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Thursday's Mini-Report, 6.25.15

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:
 
* South Carolina: "Police officers stood guard and checked bags as hundreds of people filed into a church Thursday for the first funeral for victims of the massacre at a historic black church."
 
* More from South Carolina: "A Post and Courier poll shows the S.C. House is inching toward the majority necessary to the remove the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds. The Senate has already surpassed that support level."
 
* Action is not limited to the state level: "The National Park Service moved Wednesday to stop sales of the Confederate flag in federal parks, the Loop has learned."
 
* ISIS: "The militants of the Islamic State carried out two new offensives in northern Syria on Thursday, entering a provincial capital and detonating large bombs in the border town of Kobani, where intensive airstrikes by a United States-led coalition helped Kurdish forces rout the jihadists last year."
 
* This case can get crazier: "Another employee at the upstate New York prison where two inmates escaped earlier this month has been arrested, officials said Wednesday."
 
* That was quick: "A Kansas judge on Thursday blocked the state's first-in-the-nation ban on an abortion procedure that opponents refer to as 'dismemberment abortion.'"
 
* TAA: "The House gave final approval on Thursday to a significant expansion of aid to workers displaced by global competition, sending to President Obama the second half of a trade package that House Democrats had dramatically rejected just two weeks ago."
 
* Stunning allegations out of Baltimore: "Former Baltimore police officer Michael Wood spoke out on Twitter about the horrifying acts of abuse he saw during his time on the force, reinforcing many of the concerns raised by the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody and the Baltimore Police Department's broader history of brutality."
 
* North Carolina: "A predominately black church in North Carolina was intentionally set ablaze, authorities said. Charlotte fire officials are looking into whether Wednesday morning's arson at Briar Creek Baptist Church was a hate crime, NBC station WCNC reported. "
 
* Some good economic news: "Consumer spending surged 0.9% in May to mark the biggest gain in six years, as consumers splurged on new autos but also spent more to fill up their gas tanks. Spending for April and March were also raised a bit, according to revised figures from the Commerce Department."
 
* Confirmations: "The Senate, by voice vote confirmed six ambassadors Wednesday afternoon to fill openings in several key European countries -- two [of] them on Russia's borders and one on Ukraine's western border."
 
* The White House has formally endorsed the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Good.
 
* California: "On Thursday lawmakers in the California State Assembly passed SB 277, a bill mandating that children in day care or school be vaccinated. The bill, which received 46 yeas and 30 noes, eliminates the personal-belief and religious exemptions, leaving intact only the medical exemption. Now the bill is in the hands of Gov. Jerry Brown, who is expected to sign it into law."
 
* And Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) probably didn't mean to smear a government contractor in a case of mistaken identity, confusing two people with the same name, but that's apparently what he did.
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.