Paramount: “Described by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity,” the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., took the lives of four girls and forever changed the course of history. Within a few hours of the vicious attack, there were…

Political Wire: “Virginia Democrats have spent the 2024 legislative session blocking most bills that would limit abortion access in the state, but one effort was allowed to advance to the full House floor Monday and political intrigue followed,” Virginia Public Radio reports. “Delegate Tim Griffin (R) brought the bill which would block state funds from being spent…

NY Times: “Two of the largest Black church groups in Georgia are formally uniting for the first time to mobilize Black voters in the battleground state ahead of the November presidential election. The two congregations, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, plan to combine their resources and their more than…

WaPo: “When the managers of a small bookstore in this Appalachian mountain town received a call from a distributor wondering if they could take in 22,000 books rejected by a Florida school district, it felt like a colossal ask. Firestorm Books usually stocks fewer than 8,000 books — titles that range from historical fiction to…

Political Wire: ““A lawyer for the chief witness against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said on Friday that the witness was cooperating with a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether Mr. Gaetz had sex with an underage girl while he was serving in Congress,” the New York Times reports.”

NY Times: “He vanished in 1980, the year before the disappearance of 6-year-old Adam Walsh in Florida would change the way America looked at missing children. Adam’s father, John Walsh, became a household name and a beacon for parents like Mrs. Cotton, who felt alone and ignored by the authorities. … From the morning his parents reported…

Politico: “Florida’s Supreme Court justices on Wednesday were critical of state officials’ challenge to a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion protections in the state Constitution. Florida GOP Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the state Supreme Court to intervene to block the proposed amendment, arguing that the language of the initiative is too complicated for…

Politico: “Florida Democrats don’t know why Taylor Swift is naming an upcoming song on her new album “Florida!!!” or the reason she chose to hold three concerts in Miami less than a month before the November elections. But their excitement around the news is less about “why?” and more about leveraging Swift’s celebrity status to…

AP: “Authorities issued cease-and-desist orders Tuesday against two Texas companies they believe were connected to robocalls that used artificial intelligence to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice and discourage people from voting in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary last month. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said investigators have identified the source of the calls as Life Corporation and said they…

NY Times: “Each time Jackson faced a water crisis, local and state leaders cast blame in familiar directions. Lawmakers criticized city officials for ignoring leaky pipes and failing to collect payments from customers. City officials pointed to Jackson’s shrinking population and decades of economic decline. And they said state officials, mostly white and Republican, had…