Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

Every week in immigration courts around the country, thousands of children act as their own lawyers, pleading for asylum or other type of relief in a legal system they do not understand. Suspected killers, kidnappers and others facing federal felony charges, no matter their ages, are entitled to court-appointed lawyers if they cannot afford them. But children accused of violating immigration laws, a civil offense, do not have the same right.   read more

The National Marine Fisheries Service has authorized the Navy to continue harming protected marine mammals with low frequency sonar, despite a court ruling against the practice. The notices for the four Letters of Authorization, published Thursday, are surprising in that the agency has virtually ignored the July 15 U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision that the Navy’s peacetime use of sonar is not in compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act   read more

The prosecution of current and former state of Michigan employees for their role in Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis likely will face an early test over whether one of the most serious charges can even be levied against the middle- and lower-level government officials. All eight workers charged so far face a misconduct in office charge. But there is no statute clearly defining official misconduct.   read more

A federal judge Friday referred Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his second-in-command for criminal prosecution, finding that they ignored and misrepresented to subordinates court orders designed to keep the sheriff’s office from racially profiling Latinos. The referral does not mean the sheriff will face criminal charges; it is up to federal prosecutors to decide whether to pursue the case.   read more

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 7-2 on Friday to put Jeffery Wood’s execution on hold. Wood, 43, was scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday. Wood and his friend Daniel Reneau were convicted in the shooting death of a 31-year-old store clerk during a robbery. Wood waited in a car while Reneau shot the clerk in the face. Wood was convicted of capital murder under what’s known as the Texas law of parties, which makes a participant in a capital murder case equally culpable.   read more

For both presidents Bush and Obama, it has meant saying yes to any initiative that could be sold as plausible protection against a future attack. This approach has remained in place even as those who commit acts of terrorism have shifted in recent years. Despite the billions wasted on homeland defense, no one ever figured out how to detect bio-attacks. BioWatch, which was obsolete the day it was put into use, produced 149 false alarms by 2014, none of which were linked to an attack or threat.   read more

An average of 50 children a day end up in hospital emergency rooms because of stroller or baby carrier accidents, and it appears far more of them are suffering brain injuries than previously believed. The data showed that the majority of the injuries occurred in children who were younger than 1 year old, and most of the injuries occurred when children fell from a stroller or carrier or when they tipped over. The head and face most commonly took the brunt of the falls.   read more

Two damning reports were released on Florida's 5,310 public drinking water systems. One in 8 were in violation, with contaminants like fecal coliform and chemicals exceeding levels safe for human consumption. Phillips said the decline began in 2010, when Gov. Rick Scott was first elected. The EPA had the authority for years to force the state's hand on violators, but hasn't. "More or less the EPA has become a toothless tiger — just look at how the EPA handled Flint, Michigan," Phillips said.   read more

After an outcry from older Americans, as well as a letter from two U.S. senators, the agency backed off the cellphone-based code requirement. “Our aggressive implementation inconvenienced or restricted access to some of our account holders,” said the agency's Mark Hinkle. Many people, especially older ones, complained that the requirement was unreasonable; fewer older Americans use cellphones, and some said they found texting difficult. Also, technical glitches hampered access to the site.   read more

She served as Deputy Chief of Mission and charge d’affaires in Caracas, Venezuela, beginning in 2011. Her tenure ended in 2013, when she and two other diplomats were kicked out of the country by President Maduro, who accused the three of attempting sabotage. “Yankee go home. Enough abuses already,” Maduro said. Keiderling was later accused by Cuban Raul Capote and by the official Cuban press of being an agent of the CIA. Capote claimed that Keiderling was one of his handlers in Havana.   read more

Paul Manafort and deputy Rick Gates never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law. The lobbying included attempts to gain positive press coverage of Ukrainian officials in the U.S. press and to undercut American public sympathy for the imprisoned rival of Ukraine's then-president. European and American leaders were then pressuring Ukraine to free her. Manafort and Gates' activities carry outsized importance, since they have steered Trump's campaign since April.   read more

"This is a long overdue step by the federal government, said PLN editor Paul Wright. "But for the federal government's bailout of the private prison industry in 2000 they would have long ago collapsed under the weight of their own mismanagement, ineptitude and corruption. We can now expect a flurry of lobbying, as the industry cannot survive without its federal handouts." Several states canceled their contracts with CCA after its abuses were revealed in civil lawsuits.   read more

The study found that a vast majority of the women are poor, African-American or Latino, and have drug or alcohol problems. About 80% have children. Most have been charged with low-level offenses, including drug or property crimes like shoplifting, but many are in jail for violating parole or for failed drug tests “Once a rarity, women are now held in jails in nearly every county — a stark contrast to 1970, when almost three-quarters of counties held not a single woman in jail,” the report said.   read more

The increase has been a boon to medical students and researchers, who dissect cadavers in anatomy class or use them to practice surgical techniques or test new devices and procedures. "Not too long ago, it was taboo. Now we have thousands of registered donors," said Mark Zavoyna. "Funerals are expensive. That certainly has something to do with it. Of course, it almost has this snowball effect, where you get five people to donate, and then their families tell another 25 people."   read more

The new audit confirmed findings of a 2013 AP investigation, which said EPA never conducted studies to determine whether air and water quality benefits from adding corn-based ethanol to gasoline. AP described the ethanol era as far more damaging to the environment than the government predicted. As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, polluted water supplies and destroyed habitat.   read more

The tests are more likely to have incorrect results in blacks than in whites. The study is likely to have implications for other minorities and diseases, including cancer. Researchers found that blacks are more likely to be told mistakenly that they are at risk. The misdiagnosis can have big repercussions. There is the emotional stress, plus time and expense of medical follow-up. Young people may be told to drop out of sports and told to have devices surgically implanted in their chests.   read more