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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️

@lukeranker.bsky.social
730 followers 850 following 1.4K posts

No two people live in the same city. Tell me about yours. AICP urban planner & Kansas Citian. Jayhawk & Wolverine. Once upon a time, a journalist. Probably walking somewhere. Opinions mine.

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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Months before OpenAI’s artificial intelligence went rogue, two employees raised an alarm with top executives. They were ignored. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/t...
nytimes.com
OpenAI Ignored Employees’ Warnings About Safely Testing A.I. Models
Employees and security researchers said that they had cautioned the company on safely testing its A.I. models and strengthening its corporate infrastructure, but that OpenAI did not listen.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“Portland’s rental market stalled out in recent years as an oversupply of new housing collided with an economic slump.” So if we build more housing prices go down? www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
wsj.com
Portland Real Estate Is Such a Mess That All Housing Is Affordable Housing
Rarely has the Oregon city seen such a narrow price gap between market-rate and affordable units.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Relying on artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition tools, officers opted to arrest the man in the photos and failed to do the basic investigative work that officers did routinely before AI – the digging that would have led them to the actual perpetrator floridatrib.org/2026/09/28/h...
floridatrib.org
How AI-powered bungling by Florida cops cost a father his freedom and $45,000
The Florida Trib’s investigation shows how a justice system meant to promote public safety instead failed an innocent person at nearly every step of the process.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Reporters at the student paper have relentlessly chased follow-ups. The Sun also published a blistering editorial, printing the names of the accused men & taking the university to task. Throughout it all, the team has approached this case with care & moral clarity www.thecut.com/article/corn...
thecut.com
How Student Journalists Broke the ‘Cornell Seven’ Case
“Our coverage was absolutely completely raw from the lawsuit and nothing was concealed. At a minimum, that’s what we can do as the student newspaper.”
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Newspaper layoffs are nothing new, especially at the Kansas City Star, which cut another seven journalists in September. As local journalism employment continues to decline, communities are losing ways to scrutinize public spending & hold government officials accountable www.kcur.org/news/2026-09...
kcur.org
Kansas City Star layoffs left the region with even less government accountability. It may get worse
Newspaper layoffs are nothing new, especially at the Kansas City Star, which cut another seven journalists in September. But as local journalism employment continues to decline, communities are losing...
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
Jonathan Shorman @jonshorman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NEW - After more than a year of seeking large-scale purges of alleged noncitizen voters, the Trump administration is running out of time www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trum...
newsfromthestates.com
Trump thwarted in hunt for rare noncitizen voters as midterms near
Five weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s sprawling effort to identify and remove noncitizen voters hasn’t produced the kind of large purges that could meaningfully affect the midterm e...
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Excuse me, there was a rat free region!?
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 26/09/2026
Alberta’s self-image as world’s only rat-free region shattered by discovery of rat
theguardian.com
Alberta’s self-image as world’s only rat-free region shattered by discovery of rat
Province’s rat patrol called in to investigate as town of Bowden announces discovery of dead vermin
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Secret Lives of Subways www.curbed.com/article/chri...
curbed.com
The Secret Lives of Subways
In a new exhibition, Christopher Payne documents the hidden parts of the city’s transit system.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
American oil executives warned for months that the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz was bound to cause a fuel crisis. Now, they say it is here. www.wsj.com/business/ene...
wsj.com
Oil Executives Say the Great Fuel Crisis Is Here
Trump officials say the oil-market disruption is temporary, but Chevron’s Mike Wirth and others warn global supplies are running low, with no respite in sight.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
President Trump on Monday rejected calls from leading artificial intelligence executives for new limits on the technology, writing on social media that the only guardrail the industry needed it already had: “a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Rejects Talk of A.I. Regulation and Calls Out Anthropic’s CEO
The president again rejected calls to try to regulate the industry, even as some of its leaders are speaking more openly about the risks of rapidly developing artificial intelligence.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
President Donald Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to his executive assistant Natalie Harp and two of his other young, loyal White House employees, according to financial disclosures released by the administration. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to Natalie Harp, two other close aides
Financial disclosures show the sums were equivalent to nearly one-third of each of their salaries. Experts say the gifts are without precedent and may violate the law.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Amazon, Meta and Google risk losing decadeslong exemptions due to a backlash against their facilities www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
States That Gave Data Centers Billions in Tax Breaks Are Now Ripping Up the Deals
Amazon, Meta and Google risk losing decadeslong exemptions due to a backlash against their facilities
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The unanimous decision found that Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was wrong to reject a campaign seeking to strike down the map, called HB 1. The ruling also makes it explicitly clear that the new map cannot be used in November. www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
kansascity.com
Missouri Supreme Court blocks gerrymandered map in major loss for Republicans
The unanimous decision found that Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was wrong to reject a campaign seeking to strike down the map.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The decision “includes all software that uses student-facing generative AI.” Elementary and middle school students will receive screen-time restrictions ranging from zero to 45 minutes per day. Companion chatbots will also be prohibited www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Mamdani issues AI moratorium in NYC schools
Kids "need to wrestle with tough problems on their own,” New York's mayor said Wednesday.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A federal grand jury has indicted an ICE officer on charges of making false statements about the nonfatal shooting of a man during the Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota last winter, according to a person familiar with the case. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/u...
nytimes.com
Federal Prosecutors Charge ICE Agent With Lying About Minnesota Shooting
The charges marked a rare instance of President Trump’s Justice Department accusing a federal agent of breaking the law while on the job.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
While Trump administration cuts have contributed to Americans’ gastrointestinal distress, there are also deeper issues that make the US food supply chain susceptible to parasites and bacteria outbreaks. www.wired.com/story/why-sa...
wired.com
From Salmonella Eggs to Diarrhea Lettuce, Why This Has Been a Sick Hot American Summer
While Trump administration cuts have contributed to the epidemic of foodborne illnesses this summer, there are also deeper issues that make the American food supply chain susceptible to parasites and bacteria outbreaks.
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
Sam Biddle @sambiddle.com · 23/08/2026
The death of folk graphic design in favor of AI slop across our country's delis is leading to some incredibly Lovecraftian food horrors
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
When the BBC arrived with their bikes in Kansas City in 2008, it had just been named the worst city for cyclists in the country. The resulting radio show became a “wake-up call” that has inspired new cycling groups & millions of dollars of investment in cycling & walking www.bbc.com/audio/play/p...
bbc.com
BBC Audio | The Documentary Podcast | The Kansas City cycling revolution
Kansas City was named America's worst city for cyclists in 2008. Has it improved?
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
Hailey Branson-Potts @haileybranson.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Convicted election denier Tina Peters went to prison. Now, she might help run elections in a California county where the registrar's under censure for, among other things, saying he wanted to "throat punch" staffers, an investigation states www.latimes.com/california/s... by me @latimes.com
latimes.com
A convicted election denier went to prison. Now, she might help run elections in a California county
Shasta County registrar of voters Clint Curtis said he wants to hire Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk convicted of charges related to election tampering.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Very few people would volunteer to dig a ditch. Likewise, it is hard — almost impossible, many English teachers will admit — to turn a reluctant writer into an enthusiastic one. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...
nytimes.com
What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing?
Educators are worried that many students can no longer write essays without A.I. And it’s costing more than just grammar skills.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
After Noel Pichardo called out his city's embrace of Flock surveillance cameras, he was subjected to five internal affairs investigations in less than two years. www.wired.com/story/the-co...
wired.com
The Cop Who Took On Flock
After Noel Pichardo called out his city's embrace of Flock surveillance cameras, he was subjected to five internal affairs investigations in less than two years.
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
The Kansas City Star @kansascity.com · 17/08/2026
Mayor Quinton Lucas took to social media Sunday night to announce the return of KC’s skyline spectacle.
bit.ly
Kansas City’s Western Auto sign will shine this week. This time it’s for good
Mayor Quinton Lucas took to social media Sunday night to announce the return of KC’s skyline spectacle.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
From threats to the safety of poll workers to voters who can’t distinguish between odds and results, prediction markets are already scrambling the political process. www.wired.com/story/electi...
wired.com
Election Officials Are Preparing for Prediction Markets to Sow Chaos in the Midterms
From threats to the safety of poll workers to voters who can’t distinguish between odds and results, prediction markets are already scrambling the political process.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Elon Musk received over 2.5m times as much compensation at Tesla as the company’s average worker, according to a new report on the growing gap between top corporate executives and their workers. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Tesla paid Elon Musk 2.5m times more as CEO than its average worker in 2025
Tech billionaire’s $158.3bn deal an outlier in report showing widening gap of CEO to worker pay at top companies
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Looks like I got my answer: "The presence of the [per-minute] fee nudged cyclists toward several unsafe behaviours." "The policy recommendation is to avoid such strategies in favour of less time-pressuring schemes." doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a plan to overhaul the state’s main tool for direct democracy, a rebuke of Republican lawmakers who pushed the measure amid anger over abortion rights and other issues. www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
kansascity.com
Missouri voters reject Amendment 4, protecting main tool for direct democracy
The vote marks a sharp rebuke of Republican lawmakers who pushed the measure amid anger over abortion rights and other issues.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Trump administration’s plans to stymie and defund bike lane plans in the US, on the unusual basis that they are DEI tools, will hurt efforts to improve roadway safety, non-motorized transportation advocates say. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US push to defund ‘DEI bike lanes’ will make roads less safe, advocates say
Trump administration boasts of cutting $1.73bn already allocated for cycling improvements to city streets
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
While attempting to maintain a relatively lower profile, ICE is managing to arrest record numbers of people. Here’s how it’s doing that. newrepublic.com/article/2137... via @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com
ICE’s Secret Weapon Is in Your Community
While attempting to maintain a relatively lower profile, ICE is managing to arrest record numbers of people. Here’s how it’s doing that.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
A multiphase Midtown development that started years ago with a major office-to-residential conversion recently, and quietly, got city approval to add more than 200 new apartments. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
bizjournals.com
Midtown development quietly wins approval to add 202 apartments on parking lot site - Kansas City Business Journal
More than 200 new apartments planned for years at a former Midtown call center site got internal approval from planning staff.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Kansas City Streetcar Authority is moving forward with its yearslong effort to build an east-to-west streetcar route connecting the Historic 18th & Vine jazz district to downtown. www.kcur.org/housing-deve...
kcur.org
KC Streetcar proposes route connecting downtown to 18th & Vine, at a cost of $175 million
Officials presented a plan for an east-west streetcar route that runs between Kansas City's historic jazz district and Main Street, where it would intersect with the existing north-south line. The pro...
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The concerns prompted the Florida Health Care Association, which represents hundreds of assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers in the state, to write to the US Department of Homeland Security requesting an exemption for their workers www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Florida’s nursing homes are bracing for life without Haitian TPS workers
The Supreme Court ended their legal status. Patients will pay the price.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Good to know ☕️ www.wsj.com/health/welln...
wsj.com
Five Cups of Coffee a Day Is Fine for Most Adults, Heart Association Says
The research has been mixed but the association says evidence of coffee’s safety and even benefits has been growing over time.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Federal agents around the country were told in recent days that the F.B.I. would no longer investigate confrontations with I.C.E. — cases that sometimes yield evidence that could be used to prosecute Homeland Security agents implicated in violent encounters www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/u...
nytimes.com
Federal Agents Were Told FBI Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations
Senior officials deny such a change is in the works, despite guidance shared with agents around the country in recent days.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Searching for ancient objects in the Thames used to be a niche pastime. Then came Instagram, permits, and a desperate desire for connection with the past. www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
newyorker.com
How Mudlarking Became London’s Hottest Hobby
Searching for ancient objects in the Thames used to be a niche pastime. Then came Instagram, permits, and a desperate desire for connection with the past.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
This evening I came up on a couple walking in a mobility lane. I quickly realized that she is blind. Her husband said the sidewalk was “too craggly for her.” A true understatement. It was basically gravel the concrete had failed so extremely. This is why we call them “mobility” lanes.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Dozens of Kansas City residents demanded answers from Costco officials during a public meeting on Tuesday about the company’s plan to change its Linwood Boulevard grocery store into a business center. www.kansascity.com/news/local/a...
kansascity.com
‘Frustrating’ meeting about midtown KC Costco offers few answers, residents say
Dozens of Kansas City residents pressed Costco officials about converting the Linwood Boulevard store to a business center and express concern about losing the pharmacy.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
A company linked to the Kansas City Royals has purchased a property near its future stadium site that’s been the subject of speculation. www.kansascity.com/news/local/a...
kansascity.com
Royals-tied company buys property near future Crown Center ballpark site. What we know
Plans for the former Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City site, and nearby city-owned Washington Square Park, remain to be announced.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Jackson County legislators want feedback from residents on a proposed tax vote aimed at finally providing steady funding for public transportation around Kansas City, with the aim of solving a “death spiral” of shrinking transit service. www.kcur.org/housing-deve...
kcur.org
Jackson County could vote on transit tax to help fund buses. Residents can weigh in now
A county-wide sales tax could provide tens of millions of dollars each year for public transportation, potentially reversing the yearslong trend of Kansas City riders losing bus routes. Jackson County...
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
‘Safer streets are not created by chance’: Group looks at causes of St. Louis walking, biking deaths www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/...
stlpr.org
‘Safer streets are not created by chance’: Group looks at causes of St. Louis walking, biking deaths
Last year, 22 fewer pedestrians died in St. Louis and St. Louis County compared to 2024, but five cyclists died after a year of no bicyclist deaths.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The revelation appears to be a remarkable disconnect between responding agencies and a failure to follow up on an important lead to finding a person considered to be armed and dangerous. www.kansascity.com/news/local/a...
kansascity.com
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority could be one of the first in the nation to add AI-powered facial recognition cameras to its bus fleet this fall. National nonprofits and a KCATA commissioner are concerned about the privacy and security of riders. www.kcur.org/housing-deve...
kcur.org
Kansas City bus agency wants to use AI facial recognition. Critics say it'll make riders less safe
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority could be one of the first in the nation to add AI-powered facial recognition cameras to its bus fleet this fall. National nonprofits and a KCATA commissio...
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
Jonathan Shorman @jonshorman.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
NEW: USPS won’t deliver mail ballots in states that refuse to turn over lists of voters under a proposed rule, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday My latest for @statesnewsroom.com www.newsfromthestates.com/article/stat...
newsfromthestates.com
States that won't obey Trump order will have their mail ballots halted, postmaster says
The U.S. Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots in states that refuse to turn over lists of voters under a proposed rule, the agency’s chief executive said Wednesday, angering Democrats who warn th...
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the Department of Justice isn’t entitled to access the sensitive personal data of Michigan voters, a setback in President Donald Trump’s push to assert power over state-run elections. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/judg...
newsfromthestates.com
Judges block Trump push for Michigan voter info, setting up possible Supreme Court fight
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the Department of Justice isn’t entitled to access the sensitive personal data of Michigan voters, a setback in President Donald Trump’s push to assert power...
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Mayor Zohran Mamdani showed the strength of his progressive coalition in New York on Tuesday night, using his political muscle to elevate three like-minded candidates to victories in Democratic House primary races — including two that ousted incumbents. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06...
nytimes.com
Here’s the latest.
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Reposted by Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️
Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
cognitive surrender is the oligarch agenda for reasons!
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
The 21st Century Road to Housing addresses rural & urban needs with a strategy to bring down costs. It loosens regulations, making it easier, faster & cheaper to build; eases lending; rewards communities that build & delivers aid to communities reeling from disasters www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/u...
nytimes.com
Congress Clears Housing Bill, Cementing a Rare Bipartisan Feat
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
As protected bike lanes face opposition in some Chicago neighborhoods, city-backed case studies found lanes in a half-dozen corridors have not contributed to a negative impact on economic activity. blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/23/c...
blockclubchicago.org
Chicago's Bike Lanes Don't Hurt Businesses, City Report Finds
As protected bike lanes face opposition in some neighborhoods, city-backed case studies found lanes in a half-dozen corridors have not contributed to a negative impact on economic activity.
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Luke Ranker🚶‍♂️ @lukeranker.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The violent fascist riots in Belfast reveal the future that the trillionaire really wants. We need an international movement to constrain him. newrepublic.com/article/2119...
newrepublic.com
Elon Musk’s Race War Just Took Darker Turn—Time for a Global Response
The violent fascist riots in Belfast reveal the future that the trillionaire really wants. We need an international movement to constrain him.
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