State News
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson has decided not to pursue filing an emergency appeal of a ruling which prevents a citizenship question from being asked on the ballot. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman granted an injunction against Johnson’s plan to have a citizenship checkbox on the general election ballots. Borman said the equal-protection constitutional right for voters would be violated since some election clerks were not asking the citizenship question, while others were. Johnson added the question as a protection against non-citizens from voting. Johnson said the ruling hinders the ability to have election integrity and will continue to push to reduce non-citizens from voting.
National News
In the wake of last week’s presidential debate, Mitt Romney has pushed past President Barack Obama in a poll done by www.Reuters.com. Romney leads slightly, coming in with 45 percent of registered voters supporting him, while Obama is at 44 percent of likely voters. The lead came just a day before the vice presidential debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, which takes place at 9 p.m. on Oct. 11. Reuters reports that Romney came off as more perceptive of voters, more prepared to deal with the national deficit, and had a better approach than Obama in key issues like the economy and unemployment. Just days before the Wednesday, Oct. 3 debate, Obama was leading Romney in the polls, 45-44. The Reuters poll was taken among 1027 likely voters in the week following the debate.
International News
Russia has stated that it doesn’t plan to renew a 21-year old nuclear and chemical weapons agreement with the United States next year, an agreement which has been renewed twice since the end of the Cold War. The project — aimed at coercing the former Soviet Union into dismantling its holding of nuclear and chemical weapons — was last renewed in 2006 and was set for another renewal in 2013. Still, in its 21-year existence, the project has successfully disassembled nearly 7,560 weapons. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said that Russia now has the finances to continue its own programs, and that the former agreement, established in 1991, “doesn’t satisfy (Russia), especially considering new realities,” according to an article on www.Reuters.com.
Weird News
Jeffrey McMullen tried to rob a Pennsylvania bank for $1 on Friday, Oct. 5. McMullen, a regular customer of AmeriServ Bank in Northern Cambria, Pa., handed two notes to a teller demanding a dollar. The tellers initially thought it was a joke. McMullen then spoke to another teller and repeated he was robbing the bank for a dollar. According to police, his goal was to be sent to a federal prison in central Pennsylvania, but police could not say why. As set by the district judge, McMullen must undergo a psychological evaluation. His bond has been set to $50,000.
