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It wasn’t 1968. It wasn’t even close. While thousands of people joined enthusiastic daily protests in parks and on the streets of Chicago, a city with a deep history of protests, their numbers were fewer than organizers had hoped. All week, demonstrators chanted and marched near the convention site, angrily calling for a cease-fire and an end to U.S. aid for Israel, but failed to seriously disrupt the convention and its celebration of Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee. Though many demonstrators hoped that the convention organizers would grant a speaker of Palestinian descent a chance to address the crowd, that request was ultimately denied.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Harris Organizations: Convention, Democratic Party Locations: Chicago, Gaza, Israel

☆ One Word Has Elevated Minnesota’s Governor to the Democrats’ V.P. Wish List
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Tim Walz of Minnesota of being flashy. During six terms in Congress, he was regarded more as a workhorse than a showboat. “These guys are just weird,” Mr. Walz said on Saturday of the Republican ticket. He was talking to a crowd of canvassers for the Harris campaign in St. Paul, but the “weird” line of attack, which he has been using for months, went viral. (Ms. Harris herself used the words “just plain weird” over the weekend to describe the ways in which Republicans have chosen to criticize her.)

Persons: Tim Walz, Minnesota, Walz, Kamala Harris’s, Donald J, Mr, Harris, Paul Organizations: Gov, Minnesota —, Republican, Republicans Locations: Minnesota, canvassers, St

On Today’s Episode:Biden Asks America to ‘Lower the Temperature’ After Trump Shooting, by Michael D. ShearHere’s What Is Known About the Suspect Who Tried to Assassinate Trump, by Campbell Robertson, Jack Healy, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Glenn ThrushAfter Shooting at Trump Rally, Officials Say R.N.C. Security Is ‘Ready To Go,’ by Julie Bosman, Ernesto Londoño and Dan SimmonsIsrael Struck Twice in Its Attack on Al-Mawasi, Videos and Photos Show, by Riley MellenPromised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents, by Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi

Persons: Biden, Michael D, Trump, Campbell Robertson, Jack Healy, Nicholas Bogel, Burroughs, Glenn Thrush, Julie Bosman, Ernesto Londoño, Dan Simmons Israel, Riley Mellen, Blood Banks, Sarah Kliff Organizations: Trump, Trump Rally Locations: ‘

Milwaukee was always an unlikely host for the Republican National Convention: small in population with 560,000 residents, short on hotel rooms and unaccustomed to holding large-scale gatherings. The city is now facing even more scrutiny in the wake of an assassination attempt Saturday night against former President Donald J. Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. Even as workers this weekend were erecting fences, posting shiny signs and adding final touches as the first of 50,000 people descended on the city, party and local officials met to re-evaluate security plans. At a news conference in Milwaukee, Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the R.N.C. coordinator for the Secret Service, said that the agency was “ready to go” for the convention on Monday.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Audrey Gibson Organizations: Milwaukee, Republican National Convention, Secret Service, Secret Locations: Pennsylvania, Milwaukee

☆ River Surges Over Wisconsin Dam Amid Heavy Rain, Imperiling Small City
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | More About Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Emergency officials in Manawa, Wis., were rescuing people stranded on flooded roads on Friday after a river overflowing from torrential rain spilled over a local dam. Emergency officials were rescuing drivers who had become stranded while trying to flee, Mr. Kotenberg said. “People were in cars on roads that were flooded,” he said. Some were rescued “standing on the hoods of their cars,” he added. As of Friday afternoon, Mr. Kotenberg said there had been no reports of deaths or injuries from the flooding.

Persons: Kurt Kotenberg, Kotenberg, ” Organizations: National Weather Service Locations: Manawa, Wis, Green Bay

☆ Age Is on the Ballot in 2024, at Least in North Dakota
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Tuesday, voters in North Dakota will weigh in. Granted, the ballot measure on age limits for politicians that North Dakotans will consider takes the temperature of voters in a single state — and one of the nation’s least populous states at that, with some 779,000 residents. And, technically, this proposed age limit only pertains to North Dakota candidates for Congress, not the presidency or any other office. Still, amid all the chatter about age in 2024, this ballot measure provides a rare chance to learn what at least one set of voters in the nation’s middle thinks about older elected officials. “I think it’s very possible that if we pull this off here, other states will follow.”

Persons: ”, Jared Hendrix, “ Organizations: Congress, Republican Locations: North Dakota, North, Fargo

☆ North Dakotans Approve Age Limit for Members of Congress
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | More About Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Voters in North Dakota approved a ballot measure that sets a maximum age for representing the state in Congress, The Associated Press said on Tuesday. Experts said they believed North Dakota was the first state to impose such a requirement on members of Congress, though they said the measure is likely to be challenged in court. The ballot measure, to amend the North Dakota Constitution, bars congressional candidates who would turn 81 or older by the end of the year before their term ends from being eligible for office. The measure provided a rare glimpse into how one state’s voters think about age at a time when questions over the effectiveness of older political leaders have been part of the national conversation. The campaign in North Dakota to pass an age limit on the state’s members of Congress began as many Americans have debated whether age ought to be a factor in this year’s presidential contest.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Associated Press, Dakota Constitution Locations: North Dakota, Congress, Dakota

A woman drove up to a Minnesota home in a Mazda on Sunday night with a bag of cash totaling $120,000, ready to hand it to one of the 12 jurors in a multimillion-dollar charitable fraud case in the Minneapolis federal courthouse. “This is for Juror 52,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson quoted the woman saying, according to a story in the Sahan Journal. The U.S. attorney’s office said in an interview with The New York Times that the accounts were accurate and that more details would be forthcoming. Prosecutors said the juror reported the apparent bribery attempt to the local police. Prosecutors have accused them — and dozens of others — of stealing $250 million by claiming to have served nonexistent meals to nonexistent children.

Persons: Joe Thompson, “, ”, Thompson Organizations: Mazda, ”, The New York Times, Prosecutors Locations: Minnesota, Minneapolis, Sahan, U.S

☆ Prosecutor Drops Murder Charges Against Minnesota Trooper Amid Pushback
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The top prosecutor in Minneapolis has dropped murder charges against a state trooper who fatally shot a motorist last year after a traffic stop, her office said on Sunday, a stunning turnaround in a case that ignited a political firestorm. The trooper, Ryan Londregan, had been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Ricky Cobb II. But the prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, a longtime public defender who was elected Hennepin County attorney in 2022, said she concluded that the evidence was too weak to take to trial. For months, Ms. Moriarty defended the murder charges amid criticism from both Democratic and Republican officials, as well as law enforcement officials. Mr. Cobb, 33, was Black; Trooper Londregan, 27, is white.

Persons: Ryan Londregan, Ricky Cobb, Mary Moriarty, Moriarty, ”, George Floyd, Cobb, Londregan Organizations: Hennepin, Democratic, Republican Locations: Minneapolis, Hennepin County

House Republicans used words like “violence,” “hijacking” and “chaos.” They asked the university leaders why so few protesters had been suspended. They showed videos and wielded a document with a bright red “F” grade. The leaders of Northwestern, Rutgers and the University of California, Los Angeles, responded with phrases like “due process,” “appropriate penalties” and “task force.”At the third congressional hearing on campus antisemitism on Thursday, Republicans sharply questioned the university leaders about the pro-Palestinian encampments that student protesters have pitched on their campuses and campuses across the country in response to the Israel-Hamas war. But the university leaders seemed to draw lessons from previous hearings, and sought to avoid enraging either the Republicans on the committee or members of their own institutions. They acknowledged some missteps and promised to do more to combat antisemitism, while also pushing back against some of the accusations leveled against them.

Persons: ” Organizations: Republicans, Northwestern, Rutgers, University of California Locations: Los Angeles, Israel

For the fourth time in six months, the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce is summoning school leaders to Washington to be questioned about accusations of antisemitism at their institutions. This time, on Thursday, the committee’s focus will be on how three diverse universities reacted when pro-Palestinian encampments sprung up on their lawns as part of an international wave of student activism against the war in Gaza. Two of the schools whose leaders will testify — Northwestern and Rutgers — made deals with protesters to end their encampments peacefully. Representative Virginia Foxx, the chairwoman of the committee, has blasted Rutgers and Northwestern for negotiating with the demonstrators, whose views she has described as antisemitic and supportive of terrorism. But she has also derided U.C.L.A.’s chancellor for calling the police too late, saying he allowed his campus to become a “severe and pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students.”

Persons: —, Rutgers —, Representative Virginia Foxx, U.C.L.A, ’, ” Organizations: Republican, Committee, Education, Rutgers, University of California, Representative, Northwestern Locations: Washington, Gaza, — Northwestern, Los Angeles

☆ Smoke-Filled Skies Leave Midwest Fearing Another Season of Polluted Air
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A cloud of smoke from Canadian wildfires suddenly blanketed Minnesota on Sunday evening, marring what had otherwise been a sun-drenched weekend and leaving some residents wondering whether the misery of last summer was starting all over again. A thick haze of smoke had repeatedly hung over cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast throughout the summer last year, leaving some communities breathing air so polluted that schools were closed and sporting events canceled. For now, experts say that a similar pattern has indeed appeared to have emerged. “We’re expecting a pretty active wildfire season in Canada,” said David Brown, an air quality meteorologist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. For now, he added, people on the East Coast appear unlikely to endure the kind of periods of highly polluted air that startled many people last year.

Persons: “ We’re, ”, David Brown, Mr, Brown Organizations: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Locations: Minnesota, East, Canada, Quebec, Ontario

☆ Drugs, Sacraments or Medicine? Psychedelic Churches Blur the Line.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | Meridith Kohut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Facing the latest participants attending her four-day psychedelic retreat, Whitney Lasseter made a bold claim: The ceremonies they would take part in were sanctioned by federal law, which sets a high bar for the government to interfere in religious practices. “We are using these medicines to connect with the divine,” said Ms. Lasseter, the founder of All Tribes Medicine Assembly, one of dozens of organizations that describe themselves as churches and view their use of psychoactive substances as sacramental, even though they are generally illegal under federal law. “It’s your right to practice your religion however you are guided.”Eight guests seated in a circle in a suburban Austin, Texas, living room nodded, some looking apprehensive, as Ms. Lasseter outlined the sequence of body-jolting, mind-altering rituals ahead. First, there would be a detoxification protocol in which poisonous secretions of a frog from the Amazon are dabbed on tiny burn marks on a person’s skin, often inducing nausea and projectile vomiting.

Persons: Whitney Lasseter, ”, Lasseter, “ Organizations: All Tribes Medicine Assembly Locations: Austin , Texas

☆ Turkey Halts Trade With Israel as Relations Deteriorate
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Gulsin Harman | Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

Peaceful protest is. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest. Peaceful protest is.”In calming some in his party, though, Mr. Biden took heat from others on the political left.

Persons: Biden, It’s, President Biden, ” Mr, “, Nemat Shafik, ”, Tim Scott, Donald J, Mr, Trump, Crooked Joe Biden, Newscum, Gavin Newsom, Israel, George Floyd, could’ve, Matt Duss, Bernie Sanders, Jonathan Wolfe, Ernesto Londoño, Bob Chiarito, Mike Baker Organizations: Jewish, White, Republican, National Guard, “, Police, University of California, Portland State University, University of Wisconsin, Fordham, Manhattan, University of Texas, Dartmouth College, Tulane University, New York Times, Brown University, Northwestern University, Columbia University, American Association of University, Hamilton, Republicans, Trump Locations: America, Palestinian, Gaza, “, Los Angeles, Oregon, Madison, Dallas, New Hampshire, New Orleans, Rhode Island, Illinois, Israel, Washington, South Carolina, U.C.L.A, California, North Carolina, Charlotte, Wilmington, Vermont, St, Paul, Minn, Wis, Seattle

☆ This Prosecutor Pledged to Change George Floyd’s City. Her Critics Are Circling.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Mary Moriarty, a former public defender, became Minneapolis’s top prosecutor last year after persuading voters shaken by the murder of George Floyd that she could improve public safety by reining in police misconduct and making the criminal justice system less punitive. Turbulence quickly followed. The attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a fellow Democrat who had endorsed Ms. Moriarty as she campaigned to be Hennepin County attorney, took over a murder case from her office last spring after concluding that it had offered an overly lenient plea deal to a juvenile defendant. By fall, two judges took the unusual step of rejecting plea deals offered by Ms. Moriarty’s office, deeming them too permissive for violent crimes. After Ms. Moriarty this year charged a state trooper with murder in the shooting of a motorist who drove away during a traffic stop, criticism mounted.

Persons: Mary Moriarty, George Floyd, Keith Ellison, Moriarty, Ms Locations: Minnesota, Hennepin County

☆ He’s on Death Row for Murders. Prison Workers Say He Should Be Spared.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Mitch Smith | Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Among those asking Missouri’s governor to spare the life of Brian Dorsey, who was convicted of two murders and is set to be executed on Tuesday, were Roman Catholic bishops, law professors and national mental health groups. There was also a less expected cohort seeking clemency: more than 70 current and former prison workers who got to know Mr. Dorsey behind bars. That level of public support from correctional workers is rare in death penalty cases, though it remains to be seen whether it persuades Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, to commute Mr. Dorsey’s sentence to life in prison. Mr. Dorsey, 52, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2006 deaths of his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband, Ben Bonnie.

Persons: Missouri’s, Brian Dorsey, Dorsey, Mike Parson, Sarah Bonnie, Ben Bonnie Organizations: Catholic, Republican

☆ Three Men Face Federal Gun Charges in Kansas City Super Bowl Parade Shooting
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | More About Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Three men have been charged with firearms trafficking and other crimes as part of the investigation into the shooting that marred a Super Bowl victory celebration in Kansas City, Mo., federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. One person was killed and more than 20 were injured in the shooting on Feb. 14, after an argument turned violent and at least six people opened fire just as the rally was dispersing near Union Station, the authorities said. Days later, two teenagers were charged with resisting arrest and “gun-related” offenses. In late February, two Missouri men, Lyndell Mays, 23, and Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with murder. Three Kansas City, Mo., men now face multiple federal charges after investigators determined that at least two of the weapons recovered at the shooting scene had been unlawfully purchased or trafficked.

Persons: Lyndell Mays, Dominic Miller Organizations: Kansas City Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Missouri, Kansas

Americans have argued about immigration for decades, often with anger, fear and racial resentment. Decades of neglect and political stalemate have left the American immigration system broken in ways that defy simple solutions. Many are settling in cities far from the border, making an abstract problem suddenly concrete for some Americans. And there was little hope that President Biden might figure out a way out of the morass. Notably, the solutions voters proposed didn’t fit neatly into either party’s ideological box.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden Organizations: Republican Locations: American

A former U.S. ambassador accused of working for decades as a secret agent for Cuba indicated on Thursday that he would plead guilty, a move that would bring to a swift end the legal case over one of the biggest national security breaches in years. Manuel Rocha, 73, said in federal court in Miami that he would file a change of plea, signaling that he is prepared to plead guilty. He was charged in December with acting as an agent of a foreign government and defrauding the United States. Mr. Rocha is expected to plead guilty to two counts of conspiring to act as a foreign agent. Prosecutors are expected to drop the other charges; the wire fraud charge carried a 20-year maximum sentence.

Persons: Manuel Rocha, Rocha, Rocha’s Organizations: Prosecutors, Associated Press Locations: U.S, Cuba, Miami, United States

☆ Sweating Buckets, and Loving It: Minnesotans and Their Saunas
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | Jenn Ackerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For people in Minnesota, the sauna is a link to the past and a way to form new bonds. Feb. 17, 2024Jumping in a hole in a frozen lake during a subzero Minnesota winter evening is brutal. On the banks of Lake Minnewashta in Excelsior, just outside Minneapolis, the answer lies in a dimly lit, wood-burning barrel-shaped sauna a few feet away. Minnesotans have begun partaking in a version of this ritual in droves as a tradition imported by the state’s Nordic settlers in the late 1800s has gone mainstream. While cold plunging is not obligatory — and some opt out — most of the new sauna venues encourage even mild forms of cold exposure, like dumping a bucket of cold water on your head.

Locations: Minnesota, Lake Minnewashta, Excelsior, Minneapolis, Midwest

☆ Seizures of Psychedelic Mushrooms Rise in U.S. as Demand Grows
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Seizures of psychedelic mushrooms across the nation by law enforcement officials have increased significantly in recent years as attitudes regarding their use have grown more permissive, according to a government-funded study released Tuesday. Researchers found that law enforcement officials confiscated 844 kilos of mushrooms containing psilocybin in 2022, an increase of 273 percent from 2017. Psilocybin is the psychoactive component in the fungi commonly known as magic mushrooms. The marketplace for magic mushrooms, which are illegal under federal law, has boomed in recent years as several clinical studies have shown that they may be effective as therapies to treat depression and other serious conditions. But many medical professionals say they worry that the hype surrounding psychedelics has moved faster than the science.

Organizations: National Institute on Drug

☆ What Does Being Sober Mean Today? For Many, Not Full Abstinence.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mike Reed, a musician and Uber driver in Arizona, said he quit drinking alcohol more than a decade ago when his roommates got so fed up with his unruly behavior that they threatened to kick him out. Sobriety became such a core part of Mr. Reed’s identity that he launched an online dating website called “Single & Sober,” but in 2020, Mr. Reed, a Navy veteran, said he found himself struggling as his sister, who had Down syndrome, was dying of cancer. Mr. Reed, 43, began smoking marijuana. More recently, he went to a clinic for infusions of ketamine, and tried tiny doses of psychoactive mushrooms. Mr. Reed said those substances improved his mood — and he still regards himself as sober, because he remains alcohol free.

Persons: Mike Reed, Reed Organizations: Navy Locations: Arizona

☆ A Drug Test Cost a D.E.A. Agent His Job. He Sued, and Got It Back.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Drug Enforcement Administration regarded Anthony L. Armour as an “outstanding” special agent on the front lines of the nation’s opioid epidemic. But in 2019, a routine drug test derailed his career. His failed drug test led the government to fire him, setting off a lengthy court battle that underscored the growing pains of a booming and largely unregulated CBD industry. Last week, Mr. Armour won his case. In a rare move, the Department of Justice agreed to rehire him as a special agent, provide some back pay, cover his legal expenses and restore his eligibility for a pension.

Persons: Anthony L, Armour Organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice

☆ What’s in Our Queue? ‘Local Valley’ and More
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

This over-the-top, clutch-those-pearls-girl matchmaking reality show is fittingly hosted by the adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels. The drama and steamy scenes get old quickly, but I kept watching mainly because it provides an intimate and revealing look at a woman who became an unexpected protagonist of the Trump era.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Trump

Mr. Biden has made repeated gestures of support to Muslims and Arab Americans: In an Oval Office address on Oct. 20, he denounced Islamophobia and the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old who was fatally stabbed in Illinois in what authorities have called a hate crime. “In 2020, the Muslim community was instrumental in turning out the vote for Joe Biden,” said Ms. Al-Hanooti, the Michigan executive director of Emgage, a national organization that seeks to strengthen the political power of Muslim Americans. Muslim voters turned out in significant numbers — 145,000 voted in the presidential election, according to Emgage. An exit poll commissioned by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that roughly 69 percent of Muslims nationwide voted for Biden. Ms. Al-Hanooti said Muslims turned out in large numbers for Mr. Biden mainly because they were motivated to help defeat President Trump.

Persons: Mr, Biden, Wadea, ”, Ammar Moussa, Biden “, Biden’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Nada, “, Joe Biden, ” Mr, Hanooti, Trump Organizations: Biden, Arab, Palestinian, Council, Islamic Relations Locations: Michigan, Wayne County, Hamtramck, Dearborn, Arab, Illinois, Israel, Palestinian American

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