-
Two-thirds of new voter registrations in Kansas are on hold, says the ACLU. The voter rolls are "in chaos" because of the the state's proof-of-citizenship requirements, which has garnered multiple legal challenges. It will come as no surprise that the group that is hardest hit is would-be voters between the ages of 18 and 29. More than 58 percent of them are on the "suspense" list, meaning the state is demanding more documentation from them, which has be presented within 90 days or they're purged.
-
Voter registration among Latinos is surging, though probably not in Kansas.
Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), projects 13.1 million Latinos will vote nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and 9.7 million in 2008.
BEIJING (AP) — Harry Wu, a former political prisoner who dedicated his later life to exposing abuses in China's brutal prison labor camp system, has died. He was 79.
Wu died Tuesday morning while on vacation in Honduras, Ann Noonan, administrator with Wu's Laogai Human Rights Organization, told The Associated Press. The cause of death wasn't immediately known, and Wu's son Harrison and former wife China Lee were traveling to the Central American nation to bring home Wu's remains, Noonan said.
"He was a real hero," Noonan said by phone from New York. "Harry's work will continue, it will not stop."
The number of homes that went under contract in March reached the highest level in nearly a year, a sign the housing market is gaining steam as Americans benefit from historically low interest rates and steady job growth.
-
The bison is becoming the first national mammal of the United States. It's a success story to rival that of the bald eagle, since by the beginning of the 20th century, there were just a few dozen who'd survived the onslaught of western expansion and the U.S. Army's campaign to get rid of this key food supply for the Native Americans they were also trying to exterminate.
-
Rare, 51-year old footage of the Beatles was released this week. It's 49 seconds of the band goofing around backstage before a television appearance, is in black and white, and doesn't have sound. But it's still fun. Australian dancer and make-up artist Dawn Swane had her 8mm camera and "I don't know if it was John (Lennon) or if it was Ringo (Starr) but they took the camera off me and said, 'This is no way to use a camera', and they sort of jiggled it upside down and inside out a bit, and everybody was just mucking around," says the 83-year old Swane. "But that was great. I mean they were a nice group of people. They really were.