Utah News - 5/3/2016

Nevada News - 5/3/2016

Johnson & Johnson to pay $55M in second talc-powder cancer lawsuit

A jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $55 million to a woman who claims talc in the company’s baby powder caused her ovarian cancer.

On Monday, a jury in St. Louis, awarded Gloria Ristesund $5 million in damages and $50 million in punitive damages, Reuters reported.

Read more: http://democratsforever.freeforums.net/thread/7776/johnson-second-talc-powder-cancer

Arizona News - 5/3/2016

Virginia News - Poor Jim Filmore can't even get elected as delegate to RNC

West Virginia News - 5/3/2016

South Carolina News - 5/3/2016

Voters down on HB2; Democrats Cooper and Stein lead in new poll

A new polling firm called RABA Research (RABA for Red America, Blue America) finds that half of North Carolina voters disapprove of the new law commonly known as House Bill 2.

The poll also has Attorney General Roy Cooper and former state Sen. Josh Stein, both Democrats, leading in their races for governor and attorney general.

Read more: http://democratsforever.freeforums.net/thread/7741/voters-democrats-cooper-stein-lead

My commentary is at the link.

Charlotte city manager wants 1% property tax increase to hire police

To pay for 50 new police officers, Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee has recommended a small property tax increase in the upcoming year’s budget, which was unveiled Monday.

But City Council could choose another path, if it’s wary of raising the tax rate for the third time in four years.

One option is to increase the fees people pay for garbage collection, while another is to eliminate trash collection for apartments.

Read more: http://democratsforever.freeforums.net/thread/7739/charlotte-manager-wants-property-increase

My commentary is included at the link.

For businesses backing HB2, privacy and religious freedom

Before North Carolina’s House Bill 2 passed, Lighthouse Electric owner Judy Hale said she and her husband were considering moving the electrical contracting business from Charlotte to Fort Mill because they opposed Charlotte’s newly passed nondiscrimination ordinance.

-snip-

Businesses that support HB2, like the legislators who ushered the measure into law, largely focus on its bathroom provision, which mandates that transgender people use the bathroom of the gender that corresponds with their birth certificate instead of the gender with which they identify, as the Charlotte ordinance would have allowed.

After House Bill 2 passed on March 23, scores of major corporations, performing artists, colleges and religious institutions came out against the measure, which they say discriminates against LGBT individuals.

A smaller but equally passionate smattering of North Carolina businesses have come out in favor of the measure, saying it lets business owners make their own decisions. Many of them appear on KeepNCSafe.org’s list of businesses that support the measure. Over 300 favor it, the group says, though it only gives the names of 68 because of “vocal threats and bullying from the LGBT community.”

Read more: http://democratsforever.freeforums.net/thread/7740/businesses-backing-privacy-religious-freedom

The issue of bathroom mandates has taken on some importance within my family. My commentary is provided at the link.