Commentary: The Reckoning Has Come for K-12 Sex Abuse, and You the Taxpayer Are on the Hook

High School students in the classroom

The teenage female athletes at California’s Pomona High School said they felt special when a handful of coaches there took them under their wing, spending more time with them than others, providing extra encouragement, sharing personal stories and, sometimes, seemingly harmless flirtatious talk.

One track team member was amazed at a Nevada meet when she saw the coaches drinking, smoking marijuana, and sharing the party scene with teammates. But that attention turned to tragedy at a subsequent meet in Las Vegas when a coach brought the 16-year-old to his hotel room, plied her with alcohol, and, she says, raped her.

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Commentary: Don’t Let the Department of Education Silence Our Kids

Moms for America

The Founding Fathers recognized that an educated citizenry was vital to the survival of our republic. Thomas Jefferson, for example, saw education as essential to giving every citizen the opportunity to participate meaningfully in a free society.

Writing in 1818, our third president described public education as “the means to give every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business … to express and preserve his own ideas … to improve his morals and faculties … to understand his duties, and to exercise his rights.”

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Couple Accused of Using Their Adopted African-American Children as Slaves

Donald Lantz and Jeanne Whitefeather (composite image)

In Kanawha County, West Virginia, Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, face serious charges after being charged with forcing their adopted African-American children to work in inhumane conditions and keeping them locked up in A barn.

Lantz and Whitefeather pleaded not guilty in Kanawha County court on Tuesday  . The charges include trafficking of minors, use of minors in forced labor and child neglect with significant risk of causing serious injury or death.

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Joe Manchin Leaves Democratic Party

Joe Manchin

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Friday that he was leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent.

Manchin announced in November that he would not be seeking re-election for his senate seat, fueling rumors that the senator may be considering a gubernatorial or presidential run, according to Politico. Manchin, 76, who has served in the Senate since 2010 and was a member of the Democratic Party for decades, announced the decision on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that he wanted to “bring the country together.”

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Judge Blocks Suspensions of Middle School Female Athletes Who Refused to Compete Against Male Student

Track and Field

A West Virginia judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing several middle school girls to compete after the school district banned them from competition after refusing to play against a biological male, according to 12 WBOY, a local media outlet.

Five middle school female athletes forfeited their positions at a track meet in April after they were informed that they would have to compete against a biological male, prompting the school district to allegedly bar the girls from future competitions, according to WDTV News. The students sued, and Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia filed an amicus brief in support of the students.

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Federal Appeals Court Overturns West Virginia Transgender Sports Ban

Becky Pepper-Jackson

In a 2-1 ruling, the court ruled that the law violated Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in schools.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a West Virginia law that banned transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.

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High Energy Costs Drive Revolt Against States’ Climate Policies but Commitments Hard to Dislodge

Arizona Corporation Commissioners in front of power station

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) recently took the unusual step of voting to pull back on the state’s renewable energy targets, over concerns they are too costly and produce few benefits.

Most states are moving in the other direction, following California’s lead, but there are signs of some hesitation as the real costs of these policies are realized.

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