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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.

 

 

MIDLAND, Mich - Hens could lay in Michigan’s residential backyards under a bipartisan bill introduced in the state House in January.

House Bill 4049, introduced by Rep. James DeSana, R-Carlton, would allow up to five chickens per quarter-acre of property, with a limit of 25 chickens in residential areas. Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor, is a co-sponsor.

“Eggs are too damn expensive right now, and this legislation could make a real difference,” Morgan said in an email to Michigan Capitol Confidential.

The bill would allow people living under residential zoning restrictions to keep egg-laying hens on their property. If enacted into law, the bill would override local ordinances that ban hens in residential areas.

Any number of hens higher than the limit specified in the bill would be subject to local zoning laws. The bill would not ban local governments from enforcing nuisance laws on noise, hours of operation, or advertising. The bill allows cities to ban roosters, if they choose, because of possible noise complaints. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace faced backlash online following President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night after they used an emotional moment with a young brain cancer survivor honored by the president to bash Trump.

The commentary from the far-left hosts came after Trump recognized 13-year-old Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, who was in the gallery for the event and has always dreamed of being a police officer.

“In 2018, DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer,” Trump said. “The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago.”

“Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true and DJ has been sworn in as an honorary law enforcement officer, actually a number of times. Click here to read more.

 

DETROIT — A judge declared three Michigan brothers dead Wednesday, more than 14 years after they disappeared at Thanksgiving in a small-town tragedy that remains unsolved despite an explicit belief by investigators that their father is responsible.

Lenawee County Judge Catherine Sala granted a request by Tanya Zuvers, the mother of Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton.

“This is a case of terrible and longstanding impact on the community of Lenawee,” Sala said. “No condolences will ever be enough for such losses suffered.”

But at the same time, the judge rejected a request to also acknowledge that the boys' father, John Skelton, murdered the children, finding a lack of “clear and convincing evidence” after listening to testimony from law enforcement officers Monday. Click here to read more.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two men have been charged after investigators said they were connected to the deaths of three Chiefs fans who were found dead in the backyard of a Kansas City home in January 2024.

Jordan Willis and Ivory J. Carson were charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance in the deaths of Ricky Johnson, 38; Clayton McGeeney, 36; and David Harrington, 37.

Investigations have been ongoing since Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, when a woman called Kansas City police and said she had found a dead body at the Kansas City home after she had been searching for her fiancé, 36-year-old McGeeney. Click here to read more.

 

LANSING, Mich - A Michigan electric vehicle battery company that pocketed $900,000 from taxpayers six years ago will keep the cash without penalty as it moves production and 188 jobs to South Carolina.

It’s the latest example of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s flawed attempt to force Michigan residents into transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric-battery operated cars and trucks in which billions of taxpayer dollars have been used to subsidize a nascent industry.

Akasol. Inc., a subsidiary of BorgWarner, will lay off a total of 188 workers when it closes two separate plants in Hazel Park and Warren on April 14, to shift production of lithium-ion batteries south to enable the company to “grow above market,” the company said in a statement to the Detroit Free Press. Click here to read more.