Month: August 2026

This story was originally published by CNN. Click here for live updates.

(CNN) — A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked the US Postal Service from carrying out a plan, issued under an executive order from President Trump, that could limit mail voting.

Democratic states and voter advocacy groups challenging the recently released USPS rules were granted a temporary restraining order for two weeks late Thursday night.

“Through the Final Rule, the USPS is refusing to send mail ballots to eligible voters unless States or local election officials submit their mail ballot envelopes and return envelopes and receive advance approval from the USPS without regard to impending deadlines for the November 3, 2026 election,” Judge Indira Talwani wrote in her ruling.

The challengers, she added, are likely to win on their claims that the rule is unconstitutional and that the USPS lacks authority to issue it in the first place.

“Plaintiff States have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal, and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms,” wrote Talwani, a nominee of President Barack Obama.

The White House condemned the ruling and said it will appeal.

“Last week, the Supreme Court reversed this same activist judge’s ruling attempting to stop President Trump from implementing commonsense measures to protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans vote in American elections. We will immediately appeal this unreasoned and unlawful order,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said.

Under the agency’s plan, states would be required to submit lists of their mail voters to the US Postal Service in order to use the service to transmit their ballots. USPS would also only carry ballots that are in envelopes that have specific bar codes unique to each voter to facilitate automated tracking. The administration says the requirements are aimed at facilitating law enforcement investigations.

In court filings, state election officials said the mandate would require them to redesign and reprint millions of ballot envelopes, and that their vendors had indicated that such a job could not be done in time for the midterms. The election officials also raised concerns about the feasibility of the proposed system for uploading the mail voter lists.

Talwani wrote in Thursday’s ruling that the Trump administration offered “no reply to Plaintiff States’ assertion that compliance for the 2026 midterm elections will be impossible for many of them.”

The Justice Department had argued in court filings that the regulatory change was “modest” and USPS had the statuary authority to undertake it.

Next Thursday, Talwani will hold a hearing on whether to issue preliminary injunction on the regulations — which would be a longer-lasting block on the plan.

The Thursday ruling is the latest legal volley in what is expected to be a fast-moving court battle over Trump’s proposed plan, after the Supreme Court on Monday removed a previous court order issued by Talwani that had blocked agencies from carrying out aspects of the March executive order in the two-dozen states that are suing over it.

The Supreme Court said in that ruling — over the dissent of the court’s three liberals — that Talwani’s previous order was premature because at the time that the states filed their lawsuit against Trump’s directives, the agencies had not yet had a chance to roll out their final plan for implementing it.

The high court’s ruling did not acknowledge the final rule that USPS released Friday night, as those were not part of the record of the appeal before the justices. This latest ruling stems from revised complaints that opponents filed in response to the final rule.

This story has been updated with additional details.

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — Three U.S. senators are demanding an investigation into Michael Boren, undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment, following allegations that he diverted federal firefighting resources to suppress a small fire near his private ranch in Idaho.

In a letter sent to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers raised concerns over Boren’s alleged involvement in redirecting firefighters and aircraft to the seven-acre Cabin Creek Fire. The incident occurred during a record wildfire season in Oregon, where firefighting personnel and equipment remain scarce.

Earlier this month, Boren allegedly used his position to pressure U.S. Forest Service personnel to direct resources toward the Cabin Creek Fire, a seven-acre blaze near his 480-acre ranch in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest. Nine aircraft were assigned to the fire, an unusually high number of resources for a blaze of that size.

The resource allocation occurred while Oregon was facing shortages of firefighting personnel and equipment following federal funding and staffing cuts. During a record wildfire season in the state, blazes far larger than seven acres that directly threatened lives and homes received a fraction of that aviation support.

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, serve as ranking members on the Senate Committee on Finance, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, respectively. In their joint letter, the lawmakers warned of the broader safety risks posed by improper resource allocation.

“Mr. Boren’s actions constitute potentially a misuse of taxpayer funds and put American families at further risk by diverting scarce resources from high-priority wildfires threatening communities elsewhere in the region and country,” the senators wrote. “We request a full investigation into the nature and extent of Boren’s involvement in response to the Cabin Creek Fire and a detailed accounting of the safeguards the agency has implemented or plans to implement to prevent political interference and conflicts of interest in wildfire response.”

The lawmakers asked USDA Rollins to outline how the department will prevent future interference by officials for personal gain. They also requested that the findings of any department investigation into the Cabin Creek Fire response be provided to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — Crook County has extended the application deadline and updated the session schedule for its upcoming 2026–2027 County College program due to scheduling conflicts.

Community members now have until Oct. 8, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. to submit their applications for the program, which begins on Oct. 15, 2026.

County College is a free, six-session series that provides participants with an inside look at local government operations. Through department presentations, facility tours and discussions with county staff and elected officials, attendees learn about county services and functions.

To participate, applicants must live, work full-time or own a business in Crook County. Program capacity is limited to 25 participants and applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to limited space, not all applicants may be selected.

County officials noted that community members who have already submitted an application do not need to reapply following the schedule adjustments.

Under the revised schedule, sessions will take place on Oct. 15, Nov. 12 and Dec. 17 in 2026, followed by Jan. 21, Feb. 11 and March 11 in 2027. The final administration session on March 11 was moved from its previously scheduled date due to conflicts.

Application forms and detailed schedule information are available on the Crook County website. For additional details, community members can contact the Crook County Administration Office, where Breyanna Cupp serves as Executive Assistant to the County Commissioners and County Manager.

The program’s first session will run on Oct. 15, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with monthly meetings continuing through March 11, 2027.

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — A 25-year-old Roseburg woman died Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, following a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 5 in Douglas County.

Deanndra Elaine Hamlett was traveling southbound near milepost 127 at approximately 8:18 p.m. when the vehicle left the roadway and overturned.

According to a preliminary investigation by Oregon State Police, Hamlett was driving a black 2009 Toyota Scion TC when the car left the road for an unknown reason and rolled over. Hamlett was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash disrupted travel along Interstate 5 southbound for approximately 5 hours while emergency crews conducted an on-scene investigation. Oregon State Police were assisted at the location by Central Douglas Fire & Rescue and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Fatal and critical injury collisions on Oregon highways are routinely analyzed by the Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit. The specialized team includes accredited reconstructionists who use advanced measuring techniques and small unmanned aircraft systems to document and analyze complex crash scenes across the state.