“In the News” is published quarterly and provides a sampling of stories, articles, or reviews that reference or relate to beliefs, myths, and narratives in Southern culture since 1970.
“Tallahassee judge will consider request to block oil drilling along Apalachicola River” from the Tallahassee Democrat (December 2, 2024)
“The [Department of Environmental Protection] announcement that the Clearwater project could proceed drew immediate protest. The department said it fielded about 600 comments from the public opposed to the project.”
“A Mississippi teacher created a school in an empty storefront. Students showed up.” from The New York Times (December 7, 2024)
“Still, the fact that parents have pulled their children out of public school to place them at Abundance speaks to the frustration and even desperation that have made the risk feel worth it. Even some of the teachers that Ms. Hooper used to work with in local school districts have enrolled their children.”
“City, LGBTQ+ group react to federal judges order restoring pride float to Prattville’s Christmas parade” from WSFA.com (December 8, 2024)
“On Thursday, Prattville Pride filed a federal lawsuit and a request for an emergency temporary restraining order to prevent the City of Prattville from keeping its pride-themed float out of the parade. The organization said the city was violating its first and fourteenth amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.
“The organization said it filed all the proper forms to enter its float into the Christmas parade in early September and was approved, despite some opposition in the community to its inclusion. That approval was pulled Thursday morning by Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie Jr., just one day before the parade was set to take place.”
“Tennessee’s new laws in 2025 included tenant’s rights, age verification for social media, adult websites” from The Tennesseean (December 17, 2024)
“A number of new Tennessee laws are set to take effect on Jan. 1, including three that currently face active challenges in federal court.”
“Louisiana AG tells schools how to display the Ten Commandments, offers legal defense” from The Advocate (January 3, 2025)
“House Bill 71, which the Republican-controlled state Legislature passed last year, requires public K-12 schools and colleges to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom by Jan. 1. However, a group of parents sued to block the law, and in November U.S. District Court Judge John deGravelles declared the mandate unconstitutional and temporarily barred the state from enforcing it.
“On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union blasted the attorney general’s guidance as ‘misleading,’ saying there is no way to comply with the law without violating the First Amendment.”
“How a Georgia dam fight foretold Jimmy Carter’s environmental legacy” from WABE.com (January 3, 2025)
“Dam-building was popular on both sides of the political spectrum. But there was strong grassroots opposition to the one planned for Sprewell Bluff.”
“Kentucky students challenge whether the state is meeting its constitutional duty” from WCPO-9 (January 15, 2025)
“A student-led lawsuit claims Kentucky’s education system has been backsliding for years since lawmakers enacted nationally renowned reforms. The students are seeking a ruling that the state is failing in its constitutional duty to provide all children with an adequate and equitable education.
“The students, who attend high schools across Kentucky, say they want to hold the state accountable for what they see as its shortcomings in guaranteeing a quality education — regardless of whether a child lives in an affluent or impoverished school district.”
“Arkansas governor wants to revive state’s Medicaid work requirement under Trump administration” from AP News (January 16, 2025)
“Another round of states imposing work requirements would likely spark a new round of litigation over the restriction. The renewed push for requirements comes as advocacy groups are worried about Republicans in Congress seeking broader cuts to the Medicaid program.”
“Republicans in North Carolina are Treading a Terrifying Path” from The New York Times (January 16, 2025)
“The nature of his complaint is especially insidious. Griffin and the North Carolina Republican Party, which supports him, aren’t producing evidence of voter fraud or a botched count. They’re disputing the legitimacy of more than 60,000 ballots, principally because the registration forms of many of the voters who cast them lack either a driver’s license or Social Security number, as law requires.
“But that doesn’t mean the voters did anything wrong. Some of them may have registered before that information became mandatory in 2004. Long after that point, North Carolina routinely accepted registration forms without it. It’s also possible that voters provided it but that it’s not present in the state database because of administrative error or faulty record keeping.”
“Bill aims to ease Virginia’s criminal justice ‘crisis'” from WTKR-3 (January 25, 2025)
“‘The basic idea that we have about how the criminal systems works is that guilty people should be convicted and innocent people should be found not guilty. The way the system stands right now there are not enough lawyers on either side to give us assurance that that is always happening,’ said Norfolk’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi.”
Nobody's Home 