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North Scott student takes 1st place in high school journalism contest

North Scott student takes 1st place in high school journalism contest

Yahoo23-05-2025

A North Scott High School student journalist has won first place in the Column/Opinion category in the Iowa High School Press Association (IHSPA) Spring Journalism Contest.
Olivia Donahue took first place in the Column/Opinion category for her piece, 'How Elon Musk Bought The President.' This column featured Donahue's analysis and strong writing skills, earning her the top spot among entries across the state. She also took third place for Opinion Writer of the Year.
'If my journalism isn't making someone squirm, it's probably not doing enough,' Donahue said. 'I'm proud to write pieces that challenge power, question comfort or upset some people, as long as it pushes the fight for a better future onwards. To have my writing recognized like this — it means people are listening. That gives me hope.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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House passes bill overhauling Massachusetts cannabis laws
House passes bill overhauling Massachusetts cannabis laws

Yahoo

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House passes bill overhauling Massachusetts cannabis laws

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Frustration with the slow pace of regulatory changes, headline-grabbing internal conflicts at the CCC, and a plea from the inspector general for the Legislature to intervene at the 'rudderless agency' combined last summer to get lawmakers thinking more seriously about a response. House Speaker Ronald Mariano recounted Wednesday how he went to Donahue last year to say 'we're going to have to fix this.' He said Treasurer Deborah Goldberg's removal of CCC chairwoman Shannon O'Brien had been dragged into court by that point, a long-running saga that has shined a light on internal strife at the CCC. That directive to Donahue led to a series of hearings and conversations that resulted in the bill before the House on Wednesday. 'He did the work. You could talk to him, and he could explain the process. It got us where we thought we had to take it away from the treasurer,' Mariano said before yielding to Donahue to give a more thorough explanation of the House's thinking around accountability at the CCC. Today, the CCC is a five-commissioner independent body, with appointments made singularly and jointly by the governor, attorney general and treasurer, with the treasurer selecting the chair. Under the House-approved bill, the CCC would be consolidated entirely under the governor. The state's executive would appoint all three commissioners and select one of them to serve as chair (who would be the only full-time commissioner). The CCC would be 'subject to the laws applicable to agencies under the control of the governor.' Asked what makes the CCC's existing model unworkable, Mariano said it was a structural problem but gave a conflicted explanation. 'It was created by a ballot question that had no rhyme or reason to it ... there was no accountability,' he said. 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House passes bill overhauling cannabis laws, Cannabis Control Commission
House passes bill overhauling cannabis laws, Cannabis Control Commission

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time16 hours ago

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House passes bill overhauling cannabis laws, Cannabis Control Commission

Advertisement Frustration with the slow pace of regulatory changes, headline-grabbing internal conflicts at the CCC, and a plea from the inspector general for the Legislature to intervene at the 'rudderless agency' combined last summer to get lawmakers thinking more seriously about a response. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up House Speaker Ronald Mariano recounted Wednesday how he went to Donahue last year to say 'we're going to have to fix this.' He said Treasurer Deborah Goldberg's removal of CCC chairwoman Shannon O'Brien had been dragged into court by that point, a long-running saga that has shined a light on internal strife at the CCC. That directive to Donahue led to a series of hearings and conversations that resulted in the bill before the House on Wednesday. 'He did the work. You could talk to him, and he could explain the process. It got us where we thought we had to take it away from the treasurer,' Mariano said before yielding to Donahue to give a more thorough explanation of the House's thinking around accountability at the CCC. Advertisement Today, the CCC is a five-commissioner independent body, with appointments made singularly and jointly by the governor, attorney general and treasurer, with the treasurer selecting the chair. Under the House-approved bill, the CCC would be consolidated entirely under the governor. The state's executive would appoint all three commissioners and select one of them to serve as chair (who would be the only full-time commissioner). The CCC would be 'subject to the laws applicable to agencies under the control of the governor.' Asked what makes the CCC's existing model unworkable, Mariano said it was a structural problem but gave a conflicted explanation. 'It was created by a ballot question that had no rhyme or reason to it ... there was no accountability,' he said. 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Advertisement The Mariano, who was majority leader at the time, was the lead House negotiator on the 2017 law that structured the CCC. The structure that was put in place 'This is legislation by referendum, and this is the problem, no one really focused on the writing of the ballot question on how this would be administered. And when it hit, the public had no idea what the problems were going to be and where they were going to be,' Mariano said Wednesday. Last summer, Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro's office Advertisement Mariano was not available to clarify his comments Wednesday afternoon, but a spokesperson sent a statement saying his 'main point was that the Legislature was responding to a law that was passed by a referendum, which created a new industry outside of the typical legislative process, forcing the Legislature to address a number of unknowns.' 'In order to safely and effectively carry out the will of the voters, the Legislature has been forced to revise the original language multiple times. The legislation that the House is voting on today is better because of what we have learned since 2016, and establishes a new structure, different from the one that the ballot initiative spelled out,' Mariano spokesperson Ana Vivas said. The bill the House passed Wednesday also seeks to address intoxicating hemp-based products that largely fall into a gray area of the law and between the regulatory cracks by banning their sale without a license and setting up a new framework to regulate and tax them. Hemp beverages could only be sold by retailers licensed by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to sell all alcohol and all hemp-based products would need to be registered with the CCC. 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‘Betrayed': A Trump-backing Idaho sheriff tears into the feds' ‘sanctuary' list
‘Betrayed': A Trump-backing Idaho sheriff tears into the feds' ‘sanctuary' list

Yahoo

time3 days ago

  • Yahoo

‘Betrayed': A Trump-backing Idaho sheriff tears into the feds' ‘sanctuary' list

On Thursday, President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security released a list of jurisdictions it said defied federal immigration law, including Boise. On Saturday, Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue criticized the list. Now, the department has removed the list from its web site. Was Donahue, a Republican who supports Trump, coming to the defense of Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, a Democrat who opposes him? He's not saying. A county spokesperson said Monday that Donahue was tied up with meetings related to the list and was unavailable for comment. But he is coming to the defense of fellow sheriffs around the country. Donahue is president of the National Sheriff's Association, and it's under that banner that he spoke out. It's unclear why Boise was included on the list, since sanctuary cities are banned in Idaho. Donahue issued a statement Saturday saying the department sought no input for its listing, provided no indication of the criteria used for making the list, and offered no way to object to it. 'The completion and publication of this list has not only violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement, but it also has the potential to strain the relationship between Sheriffs and the White House administration,' Donahue said. 'The Sheriffs of this country feel betrayed.' Donahue said members of the National Sheriffs' Association and the Department of Homeland Security met on Saturday to talk about the list. However, no political appointees 'could explain who compiled, proofed and verified the list,' he said. In an emailed statement on Friday, a department spokesperson told the Idaho Statesman that the list was based on several factors, including places calling themselves sanctuary cities, legal protections for undocumented immigrants and restrictions on immigration sharing. The list can be changed at any time, the spokesperson said. There is no clear definition of 'sanctuary city,' local lawyers told the Idaho Statesman. Sanctuary cities grew in popularity before President Donald Trump's first term and colloquially refer to areas where officials limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For example, some 'sanctuary' cities don't comply with immigration detainers, which are requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for jails to notify agents of a person's release from jail or hold someone for agents to come get them. Boise doesn't have a jail, nor does it have jurisdiction over Ada County's. McLean said Friday that she was waiting to hear from the department why Boise made the list — the only jurisdiction in Idaho that did. On Saturday, at a local Pride event, McLean told the Statesman that Boise was not a sanctuary city, and 'we're not in charge of the jails.' Idaho lawyers and an immigrant advocate told the Statesman that Boise does not appear to be violating federal immigration laws. 'I was very confused when I saw Boise was on the list. They do work with ICE,' said Estefanía Mondragón, executive director of PODER of Idaho, a local group dedicated to immigrant and Latino communities. 'If anything, PODER thinks that Boise can do more for undocumented immigrants.' The term 'sanctuary' may even be a bit of a misnomer: Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials can do immigration enforcement anywhere in the country, according to Geoffrey Heeren, a University of Idaho law professor. Idaho may have banned sanctuary cities, but neighboring states have embraced them. In Washington State, the Keep Washington Working Act instructs law enforcement to not honor immigration detainers. 'This issue has become really politicized,' Heeren said. 'The reality is that under federal law, there's a spectrum in terms of the allowable involvement of state and local governments.' Trump administration just listed Boise as an immigrant 'sanctuary.' But is it? These immigrants in Idaho fled violence. Now they face a harsh reality

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