*By Chloe Aiello*
Michigan became the first Midwestern state to fully legalize recreational marijuana on Tuesday ー one of four states with marijuana-related legislation on the ballot in the 2018 midterms. Marijuana was one of the key issues up for review on multiple state ballots on Election Day Tuesday alongside criminal justice reform.
Michigan voters approved Proposition 1, granting all cannabis enthusiasts 21 or older access to the drug, as well as the right to possess up to 10 ounces of marijuana and grow 12 plants in their homes. In Utah, a traditionally conservative state, voters approved Proposition 2, which allows people with certain illnesses to acquire medical cannabis and in some cases, grow up to six plants for personal use. In Missouri, voters had three chances to pass medical marijuana at various tax rates. Voters passed Amendment 2, which will tax marijuana at 4 percent and apply those revenues to health care and veteran services.
North Dakota was a bit of a different story. Voters overwhelmingly rejected legalizing recreational marijuana, voting down a measure that would have also erased certain prior marijuana-related convictions from the records of offenders.
Marijuana wasn't the only major ballot initiative up for review on Tuesday.
Florida and Louisiana both had ballot initiatives that addressed criminal justice reform. Florida voters passed Amendment 4, which gives convicted felons the right to vote after completing their sentences ー so long as they are not convicted murderers or felony sex offenders. Louisiana now gives convicted felons the right to seek public office five years after completing their sentence. Oregon voters rejected an effort to repeal the state's sanctuary status, meaning police cannot arrest illegal immigrants there unless they violating the law.
Four men were charged Monday over the theft of an 18-carat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace, the sprawling English country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born.
Donald Trump began testifying Monday morning in his civil fraud trial, producing the spectacle of a former president and the leading Republican presidential candidate defending himself against allegations that he dramatically inflated his net worth.
The most-watched races in Tuesday’s off-year general election have all been dominated by the ongoing debate over abortion rights.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is reportedly planning to endorse Florida Gov. Ron Desantis in the Republican primary.
The endorsement could give DeSantis' campaign a boost as he struggles to show progress against Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
With Donald Trump due on the witness stand next week, testimony from his adult sons in his civil business fraud trial wrapped up Friday with Eric Trump saying he relied completely on accountants and lawyers to assure the accuracy of financial documents key to the case.
The watchdog office overseeing the National Science Foundation is sending investigators to Antarctica's McMurdo Station after hearing concerns about the prevalence of sexual violence at the U.S. research base.
Frederico Klein, a former State Department official, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison after being found guilty on several counts including assault of multiple police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
President Joe Biden and First lady Jill Biden are traveling to Lewiston Maine to pay their respects to the people who were killed there in a mass shooting last week.
The House approved a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package Thursday for Israel, a muscular U.S. response to the war with Hamas but also a partisan approach by new Speaker Mike Johnson that poses a direct challenge to Democrats and President Joe Biden.
