Georgia Democrats aim to shift conversation from Biden
ATLANTA — Stacey Abrams and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock are trying to shift the political conversation away from President Joe Biden's economic record and toward their own proposals to curb higher energy prices, rein in crime and preserve abortion rights.
Facing growing questions about the enthusiasm of the party's base, Abrams and Warnock have swung to the offensive as a tough November election against Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker approaches.
Abrams has released a suite of policies that one-up Kemp on important policy divides, including plans for a heftier teacher pay raise than the Republican secured in his first term and demands that he extend a gas tax break through the rest of the year.
And she outlined a plan Thursday to hike the starting salary for some law enforcement officials, including corrections officers and Georgia State Patrol troopers, to $50,000. Warnock has shown he's unafraid to pressure Biden, whose flagging approval ratings threaten to bog down state Democrats. The senator helped successfully buck a White House plan to close a Savannah military installation and pressed Biden to forgive student debt.
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Long Island library board votes to ‘remove all Pride displays’ and LGBTQ books from children’s section
NEW YORK — A library on Long Island has voted to remove “all Pride displays” as well as Pride-related books from its children’s sections.
The Smithtown Library Board of Trustees voted 4-2 Tuesday to ban any and all displays related to LGBTQ Pride from kids’ areas at Smithtown Library buildings, a move that was met with fierce backlash and call for action by advocates.
The New York Library Association slammed Smithtown’s move, calling it “a direct violation of NYLA’s commitment to intellectual freedom and the freedom to read that libraries are entrusted to uphold.”
The organization reaffirmed its commitment to stand alongside the LGBTQ community, “especially our LGBTQ+ youth, who utilize libraries across the state as a refuge to foster their love of learning and of their authentic selves.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted Wednesday night that “our public spaces should be accepting our young people — not rejecting them,” reminding all LGBTQ New Yorkers that the state supports and welcomes them.
—New York Daily News
Officials reveal unprecedented plan to return Calif. beach to rightful Black heirs
LOS ANGELES — In a plan made public for the first time, Los Angeles County officials have detailed how they would complete the unprecedented transfer of Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of a Black couple who were run out of Manhattan Beach almost a century ago.
The beachfront property, estimated to be worth $20 million after a complicated appraisal, would be transferred to the Bruce family following an escrow process, according to the proposed plan released late Wednesday. The county would then rent the property from the Bruces for $413,000 per year and maintain a county lifeguard facility at the site.
“This land should have never been taken from the Bruce family over 90 years ago. Now, we are on the precipice of redemption and justice that is long overdue,” said Holly Mitchell, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “Although we cannot change the past, we have a responsibility to learn from it and to do what is right today. ... I look forward to standing with my colleagues on the right side of history.”
County staff and a legal team representing the Bruce family pro bono have spent months hammering out the details and thinking through every possible outcome.
—Los Angeles Times
Rescuers scramble to reach survivors of Afghanistan earthquake
Rescue and relief teams are struggling to reach survivors of a deadly earthquake that hit Afghanistan’s remote southeast, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring hundreds more even as the country battles multiple humanitarian crises.
The eastern Paktika province, home to some of the country’s most impoverished farmers and cattle herders, was the worst hit, several officials from the Taliban government said. Casualties and damage were also reported in nearby Khost and Nangahar provinces, which border Pakistan.
The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit predawn Wednesday was the worst natural disaster to hit the nation since a landslide in 2014 killed 2,000 people in the northeastern Badakhshan province. The Taliban, which has sent rescue helicopters and officials to the affected areas, has urged the international community to step in and help with relief and rescue efforts.
“It was a bit difficult for the rescue teams to access some of the locations since they are mountainous or have terrible roads,” Bilal Karimi, a Taliban spokesman, said by phone. “This incident was just a tragedy and Afghanistan cannot alone respond to a natural disaster of such scale. We have less resources and we’ve asked the international aid agencies and countries for help.”
—Bloomberg News
