A federal judge on Wednesday questioned whether a key component of the landmark Voting Rights Act is outdated, expressing skepticism about using evidence of racial discrimination from 40 or 50 years ago to justify continued election monitoring for a group of mostly Southern states.

U.S. District Judge John Bates' comments came during oral arguments in an Alabama county's lawsuit targeting the law — a constitutional challenge that a number of legal observers predict could well reach the Supreme Court.

Shelby County, backed by conservative legal groups, maintains that it and other covered state, county and local governments should no longer be forced to get federal approval before changing even minor election procedures. They note that the Voting Rights Act — enacted in 1965 and extended by Congress for another 25 years in 2006 — relies heavily on past discrimination in determining which jurisdictions are covered by the "pre-clearance" requirement for election changes, such as moving a polling place or redrawing school district lines.

Bates posed sharp questions to the legal teams on both sides but at times appeared sympathetic to the county's argument.

Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. has reached a settlement with a former employee over just payment for her work.

Court records show U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon dismissed the lawsuit filed by Dannette Stackhouse, citing the settlement. Details were not disclosed.

Stackhouse's attorney Peter Glennon declined to comment. A message left Wednesday for a Dick's attorney wasn't immediately returned.

Stackhouse said in her lawsuit that employees were forced to work through breaks, were unpaid for overtime and were sometimes locked in the store until work was finished. Her lawsuit was filed on behalf of roughly 900 Dick's workers in Nebraska and sought class-action status.

Stackhouse worked in the sporting goods retailer's Papillion location.

A federal judge in Maine says 40 residents with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other conditions can join a lawsuit seeking to force the state to provide opportunities for them to live outside nursing homes.

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by three men with cerebral palsy who want to live on their own but retain services provided by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

In the lawsuit filed in December 2009, the three argued the state violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Nursing Home Reform Act because it failed to make it possible for them to live outside nursing homes.

The Bangor Daily News says state officials couldn't be reached Wednesday because of the storm.

Rosemary Vandenbroucke, 28, of Hong Kong agreed to pay $385 in fines and $985 for damage to the "Biggest Little City in the World" arch and a fire hydrant, said Dan Wong, criminal division chief for the city attorney's office.

Tammy Riggs, a lawyer for Vandenbroucke, didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment on the plea deal.

Reno Municipal Court Judge Jay Dilworth accepted the plea with no other penalties, Wong said.

Nobody was injured in the crash, but authorities said the 40-foot motorhome was substantially damaged.

Vandenbroucke was originally charged with three misdemeanors—vehicular hit-and-run, failure to maintain insurance and making an improper right turn.

The Labor Day crash occurred a day after the model was arrested at the Burning Man counterculture festival north of Reno and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

It's yet another twist in a family feud that erupted last week over who will control Ho's interests in the world's biggest gambling market.

Ho, who was hospitalized for seven months after reportedly undergoing brain surgery in August 2009, has 16 surviving children by four women he calls his "wives." The unfolding drama highlights a power struggle among different branches of the family for control of his lucrative gambling business.

The video clips show the 89-year-old billionaire answering questions from his lawyer, Gordon Oldham, about the dispute, which became public when Hong Kong-listed casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, or SJM, said nearly all of Ho's shares were being transferred to the families of his second and third wives.

In one video dated Jan. 25, Ho tells Oldham that he was forced to sign some documents for the transfer and calls it "something like robbery."

"We still go ahead," Ho says when Oldham asks him what to do if the two families don't reply to requests to return the stake.

Ho is currently hospitalized for what Oldham said was a procedure involving a tube in his throat that allows him to breathe. Oldham said he planned to see Ho later Monday evening.

Ho also denies that the transfer of ownership of a holding company named Lanceford — which indirectly owns the stake in SJM and represents the bulk of his assets — to the two families was part of succession plans put in place in December.