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Recreational marijuana use will be legal in 21 states after ballot measures pass
By: Jacob Fischler - November 9, 2022
Advocates for marijuana liberalization saw mixed results as legalization ballot measures were counted Tuesday, with Maryland and Missouri voters approving recreational use for adults but Arkansas, South Dakota and North Dakota rejecting the proposal. Maryland and Missouri will bring the list of states where recreational marijuana use is legal to 21. Maryland’s referendum passed easily, […]
U.S. Senate control too close to call as multiple states grapple with tight vote counts
By: Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa and Jacob Fischler - November 9, 2022
WASHINGTON — Control of the U.S. Senate remained unclear early Wednesday as races in a handful of swing states in the midterm elections were still too close to call, and it appeared it might be days — or even weeks — before a final result was known. But Democrats flipped the open Pennsylvania Senate seat, […]
No GOP ‘wave,’ but Republicans could still gain control of U.S. House
By: Jacob Fischler, Ariana Figueroa and Jennifer Shutt - November 9, 2022
WASHINGTON — Republicans fell short of their greatest ambitions for major gains in the U.S. House, with control of the chamber still in doubt early Wednesday. Republicans are still likely to narrowly win control of the U.S. House, based on expert projections. But of 20 races rated by elections forecaster Inside Elections as true toss-ups, […]
Weed on the ballot: Voters could approve legal marijuana in 5 more states
By: Jacob Fischler - November 7, 2022
Midterm voters in five states will determine if they should join the growing list of places where recreational marijuana use is allowed, even as any use of the drug is still illegal under federal law. Referendums to legalize recreational use of marijuana are on Nov. 8 ballots in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, South Dakota and North […]
With ‘democracy itself’ on the ballot, Biden warns of ‘path to chaos’ by election deniers
By: Jacob Fischler - November 3, 2022
President Joe Biden asked voters Wednesday night to focus on the threats candidates aligned with his predecessor pose to the foundation of U.S. democracy in the midterm elections. In a 20-minute speech at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, before a Democratic audience, Biden decried a rise in political violence, and blamed former President Donald Trump for […]
Even as drought forces water cutbacks, climate gets short shrift in midterm election
By: Jacob Fischler - October 31, 2022
LAKE MEAD, Nevada — The streaks of white on the rock ringing the nation’s largest reservoir show how far its water levels have dropped since it was last full. Lake Mead and nearby Lake Powell, which send water to 40 million people in the Southwest, are at their lowest levels since they were filled in […]
In attempt to curb gas prices, Biden will release oil from emergency reserve
By: Jacob Fischler - October 19, 2022
President Joe Biden will authorize the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the nation’s reserves on Wednesday, part of an effort to lower gas prices as polling shows concerns over inflation are likely to hurt Democrats in congressional elections next month. The release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a four-site complex of deep […]
Biden pitches to the middle class as Democrats fight for support in advance of midterms
By: Jacob Fischler - October 16, 2022
PORTLAND, Ore. — President Joe Biden at a community center here Saturday promoted Democrats’ efforts to bring down health care costs, in a visit to a normally Democratic state three weeks before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years. Speaking on the first day of Medicare open enrollment, Biden […]
Trump to be subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel as the ‘central cause’ of Capitol insurrection
By: Jacob Fischler - October 13, 2022
The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, saying the former president must be held accountable as the “central cause” of a violent attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans voted to authorize a subpoena […]
Four things to watch for at the upcoming Jan. 6 hearing
By: Jacob Fischler - October 12, 2022
The U.S. House committee investigating a pro-Trump mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is back. It will hold its first hearing in nearly three months Thursday — and potentially its last. In a break from most of the panel’s previous eight hearings in June and July, Thursday’s meeting will not drill down […]
The battle for control of Congress: Abortion, inflation, crime and Biden
By: Jennifer Shutt, Jacob Fischler and Ariana Figueroa - October 11, 2022
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are fanning out to every district in the country, leaving the wonky floor debates on Capitol Hill behind for the campaign trail in advance of the crucial Nov. 8 midterm elections. Democrats are fighting to hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, citing two years of […]
Biden to pardon all federal offenses for simple marijuana possession, review criminalization
By: Ariana Figueroa, Jennifer Shutt and Jacob Fischler - October 6, 2022
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced executive actions that would pardon thousands of people with prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. Biden then called on governors to follow suit with state offenses for simple marijuana possession, saying that “just as no one should be in a Federal prison solely due to the […]