News

Yamina Inzunza is accessing new programs available for former foster care students in California. Photo courtesy Youth Today

Studies show that foster youth are the most likely to drop out of school and least likely to graduate high school, much less attend and graduate from college. In California, about 50 percent of foster students graduated from high school in the 2016-17 school year, compared to about 83 percent for all other students, according to the state Department of Education.

Abby Olcese 1-11-2019

Cover of Wylde. Photo courtesy Cave Pictures Publishing on Facebook.

Myth-making is something the creative forces at Cave Pictures Publishing, a new comics publisher, are fascinated by. The publisher aims to use the medium’s possibilities in ways that bring together faith-oriented audiences who may be new to comics, and long-time fans of the medium looking for thematic depth. Wylde, a western-themed horror comic, is currently available on ComiXology. The Light Princess, an adaptation of the George MacDonald fairy tale, arrives in February.

Federal air traffic controller union members protest the partial U.S. federal government shutdown in a rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Erns

Hundreds of furloughed federal employees chanting "we want to work" gathered for a union-led march to the White House on Thursday, the 20th day of a partial government shutdown over U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding.

"Hey, hey, ho, ho, shutdown's got to go" protesters shouted as they assembled in the bitter cold outside of the AFL-CIO union headquarters, hoisting signs reading "Trump: End the Shutdown," "Reopen Govt" and "Let Me Do My Job."

Anna Sutterer 1-08-2019

Image via PBS documentary Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story 

It was this harsh sentence that did not take into account her age and circumstances at the time that sparked an outcry among activities and celebrities alike, calling for her release.

the Web Editors 1-07-2019

LOS ANGELES - AUG 09: Regina King arrives to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Annual Grants Banquet on August 9, 2018 in Hollywood, CA. Shutterstock. 

While accepting a Golden Globe last night, actress Regina King made “a vow” to hire “50 percent women” on every project she produces in the next two years.

the Web Editors 1-07-2019

Image via PBS documentaryMe Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story

Tennessee Gov, Bill Haslam commuted the sentence of Cyntoia Brown Monday morning, the Tennesean reports. Haslam has ordered Brown’s early release set for Aug. 7, after 15 years in prison. Brown is an alleged sex trafficking victim who, at age 16, killed a 43-year-old man who had picked her up and taken her to his home.

Pope Francis attends an audience with members of the Diplomatic Corps at the Vatican, Jan. 7, 2019. Ettore Ferrari/Pool vie REUTERS

Pope Francis warned on Monday against a resurgence of nationalist and populist movements and criticized countries that try to solve the migration crisis with unilateral or isolationist actions.

Members of the U.S. House are administered the oath of office by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the start of the 116th Congress, Jan. 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

As the Democratic speaker, Pelosi will oversee a sweeping series of investigations of Donald Trump, his business interests and the first two years of his presidency, while pursuing a distinctly Democratic legislative agenda.

Christina Colón 1-03-2019

The Chesapeake Bay in Md. Shutterstock. 

Stormwater pollution is the fastest growing source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—a 64,000 square mile drainage basin that sprawls across parts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New York, and Washington, D.C. One of the contributors: religious congregations. 

Anna Sutterer 1-03-2019

“The assumption should be that Christian Americans, along with Americans of all faiths and backgrounds, would of course welcome new members of Congress regardless of their religious affiliations.”

Protesters hold a portrait of Hindu deity “Ayappa” as they take part in a rally called by various Hindu organisations after two women entered the Sabarimala temple, in Kochi, India, Jan. 2, 2019. REUTERS/Sivaram

Two women defied a centuries-old ban on entering a Hindu temple in the Indian state of Kerala on Wednesday, sparking protests and calls for a strike by conservative Hindu groups outraged by their visit.

Pope Francis on World Day of Peace in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Jan. 1, 2019. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Pope Francis, in his first message of the new year on Tuesday, bemoaned a lack of unity across the world, and warned against a soulless hunt for profit that benefits only a few.

Jail cells are seen in the Enhanced Supervision Housing Unit at the Rikers Island Correctional facility in New York. March 12, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The U.S. Congress on Thursday gave final approval to bipartisan legislation supported by President Donald Trump that would bring sweeping changes to prison sentencing and the treatment of inmates during incarceration and following their release.

Will Young 12-19-2018

The day before Adam Ward was slated to be executed, he sat in a visitation booth at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas with Rev. DeAnna Golsan, a woman he had never met before. During the months prior, the two — Golsan, a Texan pastor who believed in the merit and morality of the death penalty, and Ward, a man who was sentenced to death — had become unexpected pen pals after being connected by Ward’s mother, an attendee of Golsan’s church. Golsan felt she knew him well, yet, upon meeting Ward, she was forced to confront that the 33-year-old soft-spoken man who cared mostly about his mother was somehow slated for death.

Tom Hals, Reuters 12-19-2018

Asylum seekers wait on the Mexican side of the Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

A U.S. judge struck down Trump administration policies aimed at restricting asylum claims by people citing gang or domestic violence in their home countries and ordered the U.S. government to bring back six deported migrants to reconsider their cases.

the Web Editors 12-19-2018

“Justice” was on people’s hearts, minds, and search histories this year. The word was named Merriam-Webster’s "Word of the Year" for 2018 after being consulted by users 74 percent more than in 2017.

Andrew Hay, Reuters 12-18-2018

A picture of Jakelin is seen during a protest to demand justice for her, in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 16, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo

U.S. Border Patrol agents who detained a 7-year-old Guatemalan migrant girl who later died in federal custody will not speak with U.S. lawmakers investigating her death, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Monday, citing their union membership.

David F. Potter 12-13-2018

On Thursday, Congress passed bipartisan criminal justice reform. As deliberation over the First Step Act continues — the bill proposing multiple reforms to the criminal justice system and currently in the legislative limelight — the 5-year renewal of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act quietly achieved measurable impact for incarcerated juveniles.

A girl walks near her house destroyed in an air strike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Faj Attan village, Sanaa, Yemen Dec. 13, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

The U.S. Senate delivered a rare double rebuke to President Donald Trump on Saudi Arabia on Thursday, voting to end U.S. military support for the war in Yemen and blame the Saudi crown prince for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The votes were largely symbolic because to become law the resolutions would have to pass the House of Representatives, whose Republican leaders have blocked any legislation intended to rebuke the Saudis.

Andrew J. Wight 12-12-2018

Photo courtesy Andrew J. Wight

At the hectic border crossing between La Guajira department in Colombia and Zulia state in Venezuela, there are a surprising number of kids in school uniforms – niños pendulares, or pendulum kids.