Reporters started a private school in Arkansas with $45 and an American flag.
They aren’t teachers and don’t intend to run a school. ProPublica and three local newsrooms wanted to see how easily states approve new private schools and send them tax money. They tried in three states and succeeded in two. In West Virginia, they filed their paperwork by hand on notebook paper. Nobody asked about their qualifications or what they planned to teach.
Arkansas law requires schools to display an American flag, so they bought a small one at a Little Rock shop to sit on a newsroom cubicle. Then a state education employee called back with advice on how their school could start collecting $7,208 a student in tax money. They could enroll students tomorrow.
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Family of Renee Good, killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, sues the US, the agent and Trump officials, alleging a civil-rights conspiracy.
Today’s GovBrief News
US sends the Theodore Roosevelt carrier group and an amphibious group to the Middle East, which could put three carrier groups and 20,000 forces there.
Source: CBS News
October 2, 2026
Florida's dengue outbreak hits a record 252 locally acquired cases, adding 62 in one week and topping 2023's 199.
Source: USA Today
October 2, 2026
Trump promises $90 checks to 20 million seniors a month before the midterms, using a Medicare fund he may lack authority to tap.
Source: USA Today
October 2, 2026
Wyoming Supreme Court unanimously upholds a ban on switching parties within 96 days of a primary, aimed at Democrats and independents voting in GOP primaries.
Source: Wyofile
October 2, 2026
G7 agrees to release 100 million barrels of emergency oil over four months, focused on diesel, after Trump threatened to ban US diesel exports.
Source: Euronews
October 2, 2026
Attorney General Blanche won't reopen the criminal probe of former Fed Chair Powell, but says an audit of the Fed's renovation could prompt one.
Source: CNBC
October 2, 2026
FBI issues a classified "Patel Report" to staff on where the bureau "fell short," after Director Patel pledged at his confirmation not to look "backward."
Source: The Associated Press
October 2, 2026
Federal judge halts Big Bend border barrier construction until a lawsuit is decided, two days after Homeland Security lifted its own pause.
Source: KDFW Dallas-Ft Worth
October 2, 2026
Federal judge keeps a jury's $425,000 award to a Black Ottumwa, Iowa, teacher whose district failed to discipline students who repeatedly called him the n-word.
Source: The Iowa Capital Dispatch
October 2, 2026
Former Florida Rep. Rivera gets 10 years for secretly lobbying for Maduro's Venezuela, hired through Delcy Rodríguez, now acting president and Trump's partner.
Source: WTVJ Miami
October 2, 2026
Filing alleges an ICE agent logged Maine ICE watchers' photos and plates in a Palantir-built database, though ICE told Congress it keeps no protester database.
Source: Wired
October 2, 2026
Miramar, Florida, ICE field office built for 56 jails up to 150 for days without beds or medical care, a class action alleges.
Source: The Florida Phoenix
October 2, 2026
ProPublica reporters open private schools in two of three states, one for $45 and a flag in Arkansas, where an official suggests tapping taxpayer money.
Source: ProPublica
October 2, 2026
Kennedy Center Honors move off-site to a sports arena for the first time, as Trump ties the closed center's renovation to adding his name.
Source: NBC News
October 2, 2026
Virginia begins automatically sealing old low-level convictions, including marijuana possession, a fresh start advocates say could reach 415,000 people.
Source: WSLS Roanoke
October 2, 2026
Federal appeals court keeps South Dakota from enforcing a law that can jail people for advertising abortion pills while a free speech suit proceeds.
Source: The South Dakota Searchlight
October 2, 2026