In The States

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Tim Walz has formally called a special election to fill the vacant congressional seat of Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who died last week following a battle with kidney cancer. A special primary will be held on... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as it prepares for trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court is expected to rule by noon on Wednesday on the validity of new electoral maps drawn last week by the North Carolina General Assembly. But the court and the panel of judges... Read More

BALTIMORE — Maryland’s speaker of the House is trying to turn abortion rights into a state constitutional amendment. If the proposal from Adrienne A. Jones wins quick general assembly approval, Maryland would become the first state to make abortion a... Read More

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida tourism is rebounding exceptionally well and even surpassing pre-pandemic levels according to a recent announcement from Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Sunshine State welcomed 30.9 million visitors between October and December 2021, and nearly a full 118... Read More

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that prohibits individuals from delivering another person’s voting ballot to post offices or polling locations. The bill, introduced and carried in the House by Majority Leader Rep.... Read More

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Republican lawmakers in several states are scaling back access to government business, extending pandemic-era rules that restrict when journalists can report from the floors of state legislative chambers and, in effect, making it easier to... Read More

DEL RIO, Texas — At least six National Guardsmen serving on state active-duty orders are working with the Texas State Employees Union to try to unionize troops. Members of the Texas National Guard assigned to Operation Lone Star are organizing... Read More

NEW YORK — He may be languishing in the polls, but Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., is stirring up headlines at this week’s New York State Democratic Committee’s Nominating Convention. Speaking at a breakfast meeting Thursday at the Sheraton New York... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California became the first state to formally shift to an “endemic” approach to the coronavirus with Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement Thursday of a plan that emphasizes prevention and quick reaction to outbreaks over mandated masking and... Read More

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to prevent Missouri from enforcing a state law it says hinders the enforcement of federal firearm laws. The DOJ’s complaint, filed in federal court in Jefferson City,... Read More

ATLANTA — Legislation to de-annex the Buckhead neighborhood from the city of Atlanta has stalled in the Georgia General Assembly after Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston effectively killed the measure. Although Georgia’s legislative session won’t end... Read More

SAN ANTONIO — On the anniversary of Winter Storm Uri and its disastrous consequences for those who lived through it, a former advisor for the Public Utility Commission of Texas is warning that inaction could lead to more mass outages.... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. — The political sausage making has begun in North Carolina’s state capitol where lawmakers are expected to spend most of Wednesday debating congressional district maps proposed by each chamber of the legislature. As reported this morning by The... Read More

WAINSCOTT, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul along with United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and other elected officials, held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of South Fork Wind, New York's first offshore... Read More

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana hometown and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement, according to a report from federal investigators released... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. — A draft of the North Carolina legislature’s latest take on a new congressional district map based on the 2020 census has made its debut on social media. The map posted to Twitter by Rep. Destin Hall, the... Read More

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A five-judge panel appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court unveiled the maps depicting the state’s new political districts Tuesday, with the headline grabber being changes to the swing district currently represented by Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., said Tuesday she will not seek reelection in 2022, becoming the 30th House Democrat and 43rd member overall to announce a departure from Congress this year. “As I turn to the next chapter of... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Black college students once marched downtown from the north Nashville neighborhood where Aaron Marble preaches, sitting at Whites-only lunch counters to fight for civil rights. Soon, his historically Black community will fold into a mostly rural,... Read More

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A lawsuit filed by Kansas City voters and the nonprofit Loud Light claims a newly drawn congressional district map must be thrown out because it unlawfully dilutes the vote of Black and Hispanic voters in and... Read More

FREDERICK, Md. — The candidate filing deadline for Maryland’s June primary has been moved to March 22, while the deadline to withdraw one’s candidacy has been shifted to March 24. The formal changes in the state’s electoral calendar Monday came... Read More

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Their defense laying siege to the Bengals, the Rams needed something — anything — from their slumbering offense. How about a precise 79-yard drive to the Lombardi Trophy? It wasn’t a classic march, aided by three... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four years after 17 people were gunned down at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Joe Biden says his administration stands with the advocates working to end gun violence and is urging the nation to uphold the... Read More

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  South Carolina doctors have the authority to prescribe “off-label” treatments for COVID-19 so long as their patients consent, the state’s attorney general said in a written opinion on Friday. Attorney General Alan Wilson issued the opinion at... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas — Texans will begin heading to the polls Monday for early voting in the 2022 primary elections. The contests, the first to be held under the state’s restrictive new voting rules, have already been marred by controversial voting... Read More

SAN ANTONIO — Texas’s dueling gubernatorial candidates took shots at one another during overlapping campaign events on Thursday. Both Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate former United States Rep. Beto O’Rourke made stops in San Antonio to discuss their... Read More

WASHINGTON — A new report from a Washington-based nonprofit offers a blueprint for how states and cities can most effectively address inequities in access to high-speed Internet with funding newly made available by the federal government. Published by the NewDEAL... Read More

TORONTO (AP) — The truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions is tightening the screws on the auto industry, forcing Ford, Toyota and General Motors to shut down plants or otherwise curtail production on both sides of the... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday signed a bill to allow the operation of nuclear power plants in the state, reversing a ban enacted in 1996. The legislation removes two sections of state public health code... Read More