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Tyler Kingkade

@tktk.bsky.social

12K followers 480 following 410 posts

NBC News National Reporter. Iowa raised, Los Angeles living. Bad at social media, good at petting animals. On Signal: tylerkingkadenbc.20 tyler.kingkade[at]nbcuni.com https://www.tylerkingkade.com/ https://www.nbcnews.com/pages/author/tyler-kingkade

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Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · Dec 11

I hope you'll read our @nbcnews.com investigation b/c I genuinely think it's a wild ride -- but also there's little from stopping someone else from doing this.

This biz is not regulated by the US gov't, and most states regulate barbers more than ppl selling bodies.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Dealing corpses from a Las Vegas strip mall: A look inside the shadowy U.S. body trade

A disgraced chiropractor found a new job selling bodies. In an industry with few guardrails, he soon faced accusations of mishandling human remains.

www.nbcnews.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

Full story here --> www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

A virtual education company was a lifeline to a rural district. Now they're at war.

What began as an emergency option for New Mexico students during the pandemic has spiraled into dueling lawsuits and drawn government scrutiny.

www.nbcnews.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

State lawmakers are stunned. Not just at the allegations against Stride, but that an online school grew to be larger than a majority of NM districts without them knowing about it

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

Stride is suing the district, saying it violated open meetings laws and has refused to pay it for the last school year. The district says Stride is using the legal process to extract "retribution."

There are 6 suits currently pending.

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

Despite the controversy, many are sticking with Stride. Out of around 4,000 students, about 3,200 are still enrolled in Stride's school, after it signed contracts to operate open through different districts. The state auditor's office, however, is investigating the contracts

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

But according to a whistleblower complaint filed with the New Mexico Public Education Department, that ethics complaint happened after a top Stride exec suggested to company leadership that they "attack first publicly"

(The exec did not respond to req for comment)

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

The district moved to cut off the contract in April. But before that was finalized, Stride's attorney filed an ethics complaint against the district's superintendent b/c he had tried to get a job with Stride last winter (he says it was before he knew about problems) sourcenm.com/2025/04/29/c...

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

Stride also says that many students who come to them are already behind in school, and they help them catch up in credits

So under this framework, as the school grew, averages may have declined but individual students improved nmdcaupdates.k12.com/api/docs/str...

nmdcaupdates.k12.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

And the district says that math, science and reading proficiency rates dropped -- in some cases, plummeted -- and graduation rates declined among online students.

Stride says the district's data is inaccurate, and notes sky high parent satisfaction rates

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

According to the district, Stride also failed to do proper special ed screenings, and packed students into classes that violated state law on student-teacher ratios. Some teachers hired also did not have proper background checks and credentials, the district says

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

But late last year, after the district hired a data analyst, it started uncovering problems with Stride. The district says that Stride reported inflated numbers of students enrolled, thereby getting more funding based on enrollment.

Stride disputes this.

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

The district, in Gallup, NM, is a mostly Native American one. 100% of students qualify for free lunch.

In the pandemic, it couldn't switch to online b/c many students didn't have internet at home. So it hired Stride, formerly known as K12 Inc, to help them out

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 10m

NEW: A rural school district in New Mexico hired the largest for-profit operator of virtual charter schools to set up its online school

Fast forward five years later, and the district is suing the company for fraud and defamation

Here's why... www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news... @nbcnews.com

A virtual education company was a lifeline to a rural district. Now they're at war.

What began as an emergency option for New Mexico students during the pandemic has spiraled into dueling lawsuits and drawn government scrutiny.

www.nbcnews.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 19h

How immigration enforcement turned sleepy Broadview into a chaotic, militarized town www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news... via @nbcnews.com @natashakorecki.bsky.social

How immigration enforcement turned sleepy Broadview into a chaotic, militarized town

An intensive immigration operation ordered by President Donald Trump has quickly transformed Broadview, Illinois, into the beating hot center of the resistance.

www.nbcnews.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 21h

So what you're saying is you are aware that many mainstream outlets are covering it (which proves your statement in your first Bluesky post to be false), but you will only count it if they run it on cable TV?

bsky.app/profile/smi....

stacy-marie ishmael @smi.bsky.social · 1d

NPR/Alaska Public Media: alaskapublic.org/news/public-...

AP: apnews.com/article/alas...

CNN: www.cnn.com/2025/10/13/w...

Fox Weather: www.foxweather.com/weather-news...

ABC: abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...

CBS: www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-...

The Weather Channel: weather.com/news/weather...

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: There’s a disaster unfolding in Alaska right now. And no major network is covering it.

The remnants of Typhoon Halong battered western Alaska overnight. Homes, with people in them, have literally been swept into the Bering Strait.

At least 20 are missing. No comment from any federal agency.

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 2d

Good pt

Reposted by Tyler Kingkade

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 3d

"Once Brockman was handcuffed and placed in the van, the agents pulled out, clipping the rear bumper off of a stopped car partially blocking their path and speeding away past an approaching elongated CTA bus and through the busy intersection."

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 3d

A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.

WGN-TV producer detained during ICE enforcement action in Lincoln Square

A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 3d

i looked up the moment he says it and he says it's "likely because they take Tylenol" -- what??? like the babies take Tylenol after being circumcised in the hospital?? www.c-span.org/clip/white-h...

User Clip: Circumcision

RFK Jr linking circumcision to autism

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 3d

I missed this yesterday - but RFK Jr says circumcision is linked to autism??????

www.medpagetoday.com/washington-w...

RFK Jr. Links Circumcision to Autism

Kennedy cited two studies, but neither offered proof of causality

www.medpagetoday.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 3d

A lawsuit against a school for troubled teens resulted in a $2.5 mil award by the jury in favor of a former student. But that was overturned b/c a juror did some of their own research on the troubled teen industry

www.huffpost.com/entry/troubl...

via @taiylersimone.bsky.social

An Isolated Boarding School Promised To Help Troubled Girls. Former Students Say They Were Abused.

One former student called the school’s founder, Jeannie Courtney, “the all-powerful cult leader — God.”

www.huffpost.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 4d

Judge Rules Feds Can’t Pepper-Spray, Tear-Gas Journalists After Block Club Chicago And Others Sue blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/09/j...

Judge Rules Feds Can't Pepper-Spray, Tear-Gas Journalists After Block Club Chicago And Others Sue

Block Club and news organizations sued the federal government for its actions against journalists outside the Broadview ICE detention facility. Four of our journalists have been shot with pepper-spray...

blockclubchicago.org

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 5d

What happened after the Weimar Republic ended in 1933?

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 5d

From Donald Trump's Roundtable on Antifa just now —
"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."
— special guest Jack Posobiec

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 7d

been screaming about this issue (lack of bankruptcy protection for student debt) for most of my career www.huffpost.com/entry/bankru...

Report Argues For Bankruptcy Protection For Student Loans

Report Argues For Bankruptcy Protection For Student Loans

www.huffpost.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 7d

it's obvious why Wall Street would want to buy a stake in the *federal* student loan portfolio -- it's a special kind of debt that can't be waived away in a personal bankruptcy

shifting debt from govt to the market would also crush borrower assistance possibilities

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Trump administration considers sale of federal student loan debt

The discussions have taken place among senior Education Department and Treasury Department officials.

www.politico.com

Tyler Kingkade @tktk.bsky.social · 11d

not good www.spj.org/spj-condemns...

Reposted by Tyler Kingkade

Society of Professional Journalists @spj-posts.bsky.social · 11d

SPJ strongly condemns recent attacks by federal agents on journalists reporting on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and protests around the country.

🔗Read the full statement: www.spj.org/spj-condemns...