Alaska House urges local and state agencies to prepare for a bad wildfire season
Alaska's wildfire season is shaping up to be especially dangerous this year, and the Alaska House of Representatives is asking local, state and federal officials to prepare ahead of time.
On April 25, the House voted 37-0 to approve a resolution calling for readiness.
House Joint Resolution 15, by Rep. Ky Holland, I-Anchorage, is slated for a hearing on Friday in the Senate Resources Committee.
'House Joint Resolution 15 came about from an early awareness this winter about the very dry conditions that we were witnessing in Southcentral Alaska,' said Holland, speaking to the House.
'A really key part of this resolution is a recognition of how important it is that we do the outreach and we encourage the preparation by residents to be able to be more aware of what they can do to protect their own homes through the Firewise program,' he said.
He added that it's particularly important for Alaskans to be aware that many of the state's residential areas have a single way in and out.
'That single route is all that's going to be available for both our fire response apparatus to get in, as well as for anyone who's trying to evacuate to get out,' he said. 'And we only have to look back at some very tragic, large fires we've seen in the last five years that have been exacerbated by these problems of the limited ingress and egress routes to realize how important it is for us to assess those areas.'
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Politico
15 minutes ago
- Politico
Democratic governors advise strong counteroffensive on redistricting
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Hamilton Spectator
36 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Democrats say a GOP plan to redraw House districts in Texas harms Black and Hispanic voters
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Democratic legislators in Texas can walk out, go to another state and prevent either chamber from conducting but would face fines — and also block relief for victims of deadly flash flooding last month in the state's Hill Country. Republicans disputed that their plan dilutes the power of Black and Hispanic voters to elect candidates of their choosing and said it could give them better representation by uniting some communities that previously have been split. But the new lines likely would make it harder for four Hispanic incumbents and two Black incumbents to retain their seats in 2026. The Texas delegation would go from a 25-13 split in the GOP's favor to a 30-8 advantage. 'I've never seen anything this brazen, this broken and this spineless,' said former Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who's running for the U.S. Senate. 'If you do this, we'll see you in court and at the ballot box.' Defending the map and partisan motivations Texas once was required by the 1965 Voting Rights Act to submit its redistricting plans to the federal government for review because of its past history of discrimination, but the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 2013 that the requirement was outdated and unconstitutional. The act requires states to have the number of districts in which minority voters can elect a candidate reflect their percentage of the population. The GOP plan creates five new districts without any incumbents, and sponsoring Republican state Rep. Todd Hunter noted that in four of them, at least half of the voting-age U.S. citizens are minorities, and there would be 10 Hispanic-majority districts, rather than the current nine. 'It's a good plan for Texas,' Hunter said. Hunter acknowledged that the lines were being redrawn 'for partisan purposes,' which he said is allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court. He said a law firm was consulted as the map was being drawn. Other Republicans testified in favor of the plan for other reasons, many of them mayors or local party chairs. Melinda Preston, Denton County's GOP chair, said the new maps will reflect the booming population in the state of 30 million. The redistricting push could move to other states Democrats argued that if Republicans succeed in redrawing the districts in Texas, Trump will push other states to redraw theirs before they'd normally do so, which would be in 2031 or 2032, after the next nationwide census. States are required to adjust the lines at least once every 10 years to keep the districts as equal in population as possible after population shifts. That's led Democrats in California and New York to consider redrawing their states' lines to help Democrats, though each state has an independent commission for drawing the lines. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, also said Democratic governors should retaliate, if they can. 'We need to respond in kind, which I think we do to protect the American people,' Kelly said Friday at news conference during a DGA meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. 'I hate the fact that we're here, that we even have to consider something this drastic.' Why walking out is hard for Democrats Texas is unusual in requiring two-thirds of members to be present for the House or Senate to conduct business. That rule would allow Democrats, particularly in the House, where they hold 62 of 150 seats, to shut the chamber. But Democrats haven't publicly promised to do that, though they've used the tactic in the past. House members now face a fine of $500 each day they're absent, and the chamber's rules prohibit lawmakers from tapping campaign funds to pay them. In addition, the chamber also couldn't consider flood relief proposals — which Democrats have insisted should be the focus of the special session. Democratic state Rep. Rhetta Bowers accused Abbott and his fellow Republicans of holding that relief hostage so they could 'slice up Black and Latino communities just to please Donald Trump.' 'Let me be clear: We will not allow flood relief to be used as a bargaining chip for racially rigged maps,' Bowers said during a briefing for reporters and others. How the map could change the partisan balance Under the exiting lines, which were in place for the 2022 and 2024 elections, Republicans won all of their seats in districts carried by Trump by at least 10 percentage points. Democrats won all 11 districts carried by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vincente Gonzalez won reelection in districts that Trump won by less than 10 points. If the GOP's proposed map had been in place in 2024, Harris would have won eight districts, and Trump would have won the other 30 by at least 10%. In San Antonio, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro would be drawn out of a safe blue district into one that Trump would have won by nearly 22 points. And in Houston, Democratic Rep. Al Green would live in a majority-Hispanic district — but 72% of the Black voters he now represents would not. He would go from being in a district that Harris carried by 44 percentage points to one Trump would have carried by 15 points — with a GOP incumbent. 'This is not democracy,' Amanda McLaughlin, a North Texas resident, said. 'Is it worth destroying Texas to give the president five more seats?' ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Also contributing were videojournalist Lekan Oyekanmi in Austin; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Brian Witte, in Annapolis, Maryland. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .


Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Scoop: Dems are trying to stop a "nasty" internal battle in Texas
Texas' mid-decade redistricting has left members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus scrambling to fend off what some predict would be one of the most brutal battles in the group's history, Axios has learned. Why it matters: A new map would put the group's chair, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), and one of its longest-serving members, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), in the same district. Lawmakers fear it would be a bloodbath if they both run. "It'll be a nasty race, probably," said one House Democrat, who, like others quoted in this story, is a Progressive Caucus member who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid thoughts about the group's sensitive internal dynamics. The race would be yet another front in Democrats' bitter civil war over age: Casar is 36 and seen as one of the party's rising stars, while Doggett is 78 and was first elected in 1994. "It's a mess," said a senior House Democrat, who told Axios that lawmakers are "carefully" nudging Doggett to bow out. State of play: Texas Republicans have embarked on a rare mid-decade redrawing of their state's congressional maps at the urging of President Trump. Their aim is to pack the state's House Democrats into as few districts as possible to maximize the number of Republican seats in the state. Under the proposed map, five new seats that are either solidly or lean Republican would be squeezed out, leaving Casar and Doggett to fight for just one Austin-based seat. What we're hearing: Several lawmakers noted Doggett was the first House Democrat to call on President Biden to withdraw his bid for reelection last year over concerns about his age and fitness. "This will be an opportunity for Lloyd to kind of take his own advice," said the first House Democrat, who warned Doggett would "taint his legacy" by running and that Casar "will win." A third House Democrat told Axios: "He was one of the first people to call for President Biden to step aside for new leaders, and I think this may be one of those moments." A fourth said that "30 years is more than enough time" in Congress, and Doggett is "a terrific legislator, but so is Casar. And Casar is just getting started." Between the lines: "This is a perfect example of how long-serving members in our party are not willing to make room for the next generation of leaders," said the fourth House Democrat. "Others wish [Doggett would] step aside," the lawmaker added. "That would show leadership in a time when we desperately need it." The other side: "Promoting this type of division and infighting is exactly what Republicans want. Greg and I are both committed to working together to stop this outrageous gerrymandering," Doggett said in a statement. "While CD37, in which I had already filed for reelection, continues under the new map to contain two-thirds of my current constituents, my focus remains on protecting our democracy from Trump using redistricting to elect more Republicans." "I hope all my CPC colleagues will also make that effort their top priority. As to President Joe Biden, I did speak out when others were silent, not about his age, but his ability and electability." Zoom out: Democrats have vowed to fight the proposed map, including potentially with a lawsuit and by breaking quorum in the state Legislature, but those efforts would likely be long shots. Like Doggett, Casar has said his focus is on stopping the redistricting. His spokesperson did not provide comment on this story. "Congressman Doggett and I are united in fighting back against this illegal map," Casar said Wednesday on CNN. Zoom in: Doggett, in his own CNN appearance on Thursday, began making the case for his reelection. "We do need young leaders, but we don't need everyone in our team to play the same position," he told host Manu Raju. "Some are strong on social media. Some are strong in dealing with the details of these bills and how to fight back against the Trump administration." Flashback: Republicans have twice before targeted Doggett, redrawing his district and forcing him to run in a different, majority Hispanic district. Each time, new constituents returned him to Washington. The bottom line: At the end of the day, "they both have the right to run," said the senior House Democrat, adding that the issue is "very sensitive."