NC Judges Probe Partisan Bias in Gerrymander Trial
The first day of a trial on partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina kicked off Monday, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal in June to wade into the dispute.
By ERIKA WILLIAMS
GOP, Trump Break Record With $108M Campaign Haul
President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee combined to raise $108 million in the last three months, his primary campaign committee said Monday.
By TIM RYAN
Ag Runoff a New Suspect in Coral Bleaching Epidemic
Coral reefs are dying at epidemic levels around the globe. Climate change may not be the only culprit.
By MATTHEW RENDA
Judge Slashes Punitive Damages by $50M in Roundup Cancer Case
Agrochemical company Monsanto “deserves to be punished” for misleading the public about the safety of its popular Roundup weed killer, a federal judge said in a ruling Monday, but drastically cut punitive damages awarded to a San Francisco Bay Area man with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
By MARIA DINZEO
Trump Doubles Down on Twitter Tirade Against Democratic Congresswomen
President Donald Trump on Monday continued his racist Twitter attacks against four Democratic congresswomen he told to go back to where they came from, despite the fact that three were born in the U.S., calling on them to apologize for “the terrible things they have said.”
By JACK RODGERS
Biden All in on Obamacare for 2020 Campaign
Standing apart from fellow Democratic contenders backing “Medicare for All,” former Vice President Joe Biden pledged Monday to defend the health care law known as Obamacare at all costs if elected.
By ALEXANDRA JONES
Poll Finds Most Americans Don't Want DC Statehood
Though the idea is gaining momentum within the Democratic Party, a new poll released Monday shows a majority of Americans are not in favor of making Washington, D.C., the nation’s 51st state.
By TIM RYAN
Years After Last Nuclear Weapons Tests, Marshall Islands Still Contaminated
Radioactivity from nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands over a half a century ago continues to significantly contaminate the environment, according to a series of studies released Monday.
By CARSON MCCULLOUGH
Phony Epstein Passport, Plus Art and Diamonds, Unearthed
Pushing to keep Jeffrey Epstein behind bars, U.S. prosecutors said Monday that investigators have uncovered a foreign passport with the wealthy sex offender’s picture and an assumed name.
By ADAM KLASFELD
Kellyanne Conway Skips House Hearing on Ethics Violations
Defying a congressional subpoena, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway refused for the second time Monday to attend a House Oversight Committee hearing on her violations of a federal law limiting the political activities of federal employees in the executive branch.
By MEGAN MINEIRO
Retrial of Rapper Meek Mill Kicks Off Tuesday Before New Judge
Over a year after his incarceration sparked a national outcry for criminal-justice reform complete with its own hashtag, rapper Meek Mill returns to court Tuesday for his long-awaited retrial.
By GINA CARRANO
Columns
Story Assignment
OK, all you outstanding women journalists out there, I need one of you to step up. There’s an important story that needs to be covered and only you can tell it.
By MILT POLICZER
Airy Gel Could Help Sustain Future Life on Mars
Silica aerogels have been used to keep NASA exploration rovers warm at night, and a study released Monday shows it could be the solution to sustaining life in the most uninhabitable of places – Mars.
By MADELINE REYES
Scientists Say Politics Needed to Eliminate Measles
Meaningful political support, increased immunization accessibility and strong public health systems are fundamental to eliminating measles on a global scale, according to a new scientific commentary released Monday.
By CARSON MCCULLOUGH
Read the Nightly Brief
Iconic Yosemite Names Restored After Deal in Trademark Dispute
The historic names of Yosemite landmarks that were changed during an ugly trademark dispute will return to the iconic national park, the federal government announced Monday.
By NICK CAHILL
Oklahoma Wraps Opioid Trial by Calling Drugmaker 'Kingpin'
Oklahoma accused Johnson & Johnson of “blaming everyone except themselves” during closing arguments Monday in the state’s $17.5 billion bellwether opioid crisis trial, saying the drugmaker used a “cunning, cynical and deceitful scheme” to push the addictive painkillers on the public.
By DAVID LEE
Former Flynn Partner on Trial Over Illegal Lobbying Charges
Though special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into foreign influence in the 2016 election has officially wrapped up, trial began Monday for a former business partner of convicted ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn accused of acting as an illegal agent of the Turkish government.
By BRANDI BUCHMAN
Coroner Says Black Activist Was Murdered by Suffocation
Ruling the incident a homicide, a Louisiana coroner said Monday that a black civil rights activist whose body was found in the trunk of her car last week was suffocated to death.
By DANIEL JACKSON
Trump Administration Abortion 'Gag' Rule Effective Immediately
Taxpayer-funded family planning clinics must stop referring women to abortion providers immediately, the Trump administration said Monday, declaring it will begin enforcing a new regulation hailed by religious conservatives and denounced by medical organizations and women’s rights groups.
Appeals Court Finds Seattle Income Tax Unconstitutional
Seattle’s income tax on wealthy residents is unconstitutional, the Washington Court of Appeals held, but left the door open for the city to impose property taxes based on income if they are uniform across tax brackets.
By NICK MCCANN
Warren and Harris Gaining on Biden in New Hampshire 2020 Poll
Former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a narrow lead in New Hampshire, over Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, according to a new poll released Monday.
AG and Commerce Secretary Face Contempt Vote in Congress
A congressional committee Monday cleared the way for the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas relating to a census citizenship question.
By JACK RODGERS
Environmentalists Sue to Block Fracking Near Petrified Forest
Three environmental groups sued the Bureau of Land Management Monday to prevent fracking for natural gas and oil in more than 4,000 acres of public land near a national forest in Arizona and the state’s most important aquifer.
By BRAD POOLE
UK Counter-Terror Police Probe Leak of Ambassador's Cables
British police opened a criminal investigation on Friday into the leaking of confidential diplomatic memos that cost the U.K. ambassador in Washington his job.
China's Economic Growth Slows Amid Tariff War
China’s economic growth sank to its lowest level in at least 26 years in the quarter ending in June, adding to pressure on Chinese leaders as they fight a tariff war with the United States.
Moscow Protesters Call Local Elections Rigged
Russian opposition leaders led a rally in Moscow of about 1,000 people Sunday to protest the city election commission’s decision that will keep several opposition candidates off the ballot in a local election.
Walt Girdner was born in central Iowa in 1922, one of five children. His father took a job as a Christian minister in Alameda after the family moved to California in 1925. Growing up during the Great Depression, Walt worked double shifts at a cannery to make money for college. He attended Stanford where he put together a string of letters and wins, running the quarter and half-mile. An invitation to join the U.S. Olympic team was negated by World War II and cancellation of the games. During the war, he disembarked in Normandy, fought in the infantry and marched into Germany .
As a young man, he developed an interest in imagery, first through drawing then through the developing technology of photography. Although he left the church where his mother and father were pastors, he kept a lifelong faith in the power and mystery of the natural environment, seeing in its beauty an overriding and everlasting spiritual force. His subjects focused on people and their settings. Farmers, flower sellers, youth were recurring themes.
He traveled in large part to find new images and capture them, in France at first, then the rest of Europe and later Africa and Mexico. Towards the end of his life, Walt focused on images in nature, including letters and numbers that emerged through abalone shells, beach tableaus and patterns in the sand. He had faith that imagery was a powerful way to communicate and believed young people were much better at interpreting the language of imagery, gifted with imaginations more agile and unencumbered.
