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‘The Dumocrats are at it again’: Trump attack on California election offers midterm preview

An election worker processes mail-in ballots for the June 2, 2026 California state primary election at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on June 5, 2026 in City of Industry, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) California often takes days or even weeks to tally votes after its elections, a product of measures to protect voters and a deluge of mail ballots dropped off on Election Day. Incomplete vote totals reported in the hours after polls close don’t always reflect final results. None of this is evidence of fraud. But President Donald Trump has spent more than a week baselessly alleging malfeasance in California’s June 2 primary election, in which votes were still being counted as of June 11, offering a window into how he may approach the November midterm elections. Trump has claimed repeatedly, without evidence, that Democrats are stealing the election, even though the state is a party stronghold. California’s long count is a well-known feature of its e...
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Republican candidates in northwestern Alabama House district go to runoff

The chamber of the Alabama House of Representatives in the Alabama Statehouse is seen on April 8, 2026. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Republican voters in a northwest Alabama House district will choose between a former city official and a travel ball coordinator to represent them in the State House. Voters in House District 17, which includes Lamar, Marion and Winston Counties, will choose between Phillip Segraves, the former mayor of Guin, who received 3,616 (49.72%) votes in the May 19 GOP primary, and Micheal Beck, a travel ball coordinator, who had 1,936 (26.62%) votes in official returns. Beck said in an interview Friday one of the main issues in the race has been gambling. “Every dollar, every dime spent on gambling is money taken away from putting food on people’s table,” he said. “Because you go look at this thing, the people that are gambling the most are the people that need the money the most, because they’re trying to hit it big. And so what it does is it ma...

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee was convicted of the murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery in 1998. The Alabama Attorney General's Office Friday asked the Alabama Supreme Court to allow Lee's execution by lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday upheld a lower court ruling preventing his execution by nitrogen gas. (Alabama Department of Corrections) The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair. “While Lee elected hypoxia, he has made cl...

Two farmers vie for GOP nomination for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries

Douglas Mayor Corey Hill (left) and farmer Christina Woerner Mcinnis will face each other in the June 16 Republican primary runoff for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. (Photos by Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector; Graphic by Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector) Republican voters will choose between two farmers to be the nominee for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. Corey Hill and Christina Woerner Mcinnis will face each other in the June 16 runoff. According to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, Hill received 150,598 (35.20%) votes to Mcinnis’ 149,179 (34.86%) votes in unofficial returns. The winner will face Democratic nominee Ron Sparks, a former agriculture and industries commissioner, in the November election. A message seeking comment was left with Mcinnis Wednesday. According to her website , Mcinnis, who if elected would be the state’s first woman elected to the role, wants to expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to include rotisserie...

Judge allows UFC cage matches to go ahead on White House lawn

The Ultimate Fighting Championship branded its upcoming mix martial arts fight on the White House South Lawn, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, as a celebration of America's 250th birthday. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The Ultimate Fighting Championship cage matches set to take place on the White House South Lawn on Sunday will go on as scheduled, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta denied an emergency petition from two Virginia plaintiffs to stop the fight until the court litigates allegations that the Trump administration illegally allowed the Las Vegas-based sports promotion company to build its towering structure, called “The Claw,” on the White House grounds, and use the Ellipse and Lincoln Memorial for related events.  UFC began constructing the 92-foot-tall, 154-foot-wide steel staging area on May 26, and corporate organizers were placing the final touches on the temporary 4,300-seat structure  this week . According to g...

Alabama State Board of Education considers changes to world languages course of studies

The Alabama State Board of Education votes on Aug. 14, 2025. The board Thursday heard a presentation on proposed revisions to the state's world languages course. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama State Board of Education Thursday heard a presentation on proposed revisions to the state’s world languages course of study ahead of a potential vote later this year. The course of study was last updated in 2017. Proposed changes would include “critical languages” including Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Japanese and a move from grammar-heavy instruction to a focus on proficiency.  Critical languages are determined by the federal government based on their importance to diplomacy and national security. “We saw a shift in the tendency from grammatical instruction to more proficiency-based instruction, so we wanted to put attention closely on those areas, such as increasing target (language) communication, using authentic resources and also (using) proficiency-based assessments w...

What you need to know about the flesh-eating New World screwworm

Larvae hatch from New World screwworm eggs within about 24 hours before burrowing into the infested animal’s wound to feed on living flesh. (Photo courtesy of USDA) The New World screwworm has arrived in the United States. For years, ranchers across Southern states have prepared for a potential invasion of the flesh-eating parasite that can wreak havoc on livestock, pets and even humans.  Though the United States went decades without a confirmed case of the invasive pest, it’s now made its way across the U.S.-Mexico border. Officials have confirmed one case in a New Mexico dog and five cases in Texas, including cattle, a dog and a goat.  The New World screwworm poses potentially life-threatening risks to pets, wildlife and livestock. While the risk is concentrated in a few states, experts say a massive invasion could ripple across the American economy through higher grocery prices. Is it a fly or a worm? Contrary to its name, the screwworm grows into an adult fly that’s abo...