The intuitive trend in America to move to where the land is open and the climate warm has hit a road bump. Thanks to the housing crisis, which makes the idea of taking on a new mortgage scary and risky, people are staying put. The population slowdown specifically hit the western and southern states, which had seen huge growth and migration over the last decade. While this trend could mean less Read more

California county registrars may have stopped issuing licenses to same-sex couples, but not all Californians are ready to accept the newly approved marriage ban. The city of San Francisco filed lawsuits challenging Prop. 8's passage, and California Attorney General Jerry Brown says he will fight to defend the legality of the marriage licenses already issued to 18,000 same-sex couples. Last night Read more

Barack Obama hasn't been directing many resources to Arizona all along, but the campaign still thinks they have a good chance of winning McCain's home state. The last candidate to lose his state was Al Gore; Tennessee didn't go blue for its native son. This past weekend the Obama camp asked supporters to donate money to help expand efforts in "new battlegrounds" including Georgia, North Dakota, Read more

The Mayor of Chicago estimates that the Obama election night party could cost the city as much as $2 million. The free and open-to-the-public lakefront party at Grant Park will require the city to beef up security; but the Obama campaign has agreed to reimburse seriously cash-strapped Chicago. Down in Arizona, rumor has it that McCain might not even show up to his soiree. Supporters will be Read more

Seven western US states and four Canadian provinces have agreed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 15 percent before 2020. Proud of the Western Climate Initiative, Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asserted: We’re sending a strong message to our federal governments that states and provinces are moving forward in the absence of federal action, and we’re setting the stage for Read more