Michigan Senate candidates Rogers, El-Sayed take on history, doubters in push for Black vote

DETROIT — Republican Mike Rogers has made a push to win over Black voters in the closing stretch of his second U.S. Senate bid, as rival Abdul El-Sayed works to turn out residents in what one Democratic official called "the most powerful city in this country" in the midterm elections: Detroit.

Analysts predicted Rogers could peel away votes in urban areas like Detroit to offset lagging enthusiasm in outstate regions. An Oct. 19-22 Detroit News-WDIV-TV (Channel 4) poll found El-Sayed winning 88% of Black voters to Rogers' 4%, with 8% still undecided, but it was a small subset of the survey's 600 likely voters with a much higher margin of error than the broader poll's plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Rogers on Oct. 17 opened a campaign office in Detroit, Michigan's largest city and a Democratic stronghold. That move followed several events Rogers held in the city and visits he made to churches with predominantly African American congregations.

The Republican hopeful has argued El-Sayed is vulnerable among Black voters — a key part of the Democratic base in Michigan that largely voted for El-Sayed's primary rival, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens.

—The Detroit News

Teens work, drive and pay taxes. But should they vote? This California city will soon decide

LOS ANGELES — Arlo Meighan-Thiel is 16, and he's ready to vote. Not in two years, when he becomes a legal adult. No, the Culver City High School junior believes he is mature and well-informed enough to cast a ballot now.

In Culver City, a local ballot measure before voters — adult voters, that is — in the Nov. 3 election could eventually give 16- and 17-year-olds such as him the right to cast ballots in city and school board elections. If it passes, it would make the Westside city one of just a few municipalities nationwide, and among a handful in California, to expand voting rights to people under 18.

"I feel really strongly that 16- and 17-year-olds are very capable to vote and make a calm, educated decision for a school board and city elections," said Meighan-Thiel, a policy and advocacy leader for the student group Vote16 Culver City.

"It would be amazing for us, the people who go to school five days a week, to have a say who represents us on the school board."

—Los Angeles Times

AI detector flags much of Florida education chief’s writing as AI-generated

Early into his tenure this summer, Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack took to social media to talk about the limits of artificial intelligence. His office had just rolled out a sweeping set of regulations meant to safeguard against the possible harms of AI in schools, including the outsourcing of critical thinking and work to the technology.

“If AI writes the brief, who knows whether the law is just? If AI designs the building, who understands proportion, beauty, and the people who will live in it? If AI manages the portfolio, who decides what a society should value,” Mack asked.

The world’s leading AI writing detection software flagged the post as possibly written by AI. Same goes for the majority of Mack’s posts and much of his other written work since he began his tenure as the state’s top education official.

Most of Mack’s official correspondence in his new job – which includes speeches, letters and memos — has likely been written by AI, according to a Miami Herald analysis using the company Pangram’s AI writing detection software. The majority of his social media posts and three published articles he’s coauthored this year also appear to have been written by AI as well.

—Miami Herald

New Spanish tragedy forces pre-election political reckoning

Antonio Hidalgo was on the sixth car of a commuter train bound for Seville on Wednesday morning, when about 118 kilometers (73 miles) south of Madrid, it collided with another train stopped on the track.

The high-speed collision and subsequent derailment resulted in at least 68 deaths – Spain’s deadliest rail crash in over a decade and second major collision this year. Deteriorating public infrastructure has plagued the country and addressing those issues risks getting caught up in political posturing ahead of a general election next month.

“I went flying down the hallway, and hit my eyebrow on the chair,” Hidalgo said in an interview, pointing to a bandage above his eye covering 12 stitches. “Because my eyebrow was split open, I couldn’t see; I wiped away the blood and looked for my partner.” Destroyed seats, tray tables, suitcases and mobile phones littered his car, which was one of the first to stay on the rails.

The accident also represents a blow for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who’s already facing a difficult election campaign. Polls show the conservative People’s Party leading with far-right Vox on the rise, and Wednesday’s events are likely to only increase scrutiny on Sánchez and his Socialist Party.

—Bloomberg News