Pride flag will be banned from government buildings under new California city ordinance
by JACKSON WALKER | The National Desk
Tue, March 12th 2024 at 1:06 PM
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (TND) — Voters in Huntington Beach, California approved an amendment to the city's charter last week restricting the kinds of flags that can be displayed in city buildings.
Only the city flag, the Orange County flag, the California state flag and the American flag, along with some military flags and the Olympic flag, can be displayed in buildings under the amendment. Though only 33.7% of voters turned out for the vote, 57.4% overall approved the amendment.
The amendment also notes that "any other flag" can be flown on city grounds if authorized unanimously by the city council.
Members of the community are now raising concerns over the LGBT Pride flag being banned under the amendment despite the flag not being explicitly mentioned. The LGBTQ Center Orange County has launched a petition attempting to reverse the decision.
“This new ordinance reinforces the age-old perception that Huntington Beach is not a welcoming city for LGBTQ+ people,” petition organizers wrote. “Whether intentional or not, the message is loud and clear – Huntington Beach is not interested in lifting up LGBTQ+ people.”
A form on the center’s website also allows anyone located in Huntington Beach to request a free Pride flag.
Republican, Democrat team up to move harassment investigations to new liaison, attorney general
Progressive Rep. Aftyn Behn and conservative Rep. Todd Warner say “transparency” will improve when legislature doesn’t oversee members’ cases
BY: SAM STOCKARD - MARCH 12, 2024 5:01 AM
UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect that all sexual harassment investigative documents and expense reports would be public records.
An unlikely House Democrat and Republican combo is joining efforts to move sexual harassment cases from control of the Legislature through a third-party liaison to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, and Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, announced in a joint press conference Monday they are sponsoring House Bill 2533, to “increase transparency” in House investigations involving accusations of the state’s workplace harassment and discrimination guidelines.
Their bill faces immediate difficulty because it will have an amendment filed after a House deadline when it is heard in a committee Tuesday.
Behn and Warner, though, contend their bill will “put victims first” and give the accused a fair hearing while shifting cases from “unbiased hands” and getting “rid of the politics.” The bill would create a “liaison” position to conduct probes and serve as go-between for the Legislature — where the director of Legislative Administration has been handling investigations — and the Attorney General’s Office.
Warner pointed out the Legislature has had at least one workplace harassment case each year for the past decade. He noted creating the liaison would “stop all the speculation behind the scenes.” The measure would send complaints filed in the Senate, House and elsewhere to the new office.
Said Behn, “We know, especially on the House side, it isn’t a transparent process right now.”
Behn, a liberal Democrat from East Nashville, and Warner, a conservative Republican from southern Middle Tennessee who voted against the House private-school voucher bill, said they came up with the idea after working on a podcast together.
All documents related to complaints and investigations would be public records, Warner said Tuesday, updating his previous comments, meaning “no more sweeping things under the rug or falsifying personnel files or hiding things.” He added that the legislation is intended to ensure all expenses remain public as well.
The investigation process linked to the resignation of former Rep. Scotty Campbell came under criticism in 2023 after reports showed the state spent hundreds of dollars to move an intern allegedly harassed by Campbell.
Repeal of Tennessee professional privilege tax gets negative recommendation
(The Center Square) – A bill that would end Tennessee’s professional privilege tax advanced through subcommittee with a negative recommendation on Tuesday.
Tennessee currently charges individuals in five professions $400 annually. Those professions include lobbyists, attorneys and agents, broker-dealers and investment advisors.
The professional privilege tax was instituted in 1992 for 22 different professions and currently applies to just five professions.
Tennessee last removed professions from the tax in 2022.
“Sponsor, we all want to get rid of the tax but probably this year is not the year to do it,” said Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, the Senate Revenue Subcommittee chair.
Tennessee cold beer ban proposal now creates drunk driving task force instead
(The Center Square) – A caption bill that originally would have banned the retail sale of cold beer in Tennessee has been amended to create a task force on impaired driving and boating in Tennessee.
House Bill 2845 is set to be heard in the House State Government Committee on Tuesday.
The 12-member task force will “study current levels of impaired driving in this state and ways to reduce impaired driving, repeat offenders, and underage offenders.”
A report of its findings and legislative recommendations will be due from the group by Dec. 1, 2025
The bill also creates a requirement law enforcement notify the alcoholic beverage commission within 48 hours of any fatal accident where alcohol was believed to be involved.
The alcohol commission will be required to submit a report by Feb. 15 in odd years that includes statistics on violations, alcohol-related traffic and boating accidents involving death, injury and property loss along with alcohol-related arrests from driving and boating.
Illegal Immigrant Arrested For 13th Time After Years-Long Crime Spree, ICE Says
March 12, 2024
A fugitive Indian illegal immigrant has been arrested for the 13th time after overstaying his visa terms and allegedly committing several other crimes across the years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed Monday.
Syed Mohamed Tousif Mohiuddin, 39, had been arrested 12 times by different local law enforcement agencies on assault, stalking and robbery charges, among others, according to ICE. He was first arrested by the Fremont Police Department in California on Aug. 19, 2013 for alleged assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism.
“Between 2013 and 2021, he was arrested 12 times by multiple local police departments and sheriff’s offices in the state of California, and one police department in Las Vegas, Nevada, for violent misdemeanors that include battery with serious bodily injury, hit and run, stalking, robbery and intent to terrorize,” the agency further noted Monday
Arrests of criminal illegal immigrants have soared under President Joe Biden’s administration, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection nabbing 15,267 individuals in fiscal year 2023, a 526% increase from fiscal year 2020, with 2,438 arrested people.
An illegal immigrant from Honduras has also been arrested on multiple charges after allegedly going on a 25-day “terror” spree.
