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D.C. high school students plan and attend civil rights summit-The Washington Post

Greta Jelen got her big idea on a day when high school students across the District walked out to join a protest over immigration policy.

She came away with a sense of power and community, she said, and was left feeling “not as alone as the election of 2016 had made me feel.”

The now 16-year old junior at the School Without Walls said her experience in November sparked her idea to try to educate students about their civil rights and led to a three-day session in Washington that ended Thursday.

Confederate flag posters, with cotton attached, found at American University-The Washington Post

On Wednesday afternoon, students at American University filled the Kay Spiritual Life Center, a round building on campus. They packed the chapel’s pews. Some sat on the floor. Eventually, Sylvia M. Burwell, the university’s president, stood before the crowd.

And as Burwell spoke, she began to cry.

“This made me both angry and sad,” Burwell said, speaking about a disturbing discovery the night before. “Angry, because this behavior exists in our nation and sad because, as a person of faith, I don’t actually understand this kind of hate. Sad, as well, because people in our community are feeling pain and anger.”

Washington-area schools show a building commitment to science-The Washington Post

At Howard University, a gleaming $70 million science building allows students a more light-filled space to do their research and learning — and testifies to the growth and opportunity in technology and engineering. At George Mason University, construction is wrapping up on a $73 million building focused on the health sciences.

Universities in the Washington region have long been recognized for churning out politicians-to-be, diplomats and lawyers. But it’s an unprecedented science building boom — costing hundreds of millions of dollars — that is altering the landscape of campuses, fueled by burgeoning enrollment in science, technology, engineering and math majors.

Law Enforcement Adapts to Using Cryptocurrency to Catch Criminals-Bloomberg BNA

Law enforcement agencies are turning to blockchain to track everything from financial crimes to drug trafficking, even as they’re still learning how to use the distributed-ledger technology.

The accessible nature of a public blockchain — an open database that can exist on millions of computers designed to allow for reliable transactions among anonymous users — is particularly appealing to law enforcement, which doesn’t need a subpoena or search warrant to access it.

Corporate Cyber Risk Disclosures Jump Dramatically in 2017-Bloomberg BNA

More public companies described ‘‘cybersecurity’’ as a risk in their financial disclosures in the first half of 2017 than in all of 2016, suggesting that board and C-suite fears over data breaches may be escalating.

A Bloomberg BNA analysis found 436 companies cited ‘‘cybersecurity’’ as a risk factor in their Securities and Exchange Commission periodic filings in the first six months of 2017, compared to 403 companies in 2016 and 305 companies in 2015.

Colorado leaders bridge the divide-The Durango Herald

It might be a hyper-partisan political world, but some states have senators from different parties.

Although one might expect that a Democrat and a Republican from the same state might stick to their partisan issues, all 11 states in the 115th Congress with senators from different parties have had their senators work together on at least one bill.

“In the Senate, unless you have a very large majority, you have to get some buy-in from the minority party. It changes how much bipartisanship you need,” said Laurel Harbridge Yong, an associate professor of political science at Northwestern University.

In Colorado, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner are among the senators from the same state and different political parties who work together on legislation the most.