National

A U.S. Postal Service employee works outside a post office in Wheeling, Ill., on Dec. 3, 2021.

States sue the U.S. Postal Service over its decision to buy gas-powered trucks

11:03am April 29, 2022

by The Associated Press

The lawsuits contend that purchases of thousands of fossil fuel-powered delivery vehicles will cause environmental harm for decades to come. The Postal Service says it conducted a thorough review.

National

Remembering Latasha Harlins, whose death helped setoff unrest in Los Angeles

7:37am April 29, 2022

by Kamilah Kashanie

A brother and sister remember Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed in 1991 by a store clerk in South Central Los Angeles — the same month Rodney King was beaten.

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Protesters hold a Black Lives Matter flag as they march for Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer, in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich.

National

Michigan man faces hate crime charges after threatening BLM supporters, DOJ says

6:00am April 29, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The case is currently being investigated by the FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is prosecuting the case.

The education culture war is raging. But for most parents, it's background noise

5:13am April 29, 2022

by Anya Kamenetz

By wide margins, parents across the political spectrum are satisfied with how their children's schools teach about race, gender and history. That's according to a new national poll by NPR and Ipsos.

Fossil fuels power the Texas economy, accounting for some 14% of gross state product between 2019 and 2020. Now, Texas is the first state in the nation to pass anti-divestment laws for fossil fuels.

Texas stumbles in its effort to punish green financial firms

5:01am April 29, 2022

A new Texas law that penalizes financial institutions trying to go green is full of loopholes, and is straight up ignored. But other states are following Texas's punitive approach all the same.

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A freshly painted street mural outside Liuzza's by the Track in New Orleans on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, celebrates the impending return of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Echoes of 2006: Jazz Fest returns to New Orleans for 2022

2:25am April 29, 2022

by The Associated Press

Opening for the first time in three years, the festival brings memories of 2006 when the annual celebration of music and culture went on after Hurricane Katrina.

The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced it is investigating oil and gas companies for allegedly deceiving the public into believing most plastic could be recycled.

California is investigating Big Oil for allegedly misleading the public on recycling

10:42pm April 28, 2022

by Laura Sullivan

California's attorney general is investigating oil and gas companies for allegedly deceiving the public that most plastic can be recycled, citing NPR and PBS Frontline's investigation of the industry.

Hollywood and tyrants: How filmmakers take on the powerful

10:08pm April 28, 2022

by Bob Mondello

A look at how Hollywood has depicted authoritarians, from Duck Soup to The Last King of Scotland.

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The Food and Drug Administration says its proposal to ban menthol cigarettes has the potential to significantly decrease disease and death from tobacco by "reducing youth experimentation and addiction." Here, menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products

The FDA is proposing a ban on menthol cigarettes

6:09pm April 28, 2022

by Rina Torchinsky

The agency says the proposal has the potential to significantly decrease disease and death from tobacco by "reducing youth experimentation and addiction."

An artist's rendering of "The Embrace," a memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that will be unveiled in Boston in 2023.

National

Boston breaks ground on a Martin Luther King memorial of its own

5:31pm April 28, 2022

by Tovia Smith

More than seven decades after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. lived, studied and preached in Boston, the city will soon have a memorial honoring him and Coretta Scott King, who met each other there.