U.S. Briefs: Alaska’s storm victims brace for winter

More than 1,600 people remain displaced amid the aftermath of Typhoon Halong, the remnants of which hit the state’s western coast on Oct. 12. Gov. Mike Dunleavy projected it could be up to 18 months before residents can return to the area, but one woman, Louise Paul, told the Associated Press many people have said they won’t go back at all. Halong brought record flooding that swept away homes and infrastructure, leaving many villages uninhabitable just as winter set in. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, where the storm hit, has been home to the Athabascan and Yup’ik ­peoples for thousands of years. About 25,000 people live in remote villages across a region the size of Alabama, surviving mostly on subsistence hunting and fishing. However, in recent years, thawing permafrost, coastal erosion, and storm flooding have threatened their way of life. As a result, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium reported almost 150 communities, many in the delta, will have to fully or partially relocate in future. Meanwhile, hundreds of Alaskans remained in temporary housing in Anchorage, and the state authorized an emergency moose hunt to help victims restock their freezers for the coming winter months. —Grace Snell

Kentucky

The state’s Public Service Commission approved two new natural-gas-fired power plants to help provide energy for future data centers. Before the Oct. 28 vote, commissioners cited current demand, expected economic growth, and the state legislature’s expansion of tax incentives this spring to lure data centers. Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities generate and provide electricity to more than 1 million customers in several counties. Public comments prior to the decision skewed heavily against the nearly $3 billion project designed to come online by 2030. A coalition of housing, environmental, renewable energy, and community development advocates argued the utility companies should use profits, not higher rates, to pay for utility grid maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. —Todd Vician

Mississippi

Democrats broke the Republican Party’s supermajority in the state Senate Nov. 4 with a two-seat flip, loosening the GOP’s grip on the 52-member chamber for the first time in over a decade. The victories occurred in two Republican-held districts reconfigured after a court ruled they should have greater representation for black voters. Mississippi Democratic Party Vice Chair Jodie Brown celebrated the wins, writing that they restore checks and balances, “ensuring that every Mississippian’s voice counts in their state government.” State Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst described the defeated candidates as “underdogs in gerry­mandered districts drawn by an unelected court.” Republicans can still override Democrats on most votes, in both chambers, if they caucus. —Kim Henderson

Oklahoma

Archaeologists on Nov. 3 exhumed the remains of two people who may have been killed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The yearslong search for victims gained momentum in 2024, when experts discovered four remains with gunshot wounds, and the city announced the first identification of a race-massacre victim, C.L. Daniel. The city announced in June it had identified a second victim. This fall archaeologists and forensic analysts began the fifth excavation of Oaklawn Cemetery, identifying 83 graves not previously documented or marked by gravestones. By early November, teams of professionals and community volunteers had exhumed eight remains of adults buried in plain wooden caskets. Forensics experts are analyzing trauma wounds in bones, death certificate data where available, and DNA samples from potential descendants to try to identify the remains of hundreds of black Tulsans killed during the mob violence more than 100 years ago. The two-day attack that destroyed homes and businesses is considered one of the worst instances of racial violence in U.S. history. —Todd Vician

Vermont

Mid Vermont Christian School is challenging a new state law that bars religious schools from receiving public funds. The pre-K–12 school in Quechee, Vt., sued the state’s education department in an amended lawsuit filed in late October. The school claims the law, Act 73, “gerrymanders out and excludes all religious schools” from a program that allows students in rural areas to use taxpayer money to go to a school of their choice. Act 73, passed by legislators this summer, outlines strict criteria for private schools to receive public funds. As a result, only 18 private schools remain eligible for public tuition dollars, according to Mid Vermont. The recent claims add on to Mid Vermont’s ongoing lawsuit against the state’s athletic association. In 2023, the association kicked the school out of the state athletics program after Mid Vermont forfeited a girls’ high school basketball game because the opposing team included a male player. In September, a court of appeals ruled that Mid Vermont can continue to compete in the association while litigation proceeds in a lower court. —Liz Lykins

New Mexico

The state’s three U.S. House members are sounding the alarm about the Trump administration’s plan to boost beef imports from Argentina by 300%. In a Nov. 3 letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Melanie Stansbury, and Gabe Vasquez maintained the move will hurt the state’s cattle ranchers, who are already struggling to turn a profit after years of drought and soaring input costs. “New Mexico’s ranchers deserve a federal government that looks out for them rather than one that gives a handout to foreign producers,” they wrote. Legislators from other beef-producing states have urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his plans, announced following a $20 billion currency swap deal with Argentina. The United States has imported more than 30,000 metric tons of beef from Argentina so far this year. —Kim Henderson