Refugees, youth crime, fire truck crisis and more

Hello again. Have you heard about “teen takeovers” popping up in U.S. cities this summer?

Some of the large, unruly gatherings have turned violent. Public safety officials say enforcement of parental responsibility laws is needed to curb youth crime. But researchers aren’t so sure, Stateline’s Amanda Watford reports.

Our staff recently wrote about cities suing fire truck manufacturers over high costs, refugee admissions hitting a record low, officials using AI in the housing permit process and an abortion case that could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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When young children and teenagers get into trouble, the question often comes quickly: Where were their parents? That question is again shaping public policy in communities across the country, as state and local lawmakers and prosecutors increasingly look for ways to respond to concerns about youth crime and public disorder. Some proposals would strengthen enforcement of existing laws that allow parents to be fined or otherwise held responsible, while others would impose youth curfews or establish new requirements for parents. But experts note there’s little proof the laws work.

More than 60 cities, counties and fire departments across the nation — from Milwaukee to San Diego, Pittsburgh to Tampa — say the country’s three biggest fire truck manufacturers have conspired to suppress competition, resulting in skyrocketing prices for fire trucks and repair parts, and yearslong manufacturing delays. In April, a federal court rolled up their claims into a trio of antitrust class action lawsuits in a Wisconsin district court. Fire engine prices have nearly doubled since 2020, from about $589,000 to over $1 million.

The number of refugees admitted to the United States during the first 10 months of the fiscal year is on pace to hit its lowest level on record, according to a new analysis. The new numbers reflect a steep decline in refugee admissions since President Donald Trump began his second term. The U.S. has admitted 10,258 refugees — nearly all of them white South Africans — in the first 10 months of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. During fiscal 2025, part of which overlapped with President Joe Biden’s term, the U.S. admitted 38,102 refugees. In the previous year, during which Biden was president the entire time, 100,034 refugees were admitted.

New housing projects can sometimes stall out as a developer applies to city or county planning boards and goes through cycles of inspections, reviews and approvals. Now, cities are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to address one of the most persistent sources of housing permitting delays: incomplete applications. And two new streams of federal money aim to help them.

A federal judge’s decision that the 14th Amendment — which protects due process of law under the states — provides a narrow right to abortion if a pregnancy might risk a woman’s health could eventually end up before the Supreme Court. The ruling is the first since the high court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 to find that in certain situations, the U.S. Constitution includes a right to abortion. 

For more than three decades, researchers have been tracking ticks, mice, oak trees and other wildlife in a New York forest to better understand what makes Lyme disease more likely to spread.

Their latest findings challenge some long-held assumptions — including the idea that deer are a major driver of Lyme disease risk.

Researchers at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, a nonprofit environmental research group, found that white-footed mice, not white-tailed deer, are closely linked to the number of young blacklegged ticks, the life stage most likely to infect people with Lyme disease.

A year with a large mouse population was followed by about a 40% increase in nymphal ticks the following year. But more mice don’t necessarily mean a higher percentage of ticks carrying Lyme bacteria. Researchers initially expected the two to rise together because white-footed mice are especially good at transmitting the bacteria to ticks.