“Javier Ortiz, the Miami police captain whose long history of citizen complaints alleging beatings, false arrests and harassment made him notorious in the city he swore to protect and serve, has joined Ron DeSantis’ Florida State Guard,” the Miami Herald reports.

“Ortiz joined the paramilitary organization in February, about a year after the Miami Police Department rescinded his firing on the condition that he give up his work-issued gun, work a nighttime desk job and commit to an early retirement.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) announced a $163 million investment to expand broadband high-speed internet access, using federal money from the American Rescue Plan that he opposed in 2021, WCPT reports.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) will not speak as planned in Golden, Colorado this week after the national outrage over her killing of a puppy created “safety concerns,” KUSA reports.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a ban on the manufacture and distribution of lab-grown meat, while noting: “Global elites want to control our behavior and push a diet of petri dish meat and bugs on Americans. Florida is saying no.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) went on Fox News to defend her decision to kill a family dog, saying it was a “working dog” and “not a puppy.”

Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D), who was arrested in an alleged burglary this month, will be relieved of her committee work and removed from DFL caucus meetings while her case is under review in the courts, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Lura Yuen: The bizarre and relatable case of Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell.

“Amid waves of backlash from both sides of the aisle, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Sunday defended her decision to shoot and kill her 14-month-old puppy named Cricket years ago,” Politico reports.

Said Noem: “The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did.”

“Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit.”

— Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), on X last night.

“Ohio lawmakers voted Wednesday to criminalize marital rape in all situations, ending a years-long fight over a law that critics cast as archaic and harmful to survivors,” USA Today reports.

Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D) “told police that she broke into her stepmother’s home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes,” the AP reports.

“Lawmakers on a Louisiana House committee voted Thursday to repeal a law requiring employers to give child workers lunch breaks and to slash unemployment benefits — part of a Republican-backed push to roll back regulations on companies and reduce aid for injured and unemployed workers,” the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

“Four of South Dakota’s federally recognized Native American tribes have barred the state’s governor, Kristi Noem — a Republican whose name has been floated as a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump — from their reservations. The latest blocked Ms. Noem on Thursday,” the New York Times reports.

“Three of the tribes barred Ms. Noem this month, joining another tribe that had sanctioned the governor after she told state lawmakers in February that Mexican drug cartels had a foothold on their reservations and were committing murders there.”

“Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill Friday stripping citizen oversight boards of their power to investigate police misconduct,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

“The bill, HB 601, instead allows local chiefs of police agencies to create their own ‘civilian oversight’ boards composed of three to seven members, all appointed by the chief or sheriff. But these boards can only review policies and procedures, not oversee use-of-force complaints or internal affairs investigations.”

The Tennessee House passed a bill on Thursday that would make it illegal to marry your first cousin in Tennessee, WSMV reports.

But it only did so after state Rep. Gino Bulso (R), whose grandparents he said were first cousins, rose to object to the law. 

“State prosecutor Pete Skandalakis said Thursday that he will lead the investigation into Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ (R) alleged role in trying to help former President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

New York Times: “Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., has already brought racketeering and other charges against Mr. Trump and several top allies in a sweeping election case. But she was disqualified in 2022 from continuing to investigate Mr. Jones, a Republican, because she had hosted a fund-raiser for his political rival.”

Brian Ormes (R), a candidate for Kentucky’s state House of Representatives, was arrested and booked for strangulation Monday night, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating a teenager’s death at Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s (R) farm, KETV reports.