Author: PolitCens

PHILADELPHIA — The $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes that Elon Musk ‘s political action committee is hosting in swing states can continue through Tuesday’s presidential election, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday.

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — ruling after Musk’s lawyers said the winners are not chosen by chance — did not immediately give a reason for the ruling.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had called the sweepstakes a scam that violates state election law and asked that it be shut down.

The winners of the sweepstakes did not win by chance but are instead paid spokespeople for the group, Musk’s lawyers said in court Monday.

Musk lawyer Chris Gober said the final two recipients before Tuesday’s presidential election will be in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.

“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober said Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

Chris Young, the director of America PAC, testified that the recipients are vetted ahead of time, to “feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the group.

The disclosures prompted a lawyer for District Attorney Larry Krasner to call the effort a “scam” that is “designed to actually influence a national election.”

Musk’s lawyers, in closing arguments, called it “core political speech” given that participants sign a petition endorsing the U.S. Constitution. They said Krasner’s legal bid to shut down the sweepstakes under Pennsylvania law was moot because there would be no more Pennsylvania winners before the program ends Tuesday.

Krasner believes the giveaways violates state election law and contradict what Musk promised when he announced them during an appearance with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ‘s campaign in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 19: “We’re going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,” Musk vowed.

Young also acknowledged that the PAC made the recipients sign nondisclosure agreements.

“They couldn’t really reveal the truth about how they got the money, right?” asked Krasner lawyer John Summers.

“Sounds right,” Young said.

In an Oct. 20 social media post shown in court, Musk said anyone signing the petition had “a daily chance of winning $1M!”

Summers grilled him on Musk’s use of both the words “chance” and “randomly,” prompting Young, who also serves as the PAC’s treasurer, to concede the latter was not “the word I would have selected.”

Young said the winners knew they would be called on stage but not specifically that they would win the money.

Musk did not attend the hearing. He has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.

“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” Krasner testified Monday morning. “That’s what it is. A grift.”

Lawyers for Musk and the PAC said they do not plan to extend the lottery beyond Tuesday. Krasner said the first three winners, starting on Oct. 19, came from Pennsylvania in the days leading up to the state’s Oct. 21 voter registration deadline.

Other winners came from the battleground states of Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. It’s not clear if anyone has yet received the money. The PAC pledged they would get it by Nov. 30, according to an exhibit shown in court.

More than 1 million people from the seven states have registered for the sweepstakes by signing a petition saying they support the right to free speech and to bear arms, the first two amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Krasner questioned how the PAC might use their data, which it will have on hand well past the election.

“They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.”

Krasner’s lawyer, John Summers, said Musk is “the heartbeat of America PAC,” and the person announcing the winners and presenting the checks.

“He was the one who presented the checks, albeit large cardboard checks. We don’t really know if there are any real checks,” Summers said.

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta was presiding over the case at Philadelphia City Hall after Musk and the PAC lost an effort to move it to federal court.

Krasner has said he could still consider criminal charges, as he’s tasked with protecting both lotteries and the integrity of elections. In the lawsuit, he said the defendants are “indisputably violating” Pennsylvania’s lottery laws.

Pennsylvania remains a key battleground state with 19 electoral votes and both Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly visited the state, including stops planned Monday in the final hours of the campaign.

Krasner — who noted that he has long driven a Tesla — said he could also seek civil damages for the Pennsylvania registrants. Musk is the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla. He also owns the social media platform X, where America PAC has published posts on the sweepstakes, and the rocket ship maker SpaceX. 
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miami — A Turkish businessman was arrested Monday in Miami and charged with helping Venezuela’s state-run oil company circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Taskin Torlak, 37, was arrested while attempting to return to Turkey, the Justice Department said in a statement.

According to court documents, Torlak operated several companies involved in the shipment of sanctioned oil. Starting in 2020, he allegedly started working with unnamed co-conspirators and companies from Ukraine, China, Indonesia and elsewhere to transport Venezuela’s crude oil at a time when most Western buyers stayed clear of the South American country for fear of undermining U.S. sanctions aimed at removing President Nicolas Maduro.

Torlak and his associates allegedly hid the identities of transaction beneficiaries to enable U.S. banks to unknowingly process payments related to the illegal oil transports.

“We could use one of the clean names to avoid money getting stuck somewhere,” he allegedly wrote in communications with one of the co-conspirators.

To evade detection, the chartered oil tankers frequently turned off their automated tracking systems, a mandatory safety device, when transporting the illegal Venezuelan crude. They also frequently changed the vessels’ registry to fly so-called flags of convenience. 

It wasn’t immediately possible to locate an attorney for Torlak. 

The U.S. started ratcheting up sanctions on Venezuela following Maduro’s first re-election in 2018, in which several key opponents were barred from running. Since then, the self-declared socialist leader has deepened his grip on power, this year claiming he won a third six-year term in the face of evidence presented by his opponents that the vote was stolen. The U.S. responded with another round of sanctions against officials accused of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses. 

“The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable those involved in criminal efforts to circumvent sanctions imposed on the Maduro regime,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement.
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Quincy Jones, the multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassing an extraordinary musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song. For years, it was unlikely to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with his name on it, or a leader in the entertainment industry and beyond who did not have some connection to him.

Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa.

Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” and was among the featured singers, would call Jones “the master orchestrator.”

In a career that began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, top honors likely go to his productions with Jackson: “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad” were albums near-universal in their style and appeal.

Jones’ versatility and imagination helped set off the explosive talents of Jackson as he transformed from child star to the “King of Pop.”

On such classic tracks as “Billie Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Jones and Jackson fashioned a global soundscape out of disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For “Thriller,” some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-fusing “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.

“Thriller” sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone and has contended with the Eagles’ “Greatest Hits 1971-1975” among others as the best-selling album of all time.

“If an album doesn’t do well, everyone says ‘it was the producers fault’; so if it does well, it should be your ‘fault,’ too,” Jones said in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2016. “The tracks don’t just all of a sudden appear. The producer has to have the skill, experience and ability to guide the vision to completion.”

The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”, including 27 Grammys at the time (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received France’s Legion d’Honneur, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy and a Kennedy Center tribute for his contributions to American culture.

He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones” and a 2018 film by daughter Rashida Jones. His memoir made him a best-selling author.
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Unionized factory workers at Boeing are voting Monday whether to accept a contract offer or to continue their strike, which has lasted more than seven weeks and shut down production of most Boeing passenger planes.

A vote to ratify the contract would clear the way for the aerospace giant to resume airplane production and bring in much-needed cash. If members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers vote for a third time to reject Boeing’s offer, it would plunge the company into further financial peril and uncertainty.

In its latest proposed contract, Boeing is offering pay raises of 38% over four years, as well as ratification and productivity bonuses. IAM District 751, which represents Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest, endorsed the proposal, which is slightly more generous than one the machinists voted down nearly two weeks ago.

“It is time for our members to lock in these gains and confidently declare victory,” the union district said in scheduling Monday’s vote. “We believe asking members to stay on strike longer wouldn’t be right as we have achieved so much success.”

Union officials said they think they have gotten all they can though negotiations and a strike, and that if the current proposal is rejected, future offers from Boeing might be worse. They expect to announce the result of the vote Monday night.

Boeing has adamantly rejected requests to restore traditional pensions that the company froze nearly a decade ago. Pensions were a key issue for workers who voted down previous offers in September and October.

If machinists ratify the latest offer, they would return to work by Nov. 12, according to the union.

The strike began Sept. 13 with an overwhelming 94.6% rejection of Boeing’s offer to raise pay by 25% over four years — far less than the union’s original demand for 40% wage increases over three years.

Machinists voted down another offer — 35% raises over four years, but still no revival of pensions — on Oct. 23, the same day Boeing reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion. However, the offer received 36% support, up from 5% for the mid-September proposal, making Boeing leaders believe they were close to a deal.

Boeing says average annual pay for machinists is $75,608 and would rise to $119,309 in four years under the current offer.

In addition to a slightly larger pay increases, the proposed contract includes a $12,000 contract ratification bonus, up from $7,000 in the previous offer, and larger company contributions to employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts.

Boeing also promises to build its next airline plane in the Seattle area. Union officials fear the company may withdraw the pledge if workers reject the new offer.

The strike drew the attention of the Biden administration. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su intervened in the talks several times, including last week.

The labor standoff — the first strike by Boeing machinists since an eight-week walkout in 2008 — is the latest setback in a volatile year for the company.

Boeing came under several federal investigations after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Federal regulators put limits on Boeing airplane production that they said would last until they felt confident about manufacturing safety at the company.

The door plug incident renewed concerns about the safety of the 737 Max. Two of the plane’s crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The CEO whose effort to fix the company failed announced in March that he would step down. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max.

As the strike dragged on, new CEO Kelly Ortberg announced about 17,000 layoffs and a stock sale to prevent the company’s credit rating from being cut to junk status. S&P and Fitch Ratings said last week that the $24.3 billion in stock and other securities will cover upcoming debt payments and reduce the risk of a credit downgrade.

The strike has created a cash crunch by depriving Boeing of money it gets when delivering new planes to airlines. The walkout at Seattle-area factories stopped production of the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling plane, and the 777 or “triple-seven” jet and the cargo-carrying version of its 767 plane.

Ortberg has conceded that trust in Boeing has declined, the company has too much debt, and “serious lapses in our performance” have disappointed many airline customers. But, he says, the company’s strengths include a backlog of airplane orders valued at a half-trillion dollars.
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The two parties that have dominated Puerto Rican politics for decades are losing their grip as they face the stiffest competition yet from a younger generation fed up with the island’s corruption, chronic power outages and mismanagement of public funds.

For the first time in the island’s governor’s race, a third-party candidate has a powerful second lead in the polls ahead of the U.S. territory’s election Tuesday — and some experts say there’s a possibility he could win.

“This election is already historic,” said political analyst and university professor Jorge Schmidt Nieto. “It already marks a before and an after.”

Juan Dalmau is running for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement, established in 2019. A Gaither international poll this month shows Dalmau closing in on Jenniffer González, a member of the New Progressive Party and Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress. She beat Gov. Pedro Pierluisi in their party’s primary in June.

Gaither’s poll shows Dalmau with 29% of support versus González’s 31% as he nearly caught up with her since a different poll in July showed him with only 24% compared with González’s 43%. Coming in third was Jesús Manuel Ortiz, of the Popular Democratic Party, followed by Javier Jiménez of Project Dignity, a conservative party created in 2019.

Under pressure

Puerto Rican politics revolve around the island’s status, and up until 2016, the New Progressive Party, which supports statehood, and the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the status quo, would split at least 90% of all votes during general elections, Schmidt said.

But that year, U.S. Congress created a federal control board to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances after the government announced it was unable to pay a more than $70 billion public debt load. In 2017, Puerto Rico filed for the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history.

The debt was accrued through decades of corruption, mismanagement and excessive borrowing, with Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority still struggling to restructure its more than $9 billion debt, the largest of any government agency.

Puerto Ricans have largely rejected and resented the board, created a year before Hurricane Maria slammed into the island as a powerful Category 4 storm, razing the electrical grid.

In 2020, Pierluisi won but received only 33% of votes. His opponent from the Popular Democratic Party received 32%. It marked the first time either party failed to reach 40% of votes.

The power outages that have persisted since the elections, coupled with the slow pace of hurricane reconstruction, have frustrated and angered voters.

Under Pierluisi, the government signed contracts with two companies, Luma Energy and Genera PR, which together oversee the generation, transmission and distribution of power. Outages have persisted, with the companies blaming a grid that was already crumbling before the hurricane hit due to a lack of maintenance and investment.

“Disastrous things have occurred during this four-year term, especially with the electric energy,” Schmidt said. “It has affected everyone, regardless of social class.”

Voters, he said, are viewing Tuesday’s elections “as a moment of revenge.”

Dalmau said he would oust both companies in an “organized fashion” within six months if he becomes governor. Ortiz said he would cancel Luma’s contract, while González has called for the creation of an “energy czar” that would review potential Luma contractual breaches while another operator is found.

However, no contract can be canceled without prior approval of the federal control board and Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau.

The candidates also are under pressure to create affordable housing, lower power bills and the general cost of living, reduce violent crimes, boost Puerto Rico’s economy, with the island locked out of capital markets since 2015, and improve a crumbling health care system as thousands of doctors flock to the U.S. mainland.

Dalmau, who suspended his campaign for two weeks in mid-October after his wife had emergency brain surgery, also has said he would eliminate tax breaks for wealthy U.S. citizens from the mainland.

Apathy dominates

Despite their promises to turn Puerto Rico around, candidates face persistent voter apathy.

In 2008, 1.9 million out of 2.5 million registered voters participated in that year’s election, compared with 1.3 million out of 2.3 million in 2020.

This year, nearly 99,000 new voters registered and more than 87,000 reactivated their status, according to Puerto Rico’s State Elections Commission.

“A much higher number was expected,” Schmidt said.

He noted that those middle age and older favor González and her pro-statehood party, while those younger than 45 “overwhelmingly” favor Dalmau, which means that if a majority of young voters participate on Tuesday and fewer older ones do so, he might have a chance of winning.

The Bad Bunny factor

The months leading up to the Nov. 5 elections have been contentious.

Reggaetón superstar Bad Bunny paid for dozens of billboard ads criticizing Puerto Rico’s two main parties. In response, the governor’s New Progressive Party financed a billboard ad suggesting an obscenity in reference to Bad Bunny.

On Friday, the singer published a page-long letter in a local newspaper deriding González’s pro-statehood party.

While the artist has not endorsed any local officials, the sole person he recently began following on Instagram was Dalmau.

On Sunday, he briefly appeared at Dalmau’s closing campaign. A hush fell over a crowd of tens of thousands of people as Bad Bunny spoke before singing, saying he doesn’t endorse a specific candidate or party.

“My party is the people. … My party is Puerto Rico,” he said as he later praised the alliance between Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement.

Meanwhile, a so-called “cemetery of corruption” was set up Thursday in the capital, San Juan, featuring large black-and-white pictures of nearly a dozen politicians from the island’s two main parties who have been charged or sentenced by federal authorities in recent years. It was created by Eva Prados with the Citizen Victory Movement, who is running for Puerto Rico’s House. By Friday, police reported that the pictures were destroyed or stolen.

As the race heats up, the number of formal complaints about alleged electoral crimes also has increased. These include people who say they received confirmations for early voting when they made no such request.

A persistent question

Voters on Tuesday also will be asked for a seventh time what Puerto Rico’s political status should be.

The nonbinding referendum will feature three choices: statehood, independence and independence with free association, under which issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated.

Regardless of the outcome, a change in status requires approval from the U.S. Congress.

The push for a change in status doesn’t depend on whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump win in the U.S. mainland.
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Although Halloween has passed, pumpkins are still an indispensable part of the fall season in the United States. Americans are expected to spend nearly $800 million on the decorative gourds this year. For many, heading to a pumpkin patch and picking a pumpkin is an annual tradition. Alexey Gorbachev has the story, narrated by Anna Rice
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New York — Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands won the men’s race at the New York City Marathon on Sunday and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya took the women’s event.

Both runners pulled away from their closest competitors in the final few hundred meters to come away with their first victories in the race.

Nageeye was step-for-step with 2022 champion Evans Chebet before using a burst heading into Central Park to come away with the win in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Chebet finished 6 seconds behind.

Chepkirui was running New York for the first time and pulled away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the women’s race. Chepkirui started to run marathons in 2022. She finished the race in 2:24.35. Obiri finished nearly 15 seconds behind.

Obiri was looking to be the first repeat champion since Mary Keitany of Kenya won three in a row from 2014-16. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya finished third, giving the African nation the top three spots.

Tamirat Tola, the men’s defending champion and Paris Olympic gold medalist, finished fourth, right behind Albert Korir.

The top Americans finished sixth in both races. Conner Mantz led the men and Sara Vaughn the women. Vaughn was in the lead group heading into Mile 20 when they entered the Bronx before she dropped off the lead pack.

Vaughn was geared up to run Chicago before COVID-19 kept her from competing in that race. She was a late addition to this marathon.

The day got started with an upset in the men’s wheelchair race as three-time defending champion Marcel Hug was beaten by Daniel Romanchuk, who won in 2018 and 2019. Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race. It was her second victory in New York, also taking the 2022 race and giving Americans winners in both events — the first time that has happened.

The 26.2-mile course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Central Park. This is the 48th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park when it began in 1970. The first race had only 55 finishers while more than 50,000 are expected to compete this year.

The weather was perfect to run in with temperatures in the lower 40s when the race started. Last year, it was 61 degrees when the race started.
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orlando, florida — The news rippled through Treasure Island, Florida, almost like a third storm: The mayor planned to move off the barrier island a month after Hurricane Helene flooded tens of thousands of homes along the Gulf Coast and two weeks after Hurricane Milton also ravaged the state. 

Mayor Tyler Payne’s home had been flooded and damaged beyond repair, he explained in a message to Treasure Island residents, and he and his husband can’t afford to rebuild. He also was stepping down as mayor. 

“While it pains my heart to make this decision in the midst of our recovery from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, this is the best decision for me and my family,” Payne, who had held the office for more than three years and was a fourth-generation Treasure Island resident, said Monday. 

Up and down Florida’s storm-battered Gulf Coast, residents are making the same calculations about whether they should stay or go. Can they afford to rebuild? What will insurance cover? People considering moving to Florida are contemplating whether it’s worth the risk to come to a hurricane-prone state. 

These existential questions about Florida’s appeal are raised regularly after the state experiences a busy hurricane season, such as in 2004, when four hurricanes crossed the Sunshine State. 

If moves into the state offer any answer, then hurricanes have served little as deterrents. Florida’s population has grown by one-third to 23 million residents in the two decades since Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan ravaged the state. Last year, Florida added more than 365,000 residents, second only to Texas among states. 

On the other hand, there are signs that Florida’s white-hot real estate market has cooled. Sales of single-family homes were down 12% in September compared with the same time in the previous year. But interest rates, rising home prices and skyrocketing insurance costs likely played bigger roles than the recent hurricanes. 

“Florida recovers much faster than you think,” said Brad O’Connor, chief economist for Florida Realtors. 

What happens after a storm? 

Studies of hurricanes along the Gulf Coast have shown that any outbound migration tends to be short-lived, and if people do leave, it’s usually a short-distance move, such as from a barrier island to the mainland. Older people with more financial resources are more likely to return to devastated communities. 

When it comes to the housing market, there may be an initial shock to the supply as homeowners wait for reimbursement from insurance companies to fix up their homes or sell them. 

But in the three years after a hurricane, home prices in areas of Florida that were hit by one are 5% higher on average than elsewhere in the state because of smaller supply, according to a study of the impact of hurricanes on Florida’s housing market from 2000 to 2016. New homeowners tend to be richer than previous ones because wealthier buyers can absorb price increases. 

Other factors that determine how quickly communities bounce back include whether homes were insured, the speed of insurance reimbursements, and whether there are enough construction workers. Because of stricter building codes implemented in the years after Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992, newer homes withstand hurricanes better than older ones, O’Connor said. 

“If a property is damaged and uninsured, and the homeowner says, ‘I don’t want to deal with this,’ there are always people willing to scoop up that property because it’s valuable land,” he said. “People build new homes under the new codes and there’s less of an impact from hurricanes.” 

Short term and long term 

Recent storms offer examples what happens to communities, both short term and longer term. 

In Lee County, home to Fort Myers, Hurricane Ian made landfall two years ago in what had been one of the fastest growing parts of the United States. Population growth slowed afterward to 1.5% from 4.4% before the storm. The number of households dropped from about 340,000 to about 326,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

In 2019, three-quarters of all United Van Lines truck moves were into Lee County and a quarter were outbound, but that dropped to two-thirds inbound and a third outbound in 2023 to 2024, the company told The Associated Press. 

The share of people in their late 20s, 30s and early 40s increased, as did the share of men with no spouse or partner, reflecting an influx of construction and recovery workers. The share of the white population dropped while it increased for the Hispanic community. The percentage of utility and transportation workers in the county jumped, according to the Census Bureau. 

Bay County in the Florida Panhandle, where Michael made landfall as the first Category 5 hurricane on the continental U.S. in a quarter century in 2018, offers a portrait of longer term trends. Four years later, Bay County had recovered its pre-hurricane population, which dropped almost 6% in the year after the storm. 

Since Michael, the county has grown more diverse, wealthier and older, with the median age rising from 39.6 to 41.4 and more people identifying as multiracial or Hispanic. The share of households earning $200,000 or more went from 4.3% before the hurricane to 8.3% in 2022 in a sign that some of the least affluent residents couldn’t afford to rebuild or return. 

Treasure Island’s mayor 

In his message to constituents, Payne said he would still stay connected to the Treasure Island community because his parents plan to rebuild on the barrier island, one of a string of beach towns along the Gulf of Mexico west of St. Petersburg known for motels, restaurants and bars lining the street. Payne, an attorney who also is an executive in his family’s eyeglass-lens manufacturing business, said in his message that his decision to move was “difficult.” 

“I completely empathize with the difficult decisions that are facing so many of our residents,” he said. 
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CHICAGO — Billboards with the words “STOP Child Gender Surgery.” Pamphlets warning about endangering minors. “PROTECT PARENT RIGHTS” plastered on church bulletins.

As voters in nine states determine whether to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions, opponents are using parental rights and anti-transgender messages to try to undermine support for the ballot proposals.

The measures do not mention gender-affirming surgeries, and legal experts say changing existing parental notification and consent laws regarding abortions and gender-affirming care for minors would require court action. But anti-abortion groups hoping to end a losing streak at the ballot box have turned to the type of language many Republican candidates nationwide are using in their own campaigns as they seek to rally conservative Christian voters.

“It’s really outlandish to suggest that this amendment relates to things like gender reassignment surgery for minors,” said Matt Harris, an associate professor of political science at Park University in Parkville, Missouri, a state where abortion rights are on the ballot.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated constitutional protections for abortion, voters in seven states, including conservative Kentucky, Montana and Ohio, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to curtail them.

“If you can’t win by telling the truth, you need a better argument, even if that means capitalizing on the demonization of trans children,” said Dr. Alex Dworak, a family medicine physician in Omaha, Nebraska, where anti-abortion groups are using the strategy.

Tying abortion-rights ballot initiatives to parental rights and gender-affirming is a strategy borrowed from playbooks used in Michigan and Ohio, where voters nonetheless enshrined abortion rights in the state constitutions.

Both states still require minors to get parental consent for abortions, and the new amendments have not yet impacted parental involvement or gender-affirming care laws in either state, said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University.

“It’s just recycling the same strategies,” Cohen said.

In addition to Missouri and Nebraska, states where voters are considering constitutional amendments this fall are Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Missouri’s abortion ballot measure has especially become a target. The amendment would bar the government from infringing on a “person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”

Gov. Mike Parson and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, both Republicans, have claimed the proposal would allow minors to get abortions and gender-affirming surgeries without parental involvement.

The amendment protects reproductive health services, “including but not limited to” a list of items such as prenatal care, childbirth, birth control and abortion. It does not mention gender-affirming care, but Missouri state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican and lawyer with the conservative Thomas More Society, said it’s possible that could be considered reproductive health services.

Several legal experts told The Associated Press that would require a court ruling that is improbable.

“It would be a real stretch for any court to say that anything connected with gender-affirming care counts as reproductive health care,” said Saint Louis University law and gender studies professor Marcia McCormick. She noted that examples listed as reproductive health care in the Missouri amendment are all directly related to pregnancy.

As for parental consent for minors’ abortions, she pointed to an existing state law that is written similarly to one the U.S. Supreme Court found constitutional, even before Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Most states have parental involvement laws, whether requiring parental consent or notification. Even many Democratic-leaning states with explicit protections for transgender rights require parental involvement before an abortion or gender-affirming care for minors, said Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law.

A state high court would have to overturn such laws, which is highly unlikely from conservative majorities in many of the states with abortion on the ballot, experts said.

In New York, a proposed amendment to the state constitution would expand antidiscrimination protections to include ethnicity, national origin, age, disability and “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy.” The constitution already bans discrimination based on race, color, creed or religion.

The measure does not mention abortion. But because it is broader, it could be easier for opponents to attack it. But legal experts noted that it would also not change existing state laws related to parental involvement in minors getting abortions or gender-affirming care.

The New York City Bar Association released a fact sheet explaining that the measure would not impact parental rights, “which are governed by other developed areas of state and federal law.” Yet the Coalition to Protect Kids-NY calls it the “Parent Replacement Act.”

Rick Weiland, co-founder of Dakotans for Health, the group behind South Dakota’s proposed amendment said it uses the Roe v. Wade framework “almost word for word.”

“All you have to do is look back at what was allowed under Roe, and there were always requirements for parental involvement,” Weiland said.

Caroline Woods, spokesperson for the anti-abortion group Life Defense Fund, said the measure “means loving parents will be completely cut out of the equation.” Weiland said those claims are part of a “constant stream of misinformation” from opponents.

If this campaign strategy failed in Michigan and Ohio, why are anti-abortion groups leaning on it for the November elections?

Ziegler, the University of California, Davis, law professor, said abortion-rights opponents know they may be “playing on more favorable terrain” in more conservative states like Missouri or in states like Florida that have higher thresholds for passing ballot measures.

“Anti-abortion groups are still looking for a winning recipe,” Ziegler said.
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RENO, Nevada — Conservationists and a Native American tribe are suing the U.S. to try to block a Nevada lithium mine they say will drive an endangered desert wildflower to extinction, disrupt groundwater flows and threaten cultural resources.

The Center for Biological Diversity promised the court battle a week ago when the U.S. Interior Department approved Ioneer Ltd.’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine at the only place Tiehm’s buckwheat is known to exist in the world, near the California line halfway between Reno and Las Vegas.

It is the latest in a series of legal fights over projects President Joe Biden’s administration is pushing under his clean energy agenda intended to cut reliance on fossil fuels, in part by increasing the production of lithium to make electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.

The new lawsuit says the Interior Department’s approval of the mine marks a dramatic about-face by U.S. wildlife experts who warned nearly two years ago that Tiehm’s buckwheat was “in danger of extinction now” when they listed it as an endangered species in December 2022.

“One cannot save the planet from climate change while simultaneously destroying biodiversity,” said Fermina Stevens, director of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, which joined the center in the lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Reno.

“The use of minerals, whether for EVs or solar panels, does not justify this disregard for Indigenous cultural areas and keystone environmental laws,” said John Hadder, director of the Great Basin Resource Watch, another co-plaintiff.

Rita Henderson, spokesperson for Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in Reno, said Friday the agency had no immediate comment.

Ioneer Vice President Chad Yeftich said the Australia-based mining company intends to intervene on behalf of the U.S. and “vigorously defend” approval of the project, “which was based on its careful and thorough permitting process.”

“We are confident that the BLM will prevail,” Yeftich said. He added that he doesn’t expect the lawsuit will postpone plans to begin construction next year.

The lawsuit says the mine will harm sites sacred to the Western Shoshone people. That includes Cave Spring, a natural spring less than 1.6 kilometers away described as “a site of intergenerational transmission of cultural and spiritual knowledge.”

But it centers on alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act. It details the Fish and Wildlife Service’s departure from the dire picture it painted earlier of threats to the 15-centimeter-tall wildflower with cream or yellow blooms bordering the open-pit mine Ioneer plans to dig. 

The mine’s permit anticipates up to one-fifth of the nearly 3.6 square kilometers the agency designated as critical habitat surrounding the plants — home to various pollinators important to their survival — would be lost for decades, some permanently.

When proposing protection of the 368 hectares of critical habitat, the service said “this unit is essential to the conservation and recovery of Tiehm’s buckwheat.” The agency formalized the designation when it listed the plant in December 2022, dismissing the alternative of less-stringent threatened status.

“We find that a threatened species status is not appropriate because the threats are severe and imminent, and Tiehm’s buckwheat is in danger of extinction now, as opposed to likely to become endangered in the future,” the agency concluded.

The lawsuit also discloses for the first time that the plant’s population, numbering fewer than 30,000 in the government’s latest estimates, has suffered additional losses since August that were not considered in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion.

The damage is similar to what the bureau concluded was caused by rodents eating the plants in a 2020 incident that reduced the population as much as 60%, the lawsuit says.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said in its August biological opinion that while the project “will result in the long-term disturbance (approximately 23 years) of 146 acres (59 hectares) of the plant community … and the permanent loss of 45 acres (18 hectares), we do not expect the adverse effects to appreciably diminish the value of critical habitat as a whole.” 
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Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

By immigrants, for immigrants: ‘Documented’ covers immigration through a personal lens

In New York City, a media outlet run by immigrants for immigrants uses messaging apps to engage with communities on elections, crime and local issues. Liam Scott and Cristina Caicedo Smit have the story, narrated by Caicedo Smit. Tina Trinh contributed.

Naturalized citizens to play a bigger role in 2024 election

Naturalized immigrants will make up 10% of Americans eligible to vote in 2024. What impact might they have on the election?

US border arrests remained lower in October amid Biden asylum restrictions

U.S. border authorities apprehended about 54,000 migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in October, according to preliminary figures obtained by Reuters. They show a marginal rise from September but continue the broader downward trend since June when new restrictions were imposed under President Joe Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, has called for even tougher border restrictions in the face of criticism by Republican candidate Donald Trump over illegal immigration. Reuters reports.

Migrant families separated under Trump still feel fallout, fear his return

With the United States on the verge of an election that could put former President Donald Trump back in office, Billy wants people to know that what happened to him and several thousand other children still reverberates. Some families have not been reunited, and many of those together in the U.S. have temporary status and fear a victorious Trump carrying out promised mass deportations. The Associated Press reports.

Immigration around the world

VOA60 World – At least 10 dead after Israeli airstrike on a street in Gaza’s Nuseirat Refugee Camp

An Israeli strike on a street in central Gaza’s Nuseirat Refugee Camp killed at least 10 people, including children, and injured 20 others, according to Palestinian health officials and Associated Press journalists.

Myanmar opposition: Dialogue impossible, China must rethink junta support

Malaysia, hosting about 200,000 Myanmar refugees, has a direct stake in resolving the crisis. Produced by Nyein Chan Aye. 

Canada-India tensions could escalate cyberthreats, hinder immigration

Canada’s deepening dispute with India over its alleged campaign of violence against Sikhs in Canada could intensify Indian-based cyber espionage and hold back immigration, but analysts and experts see no immediate impact on trade. Concern about a widening rift between the two countries comes after a senior Canadian official told a parliamentary national security committee Tuesday that Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the mastermind behind the alleged plots. Reported by Reuters.

Sudan displacement crisis worsens as fighting, hunger, sexual violence escalates

The International Organization for Migration warned Tuesday that Sudan’s displacement crisis is worsening as increasing numbers of people flee fighting, hunger and sexual violence, thereby threatening “regional instability.” “The scale of this displacement and the corresponding humanitarian needs grows every day,” Amy Pope, IOM director general, told journalists in Geneva on a video link from Port Sudan. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Uganda struggles to feed 1.7 million refugees as international support dwindles

Uganda is home to more than 1.7 million refugees, the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Despite being renowned for welcoming those fleeing neighboring violence, Ugandan officials and humanitarians say dwindling international support coupled with high numbers of refugees have put much pressure on host communities. Reported by The Associated Press.

Russian army deserters hope French asylum decision will encourage others to flee

Thousands of Russians, including soldiers, have sought asylum in the West since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — though only a small fraction of their applications have been approved. This month, however, France allowed several Russian army deserters to enter the country to seek refugee status. Henry Ridgwell reports.

News Brief

— An investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark resulted in the sentencing of a New Jersey woman for harboring two undocumented women from India and for failing to pay taxes on their wages.
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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Nearly 200 families gathered Saturday along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border for heartfelt but brief reunions with loved ones they had not seen for years because they live in different countries. 

Tears flowed and people embraced as Mexican families were allowed to reunite for a few minutes at the border with relatives who migrated to the U.S. Adults and children passed over the Rio Grande to meet with their loved ones. 

This year, the annual “Hugs Not Walls” event organized by an immigrant rights advocacy group happened three days before the U.S. presidential election, whose monthslong campaigns have focused heavily on immigration and border security. It also took place under decreased security, according to the Network in Defense of the Rights of Migrants. 

“We did not have barbed wire, we did not have so many soldiers deployed in our community,” said Fernando Garcia, the organization’s director, highlighting the border security changes that the border has seen since the reunions began last decade. “The barbed wire had to be opened so that the families could have this event.” 

Garcia said he expects migration into the U.S. to continue regardless of who wins Tuesday’s election. Family reunions, he said, will continue, too. 

“Deportation policy, border policy, immigration policy, is separating families in an extraordinary way and is deeply impacting these families,” he said.
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The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark by late afternoon for the next few months in the United States.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time Sunday, which means you should set your clock back an hour before you go to bed. Standard time will last until March 9, when we will again “spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time. 

“Fall back” should be easier. But it still may take a while to adjust your sleep habits, not to mention the downsides of leaving work in the dark or trying to exercise while there’s still enough light. Some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter, may struggle, too. 

Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology. 

Two states — Arizona and Hawaii — don’t change and stay on standard time. 

Here’s what to know about the twice-yearly ritual. 

How the body reacts to light 

The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens. 

Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening — that extra hour from daylight saving time — delays that surge and the cycle gets out of sync. 

How do time changes affect sleep? 

Even an hour change on the clock can throw off sleep schedules — because even though the clocks change, work and school start times stay the same. 

That’s a problem because so many people are already sleep deprived. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults sleep less than the recommended seven-plus hours nightly, and more than half of U.S. teens don’t get the recommended eight-plus hours on weeknights. 

How to prepare for the time change 

Some people try to prepare for a time change jolt by changing their bedtimes little by little in the days before the change. There are ways to ease the adjustment, including getting more sunshine to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep. 
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North Carolina is one of seven so-called swing states that could determine the next U.S. president. Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and their surrogates have spent a lot of time campaigning in this southern state. Black Americans make up 22% of the population, and those voters could decide who gets North Carolina’s 16 Electoral College votes. Rafael Saakov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Aleksandr Bergan
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The state of California has passed several laws attempting to regulate artificial intelligence, including AI used to create realistic looking but manipulated audio or video — known as a deepfake. In this U.S. election season, the aim is to counter misinformation. But it has raised concerns about free speech. From California, Genia Dulot has our story.
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Kentucky police detective of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during a botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead.

The 12-member jury returned the late-night verdict after clearing Brett Hankison earlier in the evening on a charge that he used excessive force on Taylor’s neighbors.

It was the first conviction of a Louisville police officer who was involved in the deadly raid.

Some members of the jury were in tears as the verdict was read around 9:30 p.m. They had earlier indicated to the judge in two separate messages that they were deadlocked on the charge of using excessive force on Taylor but chose to continue deliberating. The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for more than 20 hours over three days.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, celebrated the verdict with friends outside the federal courthouse, saying: “It took a lot of time. It took a lot of patience. It was hard. The jurors took their time to really understand that Breonna deserved justice.”

Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid but didn’t hit anyone. Some shots flew into a next-door neighbor’s adjoining apartment.

The death of the 26-year-old Black woman, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide.

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., called the verdict “a long-awaited moment of accountability.”

“While it cannot restore Breonna to her family, it represents a crucial step in the pursuit of justice and a reminder that no one should be above the law,” King said in a social media post Friday night.

A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison last year, and he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022.

The conviction against Hankison carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He will be sentenced on March 12 by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings.

Hankison, 48, argued throughout the trial that he was acting to protect his fellow officers after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired on them when they broke down Taylor’s door with a battering ram.

This jury sent a note on Thursday to the judge asking whether they needed to know if Taylor was alive as Hankison fired his shots.

That was a point of contention during closing arguments, when Hankison attorney Don Malarcik told the jury that prosecutors must “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Taylor was alive” when Hankison fired.

After the jury sent the question, Jennings urged them to keep deliberating.

Walker shot and wounded one of the officers. Hankison testified that when Walker fired, he moved away, rounded the corner of the apartment unit and fired into Taylor’s glass door and a window.

Meanwhile, officers at the door returned Walker’s fire, hitting and killing Taylor, who was in a hallway.

Hankison’s lawyers argued during closing statements Wednesday that Hankison was acting properly “in a very tense, very chaotic environment” that lasted about 12 seconds. They emphasized that Hankison’s shots didn’t hit anyone.

Hankison was one of four officers charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022 with violating Taylor’s civil rights. Hankison’s verdict is the second conviction from those cases. The first was a plea deal from a former officer who was not at the raid and became a cooperating witness in another case.

Malarcik, Hankison’s attorney, spoke at length during closing arguments about the role of Taylor’s boyfriend, who fired the shot that hit former Sergeant John Mattingly at the door. He said Walker never tried to come to the door or turn the lights on as police were knocking and instead armed himself and hid in the dark.

“Brett Hankison was 12 inches away from being shot by Kenneth Walker,” Malarcik said.

Prosecutors said Hankison acted recklessly, firing 10 shots into doors and a window where he couldn’t see a target.

They said in closing arguments that Hankison “violated one of the most fundamental rules of deadly force: If they cannot see the person they’re shooting at, they cannot pull the trigger.” 

Neither of the officers who shot Taylor — Mattingly and former Detective Myles Cosgrove — were charged in Taylor’s death. Federal and state prosecutors have said those officers were justified in returning fire, since Taylor’s boyfriend shot at them first.
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Georgia appeared to be on track to elect former U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in the 2024 presidential campaign when President Joe Biden was still in the race. But Vice President Kamala Harris has put the state back into play for Democrats.
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