Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I’ve been wondering about his fate: “Travis King, the U.S. Army private who intentionally ran across the border into North Korea this summer, is in U.S. custody in China, United States officials said Wednesday, shortly after the isolated East Asian country said it would expel the soldier.”
* The expected plea: “Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., pleaded not guilty before a federal judge in New York on Wednesday to corruption charges alleging that he and his wife used his influence to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.”
* A bill worth watching: “The Senate Banking Committee took a historic step Wednesday by advancing marijuana-related legislation to the floor for the first time. The legislation, known as the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act, would allow legal marijuana businesses to use major financial and banking institutions.”
* In Montana: “A Montana law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors is temporarily blocked, a state judge ruled Wednesday, just four days before it was to take effect. District Court Judge Jason Marks agreed with transgender youth, their families and healthcare providers that a law passed by the 2023 Montana Legislature is likely unconstitutional and would harm the mental and physical health of minors with gender dysphoria.”
* The latest White House vetoes: “President Joe Biden has vetoed Republican-sponsored bills intended to undo federal protections for two endangered species that have seen their populations plummet over the years: the lesser prairie chicken and northern long-eared bat.”
* In Louisiana: “President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that federal disaster assistance is available for Louisiana, which is working to slow a mass inflow of salt water creeping up the Mississippi River and threatening drinking water supplies in the southern part of the state.”
* Hmm: “A federal magistrate judge in California has ordered a pair of top Trump administration officials to testify in a 2021 lawsuit that migrant parents and children filed against the U.S. government for separating them at the southern border.”
* Noted without comment: “Fox host Mark Levin on Trump’s growing legal troubles: ‘Isn’t it amazing to you that he never wins a case? Is it because he’s just wrong all the time?’”
See you tomorrow.