Also on today’s menu:
Skeleton In Lake Mead
Businesses Support Ukraine
The big news of the day is the draft Supreme Court decision that would strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated inside the court was obtained by POLITICO “from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document,” the story says.
“The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — that largely maintained the right,” the article states. “No draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending. The unprecedented revelation is bound to intensify the debate over what was already the most controversial case on the docket this term.”
The 98-page draft includes a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws and is replete with citations to previous court decisions, books, and other authorities. The appearances and timing of the draft are consistent with court practice, according to the article.
The New York Times observed, “Because of the leaked draft — a leak with no modern precedent at the court — any justice who switched sides would become notorious as the conservative who saved Roe. … Some observers think it might have been [released by] a conservative justice or clerk, to lock in the majority. Others think it might have been a liberal justice or clerk, to undermine the court’s reputation as a high-minded body above the partisan fray; the leak makes the court look more like other Washington institutions.”
The Times also notes, “Many Democrats have long believed that the politics of abortion help the party during elections — and that a court decision overturning Roe could help them retain Congress this year.”
Skeleton In Lake Mead
Shawna Hollister and her husband were docking their boat at Hemenway Harbor, on Lake Mead’s southwestern coast, on Sunday when they spotted a barrel containing human remains. Lt. Ray Spencer with the Las Vegas Metro Police told KLAS-TV that the person probably was killed four decades ago.
The receding waters at Lake Mead, the country’s largest artificial reservoir, have dropped to historic lows, allowing the couple to discover the barrel containing the skeletal remains immersed in mud. The lake — a lifeline for 25 million people and millions of acres of farmland in California, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico — has been receding due to record temperatures and lower snowpack melt.
“I think anybody can understand there are probably more bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead, it’s just a matter of, are we able to recover those?” Spencer said.
Businesses Support Ukraine
As people around the world rally in support of the Ukrainians fighting to maintain their sovereignty in the face of Russia’s attack on the nation, many have donated to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees. Some, however, are volunteering products and services to assist in the fighting. New Hampshire businesses are among them.
Raymond Bellia of Body Armor Outlet, LLC, in Salem, says he obtained an export license to allow his company to ship body armor and medical supplies abroad. Until now, BAO strictly focused on sales within the United States.
“We are fully committed to assisting the efforts of Ukraine in their unprovoked attack by Russia,” Bellia said. “We hope the armor supplied by BAO saves lives and keeps Ukrainian fighters in the fight to victory.”
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