Not sure I follow. Catholic schools have the religious freedom to turn away LGBTQ students but not to set their own vaccine policy. And to make this claim, we have the state interpreting Catholic doctrine. www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/f...

Florida AG Uthmeier warns Catholic Church to accept vaccine exemptions

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is putting the Roman Catholic Church on notice – if they take taxpayer funded vouchers for their schools, they should accept vaccine exemptions for students, to...

nbcmiami.com

Only Congress can abolish the Education Department. The bill that advanced out of the Senate education committee this week — even if it never becomes law — shows Trump doesn't have the votes. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/07/31/t...

Only Congress can abolish the Education Department. A bipartisan bill shows why that won’t happen.

A Senate committee vote to reverse some of Trump’s moves to break up the Education Department shows even some Republicans don’t support a major piece of his education agenda.

chalkbeat.org

“I never intended to talk to my children this young about the Ten Commandments."

Larry Ferlazzo@larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 6d ago

Texans Try New Tactic to Remove Ten Commandments From Schools: Texas Law www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...

New: There's been a notable and, in many cases, sustained rise in teachers leaving the classroom over the last four to five years, according to new data I collected. The uptick in any one year was modest but the cumulative loss of teachers has been substantial. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/07/30/t...

The Classical Learning Test, which pitches itself as a rigorous alternative to the SAT, has become a go-to remedial test in Florida, allowing students to graduate by doing simple math problems. www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

Hegseth’s ‘gold standard’ college exam tests middle-school math

Held up as a new route to college admissions, the Classic Learning Test has instead become a remedial high-school graduation test in Florida.

usatoday.com

I'm so sad to hear about the passing of Pete Moutzouris. This grocery store is a neighborhood institution and the kind of small grocery that is endangered outside the largest cities. He was so kind, so committed to quality. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...

Grocer in Denver's Hilltop neighborhood dies at 79, leaves behind a legacy of community

A longtime Denver business owner remembered for his kindness and deep ties to the Hilltop neighborhood has died.

cbsnews.com

Facing federal science budget cuts, biologist Daniel Blumstein resorted to uploading marmot videos to OnlyFans to raise funds for his marmot research. However, when he uploaded his driver’s license for verification, OnlyFans informed him that his appearance didn’t match the marmots in the videos.

‘OnlyMarms’: Marmots Are on OnlyFans to Raise Money for Research (Gift Article)

A team of scientists uploaded videos of the squirrel-like rodents in the wild on the adult-content site OnlyFans to raise money amid government budget cuts.

nytimes.com

Upwards of 200,00 people may have lost their jobs today; or will in the upcoming days. There is a palpable sense of fear among the Haitian community right now. They need your support.

Heba Gowayed هبة جويد@hebagowayed.bsky.social · last wk.

My Haitian friend was just fired from his job. "They said I don't have a legal status now." This is likely happening to hundreds of thousands of people across this country today. Sick.

Bus preachers have finally made it to the US, I see.

Hemant Mehta@friendlyatheist.com · last wk.

Evangelist Whitney Lynn says she preaches on planes because she loves “a captive audience.” She's not alone. It's becoming a trend. If spreading your message requires listeners who can't escape, maybe it's not as compelling as you think. www.friendlyatheist.com/p/christian-...

Raiding my parents' bag of bags because plastic bags are illegal in my state.

A spokesperson explained that over the past two years, Realbotix has built a new team focused on education, health care, and wellness applications, and that Realbotix and RealDoll do not share employees, payroll, physical locations, or technology. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n...

This Rural NY School District Will Be One of First to Bring Humanoid…

Plans to deploy a "lifelike" robot and avatar teaching assistant at Salamanca High School have sparked debate over the role of technology in schools.

nysfocus.com

For great subject lines like this one in your inbox weekly, subscribe to Chalkbeat's national newsletter: www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/...

Jon Becker@jonbecker.bsky.social · 3w ago

Is everybody OK at Chalkbeat?

This obviously sucks for the affected people, but we in the western part of the country experience the effects of wildfire smoke on a regular basis with no national coverage.

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 3w ago

Smoke from wildfires raging across northern Minnesota and western Ontario in Canada is forecast to drift into the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic from Wednesday to Friday, probably creating unhealthy air quality conditions. Here’s the full report:

When we impose our ideas and assumptions on an image, we get a lot wrong. www.notus.org/metro/viral-...

The Woman in the Photo Wanted to Be Alone. Instead, She Went Viral.

America saw what it wanted to see on the face of its newest icon. And everyone saw it wrong.

notus.org

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s journey began in rural Mexico as the ninth of 12 children. The story of his life — and death — highlights how intertwined undocumented immigrants have become with the economies of fast-growing communities across the Sunbelt. Our dispatch. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/u...

For 35 Years, Undocumented, and Chasing the American Dream

nytimes.com

DPS paid Los Angeles superintendent — now under FBI investigation — more than $100,000 to coach Alex Marrero

DPS paid Los Angeles superintendent — now under FBI investigation — more than $100,000 to coach Alex Marrero

denverpost.com

Sons of man killed by ICE in Houston demand investigation: “My father would have complied." “To have been killed by our own federal government, aided by federal policies that are deliberate choices, just makes me so angry,” another said. www.texastribune.org/2026/07/08/t...

Houston ICE shooting

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s son said his father would not have tried to flee a law enforcement stop. Local leaders say they’ve received little information from federal officials about the shooting.

texastribune.org

Great piece from @ericameltzer.bsky.social. We documented similar concerns following a deep dive into OSEP's monitoring reports as part of the Research Evidence Against Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education project @edlawcenter.bsky.social share.google/TEAmujB2BcRb...

Chalkbeat@chalkbeat.org · 4w ago

At the current pace, each state would see a federal auditor just once every 25 years. Recent monitoring reports have found a host of problems in how states support students with disabilities.

“The voters of the district who cared enough to pay attention wanted less of the drama," said the local Republican Party chair. “Sometimes the transgender woman is your sober, boring pick in an election." edsource.org?page_id=761668

The journey of Bobbie Simpson: Transgender woman making strides on school board in deep red Shasta County

Bobbie Simpson is halfway through her term as the first elected openly transgender person to serve on a California school board.

edsource.org

My softball player daughter asking if MLB players have to run poles.

CJ Fogler@cjzero.bsky.social · 4w ago

This is the most hilarious little league home run I've ever seen, the Royals have outdone themselves

anyone who finds more things to like about this country than me is a glassy eyed, historically illiterate moron. anyone who likes fewer things is a nihilistic doomer

I love roasted chiles in fall and and snow on Mother's Day and mail-in voting. But I am an American.

Katelyn Burns@katelynburns.com · last mo.

I'd be interested in some thoughts from Americans on here on an idea: Over the last 5 years, have you found yourself identifying more with your home state than the US as a whole over time?

The lawsuit comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's Callais decision, which raised the bar for using racial considerations in drawing voting maps.

Conservative law firm sues Denver Public Schools over voting map it says was drawn with ‘racial intent

The lawsuit comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's Callais decision, which raised the bar for using racial considerations in drawing voting maps.

bit.ly

Even better, Mexico also has beans on toast but they look like this. Love good molletes.

Laura Martínez 🥑@miblogestublog.bsky.social · last mo.

Mexico has already beaten England

If there was any doubt that Gov Jared Polis’ legacy is freeing Tina Peters, the NYT reports Polis just fired the clemency board members who revealed he overruled their unanimous wishes www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/u...

Colorado Governor Fires Officials Who Opposed Freeing Election Denier

nytimes.com

In honor of Debbie Harry's birthday, one of my favorite Spanish-language covers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOh...

Pricila y sus balas de plata - Corazon de cristal (Video Oficial)

YouTube video by Musica de Arranque (Suscribete)

youtube.com

www.wnct.com/news/mt-oliv...

Mt. Olive Pickle Co. exits Great American State Fair over Confederate flag

PITT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) — Mt. Olive Pickle Company has withdrawn from the Great American State Fair in Washington D.C. after a Confederate flag was included in an exhibit. The company told W…

wnct.com

really cannot be emphasized enough that the drafters of the birthright clause very much considered cases analogous to undocumented immigrants and *included them too*

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · last mo.

That's right.

It is me. I am the youths.

Kyle Clark@kylec.bsky.social · last mo.

Here come the youths. Turnout in Denver/CO-1 is surging. 121k ballots, 26.3% turnout by 1:55pm today. Tops final 2024 turnout. Approaching final 2022 turnout. 25k ballots needed to reach final 2018 turnout of 146k.