Wednesday, August 5, 2026
The Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. Photo: w_lemay / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary after AIPAC’s super PAC spends a record $30.6 million

Outside groups supplied 88 percent of the money spent on the Democratic side of a contest AdImpact ranks as the third most expensive Senate primary in US history.
A firefighter works at a home destroyed by the Eaton Fire in January 2025. Photo: CAL FIRE_Official (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Nine senators ask federal regulator whether it will ban betting on wildfires

Polymarket took more than $1.2 million in bets on the Palisades and Eaton fires, and the US Forest Service says systems tying money to fire outcomes risk encouraging arson.
The US Department of Justice headquarters in Washington. Photo: Baseball Watcher / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

“Department of Injustice”: Norm Eisen on Todd Blanche AG Nom, Reflecting Pool Vandalism Case

Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general cleared a major hurdle this week after two Republican senators who had raised concerns agreed to back him.
A pier on Lake Corpus Christi, a reservoir in the region's water supply. Photo: Larry D. Moore / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Greg Abbott Blasted Corpus Christi for Its Water Crisis. A River Authority He Has...

The Nueces River Authority is working on a project that could expand the Corpus Christi region’s water supply. But the Texas governor has done little to address the agency’s financial problems, despite appointing every member of its board.
The Texas State Capitol in Austin. Photo: Larry D. Moore / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

James Talarico Accused Ken Paxton of Voter Fraud. His Own Voter Registration Is Raising...

ProPublica and The Texas Tribune’s review of the Democratic Senate candidate’s residency records found that he may have voted in up to five elections using an address where he no longer lived.

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Howard Zinn speaking in 2009. Photo: Jim from Stevens Point, WI, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

“The People’s Historian”: Dave Zirin’s New Book Explores “Remarkable” Life of Howard Zinn

We speak to Dave Zirin, author and sports editor at The Nation , about his new book, The People’s Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn , chronicling the life and activism of the legendary historian Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States .
A wildfire smoke plume rises over the Cascades in Chelan County, Washington, during the 2015 Wolverine Fire. Photo: U.S. Forest Service (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Why the Spokane wildfires became so catastrophic

Extreme fire conditions converged in suburban neighborhoods built into the forests, shrubland and grasslands and quickly spread.
Plastic pellets, known as nurdles, scattered through sand and beach wrack. Photo: Estevoaei / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Help Diane Wilson’s Texas clean water triumphs go national: this protest model fits all

A shrimp-boat captain with a high school education won a $50 million settlement against Formosa Plastics. The blueprint she built is being packaged for anyone else facing a polluter.
The Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Indianapolis. Citizen suits under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts are filed in federal court. Photo: Paul Sableman / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Trump administration moves to block public from enforcing environmental protection laws

For decades, regular citizens and advocacy groups have filed suits that forced companies and the federal government to clean up the environment. Trump officials have moved to limit that power.
The Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. Photo: w_lemay / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary after AIPAC’s super PAC spends a record $30.6 million

Outside groups supplied 88 percent of the money spent on the Democratic side of a contest AdImpact ranks as the third most expensive Senate primary in US history.

ACTIVISM

Biden's approval plummets as key demographic support wavers: staffers voice concern over Gaza policy.
Todd Blanche, sworn in as deputy attorney general in 2025, has led the Justice Department in an acting capacity since April. Photo: Ryan M. Biller, U.S. Department of Justice (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Two Republican senators who had blocked the nomination demanded the fund be killed in writing. A second order narrows the tax settlement that created it.
A firefighter works at a home destroyed by the Eaton Fire in January 2025. Photo: CAL FIRE_Official (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Polymarket took more than $1.2 million in bets on the Palisades and Eaton fires, and the US Forest Service says systems tying money to fire outcomes risk encouraging arson.