By Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — Back in 2004, Sheena Meade was living in Florida as a single mother of four when she wrote an $87.26 check to pay for groceries.

But the check bounced. About two months later, two police officers came to her door and, to her surprise, arrested her in front of her children on a misdemeanor charge for writing a bad check.

It was her first offense, and the charge was ultimately dismissed after she entered a diversionary program, she said. In some ways, it “wasn’t a big deal,” Meade explained to CNN in a recent interview.

Yet over two decades later, that arrest remains on her record, impacting her ability to get a job, secure an apartment and even attend college, Meade said. Many applications ask her to explain any prior arrests or legal trouble, and she believes that misdemeanor likely turned up on background checks when she was applying for housing.

“It wasn’t until later when I started realizing, ‘Wait a minute, that’s why I can’t get this apartment? Because of this?’” she told CNN last month over coffee and avocado toast at the Renaissance New York Harlem Hotel.

Meade’s personal background now informs her work as the CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, a nonprofit at the forefront of one of the most successful criminal reform movements in recent years.

The idea of “Clean Slate” laws is to help streamline the process of sealing or clearing past arrest and conviction records for those who have served their sentence, remain crime-free and are otherwise eligible. Every state already has laws on the books for such record-clearing, but the process is complicated and requires people to navigate a knotty legal system.

“The purest version of Clean Slate is taking something that somebody’s already entitled to and making it automatic,” said Marc Levin, the chief policy counsel of the Council on Criminal Justice think tank.

The pitch has proven its bipartisan appeal, unlike some other criminal reform movements that have seen a rapid rise and backlash in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. In the past decade, “Clean Slate” laws have passed in 13 states across the political spectrum, ranging from blue states like New York to purple states like Pennsylvania to red states like Oklahoma. Over 18 million people now have a pathway to full or partial record clearance in those states and Washington, DC due to these changes.

The Clean Slate Initiative has spearheaded these efforts, growing to a staff of over 40 people under Meade. The nonprofit’s five-year plan is to pass Clean Slate laws in 25 states – and Meade wants to go through the process of getting her own record cleared in Florida.

Meade is married to Desmond Meade, the MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner who led Florida’s constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to former felons. She said working with him on that effort led her to reflect more deeply on how her arrest has impacted her life.

“I always tell people I’ve turned my pain into purpose,” Meade said. “Everything I’ve been through in life, I’ve been able to find some type of purpose in it, or push policy towards it.”

How an arrest became a scarlet letter

About 28% of adults in America – nearly one in three US adults – have an arrest record as of 2019, according to the Clean Slate Initiative.

By Jeff Zeleny, CNN

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) — Theresa Weeks was making spaghetti when a Senate candidate came knocking on her door.

“I was just watching your commercial,” Weeks said, extending her arms to give Josh Turek a hug on her front steps. “I’m delighted to see you.”

Turek is not only running to replace Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who is retiring after two terms. He is also testing whether Democrats can still win a Senate seat in Iowa – for the first time since 2008. The party is seeking to capitalize on voter discontent and economic anxieties that are also coursing through races for governor and Congress.

Weeks has lived in Iowa for 40 years, so she well remembers when sending a Democrat and Republican to the Senate was commonplace. The midterm election may signal whether Iowa has slipped deeply into the column of a red state, she believes, or whether Democrats can stage a revival.

“I’m hopeful there is this quiet sentiment of change that will erupt and we will see that change come to fruition,” Weeks said, standing outside in her stocking feet, as Turek’s visit came without warning. “I’m on a tightrope. I’m on pins and needles as to what our future holds.”

As she talked, Turek listened from his wheelchair on a recent afternoon he spent navigating sidewalks in her leafy neighborhood, climbing up stairs and knocking on doors. He’s intent on showcasing a physical disability, which he believes can be a political strength.

“There’s nothing like face-to-face interaction,” said Turek, 47, who was elected to the state legislature after winning two gold medals for the US men’s wheelchair basketball team. “You’ve got a guy in a wheelchair that crawls up the stairs to get your vote. It means a lot.”

In the primary election on Tuesday, Turek faces state Sen. Zach Wahls, 34, in a fight to become the Democratic nominee for US Senate. The winner is expected to challenge Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.

‘Ready for change’

The fall election will measure whether voters in Iowa – and a handful of states across the country – have an appetite to elect Democrats in places that have repeatedly sided with Trump over the last decade and trended Republican at most levels of government.

“We’ve been in one-party rule for the better part of a decade,” said Josh Ladd of Des Moines, who called himself a moderate Democrat, eager for a new direction. “It feels different right now. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but your gut says it’s different.”

The president’s name is not on the November ballot, but Democrats are trying to make the election a referendum on his policies. Voter anxieties over inflation, the cost of gas, Medicaid cuts and tariffs are among issues contributing to a low approval rating for Trump.

“I think people are ready for change,” Wahls told CNN. “People want fighters who are going to go to bat for people that, you know, the establishment in Washington has written off.”

The spirited contest between Turek and Wahls is the latest in a series of Democratic primaries across the country in which the party’s voters are trying to find the most electable candidate for a general election. In Iowa, the fight is less ideological, given the rivals have similar records, but more about biography and geography.

Turek is from Council Bluffs, a working-class city in along the Missouri River in western Iowa and Wahls is from Johnson County, a deep-blue region home to the University of Iowa. Wahls first gained national attention when he spoke out against a proposed ban on sa

By Jeff Zeleny, CNN

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) — Theresa Weeks was making spaghetti when a Senate candidate came knocking on her door.

“I was just watching your commercial,” Weeks said, extending her arms to give Josh Turek a hug on her front steps. “I’m delighted to see you.”

Turek is not only running to replace Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who is retiring after two terms. He is also testing whether Democrats can still win a Senate seat in Iowa – for the first time since 2008. The party is seeking to capitalize on voter discontent and economic anxieties that are also coursing through races for governor and Congress.

Weeks has lived in Iowa for 40 years, so she well remembers when sending a Democrat and Republican to the Senate was commonplace. The midterm election may signal whether Iowa has slipped deeply into the column of a red state, she believes, or whether Democrats can stage a revival.

“I’m hopeful there is this quiet sentiment of change that will erupt and we will see that change come to fruition,” Weeks said, standing outside in her stocking feet, as Turek’s visit came without warning. “I’m on a tightrope. I’m on pins and needles as to what our future holds.”

As she talked, Turek listened from his wheelchair on a recent afternoon he spent navigating sidewalks in her leafy neighborhood, climbing up stairs and knocking on doors. He’s intent on showcasing a physical disability, which he believes can be a political strength.

“There’s nothing like face-to-face interaction,” said Turek, 47, who was elected to the state legislature after winning two gold medals for the US men’s wheelchair basketball team. “You’ve got a guy in a wheelchair that crawls up the stairs to get your vote. It means a lot.”

In the primary election on Tuesday, Turek faces state Sen. Zach Wahls, 34, in a fight to become the Democratic nominee for US Senate. The winner is expected to challenge Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.

‘Ready for change’

The fall election will measure whether voters in Iowa – and a handful of states across the country – have an appetite to elect Democrats in places that have repeatedly sided with Trump over the last decade and trended Republican at most levels of government.

“We’ve been in one-party rule for the better part of a decade,” said Josh Ladd of Des Moines, who called himself a moderate Democrat, eager for a new direction. “It feels different right now. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but your gut says it’s different.”

The president’s name is not on the November ballot, but Democrats are trying to make the election a referendum on his policies. Voter anxieties over inflation, the cost of gas, Medicaid cuts and tariffs are among issues contributing to a low approval rating for Trump.

“I think people are ready for change,” Wahls told CNN. “People want fighters who are going to go to bat for people that, you know, the establishment in Washington has written off.”

The spirited contest between Turek and Wahls is the latest in a series of Democratic primaries across the country in which the party’s voters are trying to find the most electable candidate for a general election. In Iowa, the fight is less ideological, given the rivals have similar records, but more about biography and geography.

Turek is from Council Bluffs, a working-class city in along the Missouri River in western Iowa and Wahls is from Johnson County, a deep-blue region home to the University of Iowa. Wahls first gained national attention when he spoke out against a proposed ban on sa

By Leah Dolan, CNN

London (CNN) — It took four men to heave the 200-pound painting on the wall. Once mounted, the voluptuous nude body stands tall like a mountain against the pale wash of Sotheby’s London gallery. There are five or six people in the room, including the hangers and the auction house press team, who coo and aw over the sleeping woman on the canvas, her blue-tinged flesh erupting in folds. Suddenly, a jolly voice with an east London twang cuts through the mesmerized whispers: “Hello,” says a much smaller woman at the back of the room: “I’m here in real life!”

Sue Tilley, the 60-something retired benefits supervisor and subject of British artist Lucian Freud’s monumental painting “Sleeping by the Lion Carpet” (1996), has travelled from her home in St Leonards-on-sea on the south coast of England for an uncanny meeting with the oil-on-canvas work before it heads to auction next month. The portrait, which Sotheby’s Europe chairman Olivier Barker says is “the magnum opus of Lucian’s work,” is estimated to fetch between £25-35 million ($33-45 million) at the Lewis Collection sale on 24 June.

Tilley is well aware of these lofty price tags, of course, though that’s about as far as it goes. “It feels very weird, because I never really got any money,” she said while sitting across from her imposing portrait. “I think sometimes I’m probably worth about £100 million,” she laughed. “How shocking is that!”

She posed for the seminal painter, who died in 2011, numerous times in the 1990s and was paid a modest day rate. (“People think I walked in the room and went ‘Wow, let’s work on the most expensive painting in the world.’ It wasn’t like that at all.”) Together, they created four portraits: “Evening in the Studio” (1993), “Benefits Supervisor Resting” (1994), “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” (1995) and “Sleeping by the Lion Carpet.” Two have broken records with their sale price: First the 1995 portrait, which sold in 2008 at Christie’s in New York for $33.6 million and became the most expensive work by a living artist. Then in 2015 the proverbial yardstick was thrown like a javelin, after the 1994 painting sold, also at Christie’s in New York, for $56.2 million.

Freud and Tilley were first introduced by a mutual friend, Leigh Bowery — the trailblazing Australian performance artist, costume designer and club kid who moved to London as a teenager hellbent on experiencing the nightlife and culture he read about in magazines. Tilley was a close friend of Bowery’s after meeting while out clubbing, and in 2025 wrote his biography. “He made a name for himself as being very outrageous,” she said. “But deep down he was a very normal person.” Freud meanwhile was interested in staying close to London’s avant-garde scene, “the ticking heart of what was really going on in London at that particular moment in time,” said Barker. He painted Bowery, Tilley and a legion of their nightclub crew. Tilley in particular, “completed something that (Freud) needed of his models,” Barker added.

It was “a fantastic experience,” Tilley said, as they chewed the fat on everything from life and friendly gossip to horse racing. But sitting for the master painter wasn’t without complication or discomfort. For one, she had never posed nude before. Nervous about what to expect from the first session, Bowery came over to her place and “made me strip my clothes off so I could practice.” Bowery’s instructions (“you have to do this, you have to do that,”) put “the fear of God” in Tilley. But when she met Freud she instinctively did her own thing. “I think that’s why he liked me,” she said. “I disobeyed him the whole time.” Still, the schedule was strict. Tilley would arrive around 7:30am, be given breakfast, and then the painting began. Freud rarely

Por Donald Judd, CNN

La Casa Blanca dio a conocer a última hora del viernes los resultados del examen físico que le realizaron al presidente Donald Trump en mayo y compartió un informe de su médico en el que le recomendaba perder peso y hacer más ejercicio, al tiempo que señalaba que gozaba de excelente salud.

“El presidente Trump se mantiene en excelente estado de salud, demostrando una sólida función cardíaca, pulmonar, neurológica y física en general”, escribió el Dr. Sean Barbabella, médico de la Casa Blanca, en una carta. “Su desempeño cognitivo y físico es excelente. Está plenamente capacitado para desempeñar todas las funciones de Comandante en Jefe y Jefe de Estado”.

Barbabella apuntó: “Durante el examen se brindó asesoramiento preventivo, que incluyó orientación sobre la dieta, la recomendación de tomar una aspirina de baja dosis, aumentar la actividad física y continuar perdiendo peso”.

El médico señaló que el presidente mide 1,90 metros de altura y pesa 108 kilos.

En su examen físico del pasado mes de abril, Trump pesaba 224 libras.

Su visita al Centro Médico Militar Nacional Walter Reed el martes marcó la tercera vez que visita las instalaciones para un examen médico desde que se convirtió el año pasado en el presidente de mayor edad jamás investido.

Antes de la visita, la Casa Blanca declaró que el chequeo incluiría “evaluaciones dentales y médicas anuales de rutina”, a pesar de que ya había visitado a un dentista en Florida dos veces este año.

Inmediatamente después de la visita, Trump ofreció escasos detalles sobre Truth Social, escribiendo: “Todo salió PERFECTAMENTE”.

Desde su regreso a la Casa Blanca en 2025, las dolencias visibles y las especulaciones sobre su salud han llevado a la Casa Blanca a revelar nuevos detalles sobre el estado físico del presidente.

La Casa Blanca afirmó que la hinchazón en sus piernas y tobillos, que se reveló el verano pasado, era consecuencia de una insuficiencia venosa crónica, una afección en la que las válvulas dentro de ciertas venas no funcionan correctamente, lo que puede provocar que la sangre se acumule en ellas.

Trump intentó usar medias de compresión, pero le resultaron incómodas.

En la carta del viernes, el médico del presidente escribió que, durante el examen físico del martes, “se observó una ligera hinchazón en la parte inferior de las piernas, con una mejoría respecto al año pasado”.

Durante su segundo mandato, el presidente también ha desarrollado hematomas notables en las manos, que la Casa Blanca ha atribuido a los frecuentes apretones de manos y ha intentado disimular con corrector en las fotografías.

Según el informe médico, Trump también se sometió a un “examen neurológico completo”, que mostró “estado mental normal, nervios craneales intactos, fuerza motora, sensibilidad, reflejos, marcha y equilibrio normales”.

En cuanto a la salud cardíaca de Trump, el médico dijo: “El análisis del electrocardiograma (ECG) mejorado con IA estimó que su edad cardíaca… es aproximadamente 14 años menor que su edad cronológica”.

La carta de Barbabella señalaba que Trump toma aspirina, pero no especificaba la dosis. Cuando se usa con fines preventivos, los médicos suelen recomendar tomar 81 miligramos de aspirina al día, pero Trump declaró al Wall Street Journal en enero que toma 325 miligramos, una dosis que puede aumentar el riesgo de hemorragia.

“Dicen que la aspirina es buena para diluir la sangre, y no quiero que la sangre espesa circule por mi corazón”, declaró Trump al WSJ. “Quiero que la sangre fluya fluida por mi corazón. … Prefieren que tome la más pequeña. Tomo