The court, in its 71-page ruling, also found Whitmer did not possess the authority to exercise emergency powers under the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act because the act violates the Michigan Constitution.

The ruling concluded the EPGA violated the Michigan Constitution because it delegated to the executive branch the legislative powers of state government and allowed the executive branch to exercise those powers indefinitely.

” … the Governor only possessed the authority or obligation to declare a state of emergency or state of disaster once and then had to terminate that declaration when the Legislature did not authorize an extension; the Governor possessed no authority to redeclare the same state of emergency or state of disaster and thereby avoid the Legislature’s limitation on her authority,” the ruling said.

The ruling said while the EPGA only allows the governor to declare a state of emergency when public safety is imperiled, “public-health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic can be said to imperil public safety.”

McConnell will press forward with on Barrett’s nomination

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 case underscores that the coronavirus is the biggest threat to the confirmation of the current Supreme Court nominee.

Democrats procedurally can’t do anything to stop a confirmation vote on the Senate floor before the Nov. 3 presidential election, McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

But with a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and two Republicans already saying they opposed a confirmation vote for Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett so close to the election, McConnell has a thin margin for a vote.

“Our biggest enemy obviously is the coronavirus, keeping everybody healthy and well and in place to do our job,” McConnell said of the confirmation vote.

Barrett has tested negative for COVID-19, a White House spokesman said Friday morning, adding that the Supreme Court nominee is tested daily.

McConnell suggested the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings, set to begin Oct. 12, could be done remotely, and said that some members have done their interviews and previous hearings remotely.

“This sort of underscores, I think, the need to do that, and every precaution needs to be taken because we don’t anticipate any Democratic support at all, either in committee or in the full Senate, and therefore everybody needs to be in an ‘all hands on deck’ mindset,” McConnell said.

Texas Gov. Abbott sued to block order limiting ballot drop-off sites

AUSTIN, Texas — Two civil and voting rights groups have sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in federal court, arguing that his day-old order limiting counties to one mail-in ballot drop-off location was an unreasonable burden on voting rights.

Making such a late change — closing multiple drop-off sites that had been advertised for weeks in Travis and Harris counties in particular — will lead to voter confusion and undermine public confidence in the Nov. 3 election, the lawsuit argued.

“In the midst of an election that is already underway, forcing such new burdens on voters who relied on a different set of election rules to make their voting plan, is unreasonable, unfair, and unconstitutional,” said the lawsuit, filed late Thursday night in federal court in Austin.

Abbott’s order also could result in ballots not being counted if voters, unable to visit a drop-off location, rely on a “hobbled” postal system to deliver their ballots before voting deadlines pass, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was filed by the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters of Texas and two voters.

— Austin American-Statesman

4-pound mountain lion cub plucked from California fire with burned paws, singed whiskers

Amid grim news from the Northern California fire zone, one furry sight brought yips of excitement this week when emergency responders rescued a lone mountain lion cub from the burn zone of the Zogg fire in Shasta County.

Despite singed whiskers and burned paws, the blue-eyed cub dubbed Capt. Cal is full of personality and can be seen baring his teeth fiercely in photos.

“He’s doing really well,” said Erin Harrison, vice president of marketing for the Oakland Zoo, where Capt. Cal is being kept. “He’s continuing to eat. He’s getting a little fiestier. He’s looking really good.”

When firefighters in Shasta County first spotted the baby, they mistook him for a house cat, said Issac Sanchez, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection captain and spokesman.

Officials loaded the baby into a cardboard box and turned him over to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which transported him to the Oakland Zoo.

At just 4 to 6 weeks old and weighing just under 4 pounds, Capt. Cal is too young and small to return to the wild, Macintyre said. Mountain lions typically stay close to their mothers for two years to learn how to hunt and survive.

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