Author: Sky York Journal

Sky York Journal This story was first published by Hechinger Report. It also appeared in Chalkbeat and South Dakota Searchlight. Susan Gilkerson, a math teacher and school bus driver, stood before a South Dakota education board and issued a warning.  The proposed math standards the board was considering — just 36 pages, less than half the length of standards adopted in 2018 — were so scant that teachers won’t know how to use them, Gilkerson said. The existing standards detail not just which math concepts should be taught but also the specific skills students need to demonstrate to show they understand them, said Gilkerson,…

Sky York Journal Markwayne Mullin has an incredible story. The Republican U.S. senator is an entrepreneur and former mixed martial arts fighter. That unique experience has been a core part of Mullin’s political brand and featured in multiple campaign ads, including one that showed off his punching bag workouts alongside footage of President Donald Trump declaring, “Markwayne Mullin, you don’t want to fight with him.” However, following his nomination by Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security, some aspects of Mullin’s record have come under scrutiny. And TPM has found that Mullin has a pattern of making improbable claims…

Sky York Journal President Donald Trump rose to prominence in part because of voter perception of his business and economic acumen, and his populist appeals to a coalition of mostly white, working-class voters who’ve long felt locked out of economic mobility by Democratic policies perceived as elitist and out-of-touch. Nevermind that Trump was born to rich parents and is himself a billionaire. During the 2024 election, Trump and the GOP walloped the Biden administration for rising inflation and economic volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The president’s rhetorical approach to kitchen table issues like employment, wages, and energy prices helped…

Sky York Journal President Trump won a key victory on Friday in a case that tested his efforts to stage explicitly political terrorism prosecutions of activists who oppose him. A Texas jury found eight members of a supposed North Texas “Antifa cell” guilty of material support for terrorism over a July incident in which the group staged a demonstration outside an ICE detention facility. The group allegedly damaged property at the center and shot fireworks; one member, Ben Song, was convicted of attempted murder of a government official for allegedly shooting a police officer. The case was the first time…

Sky York Journal On Wednesday, fresh off his various hockey exploits, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel rolled out a unique partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  “I’m thrilled to announce this historic seminar between the FBI and the UFC at Quantico,” Patel said in a statement that was released by the mixed martial arts organization. “This is a tremendous opportunity for our FBI agents to learn and train with some of the greatest athletes on earth — helping the world’s premier law enforcement agency be even better prepared to protect the American people.” According to the statement, the…

Sky York Journal Trump’s war on Iran is illegal. Congress hasn’t authorized it; administration officials are still struggling, two weeks in, to define why they started it and what they’re hoping to achieve.  But there’s a way that the Trump administration could obtain a kind of approval from Congress — one that Presidents have used as a backdoor greenlight for war. And, reports say, it’s on its way to doing so. The administration is expected to ask Congress to pass an emergency supplemental funding bill. Depending on which report you consult, that could be up to $50 billion in new…

Sky York Journal “This is a case about swinging dicks,” began 9th Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke in his dissent.  The case in question centered on the policy of two Korean spas in Washington state that allowed only “biological women” to use their services — or more specifically, barred trans women who had not yet undergone surgery. Washington’s Human Rights Commission took enforcement action against the Spa for violating an anti-discrimination state law. The spas sued, arguing that the enforcement action had violated their First Amendment rights. A district court dismissed the complaint, and a 9th Circuit panel upheld that dismissal. In…

Sky York Journal Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has been, for months, stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the SAVE America Act — and he’s about to get squeezed harder. The legislation claims to address the purported problem of noncitizens voting in federal elections. It is, of course, already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and there is no evidence to suggest it is an actual issue. Yet, President Donald Trump and a handful of far-right congressional Republicans are indicating this is the hill they plan to die on. Thune has…

Sky York Journal This story was originally published by ProPublica. As Jason Beaman recounts his long slog searching for mental health therapy last year, he sounds defeated. The first therapist assigned to him by the Department of Veterans Affairs told him at their initial meeting that she was leaving the agency. A few months later, his second therapist told him she was also leaving. An appointment with a third counselor was canceled with no explanation. These were huge setbacks for the 54-year-old veteran of the Navy and Army Reserve. Nearly a decade ago, a spiral of depression and anxiety left…

Sky York Journal This story was originally published by ProPublica. Images from the missile strike in southern Iran were more horrifying than any of the case studies Air Force combat veteran Wes J. Bryant had pored over in his mission to overhaul how the U.S. military safeguards civilian life. Parents wept over their children’s bodies. Crushed desks and blood-stained backpacks poked through the rubble. The death toll from the attack on an elementary school in Minab climbed past 165, most of them under age 12, with nearly 100 others wounded, according to Iranian health officials. Photos of small coffins and…