Crow Tow’s sweeps of the crowded parking lot at Aspen Apartments on Des Moines’ east side began last fall ― and anger quickly followed. Residents complained their cars disappeared, sometimes two at a time. Tow truck drivers shined flashlights in vehicles in the middle of the night to find those without parking stickers. Residents who […]
A Colorado lawmaker apologized Thursday for leaving a firearm unattended in a bathroom at the State Capitol this week. Republican state Rep. Don Wilson left a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun on a shelf in a single-occupancy bathroom around 9 p.m. local time Tuesday, the Colorado State Patrol said in a news release. The Capitol […]
Minnesota Sen. Warren Limmer said at a hearing last week that he’s worried that a proposal to establish more stringent gun-storage laws could put farmers and their families in greater danger if they are charged by a cow and need to defend themselves. Limmer, R-Maple Grove, raised his concern with the proposal during Friday’s legislative […]
Mar. 21—A Joplin City Council member, Mark Farnham, has filed as a candidate for Missouri House District 160. Farnham is midway through a four-year term to represent Zone 4 on the south side of the city. He will challenge Rep. Ben Baker of Neosho for the seat. Records of the Missouri secretary of state show […]
The German parliament has welcomed its first deaf legislator, who took her place in a moment that the house’s speaker described as historic. Heike Heubach, 44, narrowly missed out on a seat in parliament’s lower house, or Bundestag, in Germany’s 2021 election. But she joined the house this week as the replacement for Uli Grotsch, […]
A Democratic legislator on Wednesday called for an inquiry into South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem‘s trip to Texas for dental work and a promotional video in which she praises the doctors for giving her “a smile I can be proud of and confident in.” State Sen. Reynold Nesiba said he initially found the nearly […]
Mar. 2—Four state legislators introduced a first-of-its-kind bill Jan. 10 aimed at ensuring the enforcement of statewide jail standards for the next nine-and-a-half years, along with mandatory jail evaluations to guarantee the new standards are met. State Rep. Judy Amabile, a Democrat representing House District 49, is a sponsor of the bill, HB 24-1054. She […]
After outcry from transparency advocates against parts of his bill re-shaping the definition of a “public record” in Kentucky, Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fishervill, said he’s making big changes to his bill. Hodgson told the Herald-Leader Friday a new version of his House Bill 509 would “not touch” the current definition of public records, which all […]
Feb. 10—HIGH POINT — State Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, said that he’s working with state election officials to resolve campaign finance reports that were cited this week by a longtime political researcher as having chronic shortcomings. Bob Hall, retired executive director of the group Democracy North Carolina, referenced Brockman in citing eight members of the […]
LANSING — Sen. Joseph Bellino Jr., R-Monroe, was honored as Legislator of the Year by Michigan Ducks Unlimited during its third annual legislative luncheon on Wednesday. Bellino was presented the award by Kyle Rorah, director of public policy for Ducks Unlimited Great Lakes/Atlantic Region. The award recognizes Bellino’s work on legislation and policy in support of […]
Jan. 20—It’s been said politics is the art of the possible. House Speaker Javier Martínez said politics also is the art of compromise, which makes being a good listener one of the key qualities of a good lawmaker — a trait that will prove especially important over the next three weeks during what will likely […]
Once again several of our state government leaders are calling for cutting taxes in the upcoming legislative session. Their carefully worded statements make it seem so appealing. They say we are taking in too much money, more than we need to spend on core services, that our surpluses are too high, that we are overtaxing […]