Fire at Arkema chemical plant in Texas

Texas Republicans lobbied against imposition of safety rules on chemical plant that exploded

“The French company that says its Houston-area chemical plant is spewing ‘noxious’ smoke — and may explode — successfully pressed federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety procedures at chemical plants, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times.”

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Tesla Roadster in front of wind turbines

California Legislature votes to raise gas taxes, vehicle fees by $5.2 billion a year for road repairs and transit

Patrick McGreevy and Melanie Mason, reporting for The Los Angeles Times: “After a week of fierce debate between opposing interests, the state Legislature on Thursday approved a plan to raise gas taxes and vehicle fees by $5.2 billion a year to pay for the repair of California’s pothole-ridden, decaying system of roads, highways and bridges.”

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Library closed sign

Closures come for libraries around Oregon’s Douglas County; central public library in Roseburg closes May 31st

What happens when a vital public service is starved of resources? It shuts down. Without enough funding to keep the doors open, authorities in Oregon’s Douglas County are closing its libraries, leaving 8,500 cardholders stranded. “We simply don’t have the money anymore,” Douglas County Commissioner Gary Leif told The Register Guard of Eugene.

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Joe Arpaio

Arrest Arpaio, not the people! Racist Trump-supporting sheriff, accused of targeting Latinos, is charged with criminal contempt

“Federal prosecutors on Monday charged Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County with criminal contempt of court, saying he willfully defied a judge’s orders to stop targeting Latinos — including citizens and legal immigrants — in traffic stops and other law enforcement efforts, behavior the judge said showed a pattern of discriminatory policing,” The New York Times reports.

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Arrest Arpaio, not the people! Racist Trump-supporting sheriff, accused of targeting Latinos, is charged with criminal contempt

“Federal prosecutors on Monday charged Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County with criminal contempt of court, saying he willfully defied a judge’s orders to stop targeting Latinos — including citizens and legal immigrants — in traffic stops and other law enforcement efforts, behavior the judge said showed a pattern of discriminatory policing,” The New York Times reports.

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Link in Mount Baker Station

Joe Fitzgibbon rebuts Reuven Carlyle: Sound Transit’s property taxing authority does not poach education dollars

State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon has responded to Reuven Carlyle’s recent guest post for Publicola opposing Sound Transit 3, saying Carlyle outlined a “false choice” in his piece. “This does a disservice both to our region’s residents who have waited 40 years too long for a regional transit system and our state’s public school children, parents, and educators who have waited 40 years too long for full public education funding,” Fitzgibbon argues.

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