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A small, coastal town in central California has settled a lawsuit regarding prayer at City Council meetings, ultimately agreeing to no longer hold any form of prayer, whether sectarian or non-sectarian, ahead of the local government meetings. City officials say they decided to settle the lawsuit to avoid further legal costs paid by taxpayer money. Pismo Beach city officials announced their settlement earlier this week, nearly six months after the Freedom From Religion Foundation [FFRF] and the local chapter of Atheists United San Luis Obispo filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that it had violated the U.S. Constitution's separation...

An atheist organization has sent a letter of complaint to a city council in Michigan over the local government's usage of prayer at council meetings. The Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has threatened legal action against the Saginaw City Council. In a letter sent to Saginaw City Manager Tim Morales, FFRF staff attorney Rebecca S. Markert wrote that Saginaw "should drop these prayers altogether." "Government prayers exclude a significant portion of Americans from the democratic process, are of dubious legality, and are a repudiation of our secular history," wrote Markert. "City Council members are free to pray privately or...

DEER TRAIL, Colo. -- Wearing a black duster and a black cowboy hat, Phil Steel walked to the front of the meeting room armed with a Nerf gun and a smile. The U.S. Army veteran was there to pitch his big idea: an ordinance that would legalize and regulate drone hunting inside Deer Trail city limits. If approved, residents could pay $25 to get a drone-hunting license; the town would pay a bounty for every drone bagged. "Really?" someone asked sarcastically as the theme music to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" blared during Steel's entrance. Laughter rippled through...

Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron was a firebrand to the end, delivering a farewell speech that echoed many of the greatest hits of his controversial tenure barron.jpg “I just wanted to come before you to say that I will always be black, radical, revolutionary. I will always be a socialist, anti-capitalist/imperialist” said Barron, who represents East New York, at the Council’s last meeting Thursday, where many members took the chance to make farewell remarks. “I went to Cuba. I went to Venezuela. I went to Zimbabwe. I brought you the president and you didn’t appreciate it!” he said, a reference to...

he New York City Council approved legislation Thursday to ban the use of electronic cigarettes from indoor public spaces where smoking is already prohibited. Because many of the e-cigarettes are designed to look like cigarettes and be used just like them, they can lead to confusion or confrontation,” Quinn said

Mayor-elect Mike Pantelides’ honeymoon as the new chief executive of Annapolis might end before it begins, as City Council members say that next term they plan to revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Alderman Ross Arnett, D-Ward 8, said he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a full council-manager form of government. This would create a position similar to the current city manager, except that the official would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor. He or she would also manage all department heads. The mayor’s post would...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor.

Annapolis Alderman Ross Arnett insists the City Council's decision to take another look at making the mayor's job a more ceremonial role has nothing to do with party politics. But if the Democrat-majority council acts to remove the mayor's power, the timing will coincide with the election of Annapolis' first Republican mayor in nearly two decades, Mike Pantelides, who defeated the incumbent Democrat, Mayor Josh Cohen, last week.

Mel Wymore is a typical city council candidate in many ways, campaigning as a community board appointee, ex-PTA chair and founder of a roster of local organizations. But Wymore’s community-leader resume has an unusual feature: He built much of it while he was a woman. If he wins, Wymore would be the first openly transgender officeholder in the nation’s biggest city and one of only a handful ever in the U.S., though his campaign isn’t emphasizing his personal story—or sidestepping it. … Wymore, a Democrat, faces several opponents who also have long records of community involvement on Manhattan’s upscale, liberal...

United Teachers Los Angeles made a bold and revealing statement about its radical political principles when the union endorsed Ron Gochez for L.A. City Council this month. The endorsement is significant for a couple of reasons. First, Gochez is an extreme left-wing L.A. teacher known for racist, anti-American rants. He also has decades-long ties to the African People’s Socialist Party—which is very open and passionate about its hatred of Jews, whites, Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Koreans, basically everyone. Second, the UTLA didn’t have to endorse him. The union’s leaders wanted to. …

When does a council member speak for the city without first seeking the formal approval of the city council where they serve? That is a question at the center of a brewing conflict on the Desert Hot Springs City Council. Continuing down a familiar path, Mayor Yvonne Parks recently sent a letter on behalf of the city endorsing enterprise zones in California. A statewide debate is underway over their effectiveness.

The Pledge of Allegiance has taken it on the chin over the years. Everything from the clause "one nation under God" to its recitation in public schools and public meetings has been challenged. This week, El Cerrito City Councilman Mark Friedman proposed eliminating the custom from the start of each council meeting. "I've always had problems with the Pledge of Allegiance," said Friedman, whose politics were shaped in the fiery days of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in his hometown, Chicago. In his argument to end the custom, Friedman said that in a world without "liberty and justice for all,"...

A candidate for a position on New York City’s 7th Council District said he opposed to the candidacy of his Jewish opponent, whom he referred to a “White/Jewish candidate”, because he was trying “to sneak into office like a thief in the night.” City Council hopeful Thomas Lopez-Pierre wrote an e-mail to the members of the Douglass Grant Democratic Club, stating his opposition to rival Mark Levine. The subject line of the e-mail: “A White/Jewish City Council Member representing Upper Manhattan?” In an interview with The Jewish Week, Lopez-Pierre, an African American, maintained, "I don’t hate Jews; I love black...

A Texas city council has voted to ban American flags from a local cemetary. Why? Because these people want to keep the cemetary free of "clutter." That's right... according to these "leaders," the American flag is "clutter" and cannot be placed beside a tombstone. It appears common sense and respect for veterans have gone out the window. As reported by KHOU.com in Houston, the city council in Mineral Wells, Texas voted to ban the display of flags and other items such as teddy bears from grave sites. Flags are now only allowed during the two weeks around Memorial Day and...

With the city of Stockton moving to become the nation's largest city to seek protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Tuesday night's City Council meeting was quiet, with an evident sadness on faces in the packed chambers. The working-class port city -- from where many of California's agricultural exports set sail -- lived largely on credit during economic boom times. The city borrowed millions of dollars for ambitious, eye-catching projects in the mid-2000s. Up went a sports arena, hotel and promenade. The city booked a Neil Diamond concert as a kickoff to better times. Houses in sprawling tracts sold quickly...

Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry made comments Monday about Filipina nurses who work in District hospitals, just weeks after Barry told his supporters that Asian businesses "ought to go." At a hearing, Barry told the president and board members of the University of the District of Columbia that the school should be supplying D.C. residents to serve in the "lucrative" posts of nurses and teachers. But that was not the case, Barry said. "In fact, it's so bad, that if you go to the hospital now, you find a number of immigrants who are nurses, particularly from the Philippines," Barry...

The City of Colfax, CA reportedly defeated UN Agenda 21 by a 4-0 vote and passed Resolution No. 12-2012. Ken Delfino, one of the City Councilmen, reportedly wrote a letter describing what he learned about UN Agenda 21 and urges others to educate themselves about it too. You can help by sending these three items of information to your City Council Members. If they’re uninterested, be sure to campaign against them, so that they are defeated when they run for re-election. 1. Here is the reported letter in its entirety (a link to the letter is not yet available). Dear...

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here) The LDS Church Library no longer allows access to the Nauvoo City Council and High Council minutes from 1839 to 1845. That’s a shame, but the minutes, when accessible, were recorded. Signature Books, with the assistance of historian John Dinger, has published the minutes, along with notes, and they’re just plain fascinating for enthusiasts of history. Without spin, they lay out the controversy that swirled in Nauvoo prior to Joseph Smith’s murder and the LDS exodus west. The documents lend credence to the belief that the then-secret doctrine...

Father Nathan Monk tells the City Council, "We have the right to redress our government without fear of being arrested," and is nearly arrested. I think more people should be involved in their communities. Father Monk was interviewed on "Freedom Watch" tonight and was very clear in his message. Father Monk stated that if we honor our military men and women, the ones fighting for our rights, we should not backdown. I remember back this summer, that a woman was arrested in Arizona for speaking up in a council meeting, with the Mayor telling the council she had the floor...

PROVO -- After a year of complaints, doing their own investigation and raising Cain at Provo Municipal Council meetings, a group of citizens knew they were heard on Wednesday when the Utah County Attorney's Office charged Municipal Councilman Steve Turley with 10 second-degree felonies and his fellow elected officials asked him to resign. The "exhaustive" official investigation from the Utah County Bureau of Investigations took into account complaints, Turley's activities on the Municipal Council and as a developer and landowner and a request from the city for an ethical investigation, although they only looked at possible criminal activity, not any...