An Acorn Whistleblower Testifies in Court: According to an editorial by John Fund from the Wall Street Journal, a former employee of Acorn testified in a Pennsylvania state court that the group's quality-control efforts were "minimal or nonexistent" and largely window dressing. Acorn is a "community organizing" group that claims it will deploy 15,000 get-out-the-vote workers on Election Day. The employee, Anita MonCrief also said that Acorn was given lists of potential donors by several Democratic presidential campaigns, including that of Barack Obama, to troll for contributions. The Obama campaign denies it "has any ties" to Acorn, but according to the article Mr. Obama's ties are extensive.

Man Set To Die Today For '97 Killing In DeSoto: According to a story by Steve Thompson from the Dallas Morning News, Gregory Wright, a former homeless man, is to be executed for the March 21, 1997 slaying of Donna Duncan Vick. An appeal claiming proof of Wright's innocence was turned down Tuesday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Wright insists that he wasn't involved in Vick's slaying and that his friend John Adams, also on death row, was solely responsible.

Long Odds on Death Penalty for Murderer of UNC Student: An AP story reports that prosecutors face long odds when trying to persuade jurors to recommend a death sentence for Demario Atwater, the older of two men charged with murdering 22-year-old Eve Carson, student body president of the University of North Carolina. The last time a jury delivered a death sentence in Orange County, N.C. was 1973. Atwater and Laurence Lovette, both habitual criminals, have been charged with first-degree murder and other counts, including armed robbery and kidnapping in Carson's death. Lovette is not eligible for execution since he was a juvenile at the time of her killing.