Georgia State

South Carolina State

Community Voices represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program but not yet verified their accounts. Community Voices are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

community_voice

Colleton County, SC

Explore Beaufort SC

Some beachgoers were in for a surprise this week when a bizarre looking prehistoric fish washed ashore in Colleton County along Edisto Beach at Edisto Beach State Park. It turned out to be an atlantic sturgeon.

Rare Atlantic sturgeon washes ashore on South Carolina beach

Colorado State

Contributors represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program and self-verified their accounts. They have also demonstrated their experience writing hard news for other outlets. Contributors are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

contributor

David Heitz

A bill quietly introduced this spring in the Colorado legislature to decriminalize the possession of drug paraphernalia obtained by harm reductionists has become law. As low-key as the legislation was introduced, the bill was signed into law without fanfare June 6. It garnered little to no media attention.

Colorado legalizes needles, pipes for meth and crack if obtained by harm reduction group

Iowa State

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. On Friday, a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overturned the injunction issued by a federal judge in December, allowing a book ban in Iowa public schools to take effect. The law, Senate File 496, “bans any titles that describe sexual acts from K-12 schools, with the exception of religious texts” (emphasis mine). It also limits discussion of gender and sexual orientation in grades K-6.

We Went to See IT ENDS WITH US So You Don’t Have To

Ohio State

The Lantern

On Tuesday, licensed Ohio dispensaries began legally selling non-medical marijuana to consumers; however, the drug’s possession, growth and/or usage are still prohibited on Ohio State’s campus. Credit: Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS [Original caption: Four citizen-led petitions with proposals to update Dallas’ charter hit the 20,000 valid signature threshold to make it on the Nov. 5 election ballot, including one that would ban police officers from arresting or citing people carrying less than four ounces of marijuana.] As of Tuesday, students 21 and older can now legally purchase marijuana in Ohio.

Dispensary sales of recreational marijuana began Tuesday; possession and usage still prohibited on Ohio State’s campus

Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville Today

A historic marker could be erected to honor the victims of the racist mass shooting at the Dollar General store in Jacksonville’s New Town neighborhood nearly a year ago. If approved by the Jacksonville City Council, a marker would be installed at Kings Road and Canal Street on Aug. 25, a day before the first anniversary of the shooting, when a white gunman took the lives of three Black people.

Memorial considered to honor Dollar General victims

Writers represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program and self-verified their accounts. Writers are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

writer

J. Souza

According to cruise industry reports, the world's largest cruise ship is sailing well above 100% capacity, thanks to more beds being filled on recent sailings. Royal Caribbean’s newest flagship, the Icon of the Seas, is proving to be an unprecedented success, with occupancy rates far exceeding expectations.

The Largest Cruise Ship in the World is Sailing at 132% Capacity: How This is Even Possible

Los Angeles County, CA

Herbie J Pilato

It's been 33 years since the handsome actor and Emmy award-winning TV game show host Bert Convy died of a brain tumor at 57 in 1991. This is his story. Bert Convy was born July 23, 1933, in St. Louis, Missouri. His father was in the shoe business, while his parents separated when he was just seven years old. His mother moved the family to California in the San Fernando Valley, where Convy attended North Hollywood High and was named the "class clown."

In Memory of Actor/Game Show Host Bert Convy: 33 Years After His Tragic Death From Brain Cancer

These words come to me in a country where 16-year-old Nex, of Oklahoma’s Choctaw Nation, refuses to stay confined by the gender norms imposed on them or endure the brutal reality of their identity. They suffer beatings in the girls' bathroom, where three girls yank at Nex’s hair and bang their head against the tiles until they lose consciousness. No high school official calls an ambulance. The next day, Nex collapses at their grandmother’s house and never stands up again. Authorities rule the death a suicide. The story fades away after a few weeks, leaving Nex Benedict and their kind to disappear into the void.

We don't need saving

Houston, TX

Nashville, TN

As climate change brings more extreme rain, the risk of flooding is growing in Houston, Nashville, and other cities across the South. Padgett: “Citizens obviously are very aware of what’s happening, because they are directly affected. When it floods, people’s homes are damaged, their property’s damaged.”

Government flood maps are often outdated

Missouri State

Pilot Knob, MO

CJ Coombs

Fort Davidson is located near Pilot Knob, Missouri in what was known as Clark National Forest. It was the site of the Battle of Pilot Knob during the American Civil War that occurred on Septembrer 27, 1864. On February 26, 1970, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pilot Knob is located in northeast Iron County.

Fort Davidson: Missouri's historic site of the Battle of Pilot Knob

Crisp County, GA

Daily Coffee Press

On Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of 24 individuals following Operation Shyne Down. The GBI and other agencies served a total of 120 warrants on the suspects involved in the investigation, which targeted the criminal street gang G-Shyne Bloods and their involvement in criminal activities in Crisp County, Georgia.

Operation Results in More than 20 Charged with Gang Offenses, RICO, and more

Camden, NJ

Cornelius, NC

Morristown Minute

CAMDEN, N.J. – Lisa Smith, 61, of Cornelius, North Carolina, has admitted to her role in a fraudulent scheme involving over $3.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today that Smith pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court on July 17, 2024, to a charge of bank fraud conspiracy.

Woman Pleads Guilty to $3.5M COVID Relief Scam

Denver, CO

No, pallet shelters for people experiencing homelessness don’t fold into caskets. It’s a question a reader posed one of the first times I wrote about pallet shelters. I find the pallet shelters to be more palatable than ice fishing tents. The Colorado Village Collaborative operates both micro-communities and the so-called Safe Outdoor Spaces with the tents. We all learned the tents are not safe when a fire roared through a CVC Safe Outdoor Space, destroying the compound quickly. Officials never disclosed a cause of the fire.

Opinion: No, pallet shelters for homeless in Denver, Aurora don’t fold into caskets

Newark, NJ

NEWARK, N.J. – Nygee Johnson, also known as “Gito,” a 25-year-old member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips, has admitted his role in a racketeering conspiracy. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger. Johnson pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court on July 17, 2024, to a superseding indictment charging him with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy.

Rollin' 60s Crips Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering

Tropical Storm Ernesto was organizing at an increasingly rapid clip over the northeast Caribbean on Tuesday, and it’s expected to become a large, powerful, and prolonged hurricane as it barrels northward from the Caribbean starting on Wednesday. A Hurricane Watch was issued Tuesday morning for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Vieques, and Culebra, as Ernesto could become a Category 1 storm while passing over or near those islands early Wednesday. Nearby Puerto Rico is predicted to experience somewhat weaker winds on the left-hand (west) side of Ernesto, but widespread gales, torrential rains, and flash flooding will hammer the island.

Ernesto strengthens on approach to Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands

In addition to collecting more than 8,000 used needles in the past year from Denver drug users, the Harm Reduction Action Center passed out 10,000 meth pipes and “snort kits,” according to a newsletter sent to its supporters Thursday. They also connected about 1,700 people to medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Denver group hands out 10K meth pipes, ‘snort kits,’ connects 1,700 to treatment annually

Florida State

Uncovering Florida

In a divided vote on Senate Bill 1084, which would make a variety of regulatory changes including putting a ban on lab grown meat state-wide, Florida’s Senate and House ultimately decided to pass it, sending it on to Governor DeSantis for approval. DeSantis officially approved it on May 1, 2024, and the law came into effect on July 1, 2024.

DeSantis Signed New Florida Law: Selling Lab Grown Meat Is Now A Second Degree Misdemeanor

TheConversationAU

You are working long hours, being repeatedly rostered to work weekends and are increasingly anxious and unhappy in your job.  Enough’s enough, you decide to quit, but your boss won’t let you.

The ABC’s Four Corners program presented this scenario as part of an investigation called “Don’t Speak” into alleged bullying of staff at the Seven Network, which screened on Monday night.

The woman who reportedly experienced this, told a colleague she felt like “I had a noose around my neck”.  She also said she tried to quit, but “they won’t let me go”.

So can an employer reject a resignation...

‘They won’t let me go’. Can your boss stop you from resigning?

WyoFile

The woman who shot a video of a hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday morning told WyoFile she and her family were terrified as the blast sent boiling water and rocks skyward, destroying parts of a boardwalk, its guardrail and a nearby bench.

Yellowstone hydrothermal explosion: ‘We were terrified’

NewsBreak

Let’s keep this going

This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of Climate Connections, our national radio program. Launched during a low point in mainstream media coverage of climate change, when...

Let’s keep this going

Comments / 0