In a region made wealthy by innovation, the woman-dominated teacher workforce says its wages can’t keep pace, shutting down more than 100 public schools for 50,000 students. https://bit.ly/4akth1A

Black women already have the highest death rates due to asthma, a condition caused and exacerbated by air pollution. They are four times as likely to die of an asthma-related death as White men, according to a report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. @jkutzie.bsky.social reports.

Do you or a family member live in Idaho and rely on an HCBS waiver? Want to talk to a reporter about it? Please email sluterman at 19thnews dot org or DM. #JournoRequest

Star realized something important a few months ago: She didn’t want to waste time pretending to be someone else. So at 36, she sought out gender-affirming care. But since she's on Medicaid, she can't go to the one place near her Ohio town where she feels safe at the doctor: Planned Parenthood

"I know that a lot of people say, ‘You're just an athlete, like, stick to your job, shut up about politics,' but politics affect us all,” Glenn said. https://bit.ly/4ajXs98

Planned Parenthood was cut off from Medicaid by the federal government. So now transgender Medicaid patients either have to find a way to pay for their care out of pocket or find somewhere else to get it, depending on where they live.

Trump's Education Department dismissed 9 out of 10 student discrimination complaints last year. Why? 19thnews.org/2026/02/stud...

Red Wine & Blue now has more than 600,000 members. Its members and affiliated groups held 4,000 events last year, most of them in person. On Tuesday, they raised more than $100k in less than an hour to support Haitians in Springfield, OH & oppose ICE. 19thnews.org/2026/02/wine... via @19thnews.org

Applications are now open for our Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Fellowship — with a new track! We'll have two reporting fellows and one fellow each in audience engagement, news product and development. 19thnews.org/2026/02/fran...

Most Heated Rivalry coverage has been focused on what young people, particularly younger straight women, think. I cover aging and decided to ask older gay men about their thoughts. I found: A founder of what may have been the first gay hockey blog, a wedding cake shaped like a Zamboni and more.

“I could not do interviews and not talk about it, but then the story doesn’t get out there. Maybe a little girl doesn’t see me, who looks like her. That’s what’s really important," Edwards said. https://bit.ly/4qoIAMS

Students with disabilities and survivors of sexual misconduct can’t rely on the Department of Education — the target of budget cuts and staff reductions — to intervene for them, according to a new report.

The hit show is an unexpected invitation for some older gay hockey fans to reflect on love, acceptance and coming out.

For mom athletes raising babies and young children, competing in the Olympics comes with unique challenges. This story was co-published with @the74.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/46nestS

The scope of a Texas law, which allows private lawsuits from countless private citizens, and its direct targeting of shield laws means that this case offers abortion opponents a new chance to block telehealth.

Katie Paris founded Red, Wine & Blue to harness suburban women's political power — now more than 600,000 members are deploying it to oppose ICE in their communities.

Period products are considered an essential public health need, but access for women and trans people held in federal custody — from prisons to immigration detention centers — remains inconsistent. https://bit.ly/4tiNzRR

Jeffrey Epstein became a convicted sex offender nine years before the #MeToo movement brought sexual harassment and assault to the forefront of the national conversation. The Epstein files provide a window into how he strategized in real time to the political and cultural earthquake of the movement.

As Republican lawmakers move toward permanently banning gender-affirming care in Utah, lawmakers continue to sidestep public dialogue about the results of research which concluded that this care for minors with gender dysphoria is largely found to result in positive outcomes. From @sltrib.com:

The defense secretary ordered a review of women in combat roles, claiming standards were compromised — but the requirements for women and men in combat roles are identical.

Look for the helpers in this great story from @bcrodriguez.bsky.social

Applications for our fifth Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Fellowship cohort are now open — with have a new track... development! Apply by March 20.

There’s still a ways to go before doctors and scientists fully understand pediatric long COVID, but three upcoming clinical trials are on the horizon. This article was published with @thesicktimes.org, a nonprofit newsroom covering long COVID:

More than a year into his second term, Trump has appointed 27 judges to the federal bench. Only seven are women. None are women of color. @candicenorwood.bsky.social breaks it down here:

In Minnesota, protest has taken many shapes. And caregiving — from offering mutual aid for rent and groceries to getting neighbors first aid supplies and prenatal vitamins — is a central form of resistance here. It has lessons for the rest of the country. My latest: 19thnews.org/2026/02/minn...

The administration has equated race and gender diversity with professional incompetence, and the president has publicly praised judges who rule in his favor.

School pickups, diaper runs and mutual aid funds are central to how many Minnesotans are challenging the militarization of their state.

In Minneapolis, for every story detailing the fallout of the federal crackdown, there are as many stories of people like Bri, a mom donating breastmilk for babies whose mothers are detained by ICE. Bri's story: 19thnews.org/2026/02/minn...

A newborn in Minneapolis hadn’t eaten for a day and a half. ICE agents took her mother when she went to work, trying to make money for diapers. Her 16-year-old and Bri, a local mother of two, saved that baby's life. @chabeli.bsky.social tells their story

For over a month and a half now, Bri, a mother of two in Minneapolis, has run an expansive donation network in the city, most of it to help other moms and families with children. @chabeli.bsky.social for @19thnews.org.

Moms in Minneapolis have organized an expansive donation network in the city to support families ripped apart by ICE by providing necessities like groceries, diapers, wipes and, now, breastmilk.

Fear, faith and preparation as ICE closes in on an Ohio community — TPS ends for Haitians on Tuesday Feb 3 @ 11:59pm. A federal court is supposed to rule today but everyone I spoke to doesn't trust that will change the situation on the ground. 19thnews.org/2026/01/ice-... via @19thnews.org

Six providers in the Twin Cities area said no-show rates have increased for prenatal visits. Some patients, afraid of encountering law enforcement officials, are changing their delivery plans to opt for home births — sometimes without communicating it to providers.

Citing fear of ICE, pregnant immigrants in Minnesota are -skipping prenatal care -requesting home births, even when not medically advised -going w/o adequate food Many are experiencing complications providers say can be stress-onset: diabetes, high blood pressure, and even water breaking early

Texas A&M University announced Friday that it is eliminating its women’s and gender studies degree program.

"We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press. I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press," Georgia Fort said. https://bit.ly/4qcOQHt

Already-anxious parents say their kids are missing not just school but also therapy appointments to avoid encountering potentially hostile federal agents. From @the74.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/3ZEUnvg

How Amazon's Melania Trump documentary marks a post-#MeToo comeback for its director: Brett Ratner was all but exiled from Hollywood after sexual misconduct allegations (which he denied), and Trump's 2024 win paved the way for his return to directing: 19thnews.org/2026/01/mela...

The impact of Alex Pretti’s death has reverberated across America, but perhaps more deeply among the nation’s nurses and health care professionals — who see themselves reflected in the actions he took before his death. My colleague @chabeli.bsky.social and I explore: 19thnews.org/2026/01/nurs...

She was known as “Ms. Shirley” to her more than 5 million TikTok followers, and would share videos of herself delivering food and hygiene products from her car on Skid Row and other homeless communities in California and Nevada. https://bit.ly/4bVquhK

Disability groups are standing united for trans rights. That hasn’t always been the case. @slooterman.bsky.social reports on how disability rights advocates are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the LGBTQ+ community to extend civil rights protections — and the history of how we got here

In Pretti’s final moments, Jean Stone saw a nurse. To watch him come to the aid of a woman & reportedly askif she’s OK, “That’s something that a nurse says constantly in the process of a shift." Now, nurses are protesting, holding vigils, saying his name at picket lines 19thnews.org/2026/01/nurs...

Former Illinois Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson charged with the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey was found guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday.

Forty years ago, disability advocates abandoned the LGBTQ+ community in exchange for legal protections. Decades later, they are fighting a Trump administration rule to roll-back more safeguards for trans people. https://bit.ly/4a4HjEi

Directing a documentary on an American first lady and screening it at a star-studded White House event represents a remarkable turn for Brett Ratner, coming over eight years after six women accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017. https://bit.ly/49O8eFN

National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union representing registered nurses, is calling for a week of action to honor Pretti and for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “ICE messed with the wrong profession,” 19thnews.org/2026/01/nurs... via @19thnews.org

Last month, Secretary Kennedy had a press conference where he claimed that the original intent of the ADA was to exclude trans people. So I asked a bunch of experts and someone who was actually there.

In her announcement video, Klobuchar said the state had been through a tough time, noting the assassination of former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman, the killings of Renee Goodand Alex Pretti, and the surge of federal immigration enforcement action that has drawn a major backlash.

Her announcement comes amid a surge of federal immigration enforcement action that has drawn a major backlash in the state.

In Springfield, faith-based coalitions are creating emergency hubs to care for children — and churches are preparing for their sanctuaries to be breached.