NY Times: “Under orders from the Supreme Court to produce a voting map that no longer illegally dilutes the power of Black voters in Alabama, the state’s lawmakers are now facing a high-stakes scramble to come up with an acceptable replacement by the end of this week. A little over a month after the court’s surprise ruling,…
“Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care takes effect as federal judge lifts injunction”
PBS: “Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care for young transgender people was restored Friday when a federal judge lifted an injunction he issued last month that had temporarily blocked the restrictions. The latest ruling by U.S. District Judge David Hale means the Kentucky prohibition goes into effect, preventing transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy.”
“Veterans quit as training, mission for DeSantis’ State Guard turn militaristic”
Miami Herald: “Over 30 days in June, teenagers out of high school and retired military veterans came to Camp Blanding, the National Guard base near Jacksonville. Many were told they would volunteer for a revived State Guard with a non-military mission: help Floridians in times of need or disaster. Instead, the state’s National Guard trained…
“Democrat’s Defection Gives Georgia G.O.P. First Black Woman in State House”
WaPo: “A Democrat who represents part of Atlanta in Georgia’s House of Representatives defected to the Republican Party on Tuesday, saying she was subject to a campaign of intimidation by onetime political allies after breaking with them on school vouchers, policing and prosecutorial oversight. Mesha Mainor, a two-term representative from the 56th District in Fulton…
“Florida Navy vet mounts bid to defeat Rick Scott”
Politico: “Phil Ehr, a 26-year U.S. Navy veteran who mounted an unsuccessful bid to oust Rep. Matt Gaetz, officially entered the race for Senate against incumbent GOP Sen. Rick Scott on Monday. Ehr took direct aim at Scott in his statement — and in a two-minute-plus introduction video that also highlighted his military career and recent work in Ukraine —…
“Is TN a Democracy?”
The Atlantic: “To fully grasp this story, you need to understand that the standard forms of American political polarization don’t exist in Sumner, a rural but rapidly suburbanizing county where Democrats are not part of the equation at all. None has won any county office for more than two decades. Instead, the main opponents of…
Vacation
Yellow Dog will be on vacation until next week.
“Shooter who targeted Latinos in Texas Walmart gets 90 life sentence”
WaPo: “The self-described white nationalist who killed 23 people at a Texas Walmart in a 2019 attack targeting Latinos was given 90 consecutive life sentences by a federal judge Friday, after two days of emotional courtroom statements from victims and their families. Patrick Crusius, 24, was sentenced in an El Paso courthouse on federal hate-crime charges, to…
“A small-town Georgia preacher fills pews by leaving no one out”
WaPo: “At night, the worn sign looks like a beacon in the darkness out front of the modest, red-brick Mt. Hebron Baptist Church. The tired, it reads. The poor. And huddled masses. Welcome home. In this small town in the rural northeast corner of Georgia, it’s the kind of message that assures Teri Massey she…
“Texas Republicans divide over impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton”
WaPo: “The 20 articles of impeachment leveled against Paxton by a House investigating committee in May included allegations of bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust. It marked only the third time in Texas’s nearly 200-year history that a state official had been impeached. Paxton has castigated Republicans who voted to impeach him…