“We’ve been basically building this airplane as we fly it,” said one local official as he discussed his county’s efforts to implement recreational marijuana legalization.
A 9th Circuit decision—now before the U.S. Supreme Court— is being viewed by some as a potential “springboard for the expansion of federal control over state-owned navigable waters throughout the country.”
As Americans crowd toward the coasts, states and municipalities are caught in passionate battles about public access, while lawsuits seem headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This issue is of great concern to communities throughout the West,” said Utah Sen. Mike Lee. “Increasingly, these communities find themselves as targets of overly zealous federal law-enforcement operations.”
Native American tribes are opposed to GOP legislation that would change the size and management of the Obama-era national monument, which President Trump has sought to shrink.
Critics are saying the legislation is a "radical attempt to undermine the Antiquities Act, which is really one of our nation’s most important conservation tools."
STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP: Cuomo’s new state requirements for credit-reporting agencies in N.Y.; working to stop chronic shoplifting in Alaska; and court affirms ruling in Minneapolis sick-leave ordinance lawsuit.
A Montana county board chairman says it's time for Congress to institute “mandatory, long-term funding” for counties with federal lands within their borders.
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Federal judge rules Alabama must improve its prison mental health care; decision on Flint water contract extension; and a Bay Area migration to Sacramento.
If Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke decides to revoke its status, it would be the latest example of the federal government setting aside land in conjunction with tribes, only to break the agreement.