Open Newswire

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Ethics Committee has recommended the censure of Rep. Chuck Edwards for violating the House Code of Official Conduct by “failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers.” According to the report, Edwards plied two young female staffers with lavish gifts […] The post In cringeworthy detail, House Ethics panel urges censure of Chuck Edwards for sexual harassment of 2 female staffers appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.

The supporters of a citizen initiative to put a graduated income-tax system in the Colorado constitution said Monday that they had submitted more than 157,000 signatures to the Colorado secretary of state’s office as they seek to qualify for the November ballot. The groups making up the Protect Colorado’s Future campaign had said in advance […]

The trial to determine whether the City of Bakersfield must re-evaluate how it operates the Kern River was bumped another eight months to October 4, 2027, at a court hearing on Monday. The case was set to be heard in February next year, but the parties agreed to move it back as the state Supreme […]

On an August evening in Interior Alaska, the sun hangs low over the hills as a bumblebee makes its final foraging trip of the season. The fireweed is fading, the nights are cooling, and the bee will soon retreat underground to overwinter. Moments like this — quiet and easy to overlook — capture the delicate […]

(The Center Square) - Democratic and Republican leaders across the Lower Basin have opposed the U.S. Department of Interior’s water reduction plan for the Colorado River, while Upper Basin states have widely backed the move. The department's and Bureau of Reclamation’s Final Environmental Impact Statement from Friday has received little fanfare in Nevada and Arizona, where the proposal could make for significant water cuts. The federal Colorado River proposal came after negotiations between the seven U.S. states that rely on the river – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California – missed two deadlines in November 2025 and February 2026. Arizona, Nevada and California are in the Lower Basin. The rest are in the Upper Basin. The current framework for water management on the river is set to end in December. This comes in a year that has been defined by dry weather, a short and warm winter followed by fierce wildfires across much of the Southwest. The Colorado River provides water for an estimated 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of agriculture to people in seven states, 30 tribes, and the U.S. and Mexico, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, which noted any threat to the river’s survival is serious. As a response, the bureau and the Department of the Interior outlined several potential water usage plans for the river under different circumstances, where the most extreme would require California, Arizona and Nevada to cut annual water usage by 3 million acre-feet – nearly half of the states’ combined total allotment. “Unfortunately, the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released by the Department of the Interior today seeks to impose unrealistic reductions on Nevada and our water users,” said Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, in a statement after the Friday announcement. In Arizona, the state’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs responded to the Bureau of Reclamation announcement with a similar lack of enthusiasm. She also expressed optimism that the federal government would embrace a proposal put forward by the Lower Basin states. “While this FEIS still contains unacceptable options that include the federal government forcing Arizona to take the majority of draconian water cutbacks, implementing the Lower Basin agreement would protect Arizona from massive water cuts, distribute reductions more fairly across the Lower Basin States, and provide stability and protection to the water supply that our communities rely upon,” said Hobbs in a Friday statement. The Lower Basin proposal from earlier this year included a combined 1.25 million acre-feet in reductions in 2027 and 2028. But the federal government has emphasized the cuts Arizona and Nevada leaders have expressed concern over are not guaranteed. “The 3 million acre-feet reduction is the upper end of the sideboard,” Bureau of Reclamation spokesperson Mary Carlson told The Center Square via email Monday. “It should not be interpreted that any year within the 10-year Decision Framework will definitively have 3 million acre-feet of shortages. This is the upper end of the sideboard that was analyzed and included within the Preferred Alternative. The Operating Guidelines will determine the level of shortages for each year, if any.” In the Upper Basin, the Friday announcement was taken as promising news for the next decade of the Colorado River. “We are witnessing the lowest reservoir levels in the Colorado River System’s history, and there is no guarantee regarding the future water supply,” said the governors of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming in a joint statement Friday. “Today’s framework does not represent a final solution, but enables the River to be managed in the short-term while the seven states and DOI continue to negotiate a consensus solution.” Bipartisan leaders in the Upper Basin states also highlighted the need to return to multi-state negotiations over a federally-imposed solution. “States in both the Upper and Lower divisions of the basin are feeling the pain of severe drought,” said the governors. “This is a reality that all states, and the federal government, will need to address practically, which is why a seven-state agreement will provide the best outcome for all water users in the Colorado River Basin. We are committed to continued good-faith discussions with our counterparts.” Now state leaders must wait for the release of a plan called the Record of Decision by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Interior. The plan is intended to be a clearer one for the next two years of river operations. The date of that plan's release has not been announced, but is expected to come before the December 2026 deadline for a new Colorado River water management plan.

The Stockton City Council unanimously appointed outside attorney Donald A. Larkin as interim city attorney on Monday, turning to a law firm already under contract with the city while officials prepare to search for a permanent legal chief. Stockton council appoints local Donald Larkin as interim city attorney is a story from Stocktonia News, a rigorous and factual newsroom covering Greater Stockton, California. Please consider making a charitable contribution to support our journalism.

In a stark reversal of its controversial new policy, the Sarasota City Commission voted unanimously to suspend its new extended parking hours during a marathon meeting on Monday. The move came after intense pushback from residents, business owners and other stakeholders in Sarasota’s downtown and St. Armands Circle. Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch, who is running [...] The post Sarasota reverses extended parking hours after intense pushback appeared first on Suncoast Searchlight.

پرزیدنت ترامپ: گفت‌وگوها با جمهوری اسلامی ادامه دارد؛ اما این «آخرین فرصت» آن‌ها است

The 2026 North Texas Job Fair on Aug. 6 will host more than 650 employers offering over 66,000 positions.

(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued another directive related to data centers after a legislative hearing was held and statewide protests are ongoing. Last week, Republican state lawmakers backtracked on a law they previously supported that fast tracked data expansion at taxpayers’ expense. Some rural Texans have demanded a special session be called to ban data center expansion in Texas, The Center Square reported. Ahead of the hearing, multiple anti-data center events were held statewide. Abbott on Monday directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to conduct a comprehensive verification and audit of all data centers advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process. The agencies must complete the audit before any data center project moves forward, he said. ERCOT is currently considering approximately more than 474 gigawatts of requests to connect to the Texas grid, more than five times Texas’ record peak electricity demand for ERCOT. The overwhelming majority of new power requests – 90% – are from data centers. “That unprecedented load growth could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid,” Abbott said. “Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott said when issuing the directive. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.” The directive requires information gathering from data centers: how much state and local tax incentives, grants, abatements, or other public financial assistance they have received or expect to receive; whether they “are providing their own power or depending on the ERCOT grid for that power,” including projected annual and peak electricity consumption; and “any effort and progress to construct or procure on-site electric generation including generation type, or other measures to reduce demand on the ERCOT grid.” They are also to disclose if they “are bringing their own water and reusing their own water as opposed to using water needed by local communities,” including projected annual and peak water consumption, anticipated sources of water supply, the cooling technology they plan to use; and what measures are being taken to reduce impacts on the local community. It’s the second PUCT and ERCOT directive Abbott has issued in one month. Last month, he directed the agencies to ensure data centers’ interconnections would result in reduced residential electrical bills and add to Texas’ electric capacity. That directive requires data centers to pay for all electric infrastructure costs, not to pass costs onto local ratepayers, and to use water-efficient technologies like closed-loop cooling systems and not drain local water resources. It also requires them to use noise-reduction technology and other measures to lessen impacts on communities. Abbott said he’s working with state lawmakers to propose codifying these regulatory restrictions, including requiring yearly reporting of electricity and water usage data to the agencies. He also called for the legislature to repeal sales tax exemptions and “other outdated or unnecessary incentives for data centers.” Under Abbott and the Republican-led legislature, billions of dollars in tax breaks have enabled data center expansion in areas where counties have little recourse, residents in townhalls across the state argue. The anti-data center issue is uniting Republicans and Democrats ahead of the midterm election. Opposition to data centers includes tax breaks, increased electric costs, water, air and noise pollution, draining limited water resources among other concerns. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, who is running against Abbott in November, points to Abbott touting that he’s brought more AI and data centers to Texas than any other state. Last fall, Abbott touted Google announcing its plan to invest $40 billion to build AI infrastructure in Texas. “Texas is the epicenter of AI development, where companies can pair innovation with expanding energy,” he said, The Center Square reported. Hinojosa said she has been meeting with Texans whose “entire lives have been taken over by the data centers that Greg Abbott invited into Texas. When I'm governor, I'll make sure their voices are heard,” she said. Hood County residents, who are historically conservative, have been at the forefront of data center opposition. More than 10,000 acres are being sold in the rural county for AI, data centers and other energy projects, which residents argue are already destroying home values and quality of life.

(The Center Square) – The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to advance bipartisan legislation that would prevent the U.S. Department of Education from transferring several major education offices to other federal agencies. In a 13-9 vote, a bipartisan bill S.5046, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, with two Republican cosponsors - Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - would prohibit the department from moving programs administered by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Postsecondary Education and the Office of Indian Education through interagency agreements. This response from the HELP Committee follows a letter signed by 86 Democrats in the House Education Committee to also block the transfer, The Center Square previously reported. In that letter to the department, the lawmakers said the Trump administration's proposal to move programs to a different agency violates congressional authority. Collins said in a statement that these transfers are misaligned with their program purposes and that the change “fundamentally misunderstands” the intent and history of the programs within the department. “The quality of our schools directly corresponds to students’ success and the strength of our economy,” Kaine said in a statement sent to The Center Square. “I am glad that the HELP Committee passed my bipartisan legislation to stop the Administration from spinning off specialized agencies within the Education Department, including those supporting special education, to other departments that are not equipped to administer them.” The Department of Education pushed back on responses stating that the system has failed students. “The era of coddling a failed status quo must end,” Education Department Press Secretary Savannah Newhouse told The Center Square. “It is an insult to American families — and downright malpractice — that Washington politicians are rushing to protect a system where roughly 30% of our nation’s students are proficient in math and reading. The needs of the system cannot be more important than the needs of the kids.” Newhouse said Education Secretary Linda McMahon has provided Congress with "a proof of concept" demonstrating how partner agencies can administer the programs more effectively and said it is premature to halt the effort before it has the opportunity to reduce bureaucracy and improve services for students, families and educators. The bill now moves to the full Senate for consideration. The Center Square contacted the offices of Collins and Murkowski for comment but did not receive a response.

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Everything looked business as usual for the first day of school at Hawkins Mill Elementary, a Memphis public school tucked in a woodsy Frayser neighborhood. Students lined the halls wearing customary white and red. The garden out back sprouted almost ripe tomatoes and eggplants. Posters featuring the school mascot — a hawk, of course — decorated the walls. But the environment was new to some students, who were rezoned to Hawkins after their neighborhood school closed in the spring. Five Memphis-Shelby County schools shut down at the end of last year, sending over 1,200 students to new buildings on Monday. Hawkins Mill was the third stop on Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s first-day tour, which also included Westwood High, newly expanded to include students from the closed Chickasaw Middle, and Kirby Middle School, which returned to district control this year from the failed state-run Achievement School District. “We want to make sure those schools are off to a good start,” Richmond said Monday. MSCS leaders are facing increased scrutiny this year as the state takeover of Tennessee’s largest public school district continues to play out in federal court. If the takeover is upheld by the judge, a nine-member oversight board appointed by Tennessee Republicans would be charged with improving academic performance and district operations by seizing control of key decisions like budgeting and school closures.Superintendent Roderick Richmond toured four MSCS schools on Monday to kick off the 2026-27 academic year.Richmond plans to shutter up to 10 more schools in the next two years, citing high building repair costs and chronic underenrollment as the driving factors. MSCS enrollment declined by over 9% in the past decade, far outpacing state trends.Kirby and Hillcrest, the district’s two newest additions, have not yet reached enrollment capacity. Kirby has 346 students registered out of 425 seats, while Hillcrest has 311 students registered out of 420 seats, Stacey Davis, the district’s enrollment manager, said.But MSCS’ overall enrollment is slightly higher this year, at nearly 106,000 as of Monday morning. That’s a couple thousand more than last year’s early number of just over 103,000 but below the district’s projections for this year, Richmond said. Teacher vacancies stayed relatively steady from the beginning of last school year to this year. Richmond said Monday that around 300 teaching positions are empty, with offers out for 70 of those roles. That leaves about 230 vacancies without pending offers, compared with 226 last August. “So if we start to add and subtract, I think we’re on pace where we’d like to be,” Richmond said, despite missing his goal of having fewer than 100 vacancies by the start of this year.As it did last year, the district is filling teacher vacancies with virtual instructors hired through a $4.7 million contract with Proximity Learning. The contract, reapproved in May, paid for close to 100 virtual instructors in the 2025-26 school year, according to district documents. Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.

La rumba congolaise, inscrite au patrimoine culturel immatériel de l’humanité par l’Unesco en 2021, continue de faire vibrer bien au-delà des frontières de la République démocratique du Congo. Dans la diaspora en France et en Belgique, une nouvelle génération d’artistes et de créateurs fait résonner cet héritage musical pour le faire évoluer en y mêlant ses propres influences et son époque. Reportage sur ces jeunes qui font de la rumba un art en mouvement, par Tom Schneider.

El siniestro afectó a inmuebles del sector céntrico del poblado, entre ellos un reconocido almacén y restaurant. El combate de las llamas se complicó debido a la falta de agua en la localidad, los vientos y la distancia desde Calama. Este artículo Emergencia al interior de Calama: incendio en Ayquina consumió tres inmuebles y dejó una persona lesionada fue publicado originalmente en El Diario de Antofagasta.

Races in five states Tuesday have more than a dozen Native candidates running for public office The post August primaries kicking off for Native candidates appeared first on ICT.

(The Center Square) – Emma Heming Willis, wife of movie star Bruce Willis, joined lawmakers in the California Capitol on Monday to push for passage of a bill that would track cases of frontotemporal degeneration, the type of dementia her husband has. The bill Emma Heming Willis advocated for, Senate Bill 1047, authored by Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, would require the California Department of Public Health to collect data on FTD. The department already collects data on Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis, among other illnesses. SB 1047 was placed in the Assembly’s suspense file on July 1, right before the Legislature adjourned for their one-month summer break. The Legislature reconvened on Monday and has one more month to pass bills before it adjourns for the rest of the year. At that point, any unpassed bills in the Assembly effectively die without a vote on that chamber’s floor. “If we add FTD to the neurodegenerative disease registry, we don’t just count California patients,” Emma Heming Willis said at a press conference held in the Capitol on Monday. “We build a dataset that biotech researchers here in California need to find treatments and a cure.” The bill would require data about FTD to be collected in the state’s Neurodegenerative Disease Registry Program and prolongs operation of the program to Jan. 1, 2032. The program was previously meant to sunset on Jan. 1, 2028. According to a legislative analysis of the bill, paying for the program would cost $2.7 million a year in general fund revenues. That would include paying for staff and information technology. FTD, also referred to as Pick’s Disease, is a group of brain disorders caused by degeneration or nerve cell loss in parts of the brain behind the forehead or around the ears, according to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Patients with this disease experience loss of function in those parts of the brain, which can result in personality changes, apathy, unexplained struggles to make decisions, movement, speaking and understanding words. Family members of people who show those symptoms often can’t get answers from doctors when they question what illness is causing their loved ones to experience these symptoms, Meghan Buzby, director of advocacy and volunteer engagement for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, said on Monday. “Unfortunately, for many California families, those are not hypothetical questions,” Buzby said at the press conference. “They’re the reality of a long, frustrating road toward a diagnosis of FTD.” Research published by Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology show that therapies to treat FTD are limited, but recent advances are preliminary and there still remains no cure for the disease. Willis, who said her husband was first diagnosed with FTD in 2022, acknowledged there is no treatment that will slow down or stop her husband’s illness. However, tracking cases of FTD can help in research for a cure and could even help those diagnosed with related illnesses, she said. “Research focused on genetic FTD offers great hopes for finding treatments,” Willis said. “What we learn from one can be the key to treating another, like ALS or Alzheimer’s. But this can only happen when people with FTD are diagnosed and counted, and we know the true scale of how many people are affected.” (ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.) Willis also answered a question from The Center Square inquiring about condition of her husband, who starred in movies such as the "Die Hard" films and "The Fifth Element." “I think he’s doing as well as he can with a very unkind disease,” Willis said.

(The Center Square) - A fight over water rights is heating up in south-central Washington. The Columbia–Snake River Irrigators Association is calling on state leaders including Governor Bob Ferguson to intervene and force the Washington State Department of Ecology's Office of Columbia River to expedite a groundwater project after years of permitting stalls. The delays have postponed permanent farmworker housing projects in central Washington. Mercer Ranches, a prominent, family-owned agricultural operation spanning over 12,000 acres in the Horse Heaven Hills region, applied for water rights to use groundwater in 2020, but the application then changed to include farmworker housing. “The program that they would have received the water from requires them to show that using that water would not have lasting impacts on the Columbia River,” said Emily Tasaka, media relations for the Department of Ecology’s Office of Columbia River. “We wanted to do everything that we could to get this application to a place where it could be approved.” Darryll Olsen is board representative for the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association and told The Center Square the groundwater permit was fully mitigated. “It's an extremely small permit, and our technical experts have all looked at it and said there is no problem with this permit, either with an impairment or hydraulic continuity, or demand,” said Olsen. “It’s just been one delay after the next. I mean nothing can get done either on the managerial side or on the technical side.” Tasaka with OCR told The Center Square the next step is for Mercer Ranches to submit a work plan. "Once the initial aquifer testing is done, and we can show that there are no impacts, then we can issue the temporary water right permit. So right now, we have not received that work plan from Mercer, but once they submit it to us, we can approve it.” Olsen said OCR has repeatedly changed the rules and excuses for the delays. “Management at Office of Columbia River has failed. There's just no other way to put it. And the technical side that they're supposed to be managing has failed because there's no technical issue. We have provided them with the technical information to be able to make a sound decision,” Olsen said. He added that Ecology is undermining what Ferguson has said he wants done with permanent farmworker housing. “The project awaiting Ecology’s action would provide new, permanent homes that agricultural workers would own—a model of dignified, stable housing that strengthens rural communities and supports the workforce that drives Eastern Washington’s agricultural economy. Every day of delay is another day these workers go without the housing they deserve,” noted a July 30 news release from the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association. Olsen added that Director Larry Matson with Ecology’s OCR, who is responsible for the decision has canceled recent meetings aimed at a resolution, “including a meeting intended to finalize permit conditions.” Matson fired back via email to The Center Square. “The ball is in Dr. Olsen’s court. We are waiting for CSRIA to submit the work plan (item #6 in their preliminary permit). The work plan must be submitted and approved prior to the start of aquifer testing.” That response received a chilly reply from Olsen. “Larry apparently forgot that OCR was supposed to issue a real permit three years ago; and he canceled the recent meeting to discuss the 'work plan.' All three of CSRIA's 'licensed' PEs, hydrologist, questioned why the overreaching preliminary permit was issued, without technical review by other well-qualified experts, with far more experience that Larry's hydrologists.” “His 'go to hell' attitude reflects his management style,” wrote Olsen. “Larry is in cover his butt mode, but the fig leaf does not fit.” The Center Square reached out to the office of Governor Ferguson for comment about the permitting dispute but did not receive a response.

(The Center Square) – A bill permitting abortion through all nine months of pregnancy passed both the Massachusetts House and Senate and awaits the signature of Gov. Maura Healey. Opponents call it “extreme” legislation that will force taxpayers to fund abortions even late in a pregnancy and proponents stating women seeking late-term abortions will no longer have to travel out-of-state. Communications director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Kelsey Pritchard told The Center Square that “Massachusetts’ new abortion bill is very extreme, legalizing abortion on demand until birth, paid for by taxpayers.” Massachusetts’ Bill H.5595 – also called the Prioritizing Patients' Access to Care Act – allows “abortion through all nine months for any reason based on a doctor’s ‘professional judgment,’” Pritchard said. “Under this law the abortionist, who profits financially from performing the abortion, is the sole approver,” Pritchard said. Pritchard informed The Center Square that “second- and third-trimester abortions are brutal and barbaric, generally done by dismembering the baby or inducing labor.” “The latter may result in a live birth if the abortionist has not first delivered a lethal injection into the baby’s heart, which many admit they do not,” Pritchard said. One of Massachusetts' abortion bill sponsors, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, told The Center Square she supports the legislation because she believes “medical decisions belong between patients and their doctors, not the Legislature.” Sabadosa sees the bill as ensuring “that physicians in Massachusetts can provide care based on their best medical judgment and the unique needs of each patient.” “Once signed into law, patients will no longer be forced to leave Massachusetts to receive care that should be available here,” Sabadosa said. “Massachusetts is home to some of the best health care in the nation, and this bill affirms that our physicians are best equipped to make these deeply personal and medically complex decisions,” Sabadosa said. The Center Square reached out to bill sponsor Rep. Christine Barber, House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, chair of the House Committee on Ways & Means Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, and proponent of the bill Sen. Robin Kennedy. None responded by publishing time. The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed Bill H.5595 on July 22, with the Senate following suit on July 31. The bill now awaits Healey’s signature. Healey’s press office did not respond to a request for comment. Massachusetts’ previous abortion law allowed for the procedure as late as 24 weeks, at which point babies “are capable of smiling, reacting to loud noises, and surviving outside the womb” Pritchard told The Center Square. Pritchard noted that “the U.S. is 1 of 8 countries in the world along with China that allow abortion at any point, according to a 2024 study.” “Another study completed in 2024 shows 46 of 50 countries in Europe limit abortion after 15 weeks,” Pritchard said. “When Gov. Healey signs this bill into law, Massachusetts will join 10 states and Washington, D.C. with an all-trimester abortion policy where babies are killed after the point they can survive outside of the womb,” Pritchard said. Pritchard told The Center Square that “radical late-term abortion laws” such as Massachusetts’ are supported by only 10% of Americans and such laws “are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion.” “The GOP must abandon the failed ‘leave it to the states’ position and move the country toward a national protection for unborn children across this nation – from California to New York, and now Massachusetts,” Pritchard said.

A Chula Vista community that sits next to a San Diego Metropolitan Transit System trolley station has been asking the agency to close their community off from the area for months, citing high crime.  Holiday Gardens, a residential community that sits adjacent to the H Street trolley station, has two open pedestrian accessways in a […]

The Ralston Public Schools Board of Education received updates on several district initiatives, highlighting significant growth in summer programming and efforts to improve communication with families and staff.…