Setback delays Lackawanna County commissioner replacement process
The county court issued an order today, halting the democratic party from interviewing potential replacements.
Funeral arrangements for Scranton FD Lt. Kelly Hopkins
Commissioner Bill Gaughan believes a Supreme Court ruling from 2019 should govern the process, not the home rule charter.
If granted any Democrat could apply for the seat instead of the party picking the nominees.
The democratic party now has until April 7 to show why it is right and Gaughan is wrong.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas Democrats return to state, clearing way for new congressional maps
The Texas House of Representatives reached a quorum on Monday after Democrats returned to Austin ending a two-week standoff with Republicans over proposed congressional maps, potentially clearing the way for Republicans to approve changes that could net Republicans as many as five new House seats next year. The Democrats did not confirm any specific action they plan to take on or off the House floor, but they say that they are going to build a "legal case against the discriminatory map". The new maps are widely expected to be hit by lawsuits if they pass the legislature. "We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation -- reshaping the entire 2026 landscape," Democratic Caucus chair state Rep. Gene Wu said in a statement. "We're returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans' plans than when we left." MORE: Texas Democrats get boost from Obama for blocking GOP redistricting plan At least one House Democrat, state Rep. Aicha Davis, said in a statement Monday she will not be one of the Democrats who would help restore a quorum on the House floor. "I made a commitment to my district that I would fight until the end to keep our representation intact and I'm staying true to my word," Davis said in a statement. After the Texas state legislature began a second special legislative session on Friday and failed still to meet quorum, Republican legislators are expected to try for a quorum Monday and then to work to advance the new maps, which will have to once again pass through the House's redistricting committee and procedural votes. Separately, in California, days after Gov. Gavin Newsom formally announced plans to get new congressional maps to go before voters in November in a counter to Texas, the state legislature will convene on Monday from recess and is set to rapidly work on passing legislation to get the maps on the ballot. Republicans and anti-gerrymandering advocates plan to protest and to call out what they say is an unfair process. Democratic governors in Illinois and New York have also threatened to respond to Texas in kind and a bill in Maryland's Democrat-controlled state House would force the state to change its map if another state proposed a new map mid-decade. Republican-controlled Florida and Missouri are also reportedly considering redistricting before the midterms. The Trump administration has invited Indiana Republicans to the White House next week to hear from senior officials and Cabinet secretaries how they can partner with the administration to support Trump's agenda, according to an invitation reviewed by ABC News. A source with knowledge of the event told ABC News that it's expected that redistricting will be discussed as the White House ramps up pressure on Indiana state lawmakers to redraw congressional districts ahead of next year's midterms. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Indiana earlier this month to discuss redistricting with lawmakers at the state capitol. ABC News' Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.


Fox News
26 minutes ago
- Fox News
Federal appeals court blocks Louisiana's new congressional map in blow to GOP
Print Close By Breanne Deppisch Published August 18, 2025 Judges for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Louisiana's request to allow it to enforce its long-stalled congressional redistricting map, delivering a near-term blow to Republicans in the state by ruling that it amounts to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. All three judges on the bench voted to uphold a lower court's ruling that the map in question — originally passed by Louisiana's Republican-majority legislature in 2022 — violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the votes of Black residents in the state. They also affirmed the district court's ruling that the map in question violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by, "'packing' Black voters into a small number of majority-Black districts, and 'cracking' other Black communities across multiple districts, thereby depriving them of the opportunity to form effective voting blocs." Judges on the panel also rejected the state's contention that conditions in Louisiana have changed enough to render race-conscious remedies obsolete. SUPREME COURT HEARS PIVOTAL LOUISIANA ELECTION MAP CASE AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS "There is no legal basis for this proposition, and the state offers no evidence that conditions in Louisiana have changed" enough to negate that need, the court said in its ruling. One judge on the panel issued a stay before the court's ruling could take force, though the issue is something of a moot point, since the Supreme Court, which is also reviewing the map, had already done so earlier this year. The ruling from the Fifth Circuit, which has a reputation as one of the more conservative appeals courts, is a victory in the near term for the ACLU and other plaintiffs who sued to block the state's map from taking force. Still, any relief for plaintiffs from the appeals court ruling is likely to be short-lived. The Supreme Court in March heard oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, which also centers on the legality of Louisiana's redistricting map and whether race should be considered a factor in drawing new congressional districts. Oral arguments then focused heavily on whether Louisiana's redistricting efforts were narrowly tailored enough to meet constitutional requirements and whether race was used in a way that violated the law, as the appellees alleged. The Supreme Court in June said it would hear additional arguments in the case in the fall term, citing the need for more information before it could issue a ruling. SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO BLOCK MISSISSIPPI SOCIAL MEDIA AGE-RESTRICTION LAW, FOR NOW Earlier this month, justices ordered both parties to file supplemental briefs by mid-September, outlining in further detail arguments for and against Louisiana's proposed map and whether the intentional creation of a second majority-Black congressional district "violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution." The careful consideration from the Supreme Court is the clearest sign yet that redistricting issues remain top of mind in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections and beyond. It also comes at a pivotal time in the U.S., as new and politically charged redistricting fights have popped up in other states ahead of next year's midterm elections. Louisiana, for its part, has revised its congressional map twice since the 2020 census. 'BRAZENLY UNLAWFUL': DC OFFICIALS ESCALATE FIGHT WITH TRUMP OVER POLICE TAKEOVER The first version, which included only one majority-Black district, was blocked by a federal court in 2022. The court sided with the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP and other plaintiffs, ruling the map diluted Black voting power and ordering the state to redraw it by January 2024. The new map, S.B. 8, created the second Black-majority district. But it was almost immediately challenged by a group of non-Black plaintiffs in court, who took issue with a new district that stretched some 250 miles from Louisiana's northwest corner of Shreveport to Baton Rouge, in the state's southeast. They argued in their lawsuit that the state violated the equal protection clause by relying too heavily on race to draw the maps and created a "sinuous and jagged second majority-Black district." The intense court fights in Louisiana underscore the broader redistricting battles playing out in Republican- and Democrat-led states across the country, as they spar over new congressional maps with an eye to the looming midterm elections. In Texas, tensions reached a fever pitch after Democratic state legislators fled the Lone Star State to block Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's ability to convene a legislative quorum to pass the state's aggressive new redistricting map, which would create five additional Republican-leaning districts. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by introducing a new map of his own that favors Democrats. The move highlights how both parties are engaged in aggressive redistricting battles, with Republican-led states pushing maps to defend the GOP's slim House majority and Democrats seeking to expand their own advantages. As with most midterms following a new president's election, 2026 is expected to serve as a referendum on the White House — raising GOP concerns that they could lose control of the chamber. AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, for her part, vowed at a press conference earlier this month to explore "every option" in redrawing state lines. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "We are at war," Hochul said, speaking alongside the Texas Democrats who fled to her state. Print Close URL
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former Green Bay School Board member Rick Crosson announces run for 8th Congressional District
Former Green Bay School Board member Rick Crosson will challenge U.S. Rep. Tony Wied to represent Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, according to two Aug. 18 posts made on Crosson's Facebook account linked to recently filed campaign finance documents. Crosson is running as a Democrat in the 2026 election that's over a year away, according to campaign finance documents filed on Aug. 14 to the Federal Election Commission. He is the second Democrat to announce their candidacy against the incumbent Wied in the 2026 election; Mark Scheffler of Appleton had filed his campaign documents on Aug. 1. Crosson did not immediately respond to an interview request from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. His post to Facebook, however, listed five bulleted points that presumably outline his campaign platform, highlighting: "Leadership that unites and delivers results; economic security; health care as a right; strong educational agenda; fierce defense of our democratic institutions." Crosson previously served on the Green Bay School Board for a year after being appointed in 2024. While on the board, he wrote a job description to guide this year's superintendent search, moved the district's strategic plan forward and voted against changes to diversity, equity and inclusion-related language after the federal Department of Education came down against DEI. He ran for election for a full three-year term in April but came in fifth of six candidates. As a school board candidate, Crosson received donations from the Brown County Democrats and the Green Bay Education Association, as well as in-kind consulting services and other support from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. While campaigning, Crosson was briefly endorsed by both Brown County Democrats and Republicans; however, in late February, Republicans changed their endorsement to Alex Mineau. The endorsement change came after Crosson publicly opposed changes to DEI-related language in district job descriptions, though it's not clear whether the two were related. After Green Bay School Board member Kou Lee resigned in May amid a Green Bay Press-Gazette investigation into his eligibility for office, Crosson applied to be reappointed to the board. The final vote in June was between him and Samantha Meister, an associate professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The School Board selected Meister after an initial tied vote. Wied has criticized in recent weeks the local Democratic Party of Brown County for alleged threats made in the spring against his office. The U.S. Capitol Police has not yet replied to the Green Bay Press-Gazette's request to view reports of those alleged threats. Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-834-4250 or jlin@ This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Rick Crosson announces run for Congress as Democrat against Tony Wied Solve the daily Crossword