State / Local

WATER SECURITYU.S. Supreme Court to Hear Colorado-Nebraska Water Dispute
By Liam Hibbert, The Center Square
Nebraska has set aside $600 million for a new canal that would start along the South Platte River in the northwest corner of Colorado. But the state alleged Colorado has sought to impede the effort, in violation of its compact with Nebraska.
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WATER SECURITYRiver Authority’s Budget Woes Are Another Blow to Water-Needy Corpus Christi
By Rachel Denny Clow, KRIS 6 News
The Corpus Christi region, in the midst of an ongoing water crisis, has experienced another setback: Design work has halted on a pipeline that’s supposed to deliver water to communities across the state because the tiny river authority that promised to develop the project hasn’t offered a renewed contract.
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3D GUNSMore States Restrict 3D-Printed Firearms
By Amanda Watford
For decades, making an untraceable firearm required specialized tools, technical expertise and hours of work. Today, it can start with a downloaded file and a consumer-grade 3D printer. At least six states this year have outlawed or imposed regulations on such guns.
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FOOD SECURITYWhat to Know About Screwworm in Texas
By Stephen Simpson and Berenice Garcia
The first case of New World screwworm in 60 years has been confirmed in Zavala County, near the Mexican border. The flesh-eating fly poses a threat to the state’s $15 billion cattle industry.
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CRITICAL MINERALSEast Texas Could Be the Key to Developing Critical Lithium Supply for the U.S. Military
By Jess Huff
Texas lawmakers proposed a bill to allow private-sector lithium mining companies to work on certain military bases.
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ENERGY SECURITYSolar to Overtake Coal on Texas Grid This Year for the First Time Ever
By Julian Spector, Canary Media
The Trump administration likes to cast renewables as a socialist scam, but solar has soared in the competitive markets of the Lone Star State.
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IMMIGRATIONICE’s Heavy‑Handed Immigration Enforcement Was Tried Once Before – by Arizona’s Notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the Early 2000s
By Jonathan van Harmelen
From 2006 to 2017, Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, implemented his own immigration detention program, instructing deputies to detain anyone who did not carry a valid identification and did not speak English. One U.S. Department of Justice attorney characterized Arpaio as overseeing “the worst pattern of racial profiling by a law enforcement agency in U.S. history.”
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DEMOCRACY WATCHDemocrats Sue to Block Trump’s “Unconstitutional” Mail Ballot Order
By Jonathan Shorman
Democrats sued over President Donald Trump’s executive order clamping down on mail ballots. The order, which would create a national list of voting-age American citizens and directs the U.S. Postal Service to place limits on mail-in ballots, constitutes an extraordinary and illegal attempt by Trump to intervene in the voting process, election experts said.
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DEMOCRACY WATCHAs Trump Demands Voter Data, This Fiercely Independent Red State Says No
By Audrey Dutton and Jen Fifield
Wary of federal intrusion, Idaho passed a law three decades ago allowing it to sidestep so-called motor-voter laws. The exemption and the sentiment behind it are fueling resistance to President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
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WATER SECURITYWhy Colorado River Negotiations Stalled, and How They Could Resume with the Possibility of Agreement
By Karen Schlatter and Sharon B. Megdal
The seven U.S. states that make up the Colorado River basin are struggling to agree on how best to manage the river’s water as its supply dwindles due to climate change and a period of prolonged drought.
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THE PROBLEM WITH ICESix Deaths in Six Weeks: What to Know About ICE Detentions in Texas
By Lomi Kriel and Colleen DeGuzman
Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.
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DEPORTATIONSCommunities Fight ICE Detention Centers, but Have Few Tools to Stop Them
By Kevin Hardy
Communities across the country are facing the prospects of ICE building massive detention centers – without any input from local authorities about the communities’ permitting, planning, and zoning processes. The reason: The federal government doesn’t have to follow local zoning rules. Congress has given ICE $45 billion for increased immigration detention. by Congress last summer.
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THE ICE PROBLEMMayors Describe ICE Presence in Their Cities
By Robbie Sequeira
As federal immigration enforcement agents continue to clash with protesters in cities around the country, U.S. mayors gathering last week in Washington, D.C., said they’re anxious about what might be coming next. “We were told the actions would be precise. They were not,” said Edina, Minnesota, Mayor Jim Hovland.
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THE ICE PROBLEMState Lawmakers Stand Ready to Help ICE — or Impede It
By Amanda Watford
Tensions rise nationwide over aggressive enforcement tactics and deadly encounters. As lawmakers convene for this year’s state legislative sessions, immigration has surged to the top of the agenda.
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THE ICE PROBLEMDemocratic AGs Stress Importance of Citizen-Generated Evidence in Challenging ICE
By Erika Bolstad
Cellphone video has emerged as a powerful rebuttal to Trump’s – and Trump officials’ — version of events, at a time when the federal government has restricted state and local investigators from accessing potential evidence to pursue their own investigations into excessive force and fatal shootings by immigration agents in their jurisdictions.
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