Extra! Extra! 4/30 🍾
Hi, all, and happy Sunday.
It was a tough week. It was also a great week. Let’s give the latter just a little more weight, shall we? Read the below; relish it, celebrate it, and share it!
Remember, what we focus on grows.
So focus on the good stuff for a few minutes. You’ll feel better, I promise!
Read This 📖
A Nashville senior was banned from their prom for wearing a suit. Locals stepped in to help. 🥲
Celebrate This! 🎉
TUCKER CARLSON IS GONE FROM FOX NEWS!!
Carlson’s producer Justin Wells is reportedly gone as well.
For the first time since 2006, California’s Department of Water Resources will fulfill 100% of water requests from farms and cities this month.
The first major offshore wind farm in the U.S. is set to start operating by the end of the year off of New York’s Long Island, and officials say it will generate enough power for 70,000 homes.
After a nearly two-decades-long permitting process, a 732-mile transmission line capable of sending power from what will be the largest onshore wind farm in North America to western states got the green light last week.
The Arizona Democratic Party passed a resolution calling on Democrats nationwide to pledge to back the winner of the Arizona Democratic primary to replace Kyrsten Sinema. The resolution passed with the support of an overwhelming 71% of the party’s elected State Committee Members.
Washington has become the 23rd state to end the death penalty after Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed Senate Bill 5087 into law.
The Tennessee Three met with President Biden and Vice President Harris.
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled explicitly for the first time that partisan gerrymandering violates the state constitution. 1
The European Union has approved the world’s first carbon tax on imports. It’s designed to make certain products a lot more expensive if they come from manufacturers that aren’t paying for their greenhouse gas emissions.
On Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a $700 million campus on Governor’s Island dedicated to finding solutions to address the climate crisis.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Cesar Chavez’s granddaughter, will chair President Biden’s reelection campaign.
The Supreme Court declined to hear five appeals from the fossil fuel industry seeking to move climate change lawsuits it faces to the federal courts. The decision opens the door for cities, states and counties to pursue claims for damages from climate-related extreme weather events, flooding and sea-level rise in state courts.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed a law that creates a process for voters to fix technical mistakes on their mail-in ballots and requires election officials to pre-process mail-in ballots before Election Day.
U.S. regulators authorized the first treatment for a rare genetic form of A.L.S.
A non-profit watchdog group, the Campaign for Accountability (CFA), sent a letter to the United States Attorney in Nashville requesting a criminal investigation of Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R). 2
In a concert in Knoxville, TN last Friday night Lizzo filled the stage with drag queens in an exuberant protest against the state’s legislation designed to restrict drag performances in public.
Marijuana is now legal in the state of Delaware.
Disney is suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Brian Kolfage, the former associate of Steve Bannon, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in federal prison for his role the We Build The Wall fraud.
San Antonio just launched a Cool Pavement Pilot Program to help cool off some of the city’s hottest neighborhoods. The city will test different cool pavement products equitably throughout the city to see which are best at reflecting sunlight and absorbing heat.
Apparently we are NOT in a sixth mass extinction.
The Energy Department will guarantee up to $3 billion in debt securities issued to fund rooftop solar installations, hoping to expand access to renewable energy by making the deal a no-lose proposition for many investors.
The number of federal sentences for low-level marijuana possession has plummeted, thanks mainly to a dramatic drop in prosecutions of people arrested in Arizona.
Washington and Minnesota won't cooperate with attempts to prosecute out-of-state patients seeking reproductive or gender-affirming procedures and treatment, under new laws signed Thursday by the two states’ Democratic governors.
A controversial abortion bill has failed—by one vote—in the second round of debate in the Nebraska Legislature.
The Justice Department filed a motion Wednesday to join a lawsuit three Tennessee families filed against their state alleging a new law banning care for transgender minors is unconstitutional.
A near-total ban on abortion failed Thursday in South Carolina. Abortion remains legal there until 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The EPA announced $400 million in grants for thousands of electric and low-emission school buses across the nation.
The Department of the Interior announced more than $146 million in funding for wetland conservation projects and National Wildlife Refuges.
The Departments of Agriculture and Interior announced actions to foster forest conservation, enhance forest resilience to climate change, and inform policymaking on ensuring healthy forests on federally managed lands administered by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Former Vice President Mike Pence testified before a grand jury examining the events leading to the Capitol attack on Jan. 6. Pence’s appearance came hours after Trump lost an attempt to block him from testifying about their direct conversations.
Fox News agreed to hand over thousands of documents to Smartmatic, a voting machine company.
Electric vehicle sales accelerated in the first quarter of 2023, with almost 300,000 EVs and plug-in hybrids sold, accounting for a record 8.4 percent of all U.S. new car sales. If sales continue at the same pace, the U.S. will surpass 1 million new EV units sold for the first time this year.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) completed a two-day hearing that saw the adoption of final rules to control harmful pollution from both locomotives and medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
Mattel introduced its first Barbie doll with Down syndrome, the most common chromosomal disability in the US.
The Vermont Legislature passed reproductive and gender-affirming health care bills on Thursday with a late addition aimed at protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone.
A new Fox News Poll finds most voters favor common sense gun laws—even Republicans.
Watch This! 👀
I couldn’t decide which clip delighted me more, so I included them both. Enjoy!
“My friend, Jimmy Madison.” Biden is quite funny about his age. Good one, Joe.
Watched the recorded correspondents' dinner last night, and Joe was funnier than Roy Wood Jr, kudos to his speechwriters ;-)
And, heartwarming that B Hayes with 25 friends will get their own prom due to the overwhelming support from their community after they were not allowed into the school prom because of wanting to wear a suit instead of dress... seems like a ridiculous rule that all females must wear a dress, when really, I've seen some beautiful pantsuits worn for formal adult occasions.
edit/add: and THIS was brilliant - "The World Wide Web was the brainchild of Tim Berners-Lee, a 37-year-old researcher at a physics lab in Switzerland called CERN. The institution is known today for its massive particle accelerators."
It's really amazing that many of us are old enough to remember a time before WWW existed...