Nwexx

Mock medical cannabis tinctures in a display case at Callie's Apothecary in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 14, 2026. Two more dispensaries are expected to open next week, state officials announced Thursday, bringing the total so far to five. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) Two medical cannabis dispensaries are expected to open next week, bringing the total to five statewide, state officials announced Thursday. Justin Aday, general counsel for the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, said one of the dispensaries will open in Bessemer and will be the third location of Callie’s Apothecary, the first medical cannabis dispensary to open in the state. It has operating locations in Montgomery and Talladega.  Aday said the other dispensary is expected to open in Birmingham next week, the second location of Bama Bloom . It has an operating location in Athens and a third planned in Etowah County. “Altogether we have those two dispensary licensees that are operating. We have five cultivator...

President Donald Trump speaks during an Oct. 19, 2026, rally at the Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City, Kansas. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom. The cancellation came just five days ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, when Trump’s GOP is vying to maintain its razor-thin majority in the  U.S. House and control of the Senate.  Meanwhile, election forecasters say Democrats remain heavily favored to win the majority in the House, and  Senate races have also moved in the direction of Democrats. Trump is up against  dismal approval ratings amid the war in Iran and its effect on gas and diesel prices.  Trump “will continue connecting directly with Americans nationwide through more than 20 telerallies before Election Day,” according to a White House official, speaking on background.  The official added...

President Donald Trump’s administration is attempting to assert authority over state-run elections in the final days before voting ends in the midterm elections. (Photo by Simone Hogan/Getty Images) A federal judge on Wednesday denied a U.S. Department of Justice request that would have forced California to not count the ballots of 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges are likely noncitizens. The decision sets the case on a course to possibly reach the U.S. Supreme Court within days. In a scathing decision, Judge David Carter ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration was seeking to coerce California to abandon its constitutional elections procedures and “bend to the will of the Executive Branch” — a situation the veteran judge called unprecedented. Carter, an appointee of President Bill Clinton in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, denounced the Justice Department’s lawsuit in strong terms as a threat to the ability of more than 20,000 Cali...

A clock stands in front of the former train depot in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, on March 6, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor) Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks. President Donald Trump wants year-round  daylight saving time . The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly in July for the change. Lots of Democrats and Republicans are behind the idea. Yet, any momentum has stalled. The legislation can’t get out of the U.S. Senate, and it looks unlikely there’ll be much progress anytime soon. Senators are due to return to Washington from a lengthy recess on Nov. 9, and a push for year-round daylight saving time is expected. But it faces strong opposition from senators in rural areas and those who represent states where children could be walking to school in darkness for most of the winter. “No one likes changing the clock, me included...

A sign directs Gwinnett County, Georgia, voters to a polling station ahead of the 2025 general election.(Photo by Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is unlawfully scrutinizing naturalized U.S. citizens and placing them at risk of disenfranchisement, civil rights groups alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday, less than a week before Election Day. The lawsuit,  filed in California , came as Homeland Security asked for an emergency order to restart election-related field operations in nine states after a federal judge paused them over concerns they could sweep up U.S. citizens. The developments add to the  growing legal war over the midterm elections being fought in federal courts across the country. President Donald Trump’s administration is waging an aggressive and highly visible effort to target alleged noncitizen voting — a campaign Democrats and voting rights groups fear will wrongly ensnare Americans entitled to cast a ballot. Homeland Securit...

Early voters line up at the Midtown Mall in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (Yereth Rosen photo/Alaska Beacon) Less than a week before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive for power over elections has set the stage for a series of courtroom fights that could quickly lead to a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over the limits of federal authority. Democrats and voting rights advocates have long feared Trump would attempt to interfere in the midterm elections, especially if Republicans appear poised to lose control of Congress. With early voting  well underway across much of the country, they say those concerns are being confirmed as the Trump administration rushes forward a last-minute legal campaign to pressure election officials in a growing number of states. The U.S. Department of Justice over the past two weeks has sued Alaska and California, seeking extraordinary federal intervention in their elections. Signs suggest the lega...