WaPo: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R)’s impeachment trial in the state Senate got underway Tuesday morning in Austin. The trial, which comes after the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton, mirrors national Republican infighting, with traditional conservatives pitted against allies of former president Donald Trump. Paxton, 60, has been suspended without pay since May, when Texas…
“Alabama congressional map struck down again for diluting Black voting power”
WaPo: “A panel of three federal judges rejected Alabama’s latest version of its congressional map Tuesday, saying the state’s Republican-led legislature did not follow a court order backed by the U.S. Supreme Court to comply with the Voting Rights Act when it last redrew districts in July. The ruling — which Alabama is planning to…
“Crowdfunding saves Florida abortion clinic with $193,000 in fines”
WaPo: “An Orlando abortion clinic facing $193,000 in state fines has raised more than $200,000 in a crowdfunding effort that will keep one of the city’s last clinics open. Florida health regulators announced last month that the Center of Orlando for Women repeatedly violated a law that requires women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion…
“Mitch McConnell May Be Experiencing Small Seizures, Doctors Suggest”
NY Times: “But seven neurologists, relying on what they described as unusually revealing video of Mr. McConnell freezing up in public twice recently, said in interviews Thursday and Friday that the episodes captured in real time likely pointed to more serious medical problems afflicting the longtime Republican leader. Some of the neurologists, while cautioning that…
Progress for Democrats as One Judge Rejects FL Redistricting Map and Another Rules Blacks Underrepresented in GA Maps
Political Wire: “A judge in Florida ruled in favor of civil rights groups on Saturday, throwing out a congressional district map that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had backed and deeming it unconstitutional,” The Messenger reports. “The ruling, which is likely to be appealed, delivered another redistricting win for Democrats in the Southeast after a series of cases…
President Tells DNC to Send Money to VA to Protect Gains for Democrats in Recent Years
Political Wire: “President Biden directed the Democratic National Committee this week to pour $1.2 million into Virginia legislative races to counter record-smashing fundraising by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), whose prospects as a potential last-minute presidential candidate could rise or fall with the outcome on Nov. 7,” the Washington Post reports. “The money will bring the DNC’s contributions…
“Why the first auction for offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico was a bust”
Semafor: “The U.S. held its first auction for leases to build offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico, and all it heard was crickets. The Interior Department pitched three new lease areas on Tuesday, two off the Texas coast and one off Louisiana, following a dozen increasingly competitive offshore wind auctions last year. Despite…
“Giuliani Is Liable for Defaming Georgia Election Workers, Judge Says”
NY Times: “A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Rudolph W. Giuliani was liable for defaming two Georgia election workers by repeatedly declaring that they had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election. The ruling by the judge, Beryl A. Howell in Federal District Court in Washington, means that the defamation…
“Three killed in racially motivated shooting at Florida store, sheriff says”
WaPo: “A White man armed with a high-powered rifle covered in swastikas killed three Black people after opening fire Saturday at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla., before fatally shooting himself, local law enforcement said, describing the attack as racially motivated. “He targeted a certain group of people, and that’s Black people,” Jacksonville Sheriff…
“Joe Biden: We must keep marching toward Dr. King’s dream”
WaPo: “Sixty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and hundreds of thousands of fellow Americans marched on Washington for jobs and freedom. In describing his dream for us all, Dr. King spoke of redeeming the “promissory note to which every American was to fall heir” derived from the very idea of America — we…