Fostering crime, deadly storms, and Black-owned snub

VNN Weekly Digest April 17-23

How a shortage of foster placement options can lead to more youth arrests

(NATIONAL) “We talk about mass incarceration and so many people in prison,” said Longworth, a policy specialist for Treehouse, a Seattle nonprofit that serves youth in foster care. “We should start looking at some of the feeders of that, and one of the major feeders is the way we do foster care in this country.”

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12 tornadoes confirmed in deadly Oklahoma outbreak

(OKLAHOMA) At least a dozen tornadoes touched down in central Oklahoma this week, officials confirmed Friday. Damage survey crews from National Weather Service Norman investigated Wednesday’s severe weather damage on Thursday and Friday and concluded two tornadoes were rated EF3 in Cole and south of Pink. 

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Black-owned bookstore owner breaks silence after being snubbed

(OKLAHOMA) The owner of the only Black-owned bookstore in Tulsa broke her silence Thursday evening, detailing numerous authors who requested to have events at her location, only to have Penguin Random House schedule them at a traditional bookstore instead. 

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WEATHER ACROSS AMERICA

(NATIONAL) March-like temperatures to engulf much of the eastern two-thirds of the Lower 48 (additional frosts/freezes expected), warmth in the Southwest, more showers and storms to develop in the South-Central U.S, damp and dreary conditions to linger in New England, and mountain snow and coastal and valley showers to spread from the Pacific Northwest to the northern and central Rockies. 

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