Nightly Brief

Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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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