State News

Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona argued her “path to victory” to reclaim her Senate seat in 2024 would be to garner more support from Republicans than Democrats and win the majority of independent voters, according to a donor memo reported by NBC News on Monday. Sinema has yet to launch a reelection bid, but could face Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and former Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who is inching toward a campaign, in a general election next year. The senator’s memo argues that if she runs for another term, Sinema could secure the seat with  60 percent to 70 percent support from independents, as well as 25 percent to 35 percent of Republicans and 10 percent to 20 percent of Democrats, according to NBC News.

In her battle against so-called "gender-affirming care" (aka sex changes) for children, Chloe Cole says she "will never be silenced until the butchers put the scalpel down." Cole, a 19-year-old former transgender boy who detransitioned at 17, has a powerful story to tell.

Conservative leaders Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager are scheduled to return to Arizona State University (ASU) for the "Health, Wealth & Happiness 2.0" event on Wednesday. The first event, held in 2022,  sparked fierce opposition from faculty and staff, which in turn provoked hearings in the Arizona Legislature. Prager and Kirk will host the event alongside Tom Lewis, a former ASU donor who was the primary benefactor of the T.W. Lewis Center where the first event was held last year. Ann Atkinson, who was the director of the center at ASU, and State Representative Austin Smith (R-Surprise), will also speak at the event.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' office announced that four schools will no longer receive school choice scholarships after an investigation from the state education department found the schools allegedly had "direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party." DeSantis' announcement Friday targets the Lower and Upper Sagemont Preparatory Schools in Weston, located west of Fort Lauderdale, and the Parke House Academy and Park Maitland School, both of which are located in Winter Park, a northern suburb of Orlando.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has issued an Executive Directive requiring the state’s Office of Regulatory Management to develop protocol and guidance for the use of artificial intelligence in the commonwealth, both by the state government and educational institutions. While lawmakers nationwide are eager to understand AI and respond with appropriate legislation governing its use, Youngkin wants Virginia to move faster.

The March for Life, in partnership with the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), announced on Thursday the speakers for the second official Ohio March for Life next month. As previously reported by The Ohio Star these organizations decided to team up once again to organize another march in Columbus following the tremendous success of the first Ohio March for Life last year.

Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Josh McKoon recently announced his appointment of Julianne Thompson to serve as special advisor to the chairman. Thompson previously served the GAGOP as communications director and press secretary. In addition, she served as a legislative aide to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Constitution, received two Gubernatorial appointments, and has been listed in Who’s Who Among Outstanding Young Women in America.

Arizona State University is not only violating state law by training employees in diversity, equity and inclusion doctrines that rely on "blame and judgment," the school's also hiding materials related to that training and a mandatory DEI course for journalism students, according to a state watchdog. The Goldwater Institute brought its concerns to the ASU Board of Regents and the Grand Canyon State's taxpayers Tuesday after several months of haggling with school lawyers for copies of "narrow, specific, and reasonably described" public records, staff attorney Stacy Skankey wrote in a letter to regent board Chairman Fred DuVal.

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) addressed the Ukrainian plight for aid on Friday as lawmakers get increasingly closer to the end-of-the-month deadline to pass a government spending bill to keep the U.S. government from a shutdown. This follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's arrival in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to make his renewed case for $24 billion of American aid to Ukraine.

Georgia is likely "the most important state in American politics" heading into the 2024 election, a leading intellectual historian said. Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in 2018 and decidedly defeated her in a rematch in November to win a second term. He won despite drawing former President Donald Trump’s ire for his response to the 2020 election.

A former Yale student who was acquitted of rape in 2018, and later kicked out of the college, can sue his accuser for defamation over statements the accuser made during a school hearing, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in June, according to the New York Post. Saifullah Khan sued Yale in 2019 for $110 million, and has been attempting to bring his accuser into the lawsuit, according to the Post. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled ruled that he can sue the accuser, and that she shouldn’t received “qualified immunity,” which prevents people from being sued over statements in judicial cases, from her testimony that Khan raped her in 2015.

Two parents filed a lawsuit against the Virginia Beach School Board this week for voting down proposed policies that pertain to keeping parents informed about their child’s identity. The state’s Department of Education released the model policies in July and claimed that this step would “safeguard parent’s rights.” The school board opted out of adopting the policies in August, resulting in the  parents, represented by the Cooper and Kirk law firm, suing to try and force the district to adopt them, according to court documents.

The Sunshine State is quickly outpacing the rest of the country as a top solar energy installer, which looks to continue in coming years. According to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association, Florida was ranked third in the country in 2022 behind Texas and California, installing around 12,000 megawatts of generation capacity since 2013, enough to power 1.51 million homes.

Two Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol want to make it clear people have the right to grow vegetables and flowers in their yard. State Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, and State Sen. Andre Jacque, R-DePere, appeared before an Assembly committee to pitch their plan that would guarantee a right to garden in Wisconsin.

Thanks to an agreement between Norfolk Southern and Amtrak — and a $200 million investment from the commonwealth — western Pennsylvania will have more passenger rail coming through Pittsburgh. On Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a passenger rail expansion for Amtrak’s New York City-Harrisburg-Pittsburgh service, going from once daily to twice daily.