This week I am doing an abbreviated roundup of inspiring accomplishments and actions since this blog is mostly a one woman show and I am taking a brief vacation with family. Spending time in Portland (ME) my spirits were rejuvenated by the sight of welcoming to all signs in windows, pride flags, and the outward appearance of the large African immigrant community being accepted and welcomed in this city by the ocean. Next week I will be back with my usual full report and coverage of Pride Month activities. My short list of highlights for this week are;

• #IStandWithImmigrants – A pizza delivery man from Brooklyn, NY, who was detained by ICE after bringing an order to a military base has been granted an emergency stay. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees scolded the U.S. administration and told them to “immediately halt” its policy of separating children from their parents after they cross the U.S. border.
• #FairElections – A federal judge blocked Indiana from implementing a law that would purge voters from the state’s voter rolls if they appear on a voter tracking system. The Michigan Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to a ballot initiative, and cleared the way for a measure against gerrymandering to go on the November ballot.
• #HousingAndHealthCareIsARight – HUD backed away on from a plan to triple the minimum rent for federally subsidized housing. A Maine court ordered the state to move ahead with Medicaid expansion and submit a plan by June 11tth to the federal govt. for implementation, which was approved by voters last year but blocked by the governor.
• #LoveIsLove – The European Court of Justice ruled that EU countries that have not legalized gay marriage must respect the residency rights of same-sex spouses who want to live together in their territory. New Hampshire Governor signs law banning “gay conversion therapy.” An Arizona appeals court ruled that a calligraphy business cannot refuse service to same-sex couples and upheld the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance. Maplewood (N.J.) unveiled a permanent rainbow striped crosswalk to show LGBT pride doesn’t just happen in June.
• #MeToo –  Voters in Santa Clara County (CA) recalled the judge who sentenced former college student Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexual assault. A judge ruled that the twittler-in-chief must sit for a deposition in the defamation case filed by a former contestant on his reality TV show.
• #CriminalJusticeReform – After public outrage over an Alabama sheriff who was legally allowed to personally profit $750,000 over three years, from government funds intended to feed inmates, the sheriff lost his re-election bid. The Minneapolis Police Department is ending sting operations targeting low-level marijuana sales following a new report that revealed a vast racial disparity in those who were arrested.
• #CollusionIsReal – Paul Manafort and his aid, Konstantin Kilimnik, where hit with federal charges for tampering with and attempted tampering with a witness.
• #BlueWave2018 – In a Missouri special election, Lauren Arthur (D) won a seat in the state Senate, flipping the seat blue. For the first time in history, the Custer City Council will be all female with the win this week by Carrie Moore and Dixie Whittaker. Mariah Parker, who ran as a progressive for Athens-Clarke County Commissioner, won by 13 votes and took her oath of office holding her hand on a copy of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” From New Jersey to New Mexico, Democratic women did well.  41 of the 92 women running for the House or Senate advanced in their races. Two democratic Iowa women, crushed their respective fields, winning more than enough votes to avoid a state convention. In five states that held primaries, women won the primaries for governor.  Democrats avoided disaster in the California “jungle primary,” that advances the two leading vote-getters regardless of party, and Democrats will be on the ballot in nearly all the state’s 53 districts and the Governor’s race. Voter turnout was up in four states that held primaries.
• #RevolvingDoor – Two of Pruitt’s closest aides at the EPA resigned amid further ethics scandals at the agency.
• #ThereIsNoPlanetB – Bon Appetit is banning plastic straws and stirrers at their more than 1,000 food service locations for universities, museums, and other venues in 33 states. Hawaii Governor signed bills committing to make the state fully carbon neutral by 2045, to use carbon offsets to help fund planting trees, and require new building projects to consider how high sea levels will rise in their engineering decisions.