A transgender protest ruling

Good morning, New Hampshire, and welcome to Friday. Today, Ethan DeWitt reports on a circuit court free speech ruling against the Bow School District over its response to a parental protest aimed at a transgender athlete. Also, Stateline’s Anne Saker looks at the shortage of home caregivers nationwide and what some states are doing to try to address the challenge. And, from States Newsroom’s Ashley Murray, how the U.S.-Canada trade war is driving anxiety on both sides of the border. Thank you for reading, and have a great weekend. — Dana

By Ethan DeWitt

On Wednesday, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Bow School District had engaged in viewpoint discrimination when it punished parents for wearing wristbands opposing transgender female athletes. "While the school district may make predictive judgments about whether disruption may occur and 'need not be certain of its forecast,' it cannot use those projections to immediately suppress a passive, silent protest that did not impair any of the legitimate school administration interests recognized by the Supreme Court,” wrote Judge Sandra Lynch in the majority opinion. 

By Anne Saker

Despite the importance of their work, home caregivers are near the bottom of the nation’s pay scale: In 2024, the national median pay for home care aides was $16.78 an hour, or $34,900 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The low pay and the difficulty of the work have created a labor shortage, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. There are 4.3 million home care aides today, but the federal government forecasts that by 2034, the nation will need more than 5 million of them.

By Ashley Murray

A developing trade war with Canada could bite Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterm elections as voters worry about rising prices and industries in states with competitive races could suffer. Maine’s lobster industry dodged what officials had warned could be economic havoc Thursday morning when Canada reversed its decision to tax lobster imports at 25%. But states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin could see effects if Canada follows through on retaliatory tariffs on alcohol, automobiles, dairy, home appliances, steel, and other goods.