Supreme Court lets Alabama pursue 2023 House map

May 12, 2026

Summary

The Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to pursue its 2023 congressional map and sent the case back to a lower court.

Why this matters

The decision could affect how Alabama’s seven U.S. House districts are drawn before the 2026 midterms. It also reflects the court’s recent shift in how Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act applies to redistricting disputes.

The Supreme Court on Monday let Alabama move toward using its 2023 congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In a divided decision in three appeals over Alabama’s House districts, the court set aside lower court rulings that had blocked the Republican-drawn map, which has one majority-Black district. The justices sent the cases back to the lower court for further proceedings in light of the court’s ruling last month that narrowed the reach of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The vote appeared to be 6-3. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

Sotomayor wrote that vacating the district court’s decisions was “inappropriate and will cause only confusion as Alabamians begin to vote in the elections scheduled for next week.”

Alabama lawmakers adopted the 2023 map after the Supreme Court ruled earlier that year that a 2021 redistricting plan likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The 2023 map, like the 2021 plan, included one majority-Black district out of seven.

The map now in use, adopted by a three-judge district court panel for the 2024 elections, includes two majority-Black districts. Alabama’s congressional delegation is made up of five Republicans and two Democrats.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling last month involving Louisiana’s congressional map, Alabama asked the justices to act quickly. In Alabama, where the primary is scheduled for May 19, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a measure authorizing a special election in districts whose boundaries would change if the state is allowed to return to the 2023 map.

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lejeune lead

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North Carolina health officials said they were monitoring a hantavirus outbreak aboard the M/V Hondius after federal officials confirmed that one North Carolina resident was on board.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the person was evacuated with other remaining U.S. passengers to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit.

Officials said they would not release more details about the individual to protect privacy.

There were no current hantavirus cases in North Carolina, and state health officials said the risk of infection in the state remained extremely low.

The department said the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were coordinating with state, federal, and international partners. Federal health authorities will determine when passengers return to their home states.

Officials said all passengers will be monitored for symptoms for 42 days after their last possible exposure, whether they remain in Nebraska or return home.

NCDHHS said the virus involved was Andes virus, the only hantavirus known to spread from person to person, generally through close, prolonged contact. State health officials said Andes virus is not known to occur naturally in the United States.

People usually contract hantavirus through contact with rodents, including exposure to urine, droppings, or saliva. Symptoms can develop four to 42 days after exposure and may include fever, fatigue, deep muscle aches, and, in some cases, severe respiratory distress.

Officials said there was no specific treatment for hantavirus infection, and patients should receive supportive care, including rest, hydration, and treatment of symptoms.

Hantavirus cases are rare in North Carolina, with one case reported in 1995. More information is available on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and CDC hantavirus webpages.
Lejeune Community

Jacksonville woman faces kidnapping, assault charges

The suspect was being held without bond at the Onslow County Jail. Her court date was set for Tuesday, May 12.

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A Jacksonville woman was accused of kidnapping and assaulting a pregnant woman during an incident Monday, according to Jacksonville Police Department warrants.

Amy Feterowski, 34, was arrested May 11 and charged with felony second-degree kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a pregnant woman, simple assault, and three counts of assault on a government official, records show.

According to the warrants, Feterowski restrained the woman without her consent, held her at gunpoint, placed her in a headlock, and forced her down a hallway into another room while pointing a pistol.

Authorities said the woman was pregnant at the time. The warrants said Feterowski pushed on the woman’s stomach while she was on the floor, causing pain.

Police also said another person was injured while trying to disarm Feterowski during the incident.

During her arrest, officers said Feterowski tried to bite multiple Jacksonville police officers.
Lejeune Community

Holly Ridge expands fire coverage with 24-hour staff

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Holly Ridge expanded fire protection services by adding 24-hour paid staffing to the Holly Ridge Volunteer Fire Department for the first time.

Town leaders said recent budget increases allowed the town to hire full-time firefighters, giving the department around-the-clock coverage and improving response capabilities.

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Museveni begins new term as son gains influence

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 81, will be sworn in Tuesday for another five-year term, extending a rule that began in 1986.

As Museveni starts what many Ugandans see as one of his final terms, attention has shifted to his son, army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who led rehearsals for the military parade marking Museveni’s eighth inauguration in Kampala.

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Latin America

Bolivia reissues warrant after Morales misses trial

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A Bolivian judge reissued an arrest warrant for former President Evo Morales on Monday after he did not appear for the start of his trial in Tarija on charges of trafficking a minor.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Morales’s “unjustified absence” confirmed his fugitive status and warranted an arrest order and a travel ban. The hearing was suspended.

Morales is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. The girl’s parents are accused of consenting to the relationship in exchange for favors from Morales. He has denied the accusations.

Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, governed from 2006 to 2019. He has remained in his coca-growing political stronghold of Chapare since late 2024, guarded by supporters who have said they would resist any attempt to arrest him.

Authorities first issued an arrest warrant for Morales in October 2024, but did not carry it out after his supporters blocked roads for 24 days, preventing officers from reaching the region where he was staying.

A court had already found Morales in contempt in January 2025 after he missed a pretrial detention hearing.

Wilfredo Chavez, one of Morales’s lawyers, told Agence France-Presse on Friday that neither Morales nor his lawyers would appear because they had not been “properly notified.” Chavez said the court had not sent the summons to Morales’s address and instead served it through an edict.

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Pakistan hosted Iranian aircraft during crisis, CBS reported

A senior Pakistani official rejected the claims.

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Pakistan allowed Iranian military aircraft to park at its airfields during the recent U.S.-Iran crisis while also acting as a diplomatic intermediary between Washington and Tehran, according to CBS News.

CBS reported that U.S. officials said multiple Iranian aircraft were sent to Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan, outside Rawalpindi, days after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran. The aircraft reportedly included an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the C-130 Hercules.

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U.S. stock futures fell early Tuesday as investors awaited April consumer inflation data for signals on the economy and the path of Federal Reserve interest rates.

Stocks ended slightly higher Monday, with gains in semiconductor shares helping lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record highs.

Markets were focused on the April Consumer Price Index report, due Tuesday morning. Economists expect consumer prices to have risen 3.7% in April.

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Study finds amoeba in Yellowstone, Grand Teton

No infections or deaths had been linked to the sampled sites.

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A study published in ES&T Water found Naegleria fowleri, often called the “brain-eating amoeba,” in water samples from three of five recreation areas surveyed in the western U.S., including Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

The study, conducted between 2016 and 2024 by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Montana State University, and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, tested 185 samples from 40 thermally affected areas at Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Olympic National Park, and Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Researchers detected Naegleria fowleri in 63 samples, or 34%. Olympic National Park in Washington and Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Oregon tested negative.

The organism was found in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Lake Mead. In Grand Teton, researchers reported a positive sample in 2019 at Granite Hot Spring, in the pool above the recreational area. At Lake Mead, four of five hot spring sample sites tested positive between 2018 and 2019: Blue Point, Boy Scout, Nevada, and Roger’s.

Naegleria fowleri lives in soil and warm freshwater, including lakes, rivers, ponds, and hot springs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infection can occur when contaminated water enters the nose and reaches the brain, causing primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Fewer than 10 people in the U.S. die each year from the infection, the agency said.

The CDC said 167 cases were reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, and four people survived. Symptoms can begin with headache, fever, and nausea, then progress to confusion, seizures, coma, and death, often within seven to 10 days.

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End-to-end encrypted messaging began rolling out in beta Monday for conversations between iPhone and Android users running the latest software.

The feature is designed to make messages harder for hackers, governments, or platform companies to read while they are in transit. Until now, messages sent between iPhone and Android devices could not be end-to-end encrypted, though Apple’s iMessage has used encryption since its 2011 launch, and Android users have been able to send encrypted messages to one another since 2021.

The update follows Apple’s adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS), a messaging standard that adds features including typing indicators, read receipts, emoji reactions, longer message lengths, and encryption. Apple had not supported RCS since 2020, but added support in 2023.

Before that change, texts between iPhone and Android users often caused problems in group chats and reduced photo and video quality. Google had pressed Apple to adopt RCS, and the divide between iPhone “blue bubbles” and Android “green bubbles” became a recognizable part of the debate over cross-platform texting.
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‘Stolen valor’ claims draw scrutiny on Capitol Hill

“Stolen valor” refers to falsely claiming military honors or wearing unearned medals. Under some circumstances, it can be a crime under the Stolen Valor Act.

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Questions about politicians’ military records have surfaced on Capitol Hill and in several states.

During a House committee hearing in late April, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., accused Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., of “stolen valor” and entered documents into the record to support her claims.

Mills denied the allegation, accused Mace of slander and defamation, and entered Army records that he said verified his awards.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also faced scrutiny in 2024 after Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. The claims centered on a 2018 video in which Walz said he carried weapons in war, despite never seeing active combat. The campaign later walked back the statement.

In Maryland, questions about Gov. Wes Moore’s military record have persisted since a 2022 report by Fox 45 in Baltimore highlighted discrepancies, including a Bronze Star medal listed on a 2006 White House fellowship application that was not included in his official military file.

At the time, Moore called the report a “smear campaign.” Two years later, The New York Times obtained a copy of the application, which said in part, “for my work, the 82nd airborne division have awarded me the Bronze Star medal.” Moore later called the claim an “honest mistake.” He was formally awarded the Bronze Star in December 2024.

Spotlight on Maryland’s investigative team also reported gaps and delays in Moore’s military record.

Moore has declined calls to release all of his military and academic records. His Republican challengers in the governor’s race have said they would release their own records to contrast with his decision.

Vatz said Moore’s Bronze Star controversy was unlikely to threaten his bid for a second term, but said the issue could carry broader national implications. President Trump has also accused Moore of “stolen valor,” saying Moore allowed that misconception to stand for more than a decade.