Author: chicagoinquirer

 by Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson COLUMBUS, Ohio  — Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year. The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state’s foundational document from outside interest groups. While abortion was not directly…

by Emily Wagster Pettus JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday won the Republican nomination as he seeks a second term, setting up a general election contest against Democrat Brandon Presley in the heavily conservative state. Reeves defeated two first-time candidates: John Witcher, a physician who has criticized COVID-19 vaccinations, and David Hardigree, a military veteran. Presley, a cousin of rock ’n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, ran unopposed. Presley said the Nov. 7 general election would come down to which candidate “has got guts and the backbone to stand up for the people of Mississippi and which candidate…

by Steve LeBlanc BOSTON  — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday, citing an influx of migrants seeking shelter at a time when the cost of housing — already in short supply — continues to rise. There are nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people – many of whom are migrants — currently living in state shelters, including infants, young children and pregnant women. That is up from around 3,100 families a year ago, about an 80% increase, Healey said. Many of the migrants are arriving by plane from other states. In the past 48 hours…

by Andrew Dalton LOS ANGELES  — A judge sentenced rapper Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison Tuesday for shooting and wounding hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence to the 31-year-old Lanez, who was convicted in December of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The sentence brings an end to a dramatic trial that created a cultural firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity, protecting…

by Mark Sherman WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is reinstating a regulation aimed at reining in the proliferation of ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers that have been turning up at crime scenes across the nation in increasing numbers. The court on Tuesday voted 5-4 to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in Texas that invalidated the Biden administration’s regulation of ghost gun kits. The regulation will be in effect while the administration appeals the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans — and potentially the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts…

by Cara Anna and Carley Petesch NAIROBI, Kenya  — Nearly two weeks have passed since the coup in Niger, and the two men making competing claims to power have gone quiet in recent days. One is the ousted president, who said last week he’s being held hostage and has been publicly silent since then. The other is the military junta leader who asserts he acted out of concern for the country’s security and has encouraged Nigeriens to defend it from any foreign intervention. Here’s a look at President Mohamed Bazoum and Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as Niger’s junta defies a threat…

by Chris Megerian WASHINGTON  — President Joe Biden set out Monday on a Western swing aimed at showcasing his work on conservation, clean energy and veterans’ benefits as he seeks to draw an implicit contrast between his administration’s accomplishments and former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles. Biden’s first stop will be the Grand Canyon area, where on Tuesday he will announce a new national monument to preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) around Grand Canyon National Park and limit uranium mining, White House officials said. Climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters accompanying Biden aboard Air Force One on Monday that the…

by Sam Mednick and Ellen Knickmeyer NIAMEY, Niger  — A senior U.S. diplomat said coup leaders in Niger refused to allow her to meet Monday with the West African country’s democratically elected president, whom she described as under “virtual house arrest.” Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland also described the mutinous officers as unreceptive to U.S. pressure to return the country to civilian rule. “They were quite firm about how they want to proceed, and it is not in support of the constitution of Niger,” Nuland told reporters. She spoke after a two-hour meeting in Niger’s capital, Niamey, with some leaders…

by Steve Karnowski MINNEAPOLIS  — The last former Minneapolis police officer to face sentencing in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd will learn Monday whether he will spend additional time in prison. Tou Thao has testified he merely served as a “human traffic cone”when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s killing touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning…

by Sam Mednick NIAMEY, Niger  — Niger’s mutinous soldiers closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing an attack, as the junta defied a deadline to restore the ousted president and said any attempt to fly over the country will be met with “an energetic and immediate response.” Niger’s state television announced the move Sunday night, hours before a deadline set by West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which demanded the coup leaders reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face military force. A spokesman for the coup leaders, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, warned of “the threat of intervention being prepared…