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Drivers in the Champaign area are being urged to avoid part of Interstate 74 after Illinois State Police shut down a stretch of the eastbound lanes near Interstate 57. Authorities say traffic is currently at a standstill, with significant backups reported in the area. The closure is impacting drivers heading eastbound on I-74 approaching the I-57 interchange.

AP Wire
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A federal judge has upheld North Carolina’s photo voter ID law, setting aside claims by civil rights groups that discrimination against Black and Latino voters warrants striking it down. The decision is a significant win for Republican leaders who initially passed the law in 2018. The ID requirement didn’t get implemented until 2023 because of legal challenges. The NAACP could appeal the decision by Judge Loretta Biggs. Republicans argued the law is race-neutral and contains many more categories of qualifying IDs than was allowed in a 2013 voter ID law that was ultimately struck down. Thirty-six states have voter ID laws.

AP Wire
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A brother and sister have been charged after an explosive device was found outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe says Alen Zheng fled to China with his sister Ann Mary Zheng, who was arrested upon her return to Florida. Alen Zheng is charged with trying to damage government property while unlawfully making and possessing an improvised explosive device. Ann Mary Zheng is charged with witness tampering and being an accessory after the fact by allegedly selling the car he was driving. Kehoe said their mother has been detained pending deportation for overstaying her visa.