Midwest
Judge blocks key provisions of Arkansas law allowing criminal charges against librarians, booksellers
A Republican-backed Arkansas law allowing criminal charges to be pressed against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” or “obscene” materials to minors was blocked by a federal judge in a Monday ruling that declared some elements of the policy too vague and unconstitutional.
“The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas wrote in his ruling.
Act 372, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last year, would have established new avenues for challenging allegedly age-inappropriate library materials and requesting their removal.
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An Arkansas law that would have criminalized making inappropriate materials available to minors faced challenges in court. (In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
Brooks had previously blocked the law on a temporary basis, according to local reports, mere days before it was slated to take effect, but sided with the 18 plaintiffs who suggested two key provisions of the law were too vague and violated First Amendment protections this week.
A separate report stated Brooks took issue with one of the law’s provisions because it granted anyone the authority to challenge a library’s decision, including interest groups outside of Arkansas.
Section one, which was one of the provisions ruled unconstitutional, would have imposed a misdemeanor penalty of up to one year in jail for librarians, booksellers, etc. who make inappropriate media “available” to minors.
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Plaintiffs challenged sections one and five of Arkansas’ Act 372. (Fox News Digital)
Section five, the other contested provision, would have mandated “a new procedure for libraries, city councils, and county quorum courts to follow when evaluating a citizen’s request to move or remove a book from a public library’s permanent collection,” according to Brooks’ ruling.
Brooks believed the provision was too vague, particularly through its use of terms like “appropriate” and for not providing clearer requirements for restricting book access.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin told the Associated Press in a statement that he “respect[s] the court’s ruling” but plans to appeal.
Fox News Digital reached out to the attorney general’s office for further comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Detroit, MI
Would Detroit Lions Salary Cap Be Wrecked If Terrion Arnold Gets Cut?
The Detroit Lions are facing a significant dilemma regarding a player selected in the first-round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cornerback Terrion Arnold is facing multiple felony charges stemming from an alleged robbery and kidnapping plot in Florida.
When drafted, the former Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back signed a four-year, $14,343,710 contract. The agreement included a $7,251,788 signing bonus and an average salary of $3,585,928 annually.
So at this point, Arnold has been paid more than half of his contract.
This year, Arnold was set to earn a base salary of $1,273,974, which included a roster bonus of $825,000. His cap hit is $3,911,921 this year and has dead cap hit of $9,127,816.
If the Lions decide to cut the 23-year-old, they would be on the hook for dead cap costs, but could in the future recoup monies based on the league’s conduct policy.
According to Spotrac, “Lions Terrion Arnold has 2-years, $4.8 M (guaranteed) remaining on his rookie contract, plus a potential 5th-year option for the 2028 season. Any suspension stemming from a violation of the league’s conduct polict would void the guarantees.”
In the short term, cutting Arnold is not significantly beneficial. The organization could save money in the future depending on if his decisions are deemed to have breech the clauses in his first NFL contract.
Detroit has options at the cornerback position if Arnold is no longer a part of the organization. Nick Whiteside, Rock Ya-Sin, Keith Abney and Ennis Rakestraw are all in the mix to earn playing time opposite of veteran D.J. Reed.
“It’s just the depth. Like, you’ve got guys that have played in games and that’s what you want. It’s not like you’re guessing on what you’re getting. You know what you’re going to get from those guys and so another year in the system, another year competing, he’s (Whiteside) going to be better,” said defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend. “And just that’s the thing about the NFL, you got to have guys who go out there and compete and he’s another one that’s capable of playing and it’s going to push everybody else in the room.”
Currently, the team has $19,338,873 (17th) available in cap space, based on the top-51 players on the roster.
#Lions CB Terrion Arnold has 2-years, $4.8M (guaranteed) remaining on his rookie contract, plus a potential 5th-year option for the 2028 season.
Any suspension stemming from a violation of the league’s conduct policy would void the guarantees.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 25, 2026
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Milwaukee, WI
Preparing for move, museum has already packed more than 600,000 items
Sneak peek inside the new Milwaukee Public Museum under construction
See inside the new Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, the future successor to the Milwaukee Public Museum, under construction on Nov. 20, 2025.
The Milwaukee Public Museum has now packed 600,000 items from its collection of 4 million as the staff prepares to move them into their new home: The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin at 1310 N. 6th St.
The staff could still be working through 2027 to move the remaining items, said Collections Move Project Manager Sara Podejko on June 24.
“We will continue packing here even after the future museum opens,” Podejko said.
According to the museum’s June report to the County Board’s committee on parks and culture, construction continues to move along on track, and the new site is expected to open mid-way through 2027.
About half of the total collection has already been inventoried, a painstaking process that has given the museum the opportunity to streamline its electronic storage system.
“There’s been a lot of work ongoing in the collections departments prior to digitize their material, but not everything was. And so, a real upside to this move is that we are able to not only inventory, but barcode all of our specimens,” Podejko said.
That barcode allows collection move technicians to easily input items into an inventory spreadsheet and immediately relocate them.
“It kind of eliminates some human error, which is really important when you’re dealing with four million things,” Podejko said.
Twenty-nine staff members are facilitating the move, including the technicians who were hired and trained specifically to move the artifacts.
“Every time they pack an object, they first assess it for its condition, weaknesses, areas of stability, and then they adapt the pack to that object itself,” Podejko said.
Many of the technicians are also recent graduates and early professionals looking to break into the museum collections scene.
“Collections can be difficult to get into and a job like this kind of gives them (a) foot in the door,” Podejko said.
The public museum’s current facility has continued to face structural challenges amid the move. In January, a passenger elevator failed and was out of service for two months. The only elevator was a small one for wheelchairs, which led to wait times as long as 30 minutes. During that time, an escalator was also taken out of service for repairs.
The museum’s 350-ton water-cooled chiller is also close to failure and needs bearing replacement to keep it functioning throughout the summer.
Minneapolis, MN
MN weather: Pleasant Thursday before major heat arrives
Sunshine and comfortable temperatures return Thursday before a weekend warm-up sends highs into the 90s. Heat index values could reach the triple digits early next week. FOX 9 meteorologist Jared Piepenburg has the forecast.
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