Nation - Randolph Record

11 May

Abortion adds to Biden’s stalled to-do list

Associated PressGovernment, Nationabortion, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, White House

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden’s list of impossible tasks keeps getting longer. Despite lofty promises he’s made, from the campaign trail through his first year in office, he has made limited progress to enact his party’s agenda. It’s a disorienting and discouraging state of affairs for Democrats, who control both Congress and the White House for the first time in more than a decade. Biden’s pledge to codify Roe v. Wade into law seems destined for the same rocky shoals where other parts of his agenda, like tax credits for clean energy or legislation that would preempt state voting…

05 May

Sen. Rand Paul wants to investigate origins of COVID-19

Associated PressNation, Politicscovid-19, Sen. Rand Paul

SMITHFIELD, Ky. — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul promised Saturday to wage a vigorous review into the origins of the coronavirus if Republicans retake the Senate and he lands a committee chairmanship. Speaking to supporters at a campaign rally, the libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican denounced what he sees as government overreach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He applauded a recent judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs. “Last week I was on an airplane for the first time in two years and didn’t have to wear a mask,” he said, drawing cheers…

05 May

Trump’s bid to shape GOP faces test with voters in May races

Associated PressNation, Politicsdonald trump, early voting, republicans, Selma

NEW YORK — Donald Trump ‘s post-presidency enters a new phase this month as voters across the U.S. begin weighing the candidates he elevated to pursue his vision of the Republican Party. “The month of May is going to be a critical window into where we are,” said Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, a Trump critic defending incumbent GOP governors in Georgia, Ohio and Idaho against Trump-backed challengers this month. “I’m just concerned that there are some people trying to tear the party apart or burn it down.” Few states may be a higher priority for Trump than Georgia, where…

28 Apr

Biden’s election year challenge: Blame GOP for nation’s woes

Will Weissart, The Associated PressNationinflation, Joe Biden, Ukraine

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden has an election-year message for frustrated voters: At least he’s trying. For those who think he isn’t doing enough to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion, Biden announced $800 million in new military support last Thursday. To ease the pain of high gas prices, he’s tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and reopened onshore sales of oil and natural gas leases on public land. And to address historic inflation, Biden has tried to smooth out supply chain-crimping bottlenecks at the nation’s ports. The president hopes the moves, which are being announced in near-daily rollouts…

27 Apr

White House seeks more power to counter use of drones in US

Randolph RecordNationdrones, White House

The Biden administration is calling on Congress to expand authority for federal and local governments to take action to counter the nefarious use in the U.S. of drones, which are becoming a growing security concern and nuisance. The White House on Monday released an action plan that calls for expanding the number of agencies that can track and monitor drones flying in their airspace. It calls for establishing a list of U.S. government-authorized detection equipment that federal and local authorities can purchase, and creating a national training center on countering the malicious use of drones. The White House in a…

21 Apr

Abortion ban after 15 weeks signed into law in Florida

Associated PressNation, Newsabortion, Florida, Ron DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban into law last week as the state joined a growing conservative push to restrict access to the procedure ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could roll back abortion rights in America. “This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation,” DeSantis said as he signed the bill at an evangelical church in the city of Kissimmee. Republicans nationwide have moved to place new restrictions on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it would uphold a…

20 Apr

GOP states eye voting system upgrades

Associated PressNation, NewsGOP, voting

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For years, Tennessee Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro’s call to require the state’s voting infrastructure to include a paper record of each ballot cast has been batted down in the Republican-dominated Legislature. But as the fallout around the 2020 presidential election — and some GOP voters’ distrust of voting machines — Tennessee Republican lawmakers who have held off are coming around on a paper-backed mandate. A similar scenario is playing out in some of the five other states -- most of which are Republican-led -- that do not currently have a voting system with a paper…

20 Apr

South Carolina inmate picks firing squad over electric chair

Associated PressNation, Newsdeath penalty, electric chair, execution, firing squad, Richard Bernard Moore, south carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday. Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is the also first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead. Moore has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted of…

09 Mar

Gas prices continue to rise

Randolph RecordBusiness, Government, Nation, Newsfuel, gas, Joe Biden, Russia, Ukraine

Gas prices are advertised at $4.19 per gallon, Monday, March 7, 2022, in downtown Asheboro. (PJ WARD-BROWN/The North State Journal) ASHEBORO — Governors and state lawmakers across the U.S. are scrambling to provide relief from soaring prices at the gas pump. Gas prices were climbing before Russia invaded Ukraine. With Russian crude out of the energy mix in the U.S., fuel prices will likely continue to climb as inflation reaches new high across the U.S. economy. In Asheboro, regular unleaded gasoline topped $4.00 this week with prices as high as $4.19 on Monday. Diesel fuel exceeded $5.00. In announcing a…

19 Jan

White House soft-launches COVID-19 test request website

Associated PressGovernment, NationBiden Administration, covid-19, White House

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially go online. The website, COVIDTests.gov, now includes a link for Americans to access an order form run by the U.S. Postal Service. People can order four at-home tests per residential address, to be delivered by the Postal Service. It marks the latest step by President Joe Biden to address criticism of low inventory and long lines for testing during a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant. White…