According to a federal survey of school leaders, 40% of students in the nation’s public schools were behind grade level in one or more subjects at the beginning of the school year.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) announced its findings this week that the percentage of students school leaders estimated to be behind where they should be was down 7% from the 2022-23 school year but still 8% higher than before the pandemic.
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Following through on a pledge she made months ago, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Friday announced her office was seeking the death penalty in the prosecution of two illegal foreign nationals from Venezuela now charged with the capital murder of a 12-year-old Houston girl.
On June 17, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray’s body was found in a bayou under a bridge in north Houston. The cause of death was strangulation but her body was found bound, without clothing from the waist down. Forensic evidence was collected to ascertain if she was sexually assaulted. According to the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, the perpetrators threw her body into the bayou to get rid of DNA evidence, The Center Square reported.
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The greatest number of illegal foreign nationals on the docket for deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Non-Detention Docket (NDD) was reported under the Biden administration.
The greatest number was 6.2 million in fiscal 2023, followed by 4.7 million in fiscal 2022 and 3.6 million in fiscal 2021, according to an ICE 2023 annual report.
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President-elect Donald Trump said he could start pardons for “most” convicted Jan. 6 protesters during his first minutes in the White House.
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Annual inflation rates increased last month.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation, which showed that consumer prices rose 0.3% in November, part of a 2.7% increase over the last year.
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Another federal court has ruled against the federal program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), arguing a Biden administration plan to provide free health care to DACA recipients is illegal.
It’s the fourth time a federal judge has recently ruled against a program created by former President Barack Obama through executive order in 2012.
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The average American household credit card balance as of the third quarter of 2024 was about $10,757 after adjusting for inflation, according to a new study.
The personal-finance website WalletHub on Friday released its new Credit Card Debt Study, which found that consumers added $21 billion in debt during the third quarter of 2024.
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The U.S. Department of Defense announced a new round of nearly $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer money for Ukraine as the conflict with Russia continues. Total U.S. taxpayer funding for Ukraine now totals $62 billion since the war began.
The latest package will provide Ukraine with munitions for rocket systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and maintenance and repair programs to sustain and bolster its combat power.
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As Mexican cartel violence has escalated during the Biden administration, the U.S. State Department announced it is increasing a reward for a Mexican drug lord.
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Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump are working to clear out pending criminal cases before he takes office in January.
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The U.S. Department of Education (ED) may soon recognize Grand Canyon University’s nonprofit status after the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remanded the school’s case back to the department.
The university announced that “in a significant win for Grand Canyon University, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a 3-0 decision, held that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) acted unlawfully by applying the incorrect legal standard in determining GCU’s nonprofit status and remanded the case back to ED.”
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The federal government has the authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally over the objection of local authorities, a panel of three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled.
The 29-page ruling was written by Judge Daniel Bress, with judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton concurring.
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After the greatest number of Chinese nationals illegally entered the country under the Biden administration – more than 176,000, creating national security threats – President Joe Biden and his administration announced several actions.
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In the second and third quarters of fiscal 2024, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents removed nearly 68,000 illegal border crossers, ICE says. ICE claims the number “reflects a 69% increase over removals during the third quarter in fiscal year 2023, and is more than 140% of ICE removals for all fiscal year 2023.”
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Spending on migrants in Denver has ballooned to an estimated $356 million, an updated analysis by the Common Sense Institute says.
The estimate, which amounts to $7,900 per foreign national in the city, includes spending from the city, schools, and health care systems.
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A bipartisan group of 26 U.S. lawmakers have sent letters to seven major tech companies requesting updates on how the platforms plan to counter the growing prevalence of pornographic “deepfakes” on social media.
The number of artificially generated, sexually explicit impersonations of nonconsenting individuals increased by 550% from 2019 to 2023, with deepfake pornography now making up 98% of all deepfake videos online, the lawmakers cited in each of the seven letters addressed to Google, Apple, X, ByteDance, Snapchat, Microsoft and Meta.
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday it would offer a pilot program for green burial sections at three national cemeteries.
The agency said the program provides veterans with burial options that minimize environmental impact. The three national cemeteries participating are National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona; Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.
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Christians helped push President-elect Donald Trump across the finish line on Election Day, a survey found.
Trump received the majority of the Christian vote, while Vice President Kamala Harris received the majority of the non-Christian vote.
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The average American’s energy bill could increase from 25% to 70% in the next 10 years without intervention from policymakers, according to a new study from Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Jack Kemp Foundation.
According to reports, America is facing an energy crisis, with demand for energy soaring due to the proliferation of AI and hyperscale data centers, which can use as much energy as almost 40,000 homes; the boom in advanced manufacturing, and the movement toward electrification.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing scrutiny for its spending on diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Lawmakers at a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday pressed FEMA head Deanne Criswell on FEMA’s DEI spending.
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Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order “to protect Texans from the coordinated harassment and coercion by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
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A majority of Americans support President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to declare a national emergency over the border crisis, according to a new poll. Declaring such an emergency would allow Trump to utilize the military to secure the border and help with his plan to deport violent criminal foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally.
The Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online by pollster Scott Rasmussen Nov. 18-19. It asked: “President Trump has said that he will declare a national emergency because of the illegal immigration problem. This would let the Trump Administration use military force to help with a mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Do you favor or oppose declaring a national emergency to address the problem of illegal immigration?”
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Citing discrimination against nonminorities in farming assistance programs, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiff Robert Holman’s litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He’s a corn and soybean farmer.
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The U.S. Department of Defense’s annual audit once again resulted in a disclaimer.
That means the federal government’s largest agency – with a budget of more than $840 billion – can’t fully explain its spending. The disclaimer this year was expected. And it’s expected again next year. The Pentagon previously said it will be able to accurately account for its spending by 2027.
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Federal pricing data released this week for consumer and producer prices shows that inflation rose last month.
Harvard professor and former economic advisor to President Barack Obama Jason Furman said the consumer data could show a “resurgence of inflation” not to the ultra high levels in recent years but to more recent elevated data.
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The state of Florida is suing current and former federal employees personally for allegedly ignoring storm victim households solely because of their political affiliation.
Attorney General Ashley Moody sued current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency officials for “conspiracy to discriminate” against Florida hurricane victims because they expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump.
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A 28-year-old man in Houston, Anas Said, has been indicted and arrested on charges he attempted to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a federally designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
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Texas Department of Public Safety troopers continue to apprehend human smugglers and rescue unaccompanied minors at the border through Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star.
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The youth vote has been a liability for the Republican Party since 2008.
But on Election Day, President-elect Donald Trump made the largest gains of any Republican since George W. Bush, winning 11% more voters aged 18 to 29 than he did in 2020.
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Voters across multiple states cast ballots on who should be allowed to join them in referenda directed at voting rights, including the issue of noncitizen voting.
There’s national divide, highlighted by recent conversations on election integrity and immigration. Tuesday’s ballot measures were no different, reflecting a battleground that could potentially shape policy in future elections.
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Voters nationwide approved seven of 10 ballot initiatives preserving abortion rights.
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Social media’s influence is causing Gen Z’s interest in skilled trades to rise, according to a report by Thumbtack – something a trade organization co-director said is “inspiring and eye-opening.”
“55% of Gen Zers are considering a skilled trade career (up 12% from last year) – including 72% of those with a college degree,” Thumbtack’s report stated.
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Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal border crossers in Texas dropped 51% in one year, according to federal data. The stark decline comes after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded Operation Lone Star border security efforts in the state.
In fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents reported 1,045,655 apprehensions of illegal border crossers in five U.S. Customs and Border Protection sectors in Texas, excluding those apprehended in New Mexico which fall into one of these sectors, in fiscal 2023. In fiscal 2024, the number dropped to 534,333, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and exclusive data obtained by The Center Square.
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A judge overseeing the case against the man accused of trying to kill former President Donald Trump during a round of golf ordered prosecutors and defense attorneys back to the drawing board on a proposed protective order.
Prosecutors had sought a broad order that would prevent 58-year-old Hawaii resident Ryan Wesley Routh from having access to evidence in the case outside the presence of his attorneys unless authorized by prosecutors.
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Of the 14 million illegal border crossers reported under the Biden-Harris administration, more than 3 million are from four countries whose citizens were granted expanded entry through a parole program created by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV).
At least 2,496,080 illegal border crossers from CHNV countries were reported under the Biden-Harris administration, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. The data represents fiscal years 2021-2024, excluding the first three months of fiscal 2021 under the previous administration. The federal fiscal year is from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Thursday it housed 47,925 veterans experiencing homelessness in fiscal year 2024, besting an earlier goal.
That’s the largest number of veterans experiencing homelessness the federal agency has housed since fiscal year 2019 and 16.9% over its goal of 41,000.
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The upcoming presidential election might keep some would-be homebuyers on the sidelines, according to a real estate economist.
Existing-home sales declined 1% in September as prices continued to climb higher, according to figures released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.
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The number of cases before federal immigration judges totaled nearly 1.8 million, a record, in fiscal 2024, according to the latest analysis by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan, independent research organization.
Federal immigration courts fall under the Department of Justice and are located in 28 states, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. The DOJ’s fiscal 2024 year was Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024.
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Following Florida, Texas sued the Biden-Harris administration Tuesday after requesting citizenship status information about registered voters in Texas, and not receiving it from federal agencies as required by law.
Last week, a coalition of attorneys general, including from Florida and Texas, called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide the requested information. They made the requests as multiple states removed thousands of noncitizens from their voter rolls. After not receiving the information, Florida sued last week. Other states in the coalition are also expected to sue.
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The Biden administration said Monday it wants to expand contraception access as women’s reproductive rights remain a focal issue in the 2024 election.
On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris said the proposed changes would cover over-the-counter daily contraception without a prescription, emergency contraception, condoms and spermicide at no cost. Private insurance would also be required to inform women about no-cost contraception options and could no longer claim moral exemptions on religious grounds.
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The overwhelming majority of Americans do not believe schools should hide a student’s gender change at school from parents, according to a recent poll of over 2,200 likely voters.
The issue of parental notification regarding a student’s gender transition has been hotly contested in recent years, especially in California, where the state has sided against school districts that have passed policies to let parents know students are using different names or pronouns.
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Sixteen attorneys general, led by Ohio AG Dave Yost, called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide voter registration information to states, particularly when it relates to citizenship status.
The AGs “raise grave concerns that by failing to work with States to verify voter registration information, your office has failed to discharge its duty ahead of a national election,” the letter to Mayorkas states.
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A coalition of 24 states, led by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, have signed a brief against a federal electric truck mandate.
On March 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rolled out a new electric truck mandate to increase sales of electric semitrucks from 2027 through 2032.
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The largest retail group in the country says it expects consumers to spend more this holiday season, but the growth in sales will be slower than last year.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) said its 2024 forecast shows winter holiday spending is expected to grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023.
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A new national poll shows a majority of Americans support school choice measures that would allow families to use taxpayer funds to attend a private school.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights found that over two-thirds of the more than 2,200 likely voters polled support giving families choices using public funds.
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A vast majority of voters want policies and procedures in place to guarantee the integrity of elections, according to new polling.
That includes 86 percent of those surveyed who agree that election officials should have access to all necessary information to verify that the number of ballots cast matches the number of voters, and 85 percent who say that election officials should verify the accuracy of the information they receive before signing off on certifying election results. Majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents support the proper verification of voting.
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Most registered voters, 59 percent, support a federal ban on transgender procedures such as puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgeries for minors, a new national poll found.
The strongest support for a federal ban came from registered Republicans (82 percent), while the lowest amount of support for it came from registered Democrats (36 percent). Independents polled offered majority support for a ban, with 56 percent in favor.
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A legal challenge to new reporting requirements for small business owners, potentially costing them $73.1 billion over a decade, has begun with a request for preliminary injunction in a federal courtroom in Texas.
The National Federation of Independent Business, in a hearing, is seeking to stop the reporting requirements in the Corporate Transparency Act from implementation on Jan. 1.
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American small business uncertainty hit an all-time high and optimism remains low just weeks before Election Day, according to the latest survey.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses on Monday released the survey, which showed small business uncertainty rose last month to the highest level ever recorded by NFIB.
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Recovery in Florida continued Friday morning following Wednesday’s overnight strike of Hurricane Milton that left 12 dead and millions without power.
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