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WA: Washington state could become the first to charge a carbon fee
The fossil fuel industry has spent more than $25 million opposing a ballot initiative in Washington state that would put a fee on carbon emissions. This initiative is the first of its kind nationally because of the billions of dollars it would generate — and it’s become one of the most expensive ballot initiative fights in Washington state history.
FL: Parkland teens make last push for youth voter turnout in Florida
Students from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman killed 17 in February, have been traveling the country on a nine-month voter registration effort — the Vote for Our Lives tour. Many of the Florida activists put off college plans to engage the youth vote and have worked to spread their message to the 4 million U.S. citizens turning 18 this year.
US: Bad weather will greet voters from Florida to the Midwest
Storms are expected to hit much of the Eastern United States, which could depress Election Day turnout. A strong cold front could cause rain and wind anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard, from the Florida Panhandle all the way up to Maine. The same broad storm system is expected to cause a mixture of rain and snow in the Great Lakes region and Northern Plains, including parts of Michigan, Minnesota and North Dakota.
SD: What happens if you use your phone at a South Dakota polling place?
As elections are set to begin, a county auditor’s rule over the use of cellphones at the polls has once again raised questions of legality. The rule, created by Minnehaha County auditor Bob Litz, says that voters are not allowed to use their phones while at the polling stations, even if they are only using them to access information about candidates and ballot measures.
AL: Legal battle centers on release of Alabama execution details
A federal appeals court is considering whether a lower court judge was wrong to rule that Alabama’s execution protocol should be unsealed at the request of news outlets. Alabama has for years refused to release the details of its execution process and where it gets the drugs used in lethal injections.
WI: When kids in online Wisconsin charter schools churn, scores drop
More than 2,500 students in Wisconsin’s virtual charter schools withdrew, got kicked out or dropped out between 2016 and 2017 — roughly 40 percent of the total enrollment, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis found. Students who switched between virtual schools and traditional schools posted significantly lower math scores the year after the switch.
US: Amazon to split HQ2 between two cities: report
Amazon.com Inc. plans to split its second headquarters evenly between two locations rather than picking one city, according to a person familiar with the matter, a surprise decision that will spread the impact of a massive new office across two communities, the Wall Street Journal reported.
MS: In Mississippi, racial disparities persist in discipline, access to advanced classes
Mississippi students have steadily improved on state tests in recent years, but a closer look at federal civil rights data and state-level test results reveal disparities in students’ access to higher level coursework and discipline among ethnic groups.
HI: In Hawaii, backlogged rape test kits yield scores of possible leads
A major effort by Hawaii law enforcement to test more than 1,500 rape kits that for years sat unprocessed in storage facilities statewide has resulted in DNA matches with more than 120 potential suspects in a national offender database.
CA: More people left California in 2017 than moved there
Last year about 130,000 more residents left California than moved there, as high costs left many residents without a college degree looking for an exit. They most often went to cheaper, nearby states – and Texas.
AR: Returnees to Arkansas prisons fall by 41%
The number of people sent to Arkansas’ prisons for violating their terms of probation or parole fell more than 41 percent in 2017, as a new law went into effect that was aimed at stemming the surge in population.
AZ: Arizona nets M from tribal gambling
Indian tribes that operate casinos paid nearly $27 million to Arizona during the first three months of the state budget year. Arizona collects between 1 and 8 percent of the gambling receipts from 24 tribal casinos.
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