England are expected in the next decade to offset most of the increase in demand for electricity, officials with the region’s electric grid said. Solar installations also will cut away at the amount of power needed from the region’s power plants largely fired by natural gas.

UT: Utah teacher shoots herself in the leg at elementary school

sltrib.com

The sixth-grade teacher was in a faculty restroom at a Taylorsville elementary school when her handgun went off accidentally. Utah is among the few states that allow people with concealed weapon permits to carry guns in public schools.

FL: Judge backs tribe in Florida tax dispute

miamiherald.com

A federal judge has sided with the Seminole Tribe of Florida in a dispute with the state Department of Revenue about utility and rental taxes on tribal property, including casinos in Hollywood and Tampa.

NV: Nevada bill would eliminate insurance subsidy to offset Tesla tax breaks

lasvegassun.com

In one of four bills aimed at giving $1.3 billion in tax breaks to Tesla, a car manufacturer, the Nevada Assembly eliminated a tax benefit for certain insurance companies. Currently, insurance companies that have their home office in Nevada get a yearly subsidy that amounted to $27 million last year.

IL: Illinois lawmakers want new surcharge to pay for police body cameras

sj-r.com

Two state lawmakers said they will push for more money to equip police departments with body cameras for officers. Proposed legislation would levy a $6 surcharge on fines for traffic offenses and for convictions or guilty pleas for criminal offenses.  

NJ: Bill advances to require schools consider student cultural food preferences

nj.com

The measure would require New Jersey middle and high school principals to create advisory panels made up of students and staff to recommend school breakfast and lunch dishes that would “better reflect the cultural food preferences of the student body.”

WV: State considers freeing local school administrators from management duties

wvgazette.com

The West Virginia Board of Education is considering using an outside entity to handle school management and bookkeeping in the state’s 55-district school system so local administrators can focus more on student achievement.

RI: Rhode Island leads New England in vaccinating kids

wpri.com

With more immunization requirements set to take effect in August 2015, the state is aiming to push children’s vaccination coverage rates closer to 100 percent with a number of free community programs.

CA: Maria Shriver’s image erased from Schwarzenegger portrait

sacbee.com

That smudge on the official portrait former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled at the Capitol this week? A scrubbed-out image of Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger’s estranged wife, whose face had appeared on a lapel pin.