The line is open. Here’s the day’s video roundup. Closing notes:
* DECLINING BIRTH RATE: Vox rounds up numbers on a startling decline in the teen birth rate, with the decline sharpest in the South. Arkansas is still a top 10 state in teen births, however. The rate is falling faster for younger teens and the decline is sharpest among Hispanic and Asian teens. Overall, the rates for all but Asians remain higher than those of whites, which portends a separate set of numbers about overall population demographics. Why the drop? Nobody knows for sure. Less sex? Better contraception? Gay recruitment? (That last one is not serious.)
* MALL MURDER CONVICTION: A Pulaski jury has convicted and given a life sentence to Deonte Edison, 20, in the 2013 slaying of Christian Hayes, 25, manager of a Sbarro outlet in Park Plaza.