Travel ban case could test Trump’s reach

Compiled from news services

WASHINGTON— The SupremeCourt may soon decidehow courts are supposed toview presidential power in theage of Donald Trump.

The administration has promised a high court appeal of a ruling blocking the president’s ban on visitors from six majority Muslim countries. The case could be a major test for the young administration and for a court that has its 5-4 conservative majority restored with the confirmation of Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch as the ninth justice.

First, the justices must agree to intervene — something they’ll probably do considering the importance of the issue. If so, then they will be dealing with an area of the law, immigration, where courts have given presidents a lot of leeway.

But the president’s power over immigration is not absolute, and several lower courts have prevented Mr. Trump from putting in place a temporary ban on travel to the U.S. by residents of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The travel policy was first issued a week after Mr. Trump took office on Jan. 20 and then revised following initial unfavorable court rulings. The dispute is unusual because Mr. Trump himself has supplied much of the evidence that opponents said demonstrated that antiMuslim prejudice lay behind the policy.

At issue in the case are statements Mr. Trump made during the campaign, in interviews and in his actions as president.

Hurricane season forecast

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an abovenormal 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season, with five to nine hurricanes — two to four of them Category 3 or stronger. The forecast calls for 11 to 17 tropical systems).

The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins June 1 and runs until Nov. 30.

The weakness or absence of storm-suppressing El Nino climate conditions, combined with above-normal ocean surface temperatures and average or weaker vertical wind shear across the Caribbean and Atlantic Coast are factors pointing to an active hurricane season, said Ben Friedman, acting NOAA administrator.

Commuter rail deadline

WASHINGTON— Four of the nation’s commuter railroads are not on track to meet an end-of-next-year deadline to fully implement a collision-avoidance system Congress required nearly a decade ago.

Three of the country’s largest freight railroads will not be able to finish their systems until 2020, according to reports filed this month with the Federal Railroad Administration.

That’s in spite of lawmakers extending the original deadline for completing positive train control, originally December 2015, to December 2018. A spending bill lawmakers approved earlier this month included $199 million in funding to help the commuter railroads get the equipment installed on locomotives and track, and to train employees.

Most railroads will have their PTC systems complete by the end of next year. Six railroads, however, won’t have PTC fully implemented until 2020: the three freight railroads and three commuter lines:

—Canadian National, a large Canadian freight carrier with extensive operations in the central U.S.

—CSX, the largest freight carrier in the Eastern U.S. and host railroad for Amtrak and commuter lines.

—Norfolk Southern, the primary rival to CSX in the East and also a host of Amtrak and commuter trains.

— Chicago’s Metra, the country’s fourth largest commuter-rail system.

—Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the country’s sixth largest commuter-rail system.

—Florida’s SunRail, a commuter line that serves the Orlando, Fla., area.

Uber CEO’s mother dies

FRESNO, Calif. — The mother of the CEO of the ride-hailing company Uber died in a boat accident Friday evening in Fresno County, the company said.

Bonnie Kalanick, 71, died after the boat she and her husband, Donald, 78, were riding hit a rock in Pine Flat Lake. They are the parents of Travis Kalanick, 40, who founded Uber in 2009.