#legislators

#legislators

It's hard to tell whether the Oakland Athletics are a bigger farce on or off the field.On the field, the A's are on pace to lose 127 games.No major league team in the entirety of the 20th century lost so many games in a single season.Off the field, the A's soon could go 0 for 4 in potential host cities, striking out in the pursuit of a new ballpark in Oakland, Fremont, San Jose and maybe now in Las Vegas.

When he was a 17-year-old high school student in 2015, Akash Mehta was appointed to Brooklyn Community Board 6, which runs from Cobble Hill to Park Slope and passes, in part, through Boerum Hill, where he grew up.The New York State Legislature had recently lowered the minimum age for participation to 16; community boards have outsize influence in the life of New York neighborhoods, often determining what can get built and what can't, and their demographic composition skews toward the late-middle-aged and cranky.

Democratic lawmakers in New York had scrambled this week to assemble a plan to tackle the state's housing crisis: They said it included measures to protect tenants from eviction and cap rent increases, incentives to remodel empty offices into apartments and an extension of a tax break for developers to build affordable housing.

The Athletics' efforts to secure public funding for a Las Vegas stadium project has been pending in the Nevada legislature for the past few weeks.Reports in late May suggested the organization and lawmakers had reached a tentative agreement that'd see around $380MM in public funding committed to the project via tax credits, exemptions and county-issued bonds.

New guidance from the Department of Education says a school may take reasonable measures to ensure students aren't pressured to join in their teachers' or coaches' prayers.FatCamera/Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has issued updated guidance on prayer and other religious expressions in public schools.

Investigators found that children as young as 14 were working overnight shifts at the meat processing plant.The Tony Downs Food Company in Madelia, Minnesota, is pictured on Google Street View.Via Google Street View The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has asked a district court for a temporary restraining order and injunction against Tony Downs Food Company, a meat processing company in Madelia, following allegations that the business violated child labor laws.

The British government pushed its contentious migration bill forward in Parliament on Monday, despite a call from Europe's top human rights organization for lawmakers to block the legislation.The Illegal Migration Bill would bar asylum claims by anyone who reaches the U.K. by unauthorized means, and compel the government to detain and then deport them to their home country or a safe third country.

Ouch! Amtrak has been running the Capitol Limited with only four cars.That's atrocious.When I took my family to Washington in 2001 the Capitol had a baggage car, two double-decked, 44-passenger Superliner sleeping cars, three 74-passenger Superliner overnight coaches, a dining car and a Sightseer lounge car with big upper-deck windows for viewing the Appalachians.

A man attacked an employee with a knife as he attempted to steal from a Target in Chicago's Loop, according to police.The Saturday morning attack occurred at Target's 1 S. State St. location, in the downtown tourist district near Millennium Park and inside the ornamental cast-iron exterior of the Sullivan Center's lower levels.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Wednesday that nine days of negotiations with state Senate Republican leadership in an attempt to end the longest walkout by lawmakers in state history had reached an impasse, according to a statement from her office.Today, the Senate Republican walkout is entering its fifth week and is already the longest in Oregon history.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Friday hinted at how he might try to soften his image as a conservative hard-liner, a strategy that appeared intended to target more moderate voters in the state, which holds a centrist reputation and could be decisive in the Republican primary.During a discussion with state lawmakers outside Manchester, N.H., Mr. DeSantis, who is expected to declare his candidacy for president next week, largely focused on pocketbook and family issues with broader appeal, including school choice, tax cuts, crime and inflation, rather than aspects of the more divisive social agenda he has pushed as governor.

A version of this story appears in CNN's What Matters newsletter.To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.Two converging crises are testing American confidence in their financial well-being.There's a banking crisis, which regulatory officials and big American banks very much want you to believe is ending after decisive action over the weekend to take over and swallow up another failing bank.

It is now legal to purchase a pistol without a permit in North Carolina after the state's Republican-led legislature overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.The state House voted to override Cooper's veto of Senate Bill 41 by 71-46 on Wednesday, a day after the state Senate voted 30-19 to do the same.

A South Carolina judge on Friday temporarily blocked a new law restricting abortion access after six weeks of pregnancy.The order came just one day after Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, signed the six-week ban into law, and temporarily restores abortion access in the state to up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Gov. Jared Polis signed three bills into law on Friday that tighten restrictions on gun purchases and possession, as well as a fourth that makes it easier for victims of gun violence to sue firearm companies.The new laws will raise the age to buy any firearm to 21 from 18, and make it illegal to sell any gun to someone younger than 21; mandate a three-day waiting period between buying and receiving a gun; and expand the state's red flag law.

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day-but your help is essential.If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us.Thanks for your support!GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!Don't break out the sunglasses just yet.

Podcasting continues to be one of the fastest growing digital channels, growing two times faster than digital advertising overall, according to IAB's "U.S. Podcast Advertising 2022 Revenue & 2023-2025 Growth Projections" study, released on May 11 during IAB's Podcast Upfront.The seventh annual IAB U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue study, prepared for IAB by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PWC"), quantifies annual podcast advertising revenues generated over the past year, analyzes revenue share by ad category and content genre, and forecasts future revenues through 2025.

A Nebraska bill combining a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks and restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender Nebraskans under 19 is poised to become law after the state's unicameral legislature voted for its passage Friday.Nebraska's LB 574, also known as the Let Them Grow Act was first introduced to bar health care providers from performing gender transition surgeries and to restrict access to puberty blocking medication and hormone treatments for anyone under 19.

Pro-abortion rights advocates march in Boise, Idaho following the publication of a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade in May 2022.James Dawson/Boise State Public Radio BOISE, Idaho After clearing both legislative chambers, Idaho could become the first state in the country, according to Planned Parenthood, to criminally charge those who help pregnant minors get an abortion across state lines without parental consent.

The Georgia state legislature on Wednesday passed an elections bill that would make it a felony for local election offices to accept private funds.Violations of SB 222, which is headed to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to sign, would result in a felony punished by at least one year in prison and a fine of at least $10,000.

Residents in the state of Rhode Island could soon have an easier time constructing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their properties, as a bill prioritized by the state's House Speaker Rep. Joe Shekarchi and sponsored by AARP passed the Rhode Island House of Representatives earlier this week.The bill, 2023-H 6082Aaa (given additional letters in its designation to reflect that it has been amended), is part of a broader package of 14 bills sought by the speaker in an effort to address housing issues and spur additional production according to reporting at The Providence Journal.

Warning comes as Altman plans tour across six continents to talk about AI with policymakers and the public.Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT's OpenAI, has told legislators in the United States that government regulation of artificial intelligence is critical because of the potential risks it poses to humanity.

Image from Bike Rumor
California needs to invest a lot more in incentives for people to adopt electric bikes, says the California Bicycle Coalition.$50 million, a minuscule amount compared to the billions that the state spends each year maintaining and expanding highways, would be a good start.The current e-bike incentive program is in the process of being set up, but it only has $10 million available, including administrative costs.

As the war enters its 443rd day, we take a look at the main developments.Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, May 12, 2023: Russia's defence ministry denied reports that Ukrainian forces had broken through in various places along the front lines and said the military situation was under control.

FILE - A man thought to be a migrant who made the crossing from France disembarks after being picked up in the Channel by a British border force vessel in Dover, south east England, Friday, Aug. 13, 2021.The British government pushed its contentious migration bill forward in Parliament on Monday, March 27, 2023 even as Europe's top human rights organization urged lawmakers to block the legislation.

Existing strains deepened between the European Union's two biggest players after Berlin upset some of its partners by blocking at the last minute a landmark deal to prohibit new sales of fossil fuel cars from 2035.The ban is key to Brussels' ambitious plan to become a climate neutral economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

German lawmakers considered Wednesday whether to create the country's first citizen assembly' to advise parliament on the issue of food and nutrition.Germany's three governing parties back the idea of appointing consultative bodies made up of members of the public selected through a lottery system who would discuss specific topics and provide nonbinding feedback to legislators.

The ruling is a "dangerous and undemocratic continuation" of GOP attempts to silence those who speak up, Zephyr said.Rep. Zooey Zephyr does legislative work remotely.Zooey Zephyr, via Twitter A Montana judge on Tuesday rejected Rep. Zooey Zephyr's legal bid to return to the state House, a decision that the transgender lawmaker decried as a "dangerous and undemocratic continuation" of Republicans' attempts to silence anyone who speaks out against their attacks on marginalized groups and efforts to roll back basic rights.

Sproul Hall and Plaza as seen in March 2022.Credit: Kelly Sullivan Frustrating.One word, uttered under breath by a California lawmaker, captured a sentiment, at times boiling over into anger, among legislators struggling to get more California students into the University of California.What Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, a Democrat from Sacramento, found frustrating Tuesday was the UC's seeming refusal to adopt the same systemwide guaranteed admissions policy for transfer students that the California State University has.

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

In a state Capitol dominated by Democrats, where expanding LGBTQ rights is a pillar of the agenda, an announcement Wednesday from one of the most powerful lawmakers came as something of a shock:
Senate leader Toni Atkins - a San Diego Democrat who has blazed trails as a lesbian lawmaker and the first woman to lead both houses of the Legislature - said she wants California to repeal its ban on government-funded travel to states with anti-LGBTQ laws.

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TikTok is in hot water once again, embroiled in controversy over concerns that ByteDance, its China-based parent company, is gathering sensitive data from 150 million US users.At last week's US congressional hearing, legislators appeared unconvinced that TikTok is operating independently of the Chinese government, or that it's doing enough to protect user data and prevent misinformation.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress on Thursday in a four hour hearing about the social media site's impact.The hearing, which is somehow still going on as I write this, has been equal parts embarrassing and ludicrous.During the hearing, various members of Congress invoked the sanctity and security of America's children as a driving concern.

TikTok has rolled out updated rules and standards for content and users as it faces increasing pressure from western authorities over concerns that material on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app could be used to push false information.he company released a reorganised set of community guidelines that include eight principles to guide content moderation decisions.