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Women far from parity in Congress

 
Published June 10, 2014

Women far from parity in Congress

At the rate they're going, it will take 107 years until women hold half the seats in Congress, according to a study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, a nonpartisan group that studies female-centered issues. With 99 women among the 535 members of Congress — a record high — the 107-year estimate is "an optimistic model," institute study director Jeffrey Hayes said. In the past 20 years, the number of women in Congress has grown at a rate of one to nine female members per session. The incremental steps toward gender parity follow from the 1992 election, when the number rose from 32 to 54. That increase was the first — and last — of that magnitude.

Voting access to be boosted for tribes

Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday his office will consult with tribes across the country to develop ways to increase voting access for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Holder said the goal is to require state and local election officials to place at least one polling site in a location chosen by tribal governments in parts of the nation that include tribal lands. Barriers to voting, he said, include English-only ballots and inaccessible polling places.

World's oldest man dies at 111

Alexander Imich, a Polish-born psychic researcher who was certified the oldest man on Earth, died Sunday at a senior residence in New York. He had turned 111 on Feb. 4. Imich became the world's oldest validated male when the previous record-holder, Arturo Licata of Italy, died on April 24 at 111 years and 357 days, according to the Gerontology Research Group of Torrance, Calif. At the time, 66 women were officially older than Imich, with the oldest being 116. Guinness World Records is investigating the claim that 111-year-old Sakari Momoi of Japan is now the oldest man.

By the Numbers

$22M Amount of recreational pot sold in Colorado in April, an increase of 17 percent from March and an increase of 58 percent from January, the first month of retail sales.

$5.3M Amount of taxes and fees collected by the state in April.

Times wires