* Starting off with the Sunshine State. Axios…

A Florida school district is pulling nearly 2,000 books from its shelves — including some dictionaries and encyclopedias — to make sure they abide by a new state law.

The state law, which prohibits schools from carrying books that describe sexual content, comes as Florida continues to get pushback over its titles banned in prisons and classrooms.

Northern Florida’s Escambia County School District has taken away over 1,600 titles for review, including five dictionaries and eight different encyclopedias, according to PEN America earlier this week.

Part of the legislation, known as HB 1069, “expands parental rights in education by prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Pre-K through 8th grade,” according to the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

* Ohio…

A second transgender woman’s attempt to run for public office in Ohio was challenged under a decades-old law that requires candidates to disclose previous legal names on election documents.

Arienne Childrey, a Democrat vying for a seat in the Ohio house of representatives, learned late last week that the head of her county’s Republican party, Robert Hibner, asked the local board of elections to reject her campaign petition.

Hibner’s letter to election officials comes just days after Vanessa Joy, also a trans woman, was disqualified from running for the Ohio state house. Both Joy and Childrey are accused of violating a 1995 Ohio statute that requires political candidates to disclose any legal name changes within five years of the election. […]

“I wasn’t surprised to get the phone call. Once the articles started coming out about Vanessa’s story, I knew there was a bullseye on us,” Childrey said.

* Another one from Florida. Newsweek…

More than 1,500 books have been temporarily removed from a Florida school district this week, including two written by former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

The Florida Freedom to Read Project recently obtained a list of books that have been temporarily removed from libraries in the Escambia County Public School District, which included encyclopedias, The Guinness Book of World Records and two books from conservative pundit O’Reilly: Killing Jesus: A History, and Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency.

According to Pen America, the list also contains titles from David Baldacci, Stephen King, John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks.

In a statement to Newsweek, Escambia County Public Schools Superintendent Keith Leonard said: “I want to clarify that our district has not imposed a ‘ban’ on over 1600 books. Additionally, the dictionary has not been banned in our district. Any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate and should be disregarded.”

* Ohio…

An Ohio woman facing a criminal charge for her handling of a home miscarriage will not be charged, a grand jury decided Thursday.

The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said grand jurors declined to return an indictment for abuse of a corpse against Brittany Watts, 34, of Warren, resolving a case that had sparked national attention for its implications for pregnant women as states across the country hash out new laws governing reproductive health care access.

A municipal judge had found probable cause to bind over Watts’ case. That was after city prosecutors said she miscarried, flushed and scooped out the toilet, then left the house, leaving the 22-week-old fetus lodged in the pipes. Her attorney told the judge Watts had no criminal record and was being “demonized for something that goes on every day.” An autopsy determined the fetus died in utero and identified “no recent injuries.”

Watts had visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Catholic facility in working-class Warren, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland, twice in the days leading up to her miscarriage. Her doctor had told her she was carrying a nonviable fetus and to have her labor induced or risk “significant risk” of death, according to records of her case.

Due to delays and other complications, her attorney said, she left each time without being treated. After she miscarried, she tried to go to a hair appointment, but friends sent her to the hospital. A nurse called 911 to report a previously pregnant patient had returned reporting “the baby’s in her backyard in a bucket.”

* Texas…

Texas state officials this week abruptly blocked federal U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering and patrolling a public area in the border town of Eagle Pass where they typically first encounter migrants who cross the Rio Grande illegally, two U.S. officials told CBS News on Thursday.

After seizing control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas National Guard units deployed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott have prevented Border Patrol agents from entering the area, the federal officials said. Border Patrol has used the park in recent weeks to hold migrants in an outdoor staging area before they are transported for further processing, including last month, when illegal crossings soared to record levels.

Earlier Thursday, Texas state officials prevented Border Patrol boats from patrolling that area, one of the officials added, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. […]

In a filing early Friday with the Supreme Court, the Justice Department described the extraordinary standoff between Texas and the federal government. Citing testimony from local officials and photos, the Justice Department said Texas was using armed Guardsmen and vehicles to deny Border Patrol agents and federal National Guard soldiers access to roughly 2.5 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

* Texas…

Kate Cox was pregnant with her third child when she learned the baby had a rare genetic disorder called Trisomy 18. Cox and her husband, Justin, were informed by their doctors that if their child survived the pregnancy, her life expectancy would be at best a week. With the baby’s health at risk as well as her own, Kate and Justin Cox sued the state of Texas for the right to have an abortion.

In her first interview since the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her, Cox talks about the case, her decision to have an abortion in New Mexico, and more in an interview with Tracy Smith for “CBS News Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast Sunday, January 14 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.

Cox was 20 weeks pregnant when she and her husband filed the lawsuit seeking an exception to Texas’ ban on abortions because of the baby’s condition and the health risks to Cox. On December 11, while the Coxes were in New Mexico, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling, saying Kate Cox did not qualify for a medical exemption to the abortion ban.

According to the couple’s attorney Molly Duane, the Texas Supreme Court said “essentially, Kate wasn’t sick enough [for an exemption].”

* Washington Post…

Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children across the country.

The program is expected to serve 21 million youngsters starting around June, providing $2.5 billion in relief across the country.

The governors have given varying reasons for refusing to take part, from the price tag to the fact that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she saw no need to add money to a program that helps food-insecure youths “when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, “I don’t believe in welfare.”

Republican leaders have been criticized for playing politics with children in need, but they argue it is necessary to revert to pre-pandemic spending levels at a time when the United States is trillions of dollars in debt and lawmakers in Washington are struggling to come to a budget agreement. The summer food program was approved as part of a bipartisan budget agreement in 2022.