Judge strikes down Michigan abortion law; Biden plans to channel Kennedy; Lainey Wilson leads CMA Awards nominations | Hot off the Wire podcast

A judge has struck down Michigan’s 1931 anti-abortion law, months after suspending it last spring. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher of the Court of Claims said the law violates the Michigan Constitution. It was long dormant before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have unveiled their official White House portraits. President Joe Biden on Wednesday hosted a ceremony at the White House where America’s first Black president and first lady revealed portraits with a modern vibe.

Operators of California’s electricity grid say a miscommunication led to a small number of power shutoffs as the power system was under great strain. 

New York state is dropping its mask requirement on public transportation thanks in part to the availability of new booster shots targeting the most common strain of COVID-19.

Civil rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of three transgender Oklahoma schoolchildren against the state’s new anti-transgender school bathroom bill.

Seattle Public Schools canceled Wednesday’s first day of school after teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike over issues that include pay, mental health support, and staffing ratios for special education and multilingual students.

Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II has postponed a meeting of senior governmental advisers known as the Privy Council after doctors advised her to rest.

President Joe Biden will highlight his plans for drastically reducing cancer deaths and boosting treatments for the disease in what he has calls “this generation’s moonshot.” Biden’s speech at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Monday will come on the 60th anniversary of his predecessor’s speech outlining his vision for putting the first man on the moon.

The retired Army general and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn has been focusing on the future. In the past Flynn was part of the effort to overthrow the 2020 election. More recently, an investigation by The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” finds that Flynn has been building a political movement mixing conspiracy theory with Christian nationalist ideas.

Louisiana-native Lainey Wilson is having a breakout year as she tops the Country Music Association nominations in her first year as a nominee, earning nods in six categories. The CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, will air Nov. 9 on ABC.

The survivors who were able to walk out of Sandy Hook Elementary school nearly a decade ago want to share a message of hope with the children of Uvalde, Texas: You will learn how to live with your trauma, pain and grief. And it will get better.