We've got another primary night for ya! Voters in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Virginia are all picking nominees for November's midterms. Mainers will use an instant runoff in both statewide and federal races, a first in American elections. As usual, we've got a full preview of all the key races, and you can join us when the first polls close at 7 PM ET for our liveblog at Daily Kos Elections
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Today’s comic by Jen Sorensen is Allies of evil:
• Remembering the 49 people murdered at the Pulse two years ago today.
• Some scientists suspect climate change killed ancient African baobab trees:
Some of Africa's oldest and biggest baobab trees -- a few dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks -- have abruptly died, wholly or in part, in the past decade, researchers said Monday.
The trees, aged between 1,100 and 2,500 years and some as wide as a bus is long, may have fallen victim to climate change, the team speculated.
"We report that nine of the 13 oldest... individuals have died, or at least their oldest parts/stems have collapsed and died, over the past 12 years," they wrote in the scientific journal Nature Plants, describing "an event of an unprecedented magnitude."
• Predatory websites target people who have been arrested: Sites are collecting people’s mugshots, then charging huge sums to remove them.
MIDDAY TWEET
• Former U.S. negotiator with North Koreans says media have gotten Pyongyang’s intent to denuclearize all wrong:
One of the few Americans who can speak with authority on North Korea’s calculus regarding nuclear weapons is Joel S. Wit, who was senior adviser to the U.S. negotiator with North Korea, Ambassador Robert L. Gallucci, from 1993 to 1995, and who from 1995 to 1999 was coordinator for the 1994 “Agreed Framework” with North Korea. More importantly, Wit also participated in a series of informal meetings with North Korean officials in 2013 about North Korea’s thinking on its nuclear weapons.
At a briefing on the Trump-Kim summit last week sponsored by the website 38 North, which he started and still manages, Wit made it clear that this dismissal of North Korea’s willingness to agree to denuclearization is misguided. “Everyone underestimates the momentum behind what North Korea is doing,” he said. “It’s not a charm offensive or a tactical trick.”
• Ex-police chief accused of orchestrating false arrest: The former police chief of Biscayne Park, Florida, has been charged with pinning thefts on a 16-year-old so he could pretend his department had a flawless burglary prosecution rate.
• New report indicates renewables plus energy storage moving toward cost parity with natural gas plants.
• Native tribes win a major court battle:
The Supreme Court affirmed the treaty rights of tribal nations in Washington state Monday in a case that also confirms the treaty rights of tribes throughout the West. By ruling to leave in place a lower court decision mandating that the state of Washington replace salmon blocking culverts with passable ones, the Court upheld the treaty rights of tribes to have sustained access to their First Foods: salmon.
The tribes in Washington state are rejoicing.”
“It’s a fantastic day for Indian country,” Willie Frank, the son of Billy Frank Jr., said yesterday morning. Billy Frank Jr. was the Nisqually activist whose activism helped bring about the landmark Boldt Decision which, in 1974, reaffirmed the rights of tribes in Washington state to harvest salmon and co-manage them alongside state managers. More than 50 years later, his son Frank said the recent court decision helped build on the legacy of that original ruling.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Trump declares "summit" a success, then says other words. Armando joins in on NK, #KJU & non-hashtag topics, like the SCOTUS decision on OH’s voter roll purges, emoluments news, etc. Someone arrest Kobach! Russia has info warfare for every taste!
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