Midday Roundup: Angry weather rips through the South

Southern storms. A deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes in Gulf Coast states Tuesday night is expected to bring severe weather to the Carolinas this afternoon. Authorities say the Tuesday storms mangled trailers at an RV park, ripped roofs from buildings, and killed at least three people in Louisiana and Mississippi. An apartment complex in Pensacola, Fla., sustained significant damage from a possible tornado overnight. Today’s forecast for the Atlantic Coast calls for potential flash flooding and severe thunderstorms, including damaging winds, hail, and isolated tornadoes in the Carolinas and Virginia.

Cleared. Texas’ highest criminal court dismissed the second and final felony charge against former Gov. Rick Perry today. The charge for abuse of power stemmed from Perry’s veto of public funding for a group of prosecutors when the Democratic head of the unit refused to resign after she was convicted and jailed for drunken driving. An Austin grand jury indicted Perry for abuse of power and another count of coercion of a public servant, which a lower court already dismissed. Perry called the case a “political witch hunt” by liberal prosecutors in Austin as legal scholars from across the political spectrum raised objections about it. Still, the Republican judge overseeing the case repeatedly refused to throw it out on constitutional grounds, prompting Perry’s appeals.

Mountain tragedy. A small plane carrying 23 people crashed in bad weather today in Nepal. All of those aboard died. The Tara airlines flight was on an 18-minute route from Pokhara, a resort town 125 miles west of Kathmandu, to Jomsom, the starting point for trekkers going into mountainous areas. The plane appeared to have flown directly into a mountainside. Only small planes fly the route, which goes between mountains.

Haunting words. Senate Republicans so far are sticking with their pledge not to consider any Supreme Court nominee chosen by President Barack Obama to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, saying the next president should make that call. They’ve uncovered remarks made by Vice President Joe Biden 24 years ago that support their stance.In June 1992, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., took to the Senate floor to demand President George H.W. Bush not nominate anyone to the Supreme Court in the event a justice stepped down during a presidential election year. “If the president goes the way of Presidents Fillmore and Johnson and presses an election year nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over,” Biden said. He now says those comments in 1992 were meant only to encourage cooperation between the White House and the Senate, and he now believes the Senate has a constitutional duty to consider Obama’s eventual nominee.

Reaction expansion. Facebook unveiled today new options for users to express themselves, expanding the “like” button with the choices “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “sad,” and “angry.” An animated emoji accompanies each choice. The ubiquitous light blue thumbs-up symbol still gets top billing underneath status updates, but users can uncover the new choices by clicking on the old button and waiting for new options to appear. Facebook spent a year developing the expanded reactions, which came in response to users’ long-standing request for a “dislike” button.

Chicken fight. A battle over chicken sandwiches and waffle fries is heating up at the University of Nebraska-Kearney campus. The school says Chick-fil-A remains on the short list of vendors under consideration for its student union despite a recent student government resolution calling for a ban against the Christian-owned restaurant. The controversy began last month, when students were asked to select a new dining option and Chick-fil-A won the contest against four other franchises by a wide margin. A student group called the Queer Straight Alliance pressured the student government to re-poll students after eliminating Chick-fil-A from consideration, due to the company CEO’s support for traditional marriage. That prompted the university to schedule a public forum on the matter tomorrow night in the student union. The university insists the decision will come down to dollars and cents, and which restaurant can best meet students’ needs.

The Associated Press and WORLD Radio’s Paul Butler and Jim Henry contributed to this report.