Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

More partisan fighting over Michigan's new redistricting commission

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested $4.6 million for Michigian's redistricting commission, but Republicans in the Legislature are only providing $3.4 million.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Michigan's Republican-led Legislature is moving to give the state's new independent redistricting commission only three-quarters of the budget proposed by the Democratic governor.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had asked for $4.6 million to cover the start-up costs of the commission. But the legislators writing the state's spending plan for next year decided Thursday to allocate only $3.4 million and to put the panel's budget under control of the Legislature instead of the secretary of state, currently Democrat Jocelyn Benson.

It's the latest partisan battle over the new commission. It was created through a 2018 ballot initiative orchestrated by the grassroots group Voters Not Politicians in the hope of bleeding partisanship out of political mapmaking in Michigan — a presidential battleground and home to some of the most successful efforts at GOP partisan gerrymanderingfor this decade.


"These types of political games are exactly what voters stood firmly against in the last election," said the executive director of Voters Not Politicians, Nancy Wang.

Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on what questions should be included in the application to become a member of the commission, Benson announced Thursday. The panel will draw the congressional and legislative district lines after the next census — unless it's thwarted by litigation filed by Republicans, who are challenging the constitutionality of the limits on partisan operatives as members.

Read More

Ingrassia Exit Highlights Rare GOP Pushback to Trump’s Personnel Picks

President Donald Trump speaks at a White House press briefing on Jan. 30, 2025.

Credit: Jonah Elkowitz/Medill News Service

Ingrassia Exit Highlights Rare GOP Pushback to Trump’s Personnel Picks

WASHINGTON — Paul Ingrassia withdrew his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday night after facing Republican pushback over past controversial statements.

While Ingrassia joins a growing list of President Donald Trump’s nominees who have withdrawn from consideration, many who have aired controversial beliefs or lack requisite qualifications have still been appointed or are still in the nomination process.

Keep ReadingShow less
In Laredo, families grapple with air pollution as efforts to reduce toxic emissions stall

Nidia Nevares walks with her son, Juan Jose "JJ" Nevares, at Father Charles M. McNaboe Park on Sept. 20, 2025. The park is near both their home and the Midwest Sterilization Co. plant, which uses a known carcinogen. Photo by Sean Jimenez/South Texas Project

Photo by Sean Jimenez/South Texas Project

In Laredo, families grapple with air pollution as efforts to reduce toxic emissions stall

LAREDO, Texas – The Nevares family home is a lively space, with kittens milling about and happiness in the air. It’s a feeling the family had to fight for, following a devastating leukemia diagnosis for their youngest son seven years ago.

Not far from them lives Xavier Ortiz, a hardworking man who wants to provide for his family but is hindered by an aggressive cancer.

Keep ReadingShow less
A doctor and patient holding hands.

Trust in America’s doctors has hit historic lows. This story explores how decades of missed opportunities, rising costs, and systemic inertia eroded the doctor-patient bond — and what it will take to restore confidence in modern medicine.

Getty Images, thianchai sitthikongsak

The Collapse of Patient Trust: How U.S. Healthcare Lost Its Way

Just as the political health of a nation requires trust in elected officials, the physical and mental health of Americans depends on the trust embedded in the doctor-patient relationship.

For most of the past century, that bond was ironclad. Now, that relationship is fraying.

Keep ReadingShow less
A child looking at a smartphone.

With autism rates doubling every decade, scientists are reexamining environmental and behavioral factors. Could the explosion of social media use since the 1990s be influencing neurodevelopment? A closer look at the data, the risks, and what research must uncover next.

Getty Images, Arindam Ghosh

The Increase in Autism and Social Media – Coincidence or Causal?

Autism has been in the headlines recently because of controversy over Robert F. Kennedy, Jr's statements. But forgetting about Kennedy, autism is headline-worthy because of the huge increase in its incidence over the past two decades and its potential impact on not just the individual children but the health and strength of our country.

In the 1990s, a new definition of autism—ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)—was universally adopted. Initially, the prevalence rate was pretty stable. In the year 2,000, with this broader definition and better diagnosis, the CDC estimated that one in 150 eight-year-olds in the U.S. had an autism spectrum disorder. (The reports always study eight-year-olds, so this data was for children born in 1992.)

Keep ReadingShow less