Valerie Richardson
Articles by Valerie Richardson
Facebook roasted for blocking hashtag ‘revolution’ on Independence Day weekend
Facebook came under fire Sunday for blocking the hashtag "revolution" on the Fourth of July, a federal holiday celebrating the passage of the Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution. Published July 4, 2021
‘Orwellian’: Facebook faces backlash for ‘harmful extremist content’ alerts
Facebook's newly launched warnings about "extremist content" have triggered a backlash from those who worry that the alerts represent a social-media crackdown on politically disfavored speech. Published July 4, 2021
Biden encourages Maxine Waters to run for Senate: ‘You think I’m kidding. I’m not’
Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla may want to watch their backs: President Biden has a California Democrat in mind for the Senate, and it's not them. Published July 1, 2021
Idaho loggers urge Senate to ax Biden nominee over tree-spiking plot
Idaho loggers have an ax to grind with Bureau of Land Management nominee Tracy Stone-Manning. The Associated Logging Contractors-Idaho urged the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee leaders to reject her nomination to head the agency, citing her involvement in a 1989 tree-spiking cabal. Published July 1, 2021
1619 Project’s Nikole Hannah-Jones wins UNC tenure after uproar
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted Wednesday to grant a tenured professorship to Nikole Hannah-Jones, the journalist who spearheaded the New York Times' 1619 Project, replacing the previous non-tenured contract agreement after a public outcry over race and academic freedom. Published June 30, 2021
‘Shameful’: Granholm blasted for linking Florida condo tragedy to climate change
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was slammed Wednesday for suggesting climate change played a role in the deadly Florida condominium collapse as she made a pitch for President Biden's infrastructure package. Published June 30, 2021
Nowhere to Hyde: Biden, Democrats under siege for taxpayer-funded abortions
Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, may well have saved the Hyde Amendment this month by pledging his support for the ban on taxpayer-funded abortions, but Republicans and pro-life groups have no intention of letting the matter drop. Published June 30, 2021
Florida Gov. DeSantis sued over law barring transgender athletes from women’s sports
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation on Wednesday sued Florida over its new law banning male-to-female transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's scholastic sports and warned that more lawsuits are on the way. Published June 30, 2021
House Republicans pressure Joe Manchin to reject Biden pick over tree-spiking plot
Fifteen House Republicans called Monday for Sen. Joe Manchin to oppose Bureau of Land Management nominee Tracy Stone-Manning, citing her involvement three decades ago in an illegal tree-spiking campaign. Published June 28, 2021
Conservatives frustrated by Supreme Court’s repeated refusals to take up transgender cases
The Supreme Court took a pass Monday on a legal challenge over shared restrooms for transgender students at a Virginia high school, fueling frustration among right-tilting court-watchers eager for the conservative majority to resolve the intensifying legal clash over gender identity. Published June 28, 2021
Crenshaw: U.S. Olympic qualifier should be kicked off team for turning back on flag
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican, said Monday that U.S. Olympic athlete Gwen Berry should be removed from the team for her national-anthem protest, arguing that supporting the country they represent should be a "bare minimum requirement" for Olympic competitors. Published June 28, 2021
Biden pick accused of lying to Senate committee about tree-spiking investigation
Bureau of Land Management nominee Tracy Stone-Manning told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that she has never been under federal investigation, but now the committee's ranking Republican says that was untrue. Published June 26, 2021
Derek Chauvin gets 22 1/2 years in prison for George Floyd’s death
Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Friday to 22 1/2 years in prison after being found guilty in the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Published June 25, 2021
‘I miss you’: George Floyd’s daughter Gianna leads off Chauvin sentencing hearing
Young Gianna Floyd, the daughter of George Floyd, gave the first victim impact statement Friday in the sentencing hearing for her father's killer, telling the court that she loved and missed him. Published June 25, 2021
From Tuskegee to Latinx: Biden offers theories on minority vaccine rates in racial gaffe-fest
President Biden was called out for a racial two-fer in which he suggested that all Hispanic Americans are illegal immigrants, and mixed up the Tuskegee airmen with the infamous syphilis experiment on Black patients. Published June 25, 2021
Biden’s race-based pandemic relief suffers another loss in court
The Biden administration took another hit Wednesday when a federal judge in Florida granted a preliminary injunction against the Agriculture Department's program to provide loan forgiveness to non-White farmers and ranchers. Published June 24, 2021
Virginia Republican gubernatorial hopeful Youngkin vows to fight human trafficking
Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin said he will take aim at Virginia's growing human-trafficking problem with a plan to increase prosecutions and penalties as well as hold tech companies accountable for activity on their platforms. Published June 24, 2021
Transgender runner CeCe Telfer fails to clear testosterone hurdle for U.S. Olympic trials
A transgender hurdler has been ruled out of the U.S. Olympic trials after failing to meet the testosterone standard set by World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field. Published June 24, 2021
Tenn. Republicans demand answers from feds on embattled migrant facility
Three members of Tennessee's Republican congressional delegation demanded Thursday that the Biden administration turn over information on its migrant-resettlement program for unaccompanied minors in their state, raising safety and security concerns about the federal plan to funnel the children into U.S. communities. Published June 24, 2021
Biden administration stands by Stone-Manning despite furor over tree-spiking case
The Biden administration is standing by embattled Bureau of Land Management nominee Tracy Stone-Manning even as a political bonfire builds over her involvement in a three-decades-old eco-sabotage case. Published June 23, 2021
