Top eight today

Your Friday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

National

1.) Despite attempts by his attorneys to drum up inventive legal arguments, former President Donald Trump’s claim that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was booted from social media platforms is unlikely to succeed.

2.) A California Parole Board panel granted parole to Sirhan Sirhan, imprisoned for 53 years in California for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

3.) A new intelligence report ordered by the Biden administration has failed to definitively answer many of the questions surrounding the origins of the Covid-19 virus and the pandemic that has claimed over 4.4 million lives worldwide.

4.) There is no firm date yet, but the Federal Reserve has essentially begun the countdown for when it will cease its bond-buying program, easing Wall Street’s concerns for now and propping up markets once again.

Regional

5.) A Missouri judge refused Friday to issue a preliminary injunction against a controversial state law outlawing enforcement of federal gun rules.

6.) A Florida judge on Friday blocked enforcement of an executive order from Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that penalized school districts for requiring students to wear masks on campus.

7.) Residents of Kyburz and Strawberry, two Sierra Nevada towns just west of Echo Summit along U.S. Route 50, remain anxious as California’s Caldor Fire continues its advance in a northeasterly direction. 

8.) New Orleans is under a hurricane watch and the entire state of Louisiana is under a state of emergency Friday as Tropical Storm Ida speeds across the Caribbean Sea with an anticipated Sunday landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane.