Marijuana decriminalization in Killeen and Harker Heights may affect Fort Hood’s growth in the future, according to some high-ranking retired Army officers, including a four-star general, from the Fort Hood area.
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AUSTIN, Texas — Attorney General Ken Paxton and his Democratic challenger, Rochelle Garza, are neck and neck in a new poll, a sign the embattled incumbent is vulnerable in November.
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DALLAS — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is maintaining a modest lead over Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the simmering race for Texas governor, though his road to victory could be bumpy.
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PHILADELPHIA — There’s something about Pennsylvania’s political DNA that’s playing out in this year’s crucial Senate race.
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Germany’s environment minister says the mass die-off of fish in the Oder River is an ecological catastrophe and it's not clear yet how long it will take the river to recover. Steffi Lemke spoke Sunday at a news conference alongside her Polish counterpart, Anna Moskwa. Moskwa said the cause of the mass die-off of fish has not yet been determined. The meeting took place in Szczecin, a Polish city on the Oder River. Both ministers said they were focused now on doing what they can do limit the damage. Ten tons of dead fish were removed last week from the Oder, which runs along the border between Poland and Germany before flowing into the Baltic Sea.
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Police say a man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol and then began firing gunshots in the air before fatally shooting himself. Police say the man didn't seem to be targeting any member of Congress. The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set on Capitol Hill. Authorities say that as the man was getting out of the car, the vehicle became engulfed in flames. Police say he then opened fire, shooting several bullets into the air as police approached. The man's identity hasn't been released, but investigators have located addresses for him in Delaware and Pennsylvania and have learned he had a criminal history in the past decade.
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An anti-abortion activist who heads a small hard-right Republican group said he’s offered to pay the expected $229,000 cost of a hand recount of votes from every Kansas county after a decisive statewide vote affirming abortion rights. Mark Gietzen, who leads the group Kansas Republican Assembly, told the Kansas City Star on Saturday he wants to pay for the recount that Melissa Leavitt, of Colby, requested because he believes it could change the outcome. The 165,000-vote difference in the election makes that unlikely, however. And there has been no evidence of significant problems with the election. The Kansas Republican Assembly is significantly to the right of the state Republican Party and isn’t affiliated with the GOP-led legislature.
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A Kentucky judge has been suspended with pay following testimony that he pressured a lawyer practicing in his court to support his reelection campaign. The Paducah Sun reports the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission voted 3-2 on Friday to suspend 42nd Judicial Circuit Judge Jamie Jameson. The daylong hearing included testimony from an attorney that Jameson repeatedly asked to support his reelection campaign. Jameson was also accused of unbecoming conduct. The panel viewed a number of videos showing Jameson’s courtroom demeanor and use of his contempt power. Jameson testified on his own behalf, at one point telling commissioners they were being used for political purposes.
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While inflation and recession fears weigh heavily on the minds of voters, another issue is popping up in political campaigns from the U.K. and Australia to the U.S. and beyond: the “China threat.” Nations for years have sought to balance promoting trade and investment with the world’s second-largest economy with concerns about China’s projection of military power, espionage and its human rights record. The pendulum is swinging toward the latter, especially after the Chinese military drills that followed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week. That shift has made China a target for vote-seeking politicians as opinion polls show public sentiment in many democracies turning against China.
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A delegation of American lawmakers has arrived in Taiwan just 12 days after a visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that angered China. China responded to Pelosi's Aug. 2 visit by sending missiles, warships and warplanes into the seas and air around Taiwan. The American Institute in Taiwan said the five-member delegation led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is in Taiwan on Sunday and Monday as part of a visit to Asia. They will meet senior leaders including President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade, investment and other issues. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and objects to it having any official contact with foreign governments.
AP
Some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are trying to profit from their participation in the deadly insurrection while they face the legal consequences for their crimes. In some cases, rioters have used the attack as a platform for promoting their business endeavors, political aspirations or social media profiles. Many of those charged have used websites and crowdfunding platforms to raise money after their arrests. Efforts to capitalize on the riot haven’t gone over well with federal prosecutors or the judges who've sentenced more than 200 riot defendants so far. Prosecutors often cite the profit-chasing activities in seeking tougher punishments.
AP
As more details emerge about the Georgia investigation into possible illegal attempts to influence the 2020 election, high-profile lawyers are getting involved. Former President Donald Trump has hired prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney Drew Findling, who’s best known for representing rap stars. Trump's former White House counsel, Don McGahn, has been in federal court in Atlanta as part of the legal team fighting a subpoena for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Legal experts say hiring a lawyer is the right choice for anyone who has dealings with the special grand jury or suspects he may be a subject or target of the investigation. No one's been charged with a crime in the investigation. Trump and Graham have denied any wrongdoing,
AP
As part of an effort to keep illegal drugs and other contraband out of state prisons, New York is taking away one of the few pleasures of life behind bars. It will no longer let people send inmates care packages from home. The state began phasing in the new policy last month. Friends and family will no longer be allowed to deliver packages in person during prison visits. They also won’t be allowed to mail boxes of goodies unless they come direct from third-party vendors. New York had been one of the few states that still allowed families to send packages to inmates from home.
AP
British authorities have quashed plans to prosecute protesters who attended a vigil for a murdered woman during the country's pandemic lockdown. The Crown Prosecution Service said Sunday that cases against six people over the March 2021 vigil in memory of Sarah Everard had been dropped because “our legal test for a prosecution was not met.” Everard was abducted, raped and killed as she walked home from a friend’s house in London. Her killer, Wayne Couzens, was a serving Metropolitan Police officer. The killing and the police response ignited criticism of the police force and its attitude toward women’s safety. Allegations of misogyny and bungled investigations have undermined confidence in the police.
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After Kansas voters last week rejected one attempt to give the Republican-controlled Legislature more power, GOP lawmakers will try once more in November.
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Adam Frisch is down in the polls but undeterred.
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Conrad Kress wins Republican nomination for U.S. House in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District.
AP
Residents in many heavily-damaged areas in Ukraine have set up their own initiatives to rebuild homes before the winter as international organizations rush aid to Ukraine to help with the reconstruction effort. The battled-scarred village of Novoselivka north of Kyiv is one of many sites where a local team of volunteers strip damaged homes of debris and and begin to rebuild. Ukraine’s authorities last month said the country had suffered more than $100 billion in infrastructure damage alone but estimate that the reconstruction effort could cost more than seven times that amount.
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Jill Tokuda wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District.
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Duke Aiona wins Republican nomination for governor in Hawaii primary election.
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Josh Green wins Democratic nomination for governor in Hawaii primary election.
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Ed Case wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District.
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The North Carolina Highway Patrol says a Department of Transportation worker was killed when a vehicle struck her as she directed traffic around a fallen tree. A man was later arrested and charged with fleeing the scene. The patrol says 60-year-old Anna Bradshaw worked in DOT's Wilson County maintenance office. A trooper says she was holding a sign Friday morning along U.S. Highway 264 Alternate when she was struck by a passenger car, but the driver ultimately left. The patrol says Jamari Marquis Powell of Bailey was taken into custody late Friday and charged with felony hit and run.
AP
At the 7th annual Basque Fry in Gardnerville, a lineup of GOP national heavyweights and local Nevada politicians fired up a crowd of 1,500 Republicans with a message of urgency. The midterm elections are in 80 days and will decide which party controls both the State House in Carson City and Congress in Washington D.C. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called Nevada Republican Senate nominee Adam Laxalt’s race “the single best pickup opportunity for Republicans.” Lawmakers referenced a portion of the Inflation Reduction Act and gas prices as reasons why they're poised to take the Senate. Others criticized the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
AP
Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has received nearly $1 million in campaign contributions over the past year from private equity professionals, hedge fund managers and venture capitalists whose interests she has staunchly defended in Congress. That's according to an Associated Press review of campaign finance disclosures. The revelation comes after Sinema single-handedly thwarted her party's long-standing goal of raising taxes on such investors. Sinema says the contributions did not influence her thinking on the matter. But many in her party see Sinema's defense of the favorable tax treatment received by such investors as indefensible.
AP
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Crime. Abortion. Inflation. Trust. Distrust.
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WASHINGTON — The New York Times has endorsed two incumbent lawmakers and the former lead counsel for the Democrats in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in the crowded New York City Democratic primary races for Congress.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. — With the campaign season starting to heat up, Mehmet Oz took his U.S. Senate campaign to Bethlehem on Saturday afternoon, where he went on a tour of Musikfest.
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