In Missouri, the Republican-dominated legislature passed a so-called “right-to-work” law that would end requirements to join a union or pay fees to a labor organization to keep a job. Such laws are often a death-knell for unions, with non-members enjoying the benefits fought for by organized labor, but not paying their fair share for representation. The bill was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and on Wednesday, the legislature failed to override Nixon’s veto.   read more

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has found conditions in facilities holding undocumented immigrants to be so bad that it has recommended the release of families being held in them. The report was passed by a 5-2 vote with three of the yes votes coming from commissioners appointed by President Barack Obama, whose administration policies they now criticize.   read more

The American-Statesman and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram requested that DPS release the number of seizures and arrests made only by its personnel and the department declined. It also refused to release the hotel bills run up by state troopers during “Operation Strong Safety,” Perry’s effort to look tough on immigration. DPS is now suing the state’s Attorney General to keep it from releasing those bills.   read more

The billing prompted the ACLU to sue the police department. Government accountability and transparency "will be thwarted if Hayward is allowed to impose exorbitant costs for the public disclosure of police body camera footage," said ACLU' counsel Alan Schlosser. "Such a hefty price tag will put these public records beyond the reach of most Californians, including journalists investigating possible instances of excessive force by police.”   read more

Twitter’s direct-message service will “identify the hyperlink and replace it with its own custom link” to give the false impression that it is the source of the traffic. Twitter does this, Raney says, to boost its advertising rates. For instance, if a user includes a link from the Times in her message, Twitter shortens the link and makes it so the Times knows the visitor came via Twitter. This happens without users’ consent, and in the process, violates their privacy, according to the lawsuit.   read more

“From bacon cheeseburgers to chicken nuggets, most meat served by America’s chain restaurants comes from animals raised in industrial-scale facilities, where they are routinely fed antibiotics,” said Kari Hamerschlag of Friends of the Earth. Twenty of the 25 companies received “F” grades for having no disclosed policy on antibiotic use in their meat and poultry or for having policies that fail to phase out this practice.   read more

In Boston, two brothers beat and urinated on a homeless Latino man last month. They said their actions were inspired by Trump. One brother reportedly told police: “Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported.” When informed of the brothers’ actions, Trump said: “I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate. I will say that, and everybody here has reported it.”   read more

The investigation found the EPA over the past 20 years had dismissed 95% of all community claims alleging environmental discrimination. EPA officials as part of their strategic plan, will now do more targeted compliance reviews. The effort will begin next month, and within three years, EPA intends to complete six compliance reviews of state and local agencies per year. The agency intends to do more over time: 11 reviews a year by 2021, and 22 by 2024.   read more

Their findings echoed what other scientists have said about the future effects of climate change on California—that he state’s snow levels may not return to what they once were. Warmer temperatures mean precipitation will fall not as snow, but rain, which the state is ill-equipped to store. Normally, California gets a third of its water from the snowpack. “This is probably the biggest water supply concern our state is facing,” said UCLA's Mark Gold.. “On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s 11.”   read more

McFarland has accused OPM’s information technology office of interfering with his office’s efforts to determine how well the agency had guarded security clearance and federal employee personnel files that were hacked and how well it responded to those breaches. McFarland said the Office of the Chief Information Officer had “hindered and interfered with” his office’s oversight and “has created an environment of mistrust by providing my office with incorrect and/or misleading information.”   read more

Honeybees have been dying out in unprecedented numbers since 2006. Land use and other factors are no doubt part of the problem, but pesticides have been one of the suspects from the beginning. The ruling supported the view of many environmentalists who believe the long-term effect of insecticides on entire bee colonies should be taken into account, not merely a dose of chemical on an individual bee.   read more

In an experiment by the U.S. Marine Corps on the integration of women into combat units, mixed-gender units didn’t perform as well as all-male units. It was pointed out that the male Marines in the trial were mostly combat veterans, whereas the women, by definition, had not seen combat and were mostly recent graduates of infantry school or had come from non-combat roles.   read more

A report from the Harvard Kennedy School and the National Institute of Justice says that those up to age 21 should be treated as juveniles by the justice system, with gradually diminishing protections for those up to age 24.   read more

Connecticut’s rate of suicide by firearm dropped 15.4% after it enacted a waiting period and background checks. In Missouri, suicides via firearm increased 16.1% after that state in 2007 repealed its law requiring that those wanting to purchase firearms apply for a permit at the local sheriff’s office....But Crifasi warned that the study does not indicate a clear causal relationship."   read more

“After expanding by a record 1.7 million barrels a day in 2014, the latest price rout could stop U.S. growth in its tracks,” the agency reported. The reason for the decline is the fall in price caused by a huge surplus of oil.   read more

The hearing, labeled a “show trial” by Democrats, featured two “abortion survivors” who lived after their mothers attempted to terminate their pregnancies. Republicans did not invite anyone from the Center for Medical Progress, the antiabortion group that made and edited the undercover videos that sparked the hearings. Furthermore, GOP lawmakers—after making critical remarks about Planned Parenthood—admitted they had not seen the controversial videos in their full, unedited form.   read more