Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

Louisiana lawmakers dazed and confused over medical marijuana research

Recreational marijuana use will be legal in 21 states after ballot measures pass

By: - November 9, 2022

Advocates for marijuana liberalization saw mixed results as legalization ballot measures were counted Tuesday, with Maryland and Missouri voters approving recreational use for adults but Arkansas, South Dakota and North Dakota rejecting the proposal. Maryland and Missouri will bring the list of states where recreational marijuana use is legal to 21. Maryland’s referendum passed easily, […]

U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman thanks supporters during a rally in Pittsburgh

U.S. Senate control too close to call as multiple states grapple with tight vote counts

By: , and - November 9, 2022

WASHINGTON —  Control of the U.S. Senate remained unclear early Wednesday as races in a handful of swing states in the midterm elections were still too close to call, and it appeared it might be days — or even weeks — before a final result was known. Among the tightest contests: In Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. […]

Person rolling a marijuana joint

Weed on the ballot: Voters could approve legal marijuana in 5 more states

By: - November 3, 2022

Midterm voters in five states will determine if they should join the growing list of places where recreational marijuana use is allowed, even as any use of the drug is still illegal under federal law. Referendums to legalize recreational use of marijuana are on Nov. 8 ballots in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, South Dakota and North […]

People gather near a ‘bathtub ring’ of mineral deposits left by higher water levels along drought-stricken Lake Mead on May 10, 2022 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Even as drought forces water cutbacks, climate gets short shrift in midterm election

By: - October 31, 2022

LAKE MEAD, Nevada —The streaks of white on the rock ringing the nation’s largest reservoir show how far its water levels have dropped since it was last full. Lake Mead and nearby Lake Powell, which send water to 40 million people in the Southwest, are at their lowest levels since they were filled in the […]

Donald Trump in Oval Office on phone

Jan. 6 panel issues subpoena to Trump demanding his testimony

By: - October 21, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol sent a subpoena Friday to former President Donald Trump, demanding documents and testimony from the person the panel has said was central in orchestrating a plan to overturn the 2020 election that culminated in the insurrection.  The panel set a deadline […]

A motorist fuels a vehicle

In attempt to curb gas prices, Biden will release oil from emergency reserve

By: - October 18, 2022

President Joe Biden will authorize the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the nation’s reserves on Wednesday, part of an effort to lower gas prices as polling shows concerns over inflation are likely to hurt Democrats in congressional elections next month. The release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a four-site complex of deep […]

Former President Donald Trump

Trump to be subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel as the ‘central cause’ of Capitol insurrection

By: - October 13, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, saying the former president must be held accountable as the “central cause” of a violent attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans voted  to authorize a subpoena […]

Jan. 6 protestor inside U.S. Capitol

Four things to watch for at the upcoming Jan. 6 hearing

By: - October 12, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating a pro-Trump mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is back. It will hold its first hearing in nearly three months Thursday — and potentially its last. In a break from most of the panel’s previous eight hearings in June and July, Thursday’s meeting will not drill down […]

Mitch McConnell

The battle for control of Congress: Abortion, inflation, crime and Biden

By: , and - October 11, 2022

In this file photo from January 2020, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, leaves the Senate chamber during a brief recess during the impeachment trial proceedings at the U.S. Capitol. McConnell said odds are even for Republicans to regain control of Congress in the midterm elections. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

a woman fills rolling paper with marijuana

Biden to pardon all federal offenses for simple marijuana possession, review criminalization

By: , and - October 6, 2022

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced executive actions that would pardon thousands of people with prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. Biden then called on governors to follow suit with state offenses for simple marijuana possession, saying that “just as no one should be in a Federal prison solely due to the […]

A new justice at the U.S. Supreme Court, and an Idaho wetlands case up first

By: - September 30, 2022

 When the U.S. Supreme Court opens its fall term on Monday, a few things will be different. A Black woman, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, will hear oral arguments for the first time ever. And the public will be allowed into the room for the first time since early 2020. The content of the term’s first […]

Women’s Pregnancy Options in Albuquerque

‘Crisis pregnancy centers’ that oppose abortion questioned by U.S. Senate Democrats

By: - September 20, 2022

Seven U.S. Senate Democrats questioned a leading Ohio-based antiabortion group Tuesday about its practice of collecting personal information from patients seeking abortions. So-called crisis pregnancy centers—facilities that often mirror abortion provider aesthetics but actually provide services to discourage abortion—collect sensitive data from patients. That presents troubling new complications as states move to increase penalties for […]