CHICAGO — Billboards with the words “STOP Child Gender Surgery.” Pamphlets warning about endangering minors. “PROTECT PARENT RIGHTS” plastered on church bulletins. As voters in nine states determine whether to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions, opponents are using parental rights and anti-transgender messages to try to undermine support for the ballot proposals. The…
NEW YORK — John Albert’s daughter didn’t go to school on Friday. And he couldn’t be happier about it. For the first time, the high school senior and all of New York City’s public school students have the day off to mark the holiday of Diwali, celebrated in India and among the global Indian diaspora…
HARTFORD, Conn. — U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes isn’t a member of the historically Black sororities and fraternities known as the “Divine Nine.” But throughout her hotly contested reelection campaign this year, Hayes, the first Black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, has sometimes felt like she’s a fellow soror, the term used by Black Greek…
atlanta, georgia — Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots at one location in the city of Vancouver in the state of Washington. At the other, in neighboring Portland, Oregon, it appears a fire suppression system…
The bitter nationwide debate over transgender rights is playing out on a very personal level in a federal court lawsuit filed in Virginia by a former Liberty University employee. She was fired by the evangelical Christian school after disclosing her identity as a transgender woman. The lawsuit on behalf of Ellenor Zinski was filed in…
The Rev. Arturo Laguna leads a largely immigrant church of about 100 followers in Phoenix. His job as a pastor, he says, gets complicated come election season. Laguna’s church, Casa de Adoracion, is in Arizona — one of seven closely watched swing states that could possibly decide the next president. It is also a microcosm…
Washington — At a recent Diwali gathering in Denver, software architect Salil Gaonkar asked his Indian American friends to raise their hands: Would they vote for Trump or Harris in the presidential race? The response — from about 45 tech professionals and business owners who had overwhelmingly backed Joe Biden in 2020 — stunned him.…
How well do you know the United States? These 20 maps offer an overview of the economy, demographics, geography and history of the country of 335 million people as voters prepare to head to the polls on November 5. Which state has the strongest economy? The US has the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in…