The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?
A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting.
Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law
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Don’t Shoot Portland, University of Oregon Team Up for Black Narratives, Memory
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Grants Pass Anti-Camping Laws Head to Supreme Court
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Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative
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OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide
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Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership
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Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund
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Minnesota and other Democratic-led states lead pushback on censorship. They're banning the book ban
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US advances review of Nevada lithium mine amid concerns over endangered wildflower
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Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers
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KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...
Op-Ed: Why MAGA Policies Are Detrimental to Black Communities
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Gallup Finds Black Generational Divide on Affirmative Action
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OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party
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With graduation near, colleges seek to balance safety and students' right to protest Gaza war
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The University of Michigan is informing students of the rules for upcoming graduation ceremonies: Banners and flags are not allowed. Protests are OK but in designated areas away from the cap-and-gown festivities. The University of Southern California canceled...
William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist, scholar and friend of Malcolm X, has died
BOSTON (AP) — William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist and supporter of the Black Power movement who worked with Malcolm X and other prominent leaders in the 1960s, has died. He was 87. Strickland, whose death April 10 was confirmed by a relative, first became active in...
Biden will speak at Morehouse commencement, an election-year spotlight in front of Black voters
ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key election-year spotlight on one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black campuses as he works to shore up the racially diverse coalition that propelled him to the...
What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns
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Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'
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Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace
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Haiti health system nears collapse as medicine dwindles, gangs attack hospitals and ports stay shut
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Trump called this visa 'very bad' for Americans. Truth Social applied for one
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Moscow court rejects Evan Gershkovich's appeal, keeping him in jail until at least June 30
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2 Malaysian military helicopters collide and crash while training, killing all 10 crew
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In Vietnam, farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice
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The US is expected to block aid to an Israeli military unit. What is Leahy law that it would cite?
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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are on track to bolster their numbers in Tuesday's election, perhaps picking off veteran Republicans from New Jersey, Florida and California along the way. But with no visible wave poised to engulf Republicans, there's little suspense about whether the GOP will keep control.
Democrats long believed that Donald Trump's presidential run would prove toxic to his party's House candidates, but that seems likely to be only modestly accurate.
GOP hopes for limiting losses have been buoyed in the campaign's dwindling days by Republican voters rallying behind Trump, and renewed attention to Hillary Clinton's emails and rising premiums under President Barack Obama's health care law.
"There were misplaced waves of optimism" among Democrats about a landslide in which "Trump was a magic word, if you just said Trump and a Republican candidate, all of that person's support would melt away," said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. "And it's just not true."
As a result, it seems improbable that Democrats will add the 30 seats they would need to capture House control.
That large a gain has been achieved by either party in just 10 of 35 elections since World War II. Instead, strategists from both sides expect a Democratic pickup of roughly 10 to 15 seats in a chamber Republicans dominate 247-188, including three vacancies.
That's the biggest GOP majority since 1931. It includes seats from Democratic areas that they've long acknowledged would be difficult to defend in a presidential election year, when Democratic turnout usually grows.
"If we only lose 10 seats in a year like this from a record-high majority of 247 seats, that's a pretty good year," said Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, a leader of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP's campaign arm.
If huge numbers of House Republicans were about to be swept away by a national surge of anti-GOP sentiment, that probably already would be evident in polling numbers.
Photo: House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 21, 2016 file photo. Republicans seem likely to keep their House majority in the Nov. 8 elections, though it’s expected to shrink. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Operatives from both parties say Clinton would need nearly a double-digit lead over Trump, and Democrats would need an 8 to 10 percentage-point advantage over Republicans when people are asked which party's congressional candidate they back. Clinton and congressional Democrats have only slender edges.
In addition, Democrats would have had to nail down races against vulnerable Republicans such as Reps. Bob Dold in Chicago's suburbs, Cresent Hardy from outside Las Vegas and Carlos Curbelo from greater Miami.
Even so, both parties agree Trump is hurting GOP candidates in suburban and ethnically diverse districts where he's unpopular.
Republicans struggling under Trump's weight include Reps. Will Hurd in West Texas, Barbara Comstock in northern Virginia and Erik Paulsen outside Minneapolis.
They seem likely to lose another suburban Minneapolis seat being vacated by a retiring GOP lawmaker, and perhaps another around St. Petersburg, Florida.
GOP Reps. Darrell Issa of California, John Mica of Florida and New Jersey's Scott Garrett — who've served a combined 54 years in the House — are also facing unaccustomed battles for political survival. Political operatives attribute their problems to Trump and the baggage of being entrenched veterans when voters want change.
Yet other GOP candidates are holding their own in areas where Trump's impact could be harmful. Republicans are strongly competitive in districts near Philadelphia, Denver and in upstate New York, while California Reps. Jeff Denham, Steve Knight and David Valadao are in tough but winnable contests.
"Our success will be dictated by the national environment" created by the presidential race, said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., who heads the House
Democratic campaign organization. He expressed optimism for Democratic challengers in suburbia and areas with significant Hispanic populations but added, "These were always going to be tough and competitive races."
Republicans say many GOP candidates are shielded from Trump's influence because voters distinguish between the insult-hurling reality TV celebrity and their local lawmakers — and enmity toward Clinton will drive many Republicans to the polls.
Democrats "are betting that Donald Trump will win them a bunch of seats," said Mike Shields, who heads two GOP political organizations that have pumped tens of millions of dollars into House races. "And to believe that, you have to pretend that Hillary Clinton is not also running."
Clinton was shoved onto the defensive recently when the FBI said it had started a fresh review of an aide's emails that might be related to Clinton's use of a private server.
While Democrats are airing numerous ads tying GOP House candidates to Trump, Republicans are returning the favor with spots linking Democrats to Clinton or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The GOP is pouring money into ousting Democrats from seats in northern Minnesota and Omaha, Nebraska, and has a good shot at an open Democratic district north of Miami.
But Republicans are on the defensive in far more places than Democrats. By one measure, the final TV spots by the two groups that Shields leads, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the American Action Network, were aimed at 13 districts. Ten are Republican-held seats, including in Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin.