A Florida judge this weekend struck down a congressional map approved by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, ruling it diluted minority voting power in the region, making it “unconstitutional.”
Read the full story
President Joe Biden launched a new ad in Arizona on Labor Day touting a “manufacturing boom” as part of a $25 million advertising campaign in battleground states, even after the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) recently delayed its new Phoenix microchip plant claiming the state lacks skilled talent.
The 30-second ad features Phoenix resident Bill Ruiz, according to The Hill, who brags that “we’re building some of the biggest tech factories in the world right here” in Arizona, and specifically lists new semiconductor factories as an example, ultimately crediting “the laws that Joe Biden got passed” for making their construction possible.
Read the full story
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine officially called for the Ohio Redistricting Commission to reconvene to begin the process of drawing new state legislative maps on September 13th, 2023.
The official notice states that, after DeWine reconvenes the commission, “the appointments of any appointed members of the commission will be entered into the record, the administration of the Oath of Office will occur, the roll will be called, the co-chairpersons will be formally entered into the record and the meeting will be turned over to the co-chairpersons.”
Read the full story
Georgia Piedmont Technical College broke ground on a 24,000-square-foot Regional Transportation Training Center in Stonecrest.
The facility should open to students in the fall of 2024. With this addition, officials said the school has room to double its commercial truck driving program enrollment.
Read the full story
University of Wisconsin campus leaders have not cut diversity, equity and inclusion positions from their campuses despite losing $32 million in funding from the GOP-led state legislature earlier this summer in an effort to see such programs axed.
However, system leaders are in the process of requesting a partial reimbursement to the tune of $15 million from the Wisconsin State Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee to fund non-DEI, workforce development-related positions, which state lawmakers left open as an option to recoup some of the cuts.
Read the full story
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that he has formed a new task force to thoroughly evaluate the safety of the state’s school buses.
This announcement follows a Northwestern Local School District bus crash last week that killed one student and injured more than two dozen in Clark County.
Read the full story
More Arizona voters have continued to change their party affiliation to independent, making it the state’s largest voting bloc. This means more than 1.4 million voters will be unable to cast a ballot in the state’s 2024 presidential primary contests.
The Arizona Secretary of State released new data this month dating from July 2023, revealing that 1,450,697 Arizonans, or 34.55 percent of the state’s voters, are now registered independent.
Read the full story
A former White House drug policy advisor wants Georgia’s governor to reject a rule change to allow some independent pharmacies to sell low THC oils.
In June, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy voted in favor of the rule change to allow more than 100 independent pharmacies to sell THC oils.
Read the full story
Three-term state Rep. Ruth Richardson, DFL-Mendota Heights, abruptly resigned via Twitter / X Friday night, as the long Labor Day weekend began.
Little additional explanation was given for her sudden departure. As a House member, she served on the Economic Development Committee.
Read the full story
The Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit in Blount County over a letter written by 5th Judicial District Attorney General Ryan Desmond to Blount Pride organizers.
In that letter, Desmond said that he intended to enforce the Adult Entertainment Act (AEA), which was signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee (R) and bans drag shows from occurring in spaces that could be occupied by children.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) is urging the U.S. Forest Service to reverse a “Misguided” proposal to strip Wayne National Forest of its historically significant name.
The Wayne National Forest, established in 1992, is located in the southeastern part of Ohio, in the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It is the only national forest in Ohio.
Read the full story
Activist groups across Georgia have denounced the City of Atlanta’s decision to use signature matching in order to verify signatures on a petition that would allow voters to decide on the fate of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
Read the full story
A grassroots policy group launched a $200,000 campaign aimed at conservative Ohio lawmakers who pushed forward a bill creating a labor mandate in the state’s oil and gas industry.
Americans for Prosperity-Ohio said the effort to target conservative, limited-government lawmakers who support the bill comes when Ohioans fight high energy costs and inflation.
Read the full story
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking a new COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, a highly mutated variant that was discovered in Michigan last week as the first case of its kind in the country. The variant has been spotted in the United States, Denmark, Israel and the U.K. This variant is described as being a “variant under monitoring” by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Read the full story
Arizona state House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) promised Republicans in the legislature will not relent in the partisan fight over Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), even as Governor Katie Hobbs and Arizona Democrats claim the growing school choice initiative is draining the state budget.
Toma said critics of the ESA program are “disingenuous” in their claims for political reasons, asserting that Republicans instead believe it is “the state’s responsibility” to provide education for all children, and “[p]arents want choice” in the matter, during a Friday interview with Arizona Capitol Times.
Read the full story
Corner stores, malls, and independent businesses that dabble in the unregulated gray area between games of skill and chance may soon find themselves facing stricter — or clearer — guidance from legislators.
The Democratic Policy Committee in Radnor this week to discuss the proliferation of skill games across Pennsylvania.
Read the full story
A Georgia Senate joint committee will soon meet to discuss artificial intelligence.
“AI may be one of the greatest disruptors in history providing significant advancements and monumental risk,” State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell (pictured above), chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, said in a statement. “We must address this head on to protect our citizens, businesses, and state.”
Read the full story
Attorneys for Scot Mussi, the president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, sent Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes a letter earlier this month threatening litigation if Fontes did not clean up the state’s voter rolls. Attorneys Jason Torchinsky and Dallin Holt of Holtzman Vogel said they “determined that at least four counties have more registered voters than adult citizens over the age of 18.” Apache County had the highest, with 117.4 percent, and Maricopa County was close to 100 percent with 97.8 percent.
The attorneys warned, “This letter provides statutory notice that Scot Mussi, acting as a registered Arizona voter with a substantial interest in secure elections, will bring a lawsuit against you and, if appropriate, against the counties named in this letter, if you fail to take specific actions to correct these violations of Section 8 within the 90-day timeframe specified in federal law.” In anticipation of the litigation, the letter asked Fontes and the 14 counties to “take steps to preserve documents.”
Read the full story
Despite incorrectly predicting a mild recession for the first two quarters this year, Florida officials estimate that the state’s economy and tax revenues will continue to grow.
The Office of Economic and Demographic Research held a Revenue Estimating Conference last week, with officials saying that the “current economic environment presented significant forecasting challenges.”
Read the full story
America First Legal is demanding answers after the Justice Department under President Joe Biden intervened in a Virginia school district’s adoption of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policies that center parental rights in transgender issues.
“The Department of Justice seems to suggest that protecting the constitutional rights of parents and students will lead to ‘hate crimes,’” Ian Prior, senior adviser at America First Legal, told The Daily Signal in a written statement Monday. “Once again, we are witnessing the top law enforcement organization in the land come unglued from reality and unmoored from its core functions, all in the name of opposing anyone that doesn’t approve of its state-approved message.”
Read the full story
A new poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers shows former President Donald Trump with a significant lead over his closest competitor in the crowded field of GOP presidential nominee combatants.
But Trump’s pollster says the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll appears to undercut wider support of the former president in the Hawkeye State by significant sampling of independents and former Democratic Party caucusgoers.
Read the full story
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rejected a petition which aims to amend the state constitution by ending qualified immunity for state workers claiming that the language contains omissions and misstatements that would mislead a potential petition signer.
The amendment, submitted by The Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity, aiming for the November 2024 presidential election, looks to add a Section 22 to Article I of the Ohio Constitution in order to end qualified immunity being used to protect state employees, including but not limited to law enforcement officers, against civil lawsuits.
Read the full story
Officials and community members recently cut the ribbon on one of the largest solar projects in western Pennsylvania.
Through a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh and Vesper Energy, the school says it is achieving its renewable energy commitments while providing educational opportunities.
Read the full story
A Georgia grand jury later Monday night approved 10 indictments in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ election probe, including former President Donald Trump and 18 others.
Read the full story
Two affiliated Catholic colleges in Minnesota adopted a policy for the new academic year allowing “non-binary, gender-fluid, and gender-nonconforming individuals” to enroll in a men’s or women’s college based on the sex with which they identify.
The colleges’ previous policy only explicitly referred to “transgender” students, except in a “frequently asked question” that noted non-binary students must “consistently live and identify” as either a man or a woman.
Read the full story
The Arizona House has launched an investigation into the censorship requests by Governor Katie Hobbs, including those revealed by Arizona Capitol Oversight, and those made by other state government officials.
House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) created the panel late last week, enlisting Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) to serve as its chair. In what Kolodin called “an interesting coincidence,” the panel was created the same day Arizona Capitol Oversight released an 8 page report revealing several of Hobbs’ censorship requests to Facebook and Twitter, including one against a member of the Arizona Legislature.
Read the full story
The Milwaukee Brewers have reportedly threatened to look into moving the team, currently leading the National League Central, if they do not receive the taxpayer funding they want to renovate American Family Field.
The legitimacy of those threats, published anonymously by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, are being questioned.
Read the full story
Attending a public college is an affordable choice for many students, and the costs are significantly lower for those in-state.
Even so, two Pennsylvania state-related universities rank among the top 10 of those with the highest in-state tuition in the nation.
Read the full story
The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by a group of pro-life advocates requesting that they block a proposal that aims to enshrine abortion into the state constitution from the November ballot.
All of the seven Supreme Court justices dismissed the lawsuit brought by former state Representative Tom Brinkman from Cincinnati and former legislative candidate Jennifer Giroux who say that that the Ohio Supreme Court should block the proposal as the submitted signature petitions to get on the ballot fails to specify which state laws would need to be abolished if voters approved the constitutional amendment.
Read the full story
Gov. Glenn Youngkin is leading a ‘Parents Matter’ town hall tour across the commonwealth to engage Virginia parents on crucial issues impacting youth.
The tour began over a month ago in Salem, and since then, the governor has spoken at Bristow, Richmond and Fredericksburg – areas that lean heavily Democratic.
Read the full story
Connecticut has banned the harvesting of horseshoe crabs along its coastline amid concerns about the ecological health of the species, which is prized for its life-saving blue blood.
The ban, approved by the state Legislature, outlaws horseshoe crab hand harvesting beginning on October 1. Anyone caught violating the law faces a $25 fine for each crab harvested. There are exemptions for scientific and medical purposes if it is determined that doing so will not harm the overall horseshoe crab population.
Read the full story
Wisconsin officials aren’t saying how much a new program to grow the state’s direct care workforce by 10,000 will cost taxpayers.
The program, launched by the Department of Health Services, includes free classes and promises a pair of $250 bonuses. The state has said it will use federal COVID-19 relief funds to cover the expense.
Read the full story
Atlanta journalist George Chidi announced Saturday he was asked by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office to testify before a grand jury this Tuesday in the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Read the full story
A class action status has now been granted to a lawsuit alleging that Arizona’s laws concerning the alteration of birth certificates discriminate against transgender individuals, especially minors.
The lawsuit was originally filed against Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on behalf of three Arizona families, and the court’s decision means its eventual ruling will now “apply to all transgender individuals born in Arizona” who wish to change their birth certificate to reflect their chosen gender identity.
Read the full story
Two Republican Ohio state representatives introduced legislation to allow students to attend extracurricular activities during and after their time in school.
House Bill (HB) 135, sponsored by State Representatives Rodney Creech (pictured above, right) (R-West Alexandria) and Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township) (pictured above, left), looks to require excused absences from schools for 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) activities.
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump’s support among New Hampshire Republicans remains solid.
A significant majority — 62 percent — of Republican primary voters say they would vote for Trump even if he’s convicted of a felony by the time they cast their ballots for president, according to a new NHJournal/co-efficient poll.
Read the full story
Students that attend Fulton County Schools and DeKalb County Schools were met with new security improvements including weapon detection systems and push-button alert systems.
Read the full story
It’s State Fair time in the Hawkeye State, and with a little more than five months before Iowa’s first-in-the- nation primary that means one thing: Presidential candidates galore.
While Thrill Ville still thrills and food on a stick remains cuisine du jour, the Iowa State Fair — as it does every four years — is a showplace for presidential aspirants.
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) will hear from real Americans impacted by President Joe Biden’s border policies at a congressional field hearing on Tuesday in Arizona.
Grothman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, is teaming up with U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, in holding the joint-committee hearing in Sierra Vista, AZ.
Read the full story
Florida officials predict that contributions to the state’s education system from the state lottery will decrease this fiscal year by $270 million.
Officials at the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research forecast that Florida Lottery and other sources such as slot machines will transfer $3.12 billion to the various education trust funds, which includes $560 million left over from the previous fiscal year.
Read the full story
Podcaster Joe Rogan asserted that “real fraud” happened in Arizona’s 2022 elections, calling the breakdown of election equipment on that day “shenanigans” that impacted the outcome of the race.
Rogan made his remarks about the Arizona election during an interview with Valuetainment founder Patrick Bet-David on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” asking the entrepreneur, “How much election fraud do you think is real,” before adding, “because I don’t think it’s zero.”
Read the full story
An inmate who was in charge of coordinating a shipment of methamphetamine from Atlanta into Western North Carolina and the leader of a Savannah-area drug trafficking conspiracy were both sentenced to federal prison this week
Read the full story
The liberal D.C. law firm behind a legal challenge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the Badger State was founded by Hillary Clinton’s political fixer, the man who helped bankroll the infamous — and bogus — Trump-Russia dossier.
Marc Elias and his Elias Law Group filed a lawsuit last week in the liberal Dane County Circuit Court demanding the return of the widespread use of unsecured drop boxes, just as the Wisconsin’s high court is about to be led by liberals for the first time in a long time.
Read the full story
A Republican Ohio lawmaker introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives that aims to permit public schools statewide to employ chaplains to provide support services and programs for students.
House Bill (HB) 240 sponsored by State Representative Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Paris Twp.) would allow chaplains to serve as paid employees or volunteers in public schools without having to obtain a license from the state board of education.
Read the full story
About $13.5 million in taxpayer grants from the Going PRO Talent Fund will help train 8,500 workers across nearly 300 Michigan businesses to earn industry-recognized credentials and strong wages.
“The Going PRO Talent Fund is an investment in our state’s greatest asset – our people – helping them develop the skills they need to advance their careers and ‘make it’ in Michigan,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “These grants help us put thousands of Michiganders on paths to good-paying jobs and empower hundreds of Michigan businesses across the state develop the talent they need to compete in the global economy.”
Read the full story
Alpha News journalist Sheila Qualls recently hosted a townhall panel discussion on the failures of Minnesota’s public education system.
Qualls is the host of the podcast “Trapped!: Chaos in the Classroom,” in which she investigates the public school system in Minnesota through interviews with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members.
The townhall panel she hosted consisted of retired teachers, a school board member, a current private school educator, and a parents group director.
Read the full story
The Georgia Republican Party announced on Wednesday that it has launched a website defending the contingent electors for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election as they have been targeted by the Fulton County district attorney’s investigation.
Read the full story
Amid rising concerns about the liberal political agenda driving environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment decisions at the expense of retirement income, U.S. Representative Zach Nunn (R-IA-03) has introduced the “Protecting Retirees’ Savings Act.”
The bill, according to proponents, will help eliminate conflicts of interest for financial managers that cost investors by lowering investment returns.
Read the full story
The Elections Task Force (ETF) created via executive order by Governor Katie Hobbs has recommended 20 changes to Arizona elections, including moves to prevent ballot drop boxes from being observed by citizen groups and restore the voting rights of felons.
Hobbs’ ETF agreed to advance 20 of 22 total proposals it generated to consider during a Thursday meeting that was closed to the public, including members of the media. It was the second full meeting of the group, which Hobbs chairs, since she created it via executive order in January.
Read the full story
Ohio Republican lawmakers are calling out Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb for encouraging voters to vote against Ohio State Issue 1 so that it’s easier for Democrats to place gun control measures into the state constitution.
Issue 1, if approved by voters, would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
Read the full story