Federal judge shuts down Virginia NAACP’s request

. A federal judge in Virginia has refused to extend voting hours to accommodate the record voter turnout today. The judge also refused to re-allocate voting machines to areas where high voter turnout it expected. In response to a lawsuit filed by the NAACP last week, a federal judge in Virginia has ruled that the state will not be forced to schedule longer voting hours and reallocate some voting machines to Black precincts. The lawsuit charged that the state of Virginia was not prepared for today’s election, where record turnout is expected. Read the rest here.

NAACP lawsuit to be heard today. The Virginia NAACP lawsuit that charges the state officials with not being ready to handle the onslaught of voters expected to hit the polls to cast their ballots on Tuesday will be heard in federal court today. State officials say they are prepared to handle voters, who have increased by 11 percent over the number registered for the last presidential election. They say they have added equipment and poll workers. The lawsuit seeks to increase election equipment in areas where heavy turnout is expected.

Pre-election dirty tricks break out nationwide.  Everything from confusing flyers and e-mails to disturbing phone calls are among the dirty tricks being tried to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. Much of it has a racial tone. Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia, where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions, reports The Associated Press. In Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections – one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats. Tuesday is the official national Election Day for all voters. Read about the other dirty tricks going on across the nation here.

NAACP puts voting readiness lawsuit on hold. The NAACP says it would seek an immediate hearing on the lawsuit it filed to challenge wither the state of Virginia, an important battleground state in the upcoming election, has done enough to prepare for the potential onslaught of new voters expected to show up on Nov. 4, reports Virginia’s NBC29. The Virginia chapter of the venerable civil rights group filed the lawsuit earlier this week, asking that the state to increase the number of voting machines in places where heavy turnout is expected and lengthen the amount of time voters get to vote by another two hours. The nation’s first Black governor, L. Douglas Wilder, who is now the mayor or Richmond, Va., had also asked the state to extend voting ours by three hours. However, Gov. Kaine has said that the stat has adequately prepared for the increased number of voters expected to hit the polls for the presidential election on Tuesday. “We’ve taken big precincts, which maybe had too many people, and divided them into smaller precincts so the lines would be shorter,” Kaine said. The NAACP did not say why the organization changed its mind and decided not to ask for a hearing on its lawsuit Thursday or why it decided not to withdraw their complaint all together. While the NAACP did not make a statement, the organization reported is not planning to pursue the lawsuit any further until they find out how things go on Election Day. Get more election headlines here.

U.S. soldiers deaths in Iraq War at all-time low. Finally, some good news about the Iraq War. U.S. deaths are at an all-time low over a month-long period, according to Pentagon figures. In fact, October could well be the first month in which no U.S. service members were killed in combat in Baghdad.  All told, as of Thursday, the Pentagon had reported 13 U.S. troops killed in combat and non-combat incidents this month in Iraq. If the number holds, thought, the number of deaths would tie July for the lowest monthly U.S. death toll of the 5½-year-old war. The war has claimed 4,189 U.S. service men and women since it started.

Bra-stuffing senator is allegedly taped accepting bribes.

She was allegedly caught on tape stuffing bribe money into her bra. Now, federal authorities are investigating who else may have been involved in the scandal. Embattled Boston area state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson – an eight-term incumbent – was arrested at her Roxbury home and charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes, including 10 $100 bills that she was videotaped allegedly stuffing into her bra during a meeting at a tony Boston restaurant last June, reports ABC News. The federal probe into the embattled Massachusetts state senator has expanded to include three Boston City Council members, the state senate president and several state liquor board officials, according to ABC News.  Hours after Wilkerson’s arrest, Boston City Hall was hit with a number of subpoenas and FBI agents assigned to the public corruption unit interviewed City Council President Maureen Feeney and Councilor Chuck Turner. A spokesman for Feeney denied any wrongdoing on the part of the council president. ABC was unable to reach Turner for comment.Former Virginia governor asks for voting-hour extension. Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, who is now mayor of Richmond, Va., is asking the state to extend voting hours to accommodate the record number of voters who are expected to show up at polling places next Tuesday. “Let’s do everything we can now,” he told local media. Wilder is recommending that voting hours be extended three hours, until 10 p.m.  The NAACP also earlier this week filed a lawsuit against Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine that claimed Virginia was not ready to handle the onslaught of new voters. The venerable civil rights group also wants extended voting hours as well as voting machines to be switched around to precincts most likely to have long waiting lines.  State officials say they are prepared to handle all voters who show up on Tuesday. A federal judge hears the NAACP case in Richmond later today.   

NAACP sues Va. over voting preparedness

. The Virginia NAACP sued Gov. Tim Kaine and state election officials on Monday, claiming that the state is “inadequately prepared”  to handle the record numbers of voters expected to turn out in next week’s presidential election. The complaint was filed Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Richmond and says state officials have not set up enough polling sites to keep up with the turnout. “The allocation of polling place resources is plainly irrational, non-uniform and likely discriminatory,” the suit states. Read the rest here.

Whites-only sign lands a man in jail. Police in Niagra Falls, N.Y., have arrested a 52-year-old former longtime city worker who hung a “Whites Only” on a drinking fountain at the Department of Public Works earlier this month. Authorities say that James Curtis was nabbed at his home Friday morning. Later in the day, police announced that he had been arrested on charges of second-degree aggravated harassment, which is classified as a hate crime. Curtis, who worked for the Department of Public Works for 26 years, is scheduled to be arraigned in Niagara Falls City Court this morning. WGRZ-TV in New York reports that investigators were able to track Curtis down by analyzing handwriting samples.

Virginia’s foreclosures triple

The number of foreclosures in Virginia tripled last month over the same period last year. In Prince William County, the jurisdiction with the highest foreclosure rate in the state,  one in every 103 houses is in a state of foreclosure, including default notices, auction sales and bank repossessions, The Washington Post reports. Loudon County is second in line with foreclosures that rose from 378 to 581 – a 54-percent spike, according to RealtyTrac, which monitors filings throughout the country. Loudoun’s foreclosure rate works out to about one of every 169 house. In the more affluent Fairfax County, the foreclosure rate was significantly slower – one of every 226 houses – but still high enough to evoke concerns. In Arlington County’s, one in every 1,357 houses was in a state of foreclosure. Statewide, some 5,745 foreclosures were filed last month. Virginia has the 10th-highest rate in the country last month, RealtyTrac reported. The number of homes in the United States facing foreclosure in July jumped 55 percent from the year before. “Bank repossessions . . . continued to be the fastest-growing segment of foreclosure activity in July,” James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “The sharp rise in [bank repossessions], combined with slow sales, has resulted in a bloated inventory of bank-owned properties for sale.”