Marisa Demarco

Crisis Pregnancy Centers Series | News From The States Billion Dollar Baby Bump: A States Newsroom 50-state investigation examining the tax records of more than 1,600 crisis pregnancy center organizations nationwide and state and federal budgets found…

Public funding for crisis pregnancy centers has grown exponentially, but oversight hasn’t. States Newsroom’s investigation is ongoing. If you’ve had an experience with a crisis pregnancy center, please get in touch: cpcproject@statesnewsroom.com

BREAKING: Kristi Noem out as DHS secretary; Trump to tap Oklahoma Sen. Mullin WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Thursday said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will be leaving the post for a job as a special envoy, following an appearance before a U.S. Senate panel…

Noem will no longer be DHS secretary, Trump announces. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to take her place:

‘What’s your plan for this pregnancy?’ Comfort, shame and a missed diagnosis For nearly 60 years, crisis pregnancy centers have been a pillar of the anti-abortion movement.

Trauma. Missed diagnoses. Fear. Support. People describe their experiences with crisis pregnancy centers as part of our investigative series. Their stories in their own words:

Federal funding for people in poverty heading to anti-abortion centers instead The bulk of the money Missouri gives to its crisis pregnancy centers comes from federal funds meant to assist families experiencing poverty with basic necessities and child care, Republican Rep.…

More anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are tapping into federal funds, such as grants for sex ed programs, teen pregnancy prevention dollars, and housing funds, States Newsroom found:

Taxpayer dollars flood pregnancy centers. Oversight hasn't followed. Editor's note: This is the first report in an ongoing series.The patient came in with a belly full of blood, Dr. Leilah Zahedi-Spung recalled. Her pregnancy was ectopic, no longer viable, and could…

A States Newsroom investigation found 21 states funneled nearly half a billion dollars to faith-based crisis pregnancy centers. While the magnitude of funding is growing, oversight is not.

From our series Billion Dollar Baby Bump:

Live Coverage: 2026 Primary Election | Arkansas Advocate Thousands of Arkansans are expected to cast their ballots Tuesday in the primary and nonpartisan judicial elections.

North Little Rock voters encounter long waits, frustration at one polling place

@arkansasadvocate.com @tessmvrbin.bsky.social

Live Coverage: 2026 Primary Election | Arkansas Advocate Thousands of Arkansans are expected to cast their ballots Tuesday in the primary and nonpartisan judicial elections.

Primary in Arkansas today — follow along with the Arkansas Advocate team's live coverage all day long:

@arkansasadvocate.com

Trump wields abortion clinic law against church demonstrators, providers still fear violence The Trump administration is using a law Congress passed in the 1990s after a wave of deadly violence at abortion clinics to prosecute demonstrators and reporters who were at a immigration-related…

"The Trump administration is using a law Congress passed in the 1990s after a wave of deadly violence at abortion clinics to prosecute demonstrators and reporters who were at a immigration-related church protest in Minneapolis."

— @elishabrown.bsky.social:

www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trum...

Border Czar Tom Homan announces end to Operation Metro Surge, claiming success • Minnesota Reformer President Donald Trump’s border czar announced on Thursday an imminent end to Operation Metro Surge, claiming success from the unprecedented federal incursion that brought thousands of immigration…

Trump’s border czar announced today an imminent end to the Minnesota surge, claiming success from the federal incursion that brought thousands of agents to the state, ignited massive resistance and resulted in two killings.

via @minnesotareformer.com

minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/12/b...

NM land commissioner seeks probe into allegation of two girls buried near Epstein ranch • Source New Mexico The allegations come from an anonymous 2019 email alleging two "foreign girls" were strangled and buried in the hills near Zorro Ranch.

New Mexico's land commissioner calls for an investigation into allegations that two girls were buried in the hills surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch.

via @patricklohmann.bsky.social / @sourcenm.com

sourcenm.com/2026/02/10/n...

Gov. Walz says he expects ‘Operation Metro Surge’ to wind down soon • Minnesota Reformer Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday said that he expects the federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota to wind down soon. During a press conference intended to highlight the adverse impacts of…

Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday said that he expects the federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota to wind down soon.

via @minnesotareformer.com

minnesotareformer.com/briefs/gov-w...

How Tennessee’s Speaker of the House Helped Keep a Payday Lender’s Struggling Sports Gambling Company Alive Cameron Sexton took steps that allowed the owners of a payday lending company, Advance Financial, to keep using their stores to boost a now-defunct online sports betting enterprise.

NEW: Tennessee’s speaker of the House took steps that allowed the owners of a payday lending company, Advance Financial, to keep using their stores to boost a now-defunct online sports betting enterprise.

W/ @tennesseelookout.com

How Tennessee’s House speaker helped keep a payday lender’s struggling sports gambling company alive • Tennessee Lookout A now-defunct Tennessee sports betting operation was under investigation. Then, House Speaker Cameron Sexton stepped in.

As regulators investigated a payday lender’s now-defunct sports gambling company, Action 247, Tennessee’s House speaker pushed to change the officials overseeing sports betting.

by @friedmanadam5.bsky.social via @tennesseelookout.com & @propublica.org:

Thousands remain without power in Tennessee with single-digit temperatures expected • Tennessee Lookout Roughly 200,000 Tennesseans remain without power Monday in frigid temperatures after a major winter storm froze trees, power lines and roadways and coated them with ice. The Tennessee Department of He...

"My biggest concern is not having a way to contact someone if we need help, if my phone dies and the power still isn’t on," said Bethany Willard of Adamsville, in West Tennessee. @cstephenson.bsky.social reports on power outages and struggles to stay warm after a Tennessee ice storm.

‘A dragnet approach,’ lawful residents detained in initial days of ICE operation in Maine • Maine Morning Star A retail worker arrested at a routine immigration check-in. A mother and a student, both asylum seekers, taken into custody. A civil engineer on a work visa and a corrections officer recruit, whose…

"A retail worker arrested at a routine immigration check-in. A mother and a student, both asylum seekers, taken into custody. A civil engineer on a work visa and a corrections officer recruit ..."

On the ICE crackdown in Maine:

mainemorningstar.com/2026/01/23/a...

via @mainemorningstar.com

8 weeks under siege in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer Frank has a hard time explaining to his 8-year-old daughter why they rarely leave their home in the Twin Cities. Why she can’t go to school, and why he can’t work. “The only thing we tell her is that…

"President Trump unleashed federal agents on Minnesota to be foot soldiers in a brutal retribution campaign that’s violating the most basic freedoms of the United States."

Eight weeks under siege in Minnesota — from @minnesotareformer.com:

ACLU says pregnant immigrant in medical distress deported through Atlanta airport WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials placed an asylum seeker who is eight months pregnant on a deportation flight Wednesday afternoon, even though she was in medical…

ICE officials "placed an asylum seeker who is eight months pregnant on a deportation flight Wednesday afternoon, even though she was in medical distress, her attorneys told States Newsroom," Ariana Figueroa reports.

www.newsfromthestates.com/article/aclu...

Minnesota prosecution of ICE officer faces new political obstacles under Trump • Minnesota Reformer The Trump administration made its opinion known almost immediately after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday: The officer acted heroically in defending himself from Renee ...

The Trump administration seems intent on blocking local prosecutors from even bringing charges against the ICE officer minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/09/m...

ICE officer fatally shoots driver through car window in Minneapolis • Minnesota Reformer The driver then slowly backs up and appears to be leaving, when another officer fires three shots.

Watch video: ICE officer fatally shoots driver through car window in Minneapolis minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/i...

ICE officer fatally shoots driver through car window in Minneapolis • Minnesota Reformer The driver then slowly backs up and appears to be leaving, when another officer fires three shots.

"An ICE officer shot a woman driving an SUV through her car window in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. The person is dead, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security."

minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/i...

Veteran Associated Press political reporter takes helm of Arkansas Advocate | Arkansas Advocate After falling into his dream job covering politics 20 years ago, Andrew DeMillo embarks on a new chapter Monday as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Advocate.

After spending 20 years covering the Arkansas Capitol for The Associated Press, Andrew DeMillo is taking over as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Advocate this week. #arpx

Shield laws have held up so far, but a new anti-abortion Texas statute means to test them A law set to take effect in early December gives Texans the power to sue anyone involved in mailing abortion pills to the state, from drug companies to doctors. Whether Texas’ statute can puncture oth...

A law set to take effect tomorrow gives Texans the power to sue anyone involved in mailing abortion pills to the state, from drug companies to doctors. HB7 is the latest attempt to test shield laws.
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shie...

ICE’s latest focus in Tennessee: traffic court • Tennessee Lookout In Robertson County, Tennessee federal law enforcement agencies are arresting en mass immigrants appearing in court for traffic violations.

Five people answered a summons and paid traffic fines in a county courthouse in Tennessee last week. They emerged in shackles, detained by agents with their faces covered.

The latest on ICE in traffic court from @anitawadhwani.bsky.social / @tennesseelookout.com:

Tribal radio funding flows, but future remains uncertain after clawback of public media money • South Dakota Searchlight Funding has come to tribal radio stations under the terms of a deal made by South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, but uncertainty remains.

A South Dakota-based tribal public broadcasting station— KILI-FM —is selling off its vinyl records. Staff there are concerned about the reliability of an annual funding process after Congress voted in July to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

via @southdakotasearchlight.com

Mifepristone on trial: Where lawsuits about a key abortion medication stand Despite its strong safety record, the abortion and miscarriage drug mifepristone has been taken to court in several conflicting lawsuits, where some plaintiffs argue the drug should be easier to…

Despite its strong safety record, a key abortion pill is the subject of several conflicting lawsuits.

The latest on those cases from @sofiaresnick.bsky.social / @statesnewsroom.com:

FDA’s abortion-pill safety review under growing scrutiny The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is facing increasing pressure from abortion opponents and advocates over how it regulates a drug that has become central to abortion access since Roe v. Wade was ...

A shift in mifepristone regulation could dramatically change abortion access throughout the country, and health advocates and litigators are closely watching how the FDA justifies any changes.

By @sofiaresnick.bsky.social / @statesnewsroom.com
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fdas...

Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, expresses regret • Kansas Reflector A handful of county-level officials who were involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor.

"A handful of county-level officials who were involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor ... the Marion County Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement admitting regret."

via @kansasreflector.com

Trump administration blocked from cutting off SNAP benefits as two judges issue orders WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Boston ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plan to pause a food assistance program for 42 million people was illegal — but gave the Trump…

Judges in two separate cases just ruled on the SNAP cutoff—which would start tomorrow—during the government shutdown. One judge said pausing the food program is illegal and another ordered officials to continue providing benefits. Story is developing:

www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trum...

Losing SNAP could mean more pregnancy complications as food insecurity grows Without action from Congress before Saturday, millions nationwide will be cut off from access to government food assistance, including those who are pregnant or have babies and young children.That…

Food insecurity can bring heightened risks of preeclampsia, preterm birth and NICU admission, research shows. Without action from Congress, millions nationwide will be cut off from SNAP Saturday, including those who are pregnant or have young children.

www.newsfromthestates.com/article/losi...

Editor, Arkansas Advocate • States Newsroom Join States Newsroom as Editor of Arkansas Advocate, an award-winning site for nonpartisan reporting on state government, policy and politics.

Looking for an editor for the award-winning news team at the Arkansas Advocate.

Details about the job and info on how to apply here: