Supreme Court refuses for now to shield Yeshiva University in battle with LGBTQ club
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote said Wednesday that it will not shield Yeshiva University from a state court order that requires it to recognize an LGBTQ student group on campus. The temporary order allows the legal battle to continue in New York.
On Friday evening, Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an administrative order that temporarily shielded the Orthodox Jewish university, which objects to recognizing the YU Pride Alliance. She acted on her own as the justice who handles emergency appeals from New York.
But when the full court considered the appeal, the majority decided the university should have lodged an appeal with the New York state courts, rather than seeking emergency relief from the justices.
If those appeals fail, the university may return to the high court, the justices said. "If applicants seek and receive neither expedited review nor interim relief from the New York courts, they may return to this court," they said.
—Los Angeles Times
Threats against Texas schools terrify parents, heighten safety concerns
FORT WORTH, Texas — Parents are keeping their children out of school and districts are on high alert this week after threats were made against at least 12 school districts across Texas, leading to multiple arrests and classes being canceled.
The startling spate of threats, made via phone and social media, come just months after a mass shooting in Uvalde sparked statewide debates on school safety, mental health and gun control. The threats also come the same week the Texas School Safety Center began conducting random safety audits at the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott, to ensure exterior school doors were properly locked and secured.
In videos circulating on social media, armed law enforcement officers were seen Tuesday entering classrooms in Houston, where students raised their hands and hid under desks. A similar situation unfolded in Waco, though the searches ultimately found no danger.
Disruptions continued Wednesday, with classes in Thorndale schools being canceled as a result of threats and police investigating threats against schools in Amarillo and Aldine. Threats in Dallas and Fort Worth earlier this week also were found to be false alarms, although increased police presence was added as a precaution.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Artificially cooling the ocean won’t help us combat hurricanes, according to study
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Though it’s a nice idea, artificially cooling ocean surfaces won’t do much to stop the destructive power of a hurricane. The news comes from a recent study by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science.
“Massive amounts of artificially cooled water would be needed for only a modest weakening in hurricane intensity before landfall,” said the study’s lead author James Hlywiak, in a release. He added that that weakening would not necessarily decrease inland damages and safety risks. The idea of using cool water to cut the knees out from under a hurricane makes a lot of sense.
Hurricanes form and strengthen, in part, because of warm ocean water above 79 degrees. And scientists know that slow-moving hurricanes sometimes weaken themselves — they produce so much wind that cool water is pulled up from the deep, and zaps some of the storm’s energy. In theory, if humans could aid this cool upwelling process we could dampen a storm.
The goal of the UM study was to figure out just how much cooler surface water would be needed to cause a noticeable impact on hurricane intensity.
—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
In London, grief sometimes comes with a corporate sheen
LONDON — On Sept. 9, one day after Queen Elizabeth II died, a Twitter user posted an image of a McDonald's touch-to-order screen, the fast food restaurant's usual interface replaced with a somber black-and-white headshot of the queen.
Beneath the golden arches logo, text read: "HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 1926-2022."
The photo on Twitter turned out to be fake, but the social media post went viral because it was the perfect parody of the black-and-white headshots of the queen that have become ubiquitous in the U.K. It amassed over 30,000 likes, with commenters using it to chat about the most unexpected places they had seen Queen Elizabeth's face. One person saw her on a similar touchscreen at their local co-op. Another said he saw her on bus tickets in Oxford.
Other fast-food restaurants displayed tributes. A KFC near Piccadilly Circus in London displayed a message on LED screens that would have otherwise displayed ads for chicken: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, and our thoughts are with the Royal Family. Our restaurant will be closed during the State Funeral as we mourn Her Majesty's passing."
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
