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Prince - Little Red Corvette (Official Music Video)

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80 percent of those who died of Covid-19 in Texas county jails were never convicted of a crime

Over 230 people have died from Covid-19 in Texas’s correctional facilities — and in county jails, nearly 80 percent of them were in pretrial detention and hadn’t even been convicted of a crime, according to a new report.

A team of researchers at the University of Austin at Texas reviewed data from the the Texas Justice Initiative which collects information from multiple sources including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). They found that at least 231 people have died of Covid-19 in the state’s correctional facilities between March and October. This report only looked at state-operated prisons and county-operated jails, as researchers were focused on how Texas’s Covid-19 prison policies had fared.

The 231 figure is likely to be a conservative count. As the researchers note, TDCJ and county jails update death reports after autopsies are conducted, sometimes months after the fact. Additionally, many people have “died without ever having been tested for COVID,” and others died due to a preexisting conditioned worsened by the virus and are not counted in this figure.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/11/12/21562278/jails-prisons-texas-covid-19-coronavirus-crime-prisoners-death

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Maine House Democrats elect nation's youngest speaker.

Rep. Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford has been nominated by majority Democrats in the Maine House of Representatives to serve as the next speaker of the House.

Fecteau, 28, who will start his fourth consecutive term in December, was nominated on the first single ballot as the caucus voted in the House chamber Thursday. Also running for the post was Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham.

The House speaker’s role is a powerful one, because the speaker controls the flow of action on the floor, sets the agenda and can have sway over which bills are brought to a vote or not. The speaker also appoints members to standing committees and can play an important role in recruiting candidates or helping them with their campaigns when the Legislature is not in session. The speaker is also often a key player in state budget negotiations between the Legislature and the governor’s office and is third in the line of succession for that office behind the state Senate president.

Fecteau said he was humbled to receive the nomination from his Democratic peers, and he pledged to work to unite Republicans and Democrats if he is elected when lawmakers first meet in December. He would replace outgoing House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, who last week lost her bid for the U.S. Senate to incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.



https://www.pressherald.com/2020/11/12/democrats-nominate-fecteau-as-next-house-speaker-for-maine/

First Muslim and Arab woman elected to Colorado state legislature

Colorado voters elected Iman Jodeh (D) to the Colorado General Assembly, making her the first Muslim and Arab woman elected to the Colorado state legislature.

Jodeh won 66 percent of the vote against GOP challenger Robert Andrews, according to the Denver Post. She will be representing the state’s 41st District, which comprises parts of Aurora and Arapahoe County.

Jodeh is an activist and the founder of nonprofit Meet the Middle East, and worked as a spokesperson for the Colorado Muslim Society, according to the Post. She decided to pursue politics after attending a “Stand with our Muslim neighbors” rally in Denver.

“It was incredibly powerful to be able to speak truth to power about what it means to be Muslim in America,” she told the newspaper.

Jodeh wasn’t the only person to make history in the Centennial State. Democrat Naquetta Ricks became the first African immigrant elected to the Colorado House of Representatives, according to the Post. She will represent the state’s 40th district.




https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/525999-first-muslim-and-arab-woman-elected-to-colorado-state-legislature

San Diego elects openly gay mayor of color

Todd Gloria's election represents a shift towards a more liberal demographic for the Southern California city, the second largest in the state and eighth largest in the country.

"As a native San Diegan, this feels particularly sweet because growing up, I didn't see a lot of people like me in government and that is now changing," Gloria told The New York Times. "And I think about what this accomplishment may mean for children of color, young LGBTQ youth, who question if there's a place for them in the city. And I hope that my election tells them that there is, if they're willing to work hard."

The new mayor, who is Native American, Filipino, Puerto Rican and Dutch, said he loves Vice President-elect Kamala Harris because she's making "multiracial" understandable. He vows to create opportunity for people of color like himself when he takes office.

"You have these people from these very different backgrounds who are able to come here and make a life for themselves and I worry very much that stories like theirs are not replicable in San Diego in 2020," he said. "My public service is about trying to make sure those pathways of opportunity continue to exist."



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/two-firsts-san-diego-elects-openly-gay-mayor-of-color/ar-BB1b0M8x?ocid=mailsignout&li=BBnb7Kz

Progressive Challenger elected Mayor of Irvine (CA)

With Irvine set to turn 50 next year, Tuesday’s election may have ushered in the end of an era of city leadership: after serving as an elected official for nearly half the city’s existence, Mayor Christina Shea appears to have lost her bid for two more years in office to Councilwoman Farrah Khan.

At least two of the council’s four members will change once all the votes are counted and the election is finalized – but one of the new additions looks likely to be former mayor and councilman Larry Agran, who has spent even more years holding city offices than Shea.

As Agran interprets the outcome, he said Wednesday, residents have grown tired of “developer domination” of Irvine officials and delays in getting a promised veterans cemetery built.

“The results pretty clearly indicated that the people of the city of Irvine wanted a new mayor and new City Council.”

Thousands of ballots remain to be counted throughout the county, but unofficial results as of Wednesday, Nov. 4, showed Khan leading a field of four seeking the mayor’s seat; Shea came in second and – currently down by more than 10 percentage points – has conceded and extended her congratulations to Khan.

“The voters spoke and they did not choose me,” Shea said Wednesday. “I just wish the best for the city of Irvine.”



https://www.ocregister.com/2020/11/04/after-election-irvine-looks-poised-to-change-its-mayor-and-half-its-council/

California Democrats poised to make historic gains in state Senate, expand control of Legislature

SACRAMENTO — Buoyed by another blue wave, Democrats are awaiting election results in two races that, if won, could mean historic gains in the state Senate and further pad their supermajority in the California Legislature.
Democrats learned Thursday that they picked up two seats in the Senate that had been held by Republicans. If they prevail in one additional race, the party will have 32 of the 40 seats in the upper house.

That would be the most Democrats in the state Senate since 1883, said Alex Vassar, communications manager at the California State Library. Democrats have never held more than 32 seats, Vassar said.

“Who knew California could be more blue?” said Robin Swanson, a veteran Democratic communications consultant.

Democrats in both houses entered the election with a supermajority and will retain that two-thirds voting threshold, which allows them to pass most legislation without Republican help. But with more blue comes more challenges, Swanson added.


https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-11/democrats-expand-control-california-legislature-2020-election