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Poll: Younger candidate, same policies preferred by many Democrats over Biden
(The Center Square) – A significant number of voters across the nation say they would be more supportive of a younger Democratic candidate, even if the candidate was more liberal than President Joe Biden. The Center Square Voters' Voice poll found 32% of voters said they would be more likely to vote Democratic if their candidate was 20-40 years younger and had the same policies as Biden. Almost 25% said...
Menendez could face expulsion from Senate after conviction
(The Center Square) — Democratic senators are gearing up to force New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez from office following his conviction this week on federal charges if the embattled lawmaker doesn't step down. Menendez, 70, was convicted by a New York City jury on Tuesday of 16 counts of bribery, extortion, fraud and acting as a foreign agent. Federal prosecutors say Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted gold, cash, a Mercedes Benz and other bribes in exchange for using his political influence to benefit the...
Illinois news in brief: I-55 reopens after tornado damage; John Deere reverses course on 'cultural' issues; Texas plans to continue sending migrants to Chicago
I-55 reopens after tornado damage A 7-mile section of Interstate 55 near Channahon that had been closed since a tornado touched down Monday night has reopened. ComEd crews worked to remove and repair transmission lines and the 200-foot towers that were toppled by the winds that exceeded 100 mph. In the most recent update, ComEd said there are still nearly 1,300 outages, affecting more than 22,000 homes and businesses. John...
Op-Ed: Secret Service chief faces mounting pressure to resign
New allegations that Secret Service training resources were reallocated to “executive leadership bonuses” and DEI-prioritized recruitment are among the torrent of charges leveled against agency Director Kim Cheatle and other top officials in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Inside the main hall of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, Republicans were enjoying a Make America Great Again lovefest. But on the outside perimeter of the convention center, anger was still spewing over an avalanche of negative information about the layers of Secret Service failures...
Republicans sue Whitmer, Benson over voter registration agencies
(The Center Square) - Michigan's governor, secretary of state and three other officials are facing a lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign this week over granting some government offices the power to conduct voter registration. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order in December meant to designate certain state offices, including the Small Business Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to act as voter registration agencies. The governor...
Milwaukee police add local cops to RNC patrols following shooting by Columbus officer
(The Center Square) – Milwaukee Police are making changes for the final days of the Republican National Convention after Tuesday’s downtown shooting. The city’s police department said it will be adding local officers to the bike patrols from out-of-state police departments in the convention’s soft security zone. The move comes after a group of officers from Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed a homeless man blocks away from convention Tuesday. ...
Op-Ed: The cure for what ails America is equality properly understood
My fellow Americans, show me a “house divided” problem, where “We, the People” are losing ground, where we are failing – and not for want of dollars – and I’ll show you a violation of equality properly understood and constitutionally pursued. Understanding what equality means and doesn’t mean, and coloring within constitutional lines, is not the answer to all our nation’s challenges, just most of them. The men and women...
Vance outlines conservative agenda in RNC speech
(The Center Square) – Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance used a speech Wednesday at the Republican National Convention to outline a conservative agenda for America. On day three of the RNC, the U.S. Senator took center stage to call for an American-first agenda focused on the working class, which is central to former President Donald Trump's re-election effort. "President Trump represents America's last best hope to restore what if lost...
Abbott urges Americans to secure the border by returning Trump to White House
(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday night urged Americans to secure the border by returning former President Donald Trump to the White House as president. “As the governor of the largest border state,” Abbott said, “America needs a president who will secure our border. America needs Donald J. Trump.” “The president’s most sacred duty is to protect our country,” which President Trump did, he said. Under...
Honored fallen heroes, rescue of symbolic freedom stirs RNC emotion
(The Center Square) – Sacrifices were too many, and the least the fraternity brothers on a North Carolina campus could do, he said, was keep Old Glory flying. And so, they did. In an emotional back-to-back segment of the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, the tears for lives lost among 13 families were followed by song and inspiration from country music artist Brian Kelley performing with the Holy Redeemer...
Former ICE chief: Biden 'unsecured the border by design. It’s national suicide'
(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden’s border policies can’t be attributed to mismanagement or incompetence, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan said at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. “It’s a choice. It’s national suicide.” Homan, who has a more than 30-year career in law enforcement, began his career as a Border Patrol agent in 1984. After 34 years, he became the first director of ICE, twice, who “actually came up through the ranks,” he said. “I worked for...
Arizona border residents give picture of immigration crisis at RNC
(The Center Square) – Arizonans living near the nation's southern border gave the Republican National Convention some emotional testimony about the realities of life amid an immigration crisis. On day three of the RNC, several speakers addressed the millions of immigrants crossing the nation's border with Mexico. Included in those were David Lara, a San Luis business owner and activist. "Small towns like mine bear the brunt of the chaos....
Former White House physician: Biden, Harris unfit for office
(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Ronnie Jackson, R-Texas, the former White House physician, said neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris were fit to serve as president. Jackson for three years has repeatedly questioned Biden’s mental and physical health and called for him to be removed under the 25th Amendment, The Center Square has reported. The amendment, ratified in 1967, establishes procedures for replacing the president or vice president under certain circumstances. It has only been used three times in 1973 and...
Virginia commits $30M to Suffolk port infrastructure project
(The Center Square) — As the Port of Baltimore continues to recover from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the city of Suffolk, Va., continues to pursue the development of a major port complex – with a newly announced $30 million in infrastructure funding from the commonwealth. The Port 460 Logistics Center Development is a new 540-acre industrial commerce park with a warehousing capacity of 5 million square feet. The center plans to partner with the Port of Virginia to bolster its operations,...
King County awarded $450K federal grant for alternative youth detention system
(The Center Square) – King County has been awarded $450,000 from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to support King County Executive Dow Constantine’s intention to transform the region’s youth detention system. King County will use the $450,000 award to implement its strategy and implementation planning for its Care and Closure initiative, which ultimately aims to close the King County youth detention center at the Judge Patricia J. Clark Children and Family Justice Center. ...
Washington parent group filing federal challenge to Biden Title IX changes
(The Center Square) – The fight over the Biden administration's rule changes to Title IX, which will allow boys who identify as girls to compete in girls' sports, has inspired a first-of-its-kind federal lawsuit in Washington state. Other states led by Republican governors or attorneys general have succeeded in getting preliminary injunctions to block the new rules. In Washington, where Democrats are firmly in control, the challenge comes from a group of citizen activists. ...
Tribal border authorities could get better opportunities with new bill
(The Center Square) – Newly introduced legislation hopes to keep tribal border authorities working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. People known as "Shadow Wolves" play a critical role in patrolling the border along the Tohono O’odham Nation, specifically when it comes to illicit drug trafficking into the United States, according to a news release. However, the release notes that the fact that they are "excepted" employees instead of "competitive" ones...
South Carolina awarded $175M for bridges
(The Center Square) — The federal government is sending $175 million in tax money to the South Carolina Department of Transportation for a bridge rehabilitation project. Department leaders say it is “one of the largest federal discretionary grant awards ever received by SCDOT.” The agency will use the money to replace four bridges built in 1968 on Interstate 95 over Lake Marion in Clarendon and Orangeburg counties, a project officials said should, in part, lower maintenance costs. ...
Poll: U.S. voters suspect AI could impact their lives as it develops
(The Center Square) – New poll data of registered and potential voters reveals a general consensus that artificial intelligence could pose a threat to people as it further develops. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology broadly used to complete tasks, learn information, and enable computers to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Recently, AI technology has become more sophisticated and more widely used at an increasing rate. However, recent...
President Biden tests positive for COVID in Las Vegas
(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday while in Las Vegas, the White House said. "Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. Biden will return home "to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time," Jean-Pierre added. The president cancelled his scheduled speech at the annual UnidosUS conference. According to the president’s doctor, Biden is experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms, including a runny nose and coughing. He is being treated with Paxlovid.
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The Center Square reports on state- and local-level government and economic news. A taxpayer sensibility distinguishes our work from other coverage of state and local issues.
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