Bracing for an impending Supreme Court decision that could limit the reach of the Voting Rights Act, liberal legal experts and advocates are assessing what to do if the court strikes down a central part of the law.Addressing the annual convention of the liberal lawyers’ group the American Constitution Society, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a pioneer of the civil rights movement, told an audience of more...

A lighthouse built in 1799, an airport terminal that helped launch the 747 and the world’s first domed, air-conditioned sports stadium. Separated by miles, styles and disparate histories, they have one thing in common.On Wednesday, they were named three of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). Now in its 26th year, the list spotligh...

As the latest twist in the search for the body of Jimmy Hoffa commenced in a field north of Detroit on Monday, it continued a nearly 40-year fascination with Hoffa’s disappearance. Many remain curious as to what exactly happened to the late president of the Teamsters union despite the fact that there is a generation of people who may not exactly remember what he was famous for in the first place. ...

NEW ORLEANS — A 13-year-old boy from a New Orleans suburb was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old half-sister after investigators said he told them he repeatedly struck her with wrestling moves imitated from TV."The 13-year-old reported he started to wrestle with the victim and practiced 'WWE' style wrestling moves on the 5-year-old," Col. John Fortunato of the Jeffers...

By Amber Payne, Producer, NBC NewsTOLEDO, Ohio -- It’s the 14th straight year of low water levels for the $34 billion shipping industry that relies on the Great Lakes.And for ships like the Mesabi Miner, that comes at a great cost.On a recent Saturday the vessel drifted through the Detroit River and docked in Toledo, where the crew began the eight-hour process of unloading 66,000 tons of iron ore,...

The possibilities when it comes to marketing meat made from marijuana-fed animals are close to endless, but the man who came up with the idea has decided to simply call them “Pot Pigs.”William von Scheneidau, owner and founder of BB Ranch in Seattle, didn’t come up with the idea to feed pigs and other animals weed while sitting around a bong in the basement with his buddies.In fact, he doesn’t eve...

Michael Hastings, the journalist best known for the 2010 Rolling Stone story that led to the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, died Tuesday in a car crash in Los Angeles, his employers at BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone announced.He was 33."We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone," BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith said in a statement Tuesday evening. "Michael wa...

Ever since Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs, he has sometimes been called a whistle-blower. But is he?Those who believe he has shed light on improper government actions say he deserves to be called one. But there seems little doubt that he cannot claim legal whistle-blower protection.For starters, the general whistle-blower laws...

The National Security Agency is reviewing whether to stop collecting a vast stockpile of records of Americans’ telephone calls — the most controversial component of its surveillance programs— by allowing telecommunications companies to retain the data until U.S. intelligence officials have a specific reason to review it for possible connections to terror plots, U.S. officials said TuesdayThe NSA’s...