The media landscape has dramatically changed in the past 20 years, evidenced by a new study that shows three million residents in more than 200 counties don t have access to even one local news source. Starting in 2005, local newspapers began closing their doors with 2,200 out of business 16 years later. Journalists also fell by the wayside, their numbers cut in half in the same time period. .
A small, rural Pennsylvania community has taken a proactive approach to an area many small towns struggle with: grant funding. The City of Meadville collects property taxes but needs additional resources for some projects. Jaime Kinder, mayor of Meadville, sought assistance from Allegheny College, which developed a grant-writing course. .
David Lopez, distinguished visiting professor of law at Arizona State University and co-dean emeritus at Rutgers University, said Arizona State has evolved since he was an undergraduate student there back in the 1980s. Today, Lopez said he is proud to see the university be a Hispanic Serving Institution as more than 25% of the student body is Hispanic. Lopez is back temporarily in his home state of Arizona and alma mater as a distinguished visiting professor to teach about legal structures and cases through the lens of the Latino community, by using a music and humanities approach to what he calls "fact-checking the law." Lopez emphasized he wants to foster allyship and empathy among students of all backgrounds. .
Illinois could soon be the fourth state to pass a law to prevent unfair youth sentencing. The legislation encourages criminal courts to recognize youth who are convicted for acts of self-defense or as victims of violence. Often, young survivors of sexual assault, sex trafficking or domestic abuse are convicted in adult court and given long prison sentences. .
The first people to make use of a new state law on sealing criminal records are set to go before a judge today. Previously, only people whose conviction did not result in incarceration could petition for expungement. Jay Jordan, CEO of the nonprofit Alliance for Safety and Justice, which pushed for the law, will ask a judge in Stockton to seal his decades-old robbery conviction, and added Senate Bill 731 will give people who have paid their dues a clean slate. .