Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
I’m down with a cold, so this’ll be a quick opening. Enjoy this week’s looooong list of improbable victories, incremental steps forward, and time-earned wins! People just like you made most of them happen!
And please don’t forget to share this list widely as proof that our hard work does pay off—we just don’t always hear about it!
Have a terrific three-day weekend!
Celebrate This! 🎉
A federal judge in Boston ruled for the third time that the Trump administration’s plans to restrict mail-in voting are likely unconstitutional and should be prevented from being implemented ahead of the midterm election.
SCOTUS declined to hear an application on a Michigan citizens-only voting ballot measure that would have established strict voter ID rules. It will therefore not be on the ballot!
Investors spent a record amount in the first half of 2026 on projects that combine renewable energy — mostly solar — with batteries.
In a blow to Trump, a Missouri court blocked a Republican-drawn congressional map for the midterm elections.
A banner reading ‘Ellison Is Trump’s Bitch!’ was flown over the Paramount lot in protest of the Warner Bros. merger.
Romanian prosecutors have officially indicted social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate with a range of trafficking and sex offenses.
Local activists in King County, WA have stopped the construction of an asphalt plant on a vacant lot in their neighborhood after fighting it for TEN YEARS! They’re now getting a park instead!
A judge in Washington blocked the EPA from sending landmark California vehicle emissions rules for a potential repeal to the Republican-controlled Congress.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest public school system, is banning generative AI for all students this school year.
Brian José Morales García, a U.S. citizen who was wrongly deported four months ago, is finally back in the U.S!
Leading U.S. medical groups are urging people to get updated flu and COVID-19 vaccinations this fall, banding together to issue shot guidelines in an effort to ease confusion caused by the Trump administration's anti-science advice.
Maria Bartiromo is out at Fox News. Buh bye.
A federal grand jury indicted an ICE officer on charges of making false statements about the shooting of a man in Minnesota last winter.
A federal judge in Maryland temporarily blocked much of Trump’s latest effort to withhold citizenship from babies born in the US to noncitizen parents.
A UN committee said countries are legally obliged to consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and take other measures to address the enduring legacy of racial discrimination. Their document may be cited in courtrooms.
The Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for Flock cameras and other license plate readers on state highways.
A judge approved Bank of America’s $72 million settlement with a group of Epstein accusers.
Voters in Independence, Missouri have recalled a city councilman who supported billions of dollars worth of tax breaks for a data center.
Mark Ruffalo was defended by Joaquin Phoenix, Hannah Einbinder and more than 180 Jewish figures after Paramount falsely accused him of using ‘antisemitic tropes.’
Zohran Mamdani has ALSO announced a ban on the use of AI in public schools for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered all state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras. (It should be noted that he approved almost 30M in such funding, and is only backpedaling now because he’s afraid of the voters in November.)
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals swept three byelections, securing the 172 seats necessary to restore their majority government in the House of Commons.
A city in Oklahoma tried to charge a farmer more than $17,000 to fulfill a public records request for information related to a proposed data center and the farmer’s arrest at a city council meeting. Now, the State’s attorney general has stepped in and told the city to drop the fees and “provide access promptly” to the documents.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's use of deportation and visa-revocation threats to punish international students for political speech violates the Constitution.
A new law in New Jersey requires data centers to report their water and energy use to state energy regulators every six months as part of a plan to “hold data centers accountable.”
The share of Americans who associate themselves with the Democratic Party has grown significantly over the past year, according to data from Gallup.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order barring city contracts with companies found to have committed "public integrity violations," including helping ICE.
Internet pranksters redirected people searching for information about the upcoming GOP convention to the DOJ’s website about the Epstein Files.
A central Arkansas county agreed to pay $275,000 to a former library director who was fired after speaking against local conservatives’ push to limit children’s access to books.
Tennessee plans to rename Nashville airport after Dolly Parton.
The prediction market Kalshi has permanently barred George Santos, the former representative from New York, and fined him $71,356 after finding evidence he engaged in insider trading.
West Virginia gave 54,000 low-income families a $200 school clothing allowance.
A record 12% of adults in the U.S. now identify as LGBTQ+.
Gov. Gavin Newsom backed off his (terrible) proposal to reduce costs for electrical utilities after their equipment sparks wildfires, after homeowners, insurers and fire survivors argued his original plan would have shifted those costs onto them. A victory for people power!
A new Politico article reveals that Republicans are growing increasingly worried that their mid-decade redistricting push “is not on track to bear the fruits they hoped it would.” Ya think?
The Ontario premier erected a giant sign saying “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”
The Maryland Supreme Court gave Democrats a victory in the state's protracted redistricting battle, allowing the Legislature's proposed amendment on redistricting to appear before voters in November.
Decades after they were hunted to near extinction, black bears are now rebounding in southern US states.
Tucker Carlson essentially endorsed Abdul El-Sayed (D) for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. I despise the man, but if he gets more voters to support El-Sayed I’ll take it.
Cook Political Report shifted three House races towards Democrats. FL-14 went from Lean R to TOSS-UP, MI-10 went from Lean R to TOSS-UP, and MI-08 went from Lean D to Likely D.
Cybersecurity experts—some of them hackers— are volunteering to keep America’s utilities safe from attacks.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there are no plans to send troops to polling places in November.
Students at hundreds of schools across Colorado walked out of class on Friday to protest ICE’s immigration crackdown. Organizers say more than 200 schools participated.
In many of Wyoming’s state primaries last week, Republican voters chose candidates who defended the state’s voting systems and election workers, over those who amplified the president’s lies about voter fraud.
Election denier Tina Peters turned down a Shasta County, CA elections job after Gov. Newsom publicly vowed to block her.
Democrats are mobilizing an ‘unprecedented’ defense to combat potential election disruption.
Because of the Iran war EV sales are surging in Europe, China and other major markets.
A new PAC run by a “a scrappy team of clean energy enthusiasts” is taking down lawmakers that oppose clean energy.
Ford Motor aims to sell more than 100,000 of its new Fathom electric trucks in the first year of production.
Roughly 250 Yale students, faculty and alumni held a deliberately unregistered teach-in — intentionally violating new protest restrictions — demanding administrators walk away from settlement talks with the Trump administration.
The national voter registration rate for 18-year-olds is up 6.7 percentage points compared to the same point in the 2022 midterms.
Congress passed a bill to avoid a government shutdown before the election.
Sen. Thom Tillis called on Trump to fire Pete Hegseth over what he called Hegseth’s “inept management” of the military.
Sen. Ed Markey won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved three gubernatorial ratings towards Democrats.
The House voted to censure outgoing Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after a months-long investigation by the ethics committee into allegations he sexually harassed two young female staff members. The vote was 413 to 2.
A federal judge ruled that Kyrsten Sinema can be sued under North Carolina’s homewrecker law for her romantic relationship with a married member of her security detail. Karma.
The UN has voted to adopt a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favor of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size.
A federal judge dismissed the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging California’s trans-inclusive school sports policies.
The Tetris company denounced the White House website’s “build the wall” game, which is essentially a clone of Tetris.
Florida! Revoked Flock permits? Will wonders never cease!
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