pelespirit

A federal judge ordered the ​Trump administration on ‌Friday to reinstall exhibits and signs touching on ​topics like slavery ​and climate change that it ⁠had removed from ​parks and monuments nationwide "that ​do not align with its preferred narrative."

U.S. District ​Judge Angel Kelley ​in Boston issued a preliminary ‌injunction ⁠at the behest of groups representing park conservationists, historians and ​scientists who ​argued ⁠that the U.S. Department of ​the Interior has ​been ⁠engaged in a "sustained campaign to erase history ⁠and ​undermine science."

North Dakota will receive roughly $28 million from the federal government in compensation for costs the state incurred during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests as part of a settlement announced Thursday.

The amount is the same as was awarded to North Dakota in 2025 by U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, concerned demonstrations against the construction of the crude oil pipeline, also known as DAPL, that took place in rural south-central North Dakota in 2016 and 2017. North Dakota alleged that the federal government caused the protests to grow in size and intensity by unlawfully allowing demonstrators to camp on federal land.

The United States initially appealed Traynor’s judgment to the 8th Circuit, but agreed to dismiss that appeal as part of the settlement.

A federal judge on Friday refused to block a scheduled UFC event at the White House.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta denied a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that sought to halt UFC Freedom 250, an event planned for the South Lawn on Sunday.

Mehta ruled the plaintiffs had not demonstrated they would suffer irreparable harm. The judge noted organizers have spent nearly a year planning the event and that UFC and affiliated organizations have invested more than $60 million in preparations.

Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has decided to approve the $111bn merger of Paramount Skydance, controlled by the Ellison family, and Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of networks like CNN and HBO.

The deal was approved by the justice department’s anti-trust division after months of review, and despite the concerns of many people in the entertainment and media industries who believe it will hurt competition by reducing the number of film studios and – most likely – merging two news networks, Paramount’s CBS News and CNN.

Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is set to expire at midnight tonight after Congress failed to pass an extension of the controversial spying law. But that doesn’t mean the government’s spying powers will disappear.

Surveillance under Section 702 of FISA “operates under yearlong certifications approved by the FISA Court,” the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law explained this week. The current certification will remain in place until March 2027 under the yearlong certification issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on March 17, 2026.

“In order to pressure members to accept a bill without meaningful reforms, surveillance hawks are claiming that Section 702 surveillance will ‘go dark’ on June 12 if Congress hasn’t renewed the law,” the Brennan Center said. “Contrary to that claim, Congress planned for potential lapses and made very clear that Section 702 surveillance may continue under existing certifications even if the statute sunsets. Members must not be fearmongered into passing a reauthorization without protecting Americans from warrantless government access to their private communications.”

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday extended her block on the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for individuals who believe they were victims of an alleged “weaponized” federal government.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema’s ruling extends the band-aid block she initially ordered on May 29 to prevent the Department of Justice from launching the taxpayer-funded $1.8 billion payout system, which critics refer to as a “slush fund.”

Brinkema requested the Department of Justice submit a sworn declaration by next week indicating it is not moving forward with the fund — and signed by both the acting attorney general and the Treasury secretary. She indicated she would likely dismiss the case as moot if the administration submits the rescission in writing. If the DOJ does not provide the declaration, the legal challenge will likely continue.

FBI agents on Thursday raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a pro-democracy organization that helps register voters in that state, three people briefed on the search told MS NOW.

Agents also fanned out across the state, showing up at the homes of the group’s leaders and staff members, carrying some subpoenas and seeking information and electronic devices, according to the three people briefed, two of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive ongoing investigation. Members of the group contacted lawyers on Thursday to determine their legal options, the people said.

The one year ban, passed by City Council on Tuesday, gives the city time to study data centers’ impact on natural resources, public utilities, and jobs. But Tuesday’s Council meeting surfaced concerns that data centers have become a punching bag for broader anger over AI.

Councilmember Debra Juarez said the issue has united the council and the community.

“We certainly know when there’s an existential threat… not only to our city, our state, or our country, but to our world,” she said.

The rise of AI has led to a boom in data center construction, mostly in rural areas. But companies say they need data centers close to where people are so that the data can reach them faster.

Six incumbent North Dakota legislators lost in Republican primary races Tuesday, including Rep. Jeff Hoverson and Rep. Bill Tveit, two lawmakers who championed culture war issues in recent sessions.

Other defeated Republican lawmakers include Rep. Eric Murphy, Sen. Kent Weston, Rep. Donna Henderson and Rep. Dustin McNally in complete but unofficial results.

Hoverson’s resume includes in 2025 being the chief sponsor of House Bill 1145 to require the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. Tveit was the lead sponsor and Hoverson a co-sponsor of a resolution in 2025 that urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage. Both pieces of legislation failed.

Since we are reporting each of these measures three different ways and for each of the 50 states (and the District of Columbia), we ended up with more than 4,000 indicators. To make sense of so much data, we took three steps:

• We created a separate report for every state, which you can find by scrolling to the map at the bottom of this page and clicking on any state.
• We made the data available to state organizations that share our nonpartisan and bipartisan spirit and commitment to careful analysis, so they can create their own reports.
• We analyzed the data to answer specific questions. Our answers to those questions, and more about the State of the Nation Project, can be found in the Executive Summary.