USA Today reports: Seth Meyers worries that “one of the most dire consequences” of Donald Trump’s impending presidency is its possible effect on climate change, citing the president-elect’s tweet from 2012, saying it was a farce. “Obviously his statements on climate change have not been promising,” the Late Night host began on his show Wednesday, “like his infamous claim that …

The Associated Press reports: A Pennsylvania court has ruled that a gay couple can have their 2012 adoption overturned so they could finally get married. A three-judge Superior Court panel on Wednesday handed down a decision saying that state law permits an adult adoption to be dissolved when no one’s opposed. Roland Bosee Jr, 68, and Nino Esposito, 78, of …

The Hill reports: Top Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway on Thursday morning had a heated exchange with CNN’s Chris Cuomo over the president-elect’s sons’ ties to charity organizations. In a contentious interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Cuomo accused Conway of making the same defense that Hillary Clinton made about her ties to the Clinton Foundation, which Conway emphatically denied. Conway …

News-Medical reports: The first large-scale clinical trial of a long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention began today. The study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, will examine whether a long-acting form of the investigational anti-HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every 8 weeks can safely protect men and transgender women from HIV infection at least as well as the anti-HIV …

ESPN reports: Amid deepening acrimony, a supposedly bipartisan deal to kill the North Carolina law known as the “bathroom bill” fell apart Wednesday night, ensuring the likelihood that global corporations and national sports events will continue to stay away from the state. “The NCAA’s decision to withhold championships from North Carolina remains unchanged,” said NCAA spokesman Bob Williams in a …

The Washington Post reports: President-elect Donald Trump had a private exchange Wednesday night with billionaire industrialist David Koch, with whom he clashed during the 2016 presidential race and whose conservative policy objectives have often diverged from Trump’s agenda. The huddle at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., was witnessed by several people and orchestrated by Trump’s friend, Newsmax chief …

Politico reports: Kellyanne Conway, who served as President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager and has been a senior adviser to his transition team, will serve as counselor to the president in the incoming administration. In its Thursday morning announcement, Trump’s transition team said Conway will “continue her role as a close advisor to the president and will work with senior leadership …

CNN reports: The Trump transition team is floating the possibility of an early executive action to impose tariffs on foreign imports, according to multiple sources. Such a move would deliver on President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” campaign theme. But it’s causing alarm among business interests and the pro-trade Republican establishment. The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request …

Via joint press release from Lambda Legal and the ACLU: Based on a promise from the General Assembly to fully repeal H.B. 2, the Charlotte City Council repealed their LGBT non-discrimination ordinances earlier this week. However, the Legislature failed to follow through on their promise, despite the deep and widespread opposition and outrage over the discriminatory nature of the law. …

After spending much of the day in recess, the North Carolina House has just gone back into session where at this writing a GOP rep is denouncing HB2 opponents as the “lunatic left” and the “California crowd.” Here are the links for live audio and live video. At this point, nobody appears to be holding their breath that any full …

The Guardian reports: Northern Ireland’s attorney general cannot refer back to the supreme court the case of a local bakery fined for refusing to bake a gay-themed cake. John Larkin QC’s legal bid to get the supreme court to review court rulings against Ashers Bakery was deemed to have come in too late, Northern Ireland’s lord chief justice said on …

Trump’s surrogates aren’t even pretending anymore. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports: Ann Coulter, an infamous far-right attack dog who has spent years attacking the left, was at the Christmas party of a racist anti-immigration group earlier this month — the second such event she has attended since September. On Dec. 9, Coulter made her way to the party hosted …

Prepare to vomit. The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Gov. Robert Bentley’s office said Wednesday the governor interviewed four candidates this week to replace U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, including suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. In addition to Moore, Bentley interviewed U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville; Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston and Republican Sens. Arthur Orr of Decatur and Cam …

CBS News reports: Tom Arnold seems to be rethinking his pledge to keep the racist Donald Trump tape from “The Apprentice” under wraps. What changed his mind? According to the “True Lies” star, his home received a voicemail from the president-elect’s team threatening a defamation lawsuit over his claims in an interview that he has seen the rumored tape of …

The Associated Press reports: Perhaps North Carolina’s most influential politician is introducing legislation to repeal a state law that has cost the state jobs and millions of dollars. State Senate leader Phil Berger is the primary sponsor of legislation filed Wednesday that would repeal the law passed in March dictating which bathroom transgender people must use and limiting LGBT protections. …

From the Charlotte Observer: When hockey players bring a tear to someone’s eye, it’s usually after breaking their nose. But there’s apparently a mushy side to these guys that the world has overlooked. Just a week after the Carolina Panthers released a sweet-hearted Christmas video, the Charlotte Checkers have produced one of their own that is both sentimental and poignant …

“Charlotte repealed an ordinance that the General Assembly already voided months ago. I support HB 2 and do not favor its repeal. No economic, political or ideological pressure can convince me that what is wrong is right. It will always be wrong for men to have access to women’s showers and bathrooms. If HB 2 is repealed, there will be …

But we still may see some action very shortly. Here’s how things got started this morning: The session began with a packed House gallery and attempts by some Republican lawmakers to short-circuit it. Rep. Jeff Collins of Nash County rose to declare the session unconstitutional and decried the “extraordinary hubris” of Charlotte City Council in prompting it. Two other members …

The Hill reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and Ben Carson’s former campaign manager will launch a political consulting firm in Washington, D.C., this week, The Hill has confirmed. The Washington Examiner first reported that Corey Lewandowski and Barry Bennett have been on the prowl for new clients for Avenue Strategies, which they describe as “a full service government …

Loony tunes nutbag creationist Ken Ham has illuminated the Ark Encounter in rainbow colors because any other use of the rainbow “defies God’s command” to hate homosexuals. Or something. He writes: In recent times the rainbow (albeit with some different colors) has come to represent something far different. To many people it means freedom, love, pride, a new era, and, …