Aldermen advanced a narrow smoking exemption aimed at bringing a high‑profile cigar convention to St. Louis, with backers pointing to $4.2M in regional impact.

An interactive tracker turns NYPD encounter spreadsheets into neighborhood maps, showing where officers record Level 1–3 interactions across the city.

A Senate budget packet found roughly $649,351 tied to California’s Imagination Library lacks receipts; lawmakers pressed State Librarian Greg Lucas for answers.

Austin ISD is proposing an SB 1882 partnership with TCIS to run Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools as a bid to avoid a state takeover; trustees could vote March 26. An application for TEA benefits is due March 31, 2026.

The Education Department says Jefferson County Public Schools violated Title IX, demanding the district reverse policies that let transgender students access girls’ teams and facilities within 10 days. The decision sets up a fast legal fight in Jeffco.

Austin’s council moved the job of logging lobbyist contacts from council offices to lobbyists themselves, a shift that supporters call efficient and critics call a transparency risk.

Ben Shuldiner plans to pare Seattle Public Schools’ central office, letting positions go unfilled to redirect funds and simplify decision-making amid a multimillion-dollar gap.

Two bills would make it easier for minority and community banks to receive state deposits, freeing up capital that supporters say could boost local mortgages and small-business loans. Sponsors say the tweaks modernize programs that haven’t kept pace with community needs.

Gov. Mike Braun signed HB 1116 banning public crypto kiosks statewide; deputies report machines are already being turned off or removed and the attorney general may seek forfeiture.

Senate leaders advanced S.2157 to the Rules Committee; the bill would set Massachusetts on Atlantic Standard Time year‑round but requires neighbor states and DOT approval.

After a jury cleared him, ICE denied Carlos Della Valle humanitarian parole and called him a flight risk. His U.S. wife has spent seven months following transfers from St. Thomas to the Everglades.

A bill in Nashville would make TennCare and private insurers cover biomarker tests for diagnosed patients, supporters say. Advocates and a cancer survivor told lawmakers the tests can be lifesaving but costly.

A state House panel advanced bills to expand nondiscrimination, widen hate‑crime protections and ban the panic defense — but the GOP‑controlled Senate stands in the way.