Natalie Wallington

Success in Durham has other tenant groups eyeing housing code changes • NC Newsline Durham tenants’ success in lobbying the city council to prohibit landlords from collecting rent if housing is dangerous has sparked interest.

“Landlords can be charged with a misdemeanor if they collect rent on housing that has immediately dangerous conditions.”

New from my former KC Star pal Jon Shorman 👀

Kansas Bill Will Strip Driver’s Licenses from Every Trans Resident Who Changed Gender — Assigned As Kansas passes a bathroom bill, another bill that will invalidate the driver’s license of every trans resident has been deemphasized in the coverage. Also, Trump’s Department of Education says San J...

An extreme Kansas bill will invalidate the drivers license of every trans person in the state. It was passed alongside a particularly extreme bathroom bill, meaning that the implications of every trans Kansan losing legal ID overnight has largely been missed.

Minneapolis’ Hotel Workers Are on Edge Staff across the city told NOTUS how their lives have changed since the start of the federal immigration operation. “It's frightening,” one said.

"Federal agents at her hotel are subsisting on microwavable bowls of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, because it’s become so difficult for them to find restaurants willing to serve them."

Great reporting from @notus.com talking to hotel workers in Minneapolis: www.notus.org/immigration/...

My hot take as a former (& hopefully future) Kansas Citian is that it would be a terrible look for the KCATA to toss incentives at a property developer while they simultaneously fail to support the struggling bus system...

"Transit" is in their name for a reason, maybe they should focus on that.

To make matters worse, a partial government shutdown may temporarily shutter HUD as soon as this weekend.

This could further delay the grants that local homelessness service organizations like Alpha Omega rely on to operate.

bsky.app/profile/wash...

This Memphis nonprofit for homeless veterans faces a funding cliff due to HUD delays People working with the Community Alliance for the Homeless’ Continuum of Care Planning Committee gathered on Jan. 20 and to discuss strategies for facing

A Memphis group serving homeless veterans may be forced to cut programs or lay off staff if federal grant money from HUD doesn’t arrive before last year's funding expires.

Meanwhile, HUD says programs like theirs are "warehousing the homeless at exorbitant taxpayer cost."
mlk50.com/2026/01/28/a...

Make that two sitting City Councilmembers

Having a super normal time here in Memphis, where a sitting City Councilmember is posting about how the snow on the ground is actually made of plastic...
www.facebook.com/share/r/16kc...

Memphis blizzard update: A pickup truck just came down my street pulling someone in a canoe behind it. There are less than two inches of snow on the ground

Just walked around downtown Memphis for a couple hours talking to unhoused folks ahead of the blizzard.

7 people expressed interest in getting to the city's warming center, but most don't own a phone to call for a free ride. If you see someone outdoors, offer to call on their behalf! 901-486-0939

"I got to Minneapolis 24 hours ago and here's what I've seen--" I am BEGGING y'all to get your news from reporters who actually live in the city where The Thing is happening. There are local journalists on the ground. People who are deeply connected with the community. Follow them! Support them!

the way this happens every single episode.... if she's lucky it's *just* doing an autopsy smh

HUGE NEWS for trans people: We have the latest minibus, including the bill to fund the Department of Health and Human Services and it looks like there are no restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender people.
docs.house.gov/billsthiswee...

My hot take of the day is that even if this man had been undocumented, even if he did have a criminal record, this would still be a completely unacceptable and unlawful way to treat someone.

And on the fifth day, God created Whiskey Fridays with Tony Dokoupil

Tennessee HB 1472 doesn't just target LGBTQ+ people-- it also aims to remove discrimination protections for "any conduct related to an abortion."

You can tell Rep. Gino Bolso what you think about his bill at rep.gino.bulso@capitol.tn.gov.

More information:
wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInf...

Check the lines on the street in the video you just shared. When a car is moving, and it comes into contact with a person who is not moving, that's called "hitting" a person. Luckily, all three people were able to walk away. That doesn't mean the cars didn't hit them.

A screenshot from the Poetry Foundation website of the short poem Obligations 2 by Layli Long Soldier. The word pairs are arranged in a lattice-like pattern that invites the reader to either read all of them in order or choose one phrase from each line: As we embrace / resist the future / the present / the past we work / we struggle / we begin / we fail to understand / to find / to unbraid / to accept / to question the grief / the grief / the grief / the grief we shift / we wield / we bury into light / as ash across our faces

As a journalist, it's best practice not to share my opinions when they may come across as political. So instead I'm going to share this:

A bright rainbow with a faint second rainbow above it shines over a parking lot on a background of gray clouds

Double rainbow spotted in Memphis 🥰

🙋 Would love to add @mlk50.com for Memphis! Independent, justice-focused nonprofit w/ no ads & no paywall ♥️

FAVORITE CRYPTID the Loveland Frog of Loveland, Ohio is (1) just a big frog that walks upright on its back legs, and is (2) the subject of the real musical "Hot Damn, It's The Loveland Frog!"

Undercovered by national outlets? Sure. But me and my colleagues at @mlk50.com have been busting ass covering the federal task force in Memphis since it arrived in late September.

October dispatch: mlk50.com/2025/10/22/a...
November dispatch: mlk50.com/2025/11/25/s...
More coverage: mlk50.com 👀

‘The baby was completely gray’: Immigrants choose between health care and risk of deportation - Verite News New Orleans More immigrants in New Orleans and Mississippi are skipping important health care appointments and experiencing heightened stress amid federal immigration raids.

This great piece by @halleparker.bsky.social in New Orleans echoes so much of what immigrant families are facing here in Memphis-- people are too scared to leave the house for food, attend medical appointments, or even to call 911 when their lives are on the line.
veritenews.org/2025/12/16/i...

Some personal news from the creative writing side of my world!

This is part of why I love working where I do (MLK50 in Memphis)... we are a rare example of an outlet that doesn't have any paywall or run any ads, but still pays its people decently.

Now the question is how to replicate what we do elsewhere, including much more expensive cities than Memphis 🤔

"Briggs and her husband, Smokey, live on 900 acres they bought in the late 2000s after the previous owner died when an old pumpjack fell on him as he attempted to escape a group of aggressive hogs."

A compelling look at the TX conservatives pushing the state to fix leaky abandoned oil wells:

fascinating. i have listened to none of these 🤔

I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.

A cropped Spotify Wrapped top genres page showing that my too genres for 2025 were 1. Bedroom Pop, 2. Minneapolis Sound and 3. Indie Rock

offering a reward to anyone who can tell me what "Minneapolis Sound" is