SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " vote " 5,512 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Politics Unplugged Podcast: The governor’s race with Stacey Barchenger
Arizona Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger returns to look at the governor’s race and another Hobbs investigation from legislative Republicans. Arizona’s race for governor is entering a volatile final stretch, with Gov. Katie Hobbs holding a major advertising advantage over Republican challenger Andy Biggs. The Politics Unplugged podcast breaks down the campaign cash gap, the increasingly negative messaging and the fight for voters before early ballots go out.
Politics Unplugged Podcast: The governor’s race with Stacey Barchenger
Arizona Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger returns to look at the governor’s race and another Hobbs investigation from legislative Republicans. Arizona’s race for governor is entering a volatile final stretch, with Gov. Katie Hobbs holding a major advertising advantage over Republican challenger Andy Biggs. The Politics Unplugged podcast breaks down the campaign cash gap, the increasingly negative messaging and the fight for voters before early ballots go out.
Protesters form human chain outside Kennedy Center over closure
The protesters gathered as the sun set on Sept. 18, three days after the Kennedy Center's Trump-appointed board voted to close it for two years.
Behind the Scenes with Kaitlan Collins: Trump pushes back on AI guardrails as Kennedy Center votes to close amid name dispute
Republicans Are Now the ‘Elitist’ Party, Voters Say
We spoke to independents who have soured on Trump.
WakeMed-Atrium Health merger faces scrutiny ahead of county vote
Wake County commissioners are expected to vote Monday on a proposed merger between WakeMed and Atrium Health
DHS may have violated state election law, Virginia's AG says after whistleblower report
Virginia's attorney general said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated several state laws after a whistleblower accused its employees of misrepresenting themselves on voter lookup tools to hunt for noncitizen voters.
Murphy wades into midterms, CT voter turnout: CT politics news
Plus: Connecticut's unemployment rate falls as private sector jobs grow, and Connecticut's education department puts focus on STEM equity.
Black congressional leaders endorse James Talarico in Texas Senate race
Talarico has strong support among Black voters in public polls, but he has recently stepped up his efforts to reach them.
Clearwater approves street handovers for $50 million Scientology-backed entertainment center
The Clearwater City Council voted to move forward with vacating portions of three public rights-of-way for the parking lot of a proposed $50 million entertainment center backed by the Church of Scientology.
David Jolly launches multimillion-dollar ad buy statewide
A senior advisor says the 'team is being efficient with our time and money to get David’s change agenda out to voters.'
Politicians raised in Chapel Hill speak at UNC candidate forum ahead of midterm elections
N.C. Rep. Allen Buansi and N.C. Sen. Jonah Garson, who are running for reelection to the N.C. General Assembly, and Orange County Commissioner candidate Karen Stegman spoke about current issues and stressed the importance of a young, college-aged voter turnout
Vance campaigns in deep-red territory, highlighting risks for GOP
JD Vance went for a campaign twofer on Friday: He visited a deep-red district in a swing state where the GOP desperately needs to mobilize voters. It’s also the state that happens to be the first to get a say in who will be the 2028 Republican nominee.
Housing authority subsidiary nixes mayoral candidate ‘evaluation’ effort
An effort by a subsidiary of the Fort Smith Housing Authority to produce a mayoral scorecard ahead of the November 2026 general election was short-lived after it received criticism from...
Housing authority subsidiary nixes mayoral candidate ‘evaluation’ effort
An effort by a subsidiary of the Fort Smith Housing Authority to produce a mayoral scorecard ahead of the November 2026 general election was short-lived after it received criticism from...
Gilbert primary care doctor explains why he and his Banner Health colleagues voted to unionize
Dr. Justin Watkins is a family medicine physician at Banner Medical Group in the Gilbert Health Clinic. He spoke with The Show more about the concerns that he and his colleagues had that led to the effort to unionize.
In campaign ad, Republican Rep. Salazar says Hispanics feel betrayed by Trump
The move comes as some Republican candidates try to distance themselves from Trump in an attempt to win over voters
Interview: Prof. Chris Cooper on Trump's FEMA comments, voting by mail and other election news
From President Trump’s visit to the legal battle over voting by mail, there’s been a lot of national news affecting our region. BPR's Felicia Sonmez sat down in the studio with political science professor Chris Cooper to catch up on it all.
Political Brew | Voters to consider seniority and Iran War impacts in Maine's biggest races
‘Big Brother’ star Yash Patel reveals ‘chaotic’ renom discussions with Melody and Taylor
‘Big Brother’ star Yash Patel reveals ‘chaotic’ renom discussions with Melody and Taylor, and whom he would have voted out between Dee and Drew.
James Talarico, Seeking Black Votes in Texas Senate Rate, Wins Crucial Endorsement
The Congressional Black Caucus’s political wing backed James Talarico, who defeated a Black opponent in the primary. He faces Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general, in November.
Scientology-backed Clearwater entertainment complex clears roadblock
A Church of Scientology-backed $50 million entertainment center in downtown Clearwater cleared an early hurdle Thursday, after lengthy public comment and City Council debate. In a 3-2 vote Thursday, t...
Wake leaders to vote on proposed WakeMed-Atrium deal Monday
The Board of Commissioners in May delayed a decision on the combination after concerns arose over costs and quality of healthcare.
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson among Texas coaches backing college sports bill
More than 70 senators vote to advance Sen. Ted Cruz’s sweeping college sports bill.
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson among Texas coaches backing college sports bill
More than 70 senators vote to advance Sen. Ted Cruz’s sweeping college sports bill.
Clearwater City Council approves street transfers tied to EVO Entertainment Center
After hours of heated debate and public comment, Clearwater City Council voted 3-2 Thursday night to approve another street transfer tied to the Church of Scientology.
Early voting begins in midterm elections that could flip control of Congress
Friday marked the start of early voting in Virginia. Voters in a handful of other states can cast absentee ballots in person.
Young Michigan voters cozy up to DSA agenda to abolish Senate, upend political system
Michigan State student calls Senate ‘inherently undemocratic’ as Green Party candidate backs DSA proposals and Detroit resident weighs political overhaul.
Best of Des Moines: 2026 Winners
As we do each year, we asked our readers to cast votes for what Des Moines has to offer in a variety of business-related categories. These people and organizations make up an ecosystem in our region that supports the local economy and the community at large. Here’s how it worked: You voted. We checked the…
Best of Des Moines 2026: Learn about this year’s winners
As we do each year, we asked our readers to cast votes for what Des Moines has to offer in a variety of business-related categories. These people and organizations make up an ecosystem in our region that supports the local economy and the community at large. Here’s how it worked: You voted. We checked the…
Most Michigan voters disapprove of Trump’s tariffs on Canada, poll shows
Among the state’s independents, who could determine the outcome of several key midterm races, 68 percent disapprove of Trump's levies on Canadian products.
Sunshine State Earthquake? St. Pete Polls shows Ashley Moody, Angie Nixon neck-and-neck in heated Senate race
Both candidates are winning about 45% support from likely voters.
Underdogs are a film festival's best friend
TORONTO — Who could have predicted that Peter Farrelly would make the fan favorite of this year's Toronto International Film Festival? Everyone who voted for "Green Book" eight years ago.
Underdogs are a film festival's best friend
TORONTO — Who could have predicted that Peter Farrelly would make the fan favorite of this year's Toronto International Film Festival? Everyone who voted for "Green Book" eight years ago.
Sticker Shock at the Doctor's Office Could Motivate Midterm Voters
Steep jumps in health insurance premiums and deductibles are top of mind for many voters heading into midterm elections. KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner explains how rising costs may shape competitive races. She also distills plans from candidates on both sides of the aisle to bring costs down.
Hunting and fishing in Colorado are worth protecting from politicians
Colorado voters should approve Initiative 302, a constitutional amendment on the right to hunt and fish, in the Nov. 3 general election because the measure would amend the state constitution. A 55% supermajority of voters must cast a “yes” vote on their ballots for it to pass. The “Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish” will constitutionally […]
Women keep politics honest
A recent sign that women place more value on being a force for good comes out of conservative Utah. Both parties gerrymander, that is, draw voting district boundaries to give unfair advantage to their candidates. But a faith-based group called Mormon Women for Ethical Government wanted to stop that practice. In 2018, they backed Proposition 4, a ballot measure to create an independent districting commission that would prevent gerrymandering. It passed a statewide vote.
'Don't be silly' over Falklands and Irish unity, shadow foreign secretary tells Trump
Shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat says the US president's recent comments were aimed at US voters, in a BBC interview.
House clears Russia sanctions as Republicans dodge impeachment vote
GOP cuts voting session short after some NJ Democrats joined in punishing Russia
Farmer who voted for Trump says "I can't stay in business" amid rising costs
Judge restricts enforcement of Montana law against AI "deepfakes" in campaign ads
Montana voters could be seeing more AI in campaign ads in the coming weeks, after a judge restricted enforcement of a state law that required disclosures on so-called “deepfake” campaign materials.
If anyone can defy 'political gravity' it's Trump and his team: Kellyanne Conway
Former Trump senior counselor Kellyanne Conway analyzes new polling ahead of the midterms and discusses voter concerns over the cost of living, inflation, and key Senate races, on 'The Story.'
DiLorenzo answers questions from voters on heating costs, business experience
Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Anthony DiLorenzo answered questions from voters Thursday in a taping of "Conversation with the Candidate."
JD Vance’s telling ‘give us another chance’ flub
Vice President JD Vance this week asked voters for “another chance” — something that is decidedly contrary to President Donald Trump’s midterm messaging — before seeming to catch himself.
Ratepayer bill aimed at data center buildout blocked in Senate
WASHINGTON — High-profile legislation amounting to lawmakers’ first real stab at addressing voter anger over data centers stalled in the Senate on Thursday after securing overwhelming support in the House
New York voters can expect no changes to mail-in ballot process
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected efforts from the Trump administration to restrict mail-in ballots for the midterm elections.
AI reshaping political ads in South Carolina campaigns
Artificial intelligence is changing the way political campaigns create ads and connect with voters, raising new questions about transparency and disclosure.
The myth of the Diamondbacks September ‘meltdown’
The myth Now, a heavily upvoted shitpost from the Diamondbacks subreddit, and a Tweet by one of the most toxic members of fandom may not seem worth bothering about. And they probably are not. But it does reflect a general feeling that September is the cruelest month for Arizona fans. It is true that this […]
Will Trump actually send out $5,000 checks after the midterms?
Polling says voters do not believe the president’s claims
NYC Health + Hospitals and Maimonides Health Transaction Moves Forward After New York State Health Planning Council Vote
New York, NY – In a unanimous vote, the full New York State Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) today approved the proposal for Maimonides
Sunday hours ending Nov. 1 at Central, Franklin Avenue libraries
As the city of Des Moines faces a $12 million deficit for fiscal year 2027-2028, the Des Moines Public Library (DMPL) will see a $750,000 funding cut. The Des Moines Library Board of Trustees voted this week to eliminate Sunday hours at the Central and Franklin Avenue libraries beginning on Sunday, Nov. 1. The last…
G.O.P. Representative Breaks With Trump in Ad: Hispanics ‘Feel Betrayed’
Representative María Elvira Salazar, a three-term representative from Miami, won re-election by 20 percentage points in 2024. Her ad suggests worry among some Republicans about their standing with Hispanic voters.
Examining North Carolina’s Growing Latino Electorate
The analysis, which draws primarily on 2024 data available through the LPPI’s Latino Data Hub, finds that Latino eligible voters are a young and growing segment of the state’s electorate.
Piddington’s “posh revolt” over migrant housing plans
Oxfordshire village’s symbolic vote to become independent from the UK could “augur a broader mood”
Iowa shows healthcare reform is possible
Iowa has shown that reform is possible. We should build on that progress so more of our health care dollars, and more of our physicians' time, are devoted to what
Committee advances farm bill with McConnell's vote
A Senate committee narrowly approved a massive agricultural bill Wednesday, with Sen. Mitch McConnell providing the decisive vote.
As Canadian tariffs bite, Republicans search for a winning message
Candidates in northern border states most affected try to strike a balance between appealing to Trump’s loyal base and reaching independent voters.
Congressman Beatty challenges closing of Kennedy Center afte...
Rep. Joyce Beatty is seeking an emergency court hearing to challenge the closure of the Kennedy Center after its partisan board voted to shut most of the venue ...
He championed vaccine mandates. Will that record help him unseat a party-shifting conservative?
In one of California’s newly created congressional districts, candidates diverge sharply on healthcare issues, but most voters agree healthcare costs too much.
Ohio voters rejected Sherrod Brown. Two years later, are they ready to give him a second chance?
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is asking Ohio voters to send him back to Congress just two years after they rejected him.
Ohio voters rejected Sherrod Brown. Two years later, are they ready to give him a second chance?
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is asking Ohio voters to send him back to Congress just two years after they rejected him.
Billionaire Glen Taylor’s right-hand man is a political player supporting Lisa Demuth for governor
House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor despite losing the Minnesota Republican Party’s convention endorsement — a first since 1994. Now she’s putting up a credible challenge against the state’s most accomplished vote-getter, Democratic nominee Sen. Amy Klobuchar. She’s had help from an outfit called Restore Sanity, which has provided the most […]
These Democrats won over working-class voters. Here’s their advice for candidates.
A new report explains which topics they emphasize — and which they don’t.
Cape Cod High School Volleyball Player of the Week Vote
Vote for the Cape Cod and Islands high school girls volleyball player of the week from our list of top performers.
The Strange New Politics of AI. Plus. . .
It’s Thursday, September 17. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Douglas Murray asks, why do we allow terrorists to die of old age? The American nonprofits backing Hamas. A conversation with Dara Horn and Coleman Hughes. And much more. But first: inside the unlikely coalition warning that AI may kill us all. Last week, an AI researcher named Jacob Coxon made headlines around the world after saying that he had resigned from Anthropic because he believes AI might cause human extinction—and his co-workers do, too. Unlike the rest of us, potentially, the story just won’t die. The Pro-Human Assembly, a conference held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., about the existential dangers of artificial intelligence, couldn’t have come at a better time—or with a more eclectic coalition. The Archbishop of San Francisco was there. So was Steve Bannon, screaming about the Chinese. Bernie Sanders did a quasi-dramatic reading of messages posted to an online forum by rogue AI agents. Ashley Judd paraphrased a graphic Andrea Dworkin quote for reasons that remain a mystery to me still. It was odd. People in the AI industry have talked openly about the possibility of this technology causing human extinction for years, but it hits differently in the wake of the Hugging Face incident. If you don’t know what that is, all the more reason to read my dispatch today. As the doomers see it, the best-case scenario is a future in which humans are basically kept as pets: well cared for, but with zero autonomy. The worst-case scenario, obviously, is the everyone dies thing. What should be done? I heard lots of ideas but no easy answers. There are currently zero federal regulations on AI, which is sort of strange even to think about. After all, we regulate microwaves, and the people running the microwave industry have never once refused to rule out the possibility that their products will end all human life on Earth. What I saw in D.C. left me even more convinced that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who believes nothing should be done. You know, except for President Trump. — River Page River Page • Tech and Business [ The AI Doomers Have a Plan to Save Us. I Went to Find Out What It Is. ](https://www.thefp.com/p/the-ai-doomers-have-plan-save-bernie-sanders-bannon) Read story How Robert Kraft Made Macklemore a Martyr—and How to Better Fight Antisemitism On Monday, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a group of other NFL owners banned Macklemore from performing at their stadiums after the rapper delivered a “Free Palestine” speech while opening for Ed Sheeran. Kraft cited the rapper’s “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.” Once multiple venues refused to host shows with Macklemore on the lineup, the tour’s promoter officially dropped him. Today, Josh Kaplan says that the move was counterproductive, arguing that though well-intentioned, Kraft’s decision turned an irrelevant footnote into a martyr. “You cannot cancel people into liking you,” Josh writes. Read his column on what a better response to Macklemore would have looked like. Read [ Robert Kraft Made Macklemore a Martyr ](https://www.thefp.com/p/robert-kraft-made-macklemore-martyr-antisemitism-palestine) This raises the question: What actually works against antisemitism? On the latest episode of Conversations with Coleman, recorded in front of a live audience in New York, Dara Horn joins Coleman Hughes to talk about her new book The Final Solution to the Jewish Question. She argues that antisemitism is a script that has repeated itself across countries and ideologies, and that most people don’t understand that well enough to fight it. Don’t miss their conversation. Watch [ The Lie at the Center of Antisemitism, with Dara Horn ](https://www.thefp.com/p/the-lie-at-the-center-of-antisemitism-coleman-hughes-dana-horn) Listen now Douglas Murray • U.S. Politics [ Douglas Murray: The 9/11 Failure That Still Haunts America ](https://www.thefp.com/p/douglas-murray-911-failure-justice-terrorist-guantanamo-bay) Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the men who planned them have still not faced trial. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and most of the accused have been locked up in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. Judges have retired, and plea deals have collapsed. Today, Douglas Murray examines how this happened and argues that a justice system that allows terrorists to die of old age in an interminable pretrial process is one that has failed. Read his latest column on what that failure says about our unpreparedness for the era we are now living in. Read story The Editors • U.S. Politics [ When Nonprofits Support Terrorists ](https://www.thefp.com/p/when-nonprofits-support-terrorists) A newly declassified CIA brief from 1998 found that Osama bin Laden used nonprofit shell organizations—including U.S.-based Islamic groups—to fund his terror plots. Today, a similar story is unfolding as multiple organizations on American soil present themselves as nonprofits, taking advantage of tax-exempt status while seeking to advance the ideological mission of terrorist groups like Hamas. Read our editorial on the latest evidence of this dangerous trend—and why there’s no excuse for making the same mistake the CIA revealed 28 years ago. Read story Simon Sebag Montefiore and Bari Weiss Live in New York For decades, the Middle East has shaped American foreign policy and loomed large in the public consciousness. Few understand its influence on our politics better than Simon Sebag Montefiore, who argues that America’s quagmires in the Middle East stem from a deep misunderstanding of the region—on both the left and the right. Join him October 1 as he sits down with Bari Weiss live in New York City to kick off his U.S. book tour for The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East. Get Tickets Now MORE FROM THE FREE PRESS [ Sydney Sweeney’s Naked Truth ](https://www.thefp.com/p/sydney-sweeneys-naked-truth-caitlin-flanagan) Caitlin Flanagan Read story [ I Thought Ukraine Was Losing. Then I Was Almost Hit by a Russian Drone. ](https://www.thefp.com/p/elliot-ackerman-ukraine-drone-gas-station-train) Elliot Ackerman Read story [ The Dangerous Ideology Behind the AI Warnings ](https://www.thefp.com/p/dangerous-ideology-effective-altruism-artificial-intelligence) Shyam Sankar Read story [ Amanda Knox: Patrick Clancy Can’t Win ](https://www.thefp.com/p/amanda-knox-patrick-clancy-grief-internet-crime) Amanda Knox Read story THE NEWS The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter point, its first hike since 2023, signaling that another increase could follow as the central bank tries to bring inflation under control. President Donald Trump fired back by demanding that rates be cut sharply, though he stopped short of criticizing Fed Chair Kevin Warsh by name. The Houthis fired drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, including a major oil port on the Red Sea, and Saudi jets struck back with air strikes across Yemen in an escalating front of the Middle East war. (For more on the Houthis, read Zineb Riboua’s column from earlier this week.) A sweeping Russia and Iran sanctions bill passed the House in a 262–159 vote and is now heading to Trump for his signature. Named after the late senator Lindsey Graham, the legislation would hit countries that purchase large volumes of Russian oil and gas with tariffs of up to 100 percent, and is aimed at cutting off revenue that funds Russia’s war in Ukraine. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the European Union’s first-ever “associate member,” drawing a standing ovation from European lawmakers. The proposal, framed as a response to a world grown more hostile, faces an uncertain path as EU member states would have to approve it, and one diplomat said that “nobody really knows what it means.” The House voted unanimously to send billionaire Leon Black a criminal contempt referral after he defied a congressional subpoena to testify and hand over documents related to his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Black chose to fight the subpoena in court rather than comply. Charlie Kirk’s family filed a wrongful death notice Wednesday against Utah Valley University, alleging that a series of security failures left him exposed to a rooftop sniper. The notice is a required legal step before the family can sue. Merriam-Webster added 1,400 words and definitions to its dictionary, including looksmaxxing, vibe coding, and cuffing season. The publisher said the new entries offer “a window into the world today.” The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
Poll finds close Michigan Senate race. Here’s how El-Sayed lags his party.
A Post-Schar School finds 53 percent of Michigan’s likely voters say they want Democrats to control the Senate, but 48 percent support Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate race.
After steep losses in the primaries, what's next for the League of RI Businesses?
The conservative group created 40 PACs to back “pro-business” Democrats. It didn't work. Now they have a new plan: warning voters about socialism. “People get afraid of that,” the League’s cofounder said.
After steep losses in the primaries, what's next for the League of RI Businesses?
The conservative group created 40 PACs to back “pro-business” Democrats. It didn't work. Now they have a new plan: warning voters about socialism. “People get afraid of that,” the League’s cofounder said.
Opinion | This Is Why So Many Voters Hate Both Parties
Most voters have messier views than their partisan labels would suggest.
Democrats Hope Voting Rights Decision Will Drive Black Turnout in South
Black Democratic candidates for governor, the Senate and the House are hoping that attacks on Black representation will bring out Black voters in November.
How to vote by absentee ballot in New Hampshire
In New Hampshire, you can only vote by mail if you vote by absentee ballot, and you can only do that if you meet certain criteria. Here's how it all works.
Ohio voters are mad as hell, but will they actually hold any politicians accountable in November?
Before it turned reliably red, Ohio was considered a bellwether for national politics. In every presidential election since 1964, the candidate who won Ohio, went on to win the White House. “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation,” was the old saying. We were the quintessential battleground state until we weren’t. That streak ended in […]
Morocco's political parties battle youth disenchantment ahead of election
Morocco’s political parties are trying to entice young voters to the polls next week with promises of jobs and affordable housing after violent protests last year and a border rush on the Spanish enclave of Ceuta highlighted widespread discontent.
Morocco’s political parties battle youth disenchantment ahead of election
By Ahmed Eljechtimi and Alexander Dziadosz RABAT/CAIRO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Morocco’s political parties are trying to entice young voters to the polls next week with promises of jobs and affordable housing after violent protests last year and a border ...
Bosnia’s Elections Offer New Technologies, But Old Politics
Frustration with populist, self-centred politicians – and the advent of new election technologies – is bringing an unusual dose of uncertainty to October’s nationwide vote.
Unaffiliated voters’ political power depends on where they live
An election doesn’t have to change party control to change how a party can govern.
Morocco’s 2026 election: A test of political trust and engagement
Youth unemployment, living costs and public services are key issues before the September 23 vote.
Brian Dean appointed to Purcellville Town Council
After nearly two hours of questioning candidates for an open Purcellville Town Council seat on Sept. 16, the council voted to appoint Brian Dean as the new council member.
Mitch McConnell’s Senate Vote Under Scrutiny After Lengthy Health Absence
Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate this week after a three-month absence.
From mother to son: The Jamaican values that shaped Byron Donalds’ path to Florida politics
Whether Donalds wins will be decided by voters. But the journey that brought him to the ballot began with the expectations of an immigrant family.
Speaker Johnson recesses House early, blocking Massie's push to impeach Hegseth
Massie’s resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the war in Iran and his bipartisan effort to force the release of more files in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation are all being left behind, blocked from votes.
A taxing night: Business owners stay up late to help bury BPOL in Stafford County
A proposal to institute the levy failed on a 5-2 vote from the Board of Supervisors.
Barre schools eye cuts to sports and other activities after budget fails on third attempt
Voters in Barre Town and the city of Barre shot down the district's proposed $57.1 million budget at the polls Tuesday.
Suffolk BOE dodges political intrigue
Longtime county chair Rich Schaffer is being challenged by Southold Town party chair Kathryn Casey Quigley with a vote set for Tuesday.
Protect College Sports Act passes first vote in Senate; minority groups oppose bill
A bill aimed at regulating college sports took an important step towards becoming official this week, even as minority groups continue to oppose the bill.
Nebraska Senate candidate responds to leaked audio criticizing Trump voters: ‘We’re all angry right now’
Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn on Wednesday appeared to confirm the authenticity of a leaked recording in which he is purported to criticize voters who support President Donald Trump.
VIDEO: Warnock Calls Out AI Developers, Social Media Companies, After Bizarre Health Hoax » Reverend Raphael Warnock
Senator Reverend Warnock warned about the risk to democracy after AI-generated social media posts with false health news about the Senator went viral Senator Reverend Warnock: “What if hours before an election, someone created a page with AI-generated images, fake stories about the candidates? How will voters know what’s true and what’s not true?” Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. […]
You like Ike. But AI will help campaigns figure how to ensure you actually vote
Strategists predict the powerful new technology will bring seismic shifts in U.S. political life.
House breaks early for election recess amid Hegseth impeachment push
Rep. Thomas Massie said Speaker Johnson sent lawmakers home to protect fellow Republicans from an impeachment vote. Johnson dismissed the claim.
Trio of powerful DeSantis appointments will face voters for the first time
Florida voters will decide in November whether to elected three powerful politicians appointed to their positions by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
What Does the Science of Climate Change Really Look Like?
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series on how the Right should think about environmental and climate policy. Read Chris Barnard on Reclaiming Environmental Policy from the Left. More than a decade ago, the world’s governments negotiated and signed the Paris Climate Agreement, committing to hold global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius. In the following years, climate had immense cultural power. Greta Thunberg emerged. Fortune 500 companies established net-zero plans. The U.S. got the Inflation Reduction Act. Then the pendulum swung back. President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office, speaking of green energy as a “scam” and carbon footprints as a “hoax” and on all matters of international policy emphasizing bilateral engagement and power over globalism and cooperation. The technology companies that had been at the forefront of net-zero pledges and green leadership discovered the importance of all-of-the-above power to their visions for artificial intelligence and began quietly postponing or removing their targets. On the left side of the political spectrum, rising concerns about inflation and cost pushed climate lower down in the stated priorities of voters and stump speeches of politicians. The moment is ripe for a reset on the politics of climate change and for conservatives especially to chart a course that acknowledges and addresses the real challenges in plausible ways. So what should we think about climate change as we enter a post-peak climate era? If it is neither an apocalypse nor a hoax, what will hold up as a durable view of climate change? And how does it project onto the concerns and priorities of the right-of-center’s emerging coalition? New to Commonplace_? Subscribe below to get the magazine in your inbox._ Subscribe A Solid Foundation As the politics and economics of climate careened over the past ten years, the physics carried on regardless. In 2015, the year the Paris Climate Agreement was adopted, the world emitted 41.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. By 2025, emissions had risen only 2.4%, to 42.2 gigatonnes, because falling emissions from land use offset increasing emissions from fossil fuels. But slow growth in annual emissions is not rapid decline, let alone net-zero, so carbon dioxide kept accumulating in the atmosphere, going from 399 to 426 parts per million. Global temperature kept rising too, from about 1.1 degrees Celsius above the 1850–1900 average in 2015, to 1.4 degrees above it in 2025. None of this should surprise anyone. Even most prominent skeptics, like the authors of the 2025 report commissioned by the Trump administration’s Department of Energy, accept the basic physics. Carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere at industrial volumes accumulates and traps heat that would otherwise escape to space. That heat warms the upper ocean and increases temperatures at the surface. Increased ocean heat and melting of land ice cause sea levels to rise. Changes in the climate become noticeable to us as subtle shifts in temperature and precipitation, seasons arriving early or late, changes in the surrounding ecosystem, and weather extremes. The much more meaningful debate is not about whether these things are happening, but about what it all means for human societies. (While it is a proxy measure of overall risk, no one experiences global surface temperature.) This debate invokes at least three interesting questions: how much today’s warming is showing up in regional climate trends, how much more warming we should anticipate, and how extreme weather events can be understood in the context of climate change. Recent scientific advances give us new insights into each of these, but there is still much to learn. This is the context in which the next generation of conservative leaders will be the first to deal with significant climate change as a fact, not a forecast. It will be with them for their entire careers. Our evolving scientific picture of climate change will come from weather and climate records stretching further into the past, new kinds of observations in the present, better modeling tools for the future, and simply more time to observe the emergence of climate signals and their tangible effects on ecosystems and communities in the United States and around the world. The policy landscape will be shaped by not only the impacts of changes in the climate, but also by the ways in which societies respond and by the emergence of new technologies for both altering the trajectory of emissions and adapting to new climate realities. Global climate records now show the fingerprints of warming in different phenomena around much of the world. The IPCC, in its most recent assessment report, documents warming trends over all land regions, even as natural variability adds substantial variance to local trends. And the highest temperature extremes have become more intense and frequent, almost everywhere, since the 1950s. Scientists are highly confident that these changes are attributable to human influence. But confidence in detecting trends and attributing them to human influence degrades across heavy precipitation events; drought trends are heterogeneous and not attributable to human activity with great confidence. For hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe storms there is even less confidence in trends or their relationship to climate change. In general, a fair summary of the evidence is that for well-observed phenomena, like surface temperature or heavy rainfall, with a clear relationship to warming, our multidecadal observations are consistent with human influence overcoming natural variability over long time periods and extremes increasing. For regions that are sampled more sparsely, or phenomena with a higher noise-to-signal ratio, we will need to observe them longer to understand the magnitude of the climate signal or improve dynamical understanding using models and observations together. But for Climate For those who can’t wait, we also have new techniques that attempt to understand the role climate change has in influencing particular extreme events. When the climate is changing and disaster strikes, it is natural to ask whether that disaster was somehow “caused” by climate change. For scientists and policymakers acting in good faith, answering that question helps develop a more accurate picture of the problem, how it may be getting worse, and what preparations we should be making to respond to it. It may, at some point, give some weight to how liability is assigned by courts or adaptation funding is distributed by society. But how we ask this question is extremely important. It is easy to get the analysis wrong by discounting the role that meteorology plays. As meteorologist Theodore Shepherd explained in a clear 2016 review of climate attribution methods, “if a weather or climate event is truly extreme in the present climate, then perforce it requires unusual meteorological conditions, which means that climate change is at most a contributing factor.” Share Scientists have two ways to probe climate as a contributing factor, both of which have entered media coverage of extreme weather events. One asks a probabilistic question: How much more likely is a particular event (e.g., a temperature record over a particular area) amid global warming? The answer involves using historical records and computer simulations to estimate the likelihood of such an event in both a changed and a preindustrial climate. The findings are less about the specific event, and more about events of that nature. The other question is: How has the changed climate affected the specific event in question? Here, scientists try to understand what a similar event would have looked like in the preindustrial climate. This is sometimes called the storyline approach, where the story is the specific meteorological details of the event. These methods offer ways to test the intuition of scientists about real weather extremes. In late June and early July of 2021, a persistent high-pressure ridge, or heat dome, set up over the Pacific Northwest and an extraordinary heat wave affected the area from Oregon to British Columbia. For six days, it shattered temperature records across the region and hundreds died from heat-related causes, in an area where such high, and persistently high, temperatures were well outside of experience and many live without air conditioning. Scientists have studied its connection to climate change using multiple approaches. This specific event was created by a rare combination of meteorological factors, a strong high-pressure ridge created the conditions for extreme heat, which occurred on top of higher average temperatures in the region from global warming. Probabilistic analyses showed that climate change increased the likelihood of such an event by at least 8-fold to more than 100-fold. One standout example found that such an event had effectively zero probability of occurring in the preindustrial climate. The enormous range in these assessments reflects how hard it is to estimate probabilities of events at the tail of the historical record. Estimates of the effect on the temperature of the event are more clustered. A recent review paper documents how multiple methodologies have found a positive influence, roughly 1-2 degrees Celsius of an anomaly that exceeded 15 degrees, of climate change on the temperature magnitude of the event. Multiple studies have investigated and found some positive influence of climate change in other extreme events. Attribution studies found climate likely increased the heavy rainfall that accompanied Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and surrounding regions in 2024. The extensive fires that struck Los Angeles in 2025 illustrate how the causal chain can become messy, though. Studies do detect a positive influence of climate on the event’s likelihood, but while climate change likely contributed to underlying aridity, it would not have played a role in the heavy winds or land practices that preceded disaster. These event attribution studies will become more common for extreme, or damaging, weather events. They can be produced quickly, and often are reported before peer review. As the Pacific Northwest heatwave example shows, when multiple methods converge on a positive attribution, the finding should probably carry some weight even if you have to be careful about accepting the results from a single study. I expect that as climate change proceeds and the climate thus departs further from a preindustrial counterfactual, the influence will become more detectable across a variety of extreme events and more easily identified. This will be used to cast blame, but can also be used to inform how communities and society adapt to ongoing change. We May Still Be Surprised One positive development, insofar as less climate change is better, has been that our central estimates for future climate change should probably be revised downward. Mostly, that is because the high-end warmings that scientists regularly analyzed about ten to 20 years ago, driven by high emissions throughout the twenty-first century, now appear to be somewhere between unlikely and impossible. At one time, the upper end of mainstream climate projections extended well into 4 to 6 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of this century, which, models suggest, would have wrought enormous real-world damage. Current energy and policy trends now point toward 2.5 or 3 degrees. Damages and risks are commonly modeled as increasing steeply with more warming, so this is already a better-than-previously-expected outcome for the climate (which is independent of the physical response to emissions). But we should maintain a wide range for plausible outcomes and prepare for the possibility of being surprised. Emissions trajectories are subject to deep uncertainty, the physical climate response is still developing, and whatever change occurs in the climate will then be mediated through unpredictable economic, social, and political institutions. Over the past decade, the pace of warming surprised some keen observers and appeared to accelerate, though not yet outside the range of expectation provided by climate models. The reasons for that apparent acceleration are being actively studied (as was the apparent pause in warming from 1998 to 2012), but no single driver has emerged. Some blame it on the El Niño, variability which would have no bearing on climate. Some think it is a result of factories in East Asia and global shipping fleets cutting aerosol emissions, which in the strongest version of the argument would indicate higher climate sensitivity to carbon-dioxide emissions. Others are more measured, not yet ready to draw solid conclusions as to whether climate projections require revision. We will have to see. Long-Term Thinking Climate change asks us to think over long time scales. But the pace of human-driven warming is compressing a large global change into a century. Changing weather patterns and extreme events are already causing adjustment costs and damages and will do more. Adaptation will help, but it is not free. For some communities, these costs will erode livelihoods and well-being, and may force migration. Are we prepared for large-scale managed retreats in the United States? Thankfully, American wealth, geographical diversity, and moderate climates may leave us better prepared than many around the world. But wealthy countries can still suffer serious disruption from narrowly concentrated costs, even if they appear entirely manageable in aggregate. Readers of Commonplace are familiar with the challenges of rapidly adapting to economic forces. The displacement that came from the China Shock is barely perceptible in aggregate GDP and employment data, but it affected millions of people and those people were far less mobile than economic models tended to assume. Deindustrialization rippled through the nation with enormous effects for not only our economic vitality, but also our national security. The forces surrounding climate change may not be so different; the world gets richer and must accept some diffuse costs. Those may be modest overall, but cause all manner of unpredictable effects with which policymakers must cope. In the case of the China Shock, our faith in a growing pie served us poorly. We’ll need to do better on climate. Leave a comment
Van Orden praises ‘high-quality’ GOP rural healthcare program as Medicaid cuts loom
William Garcia, whose daughter relies on Medicaid, criticized GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden over his vote for Medicaid cuts in Trump's 2025 budget law.
Fencing goes up around the main Kennedy Center building after Trump-aligned board votes to close it
Fencing went up Wednesday around the main Kennedy Center building, a day after the Trump-aligned board voted to close most of the performing arts center for repairs. A Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee quickly sought an emergency court hearing to prevent what she called the “unlawful closing.”
House votes to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress over Epstein investigation
The House approved a resolution Wednesday holding billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress, referring the matter to the Department of Justice after he defied the Oversight Committee's subpoenas in its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
House votes unanimously to hold Epstein business associate Leon Black in contempt of Congress
LACC students encourage others to vote on National Register to Vote Day
President Trump calling out his own Supreme Court appointees over their decision to reject his administration’s efforts
House votes to hold Epstein associate Leon Black in contempt of Congress
The resolution says the billionaire’s refusal to comply with subpoenas “warrants referral to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for prosecution as prescribed by law.”