Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Kansas Secretary Of State Kris Kobach’s Lead In GOP Governor Primary Cut In Half After Vote Mistake
A spokesman for Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer’s reelection campaign revealed on Thursday that 100 votes for Colyer were found in a western county, meaning that his opponent, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, is currently only 91 votes ahead in the GOP primary. According to the clerk of the county the votes were found in, Shelly Harms, the secretary of state’s office is responsible for the error. She told the Kansas City Star that she submitted 522 votes for Colyer, but the vote total reported for the county was initially 422.
Bryan Caskey, the director of elections who works with Kobach, told the Star that “there was a discrepancy.” His office plans to update the primary’s results online on Friday, including mail-in ballots for the first time. Thousands of provisional ballots have yet to be counted. “[The] discovery of 100 votes for Gov. Colyer that had not previously been counted highlight the need to thoroughly check and double check each vote and to make sure that every legitimate vote is counted in this race,” Colyer’s spokesman Kendall Marr said.
After Colyer called on Kobach to recuse himself from the vote tally process, Kobach said on Thursday night that he plans to do just that. He hasn’t officially done so yet, though.
A Judge Threatened To Hold Jeff Sessions In Contempt Of Court While Halting A Deportation
During a court hearing in which the American Civil Liberties Union was fighting the deportation of two asylum seekers, a federal judge learned that they were already on a plane to El Salvador after being deported. DC District Judge Emmet Sullivan erupted at both the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, calling the deportation “outrageous,” according to The Washington Post. “That someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her?”
Sullivan not only halted the deportation, but he also called the Justice Department demanding the government turn the plane around and bring the two back, CNN reported. Then, he threatened to hold Sessions in contempt of court. Sullivan also ordered that if the two being deported did not return to the U.S., along with Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Lee Francis Cissna and Executive Office for Immigration Review Director James McHenry would all have to appear in court and explain why they should not be held in contempt.
While in court, we found out that the government had deported a client and her young child just hours before, putting their lives at risk.
This directly contradicts the government’s commitment to the court that NO ONE would be removed until tomorrow at the earliest.
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 9, 2018
This disregard for commitments made to the court and the life or death circumstances that these immigrant women and children are facing is beyond unacceptable.
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 9, 2018
Sessions said in June that people seeking asylum cannot cite fleeing domestic and gang violence as reasons for doing so. The ACLU was challenging that on Thursday on behalf of the two deported and ten other plaintiffs.
Police Arrested A Suspect Linked To One Of California’s Current Wildfires
51-year-old Forrest Gordon Clark was arrested for allegedly starting what’s been dubbed the “Holy Fire” in California on Thursday. Since Monday, the blaze has forced the evacuation of 20,000 residents and has so far destroyed a dozen structures, according to fire authorities. Just two weeks ago, Clark reportedly sent a text to a volunteer fire chief that said, “The place is going to burn.”
The suspect has been on Holy Jim Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mike Milligan’s radar for a long time, though. “I’ve been trying for years to get someone to pay attention and nobody has really had the opportunity to do that until now,” Milligan said, adding that he’s known about Clark being dangerous for decades. He’s currently being held in jail on a $1 million bond, with charges of “aggravated arson, arson of inhabited property, arson of forest, criminal threats, two counts of resisting and deterring an executive officer, and arson burning multiple structures,” CNN reported.
The Holy Fire is just one of three that are currently burning across California. It’s only 5 percent contained, schools are closed in multiple counties, and excessive heat warnings continue to be issued.
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