Liberal Justice to Retire From Wisconsin Supreme Court, Leaving Control Uncertain

[ad_1] Justice Ann Walsh Bradley of the Wisconsin Supreme Court said on Thursday that she would not seek a fourth term next year, setting up another heated contest for majority control of the closely divided court. Justice Walsh Bradley is one of the four liberals on Wisconsin’s highest court; the three remaining justices are conservative. Justice Walsh Bradley, 73, has served on the court since 1995. In a statement, she cited her long tenure on the court — 29 years — and her desire to continue a commitment to public…

Missouri Governor Denies Clemency for Death Row Inmate Who Got Support From Guards

[ad_1] Mike Parson, the governor of Missouri, said on Monday that he would not commute the death sentence of Brian Dorsey, who pleaded guilty to murdering Ben and Sarah Bonnie in 2006 and is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday unless the courts intervene. “The pain Dorsey brought to others can never be rectified, but carrying out Dorsey’s sentence according to Missouri law and the court’s order will deliver justice and provide closure,” said Mr. Parson, a Republican who previously served as a sheriff. Mr. Dorsey’s clemency request was unusual…

Gazing Skyward, and Awaiting a Moment of Awe

[ad_1] Follow our live updates on the total solar eclipse. The moment she saw the sun, something inside Julie McKelvey changed. She was hanging from a rope on the side of Mt. Everest, four hours from the summit. The night was frozen, the slope some 60 degrees steep, the oxygen thin as she ascended to the highest point on earth. In the dark, she felt the fear and power of the mountain. She focused on exactly where to put her foot, her hand, alongside her fellow climbers. Then, peripherally to…

Insurers Reap Hidden Fees by Slashing Payments. You May Get the Bill.

[ad_1] Patti Sietz-Honig, a video editor at Fox 5 in New York, filed a complaint in 2022. The cost of seeing a specialist for chronic back pain had spiked, and she faced roughly $60,000 in bills. Ms. Sietz-Honig pressed for updates about her complaint and sent articles critical of MultiPlan from Capitol Forum, a site focused on antitrust and regulatory news. Last March, the agency emailed her that her employer and her insurer, Aetna, had agreed to a “temporary exception” and made additional payments. “Unfortunately,” the agency wrote, the law…

In Threatening Israel, Biden Hopes to Avoid a Rupture

[ad_1] By the time President Biden hung up the phone, he had finally delivered the threat he had refused to make for months: Israel had to change course, he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or the United States would. But as the conversation ended on Thursday, aides to Mr. Biden said, the president had reason to hope that the message had gotten through and that he would not have to carry out his threat after all. During the call, Mr. Biden outlined several specific commitments he wanted Israel to make…

Baltimore Implements Emergency Shipping Route to Navigate Key Bridge Wreckage

Baltimore open a temporary channel to restore traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. The new channel allows some vessels to bypass wreckage, but efforts to clear heavier debris for larger vessels continue. [ad_1] Officials in Baltimore opened a temporary channel on Monday to help restore some traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore, one of the nation’s busiest commercial shipping hubs. The alternate channel will allow some essential vessels to bypass wreckage from the collapsed Francis Scott Key…

Desperate Rescue Mission Shifts to Grim Search for 6 Workers’ Bodies on the Bridge

Rescue Mission Descends into Tragedy: Cargo Ship Collides with Bridge, Leaving Six Workers Presumed Dead. [ad_1] As a spring tide rushed out of Baltimore harbor just after midnight on Tuesday, the hulking outlines of a cargo ship nearly three football fields long and stacked high with thousands of containers sliced through frigid waters toward the Francis Scott Key Baltimore harbor Bridge. The vessel, the Dali, was a half-hour into its 27-day journey from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Then the lights on the Dali went dark. The crew urgently reported…

The Far Right Lost Badly and Wants Its Revenge

[ad_1] As 2023 opened with Republicans newly in control of the House, the far-right members of the party considered themselves empowered when it came to federal spending, with increased muscle to achieve the budget cuts of their dreams. But it turned out that many of their Republican colleagues did not share their vision of stark fiscal restraint. Or at least not fervently enough to go up against a Democratic Senate and White House to try to bring it into fruition. Instead, Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday pushed through a $1.2…

House Passes Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown, Prompting G.O.P. Revolt

[ad_1] The House on Friday passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September and avert a partial shutdown at the end of the week, setting off a G.O.P. revolt that threatened Speaker Mike Johnson’s hold on his job. In a 286-to-134 vote that came down to the wire as leaders scrounged for the two-thirds majority needed for passage, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans. Infuriated by the painstakingly negotiated bipartisan legislation to keep funding flowing for…