The nexus of two recent headlines, one detailing yet another school shooting, the other profiling the reaction to a book banner who was appointed to oversee Nebraska’s libraries, reminded me of what comedian Wanda Sykes once said: “Until a drag queen walks into a school and beats eight kids to death with a copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ we’re paying attention to the wrong stuff.” (I cleaned it up a little.)

Should all U.S. public school students be able to eat breakfast and lunch at no cost, regardless of their family’s income? The federal government temporarily made that possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, some states have taken it upon themselves to make it happen on a permanent basis. The Conversation U.S. asked Marlene B.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized to tribal communities last week for delays in shipments and delivery of expired food during a tense congressional hearing that highlighted widespread failures within the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.