Ribbon cutting marks opening for Sentara's new diagnostics center

An effort to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college campuses. Tennessee became the latest state to act this week as the Republican governor signed a law prohibiting banks from considering a customer's participation in DEI training. That came shortly after the Democratic governor of Kansas allowed a bill to become law barring higher education institutions from using DEI statements in employment and admissions. A budget bill given final approval in Iowa seeks to ban DEI offices and programs in higher education. Republicans in about two dozen states have filed bills this year targeting DEI efforts.

Thousands of United Methodists are gathering Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, to begin an 11-day denominational General Conference. Typically it is held every four years, but church leaders delayed the 2020 gathering until now due to the pandemic. Hundreds of delegates will vote on policies, though many international delegates are not confirmed as able to attend. It's the first gathering since thousands of conservative U.S. congregations left the denomination over its failure to enforce bans on LGBTQ clergy and on same-sex marriages. Progressive delegates will attempt to overturn these bans. Other proposals include allowing regional autonomy in deciding such policies, and making it easier for international churches to disaffiliate.

Columbia University canceled in-person classes and police arrested dozens of students at New York University and Yale as tensions over Israel's war with Hamas continue to grow on U.S. college campuses. The moves at the Ivy League schools came hours before Monday evening's start of the Jewish holiday of Passover. A New Haven, Connecticut, police spokesperson said about 45 protesters were arrested at Yale on Monday morning and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. All were being released on promises to appear in court later. Following arrests last week at Columbia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up encampments on other campuses around the country, including at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina.

A $12 billion high-speed passenger train line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Brightline West company officials on Monday to hammer commemorative yellow rail spikes at the site of terminal due to open in 2028 just south of the Las Vegas Strip. The company plans to build track in the median of Interstate 15 to a Rancho Cucamonga, California, commuter rail hub connection to Los Angeles. Trains would whisk past at speeds comparable to Japan's bullet trains. A Brightline sister company operates a train about two-thirds that fast between Miami and Orlando.

Columbia University has averted another confrontation between students and police, but the situation remained tense. Campus officials say they will continue talks with pro-Palestinian protesters for another 48 hours. University President Minouche Shafik had set a midnight Tuesday deadline to reach an agreement to clear the encampment but about 3 a.m. the university extended that, saying it was making “important progress.” Student protesters had committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents, the New York Ivy League university said in a statement. Standoffs also continued at other universities across the country and new encampments were popping up.

Nearly a third of American adults don't get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Stress and anxiety are keeping people from snoozing, as can a culture that experts say is about productivity, not rest. Experts say that you should create a buffer zone and watch what you eat before bed. They also say it's important to limit screen time before sleep.

Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in pro-Palestinian encampments with a unified demand to end investments supporting Israel’s war in Gaza. From Massachusetts to California, students have gathered by the hundreds and vowed to stay put until universities meet their demands. It’s inspired by a demonstration at Columbia University last week that resulted in dozens of arrests. The latest protests focus on colleges’ financial investments, reviving a decades-old campaign to cut ties with Israel and its supporters. The movement is seen by some as an effort to bring freedom to Palestinians and by others as a form of antisemitism.

U.S. stocks are drifting in mixed trading. The S&P 500 edged down 0.1% Wednesday after a two-day winning streak erased nearly two-thirds of last week’s steep loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Tesla jumped after saying the night before that it would accelerate production of more affordable vehicles. Hasbro climbed after reporting stronger profit than expected, while Teledyne Technologies tumbled after reporting weaker results than forecast. Treasury yields rose in the bond market following the latest report on the U.S. economy to come in hotter than forecast.

A New Jersey woman who was near death has received a transplanted pig kidney, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart. Doctors at NYU Langone Health say 54-year-old Lisa Pisano is recovering well. She is only the second patient ever to receive a pig kidney. The first, a man transplanted last month in Boston, also is faring well. Pisano was far sicker, suffering a combination of heart and kidney failure. It's the latest in a string of attempts to make animal-to-human organ transplants a reality.