WASHINGTON >> Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled sympathy Wednesday toward a bid led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation’s first taxpayer- funded religious charter school in a major test of religious rights and the separation of church and state in American education.

A law giving a Republican official power to appoint the North Carolina elections board could impact a Democratic judge's victory. Legal battles continue on both fronts.

The state Board of Elections changed from a Democratic to a Republican majority on Thursday as state Auditor Dave Boliek exercised his new powers to appoint members to the five-member board. The change to the board’s partisan makeup has implications for GOP Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin’s ongoing challenge to the results of the state