Bill Would Stop Removal of Confederate, Historic Markers
As some cities make the decision to shed Confederate monuments, some Alabama lawmakers want to prohibit those removals unless legislators say it is OK.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on the bill titled the “Alabama Heritage Protection Act.”
The bill would ban the removal of any historic monument, marker or school name from public property unless a waiver is obtained from the Legislative Council, a committee of lawmakers.
Local governments would face a $100,000 fine if they remove an object without a waiver.
The bill doesn’t specify Confederate symbols, but comes after controversy about their display.
The city of Birmingham has explored removing a Confederate memorial from a park. Governor Robert Bentley last year removed four Confederate flags from the Alabama Capitol.
Bill would give give non-violent, aging prisoners a chance at freedom
Should the Second Chance Act be enacted, judges could review certain cases where an individual was sentenced to life without parole under the Habitual Offenders Act for potential resentencing.
States push Medicaid work rules, but few programs help enrollees find jobs
Some lawmakers are pushing to require that Medicaid recipients work in order to get or keep coverage, and some states already try to help them find jobs. But the effects of those efforts are unclear.
5 notable new books that are all over the map (in a good way)
These books confront readers with the recent past and distant future, bring them to southeastern Africa and an alternative Japan, and bedeck their pages with subversive cartoons and lush landscapes.
How Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are imperiling Syria’s war crimes investigations
When former leader Bashar al-Assad fell, new Syria war crimes investigations began. But U.S. budget cuts have halted some work. For families of the disappeared, it means justice delayed or denied.
DOGE cut a CDC team as it was about to start a project to help N.C. flood victims
The National Center for Environmental Health was hollowed out in the cuts of 10,000 federal health workers on April 1. That's the same day an assessment of people hurt in floods was set to begin.
Bipartisan senators rebuke White House move to end legal aid for unaccompanied minors
The letter obtained by NPR marks a rare bipartisan critique from Capitol Hill of the administration's immigration policy.
