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Caroline Cournoyer

Senior Web Editor

Caroline Cournoyer -- Senior Web Editor. Caroline covered federal policy and politics for CongressNow, the former legislative wire service for Roll Call, has written for Education Week's Teacher Magazine, and learned the ins and outs of state and local government while working as an assistant editor at WTOP Radio.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday plans to start a 24-hour fast to show support for immigration reform efforts in Washington, D.C.
A panel of federal judges on Wednesday extended California's deadline to cut its prison population until April 18, while ordering that negotiations continue over how best to reduce inmate crowding.
A controversial initiative requiring women to buy additional insurance if they want abortion coverage in their health insurance plans passed the Legislature Wednesday afternoon and will take effect 90 days after lawmakers adjourn for the year.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety detective resigned Monday after federal and local authorities determined she was living in the country illegally, officials said Wednesday.
A year later, the impact of the law remains up for debate.
More than two years in the making, a package of bills to strengthen the state's child-protection laws was approved by legislators Wednesday and sent to the governor.
Los Angeles County social workers will return to work and resume contract negotiations Wednesday after a six-day strike, union officials announced Tuesday evening.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Tuesday revised the outlook on Illinois' A-minus credit rating to developing from negative due to the state's passage of long-awaited pension reform last week. The credit ratings agency said the revision to developing, an unusual outlook designation for a state, indicates that Illinois' rating could be raised or lowered during a two-year horizon. “Although we view the consensus achieved by Illinois on this difficult issue as positive from a credit standpoint, the developing outlook reflects the implementation risk - legal and budgetary - associated with various provisions of the pension reform as well as the overall structural budget challenges facing the state,” S&P analyst Robin Prunty said in a statement. Illinois' sweeping reforms to its public retirement system, which were signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn on Thursday, are aimed at easing a $100 billion unfunded pension liability that has been squeezing out funding for core state services.
In the 12 months since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., almost every state has enacted at least one new gun law.
Farm bill negotiators conceded Tuesday that they will not finish their work before Congress goes home for the year, but insisted that they are close to a final deal and working toward floor action in early January.