skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

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

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

CT Lawmakers Press Gun-Safety Needs after Uvalde Shooting

play audio
Play

Wednesday, June 1, 2022   

Connecticut members of Congress and gun-violence prevention advocates held a Tuesday news conference, calling for legislative action one week after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in Texas.

U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both D-Conn., said they've spoken throughout the weekend with Republican lawmakers, trying to find common ground on gun-safety reform. Since the Uvalde tragedy, Murphy said, he's heard more colleagues express interest in changes to gun laws and support for mental-health services than at any point since the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut nearly 10 years ago.

"We are going to work, every single minute of every single day, over the course of this week and next week, to try to get enough of our Republican colleagues to 'yes'." Murphy said. "I hope they are moved by what they have witnessed in the way that the rest of this country has been moved."

On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee will attempt to advance a series of gun-safety measures known as the
"Protecting Our Kids Act." Those policies include raising the purchasing age for semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21, and requiring background checks on all gun sales.

Po Murray is co-founder of the Newtown Action Alliance and was a neighbor of the Sandy Hook gunman who shot and killed 26 people, a majority of whom were elementary-school children. After the latest tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, she said, she think Americans will no longer tolerate federal inaction.

"A decade after Sandy Hook, mass shootings have skyrocketed and gun deaths have increased by 30%. It's unacceptable," she said. "It's not too late for congressional Republicans to act. They have an opportunity to join the right side of history. The time is now for them to act."

Murphy and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, had a virtual meeting scheduled Tuesday to discuss a basic framework for gun-reform legislation that could receive enough bipartisan support to surpass the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Background-check loopholes and red-flag laws were among the expected topics.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

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