What We're Reading: Top State Stories 10/3
UT: Major Utah oil shale project moves forward
North America’s first commercial oil-shale operation cleared a big hurdle when the federal government authorized a 14-mile corridor across public land in eastern Utah to service a proposed strip mine and processing plant that could produce 50,000 barrels a day — and deplete the Green River.
TX: Texas schools required to teach teens how to interact with police
According to the Texas instruction guide, the school curriculum includes four sections: the duties of officers, citizen rights, proper behavior during an interaction and filing a complaint or compliment.
NV: Nevada voters to decide on automatic voter registration
Nevada voters will decide in November whether people who are eligible will be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out when they seek a new or updated ID and driver’s license at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
MA: 15 Massachusetts mayors pledge housing construction to ease crisis
The mayors of 15 Massachusetts cities and towns agreed to sharply accelerate the pace of home construction in a bid to help tackle the housing crisis in the Boston area. A coalition of municipal leaders from Braintree to Newton to Winthrop set a goal to add 185,000 new homes by 2030.
NJ: New Jersey regulators suspend new rules for craft breweries
New Jersey alcohol regulators suspended enforcement of new rules for New Jersey's craft breweries after top lawmakers vowed to roll them back. State officials said the pause would allow them to further consult with the competing factions — craft breweries on one side and bars and restaurants on the other.
WV: West Virginia justice to keep job, another goes on trial
One West Virginia Supreme Court justice has survived an impeachment scare. Another could face more serious consequences than the potential loss of his seat.
RI: Rhode Island program raises community college retention rate
The Community College of Rhode Island released new data indicating that 62 percent of full-time, fresh-out-of-high-school students who entered the college in fall 2017 — the first Rhode Island Promise cohort — returned this fall, and 22 percent are on track to graduate within two years.
CO: Voters may be asked to lift Colorado city’s camping ban
Organizers delivered more than 9,000 signatures to the Denver Elections Division this week, opening up a campaign to reverse the Colorado city’s “camping ban.” If about half the signatures are valid, Denver’s voters will decide next year whether to once again allow people to take shelter in public spaces.
VA: Virginia governor wants court to draw new district lines
Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam said he will veto a House Republican redistricting plan if it reaches his desk and that a federal court "is best positioned" to draw constitutional boundaries in Virginia.
PA: ACLU to sue Pennsylvania prisons over new mail policy
Ever since the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced a new, unprecedented policy for handling legal mail — part of a wide-ranging crackdown meant to stanch the flow of drugs into state prisons — criminal and civil lawyers who represent inmates have been in panic mode, saying they can no longer send confidential documents to clients.
DC: D.C. Council overturns wage hike for bartenders, servers
Washington, D.C., lawmakers voted to overturn an initiative that would have raised the minimum wage for servers, bartenders and other workers who rely on tips, just four months after voters passed the measure.
MD: Millions in Maryland affected by feds’ ‘Obamacare’ stance
Roughly 3.5 million Marylanders could lose their health insurance or face higher premiums due to their age, gender or a pre-existing condition because the Trump administration has decided not to enforce provisions of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, a new congressional report has found.
