From fertility treatments to contraception access to the ability to obtain an abortion, “this amendment protects families’ entire scope of reproductive needs,” Sen. Jennifer Boysko said. The proposal ultimately leaves the decision up to voters. virginiamercury.com/2026/01/19/v...

The number of confirmed #measles cases in South Carolina has hit an astonishing 558 in an outbreak that started in October. For context: that is more cases in 4 months than the entire US racked up most years in the past 30+ years. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

SCOOP: In testimony from a CBP official obtained by 404 Media, the official described how Mobile Fortify returned two different names after scanning a woman's face during an immigration raid. ICE has said the app's results are a “definitive” determination of someone's immigration status.

New QJE for the minimum wage literature uses IRS data to study effects on small and medium size businesses. The effects seem…very good academic.oup.com/qje/article/...

#AcademiaSky #HealthPolicySky are there any low-stakes outlets where people share “I’m researching this thing and here’s what I’ve learned so far” short of like… starting a blog?

“AI has supercharged the work of content farms that churn out articles at scale to earn advertising money by siphoning traffic from established sites.”

More people are surviving cancer than ever before, as the 5-year survival rate across cancer reached 70%, according to the American Cancer Society’s new report. www.statnews.com/2026/01/13/w...

if you want a long read that involves udders, a hot air balloon, and some extremely dubious data on egg prices, the story I’ve been working on for the last few months where I tried to single-handedly take on every government function myself is now online! www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

NC likely won't have a new budget until at least April, as tax cut impasse continues The latest from the #ncga's uneventful session today: www.wunc.org/politics/202... #ncpol

The U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate Rose After Trump Reduced Immigration www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

NOTE: This news immediately followed a Supreme Court order this morning denying the paper's shadow-docket efforts to block an injunction issued by the Third Circuit that was enforcing an NLRB unfair labor practices order relating to the paper's health insurance plans.

In 2025, I tried to give perspective on the National Guard deployment in DC by articulating how January 6 didn’t just change our government forever, but permanently changed the experience of living in DC. DC is not just a soundstage where talking heads live.

"Journalists and their news orgs can show their patriotism by doing their jobs of seeking the truth, no matter who it offends. They can serve the public by reporting honestly & deeply on what their government is up to and why even if that means they lose access or get sued." @sulliview.bsky.social

5 years ago, I was struck by the many pundits and politicians who watched the Jan. 6 riot and responded with some variation of "this isn't who we are." History, particularly in North Carolina, tells a different story, as I wrote for @newsobserver.com. www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

NEW from Important Context: Genocide experts, including two past presidents of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, are speaking out about escalating attacks on transgender Americans in the U.S. www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-wa...

Israel says it will suspend several humanitarian groups, including Doctors Without Borders, in 2026 for failing its new vetting rules for groups working in Gaza. Some international organizations have said that Israel’s rules are arbitrary and could endanger staff.

Modeling Reemergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases Under Declining Vaccination in the US | Infectious Diseases | JAMA | JAMA Network jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

"Even after accounting for the upfront costs and delayed benefits, enrolling marginal applicants to public universities generates substantial net returns for society, the marginal students themselves, and the government budget." Public Universities FTW!

" The total number of student news programs in the country that distribute work to local outlets is now roughly two hundred and fifty. "... the addition of a student-run paper is a lifeline for community news." via @columjournreview.bsky.social

Therapists push back as the anti-trans group Therapy First has slipped its way into providing continuing education to medical professionals. @veraeikon.bsky.social provides original reporting for this story exclusively on Assigned Media.

Exactly what we expected

Study finds that despite broad COVID vaccine availability, COVID still deadlier than #flu in hospitalized patients A #COVID diagnosis was associated with 76% higher odds of death within 30 days. www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

NEW: For almost a decade, North Carolina’s majority-Republican legislature tried six times to strip Democratic governors of control over the board overseeing the swing state’s elections. This year, it finally succeeded.

All the centers they’re cutting add up to less than $7 million in spending. UNC athletics budget is $185.4 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Just now, a national trans healthcare felony ban for youth has passed the US House, with 10 year prison terms. 3 Dems crossed party lines to vote to jail providers. 4 GOP crossed party lines to vote against. It is not expected to pass the Senate, where Dems hold filibuster power. Story to come.

The U.S. government admits negligence in the helicopter-plane collision last January that killed 67 in Washington, D.C.

New @propublica.org: @emsimani.bsky.social analyzed nonprofit tax filings and found that more than 1,000 charities have stripped DEI-related language from their mission statements this year. www.propublica.org/article/dele...

We live in hell

A tiny trial in New York has shown that personalized mRNA vaccines can provoke massive, lasting immune responses against pancreatic cancer, even as sweeping federal cuts now threaten the fragile labs required to produce them. theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/a-breakthr...

UT-Dallas fired the editor of the student paper, then fired the staff when they went on strike to object, then banned their independent newspaper from campus, and now are trying to discipline the former student editor for fact-checking a letter to the editor? Glad @thefireorg.bsky.social is on this.

This makes facially neutral policies--like poll taxes and literacy tests--that we know were adopted for discriminatory purposes legal. Organizations can now simply claim there was no discriminatory intent regardless of outcome. It's unconstrained institutionalized racism.

looking at these entertainment award nominations like “that was this year?”

“She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.” www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social

Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered. n.pr/48HypvT

An American journalist helped facilitate RFK Jr's ingratiation into Trump's world and kept secret disqualifying information on him that could have kept him out of major policy, which impacts millions of people.

To reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies for breast cancer, researchers in #ScienceAdvances developed an automated breast volume scanner that combines photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging for improved accuracy when distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions. https://scim.ag/4ipNEhw

Article title: The NYT wrote more about Harvard last year than all community colleges combined I posted three main figure from the article below www.vox.com/2014/7/23/59...

Statehood for D.C. is an ethical obligation at this point, required to protect the rights of our residents to govern ourselves against such out-of-state troops being sent to patrol our city.

Immigration policies are creating impossible choices for NICU families. Parents are afraid to visit their infants, deterred by anti-immigrant rhetoric and fear of U.S. ICE actions at hospitals. @neodrswenson.bsky.social and I wrote about this here: www.cleveland.com/opinion/2025...

APHA Joins GW and Dozens of Public Health and Policy Experts Urging the CDC to Maintain Universal Newborn Hepatitis B Vaccination www.apha.org/news-and-med...

“I was under the impression that we were protected from being affected by any anti-DEI legislation and rulings because of our First Amendment right to freedom of press, but it appears I was wrong,” Alice Magazine Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Gunter said in a statement Tuesday.

We first note that hand-wringing about the decline in US college enrollments has mistakenly linked such declines to the price of four-year colleges. But the decline is entirely driven by two-year community colleges (and by for-profit colleges). The four-year sector is the dog that didn't bark.

People catastrophizing about a precedent where no one can mark anything down anymore for being wrong when the real precedent is trans people not being able to do literally any job without an army of bigots launching a harassment campaign against their employer.

A lot of editors don't even know about media magnification. One of the shocking things - to me - when I left journalism school was how little editors knew about like the study of journalism as a discipline. It's a profession based in norms even if those norms are harmful.

Still haven't read the full agreement because I deserve nice things occasionally. But there's really a need for a propublica-type investigation into the social network of these boards, presidents, & donors with the admin. At the same time, exploring the similarities and differences across deals.

There's legislation before the Virginia General Assembly that would create a paid family & medical leave program, but it will live or die on the fiscal impact statement. Will agency staff draw on states that have taken charge of their enabling software (Maryland), or those that have spent a fortune?

Vinay Prasad of the FDA claims that he has proof that 10 children died from COVID19 vaccines, so the FDA will now target flu shots, look at whether people should receive multiple vaccines at the same time, and make the vaccine approval process significantly more difficult.

To be clear Lizza’s story is that Nuzzi sat on important matters of national significance for personal benefit and he’s sat on these details until he could personally benefit. All of DC media needs to be thrown into the sea. Anyone who defends these people is a goddamn clown.