Archive
Gov. John Hickenlooper has made a short list of finalists for Hillary Clinton's running mate.
He escaped the curse of sitting governors who lose a presidential bid. Will he ride his statewide success into a national campaign again in 2020?
The budget-balancing $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase that takes effect Aug. 1 will make Pennsylvania's $2.60 levy the 10th-highest in the nation. New Jersey's $2.70 per pack is ninth.
Virginia's legislative and executive branches took their fight over felon voting before the state's highest court Tuesday in a case that could redefine a governor's power to restore civil rights and sway the 2016 presidential race.
State schools chief Randy Dorn has filed a lawsuit against seven school districts alleging that they illegally rely on local levies to fund basic education, including teacher salaries.
California’s Obamacare premiums will jump 13.2 percent on average next year, a sharp increase that is likely to reverberate nationwide in an election year.
Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday signed into law legislation restoring employees’ right to claim in state court that they were fired for discriminatory reasons.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, whom Donald J. Trump passed over to be his running mate, was one of the stars of the Republican convention’s second night on Tuesday, delivering a detailed case against Hillary Clinton with a prosecutorial zeal.
Many police chiefs are ordering their officers to work in pairs. But whether that actually makes cops -- and citizens -- safer is up for debate.
Chicago's Washington Park was nearly empty on a recent Friday afternoon as Bronzeville resident Rosemary Jarrett power-walked her usual five laps around the perimeter of the graceful meadowland where a temporary Olympic stadium could have risen this summer.
Portland Superintendent Carole Smith announced Monday she is stepping down "now" in the wake of the lead controversy in Oregon's largest school district.
The race to be the new Republican nominee for governor is well underway, but most of the action is taking place far from Indiana at a Hilton Garden Inn near the Cleveland airport.
Missourians with criminal convictions could have an easier time sealing those records under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Jay Nixon.
The Justice Department on Monday filed a petition asking that the full nine-member U.S. Supreme Court rehear the blockbuster lawsuit against President Barack Obama's plan on immigration.
Despite three acquittals and a hung jury through the first four trials of officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, prosecutors have the prerogative to push forward with the remaining trials.
The city has a unique effort to improving the relationship between cops and citizens.
Governor Raimondo has vetoed a bill that would have given grandparents, with temporary custody of their grandchildren, adoption -- and parental-termination rights -- they do not currently have.
Documents made public last week give voters a final look at the financial support propelling Republican and Democratic candidates for governor into the Aug. 9 primary elections.
Poisonings from fake marijuana have jumped alarmingly and usage has become so prevalent that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced new efforts Thursday to prevent the sale of products often sold in head shops, vaporiums and online.
Congress is about to leave for a seven-week vacation without giving the Obama administration any of the $1.9 billion it's seeking to battle the Zika virus, and a Senate effort to revive the nuts-and-bolts process of passing agency budgets was dealt a significant setback at the hands of Democrats.
Former Minnesota Gov. Wendell Anderson, who appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1973 with a big northern pike and wide grin as a symbol of his state's good life, but then alienated voters when he appointed himself to a vacant U.S. Senate seat, died Sunday, a state official said.
An Iraq war veteran identified by law enforcement as a "black separatist" fatally shot three police officers and wounded three others here Sunday, opening another chapter in the racial unrest that has swept some cities and exposed the vulnerability of police.
In an effort to survive, several of the remaining health co-ops are fighting the landmark law. Unlike most legal challenges to it, they may actually have a case.
Numbers of ATV-related roadway deaths vary across states.
Texas spending on prisons and jails is the highest in the nation, a new federal study concludes, and has grown about five times faster than the state's rate of spending growth on elementary and secondary education over the past three decades.
A ballot referendum to split the nation’s capital into a new state for its residents and a smaller, federal district for government buildings and monuments is headed to D.C. voters in November.
A state Republican Party official says it’s “pure coincidence” that Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s decision to skip the Republican National Convention has opened the door for Fargo entrepreneur Doug Burgum -- who defeated Stenehjem last month for the GOP nomination for governor -- to attend as a delegate.
State officials on Thursday added the evolution of gay rights and the contributions of lesbian and gay figures in history to the list of topics that public-school students will be taught in California, a landmark move that puts the ongoing LGBT civil rights fight into the mainstream of public education.
Gov. Pat McCrory signed the state budget Thursday at a Union County elementary school, which provided a backdrop for his discussion about teacher pay and other education initiatives the budget will fund.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple has issued an executive order calling for lawmakers to return to Bismarck early next month for a special session to address a projected budget shortfall of more than $300 million for the 2015-17 biennium.
Encouraging informed disagreement is the only way a public leader can learn whether an initiative might -- or might not -- succeed.
Governors seem like obvious vice presidential candidates. But Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is only the second governor to run for VP since 1972.
In late September 2011, a lobbyist for United Airlines had some good news for his longtime friend David Samson, then chairman of the powerful Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
A review of the year's State of the City speeches details their top priorities.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said the island's rescue might simply be a harbinger of things to come on the mainland.
Inside a cramped committee room on the cactus-dotted campus of Arizona’s Capitol, Kelsey Lundy stepped to the podium to detail new legislation and the higher costs it would impose on struggling borrowers.
The long-simmering feud between Eric Greitens and John Brunner, two Republicans seeking the party's nomination for Missouri governor, broke open on a stage at Lindenwood University on Wednesday, with Greitens accusing Brunner of being a campaign saboteur and liar, and Brunner counterattacking over the controversial source of Greitens' single largest campaign contribution.
New failures are piling up among the member-run health insurance co-ops carrying out one of the Affordable Care Act’s most idealistic goals, leaving just seven remaining when the health law’s fourth enrollment season starts in the fall.
Pennsylvania has an annual budget -- nearly nine months sooner than it took last year.
Local and state law enforcement agencies have run roughshod over the First Amendment in dealing with protesters in the wake of Alton Sterling's July 5 shooting death at the hands of Baton Rouge police, Louisiana's leading civil liberties organization and local organizing groups alleged Wednesday in a federal lawsuit.
Police in Arizona may legally search an individual's home or vehicle based solely on the smell of marijuana, even though the drug is legal for medical use, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.
There are implications not only for the presidential race but the Indiana governor's election as well.
Ron Smith, president of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, is resigning amid heavy criticism over a Facebook post about the death of five police officers in Dallas last week.
As hundreds of people demonstrated in downtown Los Angeles against killings by police, the city's Police Commission decided Tuesday that an LAPD officer did not violate the department's deadly force policy last year when he fatally shot an African American woman in a South L.A. alleyway.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not attend the Republican National Convention as he recovers from severe burns he suffered during a family vacation, according to his office.
Vivian Thorp was a single mother of a 4-year-old daughter when she enrolled in California’s welfare-to-work program in 1999.
A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered Utah to continue providing federal funds to the state branch of Planned Parenthood, handing a defeat to Republican Governor Gary Herbert, who had ordered a cutoff last August.
City officials across the country are using the gaming craze to educate and engage with the public -- and have some fun.
Current and historical annual population data for those ages 25 to 54.
Where it exists, it remains popular. But five states have axed it since 2011, and there's a federal push to abolish the option to vote for one party across the ballot.
The department faces serious workforce issues that began long before last week's tragedy. They need to be addressed, and it will be painful.
New data reveals long-term trends about the under-reported topic.
State lawmakers squabbled late Monday over how to plug a revenue gap of more than $1 billion, spurring concerns about a potential spending freeze that could harm schools and nonprofits still reeling from last budget season's impasse.
Illinois is ditching the controversial state PARCC exam for high school students, instead giving 11th-graders a state-paid SAT college entrance exam next spring.
Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill on Monday that will preclude police body camera footage from being a public record in North Carolina.
Many babies born to mothers who are covered by Medicaid are automatically eligible for that coverage during the first year of their lives.
New Jersey’s suburban towns got a big break Monday in the number of affordable housing units that must be built over the next decade, as a state appeals panel overturned a court order that could have added thousands of units to developers’ plans.
An initiated act aimed at legalizing medical marijuana has been cleared for the Nov. 8 general election ballot, but the proposal faces opposition from three fronts -- the backer of a competing constitutional amendment, a conservative organization and the governor.
Some people get food stamps from multiple states, costing the government millions of dollars. A new tracking system can cut those costs.
The medicated patches that are supposed to numb the pain in Olivia Chase’s knees won’t stay affixed, so she adjusts them, once again, and pushes forward on her rolling walker.
Gov. Greg Abbott may not attend the Republican National Convention after suffering severe burns during a family vacation in Wyoming.
Indiana now is seeing the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that in late June struck down Texas abortion regulations.
Fetal remains from abortions and miscarriages would have to be buried or cremated under new rules proposed by state health officials, renewing pressure on abortion providers just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down two of Texas' most restrictive requirements on the procedure.
DeRay Mckesson, the civil rights activist who took a top administrative job with Baltimore's public school system after an unsuccessful mayoral bid, was among more than 100 arrested in Baton Rouge amid nationwide protests against police brutality.
When rifle shots rang out in downtown Dallas during Thursday night's protest, some of the demonstrators were also carrying rifles.
The governor said it's time to confront racism. Groups like Black Lives Matter have been trying for years.
Maricopa County's botched primary brought accusations of voter suppression. What really happened is more complicated -- and even encouraging.
The Florida Supreme Court went on summer vacation Thursday and put on ice rulings resolving two of the most controversial issues to come before the court this year: the death penalty and expansion of slot machines.
A controversial measure that would require a government-issued photo ID to vote was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday, with the Democratic governor arguing it would act as a barrier against citizens' fundamental right to vote.
With California's strict vaccine mandate now in place, opponents are fighting to overturn the law in court.
Prosecutors dropped one of the five charges against Baltimore Police Lt. Brian Rice -- misconduct in office based on an alleged illegal arrest -- before launching into opening statements in his trial Thursday morning.
Gov. Mark Dayton on Thursday condemned the actions by police, saying that while not all the facts are yet in surrounding the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, the force used in the traffic stop was excessive.
Five police officers were fatally shot and six others wounded Thursday when snipers opened fire in downtown Dallas during a protest over recent police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, police said.
Freestanding ERs have been around for years. But only recently have they become profit-focused, deceptive places of care.
More information isn't always better. Some things are better kept secret.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
There's a wide variation in the numbers of public employees and how much they cost in each state. See how yours compares.
The head of the New York City Campaign Finance Board on Wednesday dismissed an ethics complaint against Mayor Bill de Blasio's fundraising nonprofit, but lamented that acceptance by such groups of unlimited donations, "plainly raises serious policy and perception issues."
Gov. Mike Pence outraised Democratic contender John Gregg during the second quarter of the year, according to preliminary fundraising numbers obtained by IndyStar.
Democrats blocked a proposal Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey to withhold federal grant money from communities where authorities refuse to hold suspected undocumented immigrants for federal agents without a court order.
More Americans will now have access to a drug that could help treat their opioid addiction, Sylvia Burwell, U.S. secretary of health and human services, announced Tuesday, even as she pushed for Congress to approve $1.1 billion targeted at the opioid epidemic.
Every weekday at 2 p.m., men in orange jumpsuits file into a Casper courtroom for their first appearance before a judge.
The fatal police shooting of an African American man hawking CDs in front of a convenience store in this sweltering Southern city has once again reignited the nation's long-running debate over race, police and the use of force.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Economic output would get a big boost if more women were in the workplace. A new report shows how far places have to go to close that gap.
Some counties are losing people in their prime working years, creating potential challenges for local governments.
In a year of political upheaval, the gubernatorial elections stand out for how little has changed.
It is officially swelter season in Texas, and for most of the 150,000 inmates in the state's sprawling prison system, it means another summer of seemingly endless months in cells where temperatures can climb north of 100 degrees.
It's been an article of undisputed faith among Florida cops, prosecutors and journalists for decades that phone calls to 911 are public records. So media lawyers were flabbergasted last month when Orlando police refused to turn over recordings of the 911 calls made during the murderous shootout inside the Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead.
Enhancing mosquito control. Encouraging safe sex. Advising people to minimize travel to infected areas.
Kansas cannot cut off Medicaid funding for two Planned Parenthood affiliates, a federal judge said Tuesday.
On Friday, Arizona became the most stringent state in the nation for aid to poor families raising children.
The court struck down a rule issued by the Obama administration that barred the sale of such insurance as a separate stand-alone product.
Many municipalities have switched to LED streetlights to save energy and money. But the change still comes at a cost.
After legal battles and lobbying efforts, tens of thousands of people with hepatitis C are gaining earlier access to expensive drugs that can cure this condition.
It will soon be harder to buy ammunition in California and illegal to own magazine clips that hold more than 10 rounds under a suite of gun-control bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law on Friday.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that terminally ill New Mexicans do not have a constitutionally protected right to enlist a doctor's help to end their lives.
Lawmakers and civil rights advocates are pledging to rewrite state law and amend the Iowa Constitution after the state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lifetime voting ban for convicted felons.
Gov. Steve Bullock and his Republican challenger, Greg Gianforte, agree on one top priority: It’s past time for Montana to make significant investments in infrastructure.
Sarah Hastings’ 190-square-foot home was on 3 acres of farmland next to a small garden in Hadley, Massachusetts. Now it’s in storage.
The Obama administration is making a push to get young adults covered on the health insurance marketplaces, both for their own good and that of the marketplaces, which need healthy people to balance sicker ones in the risk pool.
New studies show that the main weapon against opioid overdoses is showing promise, but states could be doing more to save lives.
Secretary of State Jon Husted is not illegally removing voters from voter registration rolls, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Illinois political leaders cut a deal on a makeshift budget Thursday to keep state government afloat for six months, ensure schools open this fall and rescue the financially struggling Chicago Public Schools -- a temporary reprieve to the stalemate that's gripped the Capitol for a year and a half.
Saying the Alaska Legislature failed to do enough to solve the state's deep financial woes, Gov. Bill Walker used his veto pen Wednesday to slash next year's state spending, including likely cuts in Permanent Fund dividends, a delay in paying tax breaks for the oil industry and cuts in education programs and road projects
Governor Christie has ordered the state to start shutting down road construction work after the fight to pay for road and bridge projects – now a stalemate over raising the gas tax and cutting the sales tax – stalled in the state Senate, where lawmakers were unwilling to accept his plan.
Emboldened by this week's Supreme Court ruling, Planned Parenthood has launched a campaign to repeal laws in eight states it says restrict women's ability to get an abortion.
More than 100 Nobel laureates called on the international environmental group Greenpeace on Thursday to end its opposition to genetically modified crops, saying there is a scientific consensus they are safe and can benefit society.
It's likely that other cities will gain a lot from the experiences of the winner of the Smart City Challenge.
The incoming leader of the U.S. Conference of Mayors talks about cities' relationship with the Obama administration and what he expects from the new one -- whether it's run by Clinton or Trump.
The worrisome state of rural health care has led many to wonder.
Donald Trump and this year’s bizarre presidential race will affect elections all over the country. What’s not clear is how.
In the midst of its biggest fiscal disaster in decades, the state is a good place to watch the evolving roles of freshman lawmakers and veteran lobbyists.
The city’s young treasurer has turned a moribund office into a hive of activity, fueling speculation that he has higher aspirations.
The state is working toward becoming the first to get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Getting there won’t be easy.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Cleveland and the ACLU of Ohio reached agreement Wednesday on easing some restrictions on marches, speeches and protests during the Republican National Convention next month.
Two major health insurance companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Health Net, will drop Affordable Care Act plans next year in Maricopa and Pinal counties, forcing tens of thousands of consumers to switch plans next year.
The health law opened the door for millions of young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26. But there’s a downside to remaining on the family plan.
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who built a national reputation for shepherding a troubled school district through rapid improvements, announced Wednesday that she will step down from her post in the fall.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from Wisconsin of a federal appeals court ruling that struck down the state's law placing restrictions on abortion providers. But state lawmakers pledged new abortion-related bills during the next legislative session.
The Oakland City Council has made its move, effectively blocking a developer's plan to ship massive amounts of coal from the city's port.
In recent years, some states have loosened decades-old restrictions on the sale of alcohol. Who that helps, however, is up for debate.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
A questionable bond sale in Illinois has left some wondering why there's no one to stop financially troubled governments from borrowing.
The Kansas Supreme Court has given its blessing to school funding legislation passed in a special session last week.
The Seattle Police Department will begin melting down its unused guns rather than selling them, ending a practice that brought in about $30,000 a year.
Gov. Gary Herbert was the clear victor in Tuesday's primary fight for the Republican Party's nomination against Overstock chairman Jonathan Johnson, who mounted an insurgent libertarian assault on the conservative incumbent.
Gov. Mark Dayton has selected Fourth Judicial District Judge Anne McKeig as the next Minnesota Supreme Court justice, giving the state's highest court its first American Indian jurist and its first female majority since 1991.
A federal judge on Monday ruled that clerks in Mississippi may not recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples based on religious beliefs, despite a bill passed by the state legislature intended to carve out that exception for them.
An initiative that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California officially took its place on the Nov. 8 ballot on Tuesday as its campaign took a commanding lead in fundraising to battle the measure's opponents.
The nation's driest city wants to market its water-saving efforts to the rest of the world.
Baltimore is at the forefront of a movement to expand public health's arena to include social ills such as gun violence and drug addiction.
In recent years, more rural voters have flocked to the GOP -- a trend that will likely impact this year's governors races.
Of all American towns, Baltimore gives its mayors some of the most control. Some hate that, yet attempts to change it have failed.
Most states are low on cash, but they’re still willing to spend to attract top-shelf companies like Tesla.
Whether Wisconsin's approach makes hiring for government jobs more efficient -- or simply politicizes it -- will influence if and how other states revisit their civil service systems.
Politicians can do a lot of favors for people, so long as they don't cross over the legal line. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision means that line has to be drawn quite clearly.
Gary Herbert is hoping Republican voters will help deliver him to another four-year term as Utah's governor by making him the GOP nominee over Overstock.com executive Jonathan Johnson.
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales blamed "trial by media" as he announced Police Chief Larry O'Dea's retirement Monday, but he acknowledged that the fallout over O'Dea's off-duty shooting of a friend had caused "turmoil and confusion" that demanded a change in leadership.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a $122 billion state budget on Monday that puts $3.3 billion in the state's rainy-day fund -- $2 billion more than constitutionally required -- to bring the reserve to $6.7 billion.
Gov. John Bel Edwards opened the second special legislative session of 2016 three weeks ago by warning lawmakers they needed to raise $600 million more in taxes and enact meaningful tax reform.
Gun rights supporters began counting down to Sept. 14 on Monday after Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a Republican-led plan to loosen state gun laws.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation Monday afternoon that is expected to satisfy the state's Supreme Court and keep schools open past June 30.
Smaller communities are increasingly adopting bike-sharing programs. But they look a lot different than those in big cities.
Cities, counties and states put a lot of effort -- and money -- into lobbying other levels of government.
