Fifty years ago, after the Watergate scandal, California voters voted to establish a watchdog agency to hold officials accountable for campaign ethics violations.
What happens when that agency takes years to investigate?
From me and
@jeremiak
:
BREAKING: Michigan voters will see abortion rights on the Nov. 8 ballot, Michigan Supreme Court ruled Thursday night.
Not yet seeing opinion on voting measure. Story to follow.
MSU police today confirmed two injured victims are international students.
As a Chinese native myself, I felt lonely and helpless when I got in an accident knowing my family is an ocean away. I can't imagine how worried their parents must be to not be able to be here soon.
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin at 8 a.m. briefing: "You either care about protecting kids, or you don't."
"Please don't tell me you care about the safety of children if you are not willing to have a conversaion about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary."
BREAKING: Court orders Thursday night Promote the Vote onto the Nov. 8 ballot.
That proposal would allow nine days of early voting and continue to allow registered voters to cast ballots without an ID if they sign an affidavit, among others.
Story TK.
NEW:
@mireprofreedom
is "past the threshold" for signatures to qualify for the November ballot and is confident it'll have a "large cushion," said ACLU policy strategist Merissa Kovach.
via
@BridgeMichigan
If you have trouble signing up for vaccines,
@BrettKelman
is offering help.
I’ve honestly never known a reporter dedicating the time/energy to help readers the way Brett does. In a year of a deadly pandemic, we all have our health care reporters to thank for.
🚨I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be moving to Lansing in the new year to cover Michigan state politics for
@BridgeMichigan
.
I’ll work alongside my former press corps pal
@SergioMarBel
and the talented
@jonathanoosting
!
Michiganders, all tips are welcome! My DM’s open.
#mileg
Michigan voters: Issues on the Nov. 8 ballot are now set.
Three constitutional amendments on term limits + financial disclosure, voting rights and abortion.
The Capitol team at
@BridgeMichigan
has explainers on what each means. Check them out: (thread)
Personal news: I am leaving
@Tennessean
at the end of the year, but my last day reporting on the ground will be next Thursday.
I've enjoyed covering both the statehouse and Metro Nashville over the past year, and it has been a tremendous honor. (1/*)
I struggled for a long time if I want to tell this story. I still tremble as I type down these words out of fear — lingering fear from a year of mental abuse from my previous workplace.
That was the reason I chose to leave my life in Mississippi behind.
Hey Michigan, just got back from a much-needed post-election vacation/engagement!
As always, I'm playing catchup with Michigan's political coverage. Let me know what I missed and holler at syu
@bridgemi
.com.
Good morning, California. Today’s my first day as the politics and campaign reporter for
@CalMatters
.
What a time to be starting this beat.
Reach me at stella
@calmatters
.org if you have tips, feedback or just want to say hi!
Today’s my first day as a
@Tennessean
reporter, a day when federal agents and local officials continue to investigate into the Christmas bombing in downtown Nashville.
To get in touch, feel free to call/text me at 615-913-0945 or email me at yyu
@tennessean
.com.
NEW: Meet Nathaniel Kelly, Ottawa County's newly named health officer pending state approval.
He fought mask rules, promoted unproven COVID-19 treatments and once mocked Whitmer's sign translator in a parody video.
From me and
@jonathanoosting
:
Hello, I’m not on Off the Record to look pretty.
Nor am I there to be judged for my speech pattern or TV performance.
I’m there to help inform. Not to please.
Sanders told
@clarionledger
yesterday that his conversation with me was "off the record."
We choose to publish the audio recording of that conversation in today's story.
You can listen to it here:
Local leaders are condemning Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Harry Sanders for his racist remarks. The comments were first reported by
@CDispatch
.
Many are calling for his resignation.
Latest from me:
🚨Personal news: This is my last week at
@BridgeMichigan
and my last day will be Friday, Sept. 22.
I am grateful for the opportunity to cover Michigan politics and policy, as well as the support and investment from my newsroom over the past two years.
"I still believe that science is a blessing from God," said Rep. Sabi Kumar (R).
Kumar, a surgeon, dispelled on the House floor false claims that vaccines must be 100% preventive of diseases.
Children's hospitals in TN - all of them - are on pace to be completely full by the end of next week, the Department of Health projects.
In a July presser,
@GovBillLee
said he believed chances of children getting seriously sick from COVID-19 were low.
I've been coming back to this piece a lot over the past 24 hours.
"It’s what’s required to provide an unflinching look at how state government affects those entrusted to its care,”
@avivaokeson
said.
This is how I will remember her.
Trauma hits you in all kinds of ways.
On my way home from the MSU town hall event tonight, I saw 5 police cars and 2 ambulances ahead.
I was on the phone with my editor and broke into tears.
It was a car wreck. A bad one.
But I had thought it was another shooting.
I'm happy to announce that my next stop will be Nashville, Tennessee.
Starting late-December, I'll be the statehouse politics reporter for
@Tennessean
-- just in time for a new round of
#tnleg
session.
Honestly, it's a dream coming true. Volunteer State, here I come. (3/*)
The new slate of Ottawa Impact-endorsed county commissioners in West Michigan abolished its DEI office and replaced multiple county officials.
All without public notice, with members adding items to the agenda on the fly.
via
@BridgeMichigan
Personal update: I will embark on a weeks-long trip home tomorrow to see my sick grandpa, the man who first taught me kindness, love and selfless giving.
It's been six years since I left my home country for my career in America.
I don't know how many conspiracies I have heard today.
Rep. Bud Hulsey, R-Kingsport, said the COVID-19 vaccines are not vaccines. Saying vaccines should outright prevent the disease.
No vaccine has EVER, EVER, been 100% effective.
Conference committees are supposed to have public meetings. One way lawmakers get around that is to have “pre-meetings” to hash out their differences ahead of time.
What good does it do to the public, then, if elected officials have secret meetings to address real concerns?
🚨What’s next? No more secrets.🚨
Starting September, I’ll be covering my dream beat — money in politics — as an
@OpenSecretsDC
intern.
I’m so psyched to join a line of young and talented writers this fall💛
So bear with me, Washington.
Sen. Joey Hensley is opposing a bill that would restrict/revoke a prescriber's ability to prescribe controlled substances when they are indicted/convicted of criminal offenses.
He was put on probation after prescribing opioids to his family members.
I realized one of my favorite musicians
@JasonIsbell
has liked this tweet.
I’ll add, one of the things I’ll be sad about is I’ll no longer cover Tennessee — the very state Jason lives in and reads about!
But sincerely thank you for following along. I hope I’ve been helpful🙏
Personal news: I am leaving
@Tennessean
at the end of the year, but my last day reporting on the ground will be next Thursday.
I've enjoyed covering both the statehouse and Metro Nashville over the past year, and it has been a tremendous honor. (1/*)
Reporting on the transgender athlete bill in Tennessee, I receive a lot of emails from angry readers. Most of them tell me: "You don't understand biology."
As someone who's been reading research papers and interviewing medical experts over the past two months, that is insulting.
BREAKING:
@HRC
has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging one of Tennessee's anti-transgender laws.
The law effectively allows public school students and staffers to reject sharing bathrooms with transgender peers.
Democratic Sens.
@SaraforTN
and
@katrinafortn
said they are leaving the session early to protest the passage of the ban on critical race theories teaching.
Kyle told me some other Senate Democrats are also leaving.
Lake Travis ISD meeting taking place right now. Mary Kuse, member of Moms Demand Action, spoke against arming teachers at schools and talked about the possible danger of misfire and granting gun access to the wrong people. She calls for enhanced mental healthcare at school.
The
@Gannett
layoffs today make even me, a former Gannett reporter, shudder with fear.
I met some of the most talented reporters at
@Tennessean
. But they quickly left.
While I enjoyed my colleagues, sources and coverage, I constantly worried it would end abruptly.
CNN producer Carolyn Sung was wrongfully arrested by Minnesota state troopers on Tuesday night. This letter from a group of media outlets describes how she was mistreated and held for more than two hours
JUST IN: Unlock Michigan 2.0 — the ballot initiative aiming to restrict pandemic orders by health officials — is not submitting signatures by tomorrow's deadline.
The campaign says it'll focus on pushing for similar bills next year when new legislative leadership takes helm.
New update: One of the five critically injured students is now in stable condition.
One piece of good news today. I hope the rest of them will all be ok.
On Oct. 2, I will be joining
@CalMatters
' politics team ahead of the 2024 election year, covering political campaigns with a mind around policies and voters.
I'll join a great team led by
@foonrhee
and work with
@akoseff
,
@SameeaKamal
and
@lynnlaaa
. Can't wait to get started.
I warned Sanders -- twice -- that I was still on the record with him.
Board Attorney Tim Hudson told him: "She's doing the right thing. She's telling you ... it's gonna go in the paper if she wants it to."
District 3 Supervisor John Holliman said: "Don't say it."
.
@jasonbmartin
launches much-anticipated bid for Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2022, citing state’s pandemic response as reason to run.
He’ll face Memphis-area community leader Carnita Atwater and Greeneville physician Casey Nicholson.
Tennesseans who wish to comment on the state's
#redistricting
process are invited to a 1 p.m., Sept. 8 meeting in House Hearing Room 1 at Cordell Hull Building.
To participte, you have to contact Doug Himes before 1 p.m. 09/07 at doug.himes
@capitol
.tn.gov or 615-741-1195.
For those who are confused, because clearly some are in need of this reminder, I am not leaving The Tennessean.
I in fact just got here four months ago.
Yihyun, my killer colleague on the Metro beat and the other Asian woman at The Tennessean, is leaving.
My last day at
@Tennessean
will be April 30. I am incredibly thankful for the team here and everyone in Nashville I've gotten to know.
The Metro beat is the most fun I've had in my reporting career.
NEW from me: Waverly officials knew how to mitigate the flood risks 10 years ago.
But they took little to no action over the past decade to reduce the chance, and the consequences, of catastrophic floods in the area.
via
@tennessean
I’ve been on the California politics beat for two days — two straight days of witnessing historic events for California and for the nation.
My baseline for California politics:
Today's my last day covering local governments at
@CDispatch
.
It's been a wild year here in Columbus, Mississippi, where I've reported on blatant racism, as well as progressive efforts to move forward.
In this tight-knit community, news is happening every day. (1/*)
Been away from my family in China for four years. Internship after internship, never got to go back home to see em.
Then my grandpa’s Alzheimer’s got worse. He doesn’t remember me anymore. My grandma slouched day by day.
There are just some days I particularly miss their faces.
A pair of Tennessee lawmakers want to make sure no local government can ever challenge the constitutionality of a state law.
Legal experts say that very attempt may be unconstitutional.
From me:
NEW: In this deep-red and rapidly-changing county in West Michigan, a power struggle is playing out between two brands of conservatives: traditional "Dutch Reformers" and evangelical Christians.
My latest deep dive for
@BridgeMichigan
:
BREAKING: A Court of Claims judge says again — and for the last time — Michigan's 1931 abortion ban is unconstitutional and the state AG should be "permanently enjoined" from enforcing the law.
Glad to finally publish my last project at
@BridgeMichigan
today.
It's the result of 4 months of reporting, 88 email threads, a dozen records requests and appeals and 30-some interviews.
Here's me still nailing some last details down at my own going-away party last night.
Animal feces in air vent. Dead rooster in basement. Rats gnawing at the bathroom insulation.
Louise Esqueda, a former dairy worker in southern Michigan, remembers the first rat she killed at her farm-provided home.
It was like a "stuffed teddy bear."
This was so incredibly sad and shocking. It’s maddening to hear she fell victim to gun violence.
Aviva was one of the most dedicated, composed and resilient reporters I knew at
@CoMissourian
. I’ll always miss covering
#moleg
with her in that damp little press room.
Today’s the second time this month I’ve unsuccessfully tried to get tested for COVID in Nashville.
Each time I followed instructions from
@NashvilleHealth
’s Twitter posts, yet each time I was turned away.
I’ve had several encounters like this with sources while covering Mississippi. One time a lawyer told me he’ll go wash his hands. The other time, a resident called to make sure I don’t have the virus just cuz I’m from China.
But never from my own professor.
This is sickening.
It's official. I'm beyond stoked to announce that I'll be crunching data alongside
@sltrib
's award-winning journalists this summer as a
@DJNF
recipient! I can't wait to get started on this awesome adventure.
My fellow readers, shoot me tips about SLC anytime! DM's open.
Absolutely heartbreaking scenes from Waverly. At least two houses are smoking and gas is leaking from at least one. Unaccounted personal belongings piled up on an open field.
I was told the blue car belongs to someone who just bought their house a week ago down the street.
Tennessee bill aimed to limit trans athlete participation includes word-for-word language from a Connecticut lawsuit drafted by conservative dark money group
@AllianceDefends
.
Similar legislation is advancing in at least 21 states.
From me:
Just called a public official for the first time and, upon picking up the phone, he said:
"I don't know who you are. Don't ever call me again. F--- you."
I think my day is going well.
When I left Tennessee I brought my love for
@JasonIsbell
with me. Tonight I get to see him once again in Michigan❤️
This made my now father-in-law-to-be exclaim:
“Flip, father-in-law, flip!”
Lukewarm to the appeal to relocate the Confederate monument at the county courthouse, county supervisor Harry Sanders made racist remarks in a conversation with The Dispatch after a Monday meeting. where he said blacks remain "dependent" since slavery.
Zachary said a children's hospital told him mask wearing is what led to a surge in RSV.
I have found no study so far that supports that claim. Instead, multiple studies, like this one, say a decline in RSV illness was linked to universal mask wearing.
And upon graduation, I decided to search for a new place I call home.
At the beginning of the new year, I'm now excited to announce that I'll soon head south to Columbus, MS, to report on local government for the
@CDispatch
.
@bystellayu_tnsn
Interestingly, in the early months of this pandemic, many stated that claims that this virus leaked from a wouhon lab were considered to be baseless conspiracy theories. Now, those allegations appear to be true. Why is China internationally releasing so far fetched?
Proposal 2: Promote the Vote 2022.
The measure would allow nine days of early voting, expand access to absentee voting and continue to allow registered voters to vote without a state ID if they sign an affidavit.
I'll end on this note: Columbus, Mississippi, was a fascinating, resilient and lovely town. It needs good, fair and deep coverage.
But until newsrooms can take care of our own, we wouldn't be doing the public any service by putting more traumatized bodies on the front line.
From a source I interviewed face-to-face just now, who called back to ask me this:
"I just realized you said you are from China. You don't happen to have that coronavirus that's on the news, right?
"How long since you were last in China?"
NEW: Michigan state Legislature is on the brink of passing all three gun reform measures backed by Democrats.
But will Michigan counties enforce them?
via
@BridgeMichigan
Thanks to y'all for reading my story about the racist comments from our county board of supervisors president.
But I want to direct your attention to our ongoing coverage of the recently-released
#RickyBall
case file, which includes contradictory evidence.
Read about it here:
NEW: Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch dropped the manslaughter charge against Canyon Boykin on May 28.
In a later statement, the office said all evidence supported Boykin's self-defense claim.
But the actual evidence suggests otherwise.
Latest from me: