BREAKING: N.C. Redistricting Case Heads to U.S. Supreme Court (Request to Delay Revamp Denied)

Source: WRAL-TV

BREAKING: Judges deny NC request to delay congressional map revamp

Judges deny NC request to delay congressional map revamp — A panel of three federal judges has denied North Carolina's request for an emergency stay of their order requiring state lawmakers to redraw U.S. House district maps and not to hold elections until the maps are approved. The judges ruled last week that two congressional districts were drawn based on the race of voters, which is unconstitutional.

N.C. redistricting case heads to U.S. Supreme Court

Posted 27 minutes ago
Updated 4 minutes ago

By Mark Binker and Tyler Dukes

RALEIGH, N.C. — A trio of federal judges on Tuesday refused to delay their order that North Carolina redraw its congressional districts map before holding elections for the state's 13 U.S. House members.

That rejection was quickly appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by state election officials.

The three-judge panel ruled last week that North Carolina lawmakers had unconstitutionally relied on race when drawing two districts: the 1st Congressional District, which is based in eastern North Carolina and currently held by Democratic Congressman G.K. Butterfield, and the 12th Congressional District, which stretches from Charlotte to Greensboro and Winston-Salem and is held by Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams.

Although that order finds only two districts unconstitutional, they touch so many other districts that the bulk of North Carolina's federal elections map will have to be redrawn.


Read more: http://www.wral.com/court-denies-stay-in-redistricting-case/15343601/#1

Federal Court Strikes Down Redrawn NC Congressional Maps

Source: WRAL-TV

Federal court strikes down redrawn NC congressional maps

Posted: 27 minutes ago
Updated: 27 minutes ago

RALEIGH, N.C. — Three federal judges on Friday threw out the congressional voting maps the Republican-led General Assembly drew five years ago, ruling that two districts were gerrymandered along racial lines.

The ruling throws the March 15 primary into chaos, as the judges ordered state lawmakers to redraw the maps within two weeks and not to hold any elections for U.S. House until the maps are in place. A special session of the legislature would have to be called to approve new maps, and they might have to pass federal muster again.

Mail-in absentee voting started last week, and more than 8,000 ballots have already been requested, according to the State Board of Elections. It was unclear late Friday how many ballots have already been filled out and sent back in.

The three-judge panel ruled that the 1st Congressional District, which spreads like an octopus across northeast North Carolina and has a tentacle that dips into Durham County, and the 12th Congressional District, which snakes along Interstate 85 between Greensboro and Charlotte, were drawn specifically so that the majority of voters in each were black.


Read more: http://www.wral.com/federal-court-strikes-down-nc-congressional-district-maps/15325900/

Maurice White, Founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, Dies

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Maurice White, founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, has died at age 74.

Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White dead at 74
FEB. 4, 2016 5:36 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Maurice White, the founder and leader of Earth, Wind & Fire, has died.

White died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, said his brother, Verdine White. He was 74.

A former session drummer, White founded Earth, Wind & Fire in the late 1960s. The group went on to sell more than 90 million albums worldwide, displaying a flashy and eclectic musical style that incorporated his influences from growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, and workinEarg at the influential Chicago music labels Chess and Okeh.

The band's many hits included "September," ''Shining Star," a cover of the Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life" and "Boogie Wonderland." Earth, Wind & Fire won six Grammys and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0c54b3a1758644eb8e30e8df12553595/earth-wind-fire-founder-maurice-white-dead-74

Michigan Emails Show Officials Knew of Flint Water Disease Risk

Source: Reuters

Michigan emails show officials knew of Flint water disease risk

Thu Feb 4, 2016 | 3:27 PM EST

(Reuters) - Emails between Michigan state officials show they knew about an uptick in Legionnaires disease and that it could be linked to problems with Flint water many months before Governor Rick Snyder said he received information of the outbreak.

Snyder said in January that he had just learned about the rise in Legionnaires cases. However, emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan and released to reporters on Thursday show Snyder's principal adviser, Harvey Hollins, was made aware of the outbreak and a possible link to the use of Flint River water last March.

Flint, a city near Detroit, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit's system to the Flint River in April.

The city switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did. Lead is a toxic agent that can damage the nervous system.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VD2Q3

Republican Rand Paul Suspends 2016 White House Campaign

Source: Reuters

Feb 3, 2016 | 9:35 AM EST
Republican Rand Paul suspends 2016 White House campaign

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul waits to be introduced at a campaign stop at the National Sprint Car Hall of
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Rand Paul suspended his 2016 presidential bid on Wednesday after his small-government campaign failed to gain traction with voters.

The U.S. senator from Kentucky was the second Republican candidate, behind former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, to drop out of the race since Monday's night's Iowa caucuses. That contest launched the parties' process to nominate candidates for the November election.

"It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty," Paul said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VC1ND

Carly Fiorina...

Bernie Sanders: "The people of Iowa have sent a profound message to the political establishment"

Sanders: "While results still not known, it looks like we will have about half of Iowa delegates"

93%: Back to .2% Difference

49.8% Clinton 49.6% Sanders Now - .2% Difference