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In face of threats, election workers vow: ‘You are not disrupting the democratic process’
Hundreds of election workers in Washington state’s second-largest county were busy opening mail-in ballots earlier this month when one of them came across a plain white envelope. As she cut it open, white powder leaked out. She carefully took off her gloves, put them down, backed away and called her supervisor. Workers evacuated the building […]
In scrapping its LGBTQ-related travel ban, California pivots to ‘hearts and minds’
In September, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom officially repealed California’s 2016 ban on state-funded travel to states with laws targeting LGBTQ+ people. The idea behind the ban — which applied to bureaucrats, lawmakers, academics and even college athletes — was to use California’s economic heft to dissuade other states from enacting such laws. By that metric, […]
An Eastern Oregon effort to join Idaho reflects the growing American divide
ENTERPRISE, Oregon — This small ranching town, surrounded by towering tree-topped mountains and a valley of rolling grass fields, sits tucked into the northeast corner of the state — both out of the way and right in the middle of a contentious debate. At a meeting late last month, 25 people packed into a stuffy […]
In reversal, some states make it harder for people with felony convictions to vote
The year started out strong for advocates trying to make it easier for people with felony convictions to regain their voting rights. In March, the Democratic-led legislatures in Minnesota and New Mexico enacted measures that cleared a pathway for residents serving prison time for felonies to regain their right to vote upon being released. It […]
In blue California, lawmakers struggle to drop fossil fuels from state pensions
California could soon divest its public pensions from fossil fuel companies, as the state legislature looks to force the nation’s largest non-federal retirement funds to sell off nearly $15 billion in assets. The Democratic effort is part of a growing international movement by government, religious, nonprofit and academic institutions to divest from fossil fuel companies. […]
Cities have ways to curb gun violence; feds are giving them more money
When shots ring out on the South and West sides of Chicago, Sam Castro and his team at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago race to the scene of the shooting and to the hospital where emergency responders are treating the gunshot victim. Knowing most of the city’s gun violence is caused by a small cluster […]
Supreme Court gun rights decision upends state restrictions
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that expanded the right to carry firearms outside the home, gun rights activist Andrew Namiki Roberts rushed to the Honolulu Police Department to apply for four permits to carry handguns in public. He was fourth in line, surrounded by excited Hawaii gun owners who felt vindicated […]
No Permit, No Problem: More States Allow Residents to Carry a Hidden Gun
Six more states no longer require residents to hold a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas and Utah this year enacted what gun rights advocates often refer to as “constitutional carry” measures. A legislative priority for groups such as the National Rifle Association, 21 states now have such measures in […]