It’s Earth Day, and while conversations about the climate crisis and global emissions may feel overwhelming, there are also plenty of people and organizations doing incredible work to restore Earth’s biodiversity. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need
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President Joe Biden is preparing to declare the massacre of an estimated million or more Armenians under the Ottoman Empire a “genocide” this week, risking a potential fracture with Turkey but fulfilling a campaign pledge to finally use the word as President to describe the mass killings after a series of his predecessors stopped short.
Continue Reading The House of Representatives is on track to vote Thursday on a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, DC, a Democratic priority that faces obstacles to final passage even with the party now in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. House Democrats passed the bill — H.R. 51, the Washington,
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The Justice Department has added a third person to a major federal criminal case that accuses members of the Proud Boys of breaking into the US Capitol on January 6, as prosecutors continue to drop breadcrumbs about their larger efforts to investigate key members of the far-right group. Matthew Greene of Syracuse, New York, is
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Management and operational challenges plagued the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General for years, hurting its ability to effectively carry out its oversight mission, according to preliminary findings from the Government Accountability Office. Reports had to be recalled, allegations of improper conduct were leveled against senior leadership, and there has been frequent leadership
Continue Reading Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Wednesday urged those looking to boycott Georgia-based companies over the state’s new elections law to instead vote and back federal voting legislation. “My concern with a boycott, not just at Home Depot but any of the … Fortune 500 companies that are headquartered in Atlanta, is that you will
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Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke ranks with Republicans on Wednesday, voting to confirm Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general. Explaining her vote, Murkowski said this on the Senate floor: “I asked her point blank, ‘Why do you want this? Is this worth it?’ Because this has clearly been very hard on her as a nominee.
Continue Reading A group of House Republicans spoke out on Tuesday against a Democratic proposal to grant statehood to Washington, DC, which does not have voting representation in Congress. Freshman Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina described the statehood proposal as a Democratic power grab. She said at a news conference: “DC wouldn’t even qualify as a
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The City of Columbia finance department released the City’s first Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020. Officials report this document is intended to deliver the financial results of the City’s operations to those stakeholders of the City that do not necessarily have a background in
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (KMIZ) US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Department of Justice is opening an investigation into police practices in Minneapolis. This comes after former police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd Tuesday. The DOJ will investigate the policies and operations of the Minneapolis police department. The new investigation
Continue Reading US and Iranian officials say they have made progress in talks aimed at bringing the United States back to the 2015 nuclear deal and Iran back into compliance with it, but US officials stressed that a long road remains ahead. Representatives from the countries that are still members of the deal — China, France, Germany,
Continue Reading The Texas House on Tuesday passed legislation that would allow election judges to carry a handgun in most polling places on Election Day and during the early voting period. HB 530, which passed on a vote of 94 to 51, would specifically allow an election judge with a gun license to have a handgun at
Continue Reading Vice President Kamala Harris cast her first tie-breaking vote related to a Biden administration nominee on the Senate floor Wednesday evening, voting to advance the nomination of Colin Kahl to be the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy. The Senate deadlocked 50-50 on a straight party-line procedural vote to discharge Kahl’s nomination from the Armed Services Committee,
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Columbia restaurants will have to pay to seat customers in blocked-off parking spots but supporters hope the new law will still help businesses with more revenue as social distancing requirements continue.
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The lead Senate GOP negotiator over new policing legislation is floating a compromise on a major sticking point that has derailed past efforts to curb excessive force by law enforcement: civil lawsuit protections currently afforded to police officers. The issue of so-called qualified immunity has been a flashpoint in talks over legislation aimed at imposing
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Senate Republicans on Wednesday declined to change their conference rules that ban their use of earmarks, an issue that divides the GOP conference and will be a test for how the party will operate over the next several months with Democrats in control of the US Senate. Not a single senator offered an amendment to
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Transgender girls would be banned from playing on girls’ sports teams under a bill that advanced in the Missouri House. House lawmakers voted 100-51 on Wednesday to add the proposal to another bill. Republican supporters argued the change is needed to protect girls in sports. They decried the risk of being
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Senior Biden administration officials this week will answer questions on how President Joe Biden plans to remake US climate policy in a globally broadcast CNN town hall, the network announced Monday. “CNN Town Hall: The Climate Crisis” will air Friday at 10 p.m. ET. It coincides with this week’s celebration of Earth Day and will
Continue Reading One day after two four-star military commanders told Congress they did not have problems with extremists in their ranks, the top adviser on the issue to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took a different view and stated plainly that he believes the opposite. “It would be remiss if we didn’t admit that there is a problem
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The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general in a narrow 51-49 vote after Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined with Democrats in support of President Joe Biden’s Justice Department nominee. Vice President Kamala Harris was on hand for a procedural vote Wednesday morning in case she was needed for a possible 50-50
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