NY Times: “The Arkansas secretary of state on Wednesday rejected an effort to put an abortion-rights amendment on the ballot this November, saying the campaign had failed to submit some of the necessary paperwork. Less than a week ago, organizers said they had successfully submitted more than 101,000 signatures in support of the effort, a…

Fox News: “A staff member of Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson is “no longer” in the congressman’s employment after allegedly posting “don’t miss next time,” after the apparent assassination attempt on former President Trump on Saturday evening. “I was made aware of a post made by a staff member and she is no longer in my employment,” Mississippi Rep….

AR Times: “Opponents to a rule requiring “wet signatures” on Arkansas voter registration forms crowded into a public hearing room Thursday to voice concerns about barriers to voting they say would result from the rule’s adoption. “Make no mistake about it, this rule makes it harder for Arkansans to vote,” said Toney Orr, chairman of the…

KERA News: “Armed with rainbow flags, cardboard signs and megaphones, almost 90 demonstrators stood Saturday morning on the corner of University Drive to protest a private event inside the Fort Worth Botanic Garden that included sessions on Christian nationalism and “The War on White America.” Amy Ramsey, chief operating officer for the national nonprofit Defense of Democracy,…

ABC News: “Former U.S. Rep. Tommy Robinson, who gained notoriety as an Arkansas sheriff for tactics that included chaining inmates outside a state prison to protest overcrowding, has died. He was 82…. Robinson’s rhetoric and stunts earned him folk hero status among rural voters, said Arkansas Democrat-Gazette senior editor and columnist Rex Nelson. “He was…

Ms.: “Late last month, Nashville Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn and abortion rights attorney and activist Rachel Welty brought a lawsuit in federal district court challenging the trafficking law on constitutional grounds and asking to have it permanently enjoined.  At the heart of their case, is their argument that the law “criminalizes pure speech based on the…

NBC: “Two conservative federal judges in Texas have blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students, preventing the rule from taking effect in the Republican-led state and a school district represented by a Christian legal rights group. Thursday’s rulings by U.S. District Judges Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo and Reed O’Connor in Fort…

Political Wire: “A new University of Houston/Texas Southern University poll finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) leading challenger Colin Allred (D) by just three points in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 44%. The survey echoes a Manhattan Institute poll released earlier this month that showed Cruz leading, 46% to 43%. In the presidential race, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden…

WaPo: “Look east from the cemetery, to an adjacent field where cattle graze, birds sing and a brook babbles: This will become a 116-acre data center housing 2.2 million square feet of massive structures with concrete walls up to 70 feet high. Look to the south from the cemetery at another green field: Here will…

Fox News: “Lucien Greaves, TST co-founder and spokesperson, told Fox News Digital that should a Florida school district seize on the opportunity to introduce a chaplaincy program into their schools, TST “will be happy to participate.” “When passing the school chaplain bill into law, Florida’s bloviating incompetent Culture War-obsessed governor, Ron DeSantis openly lied to…