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With its impressive Googie architecture, the diner is a landmark near the Santa Monica pier.

YISD trustees evaluated longtime Superintendent Xavier De La Torre, as neighboring districts transition to new leaders. The post Ysleta ISD board approves longtime superintendent evaluation as nearby districts work with new leaders appeared first on El Paso Matters.

Democratic lawmakers from 13 states visited Minnesota Thursday to show solidarity for the Midwestern state that has seen 3,000 federal agents flood its city streets and the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration officials. The lawmakers warned that the federal incursion in Minnesota could come to their own states, even if […]

Though lawmakers at the Iowa Capitol are still far from reaching a consensus on property tax legislation, House lawmakers heard from lobbyists for local governments and advocacy groups about the House Republicans’ and governor’s proposals Thursday. House Study Bill 596, the House GOP bill, and House Study Bill 563, the bill from Gov. Kim Reynolds, […]

Un hombre originario de Minnesota fue detenido en la propia cárcel federal en Nueva York tras intentar sacar de prisión al presunto asesino del CEO de UnitedHealthcare al hacerse pasar por agente del FBI, con un documento falso y herramientas en su mochila.

(The Center Square) - Arizona is facing $6 billion in improper state Medicaid payments yearly, according to state Sen. Janae Shamp. Shamp, R-Surprise, gave a presentation to the Arizona Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday about what she called fraud. “We cannot put our heads in the sand and act like there’s not fraud, especially when we have people going hungry in the state. It’s unacceptable,” she told lawmakers. Of these improper payments, 63.4% comes from the federal government, and 36.6% comes from Arizona’s general fund, she explained. This means $2.2 billion in Arizona taxpayer money is going toward improper Medicaid payments, according to Shamp. During the hearing, Shamp noted only 23% of the state’s Aged, Blind or Disabled Medicaid-enrolled patients underwent any form of verification. She said when these enrollees had their eligibility checked, 34% failed, but were not removed from the program. “If we utilize the numbers and we extrapolate it through the transactions that were analyzed, we're looking at over 130,000 ineligible enrollees that may be drawing benefits in the state of Arizona,” Shamp explained. The senator said these people are “robbing the system that is supposed to provide resources for the vulnerable.” Shamp said her investigation into Arizona’s ABD Medicaid program also showed thousands of enrollees have “substantial liquid assets." Federal eligibility for ABD Medicaid limits liquid assets to no more than $2,000, she said. Arizona had more than 5,000 people with liquid assets exceeding $50,000, the senator noted. Furthermore, Shamp's presentation showed Arizona’s ABD Medicaid program had 18 millionaires enrolled. Arizona is one of two states in the U.S. that do not have an asset limit for its ABD Medicaid program because the state has filed for a waiver from that requirement, she noted. Shamp called the asset limit exemption a “huge policy gap” in Arizona, saying a piece of legislation is being worked on this year to eliminate the exemption. Currently, Arizona is at a “federal compliance risk,” she said, adding that the Trump administration has frozen certain state funds for other states. The Trump administration halted specific federal funds earlier in January for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York because of fraud concerns in state-administered programs. On top of all this, Shamp said Arizona has nearly 50,000 residents receiving state aid while enrolled in another state assistance program. This information comes from the federal government’s Public Assistance Reporting Information System. The beginning of the “inadequate fraud prevention” began in 2023 when Gov. Katie Hobbs appointed Carmen Heredia as the director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Shamp said. In April 2025, Heredia “resigned abruptly” without having to answer questions from legislators, Shamp said. A month after Heredia’s resignation, Shamp said, she sent this information to Hobbs’ office and the Trump administration, but said their responses were “less than ideal.” Shamp said these findings should be referred to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Attorney General Pam Bondi for prosecution. “This is fraud. This is criminal,” she explained.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported a ninth death Thursday related to the severe winter weather that swept through the state earlier this week, leaving tens of thousands of households without power.  A 74-year-old man in DeSoto Parish died at his home of hypothermia after an extended power outage, health officials said. At least three […]

Idaho lawmakers have unveiled a new proposal to adopt tax cuts from the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act — but the new bill appears to still place the state in a tight budget situation and its total cost is unknown.  Rep. Jeff Ehlers, R-Meridian, on Thursday proposed a new bill that would conform to […]

The Macomb County clerk had flagged 15 names. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says there's evidence one voted, but some are citizens.

Lawmakers are trying to ease dangerous short-staffing in health care by tweaking laws — expanding the ability of some mid-level practitioners and, in some cases, creating new types of workers.

واکنش‌‏های منطقه‏‌ای به احتمال اقدام نظامی آمریکا علیه جمهوری اسلامی

The letter is signed by at least 300 Catholic leaders — including the San Diego Diocese's Bishop Michael Pham and Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Pulido.

سخنان هشدارآمیز وزیر جنگ آمریکا در مورد جمهوری اسلامی

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Michigan’s free newsletter here. A preliminary state investigation into potential noncitizen voters in Macomb County, Michigan, found one noncitizen who had cast a ballot in the county in 2018, but also found that several people whom the county flagged were actually U.S. citizens. Anthony Forlini, the Macomb County clerk and a Republican candidate for secretary of state, said two weeks ago that he had found 15 people on Macomb County’s list of roughly 725,000 registered voters who had recused themselves from jury duty on the grounds that they were not U.S. citizens. Officials from his office said that at least three of those people had voted before, which Forlini described as evidence of broader problems with the state’s voter roll maintenance. After her department investigated the claim, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Thursday that, of the three people Forlini’s office had flagged, one was a noncitizen, one was a citizen (and thus an eligible voter), and one was still under review but had last voted in 2024. The noncitizen last voted in 2018, and their registration was canceled in 2022. Benson said during a press conference Thursday that while it is her department’s policy to refer noncitizen voters to the attorney general’s office, the 2018 case was “so long ago” that her office is reviewing the statute of limitations before deciding whether to pursue legal action. Four of the remaining 12 voters Forlini flagged do appear to be noncitizens, according to Angela Benander, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State. The state will request additional information from them before canceling their registrations. Two more are U.S. citizens who are properly registered, three had already been removed from the rolls, and the remaining three are still being investigated by the state, Benander told Votebeat on Thursday. “When we review our voter lists, it is not uncommon to find eligible American voters improperly labeled as noncitizens, whether by clerical error, change of citizenship status or otherwise,” Benson said Thursday. “We update our lists accordingly, so that eligible citizens aren’t wrongfully investigated, removed from voter rolls or stopped from voting.” Comparing voter rolls to databases containing citizenship data like those produced by jury service can be an unreliable way to find noncitizen voters. Other states have tried it and ultimately came up with inflated numbers of potential noncitizens. David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, joined Benson on Thursday. He said that “jury questionnaires are a really bad source of matching to voter files for a variety of reasons.” He said those matches tend to produce false positives because those called for jury duty often lie about their citizenship status “to get out of jury duty, rather than having lied under penalty of perjury on a voter registration form.” Benson criticized what she called “reckless accusations” that “can lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters.” She also criticized President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which Forlini told media he had been in conversations with, for trying to force states to turn over voter rolls. Michigan, along with several other states, has been the target of one of those requests. The state turned over only the public file, with no personal identifying information, and is now facing a lawsuit over that decision. Forlini did not immediately respond to Votebeat’s requests for comment. Voting by noncitizens is extremely rare. Michigan’s review of the entire qualified voter file conducted last year found that of the more than 5.7 million ballots cast in the 2024 general election, only 16 people were potentially noncitizens. Similar reviews in other states have produced comparable numbers: A review in Georgia, for instance, found only 20 potential noncitizens in its own voter rolls of 8.2 million people. In Michigan, Republicans in particular have said that any instance of noncitizen voting is unacceptable and pushed for a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement in the state, rather than just an attestation from registrants that they are citizens. Democrats, meanwhile, including Benson, have insisted that such requirements would be too burdensome and would disproportionately prevent eligible citizens from voting. Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.

North Dakota is creating a pilot program to encourage landowners to convert less productive agricultural land into grass habitat for wildlife.  The program aims to improve soil health, reduce erosion and enhance water quality. But Gov. Kelly Armstrong said the biggest winners of the program will be the landowners who will be compensated for taking […]

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Texas’ free newsletter here. This story was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton failed to offer “any plausible proof” that Jolt Initiative, a nonprofit that aims to increase civic participation among Latinos, is violating the law, a federal judge ruled Thursday. Paxton had filed a lawsuit in state court accusing Jolt of submitting “unlawful voter registration applications,” specifying in a press release that the group was “attempting to register illegals, who are all criminals.” The suit, which seeks to revoke Jolt’s nonprofit charter through a legal mechanism known as a quo warranto petition, was put on ice by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, who said in his ruling that Paxton appears to be operating in bad faith. The attorney general’s case against Jolt “supposes absolutely no wrongdoing,” and indicates that the attorney general may be “harassing [Jolt] and fishing for reasons to investigate its organization.” This is not the first legal back-and-forth between Jolt and Paxton’s office. Last year, the organization successfully sued to stop the state’s investigation into its voter registration efforts. In the new suit, Jolt’s lawyers argue Paxton’s efforts to shut it down are retaliation. The attorney general’s office has also in recent years targeted other organizations aiding Latinos and migrants, such as the effort to investigate and shut down El Paso-based Annunciation House. “For over a year, we have faced a relentless campaign of harassment designed to completely crush our organization and silence our community,” Jolt Executive Director Jackie Bastard said in a statement. “Judge Pitman’s finding that AG Paxton acted in bad faith confirms what we have known all along: this was never about election integrity, it was about political retaliation.” The background: Case spurred by Maria Bartiromo’s debunked claims In August 2024, Fox News host Maria Bartiromo said on X that a friend had seen organizations registering migrants to vote outside state driver’s license facilities in Fort Worth and Weatherford. But local officials, including the Parker County Republican chair, said there was no evidence backing the post. Bartiromo’s debunked claims still prompted an attorney general investigation into organizations including Jolt. Jolt then sued for a temporary restraining order, saying that Paxton’s probe would harm the organization as well as put its workers and volunteers at risk. In October 2024, both sides agreed to pause their legal fight and Jolt was allowed to continue its work, while the courts addressed a different lawsuit involving the tool used by Paxton to investigate the group. The attorney general’s office now said in its recent court filing that it has agreed to not issue another subpoena, instead opting to launch a new lawsuit. In addition, Paxton announced earlier this year that his office is investigating cases of “potential noncitizens” casting more than 200 ballots in 2020 and 2022, which would be around one-thousandth of 1% of the votes cast during these periods. Meanwhile, Texas counties are looking into more than 2,700 registered voters who were flagged as “potential noncitizens.” At least six of them have been confirmed to be U.S. citizens. Voters also recently approved a constitutional amendment adding language to the state’s constitution saying that a person who is not a U.S. citizen cannot vote in Texas. Noncitizen voting was already illegal prior to this update. Why Texas sued: Paxton claims ‘unlawful motive’ Following Bartiromo’s claims, the attorney general’s office sent an undercover agent to a DMV location near San Antonio to investigate by attempting to register a fake daughter — who wasn’t physically with him — to vote, according to Paxton’s Oct. 23 court filing. It said a Jolt volunteer deputy registrar still instructed the agent on how to register his daughter, despite her absence. Paxton’s filing didn’t provide evidence of Jolt registering noncitizens to vote. Instead, it said the group’s decision to hold voter registration drives near DMV locations “illuminates its unlawful motive.” “This is because U.S. citizens can already register to vote at any DMV with proof of citizenship,” the court document said. “Thus, there is no need for a VDR at such locations.” In November, Paxton filed a quo warranto suit in Tarrant County, seeking to revoke the group’s charter and shut it down. Paxton claimed a “substantial part of the events” underlying the case took place there; Jolt requested that the suit be moved to Harris County. “JOLT is a radical, partisan operation that has, and continues to, knowingly attempt to corrupt our voter rolls and weaken the voice of lawful Texas voters,” Paxton said in a news release at the time. “I will make sure they face the full force of the law.” Jolt points to provision of election code In response to Paxton’s suit seeking to shut them down, Jolt leaders filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to stop Paxton’s case in state court because it infringes on their rights under the First Amendment and the Voting Rights Act. In particular, Jolt said in a court filing that its volunteer didn’t do anything wrong because Texas’ election code does allow for a person to appoint their parent as “an agent” to “complete and sign a registration application” for them. The parent must also be a qualified voter or must have submitted a registration application and be eligible to vote, according to the code. Pitman, an Austin-based judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, agreed, saying Paxton’s office did not produce evidence of any wrongdoing. He took the unusual step for a federal judge of intervening to stop a state court proceeding, which he said was warranted because Paxton was acting in bad faith. “The court does not come to this conclusion lightly,” Pitman wrote. “Given multiple opportunities to assert his good faith by pointing to any credible evidence of illegal activity or even general wrongdoing … Defendant could not.”

Tiempo de lectura: 18 minutosEl periodo de los diez magistrados de la Corte de Constitucionalidad que han decidido cada semana asuntos que impactan a todo el país está por concluir. Nombrados, por cinco años, para garantizar el respeto a la Constitución, se fueron convirtiendo en piezas clave del poder estatal. Las resoluciones de esta instancia marcaron el rumbo del ... Read more

每年有超過一百萬人使用這條首都標誌性的大道，它連接着協和廣場和戴高樂廣場，凱旋門就矗立在那裡。但是，我們是否了解它的名字“香榭麗舍大街”的由來呢？要找到答案，我們必須深入探究希臘和羅馬神話。

每年有超过一百万人使用这条首都标志性的大道，它连接着协和广场和戴高乐广场，凯旋门就矗立在那里。但是，我们是否了解它的名字“香榭丽舍大街”的由来呢？要找到答案，我们必须深入探究希腊和罗马神话。

Pexels.com","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"crop office worker with laptop chatting on smartphone on street","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="pexels-photo-5721001" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/pexels-photo-5721001.jpeg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/pexels-photo-5721001.jpeg?fit=684%2C1024&ssl=1" /> Georgia's 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has seen a decrease in call response rates due to a contractor transition, with more callers hanging up or being rerouted to national call centers, raising concerns about the future of mental health services in the state. The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.