Updated via @fischler.bsky.social: A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pay roughly $9 billion for a full month of nutrition assistance benefits by the next day.

Via Anna Barrett: Auburn University apologized for accidentally sending three emergency alerts to students and employees about an active shooter, a tornado and a hazardous waste spill within the space of minutes early Thursday afternoon.

Via @fischler.bsky.social: The 40 airports set to see a 10% reduction in flights during the government shutdown nearly matched the list of the nation’s busiest airports, according to a preliminary list seen by States Newsroom.

Via @fischler.bsky.social: The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reduce the largest monthly food assistance payments by about 35% in November, a smaller decrease than the department initially estimated, according to a court filing late Wednesday.

Via @timhenderson.bsky.social: The ADP report does not include an estimate of the unemployment rate, unlike the suspended federal report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also does not break down the statistics by race or gender.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: The state is applying for grants meant to offset Medicaid cuts made by Congress in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The proposal includes funding for providers, IT and maternal health.

Via Ariana Figueroa: U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who made history as the first woman to hold the speaker’s gavel, announced Thursday she will retire, ending a 40-year legislative career as one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress.

Via Ralph Chapoco: Democratic state legislators have criticized comments from U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama labeling Montgomery as a ‘war zone.’  https://ow.ly/ah3250XntGZ

Via Anna Barrett: Alabamians could see major surges in the cost of Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans without enhanced tax credits for ACA premiums, which lie at the center of the federal government shutdown. https://ow.ly/IzP850XnvyG

Via Jonathan Shorman: Monthly data published by the U.S. International Trade Administration indicates that student visa arrivals were 19.1% lower than in August 2024, not including Canada or Mexico via land. The decline among African countries was 32.5%. https://ow.ly/T3ZQ50XnbeQ

Via @fischler.bsky.social: U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday the Federal Aviation Administration would restrict air travel in 40 “high-traffic” areas of the country to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who have been working without a paycheck since Oct. 1.

Via Elisha Brown: An increase of the Virginia General Assembly’s Democratic majority all but solidifies that state voters could put a reproductive freedom amendment into the state constitution next year. https://ow.ly/1PU150XnrmY

Via @ashleymurray.bsky.social: For nearly three hours the justices poked and prodded at the language of a 1970s-era sanctions law that Trump has invoked since January in a series of emergency declarations and proclamations triggering import taxes on goods from nearly every country.

Just two days until Stories From The States launches! Listen to a teaser for our new weekly podcast and subscribe here. www.newsfromthestates.com/episode/excl... #FairFearlessFree #LocalJournalism

Via Ariana Figueroa: “The election results ought to send a much-needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis, his shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Via @timhenderson.bsky.social and Stateline: Young homebuyers have been priced out of the market even more than previously, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. https://ow.ly/E7bk50XnaBe

Via Mississippi Today: Republicans will still retain control of both chambers of the 174-member Legislature when lawmakers convene in January for their 2026 session. However, national Democratic organizations hoped to end the GOP’s two-thirds supermajority control of the state Senate on Tuesday.

Via @alander.bsky.social and @georgiarecorder.com: The double victory marks the first time the Democratic Party has won a statewide constitutional office in Georgia since 2006 and reshapes the political landscape ahead of the pivotal 2026 midterm elections.

Via @calmatters.org: California voters on Tuesday passed a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats, a major victory for the party in a high-stakes national redistricting fight that could determine who controls the U.S. House of Representatives next year.

Via Ralph Chapoco: An Alabama commission charged with regulating drones Tuesday weighed security concerns around drones manufactured in China with law enforcement insistence that no domestic manufacturer makes comparable ones. https://ow.ly/PWEe50XmS8C

Via Anna Barrett: Before the federal government suspended SNAP benefits, the Heart of Alabama Food Bank (HAFB) had about 500 emergency boxes on hand. Now, volunteers are working to get 6,000 boxes ready to address immediate needs in the state and 1,000 boxes in reserve. https://ow.ly/C5jn50XmJ4n

Via Kelcie Moseley-Morris: The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare quietly declined the entirety of its annual $1.5 million federal Title X funding, leaving patients statewide without free and low-cost contraception and reproductive health care services. https://ow.ly/sUHi50XmtKn

Via Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda: The U.S. Senate Tuesday failed for the 14th time to advance a stopgap spending bill to fund the government, as the ongoing shutdown hit 35 days and is now tied with the shutdown of 2018-2019 as the longest ever. https://ow.ly/ApLw50XmJO1

Via @fischler.bsky.social: Cheney was a leading advocate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Nearly 5,000 U.S. servicemembers and untold Iraqis died, without showing that the ruling Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction or had any ties to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will send $2 million in state emergency funds to eight state food banks amid federal suspension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Via Anna Claire Vollers & Stateline: The Trump administration wants states to police their own education of students with disabilities, a move many teachers and parents fear will strip crucial federal oversight and deny vulnerable children services guaranteed under law. https://ow.ly/Kuok50XmsUI

Via @fischler.bsky.social: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said later Tuesday that Trump was referring to future uses of a food assistance contingency fund and that the administration was complying with the court order, though that description did not match Trump’s post.

Via Ashley Murray: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear one of the first major cases of President Donald Trump’s second term Wednesday, when the administration defends the president’s emergency tariffs that American small business owners say are upending their livelihoods.

Via Ralph Chapoco: The growth in tax collections declined in 2025 and the trend is expected to continue for 2026, according to a report from the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. https://ow.ly/2RLm50XmbjT

Via Dennis Pillion and Lee Hedgepeth Inside Climate News examined the 2024 federal filings of 100 of the largest electric utilities in the country. None reported higher total residential electric bills, on average, than Alabama Power. And a big reason is lax regulation. https://ow.ly/w57i50XlWmS

Update: Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kay Ivey, said in a statement Monday the governor does not intend to call a special session.

Via Ariana Figueroa: A panel of District of Columbia Court of Appeals judges Monday heard oral arguments from the Trump administration defending the president’s move to end asylum claims at the southern border through an executive order.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: Alabama Democrats Monday said that Gov. Kay Ivey Monday should call a special session of the Alabama Legislature to help feed more than 726,000 Alabamians who lost food assistance Saturday.

Via @timhenderson.bsky.social and Stateline: Illicit drug overdoses and the deaths they cause are trending down this year, despite spikes in a handful of states, according to a Stateline analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Via Anita Wadhwani and Tennessee Lookout: A court hearing in Nashville Monday could decide whether members of the Tennessee National Guard can continue patrolling the streets of Memphis. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/11/03/repub/court-to-consider-whether-to-halt-national-guard-in-memphis/

Via Jacob Fischler: The U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay for a portion of November benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the department said Monday in a brief to a federal court in Rhode Island.

Editor Brian Lyman writes that a prefiled bill that would exclude naturalized citizens from elected Alabama offices is also a full-on attack on due process and the 14th Amendment that appears to be yet another effort to destroy legal protections in the Constitution. https://ow.ly/EHe150Xl53W

Via Ralph Chapoco: The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles plans to offer a residential rehabilitation facility for women on parole, hoping to replicate early successes at a parole facility for men in Perry County. https://ow.ly/KmO350XkEKc

Via Lee Hedgepeth: In an interview with Inside Climate News, Joe Pizarchik, a former top federal mining regulator, spoke at length about the current regulatory environment around coal mining and, more specifically, about a recent announcement in Alabama. https://ow.ly/xrnc50Xl4Gc

Via Jane Norman: A federal judge on Saturday issued a written order saying there is “no question” that U.S. Department of Agriculture contingency funds must be used to provide food assistance for 42 million Americans during the government shutdown.

My column this week. Alabama once had an attorney general who pursued the killers of four little girls despite the politics and KKK intimidation. Alabama now has an attorney general who cheers the extrajudicial killings of people on the high seas. It’s a sign of who the current AG thinks he serves.

Via Stateline: High grocery prices have pushed more Americans to look to food banks for help. But organizations providing food relief have lost more than $1 billion in federal aid and are bracing for the impacts of legislation that will permanently limit the reach of SNAP. https://ow.ly/qilf50Xl1ja

Via Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda: By Saturday, millions of Americans are expected to face a drastic spike in health care premium costs during open enrollment, though a hunger crisis may have been temporarily averted, both tied to the ongoing government shutdown.

Via Anna Barrett and Andrea Tinker: Alabama food banks Friday were bracing for an influx of people amid the likely suspension of SNAP benefits for food on Saturday. Meanwhile, Alabama Democrats called for a special session of the Legislature to provide aid to the 726,000 Alabamians on the program.

Via Sofia Resnick: A 2016 law states that breast milk, formula and toddler drinks are considered “medically necessary liquids” and are allowed in carry-on baggage in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces. But many women say TSA staff are not trained on that policy. https://ow.ly/A63x50Xl0oK

BREAKING via Ariana Figueroa: The rulings came a day before a cutoff of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to 42 million low-income households.

Via @timhenderson.bsky.social and Stateline: The Trump administration now expects about 600,000 total deportations in 2025, fewer than under the Biden administration’s final fiscal year, as a drop in border crossings outweighs the effect of increased deportations elsewhere. https://ow.ly/FrVc50XkYWi

Via Andrea Tinker: The Alabama State Board of Education will vote on adopting new social studies and arts education textbooks for the 2026-2027 school year at its November meeting. https://ow.ly/8ZxH50XkIzO

Via Anna Barrett: SB 21, sponsored by Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, would require candidates for most political offices in Alabama to be “natural born citizens.” The proposal could run afoul of the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing due process to all citizens.  https://ow.ly/sFR750XkC6Z

Via Shalina Chatlani: States are preparing for the possibility of a rapid shift in the cost of Obamacare health plans, depending on whether Congress extends the subsidies that are at the center of the federal government shutdown. https://ow.ly/k1pA50XkIxX