FL Politics: “Last weekend in Miami Beach, organizers behind a constitutional amendment protecting abortion access on next year’s ballot say they’ve gathered more than 420,000 petitions and raised more than $4.7 million in just two months — but opponents are trying to slow their momentum. While it’s received little media attention, a group called Protect Human…
Month: July 2023
“Georgia Supreme Court rejects Trump petition to block election probe”
WaPo: “The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously dismissed former president Donald Trump’s petition to block an Atlanta-area district attorney from investigating him over allegations of 2020 election interference and to throw out evidence gathered by a special purpose grand jury in the case. Trump’s attorneys had asked Georgia’s top court late Thursday to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney…
“Alabama Scrambles to Redraw Its Voting Map After a Supreme Court Surprise”
NY Times: “Under orders from the Supreme Court to produce a voting map that no longer illegally dilutes the power of Black voters in Alabama, the state’s lawmakers are now facing a high-stakes scramble to come up with an acceptable replacement by the end of this week. A little over a month after the court’s surprise ruling,…
“Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care takes effect as federal judge lifts injunction”
PBS: “Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care for young transgender people was restored Friday when a federal judge lifted an injunction he issued last month that had temporarily blocked the restrictions. The latest ruling by U.S. District Judge David Hale means the Kentucky prohibition goes into effect, preventing transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy.”
“Veterans quit as training, mission for DeSantis’ State Guard turn militaristic”
Miami Herald: “Over 30 days in June, teenagers out of high school and retired military veterans came to Camp Blanding, the National Guard base near Jacksonville. Many were told they would volunteer for a revived State Guard with a non-military mission: help Floridians in times of need or disaster. Instead, the state’s National Guard trained…
“Democrat’s Defection Gives Georgia G.O.P. First Black Woman in State House”
WaPo: “A Democrat who represents part of Atlanta in Georgia’s House of Representatives defected to the Republican Party on Tuesday, saying she was subject to a campaign of intimidation by onetime political allies after breaking with them on school vouchers, policing and prosecutorial oversight. Mesha Mainor, a two-term representative from the 56th District in Fulton…
“Florida Navy vet mounts bid to defeat Rick Scott”
Politico: “Phil Ehr, a 26-year U.S. Navy veteran who mounted an unsuccessful bid to oust Rep. Matt Gaetz, officially entered the race for Senate against incumbent GOP Sen. Rick Scott on Monday. Ehr took direct aim at Scott in his statement — and in a two-minute-plus introduction video that also highlighted his military career and recent work in Ukraine —…
“Is TN a Democracy?”
The Atlantic: “To fully grasp this story, you need to understand that the standard forms of American political polarization don’t exist in Sumner, a rural but rapidly suburbanizing county where Democrats are not part of the equation at all. None has won any county office for more than two decades. Instead, the main opponents of…
Vacation
Yellow Dog will be on vacation until next week.
“Shooter who targeted Latinos in Texas Walmart gets 90 life sentence”
WaPo: “The self-described white nationalist who killed 23 people at a Texas Walmart in a 2019 attack targeting Latinos was given 90 consecutive life sentences by a federal judge Friday, after two days of emotional courtroom statements from victims and their families. Patrick Crusius, 24, was sentenced in an El Paso courthouse on federal hate-crime charges, to…