The political crisis in Virginia worsened Wednesday when state Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he once wore blackface to a party in college. Herring is second in line for the governorship behind Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who was recently accused of sexual assault, and embattled Gov. Ralph Northam. All three are Democrats.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, is rebuffing calls for his resignation over racist photos in his 1984 medical school yearbook. A photo from his personal page in the Eastern Virginia Medical School publication surfaced on Friday showing two people standing side-by-side, one wearing blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. Northam issued an apology Friday, though he did not say which costume was his. Then, during a Saturday news conference, he denied he was in the photo, though he disclosed he once wore blackface to imitate singer Michael Jackson at a dance contest.

The first commercial marijuana stores in the eastern United States opened Tuesday morning in Massachusetts, more than two years after the state voted to legalize recreational pot. Just two shops opened their doors—one in the central Massachusetts town of Leicester and another in the small western city of Northampton—the first ones approved by state regulators to sell marijuana flowers, pre-rolled joints, concentrates, and edibles to adults 21 and older.

The Washington state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the death penalty violates the state’s constitution.

Fifth and final in a series on the legalization of marijuana

In Greek mythology, Antaeus is the son of Gaea (Mother Earth) and Poseidon, the sea god. People thought he was invincible, but that’s because he kept his feet on the ground: Hercules discerned that secret and beat him by lifting him up so his feet never touched earth.

The Trump administration sued the state of California on Sunday over internet regulations that Gov. Jerry Brown signed the same day. The law prohibits internet providers from favoring certain content or websites in direct opposition of federal policy. The Federal Communications Commission last year repealed so-called “net neutrality” rules, saying they created burdensome, anti-consumer requirements on internet companies. “Once again the California Legislature has enacted an extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy,” U.S.

A New York moment: 

In one of his newsletters, my New York state representative trumpeted how the New York Assembly passed a bill authorizing certified doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for opioid addiction.