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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

FCC to Vote Today on Internet Regulation

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Thursday, February 26, 2015   

PHOENIX - A vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Thursday could affect the Internet in Arizona and across the nation.

The five-member commission is considering rules that could regulate the Internet as a utility. Speaking earlier this month at the University of Colorado at Boulder, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who supports the action, said his goal is to ensure the Internet remains "a level playing field."

"Where there is no choice, the market can't work," said Wheeler. "American families need to be able to shop for affordable prices and faster speeds, and the commission is committed to removing barriers to broadband investment and competition."

Under the proposed FCC regulations, broadband providers could not block or degrade access to legal online content, applications or services. They also wouldn't be allowed to favor some Internet traffic over others - in other words, no "fast lanes." Opponents argue the proposal is overreaching and would stifle investment and customer choice.

Wheeler says the rules seek to have impact in more than 20 states with laws that don't allow communities to start their own broadband networks. He says another goal is to expand broadband access in rural areas.

"Seventeen percent of households, that's one in six Americans, don't have access to 25-meg broadband," said Wheeler. "Rural and tribal areas are disproportionately being left behind."

Wheeler says the Internet has become a critical part of life, and cites research that projects future Americans may have up to 100 connected computing devices working for them.


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