Joining high court, the real Neil Gorsuch set to stand up

April 9, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON

Somewhere between the Republican caricature of the next justice of the Supreme Court as a folksy family guy and the Democrats’ demonization of him as a cold-hearted automaton, stands Neil Gorsuch.

Largely unknown six months ago, Gorsuch has seen his life story, personality and professional career explored in excruciating detail since he was nominated by President Donald Trump 10 weeks ago.

The portrait that emerges is more nuanced than the extremes drawn by his supporters and critics. Gorsuch is widely regarded as a warm and collegial family man, boss and jurist, loyal to his employees and kind to those of differing viewpoints. He also has been shown to be a judge who takes such a “rigidly neutral” approach to the law that it can lead to dispassionate rulings with sometimes brutal results.

Delta cancels more flights days after storm disruptions

ATLANTA

Delta Air Lines is still canceling flights three days after severe thunderstorms caused big disruptions at its hub airport in Atlanta.

Delta said in a statement on its website that it cancelled about 275 flights Saturday “with some additional cancellations possible.” That’s on top of roughly 3,000 flight cancellations earlier in the week.

The trouble started Wednesday as powerful thunderstorms moved across Georgia and other states in the Southeast, grounding many flights. About 60 percent of Delta’s planes use the Atlanta airport on an average day, and the airline says it’s still getting planes and crews into position to resume their normal flight schedule.

Not so silent night: Dallas emergency siren system hacked

DALLAS

Dallas’ emergency siren system was hacked overnight, resulting in them sporadically sounding for about an hour and a half and forcing officials to have to shut down the system, they said Saturday.

The person or people responsible were able to hack into a part of the system that was communicating with all 156 of the city’s sirens, Rocky Vaz, who heads the city’s Office of Emergency Management, said at a news conference.

He said his office eventually had to shut down the system, which is used to alert people to shelter indoors during severe weather. Technicians are trying to determine how to bring the system back online without the risk of it being hacked again, he said. In the meantime, the public has access to other alert systems, including reverse 911.

Ala. governor faces impeachment hearings after ruling

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley will face impeachment hearings beginning Monday after the state Supreme Court gave lawmakers the greenlight to move ahead with an effort to oust the governor, who is fighting to stay in office amid fallout from an affair with a top aide.

The Alabama Supreme Court on Saturday reversed a victory for Bentley when a judge Friday blocked impeachment proceedings. After the high court’s ruling, the House Judiciary Committee announced plans to proceed with hearings Monday.

Bentley, a 74-year-old dermatologist and former Baptist deacon, has been engulfed in a sex scandal since recordings surfaced in 2016 of him making suggestive remarks to a female aide before he and his wife of 50 years got divorced.

Associated Press