According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

The court scoffed at the latest attempt by the EPA to drag its heels on banning a dangerous pesticide. "EPA's nine-year delay in taking action was 'objectively extreme' when we received [the] petition...and nothing has changed that would justify EPA's continued failure to respond to the pressing health concerns presented by chlorpyrifos," the order states. The pesticide is widely used to control pests that threaten crops. It has poisoned many workers and rural families.   read more

Controversy surrounding secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood employees discussing fetal tissue sales has morphed into a California proposal that would punish media companies for reporting on certain undercover videos. But media groups say the bill, which is on the verge of clearing the Legislature, could have a "chilling effect" on free speech. A combination of media, civil rights groups and state Republicans are leading the fight against the proposal.   read more

Medical marijuana will be available for any condition that is severe in which other medical treatments have been ineffective. Patients with a chronic medical condition that causes severe appetite loss, chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures or severe muscle spasms can have access, as well as people with PTSD. Further, Maryland will allow not only physicians but nurse practitioners, dentists, podiatrists and nurse midwives to certify patients as eligible to receive marijuana.   read more

Peterson chastised lawmakers for targeting the state's large black community in Milwaukee with no valid purpose. The state demanded that Peterson stay his injunction to avert an unnecessary overhaul of state election procedures, but Peterson mostly denied the request Thursday. Saying Wisconsin is exaggerating the breadth of his order, Peterson noted that the "injunction requires modest, but meaningful, adjustments to a few election procedures and requirements."   read more

Federal and state reports warn that annual estimates almost certainly undercount fireworks-related injuries. People don't always seek treatment, and hospitals may not report every case. Fireworks, especially when misused, can cause devastating injuries. For instance, the CPSC reported in 2015 that a 22-year-old man from Maine and a 47-year-old man from Michigan died in separate incidents after placing launch tubes for mortar-style fireworks on their heads after lighting the devices.   read more

There are 15 states with new voting laws that have never before been used during a presidential election. These laws include restrictions like voter ID requirements and limits on early voting. Many are moving through the courts, which have already called a halt to two laws in the past month. “All the sides were pushing for opinions over the summer so that nobody would run into the concern that it was all of a sudden too late to shift what the state had been planning to do,” said Jennifer Clark.   read more

Planned Parenthood won an injunction Friday that prevents Ohio from withholding public funds used by the health care provider for educational programs. Judge Michael Barrett ruled that the Ohio code — which prevents the state Dept of Health from distributing funds to any entity that performs nontherapeutic abortions — will cause Planned Parenthood "irreparable injury." Programs include STD Prevention, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, and the Sexual Violence Prevention Program.   read more

The lawsuit says this "extraordinary abuse of government authority" starts with the over-policing of poor black communities, which causes excessive citations for...municipal violations." The plaintiffs say they were "locked in a cage" solely because they couldn't afford cash payment for minor violations. "And each was left to languish in filthy, often overcrowded jail cells because he or she could not afford to pay the jacked-up fines, penalties, and other charges that defendants assessed."   read more

Fuentes said Naruto "likely made the connection between manipulation of the camera as an item and the sound of the shutter and changing image in the lens as the shutter clicked." Although Naruto may not understand the concept of a photo, Fuentes said, the monkey intentionally engaged with the camera by observing human behavior and then using the device while making funny faces, clicking the shutter button and responding to camera noises.   read more

Serbini joined Brunei’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980 and his first overseas posting came two years later, when he was named second secretary in the High Commission in Singapore. He moved to the Bangkok embassy in 1984 as first secretary and returned to Brunei the following year as assistant director in the Protocol and Consular Affairs Department. He was promoted to deputy director the following year. In 1989, Serbini was made first secretary in Tokyo.   read more

The Justice Dept sued Mississippi for forcing mentally ill people into state-run psychiatric hospitals instead of providing community-based services. It found the state "unnecessarily and illegally" institutionalizes adults and children with disabilities, and fails to ensure that they have access to necessary services. "For far too long, Mississippi has failed people with mental illness, violating their civil rights by confining them in isolating institutions," said Attorney General Lynch.   read more

The sheriff's department whose deputy tossed a student across a classroom after she refused to give up her cellphone agreed with the Justice Dept to help end a "school-to-prison pipeline." Two classmates recorded videos showing Fields flipping the teen out of her chair and tossing her across the room, sparking national outrage. Niya Kenny, an 18-year-old, verbally challenged the officer, saying what he was doing was wrong. She was arrested as well and charged with "disturbing schools."   read more

Morgan's lawsuit said the Motor Vehicle Commission violated her First Amendment rights when its website rejected the 8THEIST vanity plate. She received a message stating her request "may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency." She then filled out the online application using the phrase BAPTIST, which the website accepted. She said she sent the agency a letter of complaint by registered mail and made several attempts to contact it by phone, all of which went unanswered.   read more

They "were repeatedly awakened from their sleep or disturbed from their daily activities by local, state or federal officials looking for a runaway child or a missing person, or evidence of a computer fraud, or call of an attempted suicide," the family said. Police got "reports about fraud, scams, stolen accounts, missing persons and stolen vehicles all related to the residence." After five years of this digitally inspired hell, reporter Kashmir Hill figured it out...   read more

It was at Williamsville High where he took a class in Afro-Asian cultures that he later credited as spurring an interest in that part of the world. Schwartz quickly got a look at Africa after college, joining the Peace Corps in 1981 as a volunteer in Cameroon. In 1985 he returned to the Peace Corps, this time as a staffer.He also helped establish the Peace Corps’ program in Chad in 1987. Schwartz joined the U.S. State Dept in 1992. His first posting was as a consular officer in Ethiopia.   read more

Some drug policy experts said the refusal to reschedule marijuana would hamper research. “They are placing researchers in a Catch 22, by saying ‘We are not lifting this research barrier because there’s not enough evidence.’ But then people say, ‘We can’t do research because of this barrier,'” said DPA's Michael Collins. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, “It shouldn’t take an act of Congress for the DEA to get past antiquated ideology and make this change.” Others were thrilled the DEA did not budge.   read more