Underwater: As much as 15 to 20 inches of rain fell in parts of the Southeast, bringing flooding to parts of the Alabama coast and the Florida panhandle. Some people had to be rescued from their cars and the rooftop of their homes. As many as 35 people have died in tornadoes and heavy weather over the past four days.

Bounced: The NBA dropped the bomb on LA Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling, banning him from the game for life and fining him $2.5 million, the maximum allowed by the league. Commissioner Adam Silver also announced that the league will move to force Sterling to sell his team.

Sterling, who is the longest standing team owner in the NBA, will not be allowed to attend games, practices, or league meetings.

The action came only three days after the release of an audio recording in which Sterling castigates his mixed race girlfriend for being seen in public with black men, in particular former Laker Magic Johnson. Silver said Sterling admitted the male voice on the tape was his. The commissioner said, “The hateful opinions voiced by that man are those of Mr. Sterling.”

Along with the likes of Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, the 81-year-old Sterling joins the exclusive club of people banned for life from their sport.

National: Michigan’s voter ID requirement illegally discourages voting by minorities and the poor, according to a federal court decision striking down the law. The poor and minorities are less likely to have a driver’s license or passport, according to U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, who wrote, “Thus, we find that blacks and Latinos are less likely than whites to obtain a photo ID in the ordinary course of their lives and are more likely to be without one.” Similar laws in Arkansas and Pennsylvania have also been struck down.

The Supremes: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Environmental Protection Agency does have the power to regulate pollution from coal-fired power plants. The decision upholds the Obama administration’s use of the Clean Air Act to attack climate change and global warming. The EPA argued that regulations are necessary to protect eastern states from carbon pollution belching from the rust belt.

>The court also heard arguments about whether police may conduct unwarranted searches of cellphones. Can they examine your phone after stopping you for running a red light?

Some justices in their questions seemed to say that goes too far. “People carry their entire lives on their cellphones,” Justice Elena Kagan said. Strict constitutionalist Antonin Scalia said, “If police should arrest someone for driving without a seat belt it seems absurd that they should be able to search that person’s iPhone.”

Death Be Not Proud: The unsuccessful execution of an Oklahoma inmate by lethal injection ended with the prisoner writhing on the table and dying of a heart attack. The state used a new drug combination on Clayton Lockett, 38. He was unconscious for 10 minutes then appeared to wake up, mumbling, trying to lift his head off the table. Lockett’s lawyer said, “It was a horrible thing to witness. This was totally botched.” The incident will give fuel to death penalty opponents who say lethal injection is cruel.

Spaghetti Justice: An Italian appeals court explained yesterday that it believes former exchange student Amanda Knox was the one who struck the fatal blow against her roommate Meredith Kercher. Departing from an earlier theory that the incident was a sex game turned sour, the court said Kercher died in an argument about paying the rent. Home in the US, Knox said none of the trial evidence supports the theory that she was in the room at the time of the 2007 murder. She says she will continue her appeal from the US, where she plans to stay.

Sequel: The cast of the seventh Star Wars movie will include Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher from the original 1977 film. It’s going to be called “Star Wars: Assisted Living.”

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