Kansas is poised to increase penalties for killing police dogs and horses after legislators gave their final approval Tuesday to a measure inspired by a suspect’s strangling of a dog last year in the state’s largest city. The Republican-controlled state House approved a bill with a 115-6 vote that would allow a first-time offender to be sentenced to more than …
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Arizona activists say they have gathered enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment to create a “fundamental right” to abortion on the state’s ballot in November. Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of pro-choice groups including the ACLU of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, says it has collected more than 500,000 signatures from registered voters who want to …
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North Dakota lawmakers are expecting a legal challenge to a proposed congressional age limit, and estimate $1 million to defend the measure up to the U.S. Supreme Court, in what some observers see as a likely test case. A top legislative panel on Wednesday unanimously approved a $1 million cost estimate for the state to defend the age limit proposed …
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A man who attacked a Muslim state representative outside a prayer service in Connecticut pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted sexual assault and other crimes in a plea deal that calls for a five-year prison sentence. Andrey Desmond, 30, appeared in Hartford Superior Court in connection with the June 2023 assault on Rep. Maryam Khan, the first Muslim to serve in …
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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers urged the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn a ruling that banned absentee ballot drop boxes beyond the confines of election clerks’ offices in the presidential battleground state. In a filing the day of Wisconsin’s presidential primary, Evers asked the court to overturn a 2022 ruling that limited drop box locations. Former President Donald Trump …
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Teachers and staff in the rural Iowa district where a deadly school shooting took place earlier this year could get bonuses if they don’t quit their jobs under a new bill approved by lawmakers and sent to the governor. The Jan. 4 attack at the high school in Perry, Iowa, about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines, killed sixth grader …
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An Alabama inmate seeking to block the state’s attempt to make him the second person put to death by nitrogen gas has filed a lawsuit arguing the first execution under the new method was “botched” and caused cruel and prolonged suffering. Attorneys for Alan Eugene Miller, who survived a 2022 lethal injection attempt, filed the lawsuit Friday in federal court …
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Nebraska lawmakers are debating a bill that would raise the state’s sales tax by 1 cent to 6.5% on every taxable dollar spent — which would make it among the highest in the country. Lawmakers expected to take a vote later Tuesday on whether to advance the bill to a second of three rounds of debate in Nebraska’s unique one-chamber …
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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, is facing backlash after he blocked a GOP-led measure that would have prevented transgender students in the state from competing on school sports teams that do not align with their biological sex. Evers said the bill he vetoed “fails to comport with our Wisconsin values” in a letter Tuesday to state lawmakers. Assembly Bill …
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A Democratic candidate for North Dakota governor has ended his long-shot campaign. TRUMP-ALIGNED CANDIDATE FOR NORTH DAKOTA’S LONE HOUSE SEAT GETS BOOST FROM VIVEK RAMASWAMY Travis Hipsher, of Neche, announced his withdrawal on Sunday. The little-known Democrat, who is a security guard at a bus manufacturer, said he “didn’t have the numbers to continue to carry out the fight to …
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