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Data centers are now the largest financial bet in US history

Work continues on the new QTS data center in Eagle Mountain, Utah, on April 17, 2026. Today’s data center buildout has become the largest industrial boom since the railroad era of the 19th century, with $10 trillion in investment and almost twice the economic impact. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms and crowds out other more job-creating ventures.  Until now, no industry had driven the U.S. economy with such force since the railroad expansion of the late 1800s, when titans battled one another to lay the transcontinental tracks that would connect America from coast to coast. Railroads in the 19 th century consumed about $173 billion in today’s dollars and created more than 2% of the nation’s annual economic output (GDP) over 20 years.  Today’s data center buildout will dwarf that amount, with $10 trillion in investment, and now have almost twice the economic impa...
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In Montgomery ‘No Kings’ demonstration encourages voter registration, turnout

Protestors holding signs at the fourth "No Kings" protest in Montgomery, Alabama, on Oct. 17, 2026. The demonstration focused on voter registration and participation in preparation for the midterm elections in 17 days. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) How to register to vote Oct. 19 is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 3 election. If you haven’t registered to vote, you can do so here . And if you’re not sure of your registration status, you can double-check it here . More than 250 people gathered in downtown Montgomery Saturday to encourage voter turnout ahead of the midterm elections and Monday’s deadline to register to vote.  The demonstration was the fourth “No Kings” protest, a national movement protesting President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies. More than 2,500 events were planned across the country for the fourth installment, which focused on early voting . Montgomery’s event was one of 17 in Alabama, with events sched...
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Immigrants from Ukraine, Sudan could soon lose protected status

Supporters of Ukraine gather outside the Nebraska State Capitol on Feb. 28, 2026, the fourth anniversary of the country's war with Russia. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) WASHINGTON — More than 100,000 Ukrainians and roughly 2,000 Sudanese immigrants are bracing for the possibility they’ll lose their humanitarian protections by Monday. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not indicated if he will renew protections for Ukrainians, who first received Temporary Protected Status after Russia invaded their country in 2022, and for Sudanese nationals, who were granted the designation several times, most recently in 2022, because of an ongoing civil war. The Trump administration has moved to eliminate legal protections for  more than 1 million immigrants that have TPS. Of the 17 countries with the designation at the start of the second Trump administration, the only remaining protections are for Ukraine and Sudan, which are set to end on Monday, and Lebanon, whic...
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Democrats could flip state legislative chambers, break GOP supermajorities, analysis finds

Members of the New Hampshire state House meet during session this May. Both of New Hampshire’s legislative chambers are considered among the most competitive this midterm election cycle, according to a recent analysis by Sabato’s Crystal Ball. (Photo by Molly Rains/New Hampshire Bulletin) Party control is up for grabs in 15 state legislative chambers across the country as Republicans are increasingly on the defensive this midterm election cycle, a new analysis found.  2026’s most competitive legislative chambers These are the state chambers considered most competitive by Sabato’s Crystal Ball Senior Columnist Louis Jacobson: Alaska House Alaska Senate Arizona House Arizona Senate Georgia House Maine House Michigan House Michigan Senate Minnesota House Minnesota Senate New Hampshire House New Hampshire Senate Pennsylvania Senate Wisconsin Assembly  Wisconsin Senate Source: Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics The nonp...
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Trump back on the road as analysts see more congressional races shifting in Dems’ favor

President Donald Trump waves to the crowd after speaking at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama on Oct. 2, 2026. (Photo by Dan Anderson/Alabama Reflector) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has a flurry of travel on deck in the final frantic weeks leading up to the end of the midterm elections, in which the GOP is vying to maintain its control of both the U.S. House and Senate. But that outlook looks increasingly less favorable for Republicans, as analysts say Democrats remain heavily favored to win back the majority in the House, and Senate races continue to shift in the Democratic Party’s favor.  Adding to the trend,  the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter , an elections forecaster, shifted 11 additional House races in the direction of Democrats on Friday — in congressional districts in Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio and South Carolina. The political report also currently lists seven Senate toss-up r...
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New men’s prison in Elmore County will miss completion deadline, says Corrections

An officer is seen in the yard of Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama on Oct. 22, 2019. The Alabama Department of Corrections said Friday completion of the $1.25 billion men's prison in Elmore County would be delayed. (File) The Alabama Department of Corrections said Friday that completion of the $1.25 billion Gov. Kay Ivey Correctional Complex, a 4,000-bed men’s prison in Elmore County, will be delayed.  The department said in a statement Friday that Caddell Construction, a Montgomery-based design-build contractor for the prison, “failed to timely meet the contractual final completion deadline” but that the company remains responsible for completing the project. The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority, which oversees financing of the new prisons, “has exercised certain of its contractual rights, including its right to withhold payments from the design-build contractor, and is withholding funds sufficient for liquidated damages now due,” the news release...
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2 states, 2 abortion ballot measures, and the effort to win over Gen Z voters

A volunteer helps a young person fill out a form on National Voter Registration Day in 2025. For some young voters, abortion remains a defining issue, but for many others it ranks behind more immediate economic concerns. (Photo courtesy of Alliance for Youth Action) Editor’s Note: This story is part of Gen Z at the Ballot Box, a collaboration between States Newsroom and The 19th . Boise State University senior Cade Syvock opposes abortion. As president of the school’s chapter of the conservative group Turning Point USA, the organization founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, Syvock helped coordinate anti-abortion protests on campus.  But he’s not spending much time this fall campaigning against an Idaho ballot initiative that would restore abortion access. Not for lack of interest — he calls the proposed law “very, very extreme” because it allows abortions after viability in certain emergency cases — but because of pressing economic issues he’d rather be working on. “It’s not ...
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