skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SCOTUS skeptical that state abortion bans conflict with federal health care law; Iowa advocates for immigrants push back on Texas-style deportation bill; new hearings, same arguments on both sides for ND pipeline project; clean-air activists to hold "die-in" Friday at LA City Hall.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

"Squad" member Summer Lee wins her primary with a pro-peace platform, Biden signs huge foreign aid bills including support for Ukraine and Israel, and the Arizona House repeals an abortion ban as California moves to welcome Arizona doctors.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken, and a new federal rule aims to put the "public" back in public lands.

Thousands of MN Students Protest Gun Violence

play audio
Play

Monday, March 26, 2018   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Advocates for tougher gun control made their voices heard loud and clear this weekend when tens of thousands gathered across Minnesota as part of nationwide protests.

The March For Our Lives has been spearheaded by young people sparked into action by February's shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead.

Reverend Nancy Bence is the executive director Protect Minnesota, a group that advocates for gun safety. She says the tragedy finally pushed a lot of people into action.

"I think this last shooting somehow stepped on that nerve in America that needs to be stepped on to get regular, reasonable people who maybe haven't gotten involved, involved," she explains.

There were at least 13 marches in Minnesota on Saturday, and Gov. Mark Dayton even declared it 'March For Our Lives Day.'

Yet Reverend Bence points out that most gun-control measures have made no headway in the GOP-controlled Minnesota Legislature - including Senate File 1261, which would require background checks for private gun sales and transfers.

"Every single student and adult in this country is asking for universal criminal background checks, which of course that bill has stalled at our Legislature," she laments.

Still, Bence - whose organization led one of a number of student bus trips from Minnesota to Washington, D.C., for the main March For Our Lives event - says she is thankful for the progress that students have made in such a short time.

"We applaud the students, we are in awe of the students who have in a matter of weeks done what those of us who've been in gun violence prevention for a long time have not managed to do," she says.

Bence believes there is hope for passage of meaningful gun-law reform in Minnesota and calls the legislative schedule "arbitrary."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Creedon Newell practices teaching construction skills in Wyoming's new career and technical educator bridge course, designed to encourage trades students and professionals to pursue a career in CTE teaching. (Photo by Rob Hill)

Social Issues

play sound

By Lane Wendell Fischer for the Shasta Scout via The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service for the Public News …


Environment

play sound

By Naoki Nitta for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public Ne…

Social Issues

play sound

Concerns about potential voter intimidation have spurred several states to consider banning firearms at polling sites but so far, New Hampshire is …


Though Connecticut's benefits cliff persists, there are other programs helping people maintain benefits of some kind when their income pushes them over the limit. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Today, groups working with lower-income families in Connecticut are raising awareness about the state's "benefits cliff" with a day of action…

Social Issues

play sound

Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has released 57 "interim charges," the topics he wants Senate committees to study in preparation for the 89th …

It is estimated the Wild Springs Solar Project in New Underwood, South Dakota, will offset 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The construction of more solar farms in the U.S. has been contentious but a new survey shows their size makes a difference in whether solar projects …

Social Issues

play sound

Minnesota's largest school district is at the center of a budget controversy tied to the recent wave of school board candidates fighting diversity pro…

play sound

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a measure which would force employers to properly classify certain trade union workers and others as employees rat…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021