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☆ Schools in One Virginia County to Reinstate Confederate Names
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Campbell Robertson | More About Campbell Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After a meeting that lasted for hours, the Shenandoah County school board voted early Friday morning to restore the names of three Confederate officers to schools in the district. With the vote, the district appears to be the first in the country to return Confederate names to schools that had removed them after the summer of 2020, according to researchers at the Montgomery, Ala.-based Equal Justice Initiative. The schools were renamed the next year as Honey Run and Mountain View. But a fury had been unleashed in the rural county in the mountains of Virginia. People crowded into school board meetings, denouncing the naming process as secretive and rushed, and voicing deeper resentments about cultural changes they saw as being foisted upon them.

Persons: George Floyd, — Ashby, Lee Elementary, Stonewall Jackson, Honey Organizations: Initiative, Lee, Stonewall Locations: Shenandoah County, Montgomery, Ala, Virginia

☆ Still love your landline? Phone service providers are getting closer to phasing it out
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —More people who are still using telephone landlines will soon need to decide if they want to finally hang up on their service. That’s part of a sweeping move by phone service providers to replace older copper wire-based telephone systems lines, also known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), with faster and more advanced technology that doesn’t work with landlines. In the United States, the shift away from copper landlines will most likely impact people over age 65 and small business owners. “Traditional landline telephone service is the most dependable communications tool currently available in rural communities and is vital to reliably accessing 9-1-1,” he said. Because phone service workers will need to be deployed during the removal process, this could extend the completion time.

Persons: CNN —, “ We’ve, “, ”, Lisa Pierce, Patrick Blacklock, ” Pierce, Will McKeon, White, ” McKeon Organizations: CNN, Verizon, Old Telephone Service, landlines, UK, Consumers, California Public Utilities Commission, Gartner, California, Federal Communications Commission, Forrester Research Locations: California, France, California ”, United States, Pennsylvania, Rural County

Photos You Should See View All 45 ImagesMcGuire will succeed state Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat who recently announced her bid for governor in 2026. Chris Lopez, who chairs the policy group Rural County Representatives of California, is proud to see lawmakers from rural areas lead both chambers of the Legislature. Policy advocates and fellow lawmakers described McGuire as an honest, hard-working leader who is willing to listen to a variety of opinions. Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a Republican representing part of San Diego County, said he has a good working relationship with McGuire. “I’m making sure that millions of California voices are being heard, and Mike McGuire is very respectful of that,” Jones said.

Persons: California Sen, Mike McGuire, McGuire, ” McGuire, Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, Gavin Newsom, Sen, Steven Bradford, Robert Rivas, Rivas, farmworkers, ” Rivas, Chris Lopez, ” Lopez, Alex Vassar, “, ”, Brian Jones, ” Jones, ” Kristina Bas Hamilton, doesn’t, Anthony Rendon, Atkins, patted, David Rabbitt, ” Rabbitt, ” ___ Austin, @sophieadanna Organizations: Associated Press, Pro Tempore, San Diego Democrat, Democratic Gov, California State Association of, San, Rural, California State Library, of Supervisors, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: SACRAMENTO, Calif, California, Eureka, Los Angeles, Healdsburg, Democrat’s, Oregon, California’s, Sonoma County, San Benito County, Rural County, McGuire's, San Diego County, Sacramento

☆ Arizona Officials Charged With Conspiring to Delay Election Results
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Charles Homans | More About Charles Homans | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two Republican county supervisors in Arizona were indicted Wednesday on felony charges related to their attempts to delay the certification of 2022 election results. Last year, Ms. Judd and Mr. Crosby sought to order a hand count of the ballots that had been cast in Cochise, a heavily Republican rural county, citing conspiracy theories that had been raised by local right-wing activists. When a judge ruled against them, they voted to delay certification of the election before eventually relenting under pressure of a court order. The episode was closely watched by democracy advocates and election law experts, who saw in the supervisors’ machinations a worrying precedent. As Donald J. Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him became widely accepted in the Republican Party, local Republican officials in several closely contested states used suspicion of the election system on the right to justify delaying the certification of 2022 election results.

Persons: Kris Mayes, Peggy Judd, Tom Crosby, Judd, Crosby, Donald J Organizations: Republican, Republican Party Locations: Arizona, Cochise County, Cochise

And for that, Suzette Baker was fired as a library director in a rural county in central Texas. She and two other librarians who were similarly fired have filed workplace discrimination claims with the U.S. Reached through the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the settlement requires her former employer to give librarians more say in decisions involving library programs. After her firing in 2022, Baker filed an EEOC claim against her employer, the Llano County Library System in Kingsland, Texas. Like Baker, Lesley had trouble finding work after being fired from the library system she directed in Gillette, Wyoming.

Persons: —, Suzette Baker, ”, Baker, Brooky Parks, Iris Halper, “, Terri Lesley, Halpern, Rathod Mohamedbhai, David Lopez, ” Baker, ” EEOC, Victor Chen, Lesley, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Robie Harris, Robert Pitman, Lesley's, ” Lesley Organizations: U.S, Commission, American Library Association, Erie Community Library, Colorado Civil Rights Division, High Plains Library District, University of Denver, Public, System, Rutgers University, “, American Terrorist, Sexual, ”, ” Texas U.S, District, Supreme Locations: Texas, Kingsland , Texas, Erie, Denver, Llano County, Campbell, Gillette , Wyoming, Tennessee, Kingsland, ” Texas, U.S, Llano

☆ Lucky Find at Auction Identifies Man on Cover of ‘Led Zeppelin IV’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Claire Moses | More About Claire Moses | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Nov. 8, 1971, Led Zeppelin released its iconic fourth studio album, which was untitled but is widely known as “Led Zeppelin IV.” It features the band’s major hit “Stairway to Heaven,” and the wordless cover shows the image of a bearded, older man with a large bundle of sticks on his back against the backdrop of a decaying wall. Now, 52 years later to the day, a minor mystery about that cover has been solved. Sometimes thought to be a painting, the image, it turns out, was a Victorian-era photograph of a man who made thatched roofs for cottages in Wiltshire, a rural county in southwestern England. His name was Lot Long and he was 69 at the time, according to Brian Edwards, a researcher who found the photo. As he was looking through a Victorian photo album full of landscapes and houses, Mr. Edwards noticed a photo he had seemingly seen before.

Persons: Lot Long, Brian Edwards, Edwards Organizations: Zeppelin, University of the Locations: Victorian, Wiltshire, England

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Workers in California will soon receive a minimum of five days of paid sick leave annually, instead of three, under a new law Gov. The law, which takes effect in January, also increases the amount of sick leave workers can carry over into the following year. “Too many folks are still having to choose between skipping a day’s pay and taking care of themselves or their family members when they get sick,” Newsom said in a statement announcing his action. Newsom already signed a law to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour. Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Democrat from Santa Cruz who authored the law and is a former local elections official, said the law creates necessary guardrails around elections.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, Newsom, “, ” Newsom, ” Jennifer Barrera, ” Andrea Zinder, Shasta, Donald Trump, ’, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, ”, Cathy Darling Allen, Hart InterCivic, Darling Allen, Patrick Henry Jones, ” Jones didn’t, ___ Sophie Austin, @sophieadanna Organizations: — Workers, Democratic, Wednesday, California Chamber of Commerce, unionize, Food, Commercial Workers Western States Council, Dominion Voting Systems, Santa Cruz, Democrat, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: SACRAMENTO, Calif, California, Northern California, Shasta, Santa, Shasta County, United States

☆ ‘A day that changed history': US marks 22 years since 9/11 attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Jennifer Peltz | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Commemorations stretch from the attack sites — at New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania — to Alaska and beyond. But a sense of connection is enshrined in a local memorial incorporating steel from the World Trade Center’s destroyed twin towers. As another way of marking the anniversary, many Americans do volunteer work on what Congress has designated both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance. First lady Jill Biden is due to lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. Educators with a total of more than 10,000 students have registered for access to the free “National Day of Learning” program, which will be available through the fall, organizers say.

Persons: Joe Biden, Eddie Ferguson, Jessica Leigh Sachs, “ We’re, ”, Joe Maurath, Kamala Harris, James Giaccone, Joseph Giaccone, ” James Giaccone, Andrew Siff, “, ” Biden, Republican George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Obama, Jill Biden, Harris ’, Doug Emhoff, Katherine Hostetler Organizations: Trade Center, Pentagon, Washington , D.C, NBC New, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Trade, Congress, of Service, Democrat, Republican, National Park Service Locations: firehouses, New, Shanksville, Pennsylvania —, Alaska, Anchorage, Washington ,, India, Vietnam, Virginia’s Goochland County, NBC New York, New York, Columbus , Indiana, Fenton , Missouri, St, Louis, Jersey's Monmouth, U.S, Fort Meade, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Stoystown

Commemorations stretch from the attack sites — at New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania — to Alaska and beyond. But a sense of connection is enshrined in a local memorial incorporating steel from the World Trade Center’s destroyed twin towers. In Columbus, Indiana, 911 dispatchers broadcast a remembrance message to police, fire and EMS radios throughout the 50,000-person city, which also holds a public memorial ceremony. At ground zero, Vice President Kamala Harris is due to join the ceremony on the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum plaza. First lady Jill Biden is due to lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon.

Persons: Joe Biden, Eddie Ferguson, Jessica Leigh Sachs, “ We’re, ”, Joe Maurath, Kamala Harris, James Giaccone, Joseph Giaccone, ” James Giaccone, “, ” Biden, Republican George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Obama, Jill Biden, Harris ’, Doug Emhoff, Katherine Hostetler Organizations: Trade Center, Pentagon, Washington , D.C, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Trade, Congress, of Service, Democrat, Republican, National Park Service Locations: firehouses, New, Shanksville, Pennsylvania —, Alaska, Anchorage, Washington ,, India, Vietnam, Virginia’s Goochland County, New York, Columbus , Indiana, Fenton , Missouri, St, Louis, Jersey's Monmouth, U.S, Fort Meade, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Stoystown

☆ Rains from dying typhoon batter China for seventh day
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Heavy rains from a typhoon kept southern China drenched for the seventh day as slow-moving storm clouds drifted from Guangdong on the coast to Guangxi, flooding low-lying areas, blocking roads and trapping residents. Heavy rain is expected to persist in Guangxi over the next few days. Neighbouring Hong Kong was pelted by the worst storm in 140 years. "Typhoons that move far inland affect regions historically less exposed to heavy rainfall and strong wind, often with lower disaster resilience, leading to more severe losses," said Shao Sun, a climatologist at the University of California, Irvine. Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Haikui, Shao Sun, Ryan Woo, Michael Perry Organizations: Typhoons, University of California, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Guangdong, Guangxi, Bobai, Fujian, Shenzhen deluged, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Irvine

☆ Silicon Valley billionaires want to build a new city in rural California, but locals are skeptical of the project: 'Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Janie Har | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Silicon Valley billionaires revealed plans to build a new city after buying $800 million in land. The land was quietly purchased in Solano County, a rural area near San Francisco and Sacramento. Most of the land purchased is in the southeastern portion of the county, with parcels stretching from Fairfield to Rio Vista. Billionaires want to build a new city in rural California, but they're encountering wavering support from locals and lawmakers. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Flannery, Laurene Powell Jobs, Reid Hoffman, Marc Andreessen, Marc Andreeseen, Lauren Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz, Paul Chinn, Countess, Michael Kovac, Sramek, Mike Thompson, Terry Chea, Princess Washington, Thompson, they're, he's, John Garamendi, Hoffman, Andreessen, Ron Kott, Kott Organizations: Service, FRANCISCO, Flannery Associates, Silicon, LinkedIn, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Getty, Fair, Solano, US Air Force, FBI, of Treasury, AP, San Francisco Bay Area, Travis Air Force Base, US Locations: Solano County, San Francisco, Sacramento, Wall, Silicon, Northern California, Solano, Silicon Valley, California, Fairfield, Rio Vista, U.S, United Kingdom, Ireland, walkable, Terry Chea California, California's, San Francisco Bay, Princess, Suisun City, Travis

☆ Trump election probe in Georgia is headed to grand jury next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Donald Trump looks on before the first round of the LIV Golf Bedminster golf tournament at Trump National Bedminster, August 11, 2023. A Georgia prosecutor probing whether Donald Trump and his allies illegally sought to overturn the state's 2020 election results is expected to seek an indictment from a grand jury next week. "I'll certainly answer whatever questions are put in front of me," said Duncan, a Republican who has criticized Trump's false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the Washington case, has also charged Trump separately in Florida with illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office and with obstruction of justice. In a post on his Truth Social site on Saturday, Trump again called the Georgia investigation a "witch hunt."

Persons: Donald Trump, Fani Willis, Geoff Duncan, Duncan, George Chidi, Trump, Joe Biden's, Jack Smith, Willis, Republican Brad Raffensperger, Biden, Chidi Organizations: Bedminster, Trump National Bedminster, CNN, Republican, Trump Locations: Georgia, Atlanta, Fulton County, Washington, Florida

Aug 12 (Reuters) - A Georgia prosecutor probing whether Donald Trump and his allies illegally sought to overturn the state's 2020 election results is expected to seek an indictment from a grand jury next week. "I'll certainly answer whatever questions are put in front of me," said Duncan, a Republican who has criticized Trump's false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the Washington case, has also charged Trump separately in Florida with illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office and with obstruction of justice. In a post on his Truth Social site on Saturday, Trump again called the Georgia investigation a "witch hunt." Her investigation began soon after Trump made a phone call to the state's top election official, Republican Brad Raffensperger, and urged him to "find" enough votes to alter the outcome.

Persons: Donald Trump, Fani Willis, Geoff Duncan, Duncan, George Chidi, Trump, Joe Biden's, Jack Smith, Willis, Republican Brad Raffensperger, Biden, Chidi, Joseph Ax, Daniel Wallis Organizations: CNN, Republican, Trump, Thomson Locations: Georgia, Atlanta, Fulton County, Washington, Florida

☆ This golden statue was ridiculed when a local government erected it. Then gold price skyrocketed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Jake Kwon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The county government decided it would erect a statue of bats – dubbed “golden bats” by savvy marketers – made from, as one could guess, pure gold. Then it took three years for renowned South Korean sculptor Byun Kun-ho to sculpt five golden bats flying through a massive silver ring. Its detractors viewed spending millions on a golden statue as a waste, while the county relies on subsidies for around 90% of its revenue. A local newspaper called the move a “flashy but hollow bureaucratic decision” that was “divorced from the local sentiment.”After an attempted heist, additional security has been installed to protect the golden statue. But the value of the golden statue has attracted unwanted attention too.

☆ Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Georgia's Senate runoff in 2021, text messages show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It’s unclear what if any evidence he has in his possession related to the Coffee County breach. Penrose and Logan were also named in a state-level criminal investigation in Michigan alleging they participated in a conspiracy to seize voting machines there. A local election official helped them gain access to sensitive voting data which they downloaded onto a portable hard drive. Bundren was part of the team enlisted by Trump’s lawyers to find evidence of widespread voter fraud after the 2020 election. Bundren helped oversee the multi-state push to access voting machines on behalf of the Trump legal team, according to several documents obtained by CNN.

☆ At Least 2 Dead as Tornado Hits Oklahoma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least two people were killed as stormy weather and at least one confirmed tornado swept through a rural county south of Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, the local police said. The two deaths were recorded in or near Cole, a town of about 600 people south of Oklahoma City, Scott Gibbons, a deputy sheriff for McClain County, said by phone overnight. The authorities believe that the deaths are related to the storm, he added. Deputy Gibbons said people elsewhere in the county had also been injured, but that he did not yet know how many. The National Weather Service warned on Wednesday night that the storm’s exact path was hard to predict because it was behaving “erratically.” KWTV, a CBS affiliate in Oklahoma, aired footage of what it said was a large tornado crossing Interstate 40 in the city of Shawnee, about 40 miles east of Oklahoma City.

☆ Texas County Keeps Public Libraries Open Amid Book Ban Controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( David Montgomery | Alexandra Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A small Texas county decided to keep its public libraries open during a heated public meeting in which county commissioners weighed whether to shut down the library system after a judge ordered the county to restore banned books to its shelves. The decision was seen as a victory for a group of residents who had sued the county and library officials, arguing that the book removals were unconstitutional and violated citizens’ First Amendment rights. The judge, Robert Pitman, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, ordered Llano County to return the books to their place while a lawsuit over the banned books, brought on by a group of county residents, proceeds. After the judge’s order was issued, county commissioners called a special meeting to decide whether to “continue or cease operations” at the library. The ongoing fight has divided the community and made Llano, a rural county in central Texas about 80 miles northwest of Austin, a new testing ground for citizens invoking First Amendment protections in the face of rising book bans.

☆ Flood of recount requests delays election certification in Pennsylvania
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“I think if people are able to come to the courts and delay certification results without any real evidence, that’s a problem, and I see some abuse of that process here,” Deluzio said. Judges authorized at least 19 precinct recounts in six counties. An AP survey of the Pennsylvania precinct recounts found the recount challenges altered vote tallies barely or not at all. Rep. Leanne Krueger, who leads the state House Democratic Campaign Committee, said those who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election have been trying to stop election certification for several years. Lycoming County elections chief Forrest Lehman said defending a single recount petition required making copies of poll books and collecting a variety of records.

☆ Mehmet Oz is underperforming Trump in some of Pennsylvania in early returns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mehmet Oz is underperforming Trump in some rural Pennsylvania counties. The closely-watched Senate race could very well decide the Senate majority. In Bedford County, a rural county near the Maryland border, Oz received 80.7% of the vote compared to Lt. Gov. If Oz struggles across rural Pennsylvania, he'll have to make up his margin elsewhere. Follow Insider for live results from the Pennsylvania Senate race and other major contests.

Nevada ACLU requests investigation into alleged partisan hand-countRENO, Nev. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada asked the state’s secretary of state Wednesday to investigate what it called a “coordinated partisan election administration effort” during rural Nye County’s hand-count of mail-in ballots that was shut down last week until after polls close. The ACLU said a hand-count volunteer openly carrying a firearm removed an ACLU observer from a hand-count tally room, which the organization said it recently discovered was Nye County GOP Central Committee Vice Chair Laura Larsen. The ACLU said the situation “poses questions” surrounding Nye County interim clerk Mark Kampf’s delegation of authority to partisan officials to remove observers from hand-count rooms, particularly during a hand-count process that deals with tabulation of ballots. It’s the latest development in a conflict between the rural county’s election administration and the ACLU that has spanned lawsuits, infighting and a Nevada Supreme Court ruling late on Oct. 27 that prompted Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, to shut down the hand-counting until after polls close on Election Day. Read the story.

☆ Li Xi gets graft-busting role on China's new Standing Committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Li Xi, the Communist Party chief of the economic powerhouse Guangdong province, assumed two new titles on Sunday when he was elevated to the elite Politburo Standing Committee and put in charge of the party's influential graft-busting body. Li's ties to Xi stem in part from his indirect links to Xi's late father, the Communist Party revolutionary Xi Zhongxun. His career took off in 2015 when he was appointed party secretary of Liaoning province in China's northeast. In 2017, he was named Guangdong party boss, a coveted role that propelled him onto the 25-member Politburo. All but one of the last five party chiefs in Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, have subsequently joined the Standing Committee.

A voter casts their ballot in the Pennsylvania primary elections at Congregation Beth Or in Ambler, Pennsylvania, U.S. May 17, 2022. The alleged security breach came to light last month when Fulton County sued election equipment maker Dominion Voting Systems, citing purported security flaws discovered in Speckin's analysis of six hard drives from the machines. In a Pennsylvania Supreme Court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for the Secretary of the Commonwealth had asked the court to hold Fulton County officials, including Republican Commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch, in civil contempt for the breach. The lawyers said county officials "openly thumbed their noses at a clear and direct order of this Court" by allowing Speckin, a Michigan-based company, access to the machines. Stefanie Lambert, a Detroit-based attorney representing the county, did not immediately respond to a query about the special master appointment.

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