Federal judge rules against opening second polling site in Dodge City, Kansas

November 1, 2018

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Ford County, Kansas, Clerk Debbie Cox does not have to open a second polling site in Dodge City.

Cox moved the town's sole polling site from the Civic Center to the Expo Center, which is outside city limits, not accessible via sidewalk, and not regularly serviced by public transportation. In an attempt to get Cox to open a second polling location, a lawsuit was filed by first-time voter Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, 18, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled that it is too close to the Nov. 6 election to do anything, because ordering the reopening of the Civic Center or the opening of a second location "likely would create more voter confusion than it might cure. The relief plaintiffs seek is not in the public's interest." Crabtree did say the court was troubled by a letter sent to Cox by the ACLU that she forwarded to a state official; the letter was asking her to publicize a voter's help line, and she added the comment "LOL."

Cox testified that she moved the voting site because she anticipated construction taking place at the Civic Center; there is no construction going on at this time. She also said there will be signs up at the Civic Center telling people where to go to vote, and that she called the city about providing rides to voters. When asked about the "LOL" comment, she said she took it "seriously," but she can't just put whatever people ask her to on her website. Catherine Garcia

It wasn't all bad Edit

200 volunteers form human chain to move books from old store to new space

2:00a.m.

A bookstore in Southampton, England, came up with a novel way to move inventory from its old location to a new space down the street: Form a human chain, and pass the books down until they get to their new home.

October Books was established in 1977, and it has lots of devoted customers. The store knew it would be expensive to hire movers, and so it asked people who frequented the shop if they'd join in and help pass the books from the old stockroom to the new store's main floor. Employee Amy Brown told NPR the store expected about 100 people to stop by last Sunday, and they were shocked when more than 200 showed up.

It was "a sight to behold," she said. The line stretched for 500 feet, and the whole neighborhood got involved, with local restaurants passing out cups of tea and pedestrians joining in when they learned what was going on. In about an hour, more than 2,000 books made the journey down the line to the new space. "It was really sort of surprising and positive, and just a really moving experience to see people chipping in because they wanted to help," Brown said. "And they wanted to be part of something bigger." Catherine Garcia

Should He Stay or Should He Go Now? Edit

Trump is reportedly concerned Ryan Zinke broke the law, hasn't decided whether to fire him

1:58a.m.

The Justice Department is investigating Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke over a Montana land deal involving Zinke, his wife, and David Lesar, chairman of oil services giant Halliburton, and "the White House is getting increasingly concerned," The Washington Post reports, citing two senior administration officials. "Trump told his aides that he is afraid Zinke has broken rules while serving as the interior secretary and is concerned about the Justice Department referral," but he "has not indicated whether he will fire the former Navy SEAL and congressman and has asked for more information."

The Interior Department inspector general's office referred this investigation to the Justice Department, but it also has at least two other ongoing investigations of Zinke's conduct in office. Zinke, 57, has denied wrongdoing. "A referral to the Justice Department means prosecutors will explore whether a criminal investigation is warranted," the Post reports. "An agency's inspector general refers cases to the Justice Department only when it has determined that there could be criminal violations and regularly does so before completing its own investigatio n."

Such referrals aren't too uncommon, but New York University professor Paul Light, who wrote a book about inspectors general, said IGs rarely refer investigations involving Cabinet secretaries. You can read more about the scrutinized land deal and Zinke's sinking stock at the White House at The Washington Post. Peter Weber

it's mueller time Edit

Emails show why some top Trump campaign officials saw Roger Stone as a strong link to WikiLeaks

1:06a.m.

About a month before the 2016 presidential election, President Trump's campaign chairman Stephen Bannon and Roger Stone exchanged messages about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and what kinds of hacked documents his website planned on releasing ahead of Election Day, The New York Times reports. Stone quickly posted the email exchange at The Daily Caller. Their early October emails had not been previously reported.

On Oct. 4, Bannon emailed Stone, a longtime GOP operative, and asked him what Assange was planning. "A load every week going forward," Stone responded. People familiar with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election told the Times that Bannon and two other former senior Trump campaign officials have told Mueller's team that Stone came across as someone with inside information on the WikiLeaks playbook, at least in regard to targeting Hillary Clinton.

One former official told investigators that Stone was able to predict what WikiLeaks would do, later taking credit for the timing of disclosures, the Times reports. Mueller's team is trying to determine if Stone had strong ties to WikiLeaks, or just wanted people to think he did. Investigators have interviewed friends and business associates, asking about Stone's connection to WikiLeaks and if he urged anyone not to cooperate with the probe, the Times reports. On Wednesday, Stone told the Times he was able to "posture, bluff, hype" based on what he read on the WikiLeaks Twitter feed and tips he received. Read more about Stone, his evolving statements, and why people believe he was in cahoots with WikiLeaks at The New York Times. Catherine Garcia

Late Night Tackles 2018 Edit

Stephen Colbert nods at Oprah's campaigning in Georgia, laughs at Mike Pence, drags in Harry Potter

1:00a.m.

Stephen Colbert reminded viewers Thursday night that he will be live on Election Night, pre-empting CBS News' coverage of the midterms. "But there's big election news already, because today Oprah hit the campaign trail for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams," he said. "This is not easy, there's a sacrifice here. To take this partisan, political stand, Oprah is leaving 60 Minutes. Yeah, you know that that means? She's out of a job. How's she gonna pay her bills? We've got to set up a GoFundMe â€" so she can fund us."

Winfrey made a special point of insisting that she's not stumping for Abrams because she has any political aspirations of her own â€" "She's running," Colbert deadpanned â€" but because she wants everyone to vote. And she wasn't above pouring on the guilt, he noted. "Wow, I've heard of families guilt-tripping you, but only Oprah can make a family guilt-trip you from beyond the grave."

"But Abrams' opponent, Brian Kemp, is fighting back against Winfrey with who many have called the white male not-Oprah, Mike Pence," Colbert said. Will Ferrell was also in Georgia stumping for Abrams, but "the vice president had a message for those out-of-touch showbiz elites." Namely, Pence insisted he's also "kind of a big deal", and Colbert paraphrased his anti-Hollywood platitude: "This ain't Hollywood, Oprah! We don't cotton to big-city billionaires who are also TV stars! Take it from me, vice president to Donald Trump!"

Trump, for his part, told ABC News' Jonathan Karl on Thursday that he's "an open book," and The Late Show turned that into an alternate version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Watch below. Peter Weber

Preach Edit

Trump threatened to have U.S. troops shoot unarmed migrants. CNN's Chris Cuomo is appalled.

12:15a.m.

There were a lot of things wrong with what The Associated Press called President Trump's "rambling, campaign-style speech" Thursday to float "two legally dubious proposals": Creating massive tent camps to indefinitely house asylum seekers and barring illegal border-crossers from requesting asylum. CNN's Chris Cuomo walked viewers through the big problems with Trump's speech, starting with Trump's presumption he can change asylum laws by executive fiat.

Trump also "said something that would likely never come to pass, but it reminds us how dark the president's motives are where migrants are concerned," Cuomo said. "Here's what he said: American troops will have permission to open-fire on unarmed migrants if they throw rocks," because they are part of an "invasion." "Don't be a sucker," Cuomo said. This is not an "invasion," rocks are not, as Trump said, the same as rifles, and America shouldn't strive to be "more brutal that Mexico."

Cuomo's closing argument was a sermon. Trump doesn't want to fix the immigration system, he wants "votes and popularity with a minority of the country," he said. "And he has found a well-worn way to do it: Fear and Loathing with a common enemy. His methods are vulgar, his objectives are obvious and ugly, but he is not the key to the movement â€" you are. ... If you think that hate is empowering, you're wrong, and if you think love will simply overwhelm, you're missing a major step. Both situations were explained in perfect detail by the famed Thomas Merton."

The excerpt of Merton's Disputed Questions Cuomo read makes "a better case than I ever could for what each of you needs to decide right now," he said. "This is not about Trump, it's certainly not about safety, nor any trumped-up 'invasion.' It is what each of you decides about yourself and what you want to be about." Watch below. Peter Weber

that's his takeaway Edit

Trump says 'two maniacs' stopped GOP 'momentum' ahead of midterms

November 1, 2018

During a rally in Missouri on Thursday night, President Trump said last week's murder of 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue and the mailing of explosives to several prominent Democrats had hit Republicans hard before the midterm elections.

"We did have two maniacs stop a momentum that was incredible, because for seven days nobody talked about the elections," he said. "It stopped a tremendous momentum." The most important thing, he added, is "to take care of our people, and we don't care about momentum when it comes to a disgrace like just happened to our country. But it did nevertheless stop a certain momentum, and now the momentum is picking up."

Trump visited Missouri to stump for Republican Josh Hawley, who is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Catherine Garcia

compared to Oprah? Edit

With Oprah also on the campaign trail, Mike Pence tells Georgia voters: 'I'm kind of a big deal, too'

November 1, 2018

If you're going to take a swipe at Will Ferrell, you might as well use one of his lines from Anchorman.

Vice President Mike Pence spent much of his Thursday in Georgia stumping for Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp. Kemp is running against Democrat Stacey Abrams, who has serious star power behind her â€" Ferrell campaigned for her earlier this week, and Oprah Winfrey got crowds riled up on Thursday.

During an appearance in Dalton, Pence mocked Winfrey and Ferrell, saying Kemp is "getting the support of all kinds of hard-working, good people all across Georgia, and Stacey Abrams is being bankrolled by Hollywood liberals." After criticizing Abrams and her policies, Pence channeled his inner Ron Burgundy. "I'd like to remind Stacey and Oprah and Will Ferrell I'm kind of a big deal, too," he said. "I got a message for all of Stacey Abrams' liberal Hollywood friends: this ain't Hollywood. This is Georgia. And Georgia wants a governor that's going to put Georgia values and Georgia first." Pence is from Indiana, and Winfrey is from Mississippi but spent her adult life in Chicago. Catherine Garcia

See More Speed ReadsSource: Google News | Netizen 24 United States

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Federal judge rules against opening second polling site in Dodge City, Kansas