The judges, Jerry E. Smith and Jennifer Elrod, agreed with Texas’ claim that allowing immigrants to remain in the state would force the state to incur costs of issuing drivers’ licenses to the undocumented immigrants. The court said that Obama’s plan, which was to defer deportation proceedings for undocumented immigrants and grant them work permits, went beyond prosecutorial discretion. The administration says the government is within its rights to set priorities for their deportation.   read more

USPS officials were preparing to close 82 locations this year as part of its “network rationalization,” or consolidation effort that saw 141 facilities eliminated in 2012. The closures have come under attack from Republicans and Democrats in Congress whose states and districts faced job losses as a result. More than 7,000 jobs are expected to be lost.   read more

“The decline reverses a historical pattern, researchers say, with public sector employees typically holding onto their jobs even during most economic downturns,” The New York Times wrote. “Roughly one in five black adults works for the government, teaching school, delivering mail, driving buses, processing criminal justice and managing large staffs. They are about 30 percent more likely to have a public sector job than non-Hispanic whites, and twice as likely as Hispanics.”   read more

Two-thirds of all the birds killed included brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds. Some of the birds “are struggling to cope with habitat loss, climate change and other threats," reported Reveal. Birds are killed under the program to protect farm fields, vineyards, air traffic, golf courses, and other locations. Recently, a federal judge in Portland, Ore., denied a motion to try to stop the killing of more than 10,000 double-crested cormorants in the Columbia River estuary.   read more

The boom in luxury units has been great for the affluent, while “many middle-class and young workers are straining to rent the units, in part because they have few others choices,” wrote Wall Street Journal's Laura Kusisto. Now some cities and states are working to make rental housing more affordable not only for lower-income people, but those in the middle class. Atlanta, for instance, is considering a requirement that developers reserve some units that those of average incomes can afford.   read more

Holder had six years to build cases against key people at banks like Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase. But the only charges filed have been against those at small and medium sized banks. "It is not for lack of trying,” said Holder. But former U.S. Asst. Attorney General Gurulé countered: “Nonsense. Charges for white-collar crimes are filed every single day by U.S. attorneys. Just because they’re more difficult with banks is not a legitimate excuse for bringing zero charges against individuals.”   read more

Under the MEDEA program, about 60 scientists had security clearances to receive classified climate data gathered by Navy submarines and spy satellites. Scientist Marc Levy says the CIA’s closing of MEDEA is a step in the wrong direction. “The climate problems are getting worse in a way that our data systems are not equipped to handle,” he said. “There's a growing gap between what we can currently get our hands on, and what we need to respond better." The CIA didn’t state why it shuttered MEDEA.   read more

From Columbine to Sandy Hook, the many high-profile incidents of violence in U.S. public schools have changed the face of many of these educational institutions. More than ever, schools have become places watched by surveillance cameras, and where children practice what to do in the event a gunman appears on campus. However, some "active shooter" simulations have been so realistic that they have produced severe emotional trauma in the participants.   read more

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to allow Veterans Administration doctors to recommend marijuana as a therapy for their patients in states that allow medical use of the drug. The House of Representatives voted down a similar amendment last month so it’s questionable whether the Senate amendment will make it to the final bill presented to President Barack Obama for his signature.   read more

Myrna Arias of Bakersfield, California, sued her employer, claiming she was fired two weeks after turning off a company-required GPS app that tracked her movements during off-hours. According to the lawsuit, Arias’ boss, John Stubits, “admitted that employees would be monitored while off duty and bragged that he knew how fast she was driving at specific moments ever since she installed the app on her phone.”   read more

The Department of Defense never asked for the provision involving the sage grouse. Dealing with the sage grouse has not “resulted in unacceptable limits on our military readiness activities,” Mark E. Wright, a Defense Department spokesman, told The New York Times. The real reason why Republicans want to deny the bird federal protections is because the listing could prevent oil and gas drilling on large tracts of land where the grouse lives.   read more

The Air Force has two X-37Bs that, like the Space Shuttle, take off like a rocket and land like a plane. They’re unmanned, about a quarter of the size of the now-retired Space Shuttle. When asked by 60 Minutes’ David Martin if the X-37B will become a weapons system, Gen. Hyten replied, “I cannot answer that question. I’m not going to say what it’s going to become ‘cause we’re experimenting.”   read more

If researchers are correct and older, larger trees die off as a result of climate change, the trees’ demise will cause there to be even more carbon in the atmosphere. “It’s the big trees that store the most carbon,” McDowell said, noting that the tall trees are also those that do the most photosynthesis, pulling more carbon out of the atmosphere than small trees. In addition, the loss of bigger trees could affect animal species that rely on them for their habitats.   read more

In a 3-2 decision, Chief Justice Margaret Workman said the plaintiffs were entitled to seek damages even though they themselves behaved illegally or immorally. Interestingly, “the majority noted that most, if not all, of the plaintiffs admitted their abuse of controlled substances occurred before they sought help at Mountain Medical Center,” according to the AP. Justice Allen Loughry, who dissented along with Justice Menis Ketchum, wrote: “There are no even remotely innocent victims here.”   read more

Polos spent 24 years with the DEA, recently as assistant special agent-in-charge of a joint task force on illegal narcotics. Glover is a telecommunications specialist who has spent 17 years with the DEA. But neither revealed on a national-security form that they owned and operated the Twins Plus Go-Go Lounge which featured “scantily clad and sometimes topless women.” Had they told superiors about the strip club, they likely would have lost their security clearance and, thus, their jobs.   read more

The EEOC lawsuit is directed at True Oil LLC, based in Wyoming and owned by brothers Hank and Dave True, and its associated companies. One alleged violation involved a male clerk who had only one year of accounting experience, plus 11 years as a store manager with some bookkeeping experience, being paid $21 an hour. Hired at the same time as that man was a woman who had 17 years of accounting experience yet was never paid more than $16.93 an hour.   read more