Supported by and NEWARK — In the year after receiving test results showing alarming levels of lead in this city’s drinking water, Mayor Ras Baraka of made a number of unexpected decisions. He mailed a brochure to all city residents assuring them that “the quality of water meets all federal and state standards.” He declared the water safe and then condemned, in capital letters on the city’s website, “outrageously false statements” to the contrary. And he elevated an official to run the city’s water department who had served four years in prison for conspiring to sell five kilograms of...…Supported by and NEWARK — In the year after receiving test results showing alarming levels of lead in this city’s drinking water, Mayor Ras Baraka of made a number of unexpected decisions. He mailed a brochure to all city residents assuring them that “the quality of water meets all federal and state standards.” He declared the water safe and then condemned, in capital letters on the city’s website, “outrageously false statements” to the contrary. And he elevated an official to run the city’s water department who had served four years in prison for conspiring to sell five kilograms of...WW…

Advertisement to get On Politics in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays.During the 2020 election, both the Biden and the Trump campaigns ran Facebook ads targeted to Black voters in Kenosha, Wis., about the protests over race and policing that dominated the summer.On Tuesday, Meta, the social media company formerly known as Facebook, that, on the surface, would appear to reduce such targeting. But it remains entirely possible for campaigns to get around these limitations.The company said it planned to eliminate advertisers’ ability to target people with promotions based on their...…Advertisement to get On Politics in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays.During the 2020 election, both the Biden and the Trump campaigns ran Facebook ads targeted to Black voters in Kenosha, Wis., about the protests over race and policing that dominated the summer.On Tuesday, Meta, the social media company formerly known as Facebook, that, on the surface, would appear to reduce such targeting. But it remains entirely possible for campaigns to get around these limitations.The company said it planned to eliminate advertisers’ ability to target people with promotions based on their...WW…

AdvertisementWASHINGTON — A year before the polls open in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans are already poised to flip at least five seats in the closely divided House thanks to redrawn district maps that are more distorted, more disjointed and more gerrymandered than any since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.The rapidly forming congressional map, a quarter of which has taken shape as districts are redrawn this year, represents an even more extreme warping of American political architecture, with state legislators in many places moving aggressively to cement their partisan...…AdvertisementWASHINGTON — A year before the polls open in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans are already poised to flip at least five seats in the closely divided House thanks to redrawn district maps that are more distorted, more disjointed and more gerrymandered than any since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.The rapidly forming congressional map, a quarter of which has taken shape as districts are redrawn this year, represents an even more extreme warping of American political architecture, with state legislators in many places moving aggressively to cement their partisan...WW…