The Brief

In a case watched across the country and as voting begins in the midterm elections, the Supreme Court blocked a congressional map in Missouri that was aimed at netting Republicans another seat in the U.S. House.

This is the third time the high court has blocked the redistricting plan that could have helped ousted Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver by increasing the number of Republican voters in his district.

The court warned that changing maps now would cause "electoral chaos." The decision requires the state use the same districts provided to voters in 2022 and 2024. That's even though a different map was used in the primaries there last month.

It comes after weeks of conflicting rulings in state courts and federal courts. Elections officials in Missouri already started mailing some absentee ballots last week using the old districts and some argued it would be too late to change them.

Missouri lawmakers passed the new map last year at the behest of Trump. It was part of his nationwide strategy to draw more GOP-leaning seats to prevent Republicans from losing the House.

A citizen petition makes the redistricting subject to voter approval

Usually, states redistrict at the start of each decade. The redistricting battle set off by Trump ended with the GOP besting the Democrats by tilting about nine or 10 more districts, including Missouri's fifth district, their way. Republicans currently only hold a few seats' advantage in the House.

But opponents of the new Missouri map successfully gathered citizen signatures to put it to a vote on the November ballot.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the ballot question meant the 2025 GOP-backed map never went into effect and was never law – even though it had been used in the Aug. 4 primaries. The state's high court blamed Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins for proceeding with the GOP map in the primaries even though it hadn't been approved by voters.

The U.S. Supreme Court in its ruling today backed that up, noting that the state court had said in May - before the primary - that the GOP map would require voter approval before it could be used.

The U.S. Supreme Court had declined on Sept. 10 to intervene in the state court's ruling but allowed the case to continue.

Simultaneously, Republicans sued in federal court and won backing for the GOP map from a federal judge and then, last week, a federal appeals court. That sent the case back to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against Republican lawmakers today.

In general, Republicans argued that their map should be used because more than a million Missourians cast votes in the primary using the map. Opponents of redistricting argued voters hadn't approved the map and blamed Republican officials for dragging out the process and of trying to force through the new map.

Jason Rosenbaum covers politics for St. Louis Public Radio.

Copyright 2026 St. Louis Public Radio

What makes The Little Sugarplum special? Three sisters started the traveling pop-up bakery, each with a different role in running it. There’s the medical student-turned-baker, the hospitality worker-turned-marketer, and the blackjack dealer-turned-accountant.

What else? Their cinnamon rolls, which have become the main attraction, include a variety of rotating flavors like strawberry shortcake, matcha, coffee and ... mashed potatoes. Yeah, you read that right.

About the owners

Jenna Agpaoa grew up with her two sisters in Valley Center, a city in San Diego County, where their passion for baked goods began to take shape.

The Amish cinnamon roll

Soon after starting the bakery, their content went viral after sharing a recipe for a traditional Amish cinnamon roll, which notably uses mashed potatoes as an ingredient. They learned the recipe from an old neighbor growing up, who was Pennsylvania Dutch, a group descended from German-speaking immigrants from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Now you can find them vending all across Southern California, including at places like Ubefest and 626 Night Market.

Their fall flavor menu

They offer other baked goods in addition to cinnamon rolls, including cookies, brownies and bread.

The Little Sugarplum's fall menu.

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Courtesy The Little Sugarplum Bakery

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What should we try next?

Shohei Ohtani has become the first player to lead Major League Baseball jersey sales at the end of four straight seasons since the sport started tracking figures in 2010, among four players in the top 20 on the two-time World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was second for the second straight season, MLB and the players’ association affiliate MLB Players, Inc. said Friday. Judge finished third in 2023 and ’24.

Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs was third, up from 16th at the end of last season, and Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. was fourth, an increase from 11th last year.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. was fifth, followed by the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the New York Mets’ Juan Soto.

Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox was 20th, and he joined with Ohtani and Yamamoto to become the first trio of Japanese players in the top 20.

Texas’ Corey Seager was 11th, followed by Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Boston’s Adley Rutschman, the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz, San Diego’s Jackson Merrill and Arizona’s Nolan Arenado.

MLB’s list tracked sales on Fanatics’ sites, including MLBShop.com, since opening day.

Millions of dollars from workers’ unions and special interest groups are flowing to the Orange County Board of Supervisors races this year.

The Board of Supervisors is O.C.’s powerful governing body, controlling a $10 billion budget for critical departments such as social services, public health and public works. The board also sets laws and oversees more than 16,000 county employees.

The five-member board is nonpartisan, but its members have drawn criticism and praise for their political party affiliations, especially during election season. This November, two seats are up for grabs, and county Republicans see the potential for seizing control of the board from its current three-member Democratic majority.

LAist looked at who is financing their campaigns and how much they're putting down. The latest deadline to submit campaign finance records was Thursday. Here’s what we know.

How much did each candidate raise? 

In District 4, which represents Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia and others, Connor Traut is running against Tim Shaw.

Shaw raised nearly $58,000 in the last year, according to recent filings. Traut raised over $200,000 — three times as much as his opponent.

For District 5, which represents Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, San Clemente and others, incumbent Supervisor Katrina Foley is facing Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon.

In the last year, Foley raised nearly $480,000, just short of Dixon’s $514,000 in contributions.

Who are the big spenders? 

Outside groups have spent more than $2 million on Board of Supervisors races. Some of the highest amounts came from workers’ unions and political donor groups during this campaign cycle.

The firefighters' union spent more than $575,000 on the board elections — about $380,000 in support of Traut and $195,000 in support of Foley. The union has endorsed both candidates, according to Traut and Foley’s websites.

The Orange County Employees Association, which represents more than 11,000 of the county’s rank-and-file employees, spent more than $330,000 in support of Foley and over $30,000 in opposition to Dixon. The union also spent nearly $76,000 in support of Traut.

The Lincoln Club of Orange County spent over $448,000 — about $333,000 in opposition of Foley and about $115,000 in support of her opponent, Dixon. The Lincoln Club is a major conservative donor group that has had deep influence in California politics for more than 60 years.

The Democratic Party of Orange County has spent about $135,000 in support of Traut and about $77,000 in support of Foley. Among the biggest donors to the local party are the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association at $160,000 and the Orange County Employees Association at $65,000.

What’s next? 

Ballots for the Nov. 3 General Election go out early next month. LAist has a full voter guide here.