Trump doubles down on redistricting in Indiana even as lawmakers rebuke special session

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By ISABELLA VOLMERT

President Donald Trump is insisting that the redistricting fight in Indiana is not over even as the GOP-led state Senate again refused Tuesday to return to the Capitol this year for a special session to draw new congressional maps.

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Divisions among Indiana’s GOP lawmakers were on full display as senators voted to instead convene next for the regular session in January despite the shadow of Trump’s threats to support primary challengers to legislators opposed to redistricting.

Trump has blasted individual senators in social media posts, including Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, who said last week there weren’t enough votes to pass a redistricting proposal and that the chamber would not meet.

“Soon, he will have a Primary Problem, as will any other politician who supports him in this stupidity,” Trump said of Bray on Tuesday on Truth Social. Bray isn’t up for reelection until 2028, along with half the Senate body.

The vote was the latest show of defiance against Trump and his ally, Republican Gov. Mike Braun, who want Republicans to use their supermajority in both legislative chambers to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries before the end of the year.

While states usually draw new district boundaries every 10 years with the census, Trump wants Indiana and other Republican states to create congressional maps that will favor Republican candidates and give them an easier path to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 elections. The stakes are high since Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats and midterm elections usually favor the party opposite to the one in power.

The blow to Trump’s efforts came as a federal court on Tuesday derailed, for now, his hopes to secure more seats in Texas. A panel of three judges blocked the state from using a new congressional map that would boost Republicans.

Republicans currently outnumber Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation 7-2.

Braun suggested in a statement that he is exploring ways to compel the Senate to return in December and take a vote. But his options remain unclear, other than maintaining political pressure on Republicans refusing to go along.

“I will support President Trump’s efforts to recruit, endorse and finance primary challengers for Indiana’s senators who refuse to support fair maps,” Braun said.

Republican infighting

Braun first called for a special session last month and lawmakers initially agreed to meet in early December. That was before Bray’s declaration last week. Senators voted 29-19 Tuesday to reconvene in January instead.

Braun, a first-term governor, said he had a call with Trump Monday.

“This is a slap in the face of the governor of the state of Indiana to do something like this,” state Sen. Michael Young, who favors redistricting, said on the floor Tuesday. Lawmakers were gathered at the statehouse for a ceremonial day that occurs each year before the regular session in January.

Republican Sen. Greg Goode, whom Trump called out by name on social media over the weekend for resisting redistricting, was the victim of a swatting attempt on Sunday. Goode said in a statement Tuesday he will not take a public stance on the topic until he sees an official map.

More state senators have come out against redistricting this week, including a handful of Republicans calling for their party to focus instead on flipping a Democratic seat in northwest Indiana. The 1st Congressional District has been seen as a possible pickup for Republicans in recent years.

“The message from my district has been clear — they do not support mid-cycle redistricting, and therefore I cannot support it,” state Sen. Travis Holdman, who represents a rural district near Fort Wayne, said in a statement Tuesday. “I do not believe redrawing our map will guarantee a 9-0 result.”

It is unclear whether the state House, which does have the votes to take up redistricting, will return in December. Speaker Todd Huston told lawmakers to keep the first two weeks of December open on their calendars. Yet in a statement, Huston said he hopes one day that Congress prohibits mid-cycle redistricting.

“But until that happens, Indiana cannot bury its head in the sand,” Huston said.

Redistricting fight grows

Texas was the first state to kick off the redistricting fight this year. Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map to give the GOP five additional seats. Voters in California recently approved a ballot initiative that would give Democrats five more seats.

Both plans are now mired in legal battles.

Republicans in Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have all adopted new districts to boost the GOP, while the Democratic-led Virginia General Assembly has taken a step toward redistricting with a proposed constitutional amendment.

Efforts have come up short in the Republican-led Kansas Legislature and in Democratic-led Illinois and Maryland.

Appeals court pauses California law requiring companies to report climate-related financial risk

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By SOPHIE AUSTIN

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday paused a California law set to take effect in January requiring large companies to report every two years on how climate change could hurt them financially.

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Another new law requiring major companies to annually disclose their carbon emissions can stay in place for now, the court ruled.

The policies would be the most sweeping of their kind in the nation, and proponents say they would increase transparency and encourage companies to assess how they can cut their emissions.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked the 9th Circuit to pause the laws, which were set to take effect next year, arguing they violate the companies’ First Amendment rights. The group also asked the Supreme Court last week to weigh in.

“We look forward to continuing our appeal and securing an injunction of both climate disclosure laws, which result in massive compliance costs for companies and their supply chains,” Chamber of Commerce lawyer Daryl Joseffer said of Tuesday’s ruling. “One state should not have the ability to impose this kind of burden on the entire country.”

Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board, which is drafting rules to implement the laws, said the agency was reviewing the ruling and could not comment further. The state has argued that the laws don’t violate the First Amendment because commercial speech isn’t protected the same way under the Constitution.

The financial risk disclosure law, which Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2023, applies to companies making more than $500 million a year that do business in California. The Air Resources Board estimates more than 4,100 businesses will have to comply with the legislation.

The emissions reporting law, which the state passed the same year, applies to businesses that make more than $1 billion a year and do business in the state — which covers roughly 2,600 companies, according to state air regulators. They will have to report planet-warming pollution from burning fossil fuels directly, as well as releases from activities such as delivering products from warehouses to stores and employee business travel.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule last year requiring some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, but the agency paused the regulation amid litigation.

Motorist killed in crash after fleeing police in St. Cloud

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ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A motorist was killed when he crashed his car after fleeing police in St. Cloud on Monday night.

According to police, an officer on patrol near St. Cloud State University spotted a speeding car at about 10:41 p.m. Monday. The officer’s radar indicated the vehicle was going 62 mph in the posted 30-mph zone.

The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop but the driver accelerated. As the car reached the west end of the University Avenue bridge, the driver entered the eastbound lane and the officer terminated pursuit. But the car, driven by a 41-year-old St. Cloud man, continued at a high rate of speed and went through the roundabout at Fifth Avenue before colliding with a parked truck and a light pole in the parking lot of an apartment building.

The motorist, who was alone in the car, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 53-year-old St. Cloud man was in the parked truck but wasn’t seriously injured.

Police said the deceased motorist, who wasn’t immediately identified, was driving after a license revocation for reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

The intersection was temporarily closed to allow Xxcel Energy to repair damage to the light pole and power lines.

The pursuit was recorded by both squad and body cameras and the case remains under investigation by St. Cloud police and the Minnesota State Patrol.

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Motley Crue to headline new Mystic Lake Amphitheater in Shakopee

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Motley Crue joins the growing lineup at the new Mystic Lake Amphitheater in Shakopee with an Aug. 21 show booked with fellow ’80s rockers Tesla and Extreme.

Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

Known for such hits as “Home Sweet Home,” “Kickstart My Heart,” “Shout at the Devil” and “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room,” Motley Crue splintered in 1992 when lead singer Vince Neil left the group (or was fired, depending on who you believe). Neil returned five years later, but soon after, drummer Tommy Lee retired from the group. The full lineup reunited in 2004.

Motley Crue unveiled plans for their farewell tour in January 2014 and went on to play 158 concerts around the world, including two at the former Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and another at Minneapolis’ Target Center.

In 2019, Motley Crue announced they were reuniting, citing renewed interest in the band following the release of “The Dirt,” a Netflix biopic based on Motley Crue’s best-selling 2001 autobiography. Their massive comeback tour, which included Def Leppard and Poison, hit U.S. Bank Stadium in 2022 after several pandemic-related delays. The show confirmed that Neil’s voice remains a weak point in the group.

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Founding guitarist Mick Mars, who has long struggled with the chronic form of arthritis ankylosing spondylitis, departed the group in October 2022 under mysterious circumstances. The rest of the band immediately announced former Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5 was taking his place. The new lineup drew 8,769 fans to the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand last year.

Not to be confused with Mystic Lake Casino’s own amphitheater, the 19,000 capacity Mystic Lake Amphitheater will open next year. Live Nation will operate the venue, which is expected to host more than 30 concerts each summer. The lineup so far includes Jack Johnson (July 12), 5 Seconds of Summer (July 22), Train (Aug. 9), Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner (Aug. 16) and Iron Maiden (Sept. 19).