House Passes Update to Landmark Voting Rights Act
Responding to a 2013 Supreme Court decision, the House of Representatives on Friday updated the law that mandates oversight of certain states with records of discriminatory voting laws.
by TIM RYAN
'We're Still In,' Democrats Tell Trump on Climate Crisis Fight
Confronting President Donald Trump with a 2009 ad where he called for a global partnership climate change, members of Congress signaled at a press conference Friday that the new course his White House is charting doesn’t speak for them.
by ADAM KLASFELD
‘Migrant Protection’ Policy Is a Study in Irony
The Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers has sparked a human rights crisis that already has killed several people, and it’s getting worse, according to volunteers working in Mexican border towns and a recent report from a federal watchdog.
by BRAD POOLE
Impeaching the President
White House Signals Trump Won't Take Part in Impeachment Hearings
In a letter blasting the House’s handling of the impeachment inquiry, the White House indicated Friday that President Donald Trump will not participate in future proceedings.
by TIM RYAN
Interrogating Without Borders, Freshman Congressman Crosses Party Lines
Over the course of a marathon 8.5-hour impeachment hearing, one congressman set himself apart by interrogating the legal conclusions of a witness called by the opposing side.
by ADAM KLASFELD
Elon Musk Cleared in 'Pedo Guy' Defamation Case
by NATHAN SOLIS
A federal jury deliberated less than an hour before siding with billionaire Elon Musk on Friday, finding the tech wizard did not defame a British cave expert when he called him “pedo guy” in a tweet.
Economy Surges With 266,000 New Jobs Added in November
American employers added 266,000 new jobs last month running counter to deeper concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.
by KEVIN LESSMILLER
The World
Last Hope Fading for War Crimes Probe in Afghanistan
Final arguments were made Friday before the International Criminal Court on whether it should investigate crimes and human rights violations committed in Afghanistan by all parties to the conflict.
by MOLLY QUELL
Tensions High Between Russia and Europe Ahead of Ukraine Peace Talks
When Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Paris on Monday for peace talks over the conflict in Ukraine, he will face fresh questions over the Kremlin’s secret operations in Europe.
by CAIN BURDEAU
Hearing Over Qatar Airspace Blockade Wraps in UN Court
Arguments wrapped up Friday in a case before the International Court of Justice over an airspace blockade against Qatar, as the peninsular nation urged the United Nations’ highest court to let an aviation agency resolve the dispute.
by MOLLY QUELL
House Votes to Back Two-State Solution in Middle East
Rebuking President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
by JACK RODGERS
Official: Pensacola Shooter Was Saudi Aviation Student
An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola on Friday morning leaving three dead in addition to the assailant.
AP
Opinion
Shine It On
Have you ever wondered where the expression “shine it on” came from? Me neither. This has nothing to do with it. I forgot for a moment that I was writing an opinion column. I’m sorry. It will never happen again.
by ROBERT KAHN
Pecan Harvester Kept in Case Over Mormon Sect Use of Child Labor
A month before the start of Harvey Weinstein’s felony sex crime trial, prosecutors urged a judge Friday to quintuple his cash bond to $5 million, citing more than 50 ankle-bracelet violations.
by AMANDA PAMPURO
Harassed Tenant Gets OK to Hold Landlord Liable
Landlords can be held liable under the Fair Housing Act if they fail to reasonably address tenant-on-tenant race discrimination in their buildings, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, reaffirming a decision it made and withdrew earlier this year.
by AMANDA OTTAWAY
US Courts
Justices to Decide Delaware Judicial Affiliation Case
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide the constitutionality of Delaware’s system of having political party affiliation requirements when it hires new judges.
by TIM RYAN
Judge Inclined to Advance Antitrust Spat Between Talent Agencies & Writers Guild
by MARTIN MACIAS JR.
Trump Asks High Court to Block Subpoenas for Bank Records
Responding to President Donald Trump’s request, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg temporarily placed on hold a lower court ruling Friday that ordered Trump’s Capital One and Deutsche Bank records be released to House Democrats.
by JACK RODGERS
Officials List Pot Vape Brands Reported in US Outbreak
Health officials investigating a nationwide outbreak of vaping illnesses have listed, for the first time, the vape brands most commonly linked to hospitalizations.
AP
Convicted Rep. Duncan Hunter to Resign After Holidays
by MARTIN MACIAS JR.
Tenn. Supreme Court Sets Limit on Fair Report Privilege
by DANIEL JACKSON
Supreme Court Blocks Resumption of Federal Executions
by MATTHEW RENDA
Oregon Joins Tribal Efforts to Restore Prehistoric Fish
by KARINA BROWN
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.
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