Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including the House Oversight Committee voted 24-15 to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for not complying with subpoenas related to the census citizenship question; The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled to reinstate most of the GOP-controlled Legislature’s lame-duck laws limiting the powers of the new Democratic governor and attorney general; Italian biologists, laboratory workers and government officials under investigation for failing to stop the early spread of an incurable and catastrophic plant infection from Central America that is killing tens of thousands of olive trees in southern Italy will not face criminal charges, and more.

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National

1.) Turning up the heat on its probe of the census citizenship question, the House Oversight Committee voted 24-15 Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for not complying with subpoenas.

A couple kayak on the Rogue River in Rockford, Mich., adjacent to where Wolverine World Wide's tannery once stood, on Aug. 14, 2017. (Neil Blake /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

2.) Senate Republicans lambasted the previous administration’s water regulations as a federal power grab Wednesday in a hearing on the new policy rolled out by President Donald Trump.

Former FBI National Security Branch Executive Assistant Director Stephanie Douglas, testifies before a House Intelligence Committee hearing on the Mueller Report on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

3.) Looking for perspective on the two-year Russia investigation, House lawmakers grilled two former FBI officials Wednesday about espionage techniques common to the Kremlin.

Regional

Joe Morrissey, right, with his daughter Bella, 3, celebrates his Democratic primary win in 16th District State Senate race with his supporters at the election party of Plaza Mexico in Petersburg, Va., Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

4.) While national headlines may point to the re-election of the state’s most notorious legislators, Virginia voters made a number of surprising choices in Tuesday’s primary election that some say paved the way for Democrats to take full control over the once deeply red state.

Opponents of an extraordinary session bill submitted by Wisconsin Republican legislators hold "Stop Lame Duck" signs at a rally outside the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

5.) The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled to reinstate most of the GOP-controlled Legislature’s lame-duck laws limiting the powers of the new Democratic governor and attorney general, handing another significant victory to conservatives in the Badger State.

6.) An atheist organization seeking to advertise on Scranton-area buses pushed the Third Circuit on Wednesday to strike down the county’s ban against displaying controversial material.

International

This 2017 photo shows an olive tree infected with Xylella fastidiosa that has been cut back to its trunk and then grafted with a variety of olive resistant to the plant disease. (Photo by CAIN BURDEAU/Courthouse News Service)

7.) Italian biologists, laboratory workers and government officials under investigation for failing to stop the early spread of an incurable and catastrophic plant infection from Central America that is killing tens of thousands of olive trees in southern Italy will not face criminal charges, but the scientific investigation continues.

In this Sept. 25, 2018 photo, a worker holds a marijuana plant leaf in a massive tomato greenhouse being renovated to grow pot in Delta, British Columbia, that is operated by Pure Sunfarms, a joint venture between tomato grower Village Farms International, and a licensed medical marijuana producer, Emerald Health Therapeutics. On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada will become the second and largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

8.) A study of chemical residue in incense burners from ancient burials at high elevations in western China has revealed some of the earliest evidence of the use of cannabis for its psychoactive compounds, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

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