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Chicago’s pension debt soars to $37 billion, at just 26% funded
(The Center Square) – Taxpayers in the city of Chicago now owe more than $37 billion in unpaid pension costs after debts soared by at least $1.8 billion over the last 12 months. Data outlined in the city’s annual comprehensive financial report further highlights that the city’s four employee pension funds representing police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and laborers jumped by 5% in 2023. While Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently...
Gov. Abbott taking action after extensive power failures
(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday listed a range of failures he says were made by power companies and primarily by the largest utility provider in the Houston area, CenterPoint Energy, which were “not adequately prepared for a hurricane like Beryl.” He met with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other officials in Houston to discuss ongoing recovery efforts after a Category 1 hurricane hit one week ago and more than one million people are still without power. ...
Medicaid expansion over quarter-million since first-day automatics
(The Center Square) – Medicaid expansion has brought an additional 503,967 enrollments in North Carolina since the Dec. 1 implementation. For context, however, those by genuine choice is 231,030. On the first day, an automatic increase of 272,937 happened as part of the family population moved to full coverage. The half-million number was “celebrated” in a release from the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Kody Kinsley, and the office of Gov. Roy Cooper. ...
CASE DISMISSED: Classified documents case against Trump thrown out by judge
(The Center Square) – A federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents-related criminal case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, saying the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution. The case could be appealed and go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Many legal experts considered the classified documents case to be Trump's most difficult legal hurdle, and its removal comes on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and two days after the former president...
Trump shifts focus of RNC speech to emphasize unity
(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump said that he rewrote his upcoming speech in its entirety for the 2024 Republican National Convention, The Washington Examiner reported. This decision from Trump to change the themes of his speech came after the attempted assassination on Saturday. Trump was injured but survived. That rally was the last scheduled before his departure to the RNC. Trump told The Washington Examiner in an...
No security changes for Milwaukee RNC at Trump’s request
(The Center Square) – No one is changing the security plan for Milwaukee’s Republican National Convention. Host Committee boss Reince Priebus told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber Monday morning that he spoke with former President Donald Trump after Saturday’s assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and asked if he wanted changes for the Milwaukee convention. “He said ‘no, no, no. We're not going to start changing and cutting back the plans...
Clemency ends three jail terms 37 years early
(The Center Square) – Three men, each with 37 more years left in jail as punishment for robbery at a church, have been given clemency by North Carolina’s governor. Another convicted robber, age 45 and confined for nearly 30 years, had a sentence running to 2030 commuted. The decisions made by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper come with less than six months to go in his second term. Cooper established the...
Secret Service Director: RNC security plan 'reviewed and strengthened'
(The Center Square) – U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle released a statement Monday amid mounting criticism of the security her agency provided Donald Trump after an assassination attempt Saturday on the former president. Cheatle said her agency "reviewed and strengthened" the security plan for the Republican National Convention in the wake of Saturday’s shooting. The Republican convention starts today in Milwaukee and goes through Thursday. Cheatle said the Secret...
Different views of how Biden, Trump impact Illinois’ down-ballot races
(The Center Square) – Whether the top of the ballot in November’s election helps or hurts down-ballot candidates depends on who you ask. November is expected to be a rematch between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden. Trump is expected to get the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week. Biden’s future as the Democratic Party’s nominee is in question, though he has been adamant he will remain...
Poll: Biden still facing high disapproval numbers on economy
(The Center Square) – Almost 60% of voters are still upset about President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, according to the results of a new poll. The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll asked likely voters, “When it comes to President Joe Biden, do you approve or disapprove of how he’s handling the economy?” The poll was conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights from July 8-11, before the attempted...
Poll: Trump's Tennessee numbers improve after felony convictions
(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump’s felony convictions in New York did not hurt his numbers in Tennessee. In fact, Trump’s 34 felony convictions for falsifying documents made 34% of Tennesseans more likely to vote for him while just 22% said it made them less likely to vote for him, according to a new Beacon Center poll of 1,200 in the state. The poll showed Trump holds a...
Op-Ed: A vote for Biden is a vote for President Harris
"We will work together, and continue to work together, to address these issues, to work together as we continue to work, operating from the new norms, rules, and agreements." – Kamala Harris It used to be commonplace to read an article about the vice presidency and the contempt that vice presidents themselves have heaped on the office – starting with the very first, John Adams. He told colleagues, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention...
Former Secret Service agents describe 'apocalyptic security failure' at Trump event
(The Center Square) – Former U.S. Secret Service agents and security experts argue the Secret Service’s failure to prevent an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Saturday was “apocalyptic,” exhibiting a “massive security breach.” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has called for a congressional investigation. Multiple members of Congress are asking how a shooter ever reached a rooftop of a building to fire a shot at Trump, including U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Florida, an Army veteran and counter sniper for the State...
Biden: No place for violence, time to cool it down
(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden said “there is no place in America for this type of violence” and “it’s time to cool it down” when it comes to the fervor of political disagreement. Biden, 81, addressed the nation Sunday evening from the Oval Office a day after the assassination attempt on political rival and former President Donald Trump. Speaking for just under seven minutes, looking high to a...
Political leaders of both parties in Raleigh, Washington denounce violence
(The Center Square) – Violence doesn’t have a place in politics, said North Carolina’s leaders of both major parties in Raleigh and Washington in the aftermath of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Democrats and Republicans posting messages to social media, through words or video, were in agreement against violence. Most encouraged prayers and offered gratitude that Trump survived the attempt on his life. Trump was at a...
9 House Democrats tried to block Secret Service protection for Trump if he goes to prison
(The Center Square) – Nine Democrats in the U.S. House sought to strip former President Donald Trump of his Secret Service detail just months before an assassination attempt was made against him on Saturday. After Trump survived the shooting, one of their staffers reportedly said in a Facebook post the shooter needed shooting lessons so he wouldn’t “miss the next time.” The post has since been deleted and the staffer has been fired. ...
‘As scheduled’: Trump says convention will continue despite shooting
(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that despite the assassination attempt against him on Saturday, he will continue with the Republican National Convention this week “as scheduled.” Trump released a statement Sunday making clear he would not let the shooter delay the convention, where he is expected to be formally named the Republican party’s nominee for president. “Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to...
Virginia political figures united in condemnation of Trump assassination attempt
(The Center Square) — Despite everyday political differences, Virginia’s political figures spoke with mostly one voice on social media and in official statements, condemning the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., Saturday evening. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued a statement Sunday afternoon praising the former president for his response to the attack. “Last night, Donald J. Trump showed us strength and courage, and...
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