The ruling did not apply to the team’s logo, which means it can still have a monopoly on marketing millions of dollars in merchandise with the team insignia. In the meantime, Native Americans and others continue to call on Dan Snyder, the team’s owner, to choose a new name. To date, Snyder has refused to budge on the issue and has sworn to fight the battle in court.   read more

The new ruling, which did away with the latter restriction, arose from the case of Edward Lane, an Alabama community college official who claimed he was fired for exposing a state lawmaker being paid without working. His whistleblower lawsuit was thrown out of court twice, once at the trial level and the second time by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. But the Supreme Court ruledin Lane’s favor.   read more

Federal health officials are warning of a new threat to so-called “last resort” antibiotics used to treat patients with deadly infections. The CDC reported that a type of Asian squid being sold in Canada contains a highly resistant bacterium. Such "nightmare bacteria" are resistant to all antibiotics, including carbapenem, "the truly last of the few remaining last-resort antibiotics in the world." A patient with these bacteria who gets an infection might not have any options for a cure.   read more

Some neurological conditions such as autism and schizophrenia may be linked to exposure to air pollution, a new study shows. Experts at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that subjecting young mice to air pollution causes unhealthy changes in their brains--the same areas found in humans diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia. The changes occured more often in males, and other troubles like memory loss, learning disability and impulsivity became prevalent.   read more

The bipartisan bill, from Representatives Kevin Yoder and Jared Polis, stands a good chance of moving forward now that it has attracted support from 218 lawmakers. “Having a majority of house members supporting our bill shows House leadership that the bill would pass … if it was put on the house floor,” said Yoder. He and others say the law needs updating to better protect Americans’ rights under the Fourth Amendment. Supporters of the bill include the tech industry and privacy advocates.   read more

“The disbandment of the Colorado City/Hildale Marshal’s Office is necessary and appropriate because this police department has operated for decades, and continues to operate, as the de facto law enforcement arm of the FLDS Church,” said Arizona Attorney General Thomas Horne. The marshal’s office turned a blind eye to the group’s polygamist ways, enforced church edicts over secular law and has discriminated against church nonbelievers, claims former police chief Helaman Barlow.   read more

Lisa Weiszmiller was one of about 100,000 service members who were thrown out of the service because of their sexual orientation between World War II and September 2011. “Back then, the treatment was barbaric,” she said. She found herself being interrogated for hours about her sexual orientation and ordered to perform hard labor, all while drill sergeants insulted her. “These are queers! These are lesbians! Stay away from these homosexual women,” she recalled them saying.   read more

Judge Richard Posner, a conservative appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, warned that release of the classified documents risked public disclosure. “There are too many leaks of classified information—too much carelessness and irresponsibility in the handling of such information—to allow automatic access to holders of the applicable security clearances,” he wrote.   read more

Statistics show that about 90% of heroin users are white men and women who first tried prescription painkillers. Politicians are less likely to act against prescription drugs than they are against heroin because prescription painkillers are produced by pharmaceutical companies that contribute to election campaigns, whereas heroin is distributed by drug cartels that generally do not engage in lobbying.   read more

Confronted with the high-profile problem of immigrant children flooding into the United States, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas have been warned not to speak to members of the media. An internal memo written by Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Eligio “Lee” Peña obtained by the Associated Press revealed the new policy that directs agents not to talk to reporters at any time, on duty or off. Those who do risk being disciplined or even charged with a crime.   read more

In one case, a single reviewer at one company “completed” 15,152 background investigations in just one month (a daily average of more than 500), “with most of these occurring within minutes of each other on multiple days,” the IG’s report states. The audit also discovered at least 17 investigation reports were turned into OPM without a manager at the contractor first reviewing them, which went against procedure.   read more

Lerner is former director of the IRS exempt organizations unit, which evaluates applications from groups for tax-exempt status. She has been the focus of investigations by House Republicans. Now, the IRS says it’s unable to deliver emails between Lerner and those outside the IRS from January 2009 to April 2011. Included in that group are messages to and from the White House, the Federal Election Commission and other agencies.   read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had filed a Freedom of Information Act suit against the DOJ to learn how the government uses the Patriot Act to gather the communications records of millions of Americans. U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered the release of five documents sought by EFF. In her opinion, she questioned the government’s practice of withholding documents that have subsequently been found to be suitable for at least partial release.   read more

The soft drink giant was sued by Pom Wonderful for selling a competing beverage, Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored Blend of Five Juices, which contains almost no pomegranate. The Coca-Cola product has, the court said, only 0.3% pomegranate juice, but 99.4% apple and grape juices.   read more

Chicago Transit Authority surveillance cameras had recorded Martin in the act of using a gun to threaten subway riders in order to steal their cell phones. Using NeoFace, law enforcement compared the image of Martin’s face to the police department’s database of nearly 5 million criminal booking photos.   read more

The flights mark the first use of UAS above land by a company. Previously, the FAA had granted approval for commercial drones to fly only over Arctic waters for surveillance purposes. BP is using AeroVironment’s Puma AE drones to perform aerial surveys. The flights, which began on June 8, are intended to support the company’s efforts to maintain roads and pipelines that transport oil.   read more