By Jill Nolin | Editor
A case before the Georgia Supreme Court right now explores whether the state’s child welfare agency went too far when it removed two children from their family a month after their brother died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and, as the state acknowledges, when the children were not in immediate danger.
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Charlie J. Bethel asks questions during a hearing in this 2023 file photo. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
CHILD WELFARE
By Ross Williams
Georgia Supreme Court justices had pointed questions this week for representatives of the Georgia Department of Human Services’ Division of Family and Children Services.
A case working its way through Georgia’s highest court has to do with the government’s power to remove a child from his or her home.
Lawyers for the state argue that government officials should have the right to temporarily remove children from a home without a hearing in some cases, even if there is no immediate danger.
One Fulton County mom says the state exceeded its authority in taking her two kids shortly after a family tragedy, and questions from justices asked during oral arguments this week indicated they might agree.
Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia. Emily Jones / WABE
ENERGY
By Emily Jones, WABE/Grist
Google would help pay for upgrades to Georgia’s nuclear reactors under an agreement recently announced by Georgia Power.
Georgia Power wants to upgrade four of the state’s older nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta, and Plant Hatch, near Baxley, so they produce more energy. State regulators approved the Vogtle upgrades last year, but the specifics of how to pay for the work weren’t hashed out.
Now, the utility is asking the Georgia Public Service Commission for permission to move ahead with the updates at Plant Hatch too — as well as approval to create a new subscription program so large customers like Google can pay for both.
The watchtower of CoreCivic’s former Prairie Correctional Facility, in Appleton, Minn., which will now be used as an ICE detention center, on Aug. 20, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
IMMIGRATION
By Ariana Figueroa, DC Bureau
Government investigators Thursday released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities.
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that millions were wasted because DHS began expanding detention operations without putting a plan in place to meet U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s goal of detaining up to 100,000 immigrants.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans to collaborate on research with other federal agencies as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluates the human health risks of the widely used pesticide glyphosate, used in products like Roundup. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
PUBLIC HEALTH
By Cami Koons, the Iowa Capital Dispatch
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans to collaborate on research with other federal agencies as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluates the human health risks of the widely used pesticide, glyphosate.
The recently announced memorandum of understanding between the two departments comes as EPA is conducting a registration review for the pesticide component and as the U.S. Supreme Court recently sided with the manufacturer of Roundup, a glyphosate-based pesticide, in lawsuits alleging the product needed a cancer warning label.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a news release that his department is bringing science to the table to “answer unresolved questions, strengthen the evidence, and give EPA the data it needs to conduct a rigorous review.”
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ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
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