The nation in brief

Mayor tags Black woman for chief job; judge extends Montana ballots deadline

Bryce Weimert, 2, of Ebensburg, Pa., is not quite sure what to make of a watering pumpkin display Saturday during the Spud Stroll in Ebensburg. Because of the pandemic, Spud Stroll re- placed the borough’s annual Potatofest. 
(AP/The Tribune-Democrat/John Rucosky)
Bryce Weimert, 2, of Ebensburg, Pa., is not quite sure what to make of a watering pumpkin display Saturday during the Spud Stroll in Ebensburg. Because of the pandemic, Spud Stroll re- placed the borough’s annual Potatofest. (AP/The Tribune-Democrat/John Rucosky)

Mayor tags Black woman for chief job

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren selected a Black woman to become the new interim city police chief, saying Saturday that her pick will bring a "fresh approach to policing" amid the tumultuous aftermath of Daniel Prude's death.

Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan, who retired from the department in 2009 as a lieutenant, will become the first woman to head the Police Department on Oct. 14.

Warren fired former Police Chief La'Ron Singletary this month after police body camera video was released of Prude, a Black man who died several days after officers put a hood over his head and pressed his face into the pavement on March 23.

The video's release nearly six months after Prude's death sparked days of protests in the city, as well as insistent calls for police changes and the mayor's resignation. Warren lauded Herriott-Sullivan's police experience and ties to the community, and said Herriott-Sullivan will help her "bridge the gap" between the police and residents.

"I am confident that she will bring a different perspective and instill a fresh approach to policing, both of which are very much needed in our city, particularly at this difficult time," Warren said at a news conference.

Herriott-Sullivan is currently the interim deputy executive director at the Rochester Housing Authority.

Judge extends Montana ballots deadline

HELENA, Mont. -- A Montana judge has extended the state's deadline for returning 2020 general election ballots by mail, saying that uneven U.S. Postal Service delivery times could result in ballots being delayed, unfairly requiring some people to vote earlier than others or requiring voters to risk exposure to covid-19 to return their ballots in person.

"The COVID-19 pandemic presents an untenable problem for voters who wish to have all the available information prior to casting their ballot, who wish to reduce potential COVID-19 exposure, and who also wish to have their vote counted," District Judge Donald Harris wrote late Friday. "Moving the Election Day receipt deadline to a postmark deadline would alleviate the pressures voters are facing in the November 2020 general election and result in less disenfranchised voters."

Harris said all valid Montana ballots postmarked by Election Day for this election must be counted as long as they are received by county election offices by the following Monday.

"This will provide an additional safeguard for Montana voters to ensure that their votes are counted," said Robyn Driscoll, chairman of the Montana Democratic Party. The party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee challenged the law that requires that ballots be received in election offices by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted.

Ballots are to be mailed to voters starting on Oct. 9. Driscoll urged voters to return their ballots as soon as possible "to be on the safe side."

Jail to digitize inmates' incoming mail

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Inmates in one Alabama county jail will no longer get their mail in the usual manner beginning next month.

The Madison County sheriff's office, in a news release, said it's moving to digitize incoming mail, including letters, cards and photographs. The mail will be scanned into the commissary system and delivered to inmates in digital form only, al.com reported.

Inmates will have access to their personal mail through a kiosk inside the housing areas.

Sheriff Kevin Turner said the change is prompted by the threat from covid-19, and to keep inmates from receiving drugs or "dangerous substances" through the mail system. Books and magazines are not affected by the change.

Several law enforcement agencies have adopted the practice of scanning mail and delivering it digitally to inmates, including Shawnee County, Kan.; Walton County, Fla.; and Sangamon County, Ill.

Judge lets straight-ticket voting go on

AUSTIN, Texas -- A federal judge Friday blocked Texas from eliminating straight-ticket voting, a decision that would allow for choosing one party's entire slate of candidates in the November election that is now less than six weeks away.

photo

The Aspen Times

A moose grazes on water plants Friday at Independence Pass in Aspen, Colo.
(AP/The Aspen Times/Kelsey Brunner)

Most states don't offer straight-ticket voting. Texas has for decades, but Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law removing the option in 2020. That measure was pushed through by a GOP-controlled Legislature that argued that the change would encourage voters to weigh down ballot races and cast better-informed ballots on Election Day.

Democrats sued over the change in March, pointing toward long lines in Houston on Super Tuesday, when some voters waited more than an hour to vote. They said the law disproportionately hurts Black and Latino voters in big urban counties, where longer ballots result in longer wait times.

U.S. District Judge Mariana Garcia Marmolejo said that amid the coronavirus pandemic the state should not risk making voting a longer process.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton did not immediately react to the ruling, although an appeal is likely.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

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