Free tuition doesn’t mean free college, students point out

They don't mean to sound ungrateful, but ... New York public college students who would stand to gain from the nation's most ambitious free-tuition proposal are quick to point out a sobering reality from their own meager finances: Free tuition doesn't mean free college. Take Brooklyn College senior Florencia Salinas, who despite having her tuition nearly covered in full through scholarships and grants, still expects to graduate with a daunting $50,000 in debt.

Betsy DeVos is one step closer to becoming President Trump’s education secretary.

Vice President Mike Pence says he fully expects billionaire GOP donor Betsy DeVos will be confirmed as education secretary with his tie-breaking vote. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Pence says the Trump administration is "very confident" she will take up her Cabinet post soon.

Republicans decry Trump’s defense of Putin and Russia

Appearing on four Sunday shows, Vice President Mike Pence rejected the notion that Trump had equated Russia to the United States. "What you heard there was a determination to attempt to deal with the world as it is to start afresh with Putin and to start afresh with Russia," Pence said on CBS' "Face the Nation.

Pence: Education pick DeVos will be confirmed with his vote

Vice President Mike Pence says he fully expects billionaire GOP donor Betsy DeVos will be confirmed as education secretary with his tie-breaking vote. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Pence says the Trump administration is "very confident" she will take up her Cabinet post soon.

Cumulative effect of taxes, regulations hurt small business

This fact may be more apparent in rural towns that often have few or no large businesses to help generate the economic energy that funds schools, safety-net programs and public safety. That's why the Association of Washington Business and its members have expressed concern with Gov. Jay Inslee's budget proposal released in December.

States expected to continue course toward clean energy future

In Wyoming, Republican Gov. Matt Mead is counting on a state-funded research center set to open this year to find a way to produce energy from coal without releasing carbon dioxide into the environment. In Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is eyeing new wind farms to bring jobs and economic growth.

Tibet’s Standing Rock

Much like the Sioux in North Dakota, indigenous people in Tibet and elsewhere are fighting attempts by industry and government to despoil the earth in the name of progress.a Last April, in North Dakota, the Lakota Sioux, on their own lands guaranteed by U.S. treaty, faced the onslaught of the $3.8 billion dollar Dakota Access Pipeline , some 30 international banks, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. To produce a legal and democratic Environmental Impact Assessment , the Corps is supposed to consult the tribes.

Indiana seeks to continue Medicaid expansion program

Gov. Eric Holcomb has requested the renewal of a federal waiver that allows Indiana's Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 to serve hundreds of thousands of low-income Hoosiers. The request begins an eight-month process with the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that is expected to go smoothly under President Donald Trump's administration.

Kasich backs DeVos without mention of $5.3M PAC debt to Ohio

Gov. John Kasich is urging confirmation of President Donald Trump's education secretary nominee without mentioning the significant unpaid fine owed to Ohio by a now-defunct political action committee she controlled. The Republican governor and 2016 presidential contender didn't support Trump, but he praised Betsy DeVos for her character, experience and philosophy of limited government in a Jan. 24 letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the committee that handled her confirmation.

Trump vows to end prohibition on church political activity

U.S. President Donald Trump and his Senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner arrive at the Oval Office of the White House after attending the National Prayer Breakfast event in Washington, U.S., February 2, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, U.S., February 2, 2017.

Poll says Virginians are okay with “bathroom bill”

MAY 10: Unisex signs hang outside bathrooms at Toast Paninoteca on May 10, 2016 in Durham, North Carolina. Debate over transgender bathroom access spreads nationwide as the U.S. Department of Justice countersues North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory from enforcing the provisions of House Bill 2 that dictate what bathrooms transgender individuals can use.

American Indian activist arrested in pipeline protest

In this Dec. 3, 2016, file photo, law enforcement vehicles line a road leading to a blocked bridge next to the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, that the Acting Secretary of the Army has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with an easement necessary to complete the Dakota Access pipeline.