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EDMONTON — Alberta election officials say they are working to get the word out as they deal with a Canada Post strike ahead of a Christmas-week byelection in Lethbridge-West. Because of the postal workers’ strike, Elections Alberta cannot send “Where to Vote” cards to voters, and it says special mail-in ballots must be shipped through a courier service or dropped off in person ahead for the Dec. 18 vote. The office has a plan in motion to get the word out using print, radio, media and online ads, and by distributing flyers across the riding with general information. Winter weather also threatens to be a factor. The last time an Alberta byelection was held so close to Christmas was on Dec. 14, 2017. The vote will fill a vacancy created in the summer when NDP Lethbridge-West legislature member Shannon Phillips resigned. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024. Lisa Johnson, The Canadian PressNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Married couples across the U.S. have had access to no-fault divorce for more than 50 years, an option many call crucial to supporting domestic abuse victims and key to preventing already crowded family courts from drowning in complicated divorce proceedings. But some advocates for women worried as old comments from now Vice President-elect JD Vance circulated during the presidential campaign opposing no-fault divorce. After President-elect Donald Trump and Vance won the election, warnings began popping up on social media urging women who might be considering divorce to "pull the trigger" while they still could. Some attorneys posted saying they saw a spike in calls from women seeking divorce consultations. Donald and Ivana Trump pose in May 1988 outside the Federal Courthouse in New York after she was sworn in as a United States citizen. Trump — who is twice-divorced — hasn't championed overhauling the country's divorce laws, but in 2021 Vance lamented that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. "We've run this experiment in real time and what we have is a lot of very, very real family dysfunction that's making our kids unhappy," Vance said during a speech at a Christian high school in California, where he criticized people being able to "shift spouses like they change their underwear." Marriage rates held steady but divorce rates of women age 15 and older declined from 2012 to 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in October. Despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don't expect big, swift changes. There is not a national coordinated effort underway. States determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can't directly change policy. "Even in some of the so-called red states, it hasn't gotten anywhere," said Beverly Willett, co-chair of the Coalition for Divorce Reform, whose group unsuccessfully attempted to convince states to repeal their no-fault divorce laws. A couple exchanges wedding bands Oct. 11, 2018, at City Hall in Philadelphia. Mark A. Smith, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said while many Americans became accustomed to no-fault divorce being an option, Vance's previous comments on making it more difficult to separate from a spouse could help jump-start that effort. "Even though he's not directly proposing a policy, it's a topic that hasn't gotten a ton of discussion in the last 15 years," Smith said. "And so to have a national profile politician talk that way is noteworthy." Meanwhile, Republican Party platforms in Texas and Nebraska were amended in 2022 to call for the removal of no-fault divorce. Louisiana's Republican Party considered something similar this year but declined to do so. A handful of proposals were introduced in conservative-led statehouses over the years, but all immediately stalled after they were filed. In January, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. Deevers backed the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an "abolition of marital obligation." Sen. JD Vance smiles as his wife Usha Vance applauds Nov. 6 at an election-night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Similarly, in South Carolina, two Republican lawmakers in 2023 filed a bill that would have required both spouses to file for a no-fault divorce application rather than just one. In South Dakota, a Republican lawmaker attempted to remove irreconcilable difference as grounds for divorce since 2020. None of the sponsors of these bills responded to interview requests from The Associated Press. All are members of their state's conservative Freedom Caucus. Nevertheless, some Democratic lawmakers say they remain worried about the future of no-fault divorce. They point to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 as an example of a long-accepted option that was revoked through a decades-long effort. "When you choose to be silent, you allow for this to creep in," said Democratic South Dakota Rep. Linda Duba. "These are the bills that gain a foothold because you choose to be silent." Before California became the first state to adopt a no-fault divorce option in 1969, married couples had to prove their spouse violated one of the approved "faults" outlined in their state's divorce law or risk a judge denying their divorce, said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Qualified reasons varied from state to state, but largely included infidelity, incarceration or abandonment. Donald and Marla Trump wave to photographers Dec. 20, 1993, as they enter their wedding reception in New York's Plaza Hotel. The system was a particular burden on domestic violence victims, who are often women who could be stuck in dangerous marriages while they try to prove their partner's abuse in court through expensive and lengthy legal proceedings. "If there was any evidence that the couple both wanted to get divorced that was supposed to be denied because divorce was not something you got because you wanted it, it was something you got because you've been wronged in a way that the state thought was significant," Grossman said. To date, every state in the U.S. adopted a no-fault divorce option. However, 33 states still have a list of approved "faults" to file as grounds for divorce — ranging from adultery to felony conviction. In 17 states, married people only have the option of choosing no-fault divorce to end their marriages. The link between rates of divorce and age at first marriage has been borne out over time, but it also explains geographic differences in rates of divorce. Today, most of the states with the lowest rates of divorce are also those with a higher median age for marriage. States like New Jersey, New York, California, and Massachusetts all stand out for having fewer than 10% of adults divorced and an age at first marriage above 30. One exception to this is Utah, which has the lowest overall median age for first marriage at 25.5 but also the third-lowest share of divorced adults at 9%, likely due in part to the state’s strong religious ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In contrast, Maine and Nevada lead all states in the share of the population currently divorced at 13.9% and 13.8%, respectively. And at the local level, many of the cities with the highest levels of divorce are found in Florida, Appalachia, and the Southwest. The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey . To determine the most divorced locations, researchers at ChamberOfCommerce.org calculated the percentage of adults currently divorced. In the event of a tie, the location with the higher percentage of adults currently separated was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only cities with at least 100,000 residents were included. Additionally, cities were grouped into cohorts based on population size: small (100,000–149,999), midsize (150,000–349,999), and large (350,000 or more). Here are the most divorced cities in the U.S. Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Photo Credit: photo.ua / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Jonny Trego / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Tupungato / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Kevin J King / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Galina Savina / Shutterstock Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock Photo Credit: CHARLES MORRA / Shutterstock Photo Credit: LHBLLC / Shutterstock Photo Credit: Valiik30 / Shutterstock Photo Credit: turtix / Shutterstock Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Seibert misses an extra point late as the Commanders lose their 3rd in a row, 34-26 to the Cowboys
The Department of Agriculture (DA) called on the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to release 580 metric tons (MT) of seized frozen mackerel to the government’s social welfare arm after tests confirmed that these are safe for human consumption. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. noted that the shipments, which were earlier confiscated due to the absence of an import permit, should be transferred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to aid relief operations and boost food security efforts. “Consequently, the fish products are deemed fit for immediate release and can be utilized to address food security needs, especially in relief operations,” he said. “This initiative would support the DSWD and the DA’s ongoing efforts to provide essential aid to victims of the recent typhoon.” In a letter addressed to Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, the agriculture chief noted that laboratory tests confirmed that the frozen fish is fit for human consumption with no signs of spoilage or contamination. These findings came from the National Fisheries Laboratory Division of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). The confiscated shipment worth around P178.5 million consisting of 21 container vans loaded with frozen mackerel arrived at the Manila International Container Port in early October without the required sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs). An SPSIC would certify that an inbound shipment is safe for human and animal consumption and would not bring in any pests that could jeopardize the local agriculture sector. Upon the confiscation, Laurel directed the BFAR to conduct laboratory tests to evaluate the suitability of the frozen mackerel for distribution to typhoon-affected communities. The country has been grappling with successive typhoons that devastated agricultural farmlands and the fisheries sector, with damage reaching over P10 billion so far from typhoon Kristine to typhoon Nika. This recently prompted the DA to consider importing vegetables and possibly expanding fish imports to stabilize prices of some key agricultural commodities that spiked following the damage brought by the typhoons. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/11/19/da-eyes-importing-veggies-possibly-fish-after-typhoons /) To prevent unscrupulous individuals from smuggling or hoarding farm products, President Marcos Jr. had signed Republic Act (RA) 12022 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, which he said would aid in the government crackdown against the cartels behind price and supply manipulation for agricultural products. “By eliminating smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and other cartel activities, we are not only shielding our local producers but also providing consumers with affordable agricultural and fishery products,” Marcos said.