Texas Judge Temporarily Blocks Obama's Transgender Directive
A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked an Obama administration directive on bathroom rights for transgender students in U.S. public schools.
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth issued the preliminary injunction Sunday.
Texas and 12 other states asked O'Connor to halt the directive after the federal government told U.S. public schools in May that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.
That announcement came days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over a state law that requires people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the gender on their birth certificates. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had likened that law to policies of racial segregation.
Republicans have argued such laws are common sense privacy safeguards.
Caterpillar Cutting Back On Job Creation
Manufacturing giant Caterpillar is drastically cutting back on its promise to create jobs in Winston-Salem. The news comes as global demand for its products are declining.
Caterpillar announced in July it was consolidating its truck axle-manufacturing and moving that work out of Winston-Salem. Instead, the plant will focus on rail manufacturing. But that means the company's pledge to create more than 500 full- and part-time jobs isn't going to happen. Caterpillar now says it'll be more like 200.
The transition from mining to rail begins in the fall, and should be fully in place by early 2018.
Duke Energy, NC Agency Disputing Fine For Coal Ash Pollution
The nation's largest electric company and North Carolina's environment agency are negotiating over a fine of about $7 million to punish Duke Energy for a big spill of liquefied coal ash.
Attorneys for the state agency and Duke Energy Corp. said delaying Monday's scheduled hearing may help resolve the disputed fine for polluting the Dan River in 2014. Duke Energy has called the proposed fine disproportionate and arbitrary.
UNCSA Film School Garners High Ranking
The School of Filmmaking at the UNC School of the Arts has been ranked as one of the nation's best film schools.
The News and Record of Greensboro reports UNCSA's film school came in at number 14 in the Hollywood Reporter's annual list of “The Top 25 American Film Schools.”
The Reporter compiled its list after consulting with academic experts, industry professionals and school alumni.
The article credits UNCSA with transforming its film program into a cutting-edge tech hub.
The list can be found in the Hollywood Reporter's August 26 issue, which is now available online.
Study: Global Warming Means Smoggier Autumns In US Southeast
A new study finds that the drier, warmer autumn weather we see more of due to climate change may extend summer smog well into the fall in the Southeast United States.
Research published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also suggests a culprit for the smog that many people might not expect: it's the lush woodlands that give much of the South a lovely green canopy. That's because of a natural defense mechanism trees use to protect their leaves from drought conditions.
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers believe the mechanism kicks in when hot temperatures appear without summer humidity.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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