By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA, Associated Press

Eleven states and Kentucky’s governor are suing the Trump administration over what they call “unlawful terms” placed on federal funding critical to supporting local disaster and terrorism preparedness.

The predominantly Democratic-led states, which include Michigan, Oregon and Arizona, along with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sued the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon.

The states oppose a dramatic cut to the amount of time they are given to spend emergency management and homeland security grants, as well as an unprecedented requirement that they submit population counts omitting people removed under immigration law in order to receive emergency management funds. They argue the measures “erect inappropriate barriers” to money for public safety and emergency response.

“The Trump administration has repeatedly expressed a desire to diminish FEMA’s role and shift the burden of emergency management to the States, thus reverting to an inconsistent patchwork of disaster response across the Nation,” the states said in the complaint.

In a statement to The Associated Press, a DHS spokesperson said the changes were “part of a methodical, reasonable effort to ensure that federal dollars are used effectively and in line with the administration’s priorities and today’s homeland security threats.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency awards billions in emergency management and homeland security grants annually to states, tribes and territories. State and local agencies spend the money on staff salaries, preparedness training and equipment purchases.

The lawsuit centers on two grant programs, the $320 million Emergency Management Performance Grant and the $1 billion Homeland Security Grant Program.

EMPG awards are based on states’ populations, determined through U.S. Census data. States received notices of their award amountsjust before the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

But on Oct. 1, FEMA sent a “funding hold” to all grant recipients, informing them that funds would not be released until states provided “certification” of their current populations, excluding individuals “removed from the State pursuant to the immigration laws of the United States.”

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FEMA said states had to explain their methodology and funds would be released upon “review and approval” of that methodology.

The complaint calls the requirement “arbitrary and capricious,” adding that states do not keep “to-the-minute” population counts, it is the job of DHS to track immigration-related removals, and federal agencies are required by law to use Census data to allocate funding.

FEMA also shortened the time states had to spend the money from both grants from three years to just one. Plaintiff states said the change “imposes significant obstacles” on recipients’ ability to use funds and makes the funding “largely unusable.”

Both states and local governments depend heavily on the grants. The $6.6 million Arizona would receive from EMPG funds half of the state’s emergency management operations, according to the complaint.

Oregon’s Department of Emergency Management estimates two-thirds of the state’s counties would lose “significant or even all capacity to perform basic emergency management functions” without EMPG funding, according to a statement from Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s office.

The lawsuit is the latest of several brought against the Trump administration over changes and cancellations to FEMA funding. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to diminish FEMA’s role in disasters and put more responsibility on states.

By MATTHEW BROWN and MORGAN LEE, Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump nominated a former lawmaker from New Mexico on Wednesday to oversee the management of vast public lands that are playing a central role in Republican attempts to ramp up fossil fuel production.

The nominee for the Bureau of Land Management, former Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico, must be confirmed by the Senate. The agency manages a quarter-billion acres — about 10% of land in the U.S. It’s also responsible for 700 million acres of underground minerals, including major reserves of oil, natural gas and coal.

The agency’s policies have swung sharply as control of the White House has shifted between Republicans and Democrats.

Under Democratic President Joe Biden, former bureau Director Tracy Stone-Manning curbed oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding renewable power in a bid to curb climate change.

Trump and Republicans in Congress have moved quickly to unravel Biden’s actions. In a matter of months they’ve opened millions of acres of public lands for mining and drilling and canceled land plans and conservation strategies that Biden’s administration took years to formulate.

But some moves have fallen flat, including a proposal by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee to sell more than 2 million acres of federal lands to states or other entities. In October, the largest government coal lease sale in more than a decade drew a dirt-cheap bid that was rejected.

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A previous nominee to lead the agency, longtime oil and gas industry representative Kathleen Sgamma, withdrew in April following revelations that she criticized Trump in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Pearce is a former fighter pilot and Vietnam War veteran who led a successful oil-services company in New Mexico. He was first elected to the House in 2003 and served seven terms in a district spanning oil fields and vast tracts of public land under federal oversight.

Pearce had a conservative voting record and advocated for ranchers in New Mexico when parts of Lincoln National Forest were closed to protect the endangered New Mexico meadow jumping mouse.

He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Tom Udall in 2008, and lost a bid for governor in 2018 to Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Pearce later served as chair of the state Republican Party and was a strong supporter of Trump, who lost three times in New Mexico.

During Trump’s first term, Pearce urged the U.S. Interior Department to reduce the size of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument outside Las Cruces, New Mexico, as part of a nationwide review of monument designations. He said a reduction would preserve traditional business enterprises on public lands. That earned him lasting ire from environmentalists who called Wednesday for his nomination to be rejected.

The Sierra Club said in a statement that Pearce was “an opponent of the landscapes and waters that generations of Americans have explored and treasured.”

Livestock industry groups expressed support. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council said in a joint statement that Pearce “understands the important role that public lands play across the West.”

“Pearce’s experience makes him thoroughly qualified to lead the BLM and tackle the issues federal lands ranchers are facing,” the groups said.

The land bureau went four years without a confirmed director during Trump’s first term. The Republican president also moved its headquarters to Colorado before it was returned to Washington, D.C., under Biden.

The agency had about 9,250 employees at the start of the government shutdown on Oct. 1. That’s down by roughly 800 employees since the start of Trump’s term, following widespread layoffs and resignations driven by the administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce.

Oil, gas and coal permitting has continued during the shutdown and most land bureau employees were exempted from furloughs.

Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Law enforcement is investigating after a man and woman were found dead in a vehicle Wednesday at a Roseville shopping center.

At Crossroads Center of Roseville, across from Rosedale Center, a customer reported seeing two people who appeared to be passed out in a vehicle. Police and fire were dispatched just before 2 p.m.

Officers determined the two adults in the vehicle appeared to have been shot and both were deceased. Police are preliminarily investigating the case as a murder-suicide.

“Based on the initial investigation, police do not believe anyone else was involved,” police said in a statement. “At this time, there is no reason to believe there is an ongoing safety risk to the public.”

Police recovered a gun inside the vehicle. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was assisting in processing the scene.

Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the Roseville Police Department at 651-792-7008 or at police@cityofroseville.com.

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By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Recording Academy will announce the 2026 Grammy Award nominees on Friday. It’s as good a reason as any to take a beat and examine how the institution makes it decisions. Who selects the nominees? Who votes? Can anyone nominate any recorded release for a Grammy?

We’ve got you covered. Read on to get a crash course on how Grammy voting works.

How does Grammy voting work?

Members of the Recording Academy and record labels submit artists in certain categories, which are then vetted for eligibility. Currently, there are 95 Grammy Award categories.

After submissions have been screened, voting members help determine who the final nominations will be — typically in the fall — using a membership dashboard. They can only vote for music that has been submitted and vetted.

Once the nominees are determined and announced in November, a period of final round voting takes place. This cycle, that runs from Dec. 12 through Jan. 5.

Winners are announced live at the award show in February.

And don’t get it twisted — voting members do not vote in all 95 categories. They’re permitted to vote in up to 10 categories across three genre fields, as well as the six general field categories, which include record, album, song, producer, non-classical and songwriter, non-classical of the year, and best new artist. That allows experts to focus on their expertise.

FILE – Decorative Grammy Awards appear on the red carpet at the 64th annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

How does someone become a voting member?

There are three types of Recording Academy memberships: Grammy U, professional and voting memberships. The latter includes performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, instrumentalists and beyond. Those are the members who determine Grammy winners each year.

Voting members have to provide a proof of a primary career in music, two recommendations and certain verifiable credits.

But there are a few ways around some of those requirements: If you are a current year’s Grammy winner or nominee, you do not need to provide a recommendation from someone in the industry. If you’ve been nominated for a Grammy in the last five years, you do not need to provide proof of your credits.

What determines Grammy eligibility?

Entries must adhere to the specific qualifications of the categories they are submitted into. Rules and guidelines can be found at Grammy.com.

There are also frequent changes made to categories and fields. In 2026, there have been a few: best country album has been divided into best contemporary country album and best traditional country album. The best recording package and the best boxed or special limited edition package categories have also been combined into the best recording package category, with best album cover spun out on its own.

Most importantly: Recordings and music videos must also be submitted within the Grammy eligibility window, which for the 2026 award show means work released between Aug. 31, 2024 – Aug. 30, 2025.

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How does a musician qualify for best new artist?

The category of new artist is constantly evolving, trying to capture the zeitgeist each year as the process of categorizing fame gets more complicated. The Grammy rules currently say nominations hinge on whether “the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence” — and it delegates that determination to a screening committee. Eligible artists must have released at least five singles or one album, but there is no longer a maximum. That’s why someone like, say, Sabrina Carpenter — who broke out in the summer of “Espresso” — found herself up for the best new artist trophy in 2025 despite being on her sixth full-length release.

And this year, the category has also been expanded to include acts who were featured on previous album of the year nominees, so long as they fall below 20% of the album’s music.

When are the 2026 Grammys?

The Grammys will be held Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with nominations announced on Friday. It will be broadcast live on CBS and can be streamed on demand via Paramount+.