Inflammatory disorders can be brutal. I’d know personally (thanks vasculitis et al). But the misinformation, including on vaccines, is dangerous. A deep dive from me into how MAHA sped up the inflammation panic. New from me at @motherjones.com www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The Great Inflammation panic

The wellness world's favorite buzzword has gone federal. For those of us with real inflammatory disorders, the misinformation isn't just annoying—it's harmful.

motherjones.com

Open data win: DC's extremely delayed rent control database is a horrible Microsoft BI dashboard, so someone built a much better interactive map from their (poorly documented) CSVs where you can explore the data by building, census tract, ANC or ward. districtjosh.com/rent-registr...

I don't know if this is a scoop, but I haven't seen it reported elsewhere: flu vaccines expire TOMORROW, with a growing flu outbreak at an Air Force training facility in Texas www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

US military races to vaccinate new recruits before flu shots expire

Move comes amid growing outbreak in Texas and after two-month halt on mandatory shots

theguardian.com

Press briefing masterclass right here

Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · last mo.

D.C. law says an agency director can only serve in an interim capacity for six months; if they serve beyond that timeframe, they can't be paid as the director. But the law has been ignored for years, and in some cases D.C. agencies haven't had permanent directors for a long time.

we've watched federal gender identity and sexual orientation data disappear for the past year and a half. in the wake of callais, could race and ethnicity data be next? big ol' story from @almsnatalie.bsky.social www.notus.org/us-news/trum...

Trump Has ‘Almost Completely’ Erased LGBTQ+ Data. Is Race Next?

The Supreme Court has given researchers more reason to fear the loss of race data.

notus.org

Joint statement from some of the big statistical and demography groups: Commerce Dept's new ban on common statistical privacy measures means we'll get a lot less data on neighborhoods, counties, rural areas. But the order is "so vague" nobody really knows exactly how it will be carried out yet.

COPAFS@copafs.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Joint Statement from @apduorg.bsky.social @popassocamerica.bsky.social @icpsr.bsky.social @copafs.bsky.social & APC on new Disclosure Avoidance Rules from Commerce. copafs.org/apc-apdu-cop...

Been waiting for Census to OK our disclosure of new results on a project with the Longitudinal Business Database. RDC administrator just informed us, no disclosure because of new rule. This is gonna mess up a lot of ongoing research & especially job-market candidates. #EconSky

NEW: Multiple webpages on the Census Bureau's website are unavailable to the public more than a week after the Trump administration issued a ban on "noise infusion," one of the bureau's main ways of protecting people's privacy when it releases statistics

totally normal things happening in this AI art mailer. Read a full story about how AI is showing up in DC’s election: 51st.news/dc-election-...

"States are going to be asked to make a determination using information that doesn’t exist in their systems." Still lots of confusion over whether/how states can automate frailty determinations for Medicaid work requirements. And states don't have the luxury of time for CMS to figure this out.

Too sick to work, but can they prove it? New Medicaid rule worries patients

Blood cancer survivor DeAnna Brandon worries about new Medicaid work requirements affecting her health coverage

abcnews.com

DC government website redesign 👀 send in your feedback

Office of the Chief Technology Officer@octo.dc.gov · 2mo ago

🎉 BIG NEWS, DC! Our new beta.dc.gov is HERE — the first major redesign in over a decade, built by YOU for YOU. It's modern, clean & easier than ever to navigate. Come explore & tell us what you think! 👉 s.dc.gov/beta-redesig... #DCgov #BetaDCGov

One of the best parts of my job is coming up with examples for the nice new features that my coworkers at Datawrapper build. I loved playing around with those arrows! 📊

Datawrapper@datawrapper.de · 2mo ago

🎉 You can now draw arrows in Datawrapper locator maps! Choose between line arrows (to show routes) and flow arrows (to show magnitude too), and style them however you like. Learn more here: www.datawrapper.de/blog/arrows-...

our L.A. precinct map is now updated with more results!! (~95% of the vote is reflected)

Christine Zhang@christinezhang.bsky.social · 2mo ago

MAP: precinct results (preliminary) of the L.A. mayor’s race 🎁 link —> nyti.ms/4g9g0NI w/ Alex Lemonides, Caroline Soler, Matt Bloch & @shawnhubler.bsky.social

It took a while, but I finally got the March 31 NPS memo justifying the attempted removal of the 15th Street bike lane between Constitution Avenue and the Tidal Basin. In short: Concerns over traffic for America 250 events, it would "improve the visual quality" of the street.

Did you know that men can get HPV-related cancer, too? HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancers, is also the leading cause of head & neck tumors, which have been rising for years. Treatment can be brutal, but the HPV shot can prevent these cancers. www.cidrap.umn.edu/human-papill...

‘Something I’d never heard of almost killed me’: Men face rising threat of HPV-related cancers

cidrap.umn.edu

How many collective news nerd hours are being spent hunting rapidly-changing district boundaries, making base maps, preparing them to join to election results data for live maps? Thrilled to share the AP Elections Map Files 🇺🇸 primed and ready for your results page. developer.ap.org/ap-elections...

very curious to find out what will happen if I tell my doctor's office that my preferred language is Klingon 🖖

ICE arrested the parents of between 27,000 and 32,000 kids during the first seven months of the Trump administration. We sued the government for records and here's what we found... w/ @wcraft.bsky.social @us.theguardian.com

Revealed: The Trump administration arrested the parents of at least 27,000 kids in seven months

The Guardian analyzed ICE records from January-August 2025, as advocates say the family-separation crisis will lead to generational trauma

theguardian.com

🚨 The U.S. Census Bureau just announced on Slack that starting on Tuesday, May 12, its APIs will require the use of an API key. This is going to be a big breaking change for anyone who was not already using one, with just 2 full business days of notice.

Extremely sudden mid-decade redistricting means we're getting extra lazy county-district slivers that might have been caught with more time. This tiny part of a county in Florida will be in a different House district than the rest of the county in this area. 4 Census blocks, 0 residents, 1 road.

"When applicants are asked about incarcerated family members, they can click through to a page to add more details. That page visit is sent to TikTok, Meta and other ad tech companies." !!!

Zack Whittaker@zackwhittaker.com · 3mo ago

Excellent reporting, alarming findings. Bloomberg's @dmehro.bsky.social et al found U.S. state government health websites are sharing people's personal info (sex, citizenship & race data) with tech giants via pixel-sized webpage trackers. Several states pulled the trackers after Bloomberg disclosed.

Whiplash week (month? year?) for those of us in the making elections maps business.

Alabama Reflector@alabamareflector.com · 3mo ago

Breaking: Gov. Kay Ivey Friday called a special session of the Alabama Legislature for Monday, aiming to move the May 19 primary in at least a handful of districts and allow the Republican-controlled House and Senate to use congressional and legislative maps federal courts had previously rejected.

Can't stop thinking about the tagline for the journalist turned Real Housewife of Rhode Island: "I used to report the news, but now I’m the headline."

NEW: A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities whose parents or relatives receive SNAP benefits.

The Trump Administration Aims to Penalize Disabled Adults Who Live With Their Families

A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities who...

propublica.org

1/3 “News doesn’t reveal itself from a distance. It has to be witnessed.” AP Executive Editor Julie Pace affirmed the importance of “eyewitness journalism,” while AP is offering buyouts to more than 120 U.S. guild covered employees across multiple formats. How can AP be on the ground without us?

🚨Job🚨 at @data.ft.com: We're hiring a data journalist in the US, based in New York or Washington #ddj: job-boards.greenhouse.io/financialtim...

Our mayoral forum tonight is livestreaming, thanks to @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social! Hear from @garygoodweather.bsky.social, Ernest E. Johnson, @janeese4dc.bsky.social, @kenyanmcduffie.bsky.social, Vincent Orange, Rini Sampath, and Hope Solomon. Watch here at 7pm ET: www.youtube.com/live/a-5xBFX...

As part of her proposed 2027 budget, @mayorbowser.dc.gov wants to make changes to the universal paid family leave program for private-sector workers in D.C. She initially said she wants a pause for medical and family leave claims for a year, and vaguely alluded to other changes.

@19thnews.org is hiring a contract climate reporter! We're looking for a reporter to spend three months covering climate's impact on women and LGBTQ+ people, including how it intersects with housing, child care and health. Share or apply here: 19thnews.org/2026/04/cont...

We're hiring a contract climate reporter

The 19th is seeking a full-time contract reporter to report, write and produce climate coverage, focusing on how politics and policies impact women and LGBTQ+ people.

19thnews.org

The Census Bureau APIs added 1 dataset: 2026/cps/basic/mar See the full tracker: www.hrecht.com/census-api-d...