(NewsNation) — One Tennessee school district will no longer accept doctors’ notes to excuse an absence despite objections from parents.
Lawrence County School System officials said the school is instituting the policy to teach students work ethic and reliability, saying that students will be expected to go to work sick or injured as adults.
It is also intended to address chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10 percent or more of instructional time. In the 2023-2024 school year, Lawrence County had a 14 percent rate of chronic absenteeism.
With no federally mandated sick leave, many Americans do go to work when sick, but public health officials advise against it. Staying home when sick can reduce the spread of viruses like the flu and COVID-19 and protect vulnerable people in the community.
The new attendance policy says students will simply be marked absent or present, with no options for doctors to verify a child is absent because they are sick or injured, need to stay home to recover or to prevent spreading contagious illnesses to their classmates.
The policy is meant to help improve attendance rates, but parents have objected, noting that an absence for an illness like the flu could now mean a referral to the Lawrence County Juvenile Court for truancy.
Children who get sick at school or are sent to school sick and sent home by a nurse will be counted as tardy. Three tardies will equal an absence.
The new policy also says schools will start intervention after just three days, and eight or more days marked absent will result in a court referral.
Other penalties could include failing a class or grade, not being allowed to participate in graduation or get a driver’s license or permit.
There will be exemptions for students with documented chronic illnesses and emergencies out of the student’s control, as well as allowances for deaths in the family and some religious observances.
The school district sent a letter to medical providers asking them to emphasize regular school attendance and warning that medical notes could imply students should stay home even after their health improves.
Goldman Sachs Resumes Roivant Sciences (ROIV) Coverage with ‘Buy’ Rating
A close-up shot of various types of medicines on a table, illustrating the specialty and generic products offered by the pharmaceutical company.
The investment bank’s bullish outlook on the stock is based on the company’s strong clinical pipeline and potential market opportunities. The company’s subsidiary, Pulmovant, delivered positive Phase 1 data for mosliciguat, an inhaled treatment for pulmonary hypertension. In addition, the firm is optimistic about the anticipated positive results from the Phase 3 VALOR clinical trials.
The Buy rating follows the authorization of Roivant Sciences to repurchase $500 million in shares, following the completion of a previous $1.5 billion program. The new program underscores the company’s commitment to returning value to shareholders.
Roivant Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:ROIV) is a biotechnology company that develops and commercializes innovative medicines and technologies. Its clinical product candidates include IMVT-1402, an antibody that targets the neonatal Fc receptor for the treatment of Graves’ disease and difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis.
While we acknowledge the potential of ROIV as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
A federal judge on Friday threw out a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to block sanctuary laws in Illinois that limit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
In her ruling, Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins said that the Tenth Amendment, which protects people from federal government overreach, shielded the decision of local law enforcement to avoid collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration agencies.
“It would allow the federal government to commandeer States under the guise of intergovernmental immunity—the exact type of direct regulation of states barred by the Tenth Amendment,” Jenkins wrote of the suit, which named Illinois, Chicago and a series of local officials as defendants.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Illinois prevents local officials from providing immigration information “not otherwise publicly available,” while Chicago bars them from responding to inquiries from ICE without a warrant. State officers are also barred from complying with immigration detainers.
The Trump administration argued that the local laws were an “intentional effort” to subvert federal immigration statutes and claimed that they facilitated the return of criminals to the public.
Chicago was one of the first major fronts in the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign, with federal agents swarming the city in the weeks after the inauguration.
The lawsuit was one of the first cases filed by the Trump administration against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.
The Justice Department sued New York City over its sanctuary policies on Thursday.
Summit Bancshares (SMAL) Surprises Investors with a Special Dividend in 2025
A financial advisor in a suit, pen in hand, talking to a client in the bank.
Summit Bancshares, Inc. (OTC:SMAL), operating through its subsidiary Summit Bank, delivers a range of commercial lending and banking services across California. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, along with certificates of deposit. The company also extends various types of loans, such as those for commercial real estate, land development, construction, and both business and personal needs. In addition, it issues letters of credit.
At its meeting on April 16, 2025, the Board of Directors of Summit Bancshares, Inc. (OTC:SMAL) announced a special cash dividend of $0.43 per share to mark the bank’s 43rd anniversary. This special payout replaces the company’s regular quarterly dividend.
Summit Bancshares, Inc. (OTC:SMAL) has a strong track record of returning value to shareholders through special dividends, having issued several of them since 2016.
While we acknowledge the potential of SMAL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on thebest short-term AI stock.
A federal judge on Friday threw out a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to block sanctuary laws in Illinois that limit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
In her ruling, Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins said that the Tenth Amendment, which protects people from federal government overreach, shielded the decision of local law enforcement to avoid collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration agencies.
“It would allow the federal government to commandeer States under the guise of intergovernmental immunity—the exact type of direct regulation of states barred by the Tenth Amendment,” Jenkins wrote of the suit, which named Illinois, Chicago and a series of local officials as defendants.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Illinois prevents local officials from providing immigration information “not otherwise publicly available,” while Chicago bars them from responding to inquiries from ICE without a warrant. State officers are also barred from complying with immigration detainers.
The Trump administration argued that the local laws were an “intentional effort” to subvert federal immigration statutes and claimed that they facilitated the return of criminals to the public.
Chicago was one of the first major fronts in the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign, with federal agents swarming the city in the weeks after the inauguration.
The lawsuit was one of the first cases filed by the Trump administration against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.
The Justice Department sued New York City over its sanctuary policies on Thursday.
Trash is piling up in Garden Grove, California – one of the communities affected by the strikes
Garbage bags overflowing in dumpsters. Flies buzzing in the air. Malodorous fumes wafting in the summer sun – an unsightly mess is plaguing American cities from coast to coast this summer.
Some employees of Republic Services – a Fortune 500 private waste-management company with municipal contracts across America – have been refusing to take out the trash since going on strike over three weeks ago.
The Teamsters union, which represents the company’s workers, say they are being paid far below other sanitation workers and receive worse benefits. But the company says the union isn’t willing to compromise, and while relations rot, so does the garbage.
The strike began on 1 July with Local 25, which serves 14 communities in the Greater Boston area, and spread to several other cities in the US: Manteca, California; Ottawa, Illinois; Cumming, Georgia; and Lacey, Washington. More employees stopped work in solidarity.
“The cost of living is high – what they’re offering, I wouldn’t be able to live on that in a month,” said Mike Ortiz, a truck driver from Malden, Massachusetts who’s worked in the industry for 17 years.
At peak, effectively over 2,000 garbage collectors across the country weren’t on the job, impacting millions of Americans. While Republic and the union have resolved some local disputes, there’s plenty of workers still holding out.
Waste strikes hit a nerve
In the ocean-side city of Gloucester, about an hour north of Boston, the sharp smell of salt air has been undercut by the lingering funk of rotting garbage, and squawking seagulls circle overhead.
“I mean, if this were going on in, you know, November, December, it wouldn’t be as noticeable, the smell of it,” Greg Vargas, the city’s mayor, told the BBC.
It’s become a major nuisance for the mayor, who has joined forces with five other towns to sue Republic over breach of contract.
“When they were talking to us before the strike, they said, don’t worry about it, we’re a national company. We’ll have people in place and take care of everything,” he recalled. “That has not been delivered on since day one.”
Meanwhile, Republic Services has sued the Teamsters, accusing it of engaging in illegal behaviour.
“The Teamsters’ pattern of criminal behaviour -including truck theft, tire slashing, spraying chemicals on drivers and hate speech – demonstrates the union’s preference for chaos over compromise,” the company said in a statement.
The union denies the accusations.
Sanitation worker Will Zekas joined the picket line in Washington state
Garbage collectors in major cities like New York and Philadelphia are public employees, but smaller metropolises have long outsourced to private companies, like Republic. Founded over 40 years ago, the company took in $16bn in revenue in 2024, and frequently appears on the Fortune 500 list.
At the heart of its success story has been a promise to customers: we’ll whisk your trash out of sight, and you won’t have to think about it.
But when the trash piles up, things can get ugly.
“We have these negative associations with waste, particularly smellier waste, that is associated with poverty and disease – other things we don’t like to see or think about,” said Sarah A Moore, a professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
That can give striking workers leverage, she said.
In Philadelphia, where a separate garbage strike made headlines this summer, it took just eight days for the city to reach a deal with public workers, after trash overflowed into the streets and residents complained of rats running amok.
In Lacey, Washington, which is outside the capital city of Olympia, the union representing the workers there reached an agreement with Republic Services after about a week, ending the strike. It has also reached a deal with the union in Manteca, California, near Stockton.
But bedraggled residents who spoke to the BBC near Lacey last week said they felt the workers’ absence during the strike. They described dirty diapers piling up at home, and striking sanitation workers described working under dangerous and filthy conditions.
Eric Fiel has been injured while crawling through pools of broken blood vials and soiled nappies
Workers on the picket line complained that Republic has not maintained equipment since taking over the Thurston County dump around two years ago.
“Things are constantly breaking down,” says Eric Fiel, a veteran sanitation worker whose team moves 1.5 million lbs of rubbish every day.
“We have a pump system that keeps breaking. Basically it just pools up. You’re wading through this water. It’s full of faeces, diapers, animal faeces, whatever comes through.”
Will Zekas, in Lacey, told the BBC he appreciated the national effort that happened around the US, and attributed it to his union’s ability to negotiate a better contract.
“Power lies in the solidarity,” he said.
Getty Images
Businesses in the Boston area have been hit especially hard
Talks break down and trash piles up
In the parts of Massachusetts affected by the Teamsters Local 25 strike, there appears to be no sign of a quick resolution. Mr Ortiz said the union and the company were farther away then ever on pay and health-care benefits.
Each accuses the other of misrepresenting the conflict.
“Republic Services is focused on facts and reaching an agreement that provides our employees with market-leading pay and benefits, while Teamsters leadership is focused on disinformation and disruption,” the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, towns and cities are having to get creative – and dig into their own pockets – to keep the trash under control.
Several towns have created dump sites where residents can bring their own refuse. Gloucester has diverted some municipal workers to pickup duty, while other cities have had to outsource to different private contractors. The additional cost has been cited in the lawsuit against Republic.
But even cities that don’t work with Republic are struggling to deal with the stalemate.
In Boston, where many local businesses rely on the company for private collection, Mayor Michelle Wu said she would start fining Republic for failure to clear trash: “Your inability to collect trash from your customers due to the ongoing labor dispute at Republic Services is taking an unacceptable toll on Boston’s residents, businesses, and neighborhoods.”
At a coffee shop in Malden, a few miles north of Boston, a garbage dumpster was overflowing on Wednesday, attracting a cloud of buzzing insects.
“It’s been horrible, terrible, really. I don’t know how to explain how frustrating it is,” said business-owner Glaicy Santos. “We need the trash to be picked up every week because we have a lot of trash. When that doesn’t happen, then that creates a big problem for us. And then it also becomes mosquitoes out there, or other rodents could be out there.”
She’s not sure how much more she can take, but she may have a while to wait. Negotiations broke off last Friday, and the two parties have no date scheduled to head back to the bargaining table.
Congressional candidate Isaiah Martin was forcibly removed and arrested during a Thursday hearing in the Texas State Capitol on redistricting after refusing to yield the microphone during public comment.
“It is a shame,” Martin yelled as he was escorted out. “You should all be ashamed.”
Texas Republicans are pushing to redraw the state’s maps after pressure from the Trump administration. They have not yet released a proposed map, which could re-define congressional districts to give the GOP a leg up in the 2026 midterms.
Martin, a Democrat, was speaking in opposition to the redistricting efforts, which he called “illegal gerrymandering,” when he went over his two-minute time limit. State Rep. Cody Vasut (R), who chaired the hearing, asked the sergeant-at-arms to remove Martin.
The candidate’s brother said Friday that the charges against Martin had been dropped and that he would be freed from custody later that night. Martin faced charges for disrupting the meeting, trespassing and resisting arrest, local media reported.
Martin is running in a November special election for the seat vacated after Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) died in March.
The seat had been previously held by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who also died in office. Martin was formerly a top aide to the congresswoman and has been endorsed by her daughter, who chairs his campaign.
In a post on the social media platform X prior to the hearing, Martin said Democrats could retaliate against the GOP’s redistricting by making their own moves to redraw the maps.
“Blue states will now RUTHLESSLY gerrymander out Republicans to counteract this insanity,” he wrote. “If rules are good for Republicans, they’re good for us!”
