Archive
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he is running for governor Thursday, attempting a restoration after eight years out of office that saw his DFL successor move the state in a more progressive direction at odds with Pawlenty's tenure.
Echoing a recent call by President Donald Trump, both U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Wednesday that they were open to the idea of executing drug dealers as a method of combating the opioid crisis.
As thousands of teachers converged for another day of protest at the state Capitol on Thursday, Ginger Henley stood along Lincoln Boulevard, eliciting honks from passing motorists who obliged with her banner that read "Honk for funding Oklahoma education."
An attorney challenging North Dakota's voter ID law welcomed a federal judge's ruling Wednesday, April 4, that expands Native Americans' options at the polls but eliminates voter affidavits.
A proposal to ban bump stocks in Tennessee failed in both the state House and Senate on Tuesday.
As the chants of thousands of education supporters echoed through the halls outside his office, Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg Treat said Thursday that the Oklahoma Senate will not drastically change education spending, casting uncertainty over the Legislature's ability to end a days-long teacher strike.
Under the Trump administration, and most Republican White Houses, enforcement of the 1968 anti-discrimination law has weakened. Housing advocates say the constantly changing federal approach has held back progress.
China is one of our largest trading partners. U.S. exports to the country totaled $130 billion last year.
At a time when the aid-in-dying movement is suffering elsewhere, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed a bill on Thursday giving terminally ill residents the option.
Her sentencing made headlines across the country this week: A woman, recently released from prison in Texas and still on felony probation, is set to head back to prison for another five years after she unknowingly broke the law by voting in the 2016 election.
For months now, the three Democrats running for governor have crisscrossed Massachusetts, arguing that voters should fire Republican Governor Charlie Baker.
Starting this fall, all new homes built in Houston's floodplains must be elevated higher off the ground after a contentious debate and narrow vote by City Council on Wednesday to adopt the Bayou City's first major regulatory response to the widespread flooding Hurricane Harvey unleashed last August.
Critics are welcoming the demise of a controversial measure that would have allowed Tennessee school systems to arm some willing, trained staff and teachers after the bill was voted down Tuesday in a House panel.
Long-feuding state Senate Democrats have brokered a framework deal to reunite, which Democrats claim will bolster the party's prospects for taking control from Republicans of the 63-member chamber.
The Trump administration announced a hastily assembled plan Wednesday to deploy National Guard troops along the southwestern border, hoping to make good on a promise the president made a day earlier that caught many in the military by surprise.
Many of them are implementing or seriously considering savings plans for private-sector workers. At stake are both the states' and their residents' fiscal well-being.
Gov. Jerry Brown has been mostly silent about the March 18 shooting death of Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man killed by Sacramento police that has renewed a national conversation about police misconduct and excessive use of force.
Owners of assault weapons living in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield have until June 13 to remove the firearms from within village limits or face daily fines after a ban was approved Monday night.
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation into law Monday that will provide a health benefit plan option -- one not subject to federal regulation or state oversight -- for farmers, small businesses and other Iowans who no longer can afford independent insurance coverage.
About 11.8 million consumers nationwide enrolled in 2018 Obamacare exchange plans, a 3 percent drop from last year when 12.2 million consumers signed up, according to a final government tally released on Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Albuquerque, N.M., embarked on a novel campaign to reduce panhandling. Has it worked?
Some cities want to make campaign donors identify themselves. But lawmakers and lawsuits are getting in their way.
With both kinds of traumatic events on the rise, school counselors can't keep up with the demand for mental health services.
From the moment they are arrested, people with an addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers and those who are taking medications to beat their addictions face the prospect of painful opioid withdrawal.
A federal judge has sided with a civil rights group that accused Texas officials of violating U.S. law by failing to automatically register voters who go online to obtain or renew a driver's license.
As he seeks the Democratic nomination for Ohio governor, Richard Cordray can tout a record of achievement stretching back to the early 1990s.
Attorney General Janet Mills said Tuesday she has found a funding source for expanding Medicaid in Maine, which could snuff some arguments against expansion but is sure to cause ongoing controversy about her authority to spend the money.
The city plans to file a lawsuit against California challenging the legality of the state's so-called sanctuary law.
Rebecca Dallet trounced Michael Screnock on Tuesday for a seat on the state Supreme Court, shrinking the court's conservative majority and giving Democrats a jolt of energy heading into the fall election.
The recent protests in conservative states point to a potentially counterintuitive reality.
Ride-hailing services are crying foul. But cities and states say they’re merely taxing services.
Federal prosecutors on Monday arrested and charged State Rep. Jack Williams and former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Martin Connors in a public corruption investigation stemming from a 2016 insurance coverage scheme.
A coast-to-coast coalition of cities and states filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to block the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
People who work for the Trump administration and Congress members aren't the only government employees being asked to sign legally questionable contracts to keep secrets.
Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill that makes her state the 50th and final one to enact a consumer data breach notification law.
In its latest legal salvo against California, the Department of Justice announced Monday it is filing suit against what it branded an "extreme" state law that tries to give California power to veto sales of federal land to private interests.
Thousands of Oklahoma teachers went on strike Monday to demand higher pay and more education funding, digging in for a prolonged walkout as discontent spreads among public educators in conservative states.
The state Supreme Court left intact a voter-approved California law Monday that requires police to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested on suspicion of committing a felony, sidestepping questions about what it means for the tens of thousands of people who are arrested but never charged or convicted.
Over the decades, this quiet coastal hamlet has earned a reputation as one of the most liberal places in the nation. Arcata was the first U.S. city to ban the sale of genetically modified foods, the first to elect a majority Green Party city council and one of the first to tacitly allow marijuana farming before pot was legal.
From the start, the 28-year-old woman sensed doubt.
The Trump administration openly threatened one of the cornerstones of California's environmental protections Monday, saying that it may revoke the state's ability under the Clean Air Act to impose stricter standards than the federal government sets for vehicle emissions.
The Supreme Court on Monday shielded a police officer from being sued for shooting an Arizona woman in her front yard, once again making it harder to bring legal action against officers who use excessive force, even against an innocent person.
When Tory Gunsolley learned that his agency was about to receive $40 million in federal recovery funds in the wake of Hurricane Ike, he was thrilled.
Calling it a "milestone day for mental health in Iowa," Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two significant pieces of legislation in to law Thursday that she said will bolster Iowa's commitment to treating children and adults facing mental health challenges with dignity and compassion.
Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday that teachers aren’t going to get the 20 percent pay hike they are demanding – not now and not in the foreseeable future.
Oklahoma and Kentucky teachers are walking off the job Monday and holding rallies in their state capitols to pressure lawmakers.
President Trump was quick to criticize Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to pardon five former convicts facing deportation.
A woman who was hit by a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department vehicle while protesting the police killing of Stephon Clark was resting at home Sunday after suffering multiple cuts and bruises in the incident.
President Trump on Easter Sunday appeared to rule out efforts to revive deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought illegally to the United States as children, tweeting "NO MORE DACA DEAL!"
When Amazon agreed last year to begin collecting sales tax in New Mexico, state officials celebrated what they said could be tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue.
The firm used improperly obtained Facebook data to help the GOP take back the Colorado Senate. Most of the lawmakers who might have benefited are remaining silent as Democrats call on the state to investigate.
A district judge sentenced a Tarrant County woman to five years in prison Wednesday for illegally voting in the 2016 presidential election.
State colleges and universities are relying more on tuition dollars to fund their operations even as state funding rises and colleges come under pressure to keep tuition low.
President Donald Trump’s administration must defend a lawsuit targeting his plan to end a program offering protection from deportation for hundreds of thousands of children of undocumented immigrants.
Kentucky's largest public school districts are closed due to widespread absences Friday among teachers angered by the Legislature's passage of a pension overhaul.
California signed up an estimated 450,000 people under Medicaid expansion who may not have been eligible for coverage, according to a report by the U.S. Health and Human Services’ chief watchdog.
Last fall Giovanni Inton's second-grade son came home from school and told his dad he was hungry.
When he looks back at what the Austin bomber "did to our community, he was a domestic terrorist for what he did to us," Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a panel discussion Thursday that focused on how police, the media and the community responded to the Austin bombings.
Utah has adopted a "free-range parenting" law, the first state in the country to formalize the hands-off child-rearing trend.
Oklahoma is now the second state to reverse course on tax cuts in favor of boosting teacher pay. Will Arizona be next?
Utah and Virginia are both closer than ever to making more low-income people eligible for free or low-cost health care. What made them change their minds?
Under a new leaked version of the rule reportedly being considered, use of government benefits -- with few exceptions -- could hurt an immigrant's chances of becoming a permanent legal resident.
Photos and musings from our photographer David Kidd.
Baltimore's 911 system and a range of city services in Atlanta were hijacked in the past week.
Many advocates say the deadly bridge collapse in Florida and driverless car incident in Arizona show how poorly transportation networks handle pedestrians.
A measure banning licensed therapists from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity was signed into law Wednesday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Seattle's law requiring landlords to choose among qualified applicants on a first-come, first-served basis violates the state constitution, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday, March 27 to join a Trump administration lawsuit against California's controversial sanctuary law.
In its call for 'transformative' projects, it has some ideas that are worth paying attention to.
The thriving Canadian municipality of Mississauga is harnessing innovative technology and stakeholder buy-in to become a model for connected communities.
Hundreds of protesters headed toward Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento and blocked its entrance Tuesday night for the second time in a week, preventing Kings fans from attending an NBA game as the protesters called for action in the police shooting of Stephon Clark.
President Donald Trump has encouraged police officers to be rougher on suspects they arrest. He has deployed federal authorities to stem gun violence in Chicago. And he has repeatedly called for police nationwide to implement tough-on-crime policies.
Gov. Murphy greatly expanded New Jersey's medical marijuana program Tuesday, opening the door to tens of thousands of new patients and allowing the five dispensaries spread across the state to add satellite retail centers and cultivation facilities.
Gov. Jim Justice signed into law Tuesday a measure to limit the duration of opioid prescriptions issued in West Virginia -- the state with the highest overdose death rate in the nation.
The Arizona Attorney General is calling on Facebook to lead an industry-wide transformation to protect personal data online, and demanding answers on how Arizonans have been affected by breaches.
A judge on Tuesday ordered Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet to dismantle Florida’s “fatally flawed” system of arbitrarily restoring voting rights to felons and to replace it by April 26.
Gov. Scott Walker won't appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court an appellate decision denying his request for eight more days to call a special election in two vacant legislative seats.
It's meant to help property owners afford energy-efficiency upgrades. But some have concerns over lending standards and consumer protections.
The justices heard arguments on Wednesday in a Maryland case that could, for the first time, limit partisan gerrymandering. They didn't appear to have a consensus on how to address the problem.
In the 36 gubernatorial races this fall, all but 10 of the states are currently led by Republicans.
The Trump administration rejected Idaho's attempt to offer health insurance that doesn't follow Obamacare rules. Iowa thinks it has a new strategy that will win federal approval.
Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill into law Tuesday that will impose work requirements on certain adults receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Uber plans to end all autonomous-car testing in California for the foreseeable future, according to a letter from the state Department of Motor Vehicles to the company.
Looks like the fox was guarding the henhouse.
At least 12 states have responded with a wave of fury and legal action this week after the Trump administration announced it would add a question to the 2020 census asking respondents whether they are U.S. citizens.
Blue states are suing to block the question, but they aren't the only areas particularly vulnerable to losing money and political power if the Trump administration's plan lowers immigrants' participation.
In the wake of shootings around the country, Gov. Scott Walker on Monday signed a $100 million plan that would tighten school security but not put new limits on guns.
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a measure Sunday requiring doctors to report abortion complications, even if they don't work in an abortion clinic.
For the first time in a decade, Florida juvenile detention and probation officers will see a bump in their salaries -- an increase in the state budget that is part of a series of juvenile justice reforms passed by the Legislature this month.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday his office would provide independent oversight of the investigation into the death of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by two Sacramento police officers earlier this month in his grandparents' backyard.
More than 20 months after the fatal police shooting of a black man outside a Baton Rouge mini-mart touched off protests nationwide over police treatment of African Americans, the Louisiana attorney general said Tuesday that he would not charge two white officers in the death.
The state has the lowest gun death rate in the country. Congress is considering a bill that would incentivize other states to copy its firearm policies.
Circuit Judge Rex Burlison rejected on Monday a bid by Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens for a trial by judge, not a jury, on Greitens' felony invasion of privacy case.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department, whose leadership opposes the new California sanctuary law that limits cooperation with federal immigration officials, announced Monday that it is now providing public information on when inmates are released from custody.
President Donald Trump has another ally in its lawsuit against California -- South Carolina.
The state of California sued the Trump administration Monday night, arguing that the decision to add a question about citizenship in the 2020 census violates the U.S. Constitution.
Actress Cynthia Nixon on Monday blasted Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as "Andrew the Bully," a "wannabe Republican" and a member of the "old boys club" ruling New York politics.
The fatal collision last weekend of a self-driving car owned by Uber and a woman crossing a Tempe, Ariz., street raised enough questions that the ride-hailing giant days later suspended such on-road testing of the vehicles.
Election ballots in Virginia will include clear instructions beginning in November about how voters should mark their choices, according to new guidelines approved by the State Board of Elections Friday.
Gov. Butch Otter assembled a large group of backers as he signed the school threats bill into law Friday.
A new study is the latest to show that landlords often discriminate against minorities and people who use rental vouchers.
The expectation for government HR managers to do more with less isn’t a temporary adjustment. It is the new normal.
About 17,461 Detroit households are at risk for water shutoffs next month when the city's water department resumes its controversial program, the Free Press has learned.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed into law a bill which will limit the number of youth who can be tried as adults in criminal courts.
From California to Vermont, mobile methadone vans have served people with opioid addiction in rural towns and underserved inner-city neighborhoods for nearly three decades.
The federal government will spend a record $4.6 billion this year to fight the nation’s deepening opioid crisis, which killed 42,000 Americans in 2016.
Tears rolled down Emma Gonzalez's face as she stood in silence.
A proposed ban on assault weapons was introduced in the Delaware General Assembly on Thursday, the latest and likely most contested bill among a slew of gun control measures being debated by state lawmakers this year.
Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous has received an endorsement from Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), adding to the list of nationally-known progressives who are backing his bid for governor.
The three largest groups representing human services agencies and nonprofits say the phrase hurts their work -- and society at large.
The transit agency has long been divided along regional lines. But it looks like local leaders may be able to put aside those differences to provide the troubled agency with long-term funding.
According to Vogue anyway.
Chief information officers and chief financial officers haven’t always gotten along. That’s not true anymore.
Most of the problems are rooted in false or missing data.
Hiring police officers is much harder than it used to be. To stay competitive, some are offering generous pay increases and bonuses.
It’s not about how successful any business is but what the city has left after it leaves.
Publicly owned internet networks are giving some rural regions an advantage over even the techiest big cities.
It’s largely up to states to regulate these facilities -- many of which don’t even employ full-time nurses.
The problems associated with legalizing marijuana are seen on a much bigger scale in the state.
Indiana lawmakers will have to establish a sexual harassment policy for themselves for the first time after Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law a new measure Thursday aimed at preventing unwelcome sexual advances at the Statehouse.
At first, Honolulu 911 operators were just telling people to turn on CNN, because they, too, had no idea whether a ballistic missile was really about to blow up the state.
Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown has signed a measure into law that would toughen the state’s consumer data breach laws.
After of lobbying from students and teachers, a bill to prevent school administrators from censoring the work of student journalists has became law.
In the face of growing public tension, Sacramento police have released video footage of officers fatally shooting an unarmed black man in his backyard after a chaotic nighttime pursuit last weekend.
City of Atlanta officials are struggling to determine how much sensitive information may have been compromised in a Thursday cyber attack.
County population estimates, domestic and international migration data.
Turns out, the answer isn’t either-or. Rather, it’s a question with 80 million answers.
It’s the second highest-ranking job in state government, and yet, no one seems to want it.
After the Kansas City Star revealed a deep culture of secrecy in the state’s government, politicians have started to address the lack of transparency.
Major urban jurisdictions, including some that had previously staved off losses, are seeing more residents move away.
In a region that values open space, the idea of expanding the housing supply is a tough sell -- even after the disaster destroyed 5,000 homes.
A Dane County judge on Thursday ordered Gov. Scott Walker to promptly call special elections in two state legislative districts that have had vacancies since December, saying the governor misinterpreted a state law in choosing not to fill the seats until the November general election.
In a handful of states, they can't. A lawsuit involving Burger King was supposed to settle the debate in Arkansas.
Paying an extra toll for rush hour driving isn’t a popular idea with many motorists. But its time seems to have come. Is it here to stay?
In a job with tons of power and practically no oversight from voters, law enforcement or politicians, corruption can be easy to get away with.
Cities have become increasingly focused on doing whatever it takes to attract large corporations. But it's hard to govern a one-company town. Just ask Anaheim.
New York City is betting that it can learn important lessons from the way the private sector runs. The bet is starting to pay off.
Several major programs -- some that the White House aimed to eliminate -- will get a significant funding boost. President Trump signed the bill hours after threatening to veto it.
There is a range of customer-feedback tools, including very simple ones.
New federal legislation provides an opportunity for state and local governments to use the innovative approach to reinvent social services.
The people who live in our cities need to understand what is at stake. Local officials need to do a better job of communicating that.
Former House Speaker Joseph Souki has agreed to resign from office to resolve complaints from "several" women who allege they were the targets of his unwanted advances that included sexual comments, touching and kissing, according to the Hawaii State Ethics Commission.
In the state the president previewed his new policy, a bipartisan bill to ban the death penalty just passed, representing a growing opposition to the practice.
Hundreds of red-shirted educators jammed into Capitol hearings rooms and marched around the Legislature Wednesday to protest what they call dismal pay and conditions for their students.
Arnold Schwarzenegger talks like he wants his old buddy John Kasich to make another run for the White House.
The campaign of Mike DeWine continues to ratchet up the ill will in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, tweeting that Mary Taylor committed a crime and should be locked up.
Siding with a Texas death row inmate Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a lower court to take another look at Carlos Ayestas' request for money to fully investigate his claims of schizophrenia, brain injuries and similar issues.
