In a remarkable upset victory that could have a “transformative” effect on St. Louis’s deeply racist criminal justice system, progressive reformer and Ferguson city council member Wesley Bell on Tuesday handily defeated 27-year Democratic incumbent Bob McCulloch in the race to become St. Louis County’s top prosecutor. McCulloch became “notorious” nationwide after his refusal to…

A new climate study out Monday in Nature warns that “accelerated warming in the Arctic” is stalling summer weather over North America, Europe, and Asia, and could lead to a future of even more “very-extreme extremes,” including dangerous heat waves and flooding. “While it might not sound so bad to have more prolonged sunny episodes…

A Trump administration-approved paid family leave plan is actually an attack on Social Security, argues a new study by the Urban Institute—and one that is intent on promoting the falsehood that the U.S. can’t afford to provide paid leave to new parents while also ensuring that retirees are provided for financially. Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.)…

First Nations tribes and green groups celebrated a federal court’s ruling late Monday that the Trump administration acted illegally when it gutted the Endangered Species Act’s (ESA) protections for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone National Park region. The U.S. District Court in Montana saved the area’s grizzly population from a trophy hunt that was scheduled…

In a victory for three climate activists facing felony charges for their participation in a 2016 multi-state #ShutItDown action that temporarily disabled tar sands pipelines crossing the U.S.-Canada border, a Minnesota state judge dismissed all charges on Tuesday, determining that the prosecution had failed to demonstrate any evidence of damage to a pair of Enbridge pipelines….

Sen. Bill NelsonClarence (Bill) William NelsonNASA, SpaceX and the private-public partnership that caused the flight of the Crew Dragon Lobbying world The most expensive congressional races of the last decade MORE (D-Fla.) is set to face off against Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) in what is expected to be one of the most closely watched –…

This is Election Countdown, The Hill’s weekly newsletter from Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) and Max Greenwood (@KMaxGreenwood) that brings you the biggest stories on the campaign trail. We’d love to hear from you, so feel free to reach out to Lisa at [email protected] and Max at [email protected] with any questions, comments, criticisms or food recommendations (mostly…

Allies to Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE say the Independent senator from Vermont is increasingly likely to make a second bid for the White House in 2020 — once…

With 1.5 million residents now under orders to evacuate their homes in preparation for Hurricane Florence’s landfall in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, the region faces the possibility of catastrophe should the storm damage one or more of the nuclear power plants which lie in its potential path. As the Associated Press reported on…

Before scandal-ridden Scott Pruitt resigned as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed the reins to an ex-coal lobbyist, the Trump appointee launched an “alarming” effort to significantly limit what scientific studies the agency can use when crafting public health regulations—and according to new reporting, he excluded some the agency’s own experts from…