The Pew Charitable Trusts

10/19/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/19/2021 10:01

Top State Stories 10/19

dallasnews.com

The U.S. Supreme Court sign­­­aled interest in providing a quick review of Texas' six-week abortion ban, giving abortion providers and the state until Thursday to argue whether they should take up the case or not.

apnews.com

Progressive prosecutors around the country are increasingly declaring they won't enforce some GOP-backed state laws, a strategy in response to some of the most controversial new changes.

mprnews.org

Advocates for Minnesota tenants and landlords agree they're seeing more eviction cases, coinciding with the gradual easing of a moratorium designed to prevent widespread evictions during the pandemic.

santafenewmexican.com

Citing "enormous, ongoing and unsustainable" strain on the state's health care system, the New Mexico Department of Health allowed hospitals to set priorities for treatment when beds are limited.

journalstar.com

Nebraska launched a $10 million marketing campaign funded by federal CARES Act money targeted to lure people from Kansas City, Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis. The state has 50,000 job openings.

sun-sentinel.com

The families of 52 people injured, killed or traumatized during the 2018 mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida, have reached a $25 million settlement with the Broward School District. The families alleged the school district was negligent.

theadvocate.com

Civil rights organizations demanded that Louisiana lawmakers redraw election districts to make it likelier a second Black person can be elected to Congress. The state is about 32% Black but has only one Black congressional representative.

jsonline.com

One in every 36 Black adults in Wisconsin is in prison-a rate that is the highest in the nation and more than twice as high as the national average, according to a national report.

seattletimes.com

A last-ditch effort to halt Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee's vaccination mandate for state employees and healthcare workers was rejected by a judge who ruled that Inslee acted within his legal authority.

oregonlive.com

A record 370 people received prescriptions in 2020 under the Death with Dignity Act, according to data compiled by the Oregon Health Authority, up 25% from 2019. The law allows the terminally ill to end their own lives

mlive.com

Schools and sports teams across the country have dropped Native American mascots and imagery, but in Michigan, several K-12 districts continue to use questionable monikers such as warriors, chiefs and braves.

courant.com

Unrestricted online gambling in Connecticut begins this week, inaugurating the broadest expansion of legalized wagering in the state since two Native American casinos opened in the 1990s.

chicagotribune.com

For years, including the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois officials failed to properly oversee nursing homes, including not enforcing staffing requirements, according to a consultant's investigation.

apnews.com

New Jersey's sports betting industry became the first in the nation to take in more than a billion dollars' worth of bets in a single month, in September, as football season sent more gamblers to online bets.

baltimoresun.com

Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has pledged to support a redistricting proposal from a bipartisan commission, but legislative Democrats have the final say.

tennessean.com

As Tennessee lawmakers inch toward a special session to roll back COVID-19 restrictions, House Republicans are eyeing a wide array of legislation-from curtailing the governor's emergency powers to restricting private businesses' ability to mandate vaccination.

arkansasonline.com

The numbers of COVID-19 patients who were in Arkansas hospitals, on ventilators and in intensive care all fell as the state posted its smallest daily increase in cases in almost four months.

trib.com

Testing found 148 total cases of coronavirus across Wyoming's five state prison facilities, up from 19 two weeks ago. Unvaccinated staff drove new infections among employees and the incarcerated.

richmond.com

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, sued 29 landlords accused of refusing renters with federal housing subsidies. The lawsuits are the first under a 2020 state law.

staradvertiser.com

Thousands of people in Hawaii are still unemployed. Compounding the situation is that those who are unemployed might not have the skills to fill open jobs.