It's Been Reported

Push To Expand Noncitizen Voting Crumbles As Voters Pass Bans In 8 States (Wash Times) — Santa Ana, a city in Southern California, has one of the highest rates of noncitizen residents in the country. Yet voters are poised to reject allowing them to vote in local elections. California is notoriously slow in counting votes. With nearly 50,000 tallied, opponents of the noncitizen voting measure were leading 62% to 38%. Voters in eight states, meanwhile, approved ballot measures to strengthen bans on noncitizen voting in their jurisdictions. They all passed by large margins as voters moved to defend the sanctity of citizen-only elections. Election integrity activists said it signaled that the country isn’t sold on the left-wing push to expand such voting rights. “The lesson I take is that foreigners voting in American elections is very unpopular among Americans,” said J. Christian Adams, head of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, which advocates for voter integrity. “Citizenship means something to people. It’s a treasure to be protected.” See full story	Democrats Spent $9 More Per Vote Than Republicans – And Kamala Still Lost (Daily Wire) — Vice President Kamala Harris and her allies outspent former President Donald Trump and Republicans by nearly $600 million, a disjunction that did not translate into victory. Harris and allied outside groups spent around $1.7 billion, compared to $1.1 billion by Trump and allies, according to OpenSecrets. Based on the number of votes tallied thus far, that means Democrats spent $24 for every Harris vote while Republicans spent $15 for every Trump vote. It’s not the first time Trump defeated a candidate who outspent him In 2016, the Hillary Clinton campaign and its allies outspent Trump by 78%. In 2020, Joe Biden’s side outspent him by 49%. The figures suggest that big money operations may no longer be the key to securing victory in a presidential election. Post-election news reports said that despite Harris raising more than $1 billion – in addition to more than $600 million from outside sources – the campaign is now $20 million in debt. See full story
Is Kamala Harris' Campaign $20M In Debt? What We Know (Newsweek) — Kamala Harris' presidential election campaign ended the 2024 White House contest "at least $20 million in debt," according to Politico's California bureau chief Christopher Cadelago. Cadelago made the claim on X, formerly Twitter, noting Harris' team had "$118 million in the bank" as recently as October 16. Donald Trump was elected to the White House for a second time, with The Associated Press (AP) reporting he had secured 295 Electoral College votes as of 5:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, 25 more than he needed for victory. According to AP, Trump is also ahead in the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona, which have 17 Electoral College votes between them. He is also on track to win the popular vote. In the post on Wednesday, Cadelago wrote: "Kamala Harris's campaign ended with at least $20 million in debt, per two sources familiar. Harris raised over $1 billion and had $118 million in the bank as of Oct. 16." See full story	Florida’s Abortion Amendment Fails, Leaving 6-Week Ban In Place (The Hill) — Florida’s abortion-rights ballot initiative fell short of passing on Tuesday, leaving in place a six-week abortion ban that has helped restrict access across almost all of the Southern U.S. The measure’s defeat is a significant victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who engaged multiple levers of state-sponsored power to oppose it. Florida is now the first state to defeat an abortion rights amendment since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The measure needed a 60 percent supermajority to pass, the highest threshold in the country. No abortion measure to date has passed with 60 percent of the vote. Florida was one of 10 states voting on abortion-related ballot measures Tuesday. All the others needed a simple majority to pass. The state previously had a 15-week ban, but the six-week ban took effect in May. Florida’s ban has effectively shut off abortion access in the South, where neighboring states already enforce near-total abortion bans or severe restrictions. See full story
Suspected Tar Balls On Sydney Beaches Actually Poop-Filled 'Fatbergs' (UPI) — Mysterious black balls that washed up on Sydney, Australia, beaches were initially suspected to be tar balls but turned out to be miniature "fatbergs" containing human feces. The black balls were first spotted on Bondi Beach on Oct. 16, and similar balls were found on other city beaches in the ensuing days. New South Wales environmental officials said they were initially suspected to be tar balls resulting from an unknown oil spill, but testing has now confirmed they contain cooking oil, soap scum, industrial chemicals, drug residue, hair and human feces. Researchers said the balls are miniature "fatbergs," sewer-blocking accumulations of fat, grease and sewage. "They smell absolutely disgusting, they smell worse than anything you've ever smelt," University of New South Wales Associate Professor Jon Beves, who led the investigation, told 9News. See full story	Californians Overwhelmingly Pass Anti-Crime Proposition 36 Measure That Dem Gov. Gavin Newsom Strongly Opposed (NY Post) — California voters approved by a massive margin a ballot measure to more harshly punish certain crimes -- with the initiative garnering a whopping 70.6% support with nearly 7.6 million ballots counted. The outcome of the state’s Proposition 36 reflected a backlash to light penalties for shoplifting and drug-related crimes – and it passed despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Prop 36 authorizes felony charges for possession of drugs including fentanyl and for thefts under $950 if the offender has two prior drug or theft convictions, according to the official summary of its provisions. The nascent law creates a new category of crime called “treatment-mandated felony” that allows a person to have their drug conviction set aside if they complete rehab. See full story
Massachusetts Becomes First State To Allow Uber, Lyft Drivers To Unionize (NY Post) — Massachusetts voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that would allow ride-share drivers to unionize, becoming the first state to allow drivers for app-based companies like Uber and Lyft to do so. With 94% of precincts reporting, 53.9% of voters endorsed a novel framework that would allow ride-share drivers who are considered by the companies to be independent contractors to organize and bargain collectively over pay and benefits, according to the Associated Press, which called the vote mid-Wednesday. Supporters have said the ballot measure could provide a model for other states to let Uber and Lyft drivers unionize and inspire efforts to organize them around the U.S. Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of 32BJ SEIU, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, that had spearheaded a campaign to pass the proposal, said its approval shows that Massachusetts voters want drivers to have a meaningful check against the growing power of app-based companies. See full story	‘Unimaginable Violence’: 14-Year-Old Florida Boy Pleads Guilty To Beating And Sexually Assaulting 91-Year-Old Woman (Law & Crime) — A teenage boy in Florida admittedly sexually assaulted a 91-year-old woman earlier this year, court records filed this week show. Jesse Stone, 14, broke into the home of the nonagenarian victim over the summer, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The woman woke up around midnight and saw someone “sneaking through her home,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. Then, the adolescent criminal brutally attacked his victim. “In a cruel act of violence, she was beaten and sexually battered,” Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at the time. The incident occurred on June 9, near the town of Reddick — a tiny town some 90 miles northwest of Orlando. In the immediate aftermath of the shocking incident, law enforcement offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. See full story
Man Blamed ‘Karma’ For Beating Girlfriend’s 2-Year-Old To Death, Trying To Fake Drowning (Law & Crime) — A 32-year-old man in Indiana has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son. Ricky Larkin was taken into custody this week and charged with one count of murder in the brutal slaying of young Je’Loni Smith, authorities announced. According to a news release from the Gary, Indiana Police Department, officers at about 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2024, responded to a call for assistance at a residence in the 300 block of Arthur Street, about 160 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The call came from the Gary Fire Department in reference to a 2-year-old child inside the home that was not breathing. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located the toddler, saying the child was unresponsive and “appeared to be lifeless.” An adult male at the home said he was the victim’s father and told authorities the toddler was “in the bathtub when he discovered him not breathing.” The supposed father – later identified as Larkin, who is not the boy’s father – said he performed CPR but couldn’t resuscitate the child. See full story	Catholic Swing Voters Were Critical To Donald Trump's Blowout Victory: 'Harris Snubbed Us' (Fox News) — Catholic voters across the country swung massively towards former President Trump in the 2024 election, contributing to his surprise blowout victory on election night. Catholics were evenly split between President Biden and Trump in 2020, with 50 percent favoring Trump to 49 percent favoring Biden. According to exit polling collected by Fox News on election night, Catholics across the country swung 9 percentage points in Trump’s favor, with the former and now-future president winning Catholics by 10 points. Bill Donohue, president of the religious civil rights group Catholic League, told Fox News Digital that Catholics resoundingly rejected Harris because of what he called a "clear animus against Catholics." "She was rejected primarily because she is associated with the politics of extremism, and that is something the American people will never countenance," he said. See full story