Missouri Secretary of State Ashcroft, expected to run for governor, opposes same-sex marriage measure
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — One of the leading candidates for governor in the 2024 election is making same-sex marriage an early issue in his campaign.
Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft sent a letter Tuesday to retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, also a Republican, urging him to reverse course in his support of a federal measure that would protect gay marriages.
Blunt didn't. He was among the 61 "yes" votes on the bill, which now returns to the House for approval. The letter marks the second time Ashcroft has outlined a conservative position as the election to replace term-limited Gov. Mike Parson in two years begins to heat up.
Ashcroft, who has been secretary of state since 2016, could face Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel in the GOP primary. Last month Ashcroft launched a plan to strip Missouri's public libraries of state funding if they do not "institute measures to protect minors from non-age-appropriate materials."
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
911 calls reveal Dallas Museum of Art intruder called police on himself during break-in
DALLAS — Newly released 911 calls obtained by The Dallas Morning News reveal that the man police say broke into the Dallas Museum of Art in June and smashed objects went undetected until he picked up a museum phone and called 911 on himself.
“Hey, I’m in the Dallas Museum of Art,” he told a dispatcher nearly 15 minutes after police say he entered. “Come get me.”
The calls show the museum security force appeared to have no knowledge an intruder was inside the building the night of June 1, even as the man, police say, broke through its glass front door and ambled around three floors. During his rampage, he shattered three Ancient Greek artifacts from the fifth and sixth centuries B.C. and a contemporary Native American artwork, and damaged other property such as display cases, signage and computer equipment, according to police.
The News obtained recordings of the 911 calls and related documents in November after requesting them from police on June 7. Nearly six months later, they provide the clearest picture yet of an extraordinary security failure at Dallas’ art museum, home to works by Picasso, Monet and van Gogh.
—The Dallas Morning News
Biden announces new national monument near Nevada-California border
SAN JOSE, Calif. — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced he will establish a new national monument across a vast landscape on southern Nevada’s border with California to protect an area sacred to 12 Native American tribes and rich with big horn sheep, Joshua tree forests, desert tortoises, ancient petroglyphs and other unique features.
The 450,000-acre monument will be located on federally owned property overseen by Bureau of Land Management Land in Clark County, Nevada, including most of the point in Nevada’s southern shape.
Covering an area 15 times the size of the city of San Francisco, it will connect multiple wilderness areas, preserves and parks in California and Nevada, including Mojave National Preserve to the west and Lake Mead National Recreation Area to the east.
The largest national monument that Biden has established so far during his presidency, the area will be named the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, which in the Mojave language means “Spirit Mountain.”
—The Mercury News
Iran authorities kill man celebrating World Cup loss to US, activists say
Iranian police fatally shot a man celebrating the country’s World Cup elimination Tuesday, according to human rights groups.
Activists said Mehran Samak, 27, was killed after honking his car horn at a protest celebration in Bandar Anzali, the Guardian reported. Samak was “targeted directly and shot in the head by security forces,” the group Iran Human Rights said in a statement.
Iranian authorities have killed nearly 450 people since September in ongoing protests across the country, according to Iran Human Rights, which is based in Norway. The protests erupted after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody on Sept. 16 after she was arrested for “improperly” wearing her hijab.
Iran’s national soccer team was squarely in the political crosshairs ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, which began Nov. 20. The Iranian players did not sing the country’s national anthem before their first game.
—New York Daily News
