In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: War on agency; Christian Supremacy] Over at ProPublica, Nina Martin has a terrific round-up of pieces on the Hobby Lobby case before the Supreme Court.

[CN: Disaster; death] More bodies have been recovered from the aftermath of the Washington landslide. Absolutely devastating. There was some good news, though, as an infant and a four-year-old boy were rescued alive. To give some idea of the conditions with which rescuers are contending: "The boy was so firmly embedded in the slide that crews literally had to pull him out of his pants."

And one very lucky family found their dog alive. Yay! [Note: Video may begin to play automatically at link.]

If you have been trying to enroll in health plans through the federal insurance marketplace, but aren't able to finalize enrollment by the March 31 deadline: "Federal officials confirmed Tuesday evening that all consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension."

[CN: Transphobia; police malfeasance] The ACLU has filed an amicus brief "as part of our ongoing efforts to end the abuse that transgender people experience in the custody of police departments and corrections agencies. The Court should follow clear law that officials cannot meet their constitutional obligations by placing vulnerable individuals in an obvious path to harm."

Good grief: "Two CNN producers were arrested Tuesday while allegedly trying to break into the World Trade Center site to report on recent security breaches."

[CN: Gender policing] A Christian school in Virginia has refused to enroll a little girl because she doesn't conform to a traditional presentation of femininity. Just like Jesus would do!

Swell: "A BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana leaked an unknown amount of oil into Lake Michigan Monday afternoon, an incident that occurred less than two weeks after the U.S. lifted BP’s ban on seeking new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico. BP says the spill, which has since been stopped and contained, was caused by a 'disruption in the refining process' at its Whiting refinery in northwest Indiana." Oh, okay then. "Lake Michigan acts as the drinking water source for 7 million people in the Chigago area alone, but EPA officials said on the call that the drinking water wouldn't be affected by the spill." For some reason, I don't feel reassured.

A shelter in West Virginia celebrated its six-month anniversary of not euthanizing any animals for space considerations by tearing down its incinerator. Love.