New York City
Closing in on the NRA: Efforts by New York state to shut down the National Rifle Association moved forward this week when a Dallas federal judge dismissed the NRA’s petition for bankruptcy protection. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil suit last year accusing the gun-rights organization’s leader, Wayne LaPierre, of misusing charitable donations for lavish personal spending. LaPierre tried to move the
NRA to Texas and sidestep the suit by filing for bankruptcy there in January. He said bankruptcy protection was necessary to survive a “barrage of litigation.” Judge Harlin Hale in Dallas dismissed the NRA’s petition, saying the group was not acting in good faith, but using bankruptcy court to gain “unfair litigation advantage” against New York regulators. James’ lawyer in Texas, Gerrit Pronske, told the court there that LaPierre had “plenty of cash.” LaPierre had assured NRA members in a letter, “The NRA is not ‘bankrupt.’”
Southeastern U.S.
Gasoline panic: Gas pumps ran dry at stations from Florida to Virginia this week after a ransomware attack forced the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies nearly half of the East Coast’s fuel. (See Technology, p.22.) The Biden administration eased environmental and labor rules to speed up fuel deliveries to areas facing shortages. “We have gasoline,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. “We just have to get it to the right places.” Colonial Pipeline said it hoped to restart most operations by week’s end. Four states—Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida—declared a state of emergency. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged people not to “top off your tanks.” Drivers lined up anyway, with panic buying exacerbating the supply shortage, and demand for gasoline across the region was up by 40 percent. “I don’t know when (more gas) is coming,” Glenda Wendt said, waiting to fill up in Duplin County, North Carolina.
“Nobody else has any.”