Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
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knetterstrom.bsky.social
Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
@knetterstrom.bsky.social
Public Policy doctoral student. Interested in direct democracy, voting, Arkansas news & journalism. ❤️ native plants & FOIA. NFPW board. Past president of Arkansas Press Women. Ex journalist. Former 312 feral child, Cubs fan.
Pinned
Dear libraries. This topic name will not help me find a non fiction book right now.
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
“Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government.” 11/10/25
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Shutdown Deal Would Let Senators Sue for Jack Smith Searches (1)
Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government...
news.bloomberglaw.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I sent a photo of a weird snake roadkill to a friend and she wrote me back “ummm that’s an armadillo.” I’m so embarrassed.
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
It took me a few minutes but then I was like, oh Michael JONES whose journal article I just read for class. Fun times.
Had an amazing time with one of my favorite guest scholars, discussing our graduate programs, NPF, and much more. Grateful for the generous support from the Political Science Department and the Gosack Endowment at the University of Arkansas!
November 10, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
This year’s PSJ submissions are over 640, surpassing last year’s 612, likely exceeding 700 by year-end. Including revisions, totals should pass 1,000. This growth reflects our expanding, improving policy community. Thanks for your support!
November 9, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.

The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.

People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.

And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
November 10, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Arianna Sofia Veraza and her parents were driving to Sam's Club for milk, eggs and diapers yesterday when they heard helicopters and horns blaring yesterday. They had turned around to leave when a federal agent pepper-sprayed them through a car window.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/09/c...
Pepper-sprayed Berwyn family rattled after getting caught up in federal blitz
Southwest Side politicians condemned Saturday’s pepper spraying and the federal sweep of Little Village as “state-sponsored terrorism” at a news conference Sunday.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:16 PM
The cold air tonight demanded I make chili. It was a toss up between chicken and beef but beef ($7 a pound!! Omg) won out because I wanted black beans and corn and tomatoes and chili.
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Excellent essay here on the slow strangling of mass literary culture in the West - most clearly in the US, but it's obviously happening here too
November 9, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
🚨BREAKING: A civil rights organization sued the Trump administration Saturday over a new policy barring nonprofits from helping new U.S. citizens register to vote. The lawsuit calls the policy part of a “broader effort to ensure that new Americans cannot exert their democratic will on the nation.”
Lawsuit Blasts Trump’s Bid to Keep New Citizens From Registering to Vote
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
"What drives people to Chicago public libraries are the materials they want to check out. Circulation rates since 2022 have increased by 17.5%.

Among the nine largest library systems serving populations of over 2M residents, CPL ranks second lowest in terms of spending per resident."
November 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
At least they FINALLY admitted why they refused to negotiate on the shutdown. First they lied and promised Dems they would “negotiate” this, but only AFTER they voted for the CR. But Dems were correct when they assessed that Republicans NEVER intended to extend these subsidies.
November 9, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Senate update: Republicans are now trying to sneak a backdoor national abortion ban into their government funding bill. Republicans will stop at nothing to control women's health care decisions.
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
It's not even noon yet and feds (specifically Border Patrol and BOP officers in this caravan with Bovino) have fired tear gas, pepper balls, and bean bag rounds at people in Little Village and Cicero.
November 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Thanks to a grant, a pro-choice group in Little Rock, is offering free, walk-in pregnancy ultrasounds two Saturdays a month. It's a welcome alternative to the services offered by "crisis pregnancy centers," which come with an anti-abortion message attached.

arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...
Free pregnancy ultrasounds offer help in barren Arkansas reproductive health landscape - Arkansas Times
Thanks to the help of a grant, the Y.O.U. Center (Your Options, Understood) is now offering free, walk-in pregnancy ultrasounds for anyone who needs it two Saturdays a month.
arktimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
The father was a U.S. citizen.

But he was Latino, so Brett Kavanaugh says it’s fine.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Immigration Agents Arrest Man in L.A. Raid and Drive Off With His Toddler
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
They're going to the highest court in the land to avoid feeding children.
November 8, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seems an off place for No Diggity.
November 8, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Four weeks ago a 15 year old autistic boy went missing in Texas

His mom immediately filed a missing person’s report

6 days passed before she heard anything.

Turns out Houston PD found him the next day, but rather than return him to his Mom, they contacted ICE

He’s been in federal custody since
Houston: Missing teen with autism in federal custody, ICE reports
ICE confirmed with FOX 26 that a teen who went missing in Houston for a week had been in immigration custody since Monday.
www.fox26houston.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:08 PM
This is evil
1/2
ICE/CPB thugs tackled a nonverbal autistic man outside a Family Dollar in Chicago’s Little Village claiming he was “noncompliant.”

Witnesses begged them to stop. “Why they beating up this special boy?” one worker cried. “He comes in every day for a treat. He has the mind of a child.” 🤬🤬🤬
November 8, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Cameran Drew, 19, defeated his former high school government teacher by 10 votes in a race for a county supervisor seat in southeastern Virginia this week.
Virginia Teen Narrowly Defeats Former Civics Teacher in County Election
Cameran Drew, 19, defeated his former high school government teacher, Kenneth Bell, by 10 votes for a seat on the Surry County Board of Supervisors this week. There are no hard feelings.
nyti.ms
November 8, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Sitting here editing a high schooler's piece on how the upheaval surrounding SNAP has impacted her community and she's describing how devastation from a flood in February already cut resources and now people are lining up for a church's food bags hours before they start giving them out.
November 8, 2025 at 12:34 AM
This was my American dream as a child.
November 8, 2025 at 2:20 AM
My baby is turning 10 tomorrow. We celebrated tonight with pizza and watching Idiocracy. It’s time he knew.
a man wearing headphones looks at a blue box that says monopoly on it
ALT: a man wearing headphones looks at a blue box that says monopoly on it
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Reposted by Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
From felony disenfranchisement and mail voting to redistricting, this week’s elections carried high stakes for election law and voting rights. See what changes were made ⤵️

boltsmag.org/five-ways-20...
Five Ways Tuesday’s Results Will Affect Voting Rules and Democracy - Bolts
From felony disenfranchisement and mail-voting to mid-decade gerrymanders, Tuesday delivered verdicts on election law across these five states.
boltsmag.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:27 PM