The Justice Department sued a Pennsylvania town over its municipal board’s denial of a zoning application for a mosque, saying the decision is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of religion. The Bensalem Township violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act when its zoning board in 2014 rejected a request that would have allowed the Bensalem Masjid to build a mosque in the town, according to a complaint   read more

A nuclear power plant has stirred outrage because it requires demolishing 350 acres of woodlands. “Choosing solar over forests anywhere in the world is just plain stupid,” said Dick Amper, of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society. “Solar is very important to fight global warming and beyond, but I’m afraid we’re making false choices when you destroy portions of nature and the environment to accomplish that end.”   read more

Democratic Party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz repeatedly mocked Bernie Sanders and his staff in private while another top official floated using religion and hit pieces to undermine his campaign, emails published by WikiLeaks revealed Friday. Released as part one of Hillary Leaks series, the trove includes 19,252 emails from the accounts of seven top officials in the party.   read more

A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Missouri lawmaker who cited religious objections while challenging the inclusion of birth control coverage in his government-provided health insurance. State Sen. Paul Wieland and his wife, Teresa, who are Roman Catholics, filed a lawsuit asserting it violates their religious beliefs to include contraception coverage in their state health insurance plan.   read more

The findings indicate that climate change is already pushing many forests toward the tipping point — where a forest can suddenly go from being a climate ally to actually producing carbon. Being rapidly exposed to higher temperatures forests have never experienced and are not evolutionarily prepared for hampers growth and makes trees more vulnerable to stress. Projections suggest that the tipping point for many forests may be reached as early as 2050.   read more

The NBA on Thursday dealt a blow to the economy and prestige of North Carolina by pulling February’s All-Star Game to protest a state law that eliminated anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people. The move was among the most prominent consequences since the law was passed in March. The decision by the NBA comes after its commissioner, Adam Silver, had strongly hinted that such a move might be coming and again thrusts the league into the middle of social issues now gripping the nation.   read more

“I just started to search for gun sales, and sure enough, Facebook was full of them,” said one user. Some try to skirt the ban by advertising other products for sale, such as baby powder, next to rifles. Other users did little to hide their intentions. A post on a firearms Facebook page recommended that those who wanted to sell guns or ammunition write the caliber and model numbers using code words, rely on external sites to share photos and make deals through private messages.   read more

The ruling came under the wire of a July 20 deadline that the U.S. Supreme Court set with the Nov. 8 presidential election in mind, allowing time for a lower court to propose changes to the law. "...The district court did not clearly err in determining that SB 14 has a discriminatory effect on minorities' voting rights in violation of...the Voting Rights Act. ...[W]e remand for a consideration of the appropriate remedy in light of the impending general election," Judge Haynes wrote.   read more

Part of the problem is that overconfidence in the technology causes people to think they can check out. Operators — an airline pilot, a train engineer or car driver — can lose awareness of their environment when they turn control over to automation. "Drivers in these quasi- and partial modes of automation are a disaster in the making," Cummings said. "If you have to rely on the human to see something and take action in anything less than several seconds, you are going to have an accident..."   read more

Judge Adelman said a “safety net is needed for those voters who cannot obtain qualifying ID with reasonable effort.” He called the option of signing an affidavit “a sensible approach that will both prevent the disenfranchisement of some voters” but also “preserve Wisconsin’s interests in protecting the integrity of its elections.” Wisconsin’s attorney general, Brad Schimel, said in a statement that he was “disappointed with the court’s decision. We will decide the next course of action..."   read more

The companies will spend $403 million to install equipment to control carbon dioxide and other emissions at the refineries. Federal officials say the settlement will improve air quality because the installed equipment will reduce pollutants, including an estimated 47,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Leaks, flares and excess emissions from the refineries emit dangerous air pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects, and seriously harm the environment, the officials said.   read more

The textbook titled "Mexican American Heritage" is being decried as racist and inaccurate by many of the same advocates who had wanted a broader Mexican-American studies course. "What we have now is a deeply flawed and a deeply offensive textbook," said Celina Moreno. Activists said that, among other things, the book suggests that Mexican culture promotes laziness, and it links Mexican-Americans to immigrants who are not in the country legally.   read more

A nationwide class of Apple device users can seek damages over claims that Apple let a social networking app download users' personal data without consent, a federal judge ruled Friday. Opperman claims Apple distributed "invasive versions" of the Path app, which downloaded details from each user's contact list without their knowledge or consent. Path stored the data, which included email addresses and birthdays, and mined it to create social graphing maps, the plaintiffs claim.   read more

As Republicans maintain their party's long-standing blockade against action to reduce carbon emissions, they also are embracing a renewable energy industry that is driving investment and jobs in GOP strongholds like Texas. The balancing act comes as the battle lines around climate change are being redrawn. Prominent Republican donors are putting millions into the congressional campaigns of candidates willing to offer their support for the renewable energy industry.   read more

Fracking may worsen asthma in children and adults who live near sites where the oil and gas drilling method is used, according to an 8-year study in Pennsylvania. The study found that asthma treatments were as much as four times more common in patients living closer to areas with more or bigger active wells than those living far away. Previous research has found heavy air pollution in areas where oil and gas drilling is booming.   read more

The inspector general's office said it identified 7,106 offenders over a three-year period who could have been suitable candidates for pretrial diversion. The department spent millions of dollars to imprison offenders who might be suitable for pretrial diversion, the audit found. "By diverting those offenders from traditional court proceedings, the department could have potentially saved millions of tax dollars in prison costs," said Inspector General Michael Horowitz.   read more