Red Wing Daily: August 3, 2024
"the more you know...."
State
Eyes everywhere: “Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced a new program … that allows private residences and businesses to register security cameras with the LRPD as part of ‘Eyes on the Rock,’ an initiative aimed at reducing crime in the metro area….”
What do voters want? Saline County is one county where voters could quite possibly see the question of using paper ballots in the November election; signature gathering for the initiative there is going quite well. Well enough, in fact, that Saline & Garland County Judges and Clerks are meeting with the joint Arkansas Legislature’s Committees on City, County, and Local Affairs this Wednesday in Hot Springs to talk about it.
Federal agencies should not be registering voters: AG Tim Griffin joined with Missouri to sue over Biden’s interference in “state and local election administration” via his EO 14019 that directed all federal agencies to create strategic plans and engage in “voter registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities.”
Your November ballot: Secretary of State John Thurston has certified the casino-related constitutional amendment for November’s ballot, and given the effort for expanding access to marijuana another 30 days to gather sufficient signatures to get onto the ballot. Supporters of the “abortion as a right” amendment are continuing their Arkansas Supreme Court fight after Thurston initially rejected their signatures, citing paperwork rules.
Catching fire: The Baxter County Republican Committee is one of the first in the state to pass a Resolution affirming the actions of the 2024 RPA State Convention. This comes after the RPA Executive Committee (which RPA Rules say operates only under delegated authority from the State Convention) met without proper notice and attempted to nullify the platform and Rules changes approved at the June 8 State Convention.
Fight for the Monuments: AG Griffin weighed in on constitutionality of the Arkansas Monument Protection Act, intervening in Joey McCutchen’s lawsuit against Little Rock for secretly removing the Capitol Guards Monument from the American Civil War memorial in MacArthur Park back in 2020.
National
Biden’s lawfare & SCOTUS: ICYMI, the President (who?) announced his wish for Congress to “restore criminal liability for U.S. presidents” and institute term limits for the Supreme Court — all because of the recent constitutional SCOTUS ruling on President Trump’s January 6 “insurrection” case, which now goes back to Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine next steps.
Protecting the kids: Congress, “in a rare bipartisan landslide,” passed legislation “aimed at protecting children” in what “could be the first update since the late 1990s for companies who interat with minors on the internet.” The new laws control “advertising, algorithms and collection of personal data.”
Global settlement reached: Hawaii Governor Josh Green announced an historic, $4 billion comprehensive payout to settle hundreds of lawsuits after the devastating August 8, 2023 Maui fires. The arrangement, “which remains subject to final documentation and court approval, involves seven defendants: the state of Hawai‘i, County of Maui, Hawaiian Electric, Kamehameha Schools, West Maui Land Co., Hawaiian Telcom, and Spectrum/Charter Communications” who have “collectively agreed to pay” approximately 2,200 affected parties for their tort claims.
Patriots Rising in Arizona: “Team MAGA is celebrating big wins in the Arizona primaries this week. Both State Senate candidates endorsed by President Trump, Wendy Rogers and Mark Finchem, emerged victorious in their contentious races.” In other races, Trump-endorsed Kari Lake won her Senate primary, and Trump-endorsed Abe Hamadeh (who lost his 2022 Arizona AG race) won his Congressional primary in a crowded field against Blake Masters and others.
Tech
We’re telling ya, TikTok is a bad idea: “TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance have a tool to collect information on users based on their views on hot button social issues such as gun control, abortion, and religion, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).” It’s already been alleged that, once installed, TikTok sweeps up all the data on your phone, whether you use the app or not… The DOJ is suing TikTok for illegal data collection on children.