Another fun day of reading the news and enjoying the internet!
- Democratic New York State Senator Jeff Klein has been accused by a former staffer of forcible kissing. Erica Vladimer, who worked for Klein’s deputy chief of staff, say the alleged incident propelled her to leave her job in state government. “I pulled away and I said, ‘Senator, absolutely not.’” Vladimer said of the alleged incident. “And he looked at me and said, with this stupid little grin on his face, ‘What? What?’ Like he was being coy, almost trying to flirt and play a game.” Klein is head of the Independent Democratic Conference, a group of eight Democratic state senators who caucus with Republicans (giving Republicans in Albany a majority they wouldn’t otherwise have). Klein denies the allegations. [HuffPost]
- A Tallahassee judge has struck down Florida’s law requiring 24-hour waiting periods before abortions as unconstitutional. [Orlando Weekly]
- Republican congressman Darrell Issa will not seek reelection in 2018. Byeeee! [New York Times]
- After Florida Gov. and Trump ally Rick Scott got mad, Ryan Zinke took Florida out of its plan for a massive expansion in oil drilling, stating that “Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.” God, these people are stupid. This phrase, obviously, applies to every relevant coastal state—and now South Carolina’s Republican governor wants out, too. [NPR, McClatchy]
- In a historic ruling, a panel of federal judges struck down North Carolina’s heavily gerrymandered congressional districts as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. [McClatchy]
- Here’s something fun to read if you enjoy feeling very ill. [New York Times]
Here are some tweets the president was allowed to publish:
This has been Barf Bag.
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