15 stories
Politics
Talarico reverses on girls’ sports in Texas Senate race
After opposing a Texas bill on transgender athletes in 2021, the Senate Democrat now says he would oppose their play in girls’ sports when safety or fairness is at risk.
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Trump’s Hasan execution plan sparks fight over livestream
The dispute over broadcasting Hasan’s execution puts victims’ families and the meaning of justice at the center of what parents teach their children.
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Faith
Msgr. Charles Pope says God's mercy makes forgiveness possible
For the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Pope says receiving God's mercy moves Christians to forgive others without requiring them to ignore harm or abandon necessary boundaries.
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Msgr. Charles Pope warns piety can weaken Christian witness
In his homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Pope warns that believers’ treatment of others and daily conduct shape whether they hand on the faith.
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Charles Pope urges Christians to seek mercy, not fairness
For the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Pope reads Jesus’ vineyard parable as a warning against demanding fairness from God and a call to depend on his mercy.
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Msgr. Charles Pope urges readers to tend their own vineyard
In his homily for the Oct. 4, 2026, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Washington pastor links Isaiah’s vineyard to the choices that shape a soul.
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News
Trump plan would pay married parents to care for their children
The proposal would open federal child-care subsidies to eligible married couples, while critics warn an existing fund could leave working families competing for scarce help.
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Joel Retzlaff gets yearlong ban after girls’ sports protest
Washington voters decide Initiative 638 on Nov. 3, after Camas schools barred the father from district property for a year following his protest.
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New York City proposes $8.9 million for minors’ puberty drugs
The Oct. 6 notice names two potential vendors and sets an Oct. 16 deadline, as a federal Medicaid and CHIP funding rule takes effect Oct. 13.
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DOJ report says Garland memo put parents under FBI scrutiny
The report says the FBI opened 25 Guardian assessments on parents, while DOJ and Education urge state attorneys general to enforce federal parental-rights laws.
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Colorado committee kills girls’ sports bill; voters decide next
The 8-3 vote killed HB26-1083; Initiative 109, which would designate school teams by biological sex, is set for Colorado’s Nov. 3 ballot.
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Washington girls walked off; now voters decide who races
A campaign poll reports 56% support for I-638, including 48% of Democrats, as Washington voters weigh whether to keep men out of girls’ K-12 sports.
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California Gov. Newsom signs SB 934 conversion therapy bill
The governor says the update to California’s conversion-therapy ban protects LGBTQ youth after the Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s ban.
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James Uthmeier asks court to rein in Meta’s teen apps
Florida wants Meta to remove under-14 users, cap teen use at two hours and disable autoplay and infinite scroll as its lawsuit continues.
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TikTok allegedly left kids with a fake safety reset
New York’s lawsuit says children who sought a reset saw unchanged feeds, raising a question parents cannot ignore: can they trust the safety tools on their children’s phones?
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