Majority Black Louisiana elementary school to shut down amid lawsuits over toxic air exposure

RESERVE, La. (AP) — A southeast Louisiana school board voted on Thursday to shut down a predominantly Black elementary school adjacent to a petrochemical facility embroiled in multiple lawsuits linked to its high levels of toxic emissions. Denka Performance Elastomer LLC produces...

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appoints wife Cathy to state education board after U.S. Senate win

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appointed his wife to the state school board about a day after a decisive victory in a U.S. Senate race against his Democratic opponent. The 73-year-old Republican governor announced First Lady Cathy Justice's appointment to...

AP Race Call: Republican Maria Elvira Salazar wins reelection to U.S. House in Florida's 27th Congressional District

Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Florida on Tuesday. Salazar represents a Miami-Dade district that has swung toward Republicans in recent years. While Democrat Hillary Clinton carried the district in 2016 by double digits, former President Donald Trump narrowly...

Chicago school board head ousted because of social media posts deemed antisemitic, misogynistic

CHICAGO (AP) — The president of the Chicago school board resigned Thursday just a week after he was appointed because of social media posts deemed antisemitic, anti-women and lending credence to a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Rev. Mitchell Johnson's...

A Florida school board candidate lost his race. DeSantis appointed him to the board anyway

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida school board candidate who lost his race in a county south of Jacksonville will get a seat on the board anyway, after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped him to fill a vacancy. Derek Barrs will take an open seat on the Flagler County School Board...

Voters to decide whether to allow noncitizens to vote in California city's elections

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Voters will decide whether Santa Ana — a city of about 310,000 in Orange County that's southeast of Los Angeles — could become the first in California to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections under a ballot measure this November. It's illegal...

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Illinois on Election Day

WASHINGTON (AP) — The race for president tops the list of federal, state and local contests in Illinois, where voters have supported the Democratic presidential nominee for decades but lower-ballot contests are more competitive. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican...

Chicago mayor names new school board after entire panel resigns amid a fight over district control

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson named members of a new school board on Monday, batting away criticism of the move days after all seven members resigned amid an escalating fight over control of the public schools in the nation’s third-largest city. During a news...

Chicago mayor names new school board after entire panel resigns amid a fight over district control and finances

Pennsylvania school boards up window openings that allowed views into its gender-neutral bathrooms

A Pennsylvania school district has reversed course and boarded up window openings it recently installed that allowed people in a middle school hallway to peer into two gender-neutral-designated bathrooms, the superintendent said Friday. The two windows were installed in recent weeks...