California
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday, 12/2, unveiled an outline of his plan to place a cap on oil refinery profits in California, a proposal he’s asking lawmakers to approve to limit future spikes on gasoline prices…
There has been a troubling spike in COVID-positive hospital admissions among seniors in California, rising to levels not seen since the summer Omicron surge…
A bipartisan group of 15 senators, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), are calling on Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to divert appropriate resources to the massive drought wreaking havoc on the western United States…
Coronavirus
Difficulty getting care for COVID-19 has become an increasingly common problem for poor, uninsured Americans…
According to a study published in the Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, stress stemming as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns has prematurely aged the brains of teenagers by at least three years…
The FDA on Thursday, 12/9, authorized emergency use of updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old…
President and Administration
Included in the bipartisan industrial policy legislation that President Biden signed into law this summer is $10 billion to jump-start economically sputtering regions across the country: a series of “innovation hubs” across 20 metropolitan areas…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released a draft of the National Broadband Map that will be used by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to allocate $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grants next summer…
United Health Foundation’s annual ranking of Americans’ health is out, offering a look into how the pandemic impacted a range of health factors…
More than 180,000 nonfatal opioid overdoses were reported by emergency services in the U.S. during the past 12 months, according to new data from the Biden administration…
The nation’s hospitals remain under critical strain as COVID-19 cases are back on the rise, RSV remains high and flu hospitalization rates are the highest for this time of year that they’ve been in a decade, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on last week…
On 12/7, the Department of Education hosted the YOU Belong in STEM National Coordinating Conference as a key initiative for the Biden-Harris Administration…
Congress
The Senate Finance Committee released draft bill language on Monday, 12/2, to ensure Medicare and Medicaid patients receive mental health coverage on par with physical health services…
On Tuesday, 12/3, the House passed the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act, which would mandate that the FCC create maps showing where poor maternal health outcomes coincide with broadband services gaps…
The House overwhelmingly passed defense policy legislation on Thursday, 12/8, that would repeal the Pentagon's mandate that troops receive the COVID-19 vaccine or be forced out of the military…
Education
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) blasted most colleges for failing to tell students how much the education will actually cost them…
According to a report released by the National Institute for Early Education Research, the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced access to Head Start programs funded by the federal government for children living in poverty, which has exacerbated inequities in enrollment, staff salaries and quality of services…
Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Director Valerie Williams introduced a blog series that will explain topics of interest related to the discipline and behavior guidance package released by her office this past summer…
Researchers saw promising signs of a slow-moving rebound in student achievement this fall, more than a year after a dire spring where performance “bottomed out”…
After the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, parents of murdered children set out to implement tougher federal gun laws…
Depression and anxiety continue to plague an overwhelming number of America’s middle and high school students, particularly LGBTQ and students of color, hampering efforts to boost learning from pandemic losses…
A coalition of higher ed organizations is launching a campaign called California Reconnect, to re-enroll adult learners who stopped out of college in the state…