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Courts reject voting stipulations in three states, Clinton campaign denies its computer system was hacked, and more 1. [Courts reject voting stipulations in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Kansas] Courts in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Kansas issued rulings Friday against Republican-backed rules for voting procedure. A federal appeals court struck down North Carolina's photo identification law, holding in a unanimous decision that it was "passed with racially discriminatory intent." The decision also rejected other restrictions like a ban on same-day registration. In Wisconsin, a federal judge left a photo ID requirement intact but much modified while rejecting a host of other voting limitations. And in Kansas, a county judge ruled the state could not ignore the votes of those who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship while registering, a decision that will affect up to 50,000 votes in November. Source: [Associated Press], [Politico] 2. [Clinton campaign denies its computer system was hacked] Hillary Clinton's campaign denied its computers were among the Democratic tech systems reported hacked on Friday. Campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said Friday night "an analytics data program maintained by the DNC and used by our campaign and a number of other entities was accessed as part of the DNC hack," but insisted experts "have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee cannot say the same. The DCCC acknowledged evidence of hacking Friday, a breach which follows last month's revelation that the Democratic National Committee had been hacked and last week's subsequent leak of thousands of internal DNC emails. Source: [The Washington Post], [Reuters] 3. [Trump's convention polling bump evaporates] Republican Donald Trump took a six-point national lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton in at least [two] [polls] immediately following his nomination at his party's convention in Cleveland. That polling bump has since evaporated, as a new Reuters survey finds Clinton is now six points ahead after her own convention. Meanwhile, a Real Clear Politics average of multiple recent polls puts Trump and Clinton in a dead heat — each claiming 44.3 percent national support — as of Friday. It likewise records the disappearance of Trump's brief lead, which marked only the second time he has ever pulled into first place per that calculation. Source: [The Hill], [Real Clear Politics] 4. [The Koch Brothers still refuse to back Trump post-nomination] Representatives of billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch continue to turn down meeting requests from major fundraisers of the Donald Trump campaign, even after Trump formally claimed the Republican nomination for president. A pro-Trump cadre reportedly lobbied for a conversation Friday in Colorado Springs, but the Kochs firmly declined. The brothers have been consistently critical of Trump's candidacy, with Charles in April calling Trump's Muslim registry proposal "reminiscent of Nazi Germany," "monstrous," and "frightening." He has [described] choosing between Trump and Hillary Clinton as picking "cancer or a heart attack" and labeled Trump's principles "antithetical" to his own. Source: [Politico], [The Guardian] 5. [Zika virus was transmitted by local mosquitoes for first time in U.S.] Four cases of Zika virus infection in Florida have been confirmed to have been transmitted by local mosquitoes, a first in the continental United States since the global outbreak began last year. None of the four patients affected had traveled to a region outside of the U.S. where the virus is known to be present, nor had any of them had sexual contract with someone who had traveled to such a region, which confirmed the disease came from bites from local mosquitoes. The patients live in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but Florida Gov. Rick Scott said that to date, no mosquitoes in the state have yet tested positive for the virus. Source: [CNN], [Associated Press] 6. [Former Fox employee details 20 years of alleged harassment by Roger Ailes] In a story by New York's Gabriel Sherman published Friday, former Fox News employee Laurie Luhn detailed alleged harassment by former network chief Roger Ailes over a span of more than two decades. The explosive account chronicles Luhn's experience beginning in the summer of 1988 and running through 2011, when she signed a settlement with Fox that included "extensive nondisclosure provisions," Sherman writes. Luhn told Sherman Ailes demanded regular hotel-room meet-ups, where Luhn would perform oral sex and dance suggestively in routines Ailes would capture on camera. She also said several Fox employees deduced she was sexually involved with Ailes, especially as she began moving up in the company. Ailes has denied all allegations against him, and last week resigned from the network. Source: [New York], [The Week] 7. [California's Soberanes Wildfire has spread to cover 50 square miles] Nearly 4,300 firefighters on central California's Big Sur coast continue to battle the Soberanes Wildfire, a raging blaze that has spread to cover about 50 square miles (or 32,000 acres). The fire began last Friday and is mostly located in the drought-ridden Los Padres National Forest, but it has destroyed 57 homes and caused multiple parks to close. As of Saturday, the fire is just 15 percent contained as "high temperatures [and] rugged, steep terrain" make firefighters' work difficult. Meanwhile, another wildfire near Los Angeles, the Sand Fire, is 85 percent contained after burning nearly 60 square miles (39,000 acres). Source: [Reuters], [KSBW] 8. [The Army released disturbing new details on the Dallas gunman's history] The U.S. Army released documents late Friday evening describing disturbing behavior from Micah Xavier Johnson, the lone gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas at an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter rally, while he was enlisted several years ago. Johnson, who was killed by police during his attack, was caught hiding a grenade in his sleeping bag in Afghanistan. He was also found in possession of panties stolen from a female colleague and prescription drugs pilfered from a fellow soldier. Johnson was eventually discharged, and the redacted report does not explain why that release was honorable given this pattern of behavior. Source: [The Washington Post] 9. [The Obama presidential library will be built in Chicago's Jackson Park] The Obama Foundation announced Friday that the library memorializing President Obama's time in office will be placed in Chicago's Jackson Park. "The center will be located in the heart of the South Side," the organization said in a statement, "which has been the home to the First Family for many years." Obama Foundation Chairman Marty Nesbitt applauded the decision, noting that this will be the first time "a presidential center will be in the heart of an urban community." Source: [Politico] 10. [Illinois decriminalizes low-level marijuana possession] Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed a bill Friday to decriminalize the possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less, making it a civil offense punishable with a fine of up to $200 instead of jail time. This makes Illinois the 17th state to enact some form of marijuana decriminalization. The capital city of Chicago previously decriminalized low-level pot possession in 2012, leading marijuana-related arrests to drop by 21 percent over the next two years. However, decriminalization there failed to reduce massive racial disparities in marijuana arrests: Arrest rates in some predominantly black neighborhoods are as much as 150 times higher than those in mainly white areas despite marijuana use at similar rates across racial lines. Source: [ABC 7 Chicago], [Chicago Sun Times] MOST POPULAR [How we learned to love certain kinds of music] Hallie Golden [Simone Biles' gymnastics revolution] Dvora Meyers [The 2016 presidential election: Aspiration versus anxiety] Michael Brendan Dougherty [The most important Batman movie ever] Greg Cwik [66 TV shows to watch in 2016] Scott Meslow CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG Lauren Hansen [The week's best photojournalism] [Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.] [Unsubscribe from this list] | [Update subscription preferences] | [Privacy Policy © 2015 THE WEEK PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WEEK ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OWNED BY FELIX DENNIS.] Get 4 Risk-Free [issues of The Week] [TRY IT OUT] [Subscribe] [Subscriber login] [Give a gift] [Back issues] [Classroom subscriptions] [Newsletters] [Privacy policy] [Terms & conditions] [The Week UK] [Contact Us] [Ad info] [RSS] 1.[Courts reject voting stipulations in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Kansas] Courts in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Kansas issued rulings Friday against Republican-backed rules for voting procedure. A federal appeals court struck down North Carolina's photo identification law, holding in a unanimous decision that it was "passed with racially discriminatory intent." The decision also rejected other restrictions like a ban on same-day registration. In Wisconsin, a federal judge left a photo ID requirement intact but much modified while rejecting a host of other voting limitations. And in Kansas, a county judge ruled the state could not ignore the votes of those who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship while registering, a decision that will affect up to 50,000 votes in November. Source: [Associated Press], [Politico] 2.[Clinton campaign denies its computer system was hacked] Hillary Clinton's campaign denied its computers were among the Democratic tech systems reported hacked on Friday. Campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said Friday night "an analytics data program maintained by the DNC and used by our campaign and a number of other entities was accessed as part of the DNC hack," but insisted experts "have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee cannot say the same. The DCCC acknowledged evidence of hacking Friday, a breach which follows last month's revelation that the Democratic National Committee had been hacked and last week's subsequent leak of thousands of internal DNC emails. Source: [The Washington Post], [Reuters] 3.[Trump's convention polling bump evaporates] Republican Donald Trump took a six-point national lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton in at least [two] [polls] immediately following his nomination at his party's convention in Cleveland. That polling bump has since evaporated, as a new Reuters survey finds Clinton is now six points ahead after her own convention. Meanwhile, a Real Clear Politics average of multiple recent polls puts Trump and Clinton in a dead heat — each claiming 44.3 percent national support — as of Friday. It likewise records the disappearance of Trump's brief lead, which marked only the second time he has ever pulled into first place per that calculation. Source: [The Hill], [Real Clear Politics] 4.[The Koch Brothers still refuse to back Trump post-nomination] Representatives of billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch continue to turn down meeting requests from major fundraisers of the Donald Trump campaign, even after Trump formally claimed the Republican nomination for president. A pro-Trump cadre reportedly lobbied for a conversation Friday in Colorado Springs, but the Kochs firmly declined. The brothers have been consistently critical of Trump's candidacy, with Charles in April calling Trump's Muslim registry proposal "reminiscent of Nazi Germany," "monstrous," and "frightening." He has [described] choosing between Trump and Hillary Clinton as picking "cancer or a heart attack" and labeled Trump's principles "antithetical" to his own. Source: [Politico], [The Guardian] 5.[Zika virus was transmitted by local mosquitoes for first time in U.S.] Four cases of Zika virus infection in Florida have been confirmed to have been transmitted by local mosquitoes, a first in the continental United States since the global outbreak began last year. None of the four patients affected had traveled to a region outside of the U.S. where the virus is known to be present, nor had any of them had sexual contract with someone who had traveled to such a region, which confirmed the disease came from bites from local mosquitoes. The patients live in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but Florida Gov. Rick Scott said that to date, no mosquitoes in the state have yet tested positive for the virus. Source: [CNN], [Associated Press] 6.[Former Fox employee details 20 years of alleged harassment by Roger Ailes] In a story by New York's Gabriel Sherman published Friday, former Fox News employee Laurie Luhn detailed alleged harassment by former network chief Roger Ailes over a span of more than two decades. The explosive account chronicles Luhn's experience beginning in the summer of 1988 and running through 2011, when she signed a settlement with Fox that included "extensive nondisclosure provisions," Sherman writes. Luhn told Sherman Ailes demanded regular hotel-room meet-ups, where Luhn would perform oral sex and dance suggestively in routines Ailes would capture on camera. She also said several Fox employees deduced she was sexually involved with Ailes, especially as she began moving up in the company. Ailes has denied all allegations against him, and last week resigned from the network. Source: [New York], [The Week] 7.[California's Soberanes Wildfire has spread to cover 50 square miles] Nearly 4,300 firefighters on central California's Big Sur coast continue to battle the Soberanes Wildfire, a raging blaze that has spread to cover about 50 square miles (or 32,000 acres). The fire began last Friday and is mostly located in the drought-ridden Los Padres National Forest, but it has destroyed 57 homes and caused multiple parks to close. As of Saturday, the fire is just 15 percent contained as "high temperatures [and] rugged, steep terrain" make firefighters' work difficult. Meanwhile, another wildfire near Los Angeles, the Sand Fire, is 85 percent contained after burning nearly 60 square miles (39,000 acres). Source: [Reuters], [KSBW] 8.[The Army released disturbing new details on the Dallas gunman's history] The U.S. Army released documents late Friday evening describing disturbing behavior from Micah Xavier Johnson, the lone gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas at an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter rally, while he was enlisted several years ago. Johnson, who was killed by police during his attack, was caught hiding a grenade in his sleeping bag in Afghanistan. He was also found in possession of panties stolen from a female colleague and prescription drugs pilfered from a fellow soldier. Johnson was eventually discharged, and the redacted report does not explain why that release was honorable given this pattern of behavior. Source: [The Washington Post] 9.[The Obama presidential library will be built in Chicago's Jackson Park] The Obama Foundation announced Friday that the library memorializing President Obama's time in office will be placed in Chicago's Jackson Park. "The center will be located in the heart of the South Side," the organization said in a statement, "which has been the home to the First Family for many years." Obama Foundation Chairman Marty Nesbitt applauded the decision, noting that this will be the first time "a presidential center will be in the heart of an urban community." Source: [Politico] 10.[Illinois decriminalizes low-level marijuana possession] Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed a bill Friday to decriminalize the possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less, making it a civil offense punishable with a fine of up to $200 instead of jail time. This makes Illinois the 17th state to enact some form of marijuana decriminalization. The capital city of Chicago previously decriminalized low-level pot possession in 2012, leading marijuana-related arrests to drop by 21 percent over the next two years. However, decriminalization there failed to reduce massive racial disparities in marijuana arrests: Arrest rates in some predominantly black neighborhoods are as much as 150 times higher than those in mainly white areas despite marijuana use at similar rates across racial lines. Source: [ABC 7 Chicago], [Chicago Sun Times] MOST POPULAR [How we learned to love certain kinds of music] Hallie Golden [Simone Biles' gymnastics revolution] Dvora Meyers [The 2016 presidential election: Aspiration versus anxiety] Michael Brendan Dougherty [The most important Batman movie ever] Greg Cwik [66 TV shows to watch in 2016] Scott Meslow CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG Lauren Hansen [The week's best photojournalism] [Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.] [Unsubscribe from this list] | [Update subscription preferences] | [Privacy Policy] © 2015 THE WEEK PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WEEK ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OWNED BY FELIX DENNIS. 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