Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News
Top CNS stories for today including legal experts suggesting President Donald Trump’s penchant for tweeting is damaging his chances of seeing his controversial travel ban on immigrants from six predominately Muslim countries revived by the Supreme Court; California forged ahead in its fight against climate change Tuesday as Gov. Jerry Brown signed an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to share technological advances in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; a new study finds the dense collection of Jurassic dinosaur fossils at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry came to be there over a period of several years – rather than in a single death event as previously believed, and more.
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1.) In National news Courthouse News visits the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a U.S. National Monument protecting over 1.8 million acres in southern Utah. Millions of years before human existence, much less monument designations, a colossal stairway laid its foundation on the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. Over time, tectonic shift exposed the youngest rock layers of the Colorado Plateau: chocolate, vermillion, white, gray and pink cliffs. The five giant steps, which geologist Clarence Dutton first called the “Grand Staircase” in the 1870s, ascend northward hundreds of miles to Bryce Canyon, creating much of the picturesque topography in Southern Utah.
2.) President Donald Trump’s penchant for tweeting is frustrating his administration’s effort to get back on message and, according to legal experts, likely damaging his chances of seeing his controversial travel ban on immigrants from six predominately Muslim countries revived by the Supreme Court.
3.) The young Virginia man who smuggled himself into an Islamic State safe house in Syria faces cross-examination Tuesday after testifying that it was never his intention to become a terrorist.
4.) Four conservation groups claim in court the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a revised permit to allow the continued feeding of wild elk in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest is endangering the herd and elevating its risk of getting and spreading a chronic wasting disease.
5.) The only one of Bill Cosby’s dozens of accusers whose claims are not too old to prosecute made an unusual appearance on the witness stand Tuesday, smiling at Cosby while recalling the romantic attention she described as unwelcome.
6.) In Regional news, San Francisco on Monday ordered Uber and Lyft to turn over records on its driving practices, as City Attorney Dennis Herrera expressed concern about the ride-sharing companies’ compliance with local and state laws.
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