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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine will become the latest to join a multistate effort to elect the president by popular vote with the Democratic governor’s announcement Monday that she’s letting the proposal become law without her signature. Under the proposed compact, each state would allocate all its electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote for president, regardless of how individual states voted in an election. But the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is on hold for now — and won’t play a role in the upcoming November election. Gov. Janet Mills said she understands that there are different facets to the debate. Opponents point out that the role of small states like Maine could be diminished if the electoral college ends, while proponents point out that two of the last four presidents have been elected through the electoral college system despite losing the national popular vote. Without a ranked voting system, Mills said she believes “the person who wins the most votes should become the president. To do otherwise seemingly runs counter to the democratic foundations of our country.” “Still, recognizing that there is merit to both sides of the argument, and recognizing that this measure has been the subject of public discussion several times before in Maine, I would like this important nationwide debate to continue and so I will allow this bill to become law without my signature,” the governor said in a statement. The compact would take effect only if supporters secure pledges of states with at least 270 electoral votes. Sixteen states and Washington, D.C. have joined the compact and Maine’s addition would bring the total to 209, the governor said. Other hurdles include questions of whether congressional approval is necessary to implement the compact. In Maine, one of only two states to split their electoral votes under the current system, the debate in the Maine Legislature fell along partisan lines with Republican united in opposition. Maine awards two of its four electoral votes to the statewide presidential winner along with one apiece for the winner of each congressional district. In 2016, the state split its electoral votes for the first time when Republican Donald Trump won a single electoral vote in the northern, conservative 2nd Congressional District. Trump collected an electoral vote again in his failed presidential bid in 2020. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas lawyer and his wife had been in the middle of a contentious battle for custody of her children from a previous marriage when the woman’s former father-in-law, also an attorney, fatally shot them last week during a deposition hearing in the case, according to authorities and relatives. The coroner’s office in Las Vegas identified the victims as lawyer Dennis Prince and his wife, Ashley. Both were shot multiple times, the coroner’s office said, before 77-year-old Joseph Houston shot and killed himself. Gunfire erupted just minutes after the deposition hearing began on the morning of April 8 at Dennis Prince’s law firm, Prince Law Group, in the affluent Summerlin neighborhood. Seven people were in the room at the time of the shooting, police said. The four others, including a court reporter, were able to quickly escape and call police. At a news conference Monday, Ashley Prince’s parents said their daughter was previously married to Houston’s son and had been trying to gain sole custody of their children for two years. Houston, a lawyer in Nevada since 1974, had been representing his son in the custody battle, court records show. Julie Page said they will continue their daughter’s fight to win custody of the children, ages 4 and 5. “Our daughter Ashley was a devoted and fierce protector of her children,” Page said, choking back tears as she told reporters that her daughter “would have never given up the fight for her children.” The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department didn’t immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on the family’s statement. Bryce Page said Monday that his sister “was beaming from her core” after she met Dennis Prince. He said his sister realized a lifelong dream to build a “warm, loving environment” for her family after she recently welcomed her first child with Dennis Prince. Prince was a trial lawyer in Las Vegas for 30 years and headed Prince Law Group, where the shooting unfolded. He started that firm after building a reputation as a top attorney in Nevada personal injury, product liability, negligence and insurance cases. His professional profiles say he tried more than 90 cases to verdict and had more than a dozen published state Supreme Court cases. “With profound sadness, Prince Law Group would like to thank everyone who has reached out to us with heartfelt messages of concern and sympathy over the tragic violence that occurred this morning in our offices,” the law group said in a statement last week. ___ Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and Ukraine on Monday traded blame before the United Nations Security Council for the attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said have put the world “dangerously close to a nuclear accident.” Without attributing blame, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said his agency has been able to confirm three attacks against the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant since April 7. “These reckless attacks must cease immediately,” he told the Security Council. “Though, fortunately, they have not led to a radiological incident this time, they significantly increase the risk … where nuclear safety is already compromised.” Zaporizhzhia sits in Russian-controlled territory in southeastern Ukraine and has six nuclear reactors. Fears of a nuclear catastrophe have been at the forefront since Russian troops occupied the plant shortly after invading in February 2022. Continued fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces — as well as the tense supply situation at the plant — have raised the specter of a disaster. Ukraine and its allies on Monday again blamed Russia for dangers at the site, with the United States saying, “Russia does not care about these risks.” “If it did, it would not continue to forcibly control the plant,” U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council. Russia, for its part, said Ukraine was to blame for the attacks. “The IAEA’s report does not pinpoint which side is behind the attacks,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. “We know full well who it is.” “Over the last few months, such attacks not only resumed,” Nebenzia said, “they significantly intensified.” Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N., Sergiy Kyslytsya, called the attacks “a well-planned false flag operation by the Russian Federation,” which he alleged Russia had designed to distract the world from its invasion of its neighbor. The Zaporizhzhia facility is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world. Fighting in the southern part of Ukraine where it is located has raised the specter of a potential nuclear disaster like the one at Chernobyl in 1986, where a reactor exploded and blew deadly radiation across a vast area. Neither Russia nor Ukraine in recent months has been able to make significant advances along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line crossing eastern and southern Ukraine. Drones, artillery and missiles have featured heavily in what has become a war of attrition. Russia and Ukraine have frequently traded accusations over the Zaporizhzhia plant. The most recent strikes did not compromise the facility, which is designed to withstand a commercial airliner crashing into it, the IAEA said. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — An endangered Bornean orangutan baby has been welcomed into the world at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida. The baby orangutan was delivered by cesarean section on Saturday, weighing just over three pounds (1.3 kilograms), park officials said. The mother, Luna, is recuperating from surgery and will be reunited with the baby once she is stabilized. These orangutans are found only on the island of Borneo and are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, which focuses on managing threatened populations and educates visitors about the animals. The Bornean orangutan is the largest tree-dwelling ape species and the third largest overall. The birth of this newborn is a “milestone in orangutan conservation efforts,” Busch Gardens said in a news release. Orangutans in the wild typically live between 35 and 40 years. The newborn ape does not yet have a name. The theme park in Tampa bills its zoo as one of the largest in North America, housing thousands of animals. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — California officials on Monday sued Huntington Beach over a new law that lets the city require voters to provide identification to cast ballots at the polls starting in 2026. State Attorney General Rob Bonta said the measure approved by voters in the Southern California city of nearly 200,000 people stands in conflict with state law and could make it harder for poor, non-white, young, elderly and disabled voters to cast ballots. State officials previously warned that the measure to amend the city’s charter would suppress voter participation and are asking a court to block it from taking effect, he said. “The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle,” Bonta said in a statement while announcing the lawsuit. Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said the city has the authority to take election-related measures under the state’s constitution and will defend the decision of local voters. “The people of Huntington Beach have made their voices clear on this issue,” Gates said in an email. The measure was passed by voters this year in Huntington Beach, a city in Orange County dubbed “Surf City USA” that is known for its scenic shoreline dotted with surfers catching waves. The City Council placed the voter ID measure on the March ballot after taking a series of hotly contested decisions on topics ranging from flag flying to the removal of books from the public library’s children’s section over concerns about the appropriateness of materials. The moves were initiated by a politically conservative council majority, which took office in 2022, and have drawn scores of residents on all sides of issues to city meetings. The measure — which would let the city require voter identification, increase in-person voting sites and monitor ballot drop boxes in local elections — won at the polls in March with 53%, county election data shows. Bonta, a Democrat, said it was not immediately clear how the measure would be implemented. In California, voters can cast ballots in person and also by returning ballots to drop boxes or by mail. The Orange County Registrar of Voters, which operates in the county’s 34 cities including Huntington Beach, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Registrar Bob Page said Huntington Beach has not contacted his office regarding how it plans to proceed since the measure was adopted. He said the city could conduct its own local elections or consolidate its elections with statewide general elections and receive services from the county registrar. Huntington Beach has a history of sparring with state officials over the measures it can take under its city charter on topics ranging from immigratio n to housing. While Democrats outnumber Republicans in Orange County, the GOP is dominant in Huntington Beach with nearly 54,000 registered voters versus 41,000 Democrats, county data shows. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com