Early voting in Ohio blocked (UPDATE)  —  UPDATE 6:10 p.m. Justice Elena Kagan turned down without comment a separate request by Ohio's legislature for the same kind of order postponing some of the early voting options.  The legislature has been allowed into the controversy only as a friend-of-the court, not as a full party.

Zimmerman Family Values  —  Soon after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin more than two years ago, George's loyal family learned that sharing his name meant sharing the blame.  It also meant a surreal new life filled with constant paranoia, get- rich-quick schemes, and lots and lots of guns.

Hong Kong “hands up, don't shoot” emulation of Ferguson protests is such a powerful image: pic.twitter.com/1Sk27MO1Y2  —  Hong Kong's protesters have good reason to put their hands up: police are using what many observers describe as an unprecedented level of force against the demonstrations …

Married female teacher, 32, is jailed for less than two years for having sex with two students and flashing a third teenager  — Lauren Harrington-Cooper pleaded guilty in Pennsylvania to having sex with students in the Wyoming Valley West School District  — The married English teacher …

No ruling in bid to make Dems fill Senate candidate vacancy  —  Plaintiff a no-show in election challenge suit  —  A three-judge Shawnee County panel did not decide Monday whether Kansas Democrats should be required to pick a replacement for Chad Taylor, who dropped out of the closely …

Armed Intruder at White House Got to East Room  —  WASHINGTON — An armed man who jumped the White House fence this month made it far deeper into the mansion than previously disclosed, overpowering a Secret Service agent inside the North Portico entrance and running through the ceremonial East Room …

Ted Cruz Is Prepping a Foreign Policy-Focused Presidential Campaign  —  The junior senator from Texas thinks he has found a policy “sweet spot” to anchor a 2016 run.  —  LINES TO SHARE  — On 2016, one Ted Cruz aide said, 'At this point it's 90/10 he's in.'

Eric Holder slightly more popular than Sebelius and Shinseki  —  Only 26% of Americans view the outgoing attorney general favorably, though that's slightly better than the ratings received by two other prominent cabinet members who left this year  —  Last week U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced …

Senate showdown: GOP frets over Harkin seat  —  Three Koch-linked groups have invested substantially.  Concerned Veterans for America has already spent $2.5 million, Americans for Prosperity put in $1.2 million earlier in the summer and Freedom Partners (through two separate entities) has spent around $835,000.

Iran executes man for heresy  —  Mohsen Amir-Aslani convicted of insulting prophet Jonah and making ‘innovations in the religion’ through is interpretations of the Qur'an  —  Mohsen Amir-Aslani who was executed in Iran last week for heresy.  —  A 37-year-old man has been executed in Iran …

Ferguson Demands High Fees To Turn Over City Files  —  2 photos  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in Ferguson, Missouri, are charging nearly 10 times the cost of some of their own employees' salaries before they will agree to turn over files under public records laws about the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The Washington Post's Ben Bradlee now in hospice care  —  Former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee's health has declined over the past two months and he has begun hospice care, his wife, Sally Quinn, said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.  —  Bradlee, 93, has suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the past several years.

A tense Ferguson fears the worst is yet to come  —  Beauty Town has an elaborate video surveillance system that displays 16 angles of the store, but the cameras are better at capturing crime than at preventing it.  —  The beauty shop has been looted multiple times since a white Ferguson police officer shot an unarmed black man Aug. 9.

Obama's Syria Strategy: Hit And Hope  —  Having spent last week trying to persuade other countries to support the U.S.-led military assault on the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, President Obama used an interview with Steve Kroft, of CBS News' “60 Minutes,” to give Americans an update.

Rick Perry: White House must address beheading  —  Rick Perry said on Monday that the Obama administration will have to address the beheading of an Oklahoma woman in what the Texas governor noted closely resembles an act of terrorism.  —  “At some point in time the administration does …