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Zooey Zephyr row spotlights rise of GOP far-right caucuses

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The banishment of transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from Montana’s House floor has showcased the rising power of hard-line conservatives — organized under the banner of the State Freedom Caucus Network — who are currently leveraging divisive social issues to gain influence in 11 statehouses.In Montana, they led the charge to enshrine a ban on gender-affirming care for minors that the governor signed Friday. In South Carolina, they slowed the budget process this year with failed amendments to punish universities with diversity programs. And in Wyoming, they tried to make certain library books “crimes of obscenity.”Across the country with varying levels of success, the groups have followed the playbook of the House Freedom Caucus, an eight-year old alliance of GOP conservatives determined to pull Republicans in the U.S. Congress to the right.After debuting on the second anniversary of the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, the Montana Freedom Caucus’ 21 ...

Georgia’s Kemp veers from Trump, but state GOP not moving on

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) — A slate of Georgia Republicans led by Gov. Brian Kemp handily won reelection last year over far-right primary opponents endorsed by Donald Trump and backed by the state party chairperson, showing the limits of the former president and his 2020 election lies in the critical swing state.Despite those stinging primary losses, the state GOP is showing little interest in moving on from Trump.Last weekend, Republicans in Georgia’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Savannah, elected as its chair Kandiss Taylor, a Kemp gubernatorial challenger who ran on a “Jesus Guns Babies” platform and denies the legitimacy of her primary defeat. In metro Atlanta’s 6th Congressional District, Republican activists considered a resolution rejecting the results of the 2020 election and declaring Democrat Joe Biden the “acting” president.“In many ways, the Georgia Republican Party is a train that has left Crazytown, and the governor is trying to present a scenario and ...

Presidential battleground states weigh more election funding

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, officials in several battleground states have proposed boosting funding to add staff, enhance security and expand training within election offices that are facing heavier workloads and heightened public scrutiny.The potential extra funding comes as many election offices are grappling with a wave of retirements and a flood of public records requests, stemming partly from lingering election distrust seeded by former President Donald Trump in his 2020 defeat. In South Carolina, host of one of the earliest presidential primaries, almost half of county election directors have resigned in the last two years, said state Election Commission Executive Director Howard Knapp.The unprecedented turnover has created an “enormous knowledge and competency gap,” Knapp said, prompting a budget request for millions of additional state dollars to boost staffing and training. Without the funds, Knapp warned the gap will grow and elections wi...

Frustration grows over wait on OxyContin maker’s settlement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

More than a year after OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma reached a tentative settlement over the toll of opioids that was accepted nearly universally by the groups suing the company — including thousands of people injured by the drug — money is still not rolling out.Parties waiting to finalize the deal are waiting for a court to rule on the legality of a key detail: whether members of the Sackler family who own the company can be protected from lawsuits over OxyContin in exchange for handing over up to $6 billion in cash over time plus the company itself.This week — days before the one-year anniversary of the April 29, 2022, appeals court arguments on the matter — lawyers told judges that the wait is causing problems.Lawyers on multiple sides of the case, including those representing Purdue, asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to issue a ruling or provide an update soon, saying the efforts to use the funds to fight the opioid crisis can’t begin until the money ...

GOP split dooms scaled-back Kansas ‘school choice’ plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas who say parents need alternatives to public schools couldn’t pass even a scaled-back version of the “school choice” plans enacted in other states with GOP-controlled Legislatures.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly strongly opposed using state tax dollars to help parents pay for private or home schooling, and GOP conservatives had trouble winning over rural Republicans who didn’t think families living in areas with few private schools would receive much of a benefit. That meant as Republican leaders pondered a final push Friday on the last day of the Legislature’s annual session, supporters never seemed likely to get the two-thirds majorities needed to override Kelly’s expected veto. GOP leaders instead dropped plans to consider the bill shortly before gaveling out for the year. The bill would have created a program to help families with low or modest incomes pay for private or home schooling. It was targeted at the 10 mos...

Political prisoners share how Jimmy Carter saved their lives

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter tried like no president ever had to put human rights at the center of American foreign policy. It was a turnabout dictators and dissidents alike found hard to believe as he took office in 1977. The U.S. had such a long history of supporting crackdowns on popular movements — was his insistence on restoring moral principles for real? After Carter, now 98, entered hospice care at his home in Georgia, The Associated Press reached out to several former political prisoners, asking what it was like to see his influence take hold in countries oppressed by military rule. They credit Carter with their survival.Michèle Montas witnessed the impact from the control room of Radio Haiti-Inter, which carefully began challenging the dictatorship of Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier after Carter said U.S. aid would depend on the growth of a civil society.“So much was done in Haiti because of him. He managed to force the regime to open up,” Montas said.But when they bro...

Wild bow out of playoffs with frustrating Game 6 loss to Stars

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

This time was supposed to be different for the Wild.This particular group had battled through enough in the regular season to prepare themselves for this moment. They played with the grit needed to win in the playoffs. They were capable of the handling the highs and lows that come with chasing a Stanley Cup.None of that mattered. Like so many teams before them, the 2022-23 version of the Wild crumbled under the pressure of expectation.When the going got tough in Game 6 on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild went home, suffering a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars to bow out of the playoffs.“It’s tough,” Marcus Foligno said. “It’s a brutal feeling. We grind all the way to get to the playoffs and we can’t get out of the first round again. A broken record.”On the brink of elimination, the Wild needed their best game to date. They promised to be desperate from the initial puck drop, and they were exactly that for about 10 minutes. Then adver...

Newborn reported missing, endangered person advisory issued

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

MADISON COUNTY, Ill. - The Madison County Sheriff's Department issued an endangered person advisory Friday evening for a newborn.Kai Noel Joseph Gutierrez Nickel was last seen in the 1100 block of Madison 419, located in Fredericktown, Missouri. The baby is only eight days old.Police said they believed the newborn's mother, Sarah Diggs, took him. Gutierrez Nickel is expected to be in protective custody.The newborn is a white male, 1'9" tall, and weighs 8 pounds.Diggs, who is a possible suspect, is 28 years old, 5'4" tall, and weighs 200 pounds. She is a white female with brown hair and eyes.The police were unable to locate her.Anyone who has seen the newborn or potential suspect and has information on their whereabouts is asked to call 911 to contact their nearest law enforcement agency or contact the Madison County Sheriff's Department at 573-783-2234.

Broncos analysis: George Paton, Sean Payton prioritize athletic traits on aggressive Day 2

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

Once Broncos general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton decided they had waited long enough to get involved in the 2023 NFL Draft, they made their Friday night count.Denver traded up twice — a staple of Payton’s 15-year tenure in New Orleans, but a relative rarity for Paton, who’s more accustomed to stockpiling “darts for the dartboard” by trading back — and took three players with upper-echelon physical traits in an effort to infuse athleticism into its roster.In Oklahoma wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr., Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders and Iowa defensive back Riley Moss, the Broncos added players with physical traits that stand out.Mims and Moss both checked into the top 10 at their position in Relative Athletic Score, a comprehensive measurement that takes into account a myriad of testing times and physical attributes. Sanders, meanwhile, ran sub-4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash at his pro day at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and has the kind of range and versatility to play multi...

Woman's decomposing body found in Carson

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:58 GMT

Homicide detectives are investigating after a woman was found dead in Carson Friday afternoon.Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators responded to the 20800 block of South Santa Fe Avenue around 12:50 p.m.When deputies arrived, they discovered a woman in the "middle stage of decomposition." She was found lying in an overgrown weed area of an unused railroad track, authorities said.It's unknown how the woman died and how long she had been deceased. Due to the extent of her decomposition, it's also unknown whether she sustained any injuries before her death.The investigation is ongoing and no further details about the incident have been released.The woman's identity and cause of death will be determined by the L.A. County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.Anyone with information about the death or the woman is asked to call LASD’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be submitted to "Crime Stoppers" at 800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.