Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News
Top CNS stories for today including California’s unique ability to set strict car emissions rules is on the chopping block after the Trump administration said it was ending talks with state officials over a new federal standard; Roger Stone faced the wrath of federal judge after failing to adequately explain why he posted a picture of her on Instagram with the apparent crosshairs of a gun near her head; The North Carolina Board of Elections voted unanimously to hold a new election for the still undecided 9th Congressional District race after the apparent Republican winner called for a redo in light of mounting evidence of an illegal absentee-ballot harvesting scheme, and more.
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National

1.) California’s unique ability to set strict car emissions rules is on the chopping block after the Trump administration said Thursday it was ending talks with state officials over a new federal standard.

2.) Roger Stone faced the wrath of federal judge Thursday after failing to adequately explain why he posted a picture of her on Instagram with the apparent crosshairs of a gun near her head.

3.) Sued this week in New Hampshire, a witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is the focus of a globe-spanning intrigue where the founder of BoraJet says his now-defunct Turkish airline was taken over through a campaign of violence, extortion and financial crime.

4.) The Coast Guard lieutenant who prosecutors say was plotting a mass killing of lawmakers and media members must remain in detention while he awaits trial on drug and gun charges, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Regional

5.) The North Carolina Board of Elections voted unanimously Thursday to hold a new election for the still undecided 9th Congressional District race after the apparent Republican winner called for a redo in light of mounting evidence of an illegal absentee-ballot harvesting scheme.
6.) Siding with a prison that provided prosecutors with incriminating inmate recordings, New York’s highest court ruled 5-2 Thursday that there is no right to privacy when it comes to nonprivileged phone calls.

7.) Seven slaughterhouse workers who were caught up in a workplace immigration raid in Tennessee last year filed a class action Thursday against the federal agents who carried it out, claiming they were racially profiled and arrested using a warrant that only authorized a search for documents.
Science

8.) A material scientist with Penn State University said he and his fellow researchers may have hit upon an unlikely solution to the problem of plastics, both great and small, infiltrating the environment and causing pollution. The solution comes in the form of a protein produced by a squid.
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