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MO: Missouri attorney general launches investigation into alleged clergy sex crimes
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said he will launch an investigation into sex crimes within the Catholic Church, adding that the Archdiocese of St. Louis has offered to open its files to the attorney general’s office. Hawley’s announcement came after survivors of clergy sexual abuse protested outside Hawley’s St. Louis office.
CA: California lawmakers vote to restrict use of plastic straws
California is poised to become the first state to restrict the distribution of plastic straws at restaurants under a bill approved Thursday by lawmakers. The legislation, which would prohibit full-service, dine-in restaurants from offering plastic straws to customers unless they are requested, passed on a 45-20 vote by the Assembly and now goes to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.
OK: Teacher shortage hits hard in Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Board of Education has approved more than 2,100 emergency teacher certificates for the new school year, putting thousands of unlicensed and non-traditionally-trained teachers in classrooms and breaking the state record for emergency teachers in one year.
MS: Mississippi House passes transport aid to cities, counties
The Mississippi House passed a bill that would provide a new stream of money to cities and counties for infrastructure spending. The bill would divert 35 percent of the state’s current tax on internet and catalog sales to cities and counties.
CT: Inmate education to continue in Connecticut, at least for now
Second Chance Pell Grants will continue in Connecticut until at least 2020, according to the state university system, putting to rest recent concerns that federally funded inmate education programs would be ending this year. The federal pilot established 69 sites in 27 states for inmate education, four of which were in Connecticut.
GA: Georgia public health program to request an extra million
With health care costs and the use of services going up, and federal funding in some cases going down, the Georgia agency that runs Medicaid is asking for a million increase from the General Assembly next session.
LA: Louisiana Senate president, whose close pal sells insurance to cabs, sank ride-hailing bill
Widely supported legislation would have allowed Uber and Lyft to operate throughout Louisiana. But Republican Senate President John Alario took steps to kill it, and colleagues point to his long-standing ties to a power broker who sells insurance to cab companies.
TN: Tennessee sees encouraging results from child care early literacy pilot program
An effort by Tennessee to improve the early literacy focus of child care and day care programs is yielding promising results. The pilot program Early Literacy Matters, launched in the 2017-18 school year, was focused on about 7,000 students in more than 700 classrooms in 13 counties.
MI: Mayor sues over Michigan no-fault auto insurance law
Detroit’s mayor and a group of residents have filed a federal lawsuit over Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance law, asking the court to give the state six months to come up with a fix for the act they contend is unconstitutional.
MN: Minnesota sets new minimum wage for 2019
Minnesota officials announced that employees of large businesses will be paid at least .86 an hour, up from the .65 that is required today. Those who work for smaller businesses will be paid a minimum of .04, compared with the current .87.
TX: A year later, Harvey recovery remains uneven in Texas
The overlooked, the still-displaced, those who have been thrown into financial peril – all now suffer from unexplained medical problems, probably the legacy of slogging through Hurricane Harvey’s contaminated floodwaters. Others battle with an anxiety that does not ease.
KY: Kentucky State Fair ham auctioned for .8 million
That’s no ordinary slab of meat on a platter: the grand champion ham of the 2018 Kentucky State Fair has fetched a record .8 million at auction.
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