A backdoor crackdown on data center construction and more news from the states

Good evening. Tonight we begin in Oregon, where the governor ordered a pause on new air and water permits, effectively halting data center construction. A federal judge has stalled the U.S. Forest Service’s move to the West.

The U.S. Department of Justice demanded that California not count ballots from voters it suspects are noncitizens, setting up a pre-election court battle between the Trump administration and the largest state in the country. 

In Ohio, an innovative program aims to help families experiencing homelessness.

Oregon’s governor has effectively issued a moratorium on new data centers and data center expansions in the state by ordering environmental regulators to pause approving new state and federal air and water pollution permits for data center projects until next July, Oregon Capital Chronicle reports. 

Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek’s order follows a roughly one-year pause she recently ordered on approvals to develop data centers on state land or in state buildings. She has repeatedly insisted she lacks the power to order a statewide moratorium on data centers without legislative action. Data center development has been an issue in the gubernatorial election, as Republican opponent and state Sen. Christine Drazan, has repeatedly attacked Kotek for previously supporting tax breaks for data centers.

Oregon is among the top 10 markets for data centers in the U.S., according to Pew Research, and has for more than 20 years attracted massive server facilities due to the state’s lack of sales tax, moderate climate, relatively cheap electricity and generous property tax incentives for industrial development.

Related coverage: 

A federal judge has issued a preliminary ruling blocking the Trump administration from moving the U.S. Forest Service’s headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City while the rest of the lawsuit over the relocation plays out in court, Utah News Dispatch reports. 

Last month, a group of nonprofits, local governments and labor union organizations filed a lawsuit to block the plan as unlawful, calling it an “unprecedented reorganization” that would close offices across the country and force thousands of USDA employees to “choose between their families, communities, churches, and lives they have built, and their careers.” 

In a response to the lawsuit, USDA officials said they estimated about 250 employees would be relocated, not thousands. However, the judge determined that regardless of that number, the proposed reorganization would “certainly affect more than 10 staff members and therefore fall within the definition of reprogramming” that would require congressional approval.

Related: Trump administration blocks maintenance funding for Nevada national parks

The federal government has approved Nebraska’s request to bar temporary financial assistance for tobacco, tattoos, psychic readings, video games and other “inappropriate and nonessential purchases,” Nebraska Examiner reports. 

Republican Gov. Jim Pillen filed to change Nebraska’s participation in the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’ Aid to Dependent Children benefits last week. 

TANF helps low-income families with children pay for necessities, such as rent, childcare and utilities, as the families participate in workforce engagement programs. Under federal law and prior Nebraska regulations, the temporary funds could not be used for liquor stores, casino gambling or retail stores providing adult-oriented entertainment. 

Other states are also seeking additional restrictions; Florida became the first state to make such a request in late August.

Nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed said roughly 2,700 Nebraska families use the assistance for basic necessities and that Pillen’s action is “an invention that stigmatizes low-wage parents and families in Nebraska who are working hard to get by.”

North Carolina: Elections officials will send letters to 1,392 voters flagged by the federal SAVE database as potential noncitizens, explaining how they can verify U.S. citizenship or request removal from the voter rolls.

Oregon: In a county-by-county mail delivery test, the secretary of state found rural areas received slow postal service and urged voters to send mail ballots by Oct. 27 or find a ballot box.

Maine: During their second-to-last debate, incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic nominee Troy Jackson continued to make the case that their approach to a Donald Trump presidency would be best for the state, in a race with potential national significance. 

Georgia: Democratic U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff and Republican Congressman Mike Collins clashed over issues including immigration, the war in Iran and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a fiery U.S. Senate debate that veered into personal attacks.

Iowa: As U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and state Rep. Josh Turek met for the second — and final — U.S. Senate debate, both candidates said they did not support President Donald Trump’s move to lift sanctions against Russian energy. 

Utah: The armed volunteer accused of killing an innocent bystander at a Salt Lake City No Kings protest in 2025 has been ordered to stand trial for manslaughter, a second-degree felony. 

Alabama: Families of incarcerated Alabamians whose organs were harvested after their deaths demanded a meeting with University of Alabama Birmingham officials Tuesday as delays in their civil lawsuit continue to mount.

West Virginia: As more schools across the state say they’ll close their doors, the state school board unveiled a funding formula overhaul it hopes lawmakers will consider.

Kansas: The state Board of Regents adopted a policy to require university officials to notify the board of discussions about partnerships between intercollegiate athletic departments and private equity or venture capital firms.

Wisconsin: The state issued a notice of violation of state environmental laws to the Enbridge Energy Company following a natural gas leak and other incidents related to the controversial reroute of its Line 5 oil and gas pipeline. 

Pennsylvania: The electricity grid operator for a broad swath of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest warned this week that warm weather and maintenance outages could push the system close to its limits.

North Dakota: A long-awaited federal grant has come through for the only fair housing organization in the Dakotas, resolving a monthslong funding gap that led the group to furlough half of its staff.

Protesters gathered at a Flock camera in Inkster, Michigan, on Oct. 14, to oppose the continued use of the license plate reader technology. (Photo by Katherine Dailey/Michigan Advance)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib held a press conference in the city to announce new federal legislation that would prohibit the use of federal funds for the purchase or operation of any mass surveillance technology, including the controversial systems from Flock.

Inkster officials are expanding the city’s contract with Flock Safety for at least 10 years and growing the number of license plate readers and other surveillance technologies owned by Flock that will be deployed in the city. 

Inkster’s decision comes as communities around Michigan, especially in metro Detroit, have moved to cancel their contracts with Flock or turn off cameras in their cities. 

On top of the federal legislation introduced by Tlaib, state legislators in Michigan have introduced legislation seeking to regulate and limit the use of Flock cameras. 

Flock representatives around Michigan have emphasized transparency portals, which are published for some cities contracting with Flock, as assuaging some of the concerns raised by residents about the technology.

Read more from Michigan Advance. 

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The No Kings movement that has brought millions to the streets across the United States three times since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term is staging its next event at the polls, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports. 

Organizers across hundreds of advocacy groups will pull together thousands of events nationwide Saturday to encourage early voting in this year’s midterm elections. Voting is already underway in dozens of states, and roughly 5.1 million ballots – both in-person and mail – have been cast, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab.

Saturday’s “No Kings: Vote Early Day of Action” events include marches and walks to the polls where early voting is already underway and open on the weekends. As of Wednesday, more than 2,500 events were scheduled for Saturday in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to No Kings organizers.

Related: Michigan No Kings rallies aim to translate protest energy into early voting push

The U.S. Department of Justice is demanding California not count ballots from voters it says are suspected noncitizens, a move by the Trump administration to apply last-minute pressure as voting begins in the midterm elections, the D.C. Bureau reports.

The Justice Department on Tuesday gave California election officials 48 hours to remove voters on a list contained on a thumb drive provided to Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the country. The DOJ also wants election officials to withhold mail ballots from these voters. 

The DOJ gave the state until noon Eastern on Thursday to comply, threatening legal action if that deadline is not met. The Justice Department’s demand marks an extraordinary effort to dictate to state officials who will be allowed to cast a ballot even as voting is underway.

Democrats are touting an ambitious legislative agenda centered on affordability and accountability if they take back the U.S. House or Senate — or both — in November, the D.C. Bureau reports. 

A slew of pressing policy debates are on tap for Democrats, including healthcare, immigration, voting rights, the war in Iran, oversight, education and beyond, as they aim to reverse many of Trump and congressional Republicans’ actions since January 2025. 

Democrats remain heavily favored to regain the majority in the House, while Senate races continue to move in the party’s favor, amid Trump’s plummeting popularity. 

More from the D.C. Bureau: 

Inflation grew to a 3.7% annual rate in September, up from 3.4% in August, Stateline reports. 

In the last consumer price inflation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics before midterm elections, with voters already fed up with higher prices, September’s number was the highest since May, when it was 4.2%.

“Inflation has wiped out wage gains for 6 months now,” Heather Long, the chief economist for Navy Federal, wrote in a social media post. “It’s a financial squeeze. Americans are trying to work more hours to make up for it, but many are still falling behind.”

Cincinnati Public Schools is the first school district in the nation to own and operate a parking lot where families experiencing homelessness can go overnight and sleep in their cars, Ohio Capital Journal reports. 

Cincinnati’s Safe Sleep Lot opened April 30 at William Howard Taft Elementary School and more than 300 people have slept in the lot so far, said Megan Rahill, shelter and housing specialist with Project Connect. 

“A lot of times, when you’re sleeping in your car, it’s because you’ve exhausted all your social avenues of people you can stay with, and so they’re often feeling so isolated and like nobody cares anymore, and they’re on their own,” Rahill said. 

“If they’ve already been sleeping in their car, it’s just on a dead-end street and it’s scary, so we’ve got a space you can come to where other people and other kids are there, there’s food and you don’t have to worry about where you’re going to the restroom.”

Project Connect provides support to students in the district experiencing homelessness. Nearly 8% of Cincinnati Public School students — about 2,650 — experienced homelessness during the 2025-26 school year, a figure that has mostly been on the rise in the last five years. 

The Safe Sleep Lot has 12 spaces and there are typically between three to eight families that stay in the lot every night. Once families use the program, workers attempt to connect them with other shelter or hotel accommodation options. 

Project Connect also built a small building adjacent to the lot that includes a kitchen area and restrooms, with access to frozen meals, snacks, and hygiene items. Families are also offered new bedding and stuffed animals for children.