Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro called on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to resign after Northam acknowledged that he was in a photo that surfaced Friday featuring two men in blackface and Ku Klux Klan garb. Castro in a tweet condemned Northam’s behavior as “racist and unconscionable.” “It […]
Washington could be the first state to allow human composting, also known as “recomposition,” according to NBC News. Recomposition consists of speeding up the decomposition of human bodies by placing them in containers filled with nutrient-dense soil. The soil can then be returned to families. “People from all over the state who wrote to me […]
Baltimore’s top prosecutor announced Tuesday that the city will no longer prosecute any cases related to marijuana possession, regardless of quantity or a person’s criminal record. Marilyn Mosby, the state’s attorney in Baltimore, is also seeking to have the courts vacate roughly 5,000 prior marijuana convictions going back to 2011, The Associated Press reported. “No one who is serious about public […]
Oregon could be the first state to impose mandatory rent control laws as it faces rising housing costs. The bill is headed to the state House floor after it was approved by the House Committee On Human Services and Housing on Wednesday, according to The Oregonian. The bill would prohibit annual rent increases of more than […]
An Indiana school superintendent resigned this month, just over a week after being charged with insurance fraud for using her own insurance to help a sick student. Casey Smitherman resigned Friday from her post as superintendent of Elwood Community Schools, according to Fox59 News in Indianapolis. Smitherman said in a statement to Fox59 that she […]
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan will not prosecute the racially motivated harassment that led to the resignation of the state’s only black female legislator, saying while the speech was “offensive” it was also protected by the First Amendment. “I find the statements presented to us in this matter … while racist, insulting and degrading, are […]
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) on Sunday compared himself to victims of lynching amid accusations that he sexually assaulted two women. “I’ve heard much about anti-lynching on the floor of this very Senate, where people were not given any due process whatsoever, and we rue that,” Fairfax said in the state Senate, according to The Associated […]
An anti-trafficking activist filed a federal lawsuit on Monday trying to declare Nevada’s legal brothels unconstitutional. Rebekah Charleston’s lawsuit against the state legislature and Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) seeks to ban Nevada from allowing legal prostitution and create a $2 million fund to help women leave the sex trade, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Nevada […]
An Illinois bill would require potential gun buyers to reveal their public social media accounts to state police before being approved for firearm licenses. The bill, sponsored by two Democratic lawmakers, aims to keep weapons out of the hands of people who have made threatening or alarming comments on social media, CBS 2 Chicago reported […]
Click:An Arizona GOP state lawmaker who recently introduced a bill that would ban teachers from discussing “controversial issues” in the classroom reportedly got the code of ethics from a right-wing group. State Rep. Mark Finchem (R) introduced the legislation last month, and the Phoenix New Times reports that the nine points in his proposed code outlined […]