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Cuts to Childcare Grants Leave Rural Students in Limbo

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Major changes to a federal childcare grant program have forced student parents across the country to scramble for care in the middle of the academic year.

Published

3 months ago

February 16, 2026

Oakland Post

By Madeline de Figueiredo, Daily Yonder

Major changes to a federal childcare grant program have forced student parents across the country to scramble for care in the middle of the academic year.

The disruption has been felt by rural student parents acutely, where childcare options are already limited, and losing access may push students to pause, or leave, their studies.

More than a quarter of undergraduate students nationwide are raising children, and childcare shortages are disproportionately severe in rural communities, where fewer providers, long waitlists, and higher costs create significant barriers to enrollment and retention in higher education.

Launched in 1998, the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program is a federal grant designed to support low-income student parents by subsidizing childcare and providing wraparound services such as academic support and family resources. Applications to renew existing grants or create new ones are currently on hold as Congress has yet to reauthorize the program.

One of those schools affected is the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The university’s CCAMPIS grant was up for renewal in 2025, but with applications closed, the campus children’s center and many student parents are facing an uncertain future.

“Right now, we’re still in our budget process for the next fiscal year, but we’re really taking a hard look at whether, without CCAMPIS dollars, we’ll be able to keep all the classrooms open and running to offer families more care,” said UW–Whitewater Children’s Center director Chelsea Newman.

“Portions of the grant were helping pay the salaries of some of the teachers in the classroom. With that going away, we have to figure out how to sustain it and cover the cost of those salaries as well as some of the supplies needed for the classroom space.”

One UW–Whitewater student parent, Maddie Sweetman, a mother of two studying English, said childcare costs for some families in her community can exceed a monthly mortgage payment. For her own family, CCAMPIS provided a crucial pathway to affordable care on the days she was in class.

When one of her children transitioned to public kindergarten, Sweetman increased her work hours and took on a heavier course load. But cuts to CCAMPIS meant that the cost of childcare for her remaining child became roughly equal to what she had previously paid for care for both children under the program.

“With CCAMPIS being cut, all of a sudden the cost increased by about $2,000 for the semester, which is still less than average childcare costs,” Sweetman said. “But we’re not making a lot of money, so it’s still a large chunk.”

These effects are being felt across campus.

“This is impacting everyone who is a student who has children at the center,” Sweetman said.

CCAMPIS not only offers subsidies for childcare, but also wraparound services.

Newman said the CCAMPIS grant allowed UW-Whitewater to think creatively about how to support student families who were not directly using campus childcare services. With the funding, the program provided a variety of supports for student parents, including parenting books, “busy bags” to occupy children during office hours or meetings with faculty, school supplies, diapers, free cap-and-gown rentals, and family-friendly study rooms in the campus library.

Ann Reynolds, a former student parent herself and now the coordinator of student parent supports at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Massachusetts, saw firsthand the value of the wraparound services on campus.

“What’s beautiful about CCAMPIS is the wraparound support,” Reynolds said. “You’re there on the other end of the phone. If they have a flat tire on the way to school, you’re there. You advocate for them with their professors when needed, or more often, you advocate with the college to connect them to other campus services that support student parents. You’re really guiding student parents to advocate for themselves.”

Unable to renew the college’s CCAMPIS funding due to the closed application, Reynolds knew the stakes of her rural student parents losing access to childcare.

“We are in an area that is rather barren when it comes to childcare. We do have quality options, including center-based facilities not only on campus but also in surrounding rural areas. However, they fill up quickly,” Reynolds said. “For these rural areas, the biggest barriers are access to childcare and, obviously, affordability.”

She was able to secure funding through a local foundation to offer continued subsidies to the student parents already in the program, but there is no additional funding to take on incoming student parents.

“We haven’t pulled the rug out from underneath our students,” Reynolds said. “I was fortunate that we could do that because of our generous foundation support, but I don’t know what I would have done if I’d had to have taken the rug from underneath them.”

Newman is facing the same worries. She said the financial support had a significant effect on student parents, many of whom expressed overwhelming gratitude.

Newman said the CCAMPIS funding eased financial strain on families, allowing some students to spend more time at home rather than working additional hours, while others were able to access childcare that made it possible to work, remain enrolled, and succeed academically.

“Not receiving CCAMPIS funding will create more hardship and more stress. It will probably make it more difficult for [student parents] to continue going to school and getting their degree,” Newman said. “Without the funds, it’s gonnaput more stress on the families, for sure, just on all fronts.”

With reauthorization stalled in Congress, Reynolds hopes the potential of student parents can still shape the program’s path forward.

“It’s just a no-brainer, “ Reynolds said. “Once you support student parents, they’re going to graduate quicker and with higher GPAs than their non-parenting peers, and they do so because they have little ones in their lives and family in their lives that they want to make a difference for.”

This story was originally published in the Daily Yonder. For more rural reporting and small-town stories visit dailyyonder.com.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Published

4 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

Published

4 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

Published

4 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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