Chapter 1: What is the focus of today's news segment?
Well, howdy there, Internet people. It's Dee again, and welcome to The Interstate with Dee. Today is Saturday, August 23rd, 2025. Welcome back to our trip on the interstate. What we do here is present news from the state level that will end up having national importance later, or news that made it into the national news cycle but was overshadowed. Then we go over some questions from y'all.
On this date, August 23, 1973, the incident that originated the Stockholm Syndrome theory in psychology occurred. Today is Find Your Inner Nerd Day. Okay, and on to the news. The Alaska Attorney General resigned.
Chapter 2: What recent political events are unfolding in Alaska?
Most people are reading this not as a sign of trouble, but as a sign that he is going to be running for governor. Also in the state, NORAD has F-16s intercept a Russian spy plane operating off the coast. In California...
After the governor signed redistricting measures, the voters will get to decide whether or not to allow the Democratic Party to temporarily redraw congressional districts after Texas gerrymandered their state to support Trump. Elsewhere in the state, Governor Newsom's social media posts that are being made in Trump's style really seem to be getting under the skin of MAGA.
The state of Colorado is being threatened by Trump with, quote, In the District of Columbia, In Georgia, Vice President Vance tried to sell voters on Trump's one big beautiful bill by focusing on tax cuts. The problem is that the projections for the extra Americans will be forced to pay because of Trump's tariff taxes exceed the projections for money saved through income tax.
In Kansas, a Republican candidate in the governor's race is facing allegations of pocketing a campaign donation. Kansas politics looks like it's going to be interesting this term. The candidate has denied the allegations. Missouri seems to be willing to join the gerrymandering push and redraw their congressional districts.
In New Jersey, a judge ruled that Alina Haba was working unlawfully as the U.S. attorney. In New York, An appeals court threw out Trump's half-a-billion-dollar civil fraud penalty. To be clear, Trump wasn't exonerated. The court just found the penalty was too severe. In Maryland, Baltimore businessman Ed Hale Sr.
announced his campaign for governor after switching parties from Democrat to Republican.
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Chapter 3: How is redistricting impacting California's political landscape?
Michigan residents are upset by Trump's order requiring a coal plant to stay up even though it was set to close being extended. They're worried he'll use the emergency powers to force the plant to stay open throughout his term. Minnesota's DFL revoked the endorsement of a left-wing candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. Progressives in the state are outraged.
North Carolina's coast was hit by effects from Hurricane Erin, but luckily avoided a direct impact. In South Dakota, Gold and Black Hills is setting up another fight over the area between corporate interests and the natives who own the land by treaty, but the government tends to ignore the treaty.
In Texas, a Democrat who has been in Texas politics for half a century has decided if the new gerrymandered map survived legal challenges, he won't run again. This isn't a surrender, though. This is him passing the torch to a much younger candidate. In Virginia, the Democratic candidate for governor is leading the Republican candidate by seven points.
In West Virginia, business groups are growing more concerned about a softening labor market. And here's your Weird State Fact for this week. Arizona seems to have more ghost towns than active populated towns. Sources vary, but say that there are somewhere between 131 and 300 ghost towns. Apparently, there are only 91 incorporated cities and towns.
Okay, so moving on to the question and answer portion of the show. Question number one. D. What do you think people in Texas can do now that it looks like the redistricting is going to occur? Is there anything we can do? Well, I think the most important thing for people to remember is that to strengthen their hold on some districts, Republicans had to weaken their hold on other districts.
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Chapter 4: What controversies are surrounding Trump's policies in New Jersey and New York?
There probably needs to be a giant get-out-the-vote movement. Even in districts that are used to being deep red districts, there might be some surprises in those new maps. Beyond that, if there's higher turnout in places where the turnout is normally low, it might alter any statewide races as well. Changing maps isn't always good for the people who changed them. Question number two.
What do you think of the Cracker Barrel logo redesign? I don't really have an emotional attachment to a logo. I think people are getting a little worked up over this.
Question number three.
I think this should go to D, but it's more commentary or opinion than straight news. Why is Trump calling opposition to a copper mine here in Arizona anti-American? We're just worried about the environment. I think it might have to do with what Trump considers American. He's not looking at the environment. He's looking at the money.
Trump also has a long history of not getting along with Natives, and while there are non-Natives who oppose the Copper Project, the legal opposition is on behalf of the Apache. That might factor into it, too. Imagine calling Native Americans anti-American. The other thing to remember is that the fight over Oak Flat has been going on for as long as I can remember, 20 years or so.
Question number four.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of the gerrymandering discussions in Missouri and Kansas?
D. I'm one of your Canadian listeners. I was wondering if you can add Canadian news to your show. You're trying to get me attacked. I'm joking, but we actually talked about doing this, but thought it was probably a bad idea to add Canadian news to a show about U.S. state-level news.
Chapter 6: What questions do listeners have about current events?
We just thought it would be in bad taste to launch that while Trump was referring to Canada as the 51st state. It might be something we do later, but I think we should probably put a little more distance between our president talking about your country as a state and us throwing you into our state news roundup. Okay, that looks like it.
We'll see you next week for another trip. Y'all have a good day.