Sara Wilkerson

As part of the kickoff of its four-day festival, the Atlantic Festival featured a panel of women leaders in areas of media, economics, government and more discussing the pandemic’s impact on their professions and America’s future.  Moderated by staff writers and editors of The Atlantic, the... Read More

Fortune Magazine announced its annual “Changing the World” list of 50 companies that have tackled society’s most pressing needs and have made a positive and innovative social impact on the world. The 2020 “Changing the World” list marks Fortune’s sixth iteration of the annual list.  According... Read More

The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, hosted a webinar on student civic engagement featuring student leaders and other experts as part of its second annual celebration of Constitution Day.  The webinar focused particularly on the civic engagement of Generation Z college-age students, who... Read More

WASHINGTON - The House passed the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act (EIEA), legislation on Wednesday that will restore students’ and parents’ right to hold schools accountable for racial discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EIEA was brought to the House... Read More

WASHINGTON - Today, the House of Representatives passed the Strength in Diversity Act 2020, legislation that will provide funding for voluntary desegregation initiatives across the country. The Strength in Diversity Act was brought to the House by Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and authored by Rep. Robert... Read More

BOISE, Idaho – Idaho leads the country in financial stability due in part to Republican Gov. Brad Little’s deregulatory measures since taking office, which helped spur an economic rebound for the state as tax revenues beat projected revenues by $37 million last month and as the... Read More

Yesterday, Rep. Antonio Delgado and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visited the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in an effort to push Congress to pass the bipartisan-supported RESTART Act, which will help live event venues, small and mid-sized businesses which have been hit the hardest by the... Read More

Community colleges saw a nearly 6% decline in enrollments this summer due to uncertainties stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Community colleges were not the only institutions to face enrollment losses. Public four-year, rural institutions... Read More

The presidential race between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is tightening in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, a new poll from Monmouth University shows, with Biden holding a 4-point lead over Trump in the key swing state. According to the report, 49%... Read More

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and leaders in Connecticut’s entertainment industry called on Congress to pass the Save Our Stages Act, otherwise known as the SOS Act, which would provide Small Business Administration grants for independent live music and event operators impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants... Read More

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to produce strains on key cornerstones of society, the education system in America is faced with its biggest challenge yet: students returning to the classroom. To find out more about how students are feeling as they return to college, The Well... Read More

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A Florida judge struck down a state order Monday that required "brick and mortar” schools in the state to be open five-days-a-week by the end of the month. Judge Charles Dodson of the Leon County Circuit Court ruled the order unconstitutional. Shortly after... Read More

SEATTLE - A federal judge ruled last week in favor of Seattle Attorney General Bob Ferguson's request to block a Department of Education rule that required school districts to either share a larger percentage of federal funding with private schools or limit federal funding to certain... Read More

TOPEKA, Kan. - Yesterday, the Kansas Department of Children and Families announced the state will officially allow food stamp recipients to purchase food online using a Kansas Benefits Card, or EBT Card, at retailers Amazon and Walmart.  In a press release, Kansas DCF Secretary Laura Howard... Read More

SALEM, Ore. - Starting this week, those who are unemployed in the state of Oregon can apply for a one-time $500 stimulus check on a first-come-first-served basis at select financial institutions. As many as 77,000 Oregon residents will be eligible to receive the benefit check.  The... Read More

A week after a derecho ripped through their state, Iowans remain in the midst of a humanitarian crisis as they attempt to recover from the devastating wind storm. Nearly 47,000 residents remain without electrical power, over 8,200 Iowan homes were damaged, and a third of the... Read More

The UK hosted its first large scale concert with social distancing at the forefront, bringing in 2,500 concert goers on 500 separate elevated platforms spaced six feet apart to see UK rocker Sam Fender perform onstage. The success of the concert offers a newfound glimpse into... Read More

Confidence in two of America’s institutions hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic – health care and public education – has risen sharply for Americans since last year, according to a recent Gallup poll measuring America’s confidence in its top institutions.  Since the start of the COVID-19... Read More

In an effort to help companies bring workers safely back amid the pandemic, a new initiative called the COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons was announced in late July as a collaborative effort between Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions and the World Economic Forum, with support from... Read More

Despite renewed concerns over a summer resurgence of the coronavirus, nearly half of the world’s movie theaters are back in operation, according to new data from the United Kingdom’s Gower Street Analytics. Gower Street, a film tech company that provides analytics services to film distributors and... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. – The city of Albany has initiated a traveling street fair for residents to socialize at a distance and to learn about local resources. The street fair, called Playstreets, was started last month and its next fair will take place on August 14.  Among... Read More

The Homebound Project, a digital theater initiative created by a volunteer coalition of theater directors, producers, stage and screen actors, has raised over $100 thousand in its efforts to provide funds for No Kid Hungry, a national organization driven to help children living in hunger. The... Read More

As schools across the country consider their learning options for the upcoming academic school year, a new Gallup poll says fewer parents favor full-time in-person instruction, suggesting a shift in parental preferences from late May.  At the end of the last school year in late May... Read More

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has warned officials who already postponed a local election once due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, they would be violating the law if they attempted to move the election again, this time to next year. Round Rock, Texas Mayor Craig Morgan... Read More

As the United Kingdom sets out its plan of guiding and supporting its arts industry amid the pandemic, the sector remains in a state of crisis as freelancers in the British theatre sector consider leaving the profession and theatres face the threat of permanent closures.  According... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Gilbert Cisneros, Jr., D-Calif., is the co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill aimed at providing financial relief for independent, non-chain restaurants within the restaurant industry. The Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive Act of 2020, shortened as the RESTAURANTS... Read More

Results of a recent Gallup poll show 34% of Americans believe that there should be more immigration, rather than less, the highest in the poll’s 55-year history. Support for immigration is up from the 27% found in the same poll last year. As support favoring increased... Read More

Angie Benson, a freelance theatrical musician based in northern Virginia, minced no words about her beliefs during a recent conversation with The Well News. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, “the arts are essential,” she said.  “Now more than ever,” she added. Over the course of her career,... Read More

As governments and businesses across the U.S. continue to struggle with the question of when and how to resume outdoor sports and entertainment events, the United Kingdom is moving ahead with plans to restart this segment of its economy. If these efforts are successful, they could... Read More

WASHINGTON - June is always an anxious time for new graduates, but there’s never been a summer in memory as stark for new job seekers as this one. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 40 million have lost their jobs, and though the reopening... Read More

WASHINGTON - A Coalition of Democratic and Republican House members have sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to request Congressional funding to plug "orphan" oil and gas wells across the United States.  The letter was co-authored... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Senate Democratic caucus has sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging him to bring the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, which grants citizenship to so-called dreamers and certain other classes of immigrants, to the Senate floor for a vote. The... Read More

Trade agreement talks between the United States and the United Kingdom have been tabled for the foreseeable future over a disagreement concerning agricultural practices. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer revealed the impasse during testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee last week. Lighthizer, who spent... Read More

The cancellation of the 2020 Iowa State Fair due to ongoing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus isn't just a blow to those who love carnival rides, live music, fried Twinkies and an almost unimaginable array of food items on a stick. It also removes... Read More

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in February, Americans have struggled to find information they believe they can trust on the rate of infection, the death rate and what they should be doing to protect themselves, a new Gallup/Knight Foundation poll found. The poll was... Read More