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As ranked choice voting gains momentum, parties in power push back

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

By Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline.orgOver the past decade, ranked choice voting has become increasingly popular. From conservative Utah to liberal New York City, 13 million American voters in 51 jurisdictions — including all of Alaska and Maine — now use the system, under which voters rank candidates based on preference, leading to an instant runoff in a crowded race.This year, Democrats and Republicans in power pushed back.Arguing that ranked choice voting is too complicated for voters to understand, Democrats in the District of Columbia and Republicans in states such as Idaho, Montana and South Dakota took steps to prevent adoption of the voting system.Earlier this month, the D.C. Democratic Party filed a lawsuit to block a ballot initiative that would adopt ranked choice voting and allow voters without a party affiliation to cast ballots in primaries. The lawsuit argued in part that ranked choice voting might confuse voters, which “could ultimately suppress the voice and influence...

What is the new ‘Star Wars’ show ‘Ahsoka’ on Disney+ and why should you care?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

Christopher Borrelli | Chicago TribuneAhsoka Tano pilots a flying quesadilla through an unsettled galaxy. As a member of the Togruta species, she is a native of the planet Shili, and not the Togruta colony found on the planet Kiros. (Such an easy mistake to make.) According to Wookiepedia — a product of the semi-sentient human species of the planet Earth — Togruta can be blue, purple, white, yellow or red. Ahsoka is sort of spray-tan hued, though a bit lighter. The Togruta are distinguished by their loyalty and their montrals, which Wookiepedia describes as “cone-like horns” jutting out of their temples, but, to humans, it looks like small octopuses passed out on their heads and the Togruta were totally cool with it.How much of that did you already know?It might matter if you follow the new “Ahsoka” series on Disney+ into the darkest reaches of “Star Wars” lore. To put it in fluent George Lucas: “Ahsoka” is set on the outer rim of the galaxy. But if you come to “Star Wars” every dec...

Nearly half the states now allow in-state tuition for immigrant students

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

By Elaine S. Povich, Stateline.orgWhen Cristian Dubon Solis was getting ready to graduate from a Boston high school in 2020, he started planning to apply to college. It was only then he realized that as an immigrant lacking permanent legal status, he wouldn’t qualify for in-state tuition at Massachusetts state universities, nor for state-sponsored financial aid.With no way to afford a four-year school to pursue his dream major, environmental science, he put those plans on hold.“I took a few gap years afterward,” said the now 21-year-old from East Boston, a community where about half the residents are Hispanic or Latino. Solis now advocates for young immigrants as a student coordinator for a nonprofit group called SIM, which formerly stood for Student Immigration Movement.One of four siblings, Solis came to the United States from El Salvador at age 3. His three younger sisters were born in the U.S., he said. Family and friends didn’t discuss their immigration status, so he never hear...

Energy interests and environmentalists fight Biden oil lease plan from different sides

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration’s plan to protect an endangered species of whale by scaling back an auction of oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico is being challenged by the oil industry, even as environmentalists go to court to stop the lease sale altogether.The conflicting federal lawsuits, one filed Thursday in Louisiana by oil interests, the other announced Friday in Washington by the organization Earthjustice, focus on a planned sale of oil and gas leases set for Sept. 27 in New Orleans. As originally proposed in March, the sale was to cover more than 73 million acres. That area was reduced to 67 million acres this week when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced final plans for the sale. The revision, which also includes new speed limits and requirements for personnel on industry vessels, dovetails with measures announced by the administration on Monday to protect the endangered Rice’s whale in the Gulf. The adoption of those meas...

Fire breaks out at Louisiana refinery; no injuries reported

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

GARYVILLE, La. (AP) — Residents within two miles of a south Louisiana refinery were ordered to evacuate Friday after a fire broke out that sent huge plumes of black smoke into the sky, authorities said.No injuries were reported.St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard ordered the mandatory evacuation of those living near the Marathon Petroleum facility in Garyville as a precaution “even though we have been assured that all impacts are contained to the facility.”“There’s a large smoke plume over the area, and we just want to make sure that our residents are safe,” Hotard said during a news conference. “It’s alarming to see what’s going on. I understand residents’ concerns. It’s a little scary. We recommend you take the evacuation seriously in case there are impacts.”Emergency responders said the fire was contained to the refinery’s property, and no injuries have been reported. Air monitoring is also taking place as a precaution, official...

The descendants of a British owner of slaves in Guyana apologize as Caribbean seeks reparations

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The descendants of a 19th-century Scottish sugar and coffee planter who owned thousands of slaves in Guyana apologized Friday for the sins of their ancestor, calling slavery a crime against humanity with lasting negative impacts.Charles Gladstone, a descendant of former plantation owner John Gladstone, traveled to Guyana from Britain with five relatives to offer the formal apology.“It is with deep shame and regret that we acknowledge our ancestors’ involvement in this crime and with heartfelt sincerity, we apologize to the descendants of the enslaved in Guyana,” he told an audience at the University of Guyana.”In doing so, we acknowledge slavery’s continuing impact on the daily lives of many.”Neither Guyana President Irfaan Ali, who on Thursday demanded reparations and lashed out at the descendants of European slave traders, nor other senior government officials were in the audience of a couple hundred students, university staff members and repr...

Appellate judges revive Jewish couple’s lawsuit alleging adoption bias under Tennessee law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Appellate judges have revived a couple’s lawsuit that alleges a state-sponsored Christian adoption agency wouldn’t help them because they are Jewish and argues that a Tennessee law protecting such denials is unconstitutional. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals ruled that Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram have the right as taxpayers to sue in the case, as do six other taxpayer plaintiffs in the case. The ruling overturns a lower court’s determination in June 2022 that none of them had legal standing. The case can now proceed in the trial court.The lawsuit against the state challenges a 2020 law that installed legal protections for private adoption agencies to reject state-funded placement of children to parents based on religious beliefs.Much of the criticism of the law focused on how it shielded adoption agencies that refuse to serve prospective LGBTQ parents. But the Rutan-Rams alleged they were discriminated again...

Man wanted in alleged armed robbery in downtown Toronto

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a man wanted in an alleged armed robbery in downtown Toronto.Investigators say two people were sitting on a bench in the area of Yonge Street and Adelaide Street East on August 13 when they were approached by a man around 5 p.m. The suspect indicated he had a gun in his bag before grabbing a gold chain from around one of the victim’s necks and fleeing the scene on foot. The suspect is described as being between 25 to 30 years of age with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a light blue and grey hoodie, orange knee length jeans and carrying a black satchel worn across his body with a strap over the right shoulder. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

US official voices hope North Macedonia will be able to proceed with EU membership bid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — A senior State Department official on Friday voiced hope that North Macedonia will be able to approve politically difficult constitutional changes that would help its bid to join the European Union.Gabriel Escobar, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Balkan policy, said during talks in the capital Skopje that the U.S. strongly backs the country’s EU accession bid.North Macedonia has agreed, following pressure from neighboring EU member Bulgaria, to amend its constitution and include Bulgarians in a long list of ethnic groups formally listed as living in the country.But while Parliament started the amendment process last week, it looks unlikely that it will be completed due to strong reactions from the conservative main opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE.Following talks with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, Escobar said he was “very excited” that the process had started. “I hope it will continue,” he added.The amendment — which wou...

US Forest Service rejects expansion plans of premier Midwest ski area Lutsen Mountains

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:28 GMT

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service said Friday it has rejected the expansion plans of Lutsen Mountains, one of the premier skiing destinations in the Midwest.Lutsen Mountains was hoping to expand onto 495 acres (193 hectares) of public land in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota so it could add more runs, lifts and other facilities and essentially double its skiable terrain in the Sawtooth Mountains along the north shore of Lake Superior. It’s one of the largest ski areas in the Midwest, with a vertical rise of 1,088 feet (326 meters) and 95 runs.In rejecting the permit application, the Forest Service cited impacts on tribal resources such as sugar maple stands, negative effects for users of the Superior Hiking Trail and backcountry skiers, and other impacts to the environment.The company has until Oct. 10 to file objections. It asked the Forest Service last month to defer a decision indefinitely while it consulted with three Ojibwe tribes that hol...