A daily dose of online news from beyond the Beltway.

A week of racially charged politics kicks off in South Carolina today, when the state House of Representatives finally opens debate on what to do with the Confederate flag flying atop the statehouse. Lawmakers plan to debate the issue through the first observance of the state's Confederate Memorial holiday on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday state officials will break ground on a monument to African American history – a memorial that came from efforts to ban the Confederate flag years ago.

The state Senate approved a few weeks ago a compromise plan to move the flag to a nearby Confederate monument, but House members are split between that proposal and another offered by former House speaker Bob Sheheen (D) that calls for the flag to be bronzed.

"I am Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare." New York Republican Joe Holland, gearing up for a possible Senate run if N.Y. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) backs out of his campaign. (New York Post, May 9)

• Flag Debate Starts Today in House
(The State, Columbia, S.C., May 9)
• House Speakers Have Different Flag Plans
(Spartanburg Herald-Journal, May 9)

South Carolina's flag controversy has galvanized the issue of whether the Confederate symbol should be used in government at all. In Georgia, Democrats wary of a politically divisive battle over their own state flag – which displays a small version of the Confederate emblem – plan to put on hold growing sentiment to study the flag issue until after the November elections.
• Democrats Try to Delay Flap Over State Flag
(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 8)

Nebraska Voters Go to the Polls
The race to succeed popular retiring Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) in Nebraska will be down to two candidates after Tuesday's primaries. State Attorney General Don Stenberg is expected to win the Republican nomination, while former governor Ben Nelson is the Democratic favorite. And in the state's 3rd Congressional District, polls show 75 percent of Republicans supporting former University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne for the party nod.
• Candidates Campaign Down to Wire
(Lincoln Journal Star, May 9)
• Whether Voters Turn Out Is Big Question
(Omaha World-Herald, May 9)
• Race Profiles: Nebraska
(washingtonpost.com)

Big Pressure Put on Massachusetts's 'Big Dig'
A key House appropriations panel on Monday passed a plan to freeze all federal funds flowing to Massachusetts's troubled "Big Dig" public works project unless the state can propose a viable, new financing plan. The freeze, if implemented, would cut approximately $350 million in funding to the project starting Oct. 1.
• 'Big Dig' Facing Money Freeze
(Boston Herald, May 9)

Time Is Running Out for Kennedy's Would-Be Challenger
For the first time in his 38-year U.S. Senate career, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) may go unopposed in the general election, unless Republican outcast Jack E. Robinson III can produce the 10,000 signatures required for ballot access by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Things don't look good for Robinson, though, who only had 490 signatures as of late Monday.
• Robinson Lacking 9,510 Signatures
(The Boston Globe, May 9)
• GOP Senate Hopeful Faces Difficult Deadline
(Boston Herald, May 9)