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Inflation spiked to 4.2%, a three-year high, in May

Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest mark in three years, boosted largely by higher energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war. (Photo by Niki Kelly/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest mark in three years, boosted largely by higher energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war, according to federal numbers released on Wednesday. The higher year-over-year inflation rate was expected. But at more than double the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%, the new numbers dimmed hopes for a cut in the interest rate. The so-called core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, was 2.9%. Apparel costs were up 4.8% and the cost of transportation services increased by 4.1%. Even before today’s report, the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute said that “Trump’s war of choice in Iran, coupled with his reckless budget and import tariff policies, offer strong arguments against ...
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Billions for the next 3 years of Trump’s mass deportation campaign signed into law

On June 10, 2026, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill providing $70 billion for immigration enforcement and detention activites over the next three years. In this photo, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent watches a crowd of protesters at Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J., on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Ben Ackman/New Jersey Monitor) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump significantly bolstered funding for immigration enforcement Wednesday when he signed into law a nearly $70 billion package that will keep key federal agencies operating without any new restrictions.  Democrats pressed for guardrails after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. But when talks broke down, Republican lawmakers drafted their own bill without any additional constraints.  “The bill provides crucial funding for domestic law enforcement investigations and combating child exploitation, continuing our work to restore law and order across our nation, a...

Federal judge blocks use of Alabama’s nitrogen gas execution protocol

A jury convicted Jeffery Lee, 50, of the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery. Lee was scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas on Thursday, but a federal judge Tuesday ruled that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment. (Alabama Department of Corrections) A federal judge Tuesday ruled that Alabama’s nitrogen gas execution protocol constituted “cruel and unusual punishment,” throwing future uses of the controversial method into doubt. U.S. District Court Judge Emily Marks, ruling a day after a three-judge panel found the method constituted a “substantial risk of serious harm” to Jeffery Lee, scheduled to be executed on Thursday, wrote that Lee’s proposal to be executed by firing squad was a feasible alternative method. “The state has failed to articulate a legitimate penological reason for refusing to adopt Lee’s proposed alternative,” Marks wrote. “Therefore, Lee has shown by a preponderance o...

States face more budget pressures amid rising costs, slow growth

The Rhode Island House of Representatives debates the fiscal year 2027 state budget in Providence on Friday. A new survey of state budget officers found many states face ongoing budget pressures. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) The most recent budgets proposed by governors across the country reflect ongoing financial pressures for states as they expect modest revenue growth, rising prices and federal policy changes. Most governors recommended state budgets for fiscal year 2027 that would essentially keep spending flat from the general funds that pay for most state services. That’s according to the Fiscal Survey of States by the National Association of State Budget Officers. (Forty-six states will begin the 2027 fiscal year in July.)  The survey of budget leaders found nearly half the states were implementing some form of spending cuts to balance the books.  In their budget plans, 14 states said they would eliminate vacant positions, four reported hiring freezes and...

Trump says Iran downed a US Army Apache helicopter, vows response

President Donald Trump looks on prior to a game between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks in Game Three of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 8, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States will retaliate after Iran shot down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter late Monday over the Strait of Hormuz, and that the two American pilots aboard were unharmed. Trump announced the cause of the helicopter’s downing in a Truth Social post just before 1 p.m. Eastern. As of early Tuesday morning, the incident had still been under investigation, according to U.S. Central Command. “I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack. Th...

Morgan County judge sets deadline for response to former death row inmate’s appeal

Robin “Rocky” Myers was sentenced to death in 1994. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted his death sentence on Friday, Feb. 28. He is seeking to have his conviction overturned and be granted a new trial. (Alabama Department of Corrections) A Morgan County judge last month ordered the state to respond to a former death row inmate who says his court-appointed attorney was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. Judge Charles Elliott gave the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office’s until Aug. 25 to respond to an appeal from Robin “Rocky” Myers whose team says they have found evidence that John Mays, who represented Myers at his capital murder trial in 1994, spoke at numerous white supremacist rallies and was affiliated with the Klan Imperial Wizard Robert Shelton. “This wasn’t just a conflict of interest; it was a total subversion of justice. The State cannot look the other way,” said JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Alabama...

Days before Alabama execution, federal court orders new hearing

A jury convicted Jeffrey Lee, 50, of the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery. A three-judge panel Monday ordered a lower court to hold a new hearing on alternative execution methods after finding that Alabama's nitrogen gas execution method creates a substantial risk of serious harm. (Alabama Department of Corrections) A federal appeals court Monday ordered a new hearing for an Alabama death row inmate scheduled to be executed on Thursday, but did not stay the execution. The three judge panel of 11th Circuit Court of Appeals judges — U.S. District Court judges Adalberto Jordan, Robert J. Luck and Embry Kidd, appointed by Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden — ruled that Alabama’s use of nitrogen gas for executions violated the Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment for Jeffrey Lee, 50, who was sentenced to die for the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery. The pan...