Nuclear innovation campus talks and more news from the states

Happy Friday! Before heading into the weekend, be sure to read today’s top stories from around the country.

In a decision that could lead to the nation’s first religious charter school, an Oklahoma City federal judge has ruled in favor of a Jewish school seeking to operate with taxpayer funds.

The judge decided that the Statewide Charter School Board violated the First Amendment when it voted against establishing the charter school because the school would teach a particular religion. 

In Ohio, financial disclosures filed by Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted with the Ohio Ethics Commission show that the quasi-private economic development entity JobsOhio gave gifts to Husted in 2021, 2022 and 2023 when he was lieutenant governor. Good-government watchdogs have questioned the contributions the organization has made to the businesses of its board members and those of affiliated entities. 

Thanks again for stopping by. We’ll see you next week.

National: The Trump administration made an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow for rapid third-country deportations of noncitizens to continue, after an appeals court blocked the policy last week. The court panel had struck down an administration policy that quickly removed noncitizens to countries where they do not have citizenship.

New Jersey: Gov. Mikie Sherrill called for Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, a fellow Democrat, to resign after an outside investigation found he had committed sexual harassment, sought promotions for a state employee he was dating and brought uninvited guests to ticketed events without payment or reimbursement.

Michigan: Dozens gathered in Grand Rapids to demand justice for Mario David Coronado Juárez, a 35-year-old immigrant from Guatemala who was living in the country illegally and died days earlier after fleeing when ICE agents attempted to stop his vehicle.

Nebraska: Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed a pair of executive orders aimed at easing cost burdens for the state’s agricultural producers on the same day a like-minded initiative was announced for the 2028 election cycle.

Virginia: Environmental advocacy groups are trying to determine the full extent of impacts from President Donald Trump’s rescission of a landmark Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction order that had brought states and localities together to identify pollution sources and ways to reduce sediment and nutrient loads.

See the rest of the news of the day from all 50 states, plus our D.C. Bureau and Stateline, on News From The States.

Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little said he will not jeopardize the health of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer or the health of residents as he continues to negotiate potentially bringing a new Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus to the state, Idaho Capital Sun reports. 

In July, U.S. Department of Energy officials announced that Idaho is among five states selected as a finalist to host one of the new innovation campuses. The other four states selected as potential host sites are Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.

Little signed a memorandum of understanding in July with the U.S. Department of Energy to hold formal discussions and negotiations about bringing an innovation campus to Idaho. If Idaho is selected as a host site, the federal government has said the state will have to accept shipments of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from other states. 

A Request for Information Response that Little signed and submitted to the federal government in March describes an accelerated process that takes “months rather than decades” to bring the “initial capabilities” of a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus online in 2027. But Little said things aren’t moving that quickly.

States take the lead on regulating AI as federal action lags

Anxiety over artificial intelligence is growing. Will it replace humans and take jobs? How will it change our privacy? Will it impact our elections? The list of existential questions about AI goes on.

The technology has not been regulated on a national level. Congress has struggled to pass federal legislation, while the Trump administration has pushed to limit state oversight efforts.

In Episode 47 of the Stories From The States podcast, you’ll hear from a policy analyst on the Center for Democracy & Technology’s state engagement team. She’ll break down how states are regulating AI and whether it’s too out of control for the federal government to set limitations on what the technology can do. Subscribe to Stories From The States on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

A popular 92-foot waterfall formerly at risk of being closed to the public is closer to becoming a new state recreation area after the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission signed off on buying two Marion County properties, Oregon Capital Chronicle reports.

Visitors have been able to visit the privately owned Abiqua Falls, about 40 minutes southeast of Silverton, for more than a century under the stewardship of the Abbey Foundation, a supporting organization of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary. The round-trip trek to the falls is 0.8 of a mile, but trail users describe it as steep and often muddy, requiring the help of ropes tied to trees along the trail.

Oregon lawmakers quickly stepped in after the foundation listed the property for sale in February, proposing a $2.1 million deal to purchase the property using general obligation bonds. 

On Wednesday, the commission officially OK’d that purchase, approving the $600,000 purchase of the 40-acre Abiqua Falls property as well as the 160-acre property surrounding it. Weyerhaeuser Timber Holdings owns the surrounding property, known as Abiqua Rapids, and will sell it to the state for $1.4 million but keep the mineral rights. 

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is working with Marion County and the Department of Forestry to plan what the property will look like in terms of public access and safety, as well as what it will cost to develop and operate. It will present a proposal to the commission at its next meeting in November. The sale is expected to close in December.