TOP STORIES: Redistricting pause, Spanberger to respond to SOTU, former Prince Andrew update
A Virginia judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Democrats from preparing for an April voter referendum to redraw the state’s congressional maps.
The Tazewell Circuit Court in Virginia granted a temporary restraining order requested by the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee over the ballot referendum’s timing and phrasing, arguing that Democrats were ramming redistricting-related bills through the legislature despite legal hurdles that prevent such a rushed process.
It’s the second time Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. has ruled against Democrats’ redistricting agenda. In January, Hurley ruled that a resolution for a constitutional amendment was illegally passed in a special legislative session and taken up too close to an intervening election. That case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, and justices had said they would allow the referendum to proceed while they review the appeal.
The temporary restraining order hands the Democratic party another setback in its efforts to pick up four more U.S. House seats in the national redistricting battle. Earlier this week, Democratic lawmakers changed the proposed Congressional map to make the second congressional district, which includes Virginia Beach, more blue.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to President Trump's State of the Union address next week, the party announced on Thursday.
Spanberger, who assumed office in January, said the address would speak to community priorities. Preparations for the State of the Union and the Democratic response come as the federal government remains partially shut down, with hundreds of thousands of federal employees working without pay as lawmakers remain at a stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
“We are at a defining moment in our nation’s history. Virginians and Americans across the country are contending with rising costs, chaos in their communities, and a real fear of what each day might bring. Next week, I look forward to laying out what these Americans expect and deserve — leaders who are working hard to deliver for them," Spanberger said in a release announcing her role.
About 61,000 Transportation Security Administration employees clocked into work this week not knowing when they'll get paid due to the shutdown. They're one of several agencies affected, which include FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service and parts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Virginia has one of the highest proportions of federal workers of all the states.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former British prince who was stripped of his royal titles because of his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was released from custody Thursday.
Former Prince Andrew arrested in misconduct probe linked to EpsteinMountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Police are investigating claims he sent confidential trade reports to Epstein in 2010. The unprecedented arrest of a monarch’s brother puts new pressure on King Charles III, who says the law must take its course.
Thames Valley Police previously said it was “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent confidential trade reports to Epstein in 2010, when the former prince was Britain’s special envoy for international trade. Those reports stemmed from correspondence between the two men that was among the millions of pages of documents from the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein that were released last month.
The Thames Valley Police force said Mountbatten-Windsor was released Thursday evening, about 11 hours after he was detained at his home in eastern England. He was photographed in a car leaving the station near his home on the royal Sandringham Estate.
This morning's weather: Warming to near 70 today, Tracking a soggy Sunday
Meteorologist Myles Henderson says another gloomy and foggy morning. We will see mostly cloudy skies with scattered showers this morning to midday. Clouds will start to clear out this afternoon with temperatures warming to the upper 60s.
For the latest weather updates, watch Myles live on News 3 This Morning here.
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