Written by: Bryce Covert, Racked Anyone who tunes in to the annual State of the Union on January 30th, when President Donald Trump will address Congress and give an update on his agenda, may notice something different about the audience seated in front of him. The 65 members of the Democratic Women’s Working Group who attend the speech this year will be clothed all in black. If this calls to mind women in Hollywood wearing black gowns at the Golden Globes this year, it is intentional: The plan i... Read more

Written by: Skyler Swisher Skyler, Sun Sentinel West Palm Beach was among 23 jurisdictions targeted Wednesday in a Justice Department letter demanding local officials prove they are cooperating with federal immigration agents. The letter threatens subpoenas if city officials don’t turn over documents showing they aren’t withholding information about the immigration status of people in custody. The Justice Department repeatedly has threatened to deny millions of dollars in important grant money f... Read more

Written by: Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post Ever since Donald Trump — even as president-elect in late 2016 — began vacationing in Palm Beach, the U.S. Secret Service has established flight restrictions for those visits that have hampered commerce at Palm Beach International Airport and other area air facilities, and effectively shut down the Lantana airport. In an interview Tuesday at The Palm Beach Post, an agency official said he has worked with local aviation and government leaders to compro... Read more

Written by: Peter Schorsch, Florida Politics The federal government has shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday. That has halted all but the most essential operations and marred the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, l... Read more

Written by: Emma Saran Webster, Teen Vogue At this year’s Golden Globes, the red carpet was largely a sea of black. Many celebrities in attendance used fashion to protest the widespread sexual misconduct not only in Hollywood, but also other industries. Throughout the night, actresses dressed in black and donning pins — some with social justice activists by their sides — spoke out in solidarity with the #MeToo movement and the recently created Time’s Up initiative, which is providing legal suppo... Read more

Congresswoman Lois Frankel, West Palm’s former mayor, dubbed it “a bright day for our region” and said, “I look forward to seeing those millions of cars off the road.” Read more

Written by: Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel Every year, an unknown number of foreign guest workers in South Florida and the rest of the nation disappear into the worlds of sexual slavery and domestic servitude. A broad coalition of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, in both the U.S. Senate and House, said Thursday their proposed Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act would help solve the problem by providing much more information to law enforcement and victim advocates. “Human traffickin... Read more

Written by: Mattie Kahn, Elle Women lawmakers plan to wear black to the annual State of the Union address later this month, an echo of attendees at last weekend's Golden Globes, who also wore black dresses and tuxes, and in support of women nationwide, who've spoken out against sexual harassment and assault across multiple industries over the past several months. After NBC reported the news on Twitter, Reps. Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Lois Frankel (D-FL) confirmed that the effort had been proposed... Read more

Written by: Alex Gangitano, Roll Call Women in Congress fighting to bring attention to sexual harassment got a boost from women in Hollywood at the Golden Globes on Sunday. “I just texted my girlfriends in Congress, ‘I’m for Oprah!’” Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Working Group, said Monday. When Oprah Winfrey accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her contributions to the world of entertainment on Sunday at the annual awards ceremony, it instantly created bu... Read more

Written By: Skyler Swisher, Sun Sentinel Palm Beach County law enforcement agencies will be getting just over $3.4 million in federal funds to offset the costs of protecting President Donald Trump when he visits Mar-a-Lago. Almost all of those dollars will go to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which has taken the lead assisting the Secret Service in guarding Trump’s estate in Palm Beach. Palm Beach County Mayor Melissa McKinlay praised federal lawmakers for setting aside the money. “I fe... Read more