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CHICAGO, IL - Illinois schools would be required to share curriculum materials with parents under a pair of bills in Springfield. State Rep. Amy Grant’s House Bill 3806 and state Sen. Andrew Chesney’s Senate Bill 2080 require school materials be made available to parents.

A pair of new bills would give Illinois parents more insight into what’s taught in their schools, including access to teaching materials that can help them support their children’s educations.

State Rep. Amy Grant, R-Wheaton, introduced House Bill 3806 and state Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, filed Senate Bill 2080. Both bills represent the Curriculum Transparency Act, requiring public and charter schools to make educational materials accessible to parents within 10 days of classroom use. Click here to read more.

 

During the final months of the Biden administration, the National Institutes of Health awarded $28 million to a mysterious venture-backed company called Vaccine Company Inc., a biomedical firm founded in 2022 whose chief financial officer happens to be one of former president Joe Biden’s top COVID advisers.

To Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), the September 2024 grant from the NIH’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health doesn’t pass the smell test. Vaccine Company has left virtually no public footprint showing what it has done with the taxpayer funds, which the Biden administration doled out to a seemingly random post office box in Bethesda, Maryland. Ernst urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a letter late Tuesday to investigate why the Biden administration awarded millions of taxpayer dollars to the mysterious firm and to consider clawing back any portion of the reward that remains unspent.

A Washington Free Beacon review of the taxpayer-funded company, which is supposed to use its $28 million HHS grant to develop vaccines to combat West Nile, dengue, and Zika viruses, indicates it has gone to great lengths to keep itself out of the public eye. The generically named firm has no website, and none of its top officers, including its chief financial officer, former Biden COVID adviser Sonya Bernstein, have disclosed their association to the company on their public résumés. Click here to read more.

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, used the inaugural episode of his new podcast to break from progressives by speaking out against allowing transgender women and girls to compete in female sports.

Newsom made his declaration in an extended conversation with conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old who built the influential Turning Point USA organization that helped President Donald Trump increase his support last fall among the youngest generation of voters.

Kirk, like Trump, has been a vocal opponent of allowing transgender women and girls to participate.

"I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair," Newsom told Kirk on "This is Gavin Newsom."

"I am not wrestling with the fairness issue," continued Newsom, who played varsity baseball as a college student. "I totally agree with you. … I revere sports. So, the issue of fairness is completely legit." Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - The Department of Justice has dropped a Biden-era lawsuit that had attempted to compel Idaho to allow abortions in violation of the state’s Defense of Life Act. The move comes after a yearslong battle the pro-life state has had with the leadership of the Department of Justice under then-President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration had argued in court that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) required pro-life states such as Idaho to allow abortions if they were required to stabilize a woman in a medical condition. Idaho’s Defense of Life Act already permits an abortion, according to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, “on the subjective, good-faith medical judgment of a doctor who believes the life of the mother is threatened.”

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has contended that EMTALA and the Defense of Life Act were not in conflict.

In January, St. Luke’s, a Boise, Idaho, hospital network, also sued Idaho in expectation that the Trump administration would drop the Justice Department’s lawsuit. Click here to read more.

 

By- Sharryl Attkisson - In watching the developments and controversies over downsizing the federal workforce, I’m reminded of a series of shocking but eyeopening stories I reported at CBS News in 2003.

That was the year I learned there are more than a few federal employees being paid six figure salaries to not work.

Three people I profiled who were getting big money to do nothing—happened to work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The first person was NIH grants manager Edward McSweegan. He had so little to do at work that he became a successful mystery writer on-the-job and joined a nearby gym to “break up the day.”

He told me he wasn’t the only one.

Indeed, after I aired his story, I began connecting with numerous other federal workers who likewise told me they were being paid six figures to do no work!

As it happens, it is so difficult to fire federal employees that when they get on the wrong side of a vindictive supervisor, the supervisor may simply isolate the person and give him nothing meaningful to do. Click here to read more.

On March 6, 2025, Michigan Republicans intensified their push for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed in early February 2025. The order mandates that educational institutions receiving federal funding ensure sports participation aligns with athletes’ biological sex, aiming to protect women’s sports by barring transgender girls.

Michigan Republicans, including state senators and representatives, have framed this as a matter of fairness, safety, and compliance with federal policy, while the MHSAA has resisted immediate action, citing legal uncertainties and state law conflicts.

During the news conference, it was revealed that, as of now, there are no trans high school athletes participating in spring sports.

The campaign began gaining traction in February when Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) appeared on The Steve Gruber Show on February 21, urging the MHSAA to comply or face consequences like the withdrawal of federal funds. Walberg argued that the MHSAA’s reluctance to enforce the order undermined female athletes’ rights. This sentiment was echoed by State Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater), who, on February 11, warned that the MHSAA’s defiance could jeopardize funding for Michigan schools. State Representative Jason Woolford (R-Howell) went further, introducing House Bill 4066 on February 13, which would legally require Michigan schools to separate athletes by biological sex, aligning state policy with Trump’s order.

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The pressure culminated in a news conference held today, March 6, 2025 in Lansing, where Michigan Republican lawmakers, led by State Senator Lana Theis (R-Brighton), publicly demanded MHSAA compliance. Theis, joined by Representative Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) and other GOP colleagues, criticized the MHSAA for “doubling down” on its current policy, which allows transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports with a waiver. Theis called the MHSAA’s stance “a blatant disregard for fairness and the law,” emphasizing that Trump’s order was clear: schools permitting male participation in women’s sports risk losing federal support. Hall reinforced this, stating, “President Trump delivered results nationwide, but here in Michigan, the MHSAA is refusing to protect girls’ sports. It’s time to stop delaying and follow the law.”

The lawmakers highlighted the executive order’s language, which declares it U.S. policy to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,” arguing that the MHSAA’s inaction could have broader financial implications for Michigan’s education system. They also pointed to the NCAA’s recent policy shift to comply with the order as evidence that change was feasible and necessary.

The MHSAA’s reaction, delivered via a statement from Director of Communications Geoff Kimmerly shortly after the news conference at around 10:00 AM EST, maintained its cautious approach. Kimmerly reiterated that the association is “awaiting further guidance” on how the executive order aligns with Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, amended in 1976 to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression. “We’re continuing to go with our policy as is,” Kimmerly said, noting that only two waivers for transgender girls were granted in the 2024-2025 school year out of approximately 175,000 student-athletes, suggesting the issue’s limited scope. He added that the MHSAA, a private nonprofit overseeing interscholastic athletics, is consulting legal experts to assess whether compliance with Trump’s order might violate state law, potentially sparking a legal conflict between federal and state authority.

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NASHVILLE, TN - A former student is suing a school system after he says he graduated with a 3.4 GPA but is unable to read or even spell his own name.

The student, who is referred to as “William A.” in the lawsuit, did not receive a “compensatory education” from the Clarksville Montgomery County School System, according to a ruling by the judge.

“William A. is dyslexic and graduated from high school with a 3.4 grade-point average. Yet even then he could not read. The school now challenges an order that it provides him with compensatory education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We affirm the order,” the ruling states.

In 2023, the parents of the student said that the school system failed to provide their son with a free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

In the complaint filed on Aug. 25, 2023, it stated that in June of 2023, Judge Phillip Hilliard awarded a substantial compensatory education to William A. due to the school system’s long-standing denial of FAPE. Click here to read more.

 

LOS ANGELES—Federal authorities in Los Angeles arrested two alleged leaders of a criminal organization suspected of smuggling 20,000 people from Guatemala to the United States and charging each person as much as $18,000 to get them into the country.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, known as “Turko,” and his lieutenant, Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, were taken into custody Friday. They have each pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to smuggling illegal immigrants across the border over five years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

A federal judge ordered the men, who themselves are in the country illegally, jailed without bond until their trial in April.

The indictment names Renoj-Matul as the head of one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the United States, a vast ring operating for at least a dozen years that primarily transported people to the United States from Guatemala. Click here to read more.

 

CHICAGO, IL - Illinois ability to keep its residents is third from the bottom. Only California and New York have more people moving to other states.

Illinois’ population grew last year, according to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. But it was thanks to a massive influx of international migrants, not because the state was drawing in people from other states.

Previous trends of Illinoisans choosing to move to other states continue to hold in Illinois. The state is pushing more of its own residents to other places in the country than virtually any other state, ranking 48th in losses from domestic migration.

When comparing all 50 states’ 2024 domestic migration figures, Illinois’ loss of 56,235 is only beaten by California, losing 239,575, and New York, losing 120,917. Even when considering population size, Illinois ranks 46th in domestic migration with only Alaska, California, New York and Hawaii losing residents to other states at a faster rate. Click here to read more.

 

BOISE, ID - Support for greater educational freedom is moving west as lawmakers in Idaho and Wyoming increase funding for school choice, including designating funding for pre-K education.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a $50 million Parental Choice Tax Credit program into law Thursday aimed at expanding schooling options in the state. Meanwhile, the Wyoming State Legislature passed a universal school choice bill that now sits on the Republican governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

The Idaho legislation provides a refundable tax credit for parents of up to $5,000 per K-12 student. In combination with increased funding for K-12 public education and Idaho’s LAUNCH career readiness program, this legislation makes Idaho the first state to offer education freedom from kindergarten to career, according to Little. Click here to read more.

 

HOUSTON, TX- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said vaccination is a personal decision that can protect individuals and communities.

Kennedy wrote an opinion piece for Fox News Sunday.

The comments he made in the piece come as a measles outbreak is happening in Texas and eight other states.

As of last Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported 164 cases of measles. Click here to read more.