Bad Night for Specter: After more than 30 years in the Senate, Arlen Specter suffered a defeat in last night's Democratic primary, coming up short against his opponent Rep. Joe Sestack. The New York Times reports that Specter's defeat is part of an anti-incumbent wave that is shaping this year's midterm elections. In Kentucky, Rand Paul, the most visible symbol of the Tea Party movement, easily won the Republican Senate primary, beating Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel's pick, Trey Grayson. Arkansas' Democratic primary pushed Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a runoff in June.
SEC Proposes 'Circuit Breakers': After the roller coaster ride the markets saw on May 6, the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to temporarily institute circuit breakers on all the stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. The New York Times reports that the circuit breakers will pause trading in those stocks for five minutes if the price moves by 10 percent or more in a five-minute period.
Oil Reaches Louisiana Marshlands: The Washington Post reports that heavy oil has begun showing up in the marshlands of south Louisiana. That news comes as BP continues to siphon some of the oil gushing from a damaged well on the gulf floor but remains days away from trying to cap the leak. On Saturday, BP plans to try plugging the well by pumping heavy mud into it. Also, WWLTV in New Orleans reports that Waterworld star Kevin Costner has gotten the go ahead to use an oil-cleaning device Costner began developing shortly after the Exxon-Valdez spill of 1989.
Sending it Outside: The American Lawyer report that legal process outsourcing company Integreon has signed what could be the largest legal outsourcing deal ever, worth $852 million over 10 years, with British law firm CMS Cameron McKenna. The work covered by the agreement, which includes support tasks such as accounting, human resources, marketing, training and information technology, will not affect lawyers directly.
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