Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Minnesota residents are reminded to seek out service opportunities to make their communities a better place to live. MLK Day is the only federal holiday recognized as a day of service. .
The use of social media to organize the Jan. 6 insurrection marked a turning point in American political protest, according to a leading media and disinformation scholar in Massachusetts. The "networked incitement" fueled false claims of a stolen election while rioters coordinated in real time across multiple online platforms. .
Police encounters can be stressful for anyone but especially challenging for people with disabilities. A new state law aims to improve police understanding and response to those with sensory needs. It is estimated about one in 10 people in Alabama and elsewhere has a disorder which may not be immediately noticeable to law enforcement. .
It is no secret the majority of state and local tax systems favor the wealthy but New Mexico is making progress in turning it around. The latest edition of "Who Pays?," a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, continues to show education, public health and safety, roads and bridges are mostly funded by regressive taxes affecting middle- and low-income families more than wealthy families. Those with the lowest incomes put the largest share of their paycheck toward taxes. .
Kentuckians who are deaf or hard-of-hearing face many challenges in accessing mental healthcare, and a new program aims to address the problem. Nearly 700,000 - or 16% - of Commonwealth residents are deaf or hard of hearing, according to the state. Brad Leedy - chief operating officer with Bridgehaven Mental Health Services - said the program, a partnership between Bridgehaven and the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, has trained eight deaf individuals to be peer support specialists - all of whom have struggled with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and other diagnoses. .