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SHREVEPORT, La. (KMSS/KTAL) – Eight of the 10 candidates running for Shreveport mayor on Sunday participated in a mayoral forum sponsored by P.A.C.E. (People Acting for Change and Equality), a local organization dedicated to serving the LGBTQ community.
Only Darryl Ware and state Sen. Greg Tarver were absent at the forum, held to give candidates an opportunity to answer questions concerning the needs of the local LGBTQ community.
Brian Sullivan, who attended the forum, summed it up by saying these types of forums are important in that, “You can always tell there are candidates that are serious competitors. And it really helps you weed out those people that you could see in the position of mayor and feel comfortable with them in that position.”
The three women and five men running for the city’s highest office all expressed an intention to work toward making Shreveport move inclusive to all people and cultures, with some more focused on specific issues.
Mario Chavez, an Independent who currently represents District 10 on the Caddo Parish Commission, said he plans to name an LGBTQ liaison inside the police department, while Democrat LeVette Fuller, who represents District B on the Shreveport City Council, addressed the juvenile aspect.
“I will allocate funding with community development for homeless, queer youth. We have a huge issue with trans and gay runaways,” Fuller told the audience in the LSUS Auditorium.
Independent Julius Romano focused on the family, saying he is inclusive and believes the place to start is with families – rebuilding families, while Republican Melvin Slack, who came wearing a ‘Trump 2020’ T-shirt, said as mayor, he would hire people to work for the city, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Former Shreveport City Councilman Tom Arceneaux, a Republican who served two terms in 1991, focused on the leadership aspect of the mayor’s office, saying, “Every employee of the City of Shreveport, (should) be treated with dignity and respect.”
Libertarian Lauren Ray Anderson said the point is to have an open mind and an open dialogue, while incumbent Mayor Adrian Perkins, a Democrat, took a more idealistic stance, saying that it’s important to humanize people in the LGBTQ community, which he said, “goes beyond just laws, that goes beyond just compliances.”
Democrat Tracy Mendels, a former Shreveport police officer, said she was from a multicultural family that included people in the LGBTQ community as well as multiple races, explained that she believes the key is to go into neighborhoods and take care “of issues one at a time.”
After the forum ended, P.A.C.E. Vice President Katie Bickham said she was satisfied with the results. She said the goal was to learn where each candidate stood on LGBTQ issues, and she believed “every candidate was upfront and direct about how they feel and how they would govern.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:31:50Z
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AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Workers at a General Electric factory in Alabama on Monday launched an effort to form a union, joining a wave of recent labor organization efforts at large national companies.
Workers at the 179-employee GE Aviation plant in Auburn, Alabama, submitted union cards to the Birmingham office of the National Labor Relations Board in an organization effort with IUE-CWA. They said it is part of a national effort to organize at GE plants across the country, and comes amid unionization efforts at other large companies like Amazon and Starbucks.
A spokeswoman for the National Labor Relations Board confirmed the regional office received the union petition Monday. To qualify for a union election, the NLRB requires signatures from 30% of eligible voters at a specific facility. The IUE-CWA indicated that more than 50% of workers signed cards but did not provide an exact number.
Two plant workers supporting the effort told The Associated Press, in interviews arranged by union supporters, that pay, the attitude of management toward workers and benefits are among the driving concern of workers.
“We need our voices to be heard,” Marcus Durrell, who has worked at the plant for seven years, said in a telephone interview. He said experienced workers at the plant earn less than workers at other GE facilities.
“We want better pay, better benefits, just having a seat of the table,” Donna Rawlinson, 46, said. Rawlinson, who said she is on short-term disability while undergoing breast cancer treatments, said morale at the plant has declined over the years. “They keep pushing. They want more, but they don’t give anything,” she said.
The company issued a statement in response to the filing.
“GE employs more than 55,000 Americans, pays competitive wages in every community in which we operate and has invested more than a billion dollars in our U.S. facilities since 2016, including in Auburn. We are committed to a direct relationship with our employees based on teamwork, cooperation, and actively pursuing mutually beneficial goals..
The effort at GE follows a union election at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, the results of which are still being contested.
Labor unions appear to be having a resurgence of interest after decades of decline. Just 10.3% of workers belonged to unions in 2021, down from 20.1% in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unionization campaigns have gained momentum recently, with workers launching efforts at Amazon, Starbucks and other large companies. The Biden administration has also supported efforts to boost unionization campaigns at major employers.
“GE workers in Alabama are sending a powerful message by coming together to form a union for the better pay, benefits, and job security they have earned. Across the country at giant corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, CEOs are getting a wake-up call from workers making their voices heard,” IUE-CWA Conference Board Chairman Jerry Carney said in a statement announcing the effort at the GE plant.
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| 2022-09-21T15:31:57Z
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BERLIN (AP) — Several substances seem to have contributed to the massive fish die-off in the Oder River that forms much of Germany’s border with Poland, a German official said Monday.
Numerous theories have been floated about the cause of the environmental disaster, but so far none have been conclusive, a spokesman for Germany’s Environment Ministry said. He rejected suggestions from a senior Polish official that Germany was spreading “fake news” about pesticides being behind the environmental disaster.
“The search for the causes of the fish die-off in the Oder still haven’t been completed,” said Andreas Kuebler, the ministry spokesman. “So far we have several organic and inorganic substances that could be responsible.”
“It seems to be a cocktail of chemicals,” he told reporters in Berlin. “According to our information so far, none of these substances alone led to the fish die-off. It must still be assumed that this could be a multi-causal incident.”
Kuebler said a type of algae that normally grows in brackish water and produces a substance toxic to fish may also have played a role in the disaster.
Recent lab results showed a sharp growth of Prymnesium parvum in the Oder that could only have resulted from increased salt levels caused by an “industrial discharge,” he said.
Dead fish in the Oder were first noticed by fishermen in southwestern Poland in late July, but German authorities said they weren’t officially notified by their Polish counterparts until the second week of August. Poland’s government is trying to track down those responsible. Ten tons of dead fish have been removed from the river.
Warsaw lashed out over the weekend, with Environment Minister Anna Moskwa accusing Germany of spreading “fake news” about the levels of pesticides in the river.
“In Poland, the substance is tested and detected below the quantification threshold, that is, it has no effect on fish and other species,” she wrote on Twitter.
Kuebler said Germany was “surprised and a bit saddened” by the claim.
“We never said that the Polish side is responsible for the the use of pesticides (and) that fish died of this,” he said.
In Poland, where more than 100 tons of dead fish have been removed from the river, the prime minister has called the die-off an environmental “catastrophe.”
___
Follow all AP stories on the environment at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:05Z
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(The Hill) — A federal magistrate judge reviewing whether to release the affidavit that pushed him to approve a warrant to search former President Donald Trump’s home said Monday that while he believes public interest favors releasing the document, redactions could make it “meaningless.”
The order from Judge Bruce Reinhart expands on an order from the bench given Thursday that gave the Justice Department until Thursday to propose redactions it says are necessary to protect its ongoing investigation.
“Particularly given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former president’s residence, the government has not yet shown that these administrative concerns are sufficient to justify sealing,” Reinhart wrote, adding that he rejected keeping the entire affidavit under seal.
While Reinhold previously suggested he would release a redacted version of the affidavit, he warned that approach could shift after reviewing DOJ’s proposed redactions.
“I cannot say at this point that partial redactions will be so extensive that they will result in a meaningless disclosure, but I may ultimately reach that conclusion after hearing further from the government,” he wrote.
DOJ had previously argued that what it deemed necessary redactions “would be so extensive as to render the document devoid of content that would meaningfully enhance the public’s understanding.”
DOJ has until noon Thursday to submit its proposal.
The warrant and other associated documents were released earlier this month after Attorney General Merrick Garland said that “the public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing.”
But the department has struck a different tone when it comes to the affidavit used to justify the warrant, arguing it should remain under seal in its entirety because information it contains lays out a “roadmap” to its ongoing investigation, and “highly sensitive information about witnesses,” and “specific investigative techniques.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:12Z
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport mayoral candidate Melvin Slack has been hit with a protective order following allegations of threats at a candidate forum Sunday.
According to court documents, a woman who attended the forum filed a request for a restraining order against Slack in Caddo’s First District Court, alleging he threatened “that he would get me” during the PACE mayoral candidate forum at LSU Shreveport on Sunday.
The woman said in a statement requesting the protective order that Slack threatened her stepfather at the same event and called her repeatedly on Aug. 21, texting threats when she did not answer. One of those calls, the woman claims, came at 3 a.m. and alluded to “meeting for intimate reasons.”
“Please grant immediate order of protection as I participate in political events where defendant may be present,” the woman pleaded in her affidavit.
An NBC 6 reporter reached out to Melvin Slack about the accusations. He says he does know the woman but never harassed or propositioned her. Slack says he never spoke to her the night of the PACE forum, but he did speak with her father briefly, asking him that they please stop spreading lies about him online. He denied the allegations and says he never threatened her.
In a statement Tuesday, Slack says he is still running for Shreveport mayor.
Slack is one of ten candidates running for Shreveport mayor and among the eight who participated in Sunday’s forum, which was sponsored by P.A.C.E. (People Acting for Change and Equality), a local organization dedicated to serving the LGBTQ community.
A hearing is set for Sept. 20 on the temporary restraining order.
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:28Z
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Texas man whom authorities say identifies as an incel and who has alleged ties to the white nationalist movements was arrested after federal agents were tipped off to a social media post indicating he planned to attack an event for conservative students in Tampa last month.
Federal anti-terrorism investigators allege Alejandro Velasquez, 19, threatened “retribution” against attendees of the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit and made plans to travel to Tampa to carry it out. Velasquez, known as “LatinoZoomer” online, was also arrested for child pornography after images of prepubescent children being exploited by adults were allegedly found on his phone.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce on Aug. 11, Velasquez posted a screenshot of a Discord message to his Instagram account that said, “July 22 is the day of retribution the day I will have revenge against all humanity which all of you will pay for my suffering. [Student Action Summit] will be the turning point of the LatinoZoomer lore [gun emoji].”
The post also included a picture of Velasquez that the FBI said matched his driver’s license photo. A screenshot of the Instagram post indicated the caption was later edited to say, “This ain’t a serious post I love people!!!”
The complaint compared the wording used in the post to the video filmed by mass shooter Elliot Rodger before he killed six people and injured several more in 2014. Rodger has posthumously become an icon of the “incel” ideology, which centers around “extreme hatred” of women and sexually active men, according to the FBI. The ideology has since been linked to numerous attacks carried out by young men.
The Tampa Police Department learned of Velasquez’s social media post on July 18 and determined it was “a credible threat against participants attending the SAS conference.” They obtained an arrest warrant for Velasquez on July 21.
The complaint said Velasquez purchased a ticket for an American Airlines flight from Austin to Tampa on July 22, but canceled it the night before. Law enforcement in San Antonio arrested Velasquez on July 22 for the Tampa warrant, which accused him of “written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.” Velasquez’s phone was seized and sent to the FBI, where agents said they found a screenshot containing three images of child pornography.
According to a San Antonio Express-News report, Velasquez may have been motivated to plan the attack by his support of the white nationalist America First group and its founder, Nick Fuentes. Turning Point USA excluded Fuentes and attempted to ban his followers, known as “Groypers,” from their event last year.
Since the arrest, Fuentes has denied any formal affiliation between Velasquez and America First, stating in a Telegram post, “Claims on social media that he was part of our team in any way are completely untrue.” Fuentes acknowledged that their paths crossed at CPAC last year, but said Velasquez had “nothing to do with” him or his organization.
The Student Action Summit attracted the attention of other white supremacists, who were seen flying the Florida state and “DeSantis Country” flags alongside Nazi iconography and anti-Semitic symbols outside of the event. Turning Point USA said they were not affiliated with their organization, and calls for Gov. Ron DeSantis to denounce the display later went unanswered.
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:35Z
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the IRS removed a noncompete clause in its agreement with commercial providers.
(The Hill) — The IRS could be on the cusp of revolutionizing the way that Americans file their taxes.
The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on Tuesday provided $80 billion in funding for the agency, including $15 million to deliver a report on a free, government-run tax e-filing system that tax simplification advocates have long argued for.
But the agency is on a tight deadline to deliver.
While most of the $80 billion for the IRS in the new legislative package goes out over the next decade, the agency has only about a year to turn in its e-filing report.
Specifically, the agency has to figure out how much an online filing system would cost, the design of the system and how taxpayers would feel about using one.
Tax experts say the system could take two basic forms: one more conservative in scope and one more far-reaching.
The more conservative option would be a standardized government version of popular commercial software from companies like Intuit, H&R Block and TaxACT that prompts users to fill out a digital tax return.
There has already been an IRS program in place that allows low-income Americans to use these and other commercial products for free, but the program has performed poorly.
An April report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that while 70 percent of taxpayers are eligible for the Free File Alliance program, only 3 percent use it.
In its agreement with commercial providers, the IRS signed a noncompete clause promising not to make its own free software tool. The clause was removed in subsequent versions of the agreement.
Former Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) J. Russell George testified to the Ways and Means Committee back in 2006 that, “According to representatives of Alliance member companies that TIGTA interviewed, their primary goal is to keep the Federal Government from entering the tax preparation business.”
It’s not clear how a new free e-filing system would line up with the IRS’s agreement with private tax preparers, but it may simply be allowed to expire if the agency decides to move ahead with its own large-scale public filing system.
The Free File Alliance came to be because Congress originally mandated the IRS to do away with tax returns altogether in a law called the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.
After a major lobbying push by the tax preparation industry, the Free File Alliance was introduced as a way to let low-income Americans file their taxes for free without getting rid of tax returns.
The Alliance drew institutional momentum away from the change to return-free filing, which likely would have rendered large segments of the tax prep industry totally useless.
In 1998, Congress told the Treasury to “develop procedures for the implementation of a return-free tax system under which appropriate individuals would be permitted to comply with the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 without making the return required.”
Return-free filing is the second, more dramatic option for a free, IRS-run e-filing system that experts say could once again be under consideration as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Return-free filing is used by many countries with advanced economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It essentially means that the government would do your taxes for you, withholding what’s owed and then doing its own accounting without requiring forms to be sent in by taxpayers.
The main type of return-free filing — used by the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, among dozens of other countries — is referred to as an exact withholding system. With this system, the IRS would try to withhold fewer taxes from people’s paychecks and skip the refunding process made necessary by a self-reported tax return.
“In most of these countries, taxpayers meet their tax obligations entirely through tax withholding payments made throughout the year,” the Treasury Department found in a 2003 report on return-free tax systems.
But experts say that all the tax credits in the U.S. tax code make self-reporting helpful — if not necessary — from an administrative point of view.
“With withholding, the IRS already has that information. So it’s kind of annoying that you have to go through and enter it in yourself. But in the U.S. we have, for instance, joint filing. So if your employer knows what your income is, they don’t necessarily know what your spouse’s is. Employer withholding isn’t reflective of various credits and tax programs,” Alex Muresianu, tax analyst at the Tax Foundation, a Washington think tank, said in an interview.
The other kind of return-free filing is called agency reconciliation. This is where “tax authorities prepare tax returns for individuals based on information returns from employers and others, and send taxpayers a completed tax form for their review,” according to the Treasury report.
Some studies have shown that the government would lose revenue with this kind of system since the IRS is doing all the clerical work without relying on reporting from taxpayers.
“If you as a taxpayer know things the IRS doesn’t know that are to your advantage, then you might not want to share that with them,” Robert Weinberger, a nonresident fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said in an interview. “But there are arguments that that would be worth it since the whole system would be simplified and people will be happier. So maybe that’s a trade-off we’d be willing to make.”
The government found in 2003 that a simplification of U.S. tax law, which is full of credits and exceptions to credits, should be a prerequisite for implementing any return-free filing system.
“Moving to a return-free tax system without first simplifying the income tax would require substantive changes in tax administration,” the Treasury report found. “These changes could shift burdens from taxpayers to other parties, including employers, financial institutions, state governments, and the IRS.”
But that prerequisite may no longer make sense in an age when everything from doctor visits to school records can be accessed instantaneously online.
Tax simplification advocates say a slimmed-down tax code, which now stands at nearly 10 million words between statutes and regulations, would be well worth the effort.
“It’s critical to make filing taxes as easy as possible,” Frank Clemente, director of the left-leaning advocacy organization Americans for Tax Fairness, said in an interview. “We’ve got to move away from this adversarial feeling. A simpler tax system will reduce cost, increase compliance and make people just feel better about the IRS.”
Clemente added that the $15 million in the Inflation Reduction Act for the report on e-filing “indicates a seriousness to move beyond where we currently are on this problem.”
“Whatever the proposals look like, it means there’s got to be a plan behind that,” he added.
Advocates are keeping an eye on a provision in the act’s requirement for the e-filing task force that says it needs to look at “options for differential coverage based on taxpayer adjusted gross income and return complexity.”
They say this focus on “differential coverage” could suggest that Americans with more complicated tax returns, who are typically wealthier, could interact differently with a new e-filing system than the average wage earner. These differences could raise questions about the fairness of such a system.
In a Wednesday memo to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed concern about unfairness built into the tax system, which she described as “two-tiered.”
“Most Americans pay what they owe, but those at the top of the distribution often do not,” Yellen wrote.
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:42Z
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(The Hill) – Maintaining the status quo for greenhouse gas emissions could risk the extinction of up to 90 percent of marine species, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Researchers, led by ecologist Daniel Boyce of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia, looked at some 25,000 species, including animals, plants, protozoans and bacteria. Under a high-emission scenario, they determined that nearly 90 percent of those species will be at high-to-critical risk across 85 percent of their distribution. This scenario involves an increase of three to five degrees Celsius in global ocean temperatures by the end of the century.
About 10 percent of the ocean overall features ecosystems that are considered high-risk based on a combination of endemism, climate risk and the threat of local species’ extinction, according to the study.
In addition to the threat this poses to biodiversity, it presents a major threat to people in the global south, with the biggest danger to species native to low-income countries that rely heavily on fisheries in the tropics and subtropics, according to Boyce and his colleagues.
Meanwhile, reduced emissions — those consistent with the Paris Climate Agreement’s goals of keeping warming below 2 degrees — would cut the risk for about 98.2 percent of the analyzed species, according to the study.
The analysis is based on a combination 12 climate risk factors. Boyce and his team grouped them under the broader categories of sensitivity, exposure and adaptivity.
“Our findings show a reduced climate risk for virtually all species and ecosystems under the low emissions scenario,” Boyce wrote in a blog post for Carbon Brief. “Thus, sticking to the goals of the Paris Agreement would have substantial benefits for marine life, with the disproportionate climate risk for ecosystem structure, biodiversity hotspots, fisheries and low-income nations being greatly reduced or eliminated.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:50Z
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The world’s newest and biggest space telescope is showing Jupiter as never before, auroras and all.
Scientists released the shots Monday of the solar system’s biggest planet.
The James Webb Space Telescope took the photos in July, capturing unprecedented views of Jupiter’s northern and southern lights, and swirling polar haze. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a storm big enough to swallow Earth, stands out brightly alongside countless smaller storms.
One wide-field picture is particularly dramatic, showing the faint rings around the planet, as well as two tiny moons against a glittering background of galaxies.
“We’ve never seen Jupiter like this. It’s all quite incredible,” said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, of the University of California, Berkeley, who helped lead the observations.
“We hadn’t really expected it to be this good, to be honest,” she added in a statement.
The infrared images were artificially colored in blue, white, green, yellow and orange, according to the U.S.-French research team, to make the features stand out.
NASA and the European Space Agency’s $10 billion successor to the Hubble Space Telescope rocketed away at the end of last year and has been observing the cosmos in the infrared since summer. Scientists hope to behold the dawn of the universe with Webb, peering all the way back to when the first stars and galaxies were forming 13.7 billion years ago.
The observatory is positioned 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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| 2022-09-21T15:32:57Z
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(The Hill) – Former President Trump held onto more than 300 classified documents since he left office, half of which were recovered in January by the National Archives, who alerted the Justice Department in what eventually led up to the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago property.
The New York Times reported Monday, citing multiple sources who have been briefed on the matter, that the sheer volume of classified-marked materials recovered by the government is what triggered a federal criminal investigation into the former president.
The National Archives in January recovered 150 classified documents while another set, which was also at Mar-a-Lago, was given to the Justice Department in June by Trump aides. Additional classified documents were later recovered in the FBI search earlier this month, totaling 300 such documents in all, according to the Times.
Some of the 15 boxes turned over to the Archives earlier this year included CIA, FBI and National Security Agency documents involving national security, according to a person briefed, the Times reported.
Two days after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, the Washington Post reported that some of the documents recovered in that search were related to nuclear weapons.
The Times also reported Monday that authorities are seeking surveillance video of Mar-a-Lago leading up to the Aug. 8 search in an effort to find out how some of the documents were being handled there.
An unsealed warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago made public days after the search revealed that federal authorities are investigating Trump on possible violations of the Espionage Act, among other statutes. A property receipt of items seized by the FBI shows authorities recovered a trove of documents, including 11 sets of classified documents, some of which were marked top secret.
Trump has insisted he declassified the documents obtained by the FBI but it is possible he did so without following the proper protocols.
Trump and the National Archives have been at odds since he left office in 2021 after the agency determined Trump was in possession of White House documents that should have been turned over to the government when he ended his term.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:05Z
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Fall is a month away, meaning the Arkansas State Fair is coming to the Little Rock metro very soon.
The state fair will be in Little Rock Friday, October 14-23. Fair goers are invited to enjoy free concerts, food, livestock competitions, carnival rides and attractions.
Fair officials also announced the concert lineup, including rock bands Drive-By Truckers and The Wallflowers, R&B group Color Me Badd and rappers Tone Loc, Young MC and Blanco Brown.
Advance tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children and seniors. Ride bands are $30 before opening day and $35 dollars on opening day. Regular admission is $12 for adults and $6 for children ages 6-12. Adults over 60 and children under 6 have free admission.
Fairground parking is $10 per vehicle. State fair officials are offering limited $20 deck seating for those interested in a “premium concert experience.”
For more information on the 2022 Arkansas State Fair, visit ArkansasStateFair.com.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:12Z
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The video might be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
MULBERRY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — UPDATE: Worcester posted bond Monday afternoon.
MULBERRY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — UPDATE: The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office has identified the two deputies and one officer involved as Deputy Zack King, Deputy Levi White and Mulberry Officer Thell Riddle.
The sheriff’s office says it is cooperating with all aspects of the investigation and will make a statement to the public at a later time.
MULBERRY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — UPDATE: The man in the video has been identified as Randal Ray Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina. He was taken to a hospital with minor head injuries after resisting arrest. He is facing charges of:
- Battery in the second degree
- Assault in the first degree
- Resisting arrest refusal to submit to arrest
- Possessing instrument of criminal trespass
- Criminal mischief in the second degree
- Terroristic threatening in the first degree
- Assault in the second degree
One officer sustained injuries during the arrest.
Alma police were responding to a call from a store clerk who said Worcester allegedly spat in their face and made terroristic threats.
Worcester fled the store and Alma police contacted all law enforcement to “be on the lookout.”
According to Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found Worcester at the Kountry Xpress in Mulberry. He was cooperative at first but then things turned violent and he injured an officer. The incident occurred around 10:40 a.m. Sunday.
The names of the officers have not been released. Arkansas State Police will be investigating the incident.
Governor Asa Hutchinson issued a statement on Twitter Sunday regarding the incident, saying the incident will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney.”
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge also issued a statement, saying “The video circulating of officers making an arrest in Crawford Co. is disturbing. However, it is important that ASP gather facts & give them to the local prosecutor for a determination of criminality. Every good cop in America is disgusted every time these incidents occur.”
MULBERRY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — UPDATE: Mulberry Police Department has responded to the video of one of their officers:
“The officer is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation,” the press release states. “The City of Mulberry and the Mulberry Police Department take these investigations very seriously and holds all their officers accountable for their actions. We will take the appropriate actions at the conclusion of the investigation.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Three officers have been suspended after a video on Facebook shows them allegedly beating a restrained man outside of a convenience store.
Sheriff James Damante has confirmed that one Mulberry police officer and two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies were shown in the video.
Police can be heard telling a bystander to back away from the area and pointed away after slamming the man’s face to the ground.
“In reference to the video circulating social media involving two Crawford County Deputies, we have requested that Arkansas State Police conduct the investigation and the Deputies have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” Damante said in a Facebook post. “I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter.“
This is an ongoing investigation keep up with KNWA/FOX24 for the latest updates.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:19Z
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PIERRE PART, La. (BRPROUD) — Michael Proulx, 19, of New Iberia, was recently arrested after deputies investigated a suspicious vehicle.
That vehicle was located in the vicinity of Belle River.
An I.C.E. assigned deputy approached and questioned the two occupants in the vehicle.
Trevor Michael Proulx was the driver and there was also a female passenger in the vehicle at the time of the stop.
“The deputy concluded that further investigation was warranted and requested a K-9 at the location,” according to the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The K-9 search led deputies to take a look through the vehicle.
APSO says, “A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of marijuana and one large caliber handgun.”
After the arrest, Trevor Michael Proulx was taken to the Assumption Parish Detention Center and charged with the crimes listed below:
- Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute
- Illegal Carrying of Weapons in the Presence of Controlled Dangerous Substances
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
- Criminal Trespass
APSO says Proulx remains behind bars while awaiting a bond hearing.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:27Z
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MARSHALL, Texas (KETK) – A man wanted for capital murder was arrested in East Texas on Friday, Aug. 19, said the Marshall Police Department.
The Joint Harrison County Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force detained Edron Blake Blacknell, 22, at the 2900 block of Tower Street in Marshall. Blacknell is from Cedar Hill, and he was wanted out of Dallas County.
He is in the Harrison County Jail and is waiting to be extradited to Dallas County.
The Task Force teamed up with the Marshall Police Department’s Patrol, Criminal Investigation Department and Special Response Team.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:34Z
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has subpoenaed his friend and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey as part of an effort to back out of his $44 billion agreement to acquire the company Dorsey helped found, according to court documents.
Twitter and Musk are headed for an Oct. 17 trial in Delaware that should determine whether or not Twitter can force the billionaire to go through with the acquisition.
Twitter has subpoenaed a host of tech investors and entrepreneurs connected to Musk, including prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, the founding chief operating officer of PayPal.
Musk has claimed that Twitter failed to provide adequate information about the number of fake, or “spam bot,” Twitter accounts, and that it has breached its obligations under the deal by firing top managers and laying off a significant number of employees. Musk’s team expects more information about the bot numbers to be revealed in the trial court discovery process, when both sides must hand over evidence.
Twitter argues that Musk’s reasons for backing out are just a cover for buyer’s remorse. Shortly after Musk agreed to pay 38% above Twitter’s stock price, the stock market stumbled and shares of the electric-car maker Tesla, where most of Musk’s personal wealth resides, lost more than $100 billion of their value.
The subpoena was served last week. It asks Dorsey for documents and communications related to the acquisition, as well as information on the effect of fake or spam accounts on Twitter’s business and its measurement of daily active users.
A lawyer representing Dorsey did not immediately respond to a message for comment on Monday.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:42Z
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HOUSTON, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Texas woman was rushed to the hospital after touching a poisoned napkin placed on the door handle of her car.
Erin Mins was celebrating her birthday on Tuesday at a Northside Houston restaurant with her husband. According to a video uploaded by Mins, when she and her husband were leaving the venue, she noticed a napkin stuffed inside her car door handle.
In the video, Mins reenacts her experience to show viewers how the napkin was positioned and how she picked it up from her car handle.
“I just picked it up with my fingernails and I tossed it out. I didn’t touch the napkin but I still opened the door with my fingertips,” said Mins in her video.
Mins proceeded by asking her husband if he jokingly placed a napkin on the car door handle. When her husband responded by saying he didn’t place the napkin on the handle, she decided to wash her hands immediately.
“I wash my hands and maybe like two minutes later, my fingertips started tingling. Then maybe after about five minutes, my whole arm just started tingling,” said Mins.
Mins proceeded in her video by saying her arms started to feel numb, followed by feeling lightheaded and troubled breathing.
Mins husband called 911 and the couple was directed to the nearest hospital.
Once Mins got to the emergency room, she explained to doctors what happened.
“They ran a whole bunch of tests. I had a CAT scan, a whole bunch of stuff. I was there for about six and a half hours,” said Mins.
Mins doctor confirmed she had acute poisoning from an unknown substance and that she didn’t have enough of the substance in her immune system to determine what it was.
“The doctors say it could have been a possible kidnapping attempt. So just for everybody, all the women in Houston and just everywhere you are, just be careful.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:49Z
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MULBERRY, Ark. (AP) — Three Arkansas law enforcement officers were suspended, and state police launched an investigation after a video posted on social media showed two of them beating a suspect while a third officer held him on the ground.
The governor said the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division planned to conduct an investigation separate from state police.
The officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma, authorities said.
The video shows one officer punching the suspect with a clenched fist, while another can be seen hitting the man with his knee. The third officer holds him against the pavement.
In video recorded from a car nearby, someone yells at officers to stop hitting the man in the head. Two of the officers appear to look up and say something back to the person who yelled. The officers’ comments could not be heard clearly on the video.
Two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies and one Mulberry police officer were suspended, city and county authorities said.
Arkansas State Police said the agency would investigate the use of force. State police identified the suspect as Randal Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina.
He was taken to a hospital, then released and booked into the Van Buren County jail on multiple charges, including second-degree battery, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats, state police said.
Worcester was released Monday on $15,000 bond. When asked how he was feeling, he said “all right.” An attorney who escorted him from jail declined to comment on his behalf. Worcester was pushing a bicycle as he left the jail.
Worcester’s father declined to comment when contacted Monday by The Associated Press. He referred a reporter to a law firm representing the family. That firm said it was still trying to gather information and did not immediately have a comment on the video.
Worcester is white, according to jail booking information, and the three officers involved also appear to be white.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office identified the three officers as Crawford County deputies Zack King and Levi White and Mulberry police officer Thell Riddle.
“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said.
In a statement released Sunday evening, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said the community and the department take the matter “very seriously.”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, told a news conference about the Justice Department’s plans to investigate. He described the beating as “reprehensible conduct” and said the officers’ actions were “not consistent” with the teachings of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Arkansas State Police Col. Bill Bryant said his agency’s investigation would “take some time.”
“Once we get the facts and evidence, we’ll prepare a case file and a summary and turn it over to the prosecutor,” Bryant said.
Cellphone video of often-violent police interactions has put a spotlight on officer conduct in recent years, particularly since the 2020 killing of George Floyd while he was being arrested by police in Minneapolis.
The resulting nationwide protests called attention to officer brutality that often targets Black Americans.
The front door at the building that serves as the Mulberry police headquarters and city hall was locked Monday. A sign on the door directed anyone with questions about “the police investigation” to contact Arkansas State Police.
It was unclear whether the officers were wearing body cameras.
Amid public pressure for transparency and the proliferation of videos exposing police misconduct, there has been some pushback against recording officers. In July, the governor of Arizona signed a bill that makes it illegal to knowingly record officers from 8 feet (2.5 meters) or closer without permission.
Mulberry is a town of 1,600 people on the southern edge of the Ozarks in western Arkansas, right off Interstate 40, which runs from California to North Carolina.
___
Associated Press writers Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T15:33:57Z
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An Afghan refugee charged in the slayings of two Muslim men is facing new charges in connection with the shooting death of another man in the parking lot of a refugee resettlement agency earlier this month.
A grand jury indicted Muhammad Syed in the three killings Monday. He’s also a suspect in the shooting death of a Muslim shop owner in November 2021, but he has yet to be charged in that case.
The indictment includes the deaths of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain. Hussein, 41, was slain on the night of July 26 after parking his car in the usual spot near his home. Afzaal Hussain, a 27-year-old urban planner who had worked on the campaign of a New Mexico congresswoman, was gunned down on Aug. 1 while taking his evening walk.
In the Aug. 5 killing, authorities have accused Syed of shooting Naeem Hussain as he sat in his vehicle outside Lutheran Family Services, the resettlement agency, following funeral services for two of the other shooting victims. Shots were fired at Hussain’s SUV around 4 p.m., striking him in the head and the arm.
Syed, 51, has denied any involvement in the killings that shook New Mexico’s Muslim community, and his defense attorneys argued during a court hearing last week that he had no criminal record since previous domestic violence cases against him were not pursued.
Prosecutors argued that Syed was a dangerous man. A state district agreed, ordering Syed to be held without bond pending trial.
The indictment made public Monday also includes four counts of tampering with evidence related to the three killings that Syed has been charged with.
“Our homicide detectives continue to work with prosecutors to ensure all victims receive justice in this tragic case,” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said in a statement.
Syed’s public defenders declined to comment on the latest charges.
Albuquerque police detectives obtained surveillance video that showed a gray sedan fleeing the scene after Naeem Hussain was shot. Tips from the public and additional surveillance video helped detectives identify the vehicle and they named Syed as the owner of the car.
Syed was arrested Aug. 8 more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from his Albuquerque home. He told authorities he was on his way to Texas, citing the ambush-style killings as his concern.
According to the initial criminal complaint filed by Albuquerque police, investigators determined that bullet casings found in Syed’s vehicle matched the caliber of the weapons believed to have been used in the July 26 and Aug. 1 killings and that casings found at the crime scenes were linked to guns found at Syed’s home and in his vehicle.
Federal authorities in court filings have pointed to cellphone records and accused one of Syed’s sons of possibly helping his father track Naeem Hussain before he was killed. Shaheen Syed’s attorney has argued that those accusations were thin and dismissed prosecutors’ claims that the younger Syed provided a false address when purchasing a gun from a local shop in 2021.
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| 2022-09-21T15:34:05Z
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NIKOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already killed some 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers since it began nearly six months ago, a general said, and the fighting Monday showed no signs that the war is abating.
At a veteran’s event, Ukraine’s military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said many of Ukraine’s children need to be taken care of because “their father went to the front line and, perhaps, is one of those almost 9,000 heroes who died.”
In Nikopol, across the river from Ukraine’s main nuclear power plant, Russian shelling wounded four people Monday, an official said. The city on the Dnieper River has faced relentless pounding since July 12 that has damaged 850 buildings and sent about half its population of 100,000 fleeing.
“I feel hate towards Russians,” said 74-year-old Liudmyla Shyshkina, standing on the edge of her destroyed fourth-floor apartment in Nikopol that no longer has walls. She is still injured from the Aug. 10 blast that killed her 81-year-old husband, Anatoliy.
“The Second World War didn’t take away my father, but the Russian war did,” noted Pavlo Shyshkin, his son.
The U.N. says 5,587 civilians have been killed and 7,890 wounded in the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24, although the estimate is likely an undercount. The U.N. children’s agency said Monday that at least 972 Ukrainian children have been killed or injured since Russia invaded. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said these are U.N.-verified figures but “we believe the number to be much higher.”
U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, France and Germany pleaded Sunday for Russia to end military operations so close to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant — Europe’s largest — but Nikopol came under fire three times overnight from rockets and mortar shells. Houses, a kindergarten, a bus station and stores were hit, authorities said.
There are widespread fears that continued shelling and fighting in the area could lead to a nuclear catastrophe. Russia has asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to discuss the situation — a move “the audacity” of which Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decried in his evening video address.
“The total number of different Russian cruise missiles that Russia used against us is approaching 3,500. It is simply impossible to count the strikes of Russian artillery; there are so many of them, and they are so intense,” Zelensky said Monday.
Western nations had already scheduled a council meeting on Wednesday — the six-month anniversary of the Russian invasion — on its impact on Ukraine.
Vladimir Rogov, an official with the Russia-installed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, claimed that because of shelling from Ukraine, staffing at the nuclear plant had been cut sharply. Ukrainians say Russia is storing weapons at the plant and has blocked off areas to Ukrainian nuclear workers.
Monday’s announcement of the scope of Ukraine’s military dead stands in sharp contrast to Russia’s military, which last gave an update on March 25 when it said 1,351 Russian troops were killed during the first month of fighting. U.S. military officials estimated two weeks ago that Russia has lost between 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, both killed and wounded in action.
On Monday though, Moscow turned its attention to one specific civilian death.
Russia blamed Ukrainian spy agencies for the weekend car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow that killed the daughter of a far-right Russian nationalist who ardently supports the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB, said Monday the killing was “prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services.” It charged that the bombing that killed 29-year-old TV commentator Darya Dugina, whose father, political theorist Alexander Dugin, is often referred to as “Putin’s brain,” was carried out by a Ukrainian citizen who left Russia for Estonia quickly afterward.
Ukrainian officials have vehemently denied any involvement in the car bombing. Estonian officials say Russia has not asked them to look for the alleged bomber or even spoken to them about the bombing.
On the front lines, the Ukraine military said it carried out a strike on a key bridge over the Dnieper River in the Russian-occupied Kherson region. Local Russia-installed officials said the strike killed two people Monday and wounded 16 others.
Photos on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising over the Antonivskiy Bridge, an important supply route for the Russian military in Kherson.
On the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, anxiety has been spreading following a spate of fires and explosions at Russian facilities over the past two weeks. The Russian-backed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, ordered that signs showing the location of bomb shelters be placed in the city, which had long seemed untouchable.
Razvozhaev said on Telegram the city is well-protected but “it is better to know where the shelters are.”
Sevastopol, the Crimean port that is the home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has seen a series of drone attacks. A drone exploded at the fleet’s headquarters on July 31, and another was shot down over it last week. Authorities said air-defense systems have shot down other drones as well.
On Monday evening, Sevastopol residents reported hearing loud explosions on social media. Razvozhaev said the air-defense system had shot down “an object … at high altitude.”
“Preliminary (conclusion) is that it is, again, a drone,” he wrote on Telegram.
Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t directly mention the war during a speech Monday marking National Flag Day but echoed some of the justifications cited for the invasion.
“We are firm in pursuing in the international arena only those policies that meet the fundamental interests of the motherland,” Putin said. He maintains that Russia sent troops into Ukraine to protect its people against the encroaching West.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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| 2022-09-21T15:34:12Z
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BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Prosecutors on Monday asked a judge to sentence Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández to 12 years in prison and bar her from holding public office for life for allegedly leading a criminal conspiracy that irregularly awarded public works contracts to a friend and ally.
“We are faced with the biggest corruption maneuver that this country has ever known,” prosecutor Diego Luciani said in his closing arguments in the trial of Fernández, who was president of Argentina from 2007 and 2015, before becoming vice president in 2019.
The alleged fraud against the state cost the country’s coffers around $1 billion, Luciani said.
The former president has vehemently denied charges against her in the three-year trial and has said the judges already have the sentence against her “written and even signed.”
Fernández has characterized the trial as an effort to use the courts to stop her from ever holding elected office again and her allies have characterized it as a political prosecution.
The presidential office came out in support of Fernández, saying she is the victim of a “persecution by the courts and media.”
Current President Alberto Fernández also expressed “solidarity” with his number two in a social media post.
Luciani told judges they will have the final say on whether “corruption or justice” prevails.
Although Fernández has faced numerous accusations of corruption for events that took place while she was in office, this marks the first time a trial against the former president has gotten this far to include a prosecutor formally requesting a sentence.
Fernández, 69, is accused of leading a conspiracy that involved awarding 51 public works contracts for roadworks to Lázaro Báez in southern Santa Cruz province. Many of those public works were never finished.
Prosecutors say Báez, a former bank employee who went on to become a public works mogul, created the company Austral Construcciones as a way to win state tenders.
An additional 12 people are also indicted in the case, including Báez and Julio De Vido, the minister who was in charge of public works during Fernández’s administration.
A sentence is expected by the end of the year and could be appealed.
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| 2022-09-21T15:34:20Z
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NEW YORK (AP) — Weary of Venezuela’s autocratic government and the pittance he earned in the military, Dario Maldonado deserted and fled with his family to neighboring Colombia.
But life remained hard — money was tight and expenses mounted. So he set off for the United States, an odyssey that required him to travel by foot through Central American jungle infested with venomous snakes and gun-toting bandits, sometimes sidestepping the corpses of people who died on the same journey.
Now Maldonado and thousands of other asylum seekers from across Latin America and the Caribbean are caught in the political battle over U.S. immigration policy after two Republican governors started sending busloads of migrants to New York City and Washington.
Border cities such as San Diego have long wrestled with influxes of asylum-seekers and created well-oiled machines to respond, but the nation’s largest city and its capital were caught flat-footed. That created an opening for Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona to exploit what they consider failed Democratic leadership.
Nearly 8,000 migrants have arrived on the state-sponsored bus trips, straining the resources and humanitarian services of both cities, which have also sought assistance from the federal government.
“This can be chaotic. But we want to send a message: We’re here to help, and we want to put politics aside,” said New York City’s immigration commissioner, Manuel Castro, as he greeted arriving migrants on a recent morning.
Abbott started the practice in April with Washington, and Doug Ducey followed suit in May. Abbott also recently began sending buses to New York.
For migrants, the politics are only dimly understood — and far less relevant than finding temporary shelter, jobs and a long-term home in America.
“I have heard that the Texas governor is anti-immigrant,” Maldonado said outside a New York shelter. “It is like a war between the party of the governor of Texas and the party of Biden.”
A voluntary consent form for free transportation from Texas tells migrants that Washington is where the president and members of Congress “are more immediately able to help address the needs of migrants.”
Migrants who sign a consent form for a free trip to New York are told that the city has designated itself a “sanctuary” for migrants, who are provided with food and shelter.
U.S. authorities stopped migrants 1.43 million times at the Mexican border from January through July, up 28% from the same period last year. Many are released on humanitarian parole or with notices to appear in immigration court.
The sight of both cities scrambling to cope with the influx drew undisguised schadenfreude from Abbott, who called New York City “the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city.”
In both cities, social service charities and churches have mobilized to support new arrivals, offering temporary shelter, medical attention and often a ticket to their next destination as they await a date in immigration court.
“Many are fleeing persecution and other very severe circumstances. They’re confused. And we want to make sure that we support them as much as possible and make sure that they’re not being used as political pawns,” Castro said.
On a recent August day, a bus of 41 migrants from Arizona arrived at a church in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, where they were greeted by workers from SAMU First Response, an international relief agency.
Within minutes the group was enjoying a hot meal inside the church and filling out arrival forms.
Texas buses arrive haphazardly, said Tatiana Laborde, the agency’s managing director. They only hear from charitable groups that a bus carrying a certain number of people has departed. At some point about 48 hours later, that bus drops off riders at Washington’s Union Station.
Arizona provides detailed manifests of passengers and their nationalities, coordination on arrival times and has medical personnel aboard each bus.
“They don’t want to just dump people here,” Laborde said.
Many of those who arrive in Washington don’t stay long. Mayor Muriel Bowser, in her second request for National Guard support, told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that most migrants stay up to three days before moving on to their final destinations.
“They don’t know much about D.C. other than the president is here,” Laborde said.
The Pentagon on Monday denied the mayor’s request for help, saying the use of the National Guard would be inappropriate and would hurt the overall readiness of the troops by forcing some to cancel or disrupt military training.
Kelin Enriquez, another Venezuelan, was among them. She and and her children first arrived in Washington and later found themselves at a family center in the Bronx to plan the family’s next steps.
“No one leaves their land because they want to. We want to work. We want a better opportunity,” said Enriquez, who helped care for Alzheimer’s patients in her native country.
Some migrants see a free ticket from the border as the best of bad options.
For Eduardo Garcia, the top priorities were finding a job and a place to live and starting life anew.
It was an agonizing journey, even if he hadn’t broken his left ankle while trying to keep his wife from falling along the perilous trail. He limped in pain for more than 1,000 miles.
“I didn’t care because I cared more about getting here,” he said.
He told no one about his fractured limb until he arrived in New York, where he got medical attention, a cast and crutches.
In New York, many of the migrants make their way to the offices of Catholic Charities. Officials in Texas — it is unclear who — listed the office as the migrants’ address, which perplexed church officials at the New York Diocese. The diocese has now received more than 1,300 court notices on behalf of migrants.
“I think we were maybe caught off guard, a little bit disappointed by the governments in Texas and Arizona just putting individuals on buses to D.C. without any plan at the other end,” said Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of migrant services for Catholic Charities in New York.
In the last two months, the procession of Venezuelans seeking refuge in the United States has grown dramatically. In July, Border Patrol agents stopped Venezuelans 17,603 times — up 34% from June and nearly triple from July 2021.
The United States does not recognize the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro because of allegations that the country’s 2018 election was a sham. The lack of official recognition complicates the country’s ability to take back asylum-seekers. The Mexican government also refuses to accept the migrants, which gives the U.S. few options in handling Venezuelans.
At a New York City shelter, brothers Leonardo Oviedo, 22, and Angel Mota, 19, seemed giddy shortly after arriving in New York. They had plans to reconnect with an acquaintance in New Jersey.
Big plans lie ahead. Oviedo wants to land a job. Mota wants to attend school. How they will accomplish their dreams was still uncertain as the pair swiped through photos of relatives they left behind in Venezuela, including their mother, grandmother, brother and sister.
For now, neither brother is especially concerned about the politics that brought them here.
“We had nowhere to go,” Mota said outside a shelter on a sweltering summer morning. “This is where they would welcome us.”
___
Khalil reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Anita Snow in Phoenix, Claudia Torrens and Robert Bumsted in New York, and Jacquelyn Martin and Nathan Ellgren in Washington contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T15:34:31Z
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ATLANTA (AP) — A woman shot and killed two people and wounded a third Monday at two different locations in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood and was later taken into custody at the city’s airport, police said.
Atlanta police said they did not immediately know what prompted the attack, but they believe the victims were targeted. The suspect’s name was not released.
“We do not believe these were random acts of violence,” interim police chief Darrin Schierbaum told a news conference.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting around 1:45 p.m. and found two victims at the first building. One of the victims died, and the other was taken to a hospital, Atlanta police said.
While there, police received another report of a shooting at a second building less than a mile (1.6 km) away. That victim was also taken to the hospital and later died. Atlanta police said they are investigating how the two sites are connected.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies descended on the Midtown area, telling residents to stay inside as they searched the area. Atlanta police said an “extensive camera network” helped them track the suspect and she was eventually located at the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Mayor Andre Dickens said the woman was arrested before entering a restricted area and that the “security of the airport was never compromised.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:34:38Z
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The birth mother of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz abused crack cocaine and alcohol during her pregnancy, his half-sister and another witness testified Monday — a circumstance that his lead attorney said left him with “an irretrievably broken” brain and set him on the road to mass murder.
Cruz’s attorneys began their defense Monday, hoping to convince his jury to sentence him to life without parole instead of death for slaying 14 students and three staff members during the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
His lead attorney, Melisa McNeill, told the jury during her deferred opening statement that Cruz has fetal alcohol and drug issues that weren’t dealt with adequately by his adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, who suffered from severe depression and financial woes after her husband died suddenly when their son was 5. McNeill told the jury that doesn’t excuse what her 23-year-old client did, but are factors they should consider as her team presents its case over several weeks.
“He is a brain-damaged human,” she said.
She said nothing in Cruz’s life story will erase that the seven men, five women and 10 alternates have “seen things that will haunt us forever.” Cruz pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and the trial will only decide his sentence.
“Everyone knows there is one person responsible for all that pain and all of that suffering, and that person is Nikolas Cruz,” she said. But she hopes jurors will remember that the law “never requires you to vote for death,” not even “in the worst case imaginable, and it’s arguable that this is the worst case imaginable.”
McNeill deferred her opening statement from the trial’s first day of July 18 to the beginning of her team’s case. For Cruz to be sentenced to death, the jury must be unanimous — if even one juror votes for life, that will be his sentence.
The defense is seeking to overcome horrendous evidence laid out by lead prosecutor Mike Satz and his team, capped by the jurors’ visit to the fenced-off building that Cruz stalked, firing about 150 shots down halls and into classrooms. Jurors saw dried blood on floors and walls, bullet holes in doors and windows and remnants of Valentine’s Day cards and balloons.
Prosecutors also presented graphic surveillance videos; gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos; his AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle; emotional testimony from teachers and students who saw others die; and four days of tearful, angry statements from parents, spouses and other family members about how their loved one’s death affected them. Jurors also watched video of Cruz calmly ordering a cherry and blue raspberry Icee minutes after the shooting and, nine months later, attacking a jail guard.
The defense began its case by showing that Cruz’s late birth mother, Brenda Woodard, was a Fort Lauderdale prostitute who smoked crack cocaine and drank Colt 45 malt liquor and Cisco fortified wine during her pregnancy with him. It is unknown whether Cruz’s birth father was a customer or a rapist — there was conflicting testimony on that — but his identity is unknown and he was not part of Woodard’s life.
Cruz spent much of the day looking up at the proceedings — during the prosecution’s case, he usually stared at the defense table and scribbled on a pad.
Carolyn Deakins, a former prostitute, testified Monday that she and Woodard were drinking beer one day in 1998 when Woodard got sick. She thought it was because of drugs, but Woodard told her she was pregnant. Deakins said she angrily told Woodard she was harming her baby with drugs and drinking, but Woodard replied she was putting the child up for adoption and didn’t care.
“Nickolas, I am sorry, but that’s how it was,” she said, peering over at the defense table. Cruz looked down.
Cruz’s half-sister, Danielle Woodard, nearly 12 years older, was brought to the courtroom from a Miami-Dade County jail where she is awaiting trial on a carjacking charge. Monday was the first time she had seen Cruz in person since she held him minutes after his birth — “he was really squirmy.” Their mother kicked her out of the maternity ward for asking if they could keep him.
She confirmed that throughout her childhood her mother abused alcohol and drugs. She said her mother would beat drug screens while on probation by having her urinate into a container and hide it in her person. The behavior continued through another pregnancy that birthed hers and Cruz’s half-brother, Zachary.
“She had an addiction. She always put that first,” Woodard said. Cruz nodded after she said she still loved her brothers.
Susan Lubar, a former Broward County teacher of preschool special needs, testified that Cruz had severe language and behavioral problems when she taught him at age 4. She said he would act like a tiger, curling his hands like paws and hissing at other children if they got too close.
“Nikolas would push children, scratch at them, topple over furniture, he would stay away from other children and if they got too close, he would pounce,” she testified.
To calm him, she put a sheet over a table where he would go to be alone with toys and picture books, something she never did with any child since in her long career.
Other children “knew that was his space and wouldn’t try to go in there,” she said.
___
Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
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DELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man was arrested Thursday on allegations that he tried to stash meth under a deputy’s patrol vehicle during a traffic stop.
Bodycam video showed a deputy tell Lee Sanberg, 49, that she needed to get her written warning from another deputy who was patting down her boyfriend, 49-year-old John Schneider.
While he was being patted down, Schneider was spotted dropping a bag under the deputy’s patrol vehicle, prompting the deputies to handcuff him.
“He just dropped a bag that looked like dope,” one of the deputies said.
“Aww man,” Sanberg responded.
Detectives said Schneider had dropped a half pound of methamphetamine that he bought outside Volusia County.
Sanberg, who said the methamphetamine wasn’t hers, was also handcuffed.
“I mean, whatever, you might as well try to lie,” the deputy responded. “You ain’t got nothing to lose.”
Deputies said they found another gram in Schneider’s right sock.
He was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, tampering with evidence and resisting without violence. Sanberg was charged with conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine.
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| 2022-09-21T15:34:53Z
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Dozens of South Koreans adopted by Danish parents decades ago have formally demanded the South Korean government investigate their adoptions, which they say were marred by widespread practices that falsified or obscured children’s origins.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Seoul has up to four months to decide whether to accept the application collectively filed Tuesday by the 53 adoptees. If it does, that could possibly trigger the most far-reaching inquiry into foreign adoptions in the country, which has never fully reconciled the child export frenzy engineered by past military governments that ruled from the 1960s to ’80s.
The application cites a broad range of grievances emphasizing how scores of children were carelessly or unnecessarily removed from their families amid loose government monitoring and a lack of due diligence.
Perhaps more crucially, the country’s special laws aimed at promoting adoptions practically allowed profit-driven agencies to manipulate records and bypass proper child relinquishment.
Most of the South Korean adoptees sent abroad were registered by agencies as legal orphans found abandoned on the streets, although they frequently had relatives who could be easily identified and found. This made the children more easily adoptable as agencies raced to send more kids to the West at faster speeds.
“None of us are orphans,” said Peter Møller, attorney and co-head of the Danish Korean Rights Group, as he described the group’s members who filed the application.
“(In) a lot of papers, the Korean state at the time have stamped papers that say people were found on the streets. If you do a little bit of math, that would mean that from the 1970s and 1980s Seoul would be flooded with baskets with children lying around in the streets. … Basements will be filled with lost child reports at police stations.”
Møller, who was adopted to Denmark in 1974, said about 50 more of the group’s members are expected to join the application and that he plans to come back to South Korea with their files in September.
The complaints by adoptees who filed the application include inaccurate or falsified information in adoption papers that distort their biological origins, such as wrong birth names, dates or locations, or details about birth parents.
Some of the adoptees say they discovered that the agencies had switched their identities to replace other children who died or got too sick to travel to Danish parents, which made it highly difficult or often impossible to trace their roots.
The adoptees called for the commission to broadly investigate the alleged wrongdoings surrounding their adoptions, including how agencies potentially falsified records, manipulated children’s backgrounds and origins, and proceeded with adoptions without the proper consent of birth parents. They want the commission to establish whether the government should be held accountable for failing to monitor the agencies and confirm whether the uptick in adoptions was fueled by increasingly larger payments and donations from adoptive parents, which apparently motivated agencies to create their own supply.
The adoptees also called for the commission to push Holt Children’s Services and the Korea Social Service — the two agencies that sent kids to Denmark — into providing full access to the entirety of their adoption documents and background information. They also say all those records should be transferred to government authorities handling post-adoption services to prevent the information from being destroyed or manipulated.
South Korean adoptees for years have been criticizing agencies over what they see as a lack of transparency and an unwillingness to open records. Møller said some adoptees in Denmark remain reluctant to join the application out of fear that the agencies might destroy their records.
Holt didn’t answer repeated calls seeking comment. The KSS deferred all questions to Holt, the bigger agency.
Holt already has an ongoing legal battle with U.S. adoptee Adam Crapser, who in 2019 filed a 200 million won ($150,000) damage suit against the agency and the South Korean government for failing to follow through on his adoption and ensure that his American parents naturalized him. After being abused and abandoned by two different sets of American parents, Crapser was deported in 2016 following run-ins with the law because none of his guardians filed citizenship papers for him.
The Danish adoptees initially considered filing a lawsuit against the agencies or South Korean government before dropping the idea because South Korean law puts the burden of proof entirely on the plaintiffs in civil cases. If the truth commission decides to investigate the adoptions, its findings could later be used by adoptees in possible damage suits against the agencies or government, said Philsik Shin, a Seoul-based scholar who helped the adoptees prepare the application.
About 200,000 South Koreans were adopted overseas during the past six decades, mainly to white parents in the United States and Europe. Denmark was one of the biggest destinations for South Korean children in Europe, receiving about 9,000 adoptees — most of them from the 1960s to late 1980s when South Korea was ruled by consecutive military governments.
During the height of the adoptions in the late 1970s and mid-1980s, agencies aggressively solicited newborns or young children from hospitals and orphanages, often in exchange for payments, and operated maternity homes where single mothers were pressured to give away their babies. Adoption workers toured factory areas and low-income neighborhoods in search of struggling families who could be persuaded to give away their children.
The agencies were run by board members close to military leaders, who saw adoptions as a tool to reduce the number of mouths to feed and the remove the socially undesirable, including children from unwed mothers. Adoptions were also aimed at deepening ties with the democratic West amid a fierce regime competition with rival North Korea, according to the military governments’ documents obtained by AP.
It wasn’t until 2013 when South Korea’s government required foreign adoptions to go through family courts, ending a decadeslong policy of allowing private agencies to dictate child relinquishments, transfer of custodies and emigration.
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TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — A body found in a Northern California reservoir is believed to be that of 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who went missing weeks ago after attending a large party at a Sierra Nevada campground, authorities said Monday.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon told a press conference that the body had not been identified yet but “we believe it is our missing person.” The body was found when the teen’s submerged car was located, but officials offered no theory of how it ended up in the water.
Rodni’s family thanked the searchers for their help in a statement Monday and said they would be grieving privately.
“While we accept this sadness cast under death’s shadow, the rising sun shines light upon us, reminding us not to mourn our loss, but to celebrate Kiely’s spirit and the gift that we all received in knowing her,” the Rodni-Nieman family wrote in the statement. “Kiely will surely remain with us even though we will not get her back.”
Volunteer divers with a sonar-equipped group called Adventures with Purpose said they found Kiely Rodni of Truckee on Sunday inside her car, which they said came to rest upside down under about 14 feet (4.2 meters) of water in Prosser Reservoir, about 55 feet (16.7 meters) offshore.
Adventures with Purpose search members Doug Bishop and Nick Rinn briefly described the search in a Facebook livestream Monday morning. Rinn said they were limited in the scope of details they could release. The Oregon-based group says it has solved more than 20 missing persons cases using sonar and search-and-rescue techniques for its dive team.
Bishop said they put two sonar boats in the water at 10:40 a.m. and by 11:15 a.m. Rinn detected an object with sonar technology. Bishop said he was able to confirm it was a vehicle. Rinn put on his gear and conducted the dive to examine the car.
“Once we confirmed it was indeed Kiely’s vehicle we immediately notified family, law enforcement and (the teen’s) dad and grandpa were on scene within minutes,” Bishop said.
Ann Riordan, a longtime Truckee resident and family friend, said she had been holding out hope and joined in the search every day she wasn’t working.
“It’s probably one of the worst things that’s happened in this community in the 45 years I’ve lived here,” she said.
Nevada County sheriff’s Capt. Sam Brown said the law enforcement task force now needs to determine how and why Adventures with Purpose divers found Rodni’s body despite searches in the area by the task force. He said it was not yet clear whether the volunteer group had better equipment or advanced training — or both — that the sheriffs’ offices and other agencies may not have.
Brown also noted among changed conditions the reservoir’s water level has dropped as much as 4 feet (1.2 meters) since Aug. 6.
“In hindsight, everything looks 20/20,” Brown said. “The reality is, it’s not that simple. It is pretty complex and it’s tough.”
Brown did not say whether police believe she drove into the lake or could have been a victim of foul play. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
The area has curvy roads, and photos of the area where the car was pulled out of the reservoir show a wide expanse of bare shoreline that appears to gradually slope toward the water.
Rodni was last seen alive Aug. 6 near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, attending a party with hundreds of young people, authorities have said. The campground is at the reservoir in the Sierra Nevada, about 165 miles (266 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.
Her friend, Sami Smith was at the party with her and said Rodni had been planning to spend the night at the campground.
“I know that she wasn’t in the right mindset or state to drive. And if she were to have driven, she wouldn’t have made it far,” Smith told KOVR-TV.
Friends and family feared she had been kidnapped. Her phone had been out of service since the party, and her 2013 silver Honda CR-V had not been found.
Marine units from three local sheriff’s offices searched the reservoir. The search grew to a wide area of California and Nevada and involved at least 16 local, state and federal enforcement agencies.
Shane Weinreis, president and dive officer of Montana-based U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team, said such searches are akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.
“It’s not uncommon for agencies and teams to do a search and not find anything and then another team comes in and does find something,” he said.
Rodni’s car probably traveled 75 feet (22.8 meters) from the shoreline on the day it went into the reservoir -– a long distance for divers to cover initially, Weinreis said.
But as the water level dropped several feet the shoreline expanded, meaning the distance in the water to the car, decreased to a more reasonable distance.
“If divers were searching from the shore, it would have been easier for them to be searching now versus when they first started,” he said.
Dozens of family and friends also searched and offered a $50,000 reward. Authorities did not know Monday if Adventures with Purpose would receive the reward.
Officials praised Adventures with Purpose, but said the group’s success was based on information that law enforcement shared with them, including maps and cellphone ping locations.
Yet Brown said he did not think the task force had been officially notified that the group had discovered Rodni’s car.
“I think we reached out to them after we read it online,” he said.
Adventures With Purpose announced on Facebook that divers had located Rodni just before 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The group’s YouTube page, which has nearly 2.5 million subscribers, features heavily edited videos of their cases, as well as footage of dives for underwater treasure, missing cars, boats and guns. The “episode” featuring Rodni’s case will be uploaded within a week or so, Bishop said Monday.
The team provides its services to families for free but relies on donations, sponsorships and merchandise purchases for funding.
But the group considered taking legal action in 2020 after the team found the body of Ethan Kazmerzak, an Iowa man who had been missing since 2013, and wanted to collect the $100,000 reward. It was not immediately clear whether a lawsuit was ever filed.
“We understand that the resource we provide with our unique skill set is rare and it is an honor to help agencies and families all across the nation,” Bishop said Monday. “We will be working together with authorities here to share this knowledge over the next couple of days.”
___
Associated Press journalists John Antczak and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T15:35:17Z
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Ford announced Monday that it plans to lay off thousands of workers.
The cuts will impact about 2,000 salaried employees and 1,000 agency personnel, according to a Ford spokesperson.
They represent about 6% of the 31,000 full-time salaried workforce in the U.S. and Canada. Ford’s 56,000 union factory workers are not affected. Some workers also will lose jobs in India.
The company said the majority of the cuts will be at locations in Michigan.
“Even while we are making difficult but necessary changes in some areas of our business, we are investing in areas that are important to Ford and our customers including production of our iconic brands and EV vehicles and in our Ford Pro, commercial businesses,” Ford said in a statement.
In a letter to Ford employees, the company said the auto industry is changing with “breathtaking speed.”
“We have an opportunity to lead this exciting new era of connected and electric vehicles; create the most growth and value for Ford and our stakeholders since we scaled the Model T; and continue to make a positive difference in our customer’s lives and on society at large,” Ford’s announcement letter to employees said.
The company said employees will learn specifics about the changes from regional and local managers later this week.
This is in addition to a decision to shut down its F-150 line at Claycomo in February due to a chip shortage.
United Auto Workers Local 249 also said workers at the Claycomo plant were temporarily laid off earlier this month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Thousands of protesters in Haiti’s capital and other major cities blocked roads, shut down businesses and marched through the streets Monday to demand that Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down and to call for a better quality of life.
Associated Press journalists observed an unidentified man fatally shoot a demonstrator in Port-au-Prince and then flee in a car as the crowd temporarily scattered.
Demonstrator Lionel Jean-Pierre, who witnessed the shooting, said things in Haiti have gotten out of control.
“Families don’t know what to do,” he said as the crowd around him chanted: “If Ariel doesn’t leave, we’re going to die!”
Violence and kidnappings have surged in Port-au-Prince and nearby areas in recent months, with warring gangs killing hundreds of civilians in their fight over territory. They have grown more powerful since last year’s assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
In one of the most recent killings denounced by the prime minister and Haiti’s Office of Citizen Protection, suspected gang members killed eight people over the weekend in one community, including a mother and her two daughters who were set on fire while still alive.
“This collective crime adds to the list of victims…that has reached an alarming proportion,” the office said.
Poverty also has deepened, with inflation reaching 29% and some prices of some basic goods such as rice more than quadrupling. Gasoline also remains scarce and, if available, costs $15 a gallon.
“I need the gas to work,” 28-year-old moto-taxi driver Garry Larose said as he marched. “I have a family to feed, school to pay.”
In one protest, people wore black T-shirts, while at another they wore red T-shirts emblazoned with the words, “RISE UP.”
The protests come days after dozens of demonstrators staged a sit-in in front of Henry’s official residence and demanded that he resign.
On Monday, police clashed with demonstrators in some areas, firing tear gas to break up the crowd as burning tires blocked roads.
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MILAN (AP) — The far-right candidate who aspires to be Italy’s first female leader came under fire Monday from opponents for posting a pixelized video that purports to show a woman being raped by an asylum-seeker.
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy party that has neo-fascist roots, on Sunday evening reposted a video on Twitter from an Italian news site that was taken by a witness from a window overlooking the street. The woman, identified as Ukrainian, can be heard yelling in distress. A 27-year-old asylum-seeker from Guinea has been arrested in the sexual assault, according to Italian media reports.
“One cannot remain silent front of this atrocious episode of sexual violence in broad daylight in Piacenza by an asylum-seeker,’’ Meloni wrote. “A hug for this woman. I will do everything possible to restore security to our cities.”
Her main opponent in the Sept. 25 vote, Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, countered in a radio interview that reposting the video went beyond “the bounds of dignity and decency.”
A former education minister, Lucia Azzolina, said posting the alleged rape video “is not an official criminal complaint, but instrumentalization’’ of violence.
“(Seeing) a woman, candidate to run the country, using this media, is chilling,” Azzolina said.
And Carlo Calenda, leader of a small, new centrist party called Action, said “Meloni has done something not worthy of a civilized country, and against women.”
Meloni’s allusion to security in Italian cities is a right-wing theme in this election campaign, which also hits at immigration. She was backed by coalition partner Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing League party and former firebrand interior minister, who pledged that “defending our borders and Italians will be a duty for me, not a right.”
In a video response to Letta’s criticism, Meloni emphasized that no one is identifiable in the video and that the center-left leader had failed to condemn the attack itself.
“Why don’t you speak of this? Because otherwise you need to come to terms with the fact that security in our cities is out of control, thanks also to the surreal immigration policies that you have pursued,’’ Meloni said.
Polls show the Brothers of Italia having a potential lead with voters over the Democratic Party ahead of the parliamentary election, but neither have enough support to govern alone.
Meloni can expect a significant boost from her coalition partners — the League and Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia party — while Letta is aligned with much smaller parties.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJW) — A Cleveland-born actor most famous for her role in “It’s a Wonderful Life” has died at age 97.
Virginia Patton Moss, who played Ruth Dakin Bailey in the Frank Capra Christmas classic died Thursday, Aug. 18 of natural causes, a funeral home obituary confirmed. She was the last surviving adult cast member of the film, according to People.
“We have another angel,” Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu, the daughter of Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey, said on Facebook. “She is now with her beloved Cruse. She will be missed.”
Cruse Moss, Patton Moss’ husband of nearly 70 years, passed away in 2018.
Patton Moss, who grew up in Portland, Oregon, moved to Hollywood as a teenager to pursue acting. During her 7-year-long career, she appeared in plays and movies before retiring at the age of 24 to marry Cruse Moss and move to Michigan.
Patton Moss spoke with Michigan news outlet Patch back in 2012, fondly remembering director Capra who she said stayed in touch with her over the years.
“I have a beautiful letter that [Capra] wrote me … he said, ‘I just knew you’d be a wonderful mother with three little bambinos and a wonderful husband,'” Patton Moss said.
She went on to explain why she had no problem giving up her life in Hollywood at the age of 24.
“I couldn’t see me doing that for my life,” she said. “That isn’t what I wanted. I wanted exactly what I am. Ann Arbor, Michigan, a wonderful husband, wonderful children, a good part of the community. I work hard for the community.”
Patton Moss served as the president of the Patton Corporation, a real estate investment company, and a docent at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, following her time in Hollywood.
She is survived by two children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
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| 2022-09-21T15:35:54Z
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UPDATE: An Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office deputy is dead and another is fighting for his life after both were shot by a suspect Monday afternoon.
The deputy who died in the line of duty has been identified as Sgt. Bobby Swartz.
“Please keep the family of Sgt. Bobby Swartz in your prayers. Bobby was killed this afternoon serving lockout paperwork,” Sheriff’s Office officials said on social media.
The deputy who is still alive is listed as stable at OU Health in Oklahoma City. His name has not yet been released.
Sheriff Tommie Johnson broke down in tears as he spoke about the deputies during a news conference. Both deputies were still alive at the time of Johnson’s news conference, receiving ongoing treatment from emergency medical personnel.
“It’s a sad day for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office,” Johnson said as he struggled to hold back tears.
Johnson said two deputies were serving an eviction notice at a home.
KFOR earlier learned that the home is located at S.W. 78th and Youngs in Oklahoma City.
The deputies made contact with a person at the front door, according to Johnson. He said the deputies then went to the back door. Information was not provided on why the deputies moved to the backdoor.
A male suspect at the home was armed with a gun.
“They went around to the backdoor, and that’s when the shooting began,” Johnson said. “[The suspect] shot the first deputy. The second deputy tried to get that deputy out of the way of gunfire, and then he was struck as well.”
At least one of the two deputies was able to return fire at the suspect, Capt. Valerie Littlejohn, of the Oklahoma City Police Department, said during a separate new conference at Tinker Air Force Base.
Both deputies were rushed to the hospital.
The suspect fled the scene in a pickup that had a boat attached to its rear, heading east.
Law enforcement personnel quickly located the suspect’s vehicle, not far from the scene of the shooting, and pursued him, according to Littlejohn.
Police radio traffic said officials spotted the suspect’s vehicle along I-35, and that the suspect began shooting out of a window at police.
“During the pursuit, the suspect was firing rounds at the officers, and we had officers returning fire at the suspect,” Littlejohn said.
Chopper 4 saw the suspect’s vehicle enter I-40, heading eastbound with about 20 law enforcement officers in pursuit.
The suspect could be seen speeding and hitting multiple construction cones as he entered the construction area of I-40 near Del City.
The chase approached the area of Tinker Air Force Base.
Law enforcement personnel caught up to the suspect, and the pursuit ended at Tinker’s entrance.
Authorities from multiple law enforcement agencies took the suspect into custody without further incident.
Littlejohn said it is currently unknown why the suspect surrendered at Tinker.
“At this time, we don’t know why he came here – if he purposefully came here or if he took a wrong turn,” she said.
Neither the suspect nor pursuing law enforcement personnel were struck by gunfire during the pursuit on the highway, according to Littlejohn.
“It’s fortunate that none of the other officers were struck by gunfire,” she said.
A type of rifle was found in the suspect’s possession, according to Littlejohn. No further details were provided about the rifle.
Littlejohn said she could not yet release the suspect’s name.
Oklahoma City police will handle the investigation into the shooting.
The Oklahoma law enforcement community is sending their love and support to the Sheriff’s Office, Johnson said.
“Law enforcement is a tight community, and I’m so thankful… they were screaming across the state for my guys,” Johnson said as he broke down in tears.
Gov. Kevin Stitt posted the following remarks on Twitter about the deadly shooting:
“Heartbreaking day.
Two @OkCountySheriff deputies were shot in the line of duty, one was killed.
I spoke with Sheriff Tommie Johnson. We are praying for the fallen deputy’s family and for the deputy still fighting for their life.
I am grateful for @OHPDPS and the @OKCPD swift actions to prevent any further loss of life. Today and every day, Oklahoma stands with our law enforcement community.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt
Aaron Brilbeck, the Public Information Officer for the Sheriff’s Office, was also in tears as he discussed the shooting.
Brilbeck described both deputies as seasoned members of the Sheriff’s Office.
He said several deputies were serving eviction notices Monday, which he described as a routine procedure.
KFOR has learned more about the home where the shooting occurred.
Court documents state that someone at that house filed a victim protective order (VPO) against a family member within the past month.
The homeowner tried to evict a family member. A judge granted that request within the past week.
KFOR believes that the lockout order that the deputies were serving at the home Monday was part of the eviction request made by the homeowner.
The homeowner said the family member owed at least $1,500 in back rent, according to court documents.
Community members and law enforcement personnel across the state are heartbroken in the wake of the deadly shooting.
Law enforcement members gathered outside OU Health in Oklahoma City, in support of the deputy who is fighting to survive, as well as the family, friends, colleagues and memory of the deputy who was killed.
A procession of law enforcement members escorted Swartz’s body as it was being transported from OU Health to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Police departments and sheriff’s offices across Central Oklahoma posted condolence messages on social media:
“Our deepest and most sincere condolences to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.”
Oklahoma City Police Department
“Please keep our neighbors at the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office in your prayers as they are facing the loss of a deputy and another seriously injured from the events that occurred today. We as a Sheriff’s Office will stand beside them in their trying time and will keep them in our prayers.”
Logan County Sheriff’s Office
“We would like to send our Prayers to the 2 Deputy’s that was shot this afternoon. Prayers for their families as well. Also prayers for all the Deputies, Troopers and Officers involved in this incident.”
Grady County Sheriff’s Office
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office during this difficult time.”
Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and the families of the Deputies involved.”
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office
“Our Thoughts & Prayers Are With The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office Today…”
McClain County Sheriff’s Office
“Our hearts are with our brothers and sisters at the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. We’re sending our deepest sympathies to all affected.”
Edmond Police Department
“On behalf of Chief Robinson and all of our Officers:
Our deepest condolences to our brothers and sisters at Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and family of their
Fallen Deputy. Our prayers continue for the hospitalized Deputy that is fighting for their life.
Courtesy, Service, Protection”
Del City Police Department
“Rest in peace, Sergeant.
We will never forget your service and sacrifice.
Our prayers remain with the other wounded Deputy and the men and women of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.”
Guthrie Police Department
Former Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel also released a statement, paying tribute to Swartz:
“Bobby was a good man, a superb and dedicated deputy who served with pride and professionalism. He sacrificed his life for the citizens of Oklahoma County. I was proud of his service and his friendship. May he Rest In Peace.”
John Whetsel
When asked what the community can do for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, Brilbeck simply said “pray.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:36:02Z
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OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man charged in the prison killing of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger will remain behind bars while he awaits trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Sean McKinnon, 36, was on federal supervised release when he was arrested Thursday in Florida on charges including conspiracy to commit first degree murder.
Two other men charged in Bulger’s killing — Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 55, and Paul J. DeCologero, 48 — were already locked up.
The men are accused of conspiring to kill Bulger hours after he was transferred to USP Hazelton in West Virginia from a prison in Florida in 2018. Bulger, who served as an FBI informant and later became one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives, had been serving a life sentence for 11 murders and other crimes.
Authorities say Geas and DeCologero struck Bulger in the head multiple times while McKinnon acted as a lookout. McKinnon is charged separately with making false statements to a federal agent. Prosecutors say he told federal agents he wasn’t aware of what happened to Bulger.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Philip Lammens in Florida granted prosecutors’ request to keep McKinnon detained until trial, calling him both a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Authorities have not revealed a possible motive for Bulger’s killing, which has raised questions about why the 89-year-old was moved to the prison nicknamed “Misery Mountain” and placed in its general population instead of more protective housing.
McKinnon, who was Geas’ cellmate at Hazelton, pleaded guilty in 2015 to stealing a dozen handguns from a Vermont firearms dealer. He was moved to a halfway house in February before being released from there in July.
An email seeking comment was sent to an attorney who represented McKinnon at his detention hearing on Monday.
DeCologero, who was in an organized crime gang led by his uncle in Massachusetts, was convicted of buying heroin that was used to try to kill a teenage girl his uncle wanted dead because he feared she would betray the crew to police. The heroin didn’t kill her, so another man broke her neck, dismembered her and buried her remains in the woods, court records say.
Geas, a Mafia hitman, and his brother were sentenced to life in prison in 2011 for their roles in several violent crimes, including the 2003 killing of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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When San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy receives his prestigious red hat at the Vatican on Saturday, he will bring to the College of Cardinals a fervent loyalty to Pope Francis that has often put him at odds with the conservative majority in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
McElroy, 68, is the only American among the 21 clerics being installed as cardinals by Francis in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica. He was chosen over numerous higher-ranking American archbishops, including two from his home state — outspoken conservative Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and José Gomez of Los Angeles, the president of the U.S. bishops conference.
McElroy has been among the few American bishops who questioned why the conference insists on identifying abortion as its “preeminent” priority. Echoing the pope’s concerns, he has questioned why greater prominence is not given to issues such as poverty, immigration and climate change.
“The death toll from abortion is more immediate, but the long-term death toll from unchecked climate change is larger and threatens the very future of humanity,” McElroy said in 2020.
The Rev. James Martin, editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America, described McElroy as “one of the foremost articulators in the United States not only of Pope Francis’ vision but also the vision of the Second Vatican Council and, more basically, the vision of the Gospel.”
“He has been the special champion of people on the margins, both in society and in the church,” Martin said via email. “It’s not surprising that the Holy Father would have singled him out for this honor and that he would want the future Cardinal McElroy present in the conclave that will elect the next pope.”
Chad Pecknold, a theology professor at The Catholic University of America who has been critical of many Vatican decisions under Francis’ papacy, said McElroy “often speaks from the ideological margins” and thus would be seen, in this papacy, as an appropriate candidate to be a cardinal.
“But mostly, his elevation reminds me that more senior and substantial prelates like Archbishop Cordileone and Archbishop Gomez have, once again, been very deliberately passed over,” Pecknold said in an email.
Among his notable stances, McElroy has been one of a minority of U.S. bishops denouncing the campaign to exclude Catholic politicians who support abortion rights from Communion.
“It will bring tremendously destructive consequences,” McElroy wrote last year. “The Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare. This must not happen.”
Cordileone, in contrast, said earlier this year that he would no longer allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to receive Communion because of her support for abortion rights.
Last year McElroy was among a small group of bishops signing a statement expressing support for LGBTQ youth and denouncing the bullying often directed at them.
The bishops said LGBTQ youth attempt suicide at much higher rates, are often homeless because of families who reject them and “are the target of violent acts at alarming rates.”
“We stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying or harassment directed at you,” the statement read. “Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.”
McElroy received a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard in 1975 and a master’s in history from Stanford in 1976.
He studied at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, and in 1985 received a theology degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. He obtained a doctorate in moral theology at the Gregorian University in Rome the following year and a doctorate in political science at Stanford in 1989.
He was ordained in 1980 and assigned to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, where he served in a parish before becoming personal secretary to Archbishop John Quinn. Other California parish assignments included Redwood City and San Mateo.
He became an auxiliary bishop in San Francisco in 2010. In 2015, early in Francis’ pontificate, he was named bishop of San Diego. For the past three years, he has served as president of the California bishops conference.
Monsignor Stephen Doktorczyk, vicar-general for the Diocese of Orange, said McElroy’s leadership skills have been impressive.
“One thing I respect about him is that while he is confident in the positions he takes, he truly is open to hearing the take of others and engaging in a dialogue with those who have different points of view,” Doktorczyk said.
Allan Figueroa Deck, a distinguished scholar of pastoral theology at Loyola Marymount University, said McElroy’s elevation represents a “clear message” from the pope about the direction the church should move in.
McElroy “understands and takes seriously what Pope Francis means by ‘epochal change’ and the challenge of finding better models, a more effective and inclusive style for the Church to proceed,” Deck said via email. “He approaches hot-button issues like the pastoral care of LGBTQ persons and the abortion issue with balance and prudence.”
Conservative Catholic activist Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute has been a frequent critic of McElroy, for example condemning his strong support for the Association of United States Catholic Priests. The association is a relatively liberal group whose priorities include expanding the role of women in church leadership and creating “priestless parishes” that potentially could be overseen by laypeople as a way of countering the shortage of priests.
McElroy’s elevation “is a sign of Pope Francis’ desire to marry the Church with the world,” Hichborn said via email. “There can be little doubt that McElroy currently stands as the model for the kind of priest, bishop, and cardinal Pope Francis desires for the future of the Church.”
The Diocese of San Diego runs the length of California’s border with Mexico and serves more than 1.3 million Catholics in San Diego and Imperial counties. It includes 98 parishes, 49 elementary and secondary schools and, through Catholic Charities of the Diocese of San Diego, various social service and family support organizations.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office deputy was shot and killed and a second deputy wounded while the two were serving eviction papers at a home on the southwest side of Oklahoma City, authorities said.
Both deputies were transported to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, where Sgt. Bobby Swartz died and the other deputy was in stable condition, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Aaron Brilbeck said.
Sheriff Tommie Johnson said the two deputies were serving “lock-out papers,” which is part of the eviction process, when one of the deputies went to the back door of the home and was shot. The second deputy was shot as he attempted to pull the first deputy to safety, Johnson said.
A suspect in the shooting was taken into custody following a vehicle chase across the city, said Oklahoma City police Sgt. Dillon Quirk. The suspect’s name was not immediately released.
“During that pursuit, the suspect was firing rounds at officers, and we had officers as well returning fire at the suspect,” said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Valerie Littlejohn. She said neither the suspect nor the pursuing officers were hit by gunfire during the exchanges.
Video from a news helicopter showed police chasing a pickup truck hauling a boat across the city to the entrance of Tinker Air Force Base, where the driver was taken into custody after he threw a rifle out the window and exited the truck with his hands raised.
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| 2022-09-21T15:36:25Z
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JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian hunger striker held by Israel is in critical condition and could die at any moment from a range of maladies, a doctor who has examined him said Monday, after the country’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal to release the man.
Khalil Awadeh, 40, has been on a hunger strike since March to protest his so-called administrative detention, an Israeli policy of holding Palestinians for alleged involvement in militant activity. Detainees can be held without charge or trial for months or years at a time, without seeing the purported evidence against them. Israel describes the policy as a necessary security measure, while critics say it is a violation of due process.
Awawdeh’s family says he has been on the hunger strike for 170 days, subsisting only on water. Photos of Awawdeh taken by his lawyer on Friday showed him emaciated and lying in a hospital bed.
Dr. Lina Qasem-Hassan, a doctor with Physicians for Human Rights who visited Awadeh earlier this month, said he was extremely thin and suffering from malnutrition.
She said there are signs of neurological damage, with symptoms like memory loss, an inability to concentrate, involuntary eye movement and a near loss in vision. She said there was a risk of heart failure or kidney failure at any time.
“There is no doubt there is a risk for his life,” she said.
His lawyer, Ahlam Haddad, appealed last week to the Supreme Court to release him due to his failing health. But on Sunday, the court rejected the appeal.
In its ruling, the court said it had examined classified security information about Awawdeh and determined there was “solid and strong justification for the decision of administrative detention.”
Haddad said she would file another request for his release as soon as his condition worsens. “This is the equation, a difficult equation,” she said.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The Israeli military arrested Awawdeh last December, claiming he was an operative for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group — an allegation that his lawyer has dismissed.
Awawdeh is one of several Palestinian prisoners who have gone on prolonged hunger strikes in recent years to protest their administrative detentions. Many continued to suffer permanent health problems after their release.
Israel says administrative detentions help keep dangerous militants off the streets and allow the government to hold suspects without divulging sensitive intelligence or evidence against the suspects. Critics say it denies prisoners due process and is aimed at quashing opposition to Israel’s 55-year occupation of territories the Palestinians seek for a future state.
Israel is currently holding some 4,400 Palestinian prisoners, including militants who have carried out deadly attacks, as well as people arrested at protests or for throwing stones.
Around 670 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention, a number that has jumped since March as Israel began near-nightly arrest raids in the occupied West Bank following a series of deadly attacks against Israelis.
Awawdeh’s family says he has not eaten food since March, though he took some vitamin supplements over two weeks in June when he thought his case was being resolved.
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| 2022-09-21T15:36:33Z
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Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Monday to authorize its combination COVID-19 vaccine that adds protection against the newest omicron relatives — a key step toward opening a fall booster campaign.
The Food and Drug Administration ordered vaccine makers to tweak their shots to target BA.4 and BA.5 that are better than ever at dodging immunity from earlier vaccination or infection.
If the FDA quickly clears the combo shots made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, boosters could be offered within weeks. The U.S. has a contract to buy 105 million of the updated Pfizer doses as soon as health authorities greenlight them, and the company said doses are ready to ship.
Moderna is expected to file a similar application soon, and the U.S. has a contract to buy 66 million doses of its updated vaccine.
“It’s going to be really important that people this fall and winter get the new shots. It’s designed for the virus that’s out there,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said last week.
For now at least. BA.5 currently is causing nearly all COVID-19 infections in the U.S., and much of the world. There’s no way to know if it still will be a threat this winter — or if another mutant will have replaced it.
The news comes after Britain a week ago became the first in the world to authorize a different update to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines — shots that add protection against the original omicron that struck last winter.
The U.S. opted not to use that earlier tweak to the vaccine — setting up a fall where different countries will be using different versions of booster shots to rev up protection against another possible winter surge.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Two men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s governor wanted to grab Gretchen Whitmer and hang her, prosecutors said during a stark closing argument Monday as the government tried for a second time to get convictions in an alleged plot to trigger a revolution in 2020.
The jury got the case around noon after a morning of final remarks, including a fiery challenge by defense lawyers who accused the FBI of manufacturing a scheme against Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. Prosecutors, however, called that a phony narrative.
“These defendants were outside a woman’s house in the middle of the night with night-vision goggles and guns and a plan to kidnap her,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said. “And they made a real bomb. That’s far enough, isn’t it?”
After a nine-day trial, Kessler repeatedly urged jurors to also focus on what Fox and Croft were saying months before the FBI placed undercover agents and informants inside the group that summer.
It was Kessler’s effort to get the jury to look past a constant defense argument that the men were entrapped by the government every step of the way.
“’Which governor is going to be dragged off and hung for treason first?’” Kessler said, quoting Croft’s own words.
“Any governor would do,” the prosecutor said. “By the end of June, he was telling people Michigan’s government is a target of opportunity, and God knows the governor needs to be hung. He didn’t just want to kidnap her. He wanted to have his own trial and execute her.”
The ultimate goal: a second American Revolution, “something called the boogaloo,” Kessler said.
Fox, 39, and Croft, 46, are on trial for a second time, after a different jury in April couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict but acquitted two other men.
The jury heard secretly recorded conversations and read violent social media posts. Two undercover agents and an informant testified for hours, explaining how the men trained in a “shoot house” in Wisconsin and Michigan and visited Elk Rapids to see Whitmer’s home and a nearby bridge that could be blown up.
Other critical witnesses: Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, who pleaded guilty, and informant Dan Chappel, an Army veteran who said he went to the FBI after joining a Michigan paramilitary group and hearing plans to kill police.
There’s no dispute that Fox, Croft and their allies were furious about COVID-19 restrictions and generally disgusted by government.
“You remember (Fox) talking about his inspirations for his constitutional republic? Not George Washington. Not Abraham Lincoln. Timothy McVeigh, the people at Waco, Ruby Ridge — that’s what his inspiration was,” Kessler said, referring to the Oklahoma City bomber and the sites of deadly standoffs in Texas and Idaho, respectively, that involved the government.
Defense lawyers, however, have portrayed the men as “big talkers,” a bumbling, foul-mouthed, marijuana-smoking pair exercising free speech and incapable of leading anything as extraordinary as an abduction of a public official. They say FBI agents and informants fed their outrage and pulled them into their web.
“In America, the FBI is not supposed to create domestic terrorists so that the FBI can arrest them,” Fox attorney Christopher Gibbons told the jury. “The FBI isn’t supposed to create a conspiracy so the FBI can stand up and claim a disruption.”
Gibbons said there was “fantastical talk” by Fox and others — about storming Mackinac Island, getting helicopters and boats and maybe escaping through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
He said Fox was “isolated, broke, homeless,” living in the basement of a vacuum store in the Grand Rapids area.
“Somebody really cool is showing him attention, who wants to be his friend,” Gibbons said of Chappel.
Croft’s attorney, Joshua Blanchard, offered a similar assessment in a scathing attack on the FBI’s tactics. He reminded the jury that two more informants with recording devices were in the group but were never called as government witnesses, including a woman who shared a hotel room with Croft and traveled with him from the East Coast.
“You don’t have to agree with Barry’s politics. I surely don’t,” Blanchard said. “But we should all agree that the principles of truth and justice are the foundation that our country is built upon. The FBI has told us the truth doesn’t matter to them. … You have the power to put a stop to that today.”
Croft is a trucker from Bear, Delaware. The jury will resume deliberations Tuesday.
Whitmer, a Democrat, has blamed then-President Donald Trump for stoking mistrust and fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn hate groups and right-wing extremists like those charged in the plot.
Over the weekend, she said she hasn’t been following the second trial but remains concerned about “violent rhetoric in this country.”
“This is a dangerous trend that is happening,” Whitmer said at the Michigan Democratic Party’s convention in Lansing. “We cannot let it become normalized and I do hope that anyone that’s out there plotting to hurt their fellow Americans is held accountable.”
Trump recently called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”
The Justice Department charged Croft, Fox and four other men while Trump was in office. The second trial occurred while the FBI has been under scrutiny by his right-wing supporters, especially after an extraordinary search for documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Law enforcement officials across the country are warning about an increase in threats and the potential for violence against agents or buildings.
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Find the AP’s full coverage of the kidnapping plot trial: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial
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White reported from Detroit.
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Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
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SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — A Texas State University student is in the process of adopting a baby he found in a trash can while visiting his family in Haiti.
Back in 2017, 22-year-old Jimmy Amisial heard a large crowd gathering in the streets. He said he couldn’t believe what he found in the middle of them.
“I saw there were about 15 to 20 people staring at the baby on the pile of trash,” Amisial said.
There was a baby boy covered in fire ants crying out for help.
“He had no clothes on. He was crying. I could hear the pain in his voice,” Amisial said.
While others stood back, Amisial sprung into action.
“I couldn’t think of anything but to save him,” Amisial said.
He picked up the baby and took him home to his mom where they bathed, clothed and fed him. Amisial said police investigated but couldn’t find the parents. So, a judge asked Amisial a question he wasn’t expecting.
“He said, ‘would you be willing to be his legal guardian?'” Amisial said.
After taking a few nights to think it over, he took a leap of faith and decided to go for it.
“Sometimes you don’t have to know what to do, you just have to be ready to do it,” Amisial said.
That same baby boy left in a trash can is now 5-year-old Emilio Enjole Jeremiah.
“He loves to dance. He loves music. He loves to play the guitar,” Amisial said.
Amisial is now in the process of trying to legally adopt Emilio. As he reflected on these past few years, Amisial said his life-changing decision was the best decision he could’ve ever made.
“I’m really glad the fact that I had the opportunity to transform his life from being abandoned in the trash into a wonderful treasure,” Amisial said.
Amisial said currently, Emilio is living with his mom in Haiti as he prepares to go back to Texas State in the spring. He hopes by the time he walks across the stage to get his diploma, Emilio will be living with him in America and watching from the crowd.
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| 2022-09-21T15:37:28Z
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SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — A Texas State University student is in the process of adopting a baby he found in a trash can while visiting his family in Haiti.
In 2017, 22-year-old Jimmy Amisial heard a large crowd gathering in the streets and said he couldn’t believe what he found in the middle of them.
“I saw there were about 15 to 20 people staring at the baby on the pile of trash,” Amisial said.
The crying baby boy was covered in fire ants.
“He had no clothes on. He was crying. I could hear the pain in his voice,” Amisial said. “I couldn’t think of anything but to save him.”
He picked up the baby and took him home to his mom where they bathed, clothed and fed him. Amisial said police investigated but couldn’t find the parents. So, a judge asked Amisial a question he wasn’t expecting.
“He said, ‘Would you be willing to be his legal guardian?'” Amisial said.
After taking a few nights to think it over, he took a leap of faith and decided to go for it.
“Sometimes you don’t have to know what to do. You just have to be ready to do it,” Amisial said.
That abandoned baby boy is now 5-year-old Emilio Enjole Jeremiah.
“He loves to dance. He loves music. He loves to play the guitar,” Amisial said.
Amisial is now in the process of trying to legally adopt Emilio. As he reflected on these past few years, Amisial said his life-changing decision was the best one he could’ve made.
“I’m really glad the fact that I had the opportunity to transform his life from being abandoned in the trash into a wonderful treasure,” Amisial said.
Amisial said currently, Emilio is living with his mom in Haiti as he prepares to go back to Texas State in the spring. He hopes by the time he walks across the stage to get his diploma, Emilio will be living with him in America and watching from the crowd.
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| 2022-09-21T15:37:35Z
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AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — Texas students will soon get a lesson on … Taylor Swift.
This semester, the University of Texas at Austin will offer a course looking into Swift’s expansive discography. Just ask any T. Swift fan, or “Swiftie,” and they’ll tell you her lyricism and songwriting is unmatched. Have you heard “All Too Well”?
The course is being taught to undergraduates in the Liberal Arts Honors program by English professor Elizabeth Scala.
Part of what makes Swift’s songs a good canvas for a literature course is that Swift is an autobiographical and topical songwriter, Scala said.
Students in the course will look at “literary traditions and forms through a distinctly contemporary lens,” according to the course announcement. They’ll also be comparing her work to Western literature like Shakespeare, Keats and Frost.
“I want to take what Swift fans can already do at a sophisticated level, tease it out for them a bit with a different vocabulary, and then show them how, in fact, Swift draws on richer literary traditions in her songwriting, both topically but also formally in terms of how she uses references, metaphors, and clever manipulations of words,” Scala said.
It’s not the only university course on a pop icon in the state. Texas State University will soon offer a course on Harry Styles starting in spring 2023.
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| 2022-09-21T15:37:43Z
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(NEXSTAR) – After months of wallet-clutching prices, the cost of a steak may finally be going down.
Expensive cuts of meat like rib-eye and New York strip – often among the most expensive single items in a grocery cart – are even seeing discounts in some stores as meat plants bolster staffing and supplies stabilize, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Beef prices in stores dropped .7% in the four weeks ending Aug. 7, according to an Information Resources Inc. report cited by WSJ. It was the second straight four-week period of decline in more than a year and a half after dropping 1% in the previous period.
Part of the drop in price appears to be due to changes in consumer behavior.
Tyson Foods said in its third quarter results released earlier this month that the average sales price for beef went down in the third quarter of 2022 “driven by reduced demand for premium cuts of beef as compared to exceptionally high demand in the third quarter of fiscal 2021.”
“Promotional prices have come back to where they were two years ago,” one shopper told the WSJ. “I always eat red meat. I’m happy.”
Prices at the wholesale level fell from June to July, the first month-to-month drop in more than two years and a sign that some of the U.S. economy’s inflationary pressures cooled last month.
An August report from the Labor Department showed that the producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — declined 0.5% in July. It was the first monthly drop since April 2020 and was down from a sharp 1% increase from May to June.
The easing of wholesale inflation suggests that consumers could get some relief from relentless inflation in the coming months. The wholesale report follows government data Wednesday that showed that consumer inflation was unchanged from June to July — the first flat figure after 25 straight months of increases.
Yet economists caution that it’s still too early to say that inflation is headed steadily lower.
“The July deceleration … is a move in the right direction,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “But producer costs continue to rise at a rapid pace, well above target.”
Federal Reserve officials saw signs that the U.S. economy was weakening at their last meeting but still called inflation “unacceptably high’’ before raising their benchmark interest rate by a sizable three-quarters of a point in their drive to slow spiking prices.
In minutes from their July 26-27 meeting released Wednesday, the policymakers said they expected the economy to expand in the second half of 2022. But many of them suggested that growth would weaken as higher rates take hold. The officials noted that the housing market, consumer spending, business investment and factory production had decelerated after having expanded robustly in 2021.
Slower growth, they noted, could “set the stage’’ for inflation to gradually fall to the central bank’s 2% annual goal, though it remained “far above’’ that target. But the policymakers made clear that for now, they intend to continue raising rates enough to slow the economy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T15:37:51Z
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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — On March 8, nearly two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Taisiia Mokrozub took her infant son, parted from her husband and joined an exodus to safety in Poland. She believed the war would end quickly and she would be home by May.
But a half-year later, with shelling near a nuclear power plant in her hometown of Zaporizhzhia, and the front line so close, the 36-year-old’s husband is telling her to stay in Poland with their now-11-month-old baby. She now dreams of being home by winter, hoping Ukraine will have prevailed by then against Russia’s onslaught.
As the war reaches the sixth-month mark Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned to Ukraine already. But others are facing the sad realization that they will not be going home soon, if they have homes to return to at all. With missiles falling even far from the front line, many wouldn’t feel safe yet, even in areas under Ukrainian control.
So they are biding their time, waiting for the end of a war that shows no signs of ending soon, longing for home and refusing to think too far into the future.
With a new academic year starting, some are reluctantly enrolling their children in schools abroad, worried they will fall behind. Others take jobs below their skill levels. With most refugees being women, those with very young children, like Mokrozub, are often unable to work.
“It seems to me that not only for me but for all Ukrainians, time has stopped,” Mokrozub said. “We all live in some kind of limbo.”
Russia’s invasion has created the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The UN refugee agency says a third of Ukrainians have fled their homes, with more than 6.6 million displaced within the country and over 6.6 million more across the continent.
European countries have welcomed them without the political backlash that met influxes of refugees from the Middle East and Africa in past years, however.
Poland has taken in the most Ukrainians, with an estimated 1.5 million having registered for national ID numbers that allow them social benefits. Germany, which doesn’t require visas for Ukrainians, has registered more than 900,000, though it isn’t clear how many of those may have gone home or headed elsewhere.
Warsaw now has 180,000 Ukrainian refugees — representing a tenth of the Polish capital’s population of 1.8 million — the largest single grouping anywhere.
Though Ukrainian and Russian — which is also commonly spoken back home — are heard on the city’s streets and grocery stores now carry some Ukrainian foods, the newcomers have integrated with little trouble and seem almost invisible.
For many of the refugees, Poland’s Slavic language and culture offer something familiar and reassuring. The country’s proximity to Ukraine makes it possible to travel back for short visits with husbands and fathers who are banned from leaving due to the war effort.
“We didn’t want to go farther,” said Galina Inyutina, 42, who arrived in Poland in early March from Dnipro with her 11-year-old son. They long terribly for their forests and fields and food.
“Mom, if we go farther away then it will take us longer to get home,” he told her.
The arrival of so many people has exacerbated a preexisting housing crisis in Warsaw, where rental prices have surged 30% over the last year, as well as other cities that have attracted large numbers of refugees.
In the early days of the war, hundreds of thousands of Polish families took Ukrainians, often total strangers, into their homes. Thanks to that hospitality, there was never a need for refugee camps, said Oksana Pestrykova, who administers a consultation center at the Ukrainian House in Warsaw, a social center for immigrants.
But what were expected to be short stays have turned into long ones, and some Poles are now calling the center’s hotline to ask for help from Ukrainian speakers to tell their guests it’s time to move on.
“The hospitality is getting weaker,” Pestrykova said. “We understand it and we were expecting it.”
Some corporations are stepping in to help.
The global tech company Siemens transformed office space at its Polish headquarters to create hotel-style accommodations for nearly 160 people, administered by the Warsaw city government. The facility is clean, with food and laundry facilities provided for free.
Among those living there now is Ludmila Fedotova, a 52-year-old shop assistant from Zaporizhzhia. She is terrified about what is happening back home but can at least relax knowing she has housing and food as she looks for work.
While there might not be enough housing for all the newcomers, there are more than enough jobs in an economy that has boomed in the post-communist era. Ukrainian immigrants who came to Poland in recent years are sometimes the ones helping the new arrivals with work and a place to live.
Oleh Yarovyi, from Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, arrived six years ago and has built up a coffee shop franchise with his wife. As they expand, he has lost some Ukrainian men helping with construction who returned to fight in the war, but he has been able to hire Ukrainian women who can use their language in a job they hope is temporary.
“Half of them plan to go back, so they don’t even try to learn Polish,” Yarovyi said. “They just look for a simple job without any additional challenges.”
Tetiana Bilous, 46, who ran a short-term apartment rental business in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, is among those working in one of Yarovyi’s kitchens. She fled two days into the war, joining a grown daughter already in Warsaw. She missed her husband and returned home for a two-week visit, but was terrified by the bombardments and air raid sirens.
Bilous remains torn over what her next steps should be, saying, “Everything is uncertain.”
Farther west, in Schwerin, Germany, Marina Galla, a computer science teacher who left Mariupol with her 13-year-old son in late March, has found relief and stability. Last month they moved into a small rooftop apartment after a long escape that took them through Poland and Berlin.
She is free from the horrors and the deprivation from which she fled: the bodies in the streets, drinking melted snow because there was no running water. Yet she feels crushed with sadness thinking of family left behind.
In a black backpack she has carried every day since leaving Mariupol, Galla keeps a handwritten note in a side pocket listing contact information for her mother, father and grandmother. She originally wrote it in case she was killed in the war, and even in the safety of Schwerin, she doesn’t leave home without it.
Her son messaged a lot with his friends from back home during their first months in Germany, but he barely talks to them anymore and has stopped asking her when they will return to Ukraine.
“He probably understands,” Galla said, “that we will not be able to go back there.”
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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| 2022-09-21T15:37:59Z
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(The Hill) – Former President Donald Trump is seeking to temporarily block the FBI from reviewing the classified materials seized from his home, asking the court to appoint a “special master” in the interim to help them review the evidence collected as they executed a search warrant.
In a 21-page motion, seen below, that echoes much of the former president’s claims that the search was politically motivated, Trump’s attorneys ask for outside oversight to ensure the materials seized from his home do not include items they argue could be protected by executive privilege.
The suit asks for the court to enjoin the FBI from reviewing the evidence it has collected until a special master is appointed.
“It is unreasonable to allow the prosecutorial team to review them without meaningful safeguards,” Trump’s attorneys write.
“Short of returning the seized items to the movant, only a neutral review by a special master can protect the ‘great public interest’ in preserving ‘the confidentiality of conversations that take place in the president’s performance of his official duties.’”
Read the legal document here.
gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.1.0 by Brandon Conradis on Scribd
The filing is the first major legal action from Trump following the Aug. 8 search of his home indicating he may have violated the Espionage Act by mishandling documents.
Other statutes listed on the warrant bar concealing, removing and mutilating government documents while the other prohibits similar actions when done “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence [an] investigation.”
The suit comes after Trump on Friday floated that he would pursue legal action to protect his Fourth Amendment rights regarding unreasonable searches and seizures.
The motion, filed in Florida, makes other requests, including asking the Justice Department to release a more detailed inventory of the items seized on Trump’s property and to return items taken that are deemed outside the scope of the warrant.
Special masters are rare in the context of the execution of a search warrant and are usually involved in cases that have technical components, like in water disputes, or to ensure a court’s orders are carried out, such as in the dispensation of funds to 9/11 victims.
The Justice Department has already been using a “filter team” to go through the 11 different sets of classified materials they seized while searching the home, a common practice in investigations designed to ensure prosecutors don’t see materials that should not have been swept up in the search.
The filing confirms that Trump was previously subpoenaed for documents kept on his property with a May 11 order to compel the documents. It also notes a second June 22 subpoena from DOJ for Mar-a-Lago security footage.
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| 2022-09-21T15:38:07Z
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(NEXSTAR) – If you’ve ever wondered where all that water travels from before it reaches your local river or creek, the interactive Streamer tool from the U.S. Geological Survey helps you visualize it.
Search for your city and you’ll be able to see the creeks, rivers and lakes near you. With a click, you can “trace upstream” to see all of the waterways that feed down to that point, or “trace downstream” to see where the water is headed.
For those dealing with widespread flooding in the southern U.S., for example, real-time conditions might be more helpful.
The USGS’ National Water Dashboard shows where there is currently flooding or record-breaking water flow. On Monday, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which has been dealing with extreme flooding after the weekend’s monsoon rains, has numerous “streamgages” reporting flooding and all-time high water flow.
A powerful storm system brought widespread flooding to a number of states over the weekend, leaving neighborhoods underwater and causing flash floods that imperiled national park visitors.
The deluge overwhelmed the banks of rivers and streams in Utah, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
Though much of the region remains in a decades-long drought, climate change has made weather patterns more variable and left soils drier and less absorbent, creating conditions more prone to floods and monsoons.
Flooding has swept parts of southern Utah in and around Moab and Zion throughout the summer, causing streams of water to cascade down from the region’s red rock cliffs and spill out from the sides of riverbanks.
An Arizona woman was still missing Monday after being swept away at Utah’s Zion National Park three days earlier as flooding surged through the southwestern United States and imperiled tourists visiting the region’s scenic parks.
In Balch Springs, a Dallas suburb where last month a grass fire that started in a tinder-dry open field damaged over two dozen homes, officials on Monday were rescuing people from flooded homes.
“The water has nowhere to go and the creeks are starting to kind of flood over some. We’re just having them hunker in place until we can get to them by boat,” said Fire Chief Eric Neal, who did not yet have a count of the number of rescues done.
The heavy rain and flooding across the southern U.S. is expected to continue Tuesday and possibly Wednesday as the storm system makes its way into the Lower Mississippi Valley and South, according to the National Weather Service.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T15:38:14Z
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A levee was breached Monday in a small town near the Arizona-New Mexico state line, forcing the evacuations of 60 people after a weekend of flash floods across the American Southwest that also swept away one woman who is still missing in Utah’s Zion National Park.
In Duncan, a rural Arizona town located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) from Phoenix, weekend rains overwhelmed a dirt-barrier levee built more than a century ago to contain the Gila River, putting the town under inches of water. As many as 60 residents have evacuated, Fire Chief Hayden Boyd said. Water had already begun to recede, but more needed to before the town is safe to return to, Boyd added.
The flooding incident was among several to recently wreak havoc on a drought-stricken region that spans from Dallas, Texas to Las Vegas, Nevada — stranding tourists, closing highways and funneling trees and rocks toward downtowns. Heavy rains pummeled the Dallas-Fort Worth area, causing streets to flood and submerging vehicles as officials warned motorists to stay off the roads.
And rescue teams in southern Utah expanded their search for a lost hiker who found herself stranded amid torrential flooding. The episode illustrated how deteriorating weather conditions can transform the region’s striking landscapes enjoyed by millions — including its striking canyons made of red rock and limestone — from picture-worthy paradises into life-threatening nightmares.
Rangers said their area that teams were searching for Jetal Agnihotri, a 29-year-old from Tucson, Arizona, now includes parts of the Virgin River that flow out from the southern border of Zion National Park, where the Virgin River flows the southward toward the town of Hurricane. Agnihotri was among a group of hikers who were swept away by floodwaters rushing through a popular hiking location in one of the park’s many slot canyons. Both the National Weather Service and Washington County, Utah, had issued flood warnings for the area that day.
All of the hikers except Agnihotri were found on high ground and were rescued after water levels receded. Her brother told a local television station she could not swim.
Zion National Park is among the United States’ most visited recreation areas even though it frequently becomes hazardous and is put under flood warnings by the National Weather Service. Floods can create danger for experienced hikers and climbers as well as the many novices who have flocked to the park since the pandemic bolstered an outdoor recreation boom. Despite warnings, flash flooding routinely traps people in the park’s slot canyons, which are as narrow as windows in some spots and hundreds of feet deep.
“Once you’re in there, you’re just kind of S.O.L. if (a flash flood) happens,” said Scott Cundy, whose Arizona-based trekking company takes visitors on guided tours through the park.
Cundy vividly remembers one year when he was taking a group on a tour and turned to see a wall of water plunging toward them. They rushed to reach high ground in the Grand Canyon, a two-hour drive from Zion. Until moments before, he hadn’t seen one cloud in the sky. “It happens very fast,” he said. Given the topography, Cundy will cancel trips if there’s even a hint of rain in the narrow canyons of Zion.
Farther southeast, nearly 200 hikers had to be rescued in New Mexico, where flooded roads left them stranded in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
In parks like Zion and Carlsbad Caverns, flooding can transform canyons, slick rocks and normally dry washes into deadly channels of fast-moving water and debris in mere minutes. In previous years, walls of water as tall as buildings have engulfed vehicles, rolled boulders, torn out trees and opened sinkholes where solid ground once stood.
In September 2015, similar storms killed seven hikers who drowned in one of Zion’s narrow canyons.
During that same storm, bodies of another 12 people were found amid mud and debris miles away in the nearby town of Hildale, Utah, a community on the Utah-Arizona border. A group of women and children were returning from a park in two cars when a wall of water surged out of a canyon and swept them downstream and crashing into a flooded-out embankment, with one vehicle smashed beyond recognition. Three boys survived. The body of a 6-year-old boy was never found.
Elsewhere, businesses and trails remained closed in the town of Moab, Utah, which was overwhelmed with floodwaters over the weekend. Trees, rocks and red-orange mud washed into town, with floodwaters carrying cars along the town’s Main Street.
Though much of the region remains in a decades-long drought, climate change has made weather patterns more variable and left soils drier and less absorbent, creating conditions more prone to floods and monsoons.
Flooding has swept parts of southern Utah in and around Moab and Zion throughout the summer, causing streams of water to cascade down from the region’s red rock cliffs and spill out from the sides of riverbanks.
___
Associated Press journalists Jamie Stengle, Terry Wallace and Jake Bleiberg in Dallas, Julie Walker in New York, Walt Berry in Phoenix and Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
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CHICAGO (AP) — Most U.S. adults want to see gun laws made stricter and think gun violence is increasing nationwide, according to a new poll that finds broad public support for a variety of gun restrictions, including many that are supported by majorities of Republicans and gun owners.
The poll by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 71% of Americans say gun laws should be stricter, including about half of Republicans, the vast majority of Democrats and a majority of those in gun-owning households.
The poll was conducted between July 28 and Aug. 1, after a string of deadly mass shootings — from a New York grocery store to a school in Texas and a July 4 parade in Illinois — and a 2020 spike in gun killings that have increased attention on the issue of gun violence. Overall, 8 in 10 Americans perceive that gun violence is increasing around the country, and about two-thirds say it’s increasing in their state, though less than half believe it’s increasing in their community, the poll shows.
The question of how to prevent such violence has long divided politicians and many voters, making it difficult to change gun laws. In June, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court expanded gun rights, finding a constitutional right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.
Later that same month, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan gun safety bill. The package, approved in the wake of shootings like the one that killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, was both a measured compromise and the most significant bill addressing gun violence to be approved in Congress in decades — an indication of how intractable the issue has become.
The poll finds that majorities of U.S. adults view both reducing gun violence and protecting gun ownership as important issues.
Nicole Whitelaw, 29, is a Democrat and gun owner who grew up hunting and target shooting in upstate New York with her strongly Republican family. Whitelaw, who now lives along Florida’s Gulf Coast, supports some gun restrictions, such as prohibiting people convicted of domestic violence from owning firearms and a federal law preventing mentally ill people from purchasing guns.
She said other restrictions — such as banning sales of AR-15 rifles — are “going too far” and may not solve the problem. Whitelaw pointed to the the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people bought up all the toilet paper they could find.
“I think people would start trying to hoard guns,” she said, adding that a better approach is to make smaller changes and see what impact they have.
The poll shows bipartisan majorities of Americans support a nationwide background check policy for all gun sales, a law preventing mentally ill people from purchasing guns, allowing courts to temporarily prevent people who are considered a danger to themselves or others from purchasing a gun, making 21 the minimum age to buy a gun nationwide and banning those who have been convicted of domestic violence from purchasing a gun.
A smaller majority of Americans — 59% — favor a ban on the sale of AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic weapons, with Democrats more likely to support that policy than Republicans, 83% vs. 35%.
Chris Boylan, 47, from Indianapolis, opposes restrictions on guns. As a teacher for many years, Boylan said he has “buried more kids than I care to count” and believes gun violence is a major problem. But the Republican, who said he leans more toward Libertarian in his personal stances, believes the issue is more about mental health and a too-lenient criminal justice system.
“Blaming the gun is an oversimplification of what the issues really are,” Boylan said. “It’s not the gun. It’s a hearts-and-minds issue to me.”
The new poll finds 88% of Americans call preventing mass shootings extremely or very important, and nearly as many say that about reducing gun violence in general. But 60% also say it’s very important to ensure that people can own guns for personal protection.
Overall, 52% of Americans — including 65% of Republicans and 39% of Democrats — say both reducing mass shootings and protecting the right to own guns for personal protection highly important.
University of Chicago professor Jens Ludwig said the poll’s findings show that concerns raised by opponents of gun restrictions are “very off base.” Led by the National Rifle Association, the gun lobby argues that any new limitations on who may have a gun or what type of firearms may be sold will lead to nationwide bans on all weapons and ammunition.
The poll showed most Americans’ opinions are more nuanced and there is support for some changes even among Republicans, who as elected officials typically oppose gun control, said Ludwig, who also is director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab.
“It should shut the door to some of the ‘slippery slope’ arguments,” he said.
The poll also found that only about 3 in 10 Americans support a law allowing people to carry guns in public without a permit. Seventy-eight percent of Democrats are opposed. Among Republicans, 47% are in favor and 39% are opposed.
Ervin Leach, 66, lives in Troutman, North Carolina, north of Charlotte, believes gun violence is a major problem and says that laws should be much more strict. A Democrat, Leach said he supports measures like background checks — or what he said should be “in-depth studies” — and a minimum age of 21 to buy a gun.
The poll found 1 in 5 people have experienced gun violence themselves in the last five years, such as being threatened with a gun or a shooting victim, or had a close friend or family member who has. Black and Hispanic Americans are especially likely to say that they or someone close to them has experienced gun violence.
Leach, who is Black, said the gun violence he sees in the news has made him more cautious.
“I don’t like people approaching me,” he said. “It used to be if someone was on the side of the road, you’d stop to help. Now, you go to help somebody, you might lose your life.”
All the killings have caused Leach to contemplate buying a gun for his own protection. While he hasn’t had a chance yet to get his gun permit, he said, “That is my intention.”
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AP Polling Reporter Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report.
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The poll of 1,373 adults was conducted July 28-Aug. 1 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
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Follow AP’s coverage of gun violence at https://apnews.com/hub/gun-violence.
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| 2022-09-21T15:38:30Z
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MIAMI (AP) — U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist won the Democratic nomination for governor in Florida, setting him up to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis this fall in a campaign that the Republican incumbent sees as the first step toward a potential White House run.
In selecting Crist on Tuesday, Florida Democrats sided with a candidate backed by many in the party’s establishment who viewed him as the safest choice, even after he lost his previous two statewide elections. The 66-year-old moderate, who served as Florida’s Republican governor a decade ago, hopes to appeal to voters in Florida’s teeming suburbs as Democrats seek to reverse a losing pattern in a state that was recently seen as a perennial political battleground.
Above all, the Democratic contest centered on DeSantis, who views his November reelection as a potential springboard into the 2024 presidential contest. Given the stakes, Democrats across Florida and beyond expressed a real sense of urgency to blunt DeSantis’ momentum.
Crist decried DeSantis as an “abusive” and “dangerous” “bully” in his victory speech.
“Tonight, the people of Florida clearly sent a message: They want a governor who cares about them and solves real problems, preserves our freedom, not a bully who divides us and takes our freedom away,” Crist declared. “This guy wants to be president of the United States of America and everybody knows it. However, when we defeat him on Nov. 8 that show is over. Enough.”
Crist won the Democratic nomination over Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner. She staked out a more progressive campaign and was particularly vocal in defending abortion and LGBTQ rights. The 44-year-old cast herself as “something new” and hoped to become Florida’s first female governor. In a sign of the party’s meager standing in Florida, she’s currently the only Democrat holding statewide office.
“We are going to make Ronald DeSantis a one-term governor and a zero-term president of the United States,” she said as she conceded Tuesday, calling on her supporters to unite behind Crist.
DeSantis won his first election by less than half a percentage point but soon became one of the most prominent figures in GOP politics. His hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic and eagerness to lean into divides over race, gender and LGBTQ rights have resonated with many Republican voters who see DeSantis as a natural heir to former President Donald Trump.
From a raucous ballroom in Miami Tuesday night, a fiery DeSantis declined to say Crist’s name and instead cast the general election as a contest against President Joe Biden and “woke” ideology.
“We will never ever surrender to the woke agenda,” DeSantis charged. “Florida is a state where woke goes to die.”
The Florida contest concludes the busiest stretch of primaries this year, which featured contests in 18 states over just 22 days. In that span, Republicans from Arizona to Alaska have supported contenders who embraced Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen, an assertion roundly rejected by elections officials, the former president’s attorney general and judges he appointed.
And for the most part, Democrats avoided brutal primary fights — with some exceptions.
New York City Democrats on Tuesday picked Jerry Nadler over Carolyn Maloney in a congressional primary that featured two powerful House committee chairs competing for the same seat. To the north of the city, U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the Democratic Party’s congressional campaign chief, won a tough primary fight against a more progressive state senator.
Not far away, in upstate New York, Democrats celebrated county executive Pat Ryan’s victory in a special election to fill the remainder of Democrat Anthony Delgado’s term. Delgado left Congress to become New York’s lieutenant governor.
Republicans hoped to flip the swing district, which becomes a new sign that the red wave many operatives expect this fall may be weakening.
Indeed, Democrats are entering the final weeks ahead of the midterms with a sense of cautious optimism, hoping the Supreme Court’s decision overturning a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion will energize the party’s base. But Democrats still face tremendous headwinds, including economic uncertainty and the historic reality that most parties lose seats in the first midterm after they’ve won the White House.
The dynamics are especially challenging for Democrats in Florida, one of the most politically divided states in the U.S. Its last three races for governor were decided by 1 percentage point or less. But the state has steadily become more favorable to Republicans in recent years.
For the first time in modern history, Florida has more registered Republicans — nearly 5.2 million — than Democrats, who have nearly 5 million registered voters. Fried serves as the only Democrat in statewide office. And Republicans have no primary competition for four of those five positions – governor, U.S. Senate, attorney general and chief financial officer — which are all held by GOP incumbents.
U.S. Rep. Val Demings easily won the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Marco Rubio this fall. Demings, a former police chief and a prodigious political fundraiser, has a chance to become Florida’s first Black female senator.
While some Democrats are hopeful that Demings can unseat Rubio, the party’s national leadership is prioritizing competitive Senate contests in other states, including neighboring Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Demings was optimistic as she reflected on her unlikely life story before a crowd of cheering supporters.
“Together, I really do believe this daughter of a maid and janitor who is not supposed to be standing here tonight — I really do believe that together we can do anything,” she said.
In Florida’s governor’s race, the Supreme Court’s abortion decision animated the final weeks of the Democratic primary.
Fried promoted herself as the only true abortion-rights supporter in the race, seizing on Crist’s appointment of two conservative Supreme Court justices while he was governor.
The conservative-leaning court will soon decide whether the Republican-backed state legislature’s law to ban abortions after 15 weeks is constitutional. Florida’s new abortion law is in effect, with exceptions if the procedure is necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life, to prevent serious injury or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. It does not allow exemptions in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking.
Crist vowed Tuesday night to make abortion rights a priority.
“On Day One of my administration, I will sign an executive order protecting a woman’s right to choose,” he said.
Elsewhere in Florida, Trump protégé Rep. Matt Gaetz won his Republican primary in his Florida Panhandle district despite being under federal investigation in a sex trafficking case. Gaetz is heavily favored to win a fourth term come November.
Florida is not expected to be among the most competitive states this fall given its rightward shift, but it may be the most expensive.
Crist raised $14 million so far this election cycle, nearly twice as much as Fried. But he’s going up against a fundraising behemoth. DeSantis’ political operation has already raised more than $165 million since he took office, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He’s on pace to shatter the record for the most money ever raised by a candidate for governor.
“Don’t let anyone tell you it’s going to be easy. Over the next two and a half months, they’re gonna throw everything they have at us,” DeSantis said. He added, “I got elected less than four years ago, but we’re just getting warmed up.”
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Peoples reported from Washington, Farrington from Tallahassee. Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, and Marc Levy in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
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| 2022-09-21T15:38:37Z
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FREDERICKSBURG , Texas (AP) — Part of why Terry Hamilton says he abruptly left his job running elections deep in Texas wine country is by now a familiar story in America: He became fed up with the harassment that followed the 2020 election.
But this was no ordinary exit.
On the brink of November’s midterm elections, it was not just Hamilton who up and quit this month but also the only other full-time election worker in rural Gillespie County. The sudden emptying of an entire local elections department came less than 70 days before voters start casting ballots.
By the middle of last week, no one was left at the darkened and locked elections office in a metal building annex off the main road in Fredericksburg. A “Your Vote Counts” poster hung in a window by the door.
A scramble is now underway to train replacements and ground them in layers of new Texas voting laws that are among the strictest in the U.S. That includes assistance from the Texas Secretary of State, whose spokesperson could not recall a similar instance in which an elections office was racing to start over with a completely new staff. But the headaches don’t stop there.
The resignations have more broadly made the county of roughly 27,000 residents — which overwhelmingly backed former President Donald Trump in 2020 — an extraordinary example of the fallout resulting from threats to election officials. Officials and voting experts worry that a new wave of harassment or worse will return in November, fueled by false claims of widespread fraud.
Hamilton, who has clashed with poll watchers in Gillespie County in past elections, said he didn’t want to go through it again.
“That’s the one thing we can’t understand. Their candidate won, heavily,” Hamilton said. “But there’s fraud here?”
He declined to discuss the nature of the threats in a phone interview, referring questions to the county attorney, who did not respond to a phone message. Gillespie County Sheriff Buddy Mills said neither his department nor police in Fredericksburg had received information about threats from elections officials.
Hamilton worked under Anissa Herrera, the former county elections administrator whose resignation was first reported by the Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post. “I was threatened, I’ve been stalked, I’ve been called out on social media,” she told the outlet. “And it’s just dangerous misinformation.”
The departures pile on the examples across the U.S. of how death threats, harassment and unfounded accusations have driven local election officials from their jobs. Citing the potential effect on democracy, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a task force last year to address rising threats against election officials.
They are familiar to many election workers in Texas, which has been at the vanguard of a Republican campaign nationwide to tighten election laws in response to Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Supporters are easy to find in Gillespie County, a popular getaway to booming vineyards and vacation rentals in the scenic Texas Hill Country, which is a short day trip from the state’s liberal capital in Austin but separated by a gulf politically. In 2020, Trump won the county with nearly 80% of the vote.
But the resignations surprised Mo Saiidi, chairman of the Gillespie County GOP, who said recent elections had run smoothly. Hamilton said run-ins with poll watchers traced back to 2020 but said other issues weighed on the office, including what he contended was was a lack of support from the county. He also recently decided to run as a write-in candidate for county treasurer, which he said required him to step down.
Saiidi believes funding played a role. “They had some differences and they couldn’t come to a closure, and they decided in frustration to just quit,” said Saiidi, who also serves on the county’s election commission.
A survey released in March by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law found that one in three election officials knows someone who has left a job in part because of threats and intimidation, and that one in six had experienced threats personally.
In Texas alone, at least 37 election administrators since the 2020 election have left what were previously stable positions, said Trudy Hancock, president of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators, citing a presentation she had seen. There are 254 counties in Texas, not all of which have dedicated election administration offices.
Threats are not all that’s making the job tougher in Texas. A sweeping new voting law gives wide latitude to partisan poll watchers and threatens election workers with criminal charges for denying them access. The same law put new restrictions on mail voting but made a messy debut during Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary in March, when more 23,000 mail ballots were discarded outright as voters struggled to navigate the new rules.
It underscores the challenges a new staff will face getting up to speed under a time crunch. For now, Saiidi said the county clerk and tax assessor have been discussed as possible fills-in.
Hancock, who is also the elections administrator in Brazos County, said her workers could previously take angry calls as voters blowing off steam. “But in this climate and the things that go on now, we have to take everything serious and at face value,” she said.
Less than 24 hours after the office in Gillespie County officially cleared out, the resignations were front of mind at a pavilion in Fredericksburg, where Democrat Beto O’Rourke had swung through in his campaign to unseat Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Roger Norman, 60, felt the election was still in good hands but called threats a pattern of intimidation. Outside, at a counter rally of Trump supporters, welder Abel Salazar said he had no concerns with elections in the heavily conservative county and that interest in poll watching was high.
“There are a lot of people that have been volunteering,” Salazar, 53, said.
Hamilton said deadlines in his old office are already creeping up.
“They didn’t think we did anything,” he said. “Now they get to see what we did.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:38:46Z
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota ethics board on Monday said it found sufficient information that Gov. Kristi Noem may have “engaged in misconduct” when she intervened in her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license, and it referred a separate complaint over her state airplane use to the state’s attorney general for investigation.
The three retired judges on the Government Accountability Board determined that “appropriate action” could be taken against Noem for her role in her daughter’s appraiser licensure, though it didn’t specify the action.
The board’s moves potentially escalate the ramifications of investigations into Noem. The Republican governor faces reelection this year and has also positioned herself as an aspirant to the White House in 2024. She is under scrutiny from the board after Jason Ravnsborg, the state’s former Republican attorney general, filed complaints that stemmed from media reports on Noem’s actions in office. She has denied any wrongdoing.
After meeting in a closed-door session for one hour Monday, the board voted unanimously to invoke procedures that allow for a contested case hearing to give Noem a chance to publicly defend herself against allegations of “misconduct” related to “conflicts of interest” and “malfeasance.” The board also dismissed Ravnsborg’s allegations that Noem misused state funds in the episode.
However, the retired judges left it unclear how they will proceed. Lori Wilbur, the board chair, said the complaint was “partially dismissed and partially closed,” but added that the complaint could be reopened. She declined to discuss what would cause the board to reopen the complaint.
The board can issue a public or private reprimand or direct an official to do community service. It can also make recommendations to the governor — though that option seems unlikely since the complaints are leveled against Noem.
The AP first reported that the governor took a hands-on role in a state agency soon after it had moved to deny her daughter’s application for an appraiser license in 2020. Noem had called a meeting with her daughter, the labor secretary and the then-director of the appraiser certification program where a plan was discussed to give the governor’s daughter, Kassidy Peters, another chance to show she could meet federal standards in her appraiser work.
The complaints are proving to be the first major test of the board, which was launched in 2017 in response to several scandals in state government. It has never taken public action against a state official.
Noem later Monday struck back at the board of retired judges. A spokesman for her campaign, Ian Fury, said that the board’s action “did not follow state law or precedent.”
“They have yet to point to one single statute the governor has violated in either of these complaints,” he said in a statement.
The retired judges also referred a complaint that Noem flew on state-owned airplanes to political events to the state attorney general’s office for further investigation. That puts the investigation under the oversight of the interim attorney general, Mark Vargo, who was appointed by Noem.
When asked whether he would recuse himself from the investigation, Vargo said in a statement: “Based on the fact that this just happened, no decision has been made.”
“We will be diligent in our duty and thoroughly investigate the complaint that the Government Accountability Board has presented to the Attorney General’s Office,” he said in an earlier statement. “The investigation, as with all other investigations, will remain confidential as does the complaint that has been presented to us. We have no other comment at this time.”
The board handled the complaints only by case number and did not refer to Noem directly in either case. Ravnsborg provided the case numbers to The Associated Press.
“Knowing what I know as the complainant, Gov. Noem should be fully investigated for her abuse of power in getting her daughter an appraiser license, and Gov. Noem should be prosecuted for her criminal use of state resources for personal gain,” he said in a statement.
The board plans to publicly release the complaint over the appraiser license for Noem after redacting some sections. It did not give a date for when that will happen.
Noem and Ravnsborg have become political enemies since he fatally struck a pedestrian in 2020. Noem pushed hard for him to be removed from office, and the state Senate convicted him on impeachment charges and removed him as attorney general. He had continued to press the complaints as a private citizen.
Fury, Noem’s spokesman, charged that Ravnsborg’s complaints “are all political and filed by a disgraced former attorney general who literally killed a man, lied about it, and tried to cover it up. Gov. Noem was the first to call him out for this, and he filed these complaints in retaliation.”
He also repeated Noem’s defense that she followed the law in handling her daughter’s licensure and that Peters received no special treatment.
Noem’s office has said the plan for Peters to get another chance was already in the works before the meeting, but the agency’s director, Sherry Bren, told a legislative committee last year that she felt “intimidated” during the meeting at the governor’s mansion where Peters’ unsuccessful application was discussed in detail. A Republican-controlled legislative committee that probed the episode concluded that Peters received special treatment.
Bren was also pressured to retire later in 2020 and eventually received a $200,000 settlement to withdraw an age discrimination complaint.
The former attorney general’s other complaint was sparked after online news website Raw Story found that Noem in 2019 used a state airplane to travel to events hosted by political organizations such as the National Rifle Association and the Republican Jewish Coalition, even though South Dakota law bars state airplanes from being used for anything other than state business.
Noem has said she was traveling to the events as an ambassador for the state.
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This story has been corrected to show that South Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo says he has not yet decided whether to recuse himself from investigating the case referred to his office.
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| 2022-09-21T15:38:53Z
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert who became a household name — and the subject of partisan attacks — during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Monday he will leave the federal government in December after more than five decades.
Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and also leads a lab studying the immune system.
While the COVID-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he’s given straight-talk to the nation about numerous outbreaks including HIV/AIDS, SARS, pandemic flu, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks.
“I’ve gone into this campus and into the labs and into the hospital every day, including most weekends, for 54 years. The idea of walking away from it obviously is bittersweet,” Fauci told The Associated Press.
In announcing his departure, the 81-year-old Fauci called his roles “the honor of a lifetime” but said it was time “to pursue the next chapter of my career.”
Known for his candor and for the ability to translate complex medical information into everyday language, Fauci has been a key adviser to seven presidents starting with Ronald Reagan.
Fauci became the face of the government response to COVID-19 as it hit in early 2020, with frequent appearances on television news and at daily press conferences with White House officials, including then-President Donald Trump. But as the pandemic deepened, Fauci fell out of favor with Trump when his urgings of continued public caution clashed with the former president’s desire to return to normalcy and to promote unproven treatments for the virus.
Fauci found himself marginalized by the Trump administration, but he continued to speak out publicly in media interviews, advocating social distancing and masks in public settings before the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines.
He was also the subject of political attacks and death threats and was given a security detail for his protection.
When Biden won the White House, he asked Fauci to stay on in his administration in an elevated capacity.
“I’ve been able to call him at any hour of the day for his advice,” Biden said in a statement. “Whether you’ve met him personally or not, he has touched all Americans’ lives with his work. I extend my deepest thanks for his public service. The United States of America is stronger, more resilient, and healthier because of him.”
Fauci said he planned to continue working after leaving the government, saying he wants to use his experience “to hopefully inspire the younger generation of scientists and would-be scientists” to consider a career in public service.
For all the rancor of the coronavirus pandemic, it wasn’t Fauci’s first run-in with an angry public. He became head of the infectious diseases branch of the National Institutes of Health in 1984 when the nation was in the throes of the AIDS crisis. Activists protested what they saw as government indifference and Fauci, frustrated at being unable to save dying patients in the NIH’s hospital, brought them to the table in the hunt for treatments.
Later, under President George W. Bush, Fauci helped develop PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, to bring life-saving HIV treatments to developing countries. In 2008, Bush awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Fauci said Monday he’d hoped there would be a successful HIV vaccine before he retired but “it wasn’t for lack of trying” to overcome extraordinary scientific challenges posed by that virus.
Fast forward to COVID-19, and for many Americans, Fauci has remained a trusted voice even as scientists were surprised again and again by a fast-evolving new virus. The NIH had laid the scientific groundwork for the speedy development of powerful coronavirus vaccines that, while not perfect, are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.
Fauci told the AP that he remains frustrated at the country’s divisions over how to handle the pandemic.
“If ever there was a situation where you wanted a unified approach and everybody pulling together for the common good, it would be when you’re in the middle of a public health crisis,” he said. “As a physician and a scientist, I and my colleagues have the responsibility to do what’s correct, what is science-based.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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| 2022-09-21T15:39:01Z
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A local North Carolina grand jury on Monday advanced its consideration of possible criminal charges against state Attorney General Josh Stein and two aides over an investigation into a political ad targeting Stein’s 2020 election opponent.
After hearing from a State Bureau of Investigation agent, the Wake County grand jury asked in writing that the Wake district attorney’s office submit an indictment for consideration “against any and each” of three people, including Stein himself.
The Democratic attorney general, his 2020 campaign manager Eric Stern and current state Justice Department chief of staff Seth Dearmin — a former Stein campaign manager — were identified in Monday’s “presentment” document signed by the jury foreperson. They have not been charged with any crime.
Stein, a potential 2024 candidate for governor, lashed out in a statement at what he called a “nonsense investigation.”
The investigation stems from a State Board of Elections complaint filed in fall 2020 by Stein’s Republican opponent, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill. He accused Stein’s campaign of circulating a political ad that violated a 91-year-old libel law.
The O’Neill campaign said Stein’s commercial, which accused the Republican of letting more than a thousand rape kits go untested, was “false and derogatory” because police rather than prosecutors are responsible for testing rape kits. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman’s office began investigating in 2021.
Freeman, also a Democrat, said Monday that her office could present the grand jury with a possible indictment as soon as next month. But a ruling as early as this week from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could derail the district attorney’s push for prosecution.
Stein’s campaign committee has said the ad was truthful.
Freeman “continues to pursue her nonsense investigation over a campaign ad that is true from an election that is long since passed, using a 91-year-old statute that has never been used against any other candidate,” the Stein campaign wrote in a statement Monday. “While the attorney general is disappointed by this ongoing distraction, he continues to focus on his work to test sexual assault kits and get justice for survivors of sexual assault.”
Freeman has recused herself from the case — citing her working relationship with O’Neill and Stein — and gave it to a senior assistant in her office.
Stein’s campaign committee asked the appeals court last week to issue a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the state law while the committee and other plaintiffs seek to strike it down as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles refused last week to grant the injunction.
Dating to at least 1931, the law makes it illegal to deliberately disseminate a false “derogatory report” that could harm a candidate’s chance of election.
The misdemeanor for violating the law carries a penalty of up to 60 days in jail with up to $1,000 in fines, but someone with an otherwise clean criminal record would avoid serving time if convicted. Any criminal charge against Stein or his aides could harm the Democrat’s electoral prospects.
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Hannah Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/H_Schoenbaum.
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| 2022-09-21T15:39:10Z
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DUBROVNIK, Croatia (AP) — A pair of U.S. Air Force B52 strategic bombers on Monday flew low over the Croatian resort of Dubrovnik and three other NATO-member states in the region as a sign of support amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
In addition to the walled Croatian tourist resort of Dubrovnik, the aircraft flew over the government headquarters in Skopje, North Macedonia, the downtown Skanderbeg Square in the Albanian capital, Tirana, and up the Adriatic coast of Montenegro.
The Balkans and the Adriatic Sea have lately seen increased military, intelligence and propaganda activity by Moscow, which considers the region of its strategic interest because of its access to the Mediterranean.
“The purpose of each flyover is to demonstrate U.S. commitment and assurance to NATO allies and partners located in southeastern Europe,” the U.S. Air Force said in a statement. “Additionally, this will provide citizens an opportunity to take photos, videos, and enjoy the aircraft flying overhead.”
Crowds gathered on the squares in Skopje and Tirana, and tourists watched in Dubrovnik and Montenegro as the giant bombers thundered overhead. Some onlookers waved American flags.
North Macedonia was the last nation to join NATO in 2020 and Montenegro did it in 2017, both despite strong opposition from Russia.
North Macedonia’s Army Chief of Stuff, Lt. Colonel Jovan Azmanovski, told TV broadcaster Kanal 5 that the bombers’ flights were symbolic proof that “our skies are safe.”
“People in North Macedonia were able to see a flights of USAF B52 two strategic bombers over Skopje, which demonstrate our NATO membership and the safety and security of our and skies of entire alliance. Our skies are safe and our (NATO) membership is more than visible,” Azmanovski said.
In Tirana, Albanian Army Chief of Staff Arben Kingji said “we are witnessing a strategic military demonstration.”
“Our strategic partners are hand to hand with us, it’s a message of unity,” he said at the square where people gathered.
The two B-52 Stratofortress aircraft are assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron currently operating out of RAF Fairford, United Kingdom.
Since 2018, the U.S. has conducted more than 200 Bomber Task Force sorties with allies and partners.
Most recently, this involved B-1B Lancer flights over the Nordic, Baltic, and Black Sea regions in May, as well as an air policing overflight of North Macedonia in June. In June, Stratofortresses conducted flights over the Arctic Ocean, and later took part in BALTOPS, the largest annual exercise in the Baltic Sea.
In the Baltic Sea, the amphibious warship USS Kearsarge — the largest warship ever to visit Lithuania — was officially welcomed Monday. The country borders fellow NATO member Poland and Belarus, a Moscow ally.
On Monday, the NATO air police mission in Lithuania reported that jets were scrambled four times last week to identify and escort Russian war planes, which violated rules of international airspace.
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| 2022-09-21T15:39:17Z
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge Monday to halt the FBI’s review of documents recovered from his Florida estate earlier this month until a neutral special master can be appointed to inspect the records.
The request was included in a federal lawsuit, the first filing by Trump’s legal team in the two weeks since the search, that takes broad aim at the FBI investigation into the discovery of classified records at Mar-a-Lago and that foreshadows arguments his lawyers are expected to make as the probe proceeds.
It comes as The New York Times reported that the government has recovered more than 300 documents marked classified from Mar-a-Lago since Trump left office, including more than 150 retrieved by the National Archives in January — a number that helped trigger the criminal investigation.
The lawsuit casts the Aug. 8 search, in which the FBI said it recovered 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago, as a “shockingly aggressive move.” It also attacks the warrant as overly broad, contends that Trump is entitled to a more detailed description of the records seized from the home and argues that the FBI and Justice Department has long treated him “unfairly.”
“Law enforcement is a shield that protects America. It cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes,” the lawyers wrote Monday. “Therefore, we seek judicial assistance in the aftermath of an unprecedented and unnecessary raid” at Mar-a-Lago.
In a separate statement, Trump said “ALL documents have been previously declassified” — though he has not produced evidence to support that claim — and described the records as having been “illegally seized from my home.” The Justice Department countered in a terse three-sentence statement pointing out that the search had been authorized by a federal judge after the FBI presented probable cause that a crime had been committed.
The filing requests the appointment of a special master not connected the case who would be tasked with inspecting the records recovered from Mar-a-Lago and setting aside those that are covered by executive privilege — a principle that permits presidents to withhold certain communications from public disclosure.
In some other high-profile cases — including investigations involving Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen, two of Trump’s personal attorneys — that role has been filled by a former judge.
“This matter has captured the attention of the American public. Merely ‘adequate’ safeguards are not acceptable when the matter at hand involves not only the constitutional rights of President Trump, but also the presumption of executive privilege,” the attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit argues that the records, created during Trump’s White House tenure, are “presumptively privileged.” But the Supreme Court has never determined whether a former president can assert executive privilege over documents, writing in January that the issue is unprecedented and raises “serious and substantial concerns.”
The high court turned down Trump’s plea to block records held by the National Archives from being turned over to the Jan. 6 committee, saying then that his request would have been denied even if he had been the incumbent president, so there was no need to tackle the thorny issue of a former president’s claims.
The lawsuit paints Trump as “fully cooperative” and compliant with investigators, saying members of his personal and household staff were made available for voluntary interviews and quoting him as telling FBI and Justice Department officials during a June visit to Mar-a-Lago, “Whatever you need, just let us know.”
But the chronology of events makes clear that the search took place only after other options to recover classified documents from the home had been incomplete or unsuccessful. In May, for instance, weeks before the search, the Justice Department issued a subpoena for records bearing classification markings.
The Trump team’s lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who was nominated by Trump in 2020 and confirmed by the Senate 56-21 later that year. She is a former assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, handling mainly criminal appeals.
The months-long investigation, which burst into public view with the Mar-a-Lago search, emerged from a referral from the National Archives, which earlier this year retrieved 15 boxes of documents and other items from the estate that should have been turned over to the agency when Trump left the White House. An initial review of that material concluded that Trump had brought presidential records and several other documents that were marked classified to Mar-a-Lago.
FBI and Justice Department officials visited Mar-a-Lago in June and asked to inspect a storage room. Several weeks later, the Justice Department subpoenaed for video footage from surveillance cameras at the estate. After the meeting at Mar-a-Lago, investigators interviewed another witness who told them that there were likely additional classified documents still at the estate, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Separately Monday, a federal judge acknowledged that redactions to an FBI affidavit spelling out the basis for the search might be so extensive as to make the document “meaningless” if released to the public. But he said he continued to believe it should not remain sealed in its entirety because of the “intense” public interest in the investigation.
A written order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart largely restates what he said in court last week, when he directed the Justice Department to propose redactions about the information in the affidavit that it wants to remain secret. That submission is due Thursday at noon.
Justice Department officials have sought to keep the entire document sealed, saying disclosing any portion of it risks compromising an ongoing criminal investigation, revealing information about witnesses and divulging investigative techniques. They have advised the judge that the necessary redactions to the affidavit would be so numerous that they would strip the document of any substantive information and make it effectively meaningless for the public.
Reinhart acknowledged that possibility in his Monday order, writing, “I cannot say at this point that partial redactions will be so extensive that they will result in a meaningless disclosure, but I may ultimately reach that conclusion after hearing further from the Government.”
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Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Jill Colvin in New York and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter/com/etuckerAP and AP’s coverage of Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
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| 2022-09-21T15:39:25Z
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (NewsNation) — A federal judge on Monday formally rejected the Justice Department’s argument to keep the entire affidavit supporting the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida sealed.
Judge Bruce Reinhart made the decision last week but Monday formalizes it. Reinhart will allow the Justice Department until Thursday to provide a redacted version to the court. The judge said there are portions of the affidavit that could be unsealed.
The affidavit prosecutors used to get the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home could provide more specific details as to what the Department of Justice believed was at Mar-a-Lago and why they felt the need to search the home.
The release of the search warrant painted a picture of the possible crimes authorities believe Trump may have committed, including violating the Espionage Act. The warrant also revealed 33 documents ranging from “top secret” to “classified” were pulled from the estate.
Trump and his legal team claim all of the documents were declassified and rightfully in his possession. The fact that the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago indicates authorities do not believe that claim to be true.
You can read Reinhart’s full ruling in the document here.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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NEW YORK (AP) — In a cluster of contentious Democratic primaries Tuesday, two New York incumbents were ousted from the U.S. House after redistricting shuffled congressional districts in one of the nation’s largest liberal states.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a 15-term incumbent who chairs a powerful House committee, lost to longtime colleague Rep. Jerry Nadler, while Rep. Mondaire Jones, a first-term progressive who was one of the first openly gay Black members of Congress, was defeated by Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
In other races in the state, the chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, Sean Patrick Maloney, survived a primary challenge of his own from a progressive. Democrats held on to a swing district in a special election — at least for a few more months.
In Florida, an incumbent Republican narrowly defeated a far-right provocateur. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative firebrand, won his primary with the specter of a federal investigation looming over him.
Some of the top elections:
END OF AN ERA
Nadler and Carolyn Maloney each chair powerful committees and had spent 30 years representing Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Upper East Side, respectively. But they ended up in the same race after new redistricting maps merged much of their longtime congressional districts.
The race for New York’s 12th District, between Maloney, 76, and Nadler, 75, became contentious. The two stopped speaking after deciding to run against each other, Nadler said, and the campaign became barbed, with Maloney questioning his mental acuity.
Nadler, who was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has talked up his role overseeing Trump’s impeachments while serving as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Maloney has touted her own check on the former president while serving as chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee and positioned herself as a feminist champion.
Challenging them both was 38-year-old lawyer Suraj Patel, who argued it was time for a new face in Congress.
A CROWDED FIELD FOR AN OPEN SEAT
With Nadler and Maloney running in the district immediately north, a congressional seat covering southern Manhattan, including Wall Street, and Brooklyn, was a rare open contest in one of the most liberal and influential areas of the country.
Goldman, a Democratic attorney who built his reputation as a federal mob and securities fraud prosecutor but made a national name for himself as House Democrats’ lead counsel in Trump’s first impeachment hearing, won a crowded primary for New York’s 10th District, which attracted a bevy of progressive candidates. Among the contenders was Jones, a congressman from the New York City suburbs, who moved to the area to run and finished third in the primary.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ CAMPAIGN CHIEF WINS PRIMARY
Sean Patrick Maloney, who became New York’s first openly gay congressman when he was elected a decade ago, survived a primary challenge from state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in New York’s new 17th District, home to idyllic towns along the historic Hudson River Valley.
Maloney, who had the backing of former President Bill Clinton, campaigned on Democrats’ recent legislative wins in Congress and warned that the congressional seat could fall to Republicans in November if the Democratic nominee is too liberal.
Biaggi, a 36-year-old progressive endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is a granddaughter of former Bronx congressman Mario Biaggi. She had sought to portray Maloney as out of touch and part of the establishment.
STATE GOP CHAIR DEFEATS CONTROVERSIAL CANDIDATE
New York’s Republican Party chair, Nick Langworthy, won a primary in western New York by defeating controversial Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino in New York’s redrawn 23rd District.
Paladino, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010, has a long history of inflammatory and offensive remarks, including recent comments that praised Adolf Hitler and circulated conspiracy theories around mass shootings.
The heated primary came as Langworthy and Paladino sought to replace GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs, who decided not to seek reelection after facing backlash from his own party for voicing support for an assault weapons ban following a racist mass shooting in his hometown of Buffalo in May.
A WIN FOR REPUBLICANS, A WIN FOR DEMOCRATS IN SPECIAL ELECTIONS
In addition to the primary races, New Yorkers elected two new House members to fill vacancies for the rest of the year.
Democrat Pat Ryan won one of the special elections, a battleground race in southern and central New York to replace Democrat Antonio Delgado, who became New York’s lieutenant governor. Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro in what is currently New York’s 19th Congressional District.
In western New York, Republican Joe Sempolinski defeated Democrat Max Della Pia in a special general election to serve out the rest of the year in what is currently New York’s 23rd District. Sempolinski will replace Republican Rep. Tom Reed, who resigned in May after being accused of sexual misconduct.
FAR-RIGHT PROVOCATEUR LOSES AGAIN
Florida Republican Rep. Dan Webster defeated Laura Loomer, a far-right provocateur in Florida who’s been banned on some social media networks because of anti-Muslim and other remarks.
Webster, who has served central Florida districts since 2011, won the unexpectedly tight primary in Florida’s 11th District, which is home to The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community and a GOP stronghold.
Loomer unsuccessfully ran for the House in 2020, winning a Republican primary but losing the general election that year to incumbent Democrat Lois Frankel for a Palm Beach-area seat that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
On social media, Loomer regularly posted conspiracy theories and misinformation around Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, the first Somali American elected to Congress. Among them was the false claim that Omar and other Democrats were plotting to institute Sharia law in Minnesota.
GAETZ WINS REPUBLICAN PRIMARY AMID SCANDAL
Gaetz, a Trump protégé who is under federal investigation in a sex trafficking case, won a primary contest that was seen as a test of whether he could keep support among moderate Republicans.
Gaetz has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. He was facing a challenge from Mark Lombardo, a former Marine and executive at FedEx who had blanketed the western Panhandle with attack ads centering around the investigation as he tried to take him on in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.
Rebekah Jones, a former Department of Health employee who questioned the state’s COVID-19 data, won the Democratic primary for the seat in the heavily Republican district. A state inspector general’s report concluded Jones’ allegations were unfounded, but in her race for Congress, she tapped into national support for fundraising, bringing in more than $500,000.
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Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Fla.
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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department on Monday issued a security alert warning that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv urged U.S. citizens still in Ukraine to depart the country immediately.
“If you hear a loud explosion or if sirens are activated, immediately seek cover,” the State Department said in its alert. “If in a home or a building, go to the lowest level of the structure with the fewest exterior walls, windows, and openings; close any doors and sit near an interior wall, away from any windows or openings.”
The State Department issued the alert after the U.S. intelligence community on Monday declassified a finding that determined that Russia would increasingly target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, according to a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about the finding and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The new intelligence comes as Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine will hit the six-month mark Wednesday, which coincides with Ukraine’s independence day from Soviet Union rule.
President Joe Biden spoke Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about concerns about shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine and called for the United Nations nuclear watchdog to visit the power plant.
The official said, however, that the intelligence finding is not specifically tied to concerns about Zaporizhzhia.
The Biden administration is battling to keep western allies — and Washington — focused on maintaining pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Monday the “single most important thing going on in the world right now is to beat the Russians in Ukraine.”
Speaking at a luncheon event in Scott County, Kentucky, McConnell said the one fear he has is that the U.S. and others will “all kind of lose interest” as the war drags on.
“We need to stick with them,” McConnell said. “It’s important to us, and to the rest of the world, that they succeed.”
—
AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed reporting.
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ATLANTA (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham is holding up the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause as a shield as he tries to avoid testifying before a special grand jury that’s investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others tried to illegally influence the 2020 election in Georgia.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants to ask the South Carolina Republican about two phone calls she says he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff in the weeks after the 2020 general election, as well as the circumstances and logistics surrounding those calls. Raffensperger said at the time that Graham asked him whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, a question he interpreted as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes.
Graham’s attorneys have argued that the calls were made as part of his legislative duties and that the speech or debate clause gives him absolute protection from having to testify.
The legal back-and-forth has already delayed Graham’s testimony, which had been been set for Tuesday.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SPEECH OR DEBATE CLAUSE?
Under Article I of the Constitution, “for any Speech or Debate in either House,” senators and U.S. House members “shall not be questioned in any other place.” Simply, the provision — “approved at the Constitutional Convention without discussion and without opposition,” the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in a 1966 decision — is intended to protect members of Congress from questioning about official legislative acts.
In a 1968 decision concerning a congressman’s conviction under a conflict of interest statute, the Supreme Court wrote that the provision’s intent was “to prevent legislative intimidation by and accountability to the other branches of government.”
WHAT DOES IT PROTECT?
The argument over whether Graham is protected by the clause in this case “is fundamentally about what kinds of acts are legislative versus what kinds of acts are not,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University.
Actions like speaking on the floor of the House or Senate, introducing legislation, working on a committee report and acts of legislative fact finding are all clearly covered, he said. News interviews, publications unrelated to official duties, political activities and engaging with the executive branch are not covered, he said.
WHAT ARE GRAHAM’S ARGUMENTS?
Graham has argued that the calls to Raffensperger involved his duties as a U.S. senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he should have absolute protection from having to testify in this case. In court earlier this month, Graham attorney Brian Lea argued that the senator’s responsibility to decide whether to vote to certify Georgia’s election results, coupled with his shepherding of election-related legislation, made the calls part of his legislative duties.
WHAT HAS WILLIS’ TEAM ARGUED?
Prosecutors have argued that the calls are just their starting point. They have also disputed the notion that the phone calls were solely about legislative issues, saying that Graham was seeking to make changes to the way Georgia handled absentee ballots ahead of January 2021 runoff elections for U.S. Senate.
WHAT DID THE JUDGE OVERSEEING GRAHAM’S CASE SAY?
Graham asked U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May to quash his subpoena and rule that he didn’t have to testify before the special grand jury. Last week, she declined to do that, meaning Graham was still set to appear on Tuesday.
May noted that the clause doesn’t protect actions that are political rather than legislative. Even if she accepted that the calls were “comprised entirely of legislative factfinding,” and thus protected, “there would still be significant areas of potential testimony related to the grand jury’s investigation on which Senator Graham could be questioned that would in no way fall within the Clause’s protections,” she wrote.
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?
Graham appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of the appeals court on Sunday issued an order temporarily putting on hold May’s order rejecting Graham’s request to quash the subpoena. That also put his Tuesday appearance before the special grand jury temporarily on hold.
The appeals court sent the case back to May, instructing her to determine whether Graham “is entitled to a partial quashal or modification of the subpoena” based on the Constitution’s speech or debate clause.
May on Monday ordered the two sides to file briefs, with the final deadline at the middle of next week. She specifically asked them to “address whether, and to what extent, certain alleged conduct (including specific lines of inquiry on telephone calls) is shielded from questioning” by the clause.
And she asked them to discuss whether “informal investigative inquiries” by members of Congress are protected by the clause or whether it applies only to “investigative inquiries that originate from a more formal congressional source, such as an investigation authorized by a Senate subcommittee.”
THEN WHAT?
It’s hard to say. If she finds that Graham is not entitled to any protection from the speech or debate clause for this matter, she could rule that any questions that Willis’ team wants to ask are fair game, professor Kreis said. But if she finds that certain lines of questioning would infringe on his privilege under the clause, she could set “narrow guideposts,” he said.
Once May has ruled on this limited issue, the case will head back to the 11th Circuit for further consideration.
HAVE ANY OTHER POTENTIAL WITNESSES MADE SIMILAR ARGUMENTS?
Yes. U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Georgia Republican and Trump ally, also filed a motion in federal court seeking to quash his subpoena. His case was also heard by Judge May. During a hearing, Hice’s lawyers agreed that there were some questions he could be asked before the special grand jury that wouldn’t be protected by any immunity.
May sent the case back to Fulton County Superior Court. She said at the time that if disagreements were to arise over whether specific questions infringed on Hice’s federal immunities, he could bring the federal issues back to her to settle. It wasn’t immediately clear where that stands.
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.
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Follow Brumback at http://twitter.com/katebrumback and Kinnard at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
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More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden’s administration has not yet made a decision about extending the pause on federal student loan debt nor about whether some of that debt will be canceled, but his education secretary is promising some sort of action before the end of the month.
“The American people will hear directly from us because we recognize this is an important issue across the country,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.
He appeared Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’s “Face the Nation” to discuss the matter. He said his team is in daily talks with the White House.
“We’re not slowing down,” Cardona said. “We want to make sure that college is more accessible and more affordable for Americans across the country.”
The White House has said it is considering canceling up to $10,000 per borrower, but progressives are pressuring Biden for more — $50,000. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the House Progressive Caucus, tweeted Monday that it would be a “great day to cancel student loan debt and deliver relief for millions of borrowers across the country.”
Many Republicans are opposed to the idea.
“I think it just seems inherently unfair,” Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., said, saying canceling debt now after many have already paid off their loans is wrong and won’t fix the underlying problem of the cost of education. “I think the better thing would be to look at why is college tuition over the last several decades increased at twice the rate of inflation? Why is that? Why is college education far more expensive than buying a car on an annual basis for a four-year education?”
The president’s schedule for the week does not so far indicate an announcement but that could change. Biden, who is on vacation, is expected back at the White House Wednesday.
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Which laundry hamper cabinet is best?
A laundry hamper cabinet takes the function of a laundry basket and turns it into a practical piece of stylish furniture. While not portable like the laundry basket, the cabinet provides you with additional storage space and leaves dirty clothes tucked out of sight to keep your bedroom or bathroom tidy. Take a look at the Crosley Furniture Tara Linen Hamper for an attractive, compact cabinet that will look great in any home.
What to know before you buy a laundry hamper cabinet
Materials
A laundry hamper cabinet is heavier and more permanent than the standard laundry hamper. It’s designed as its own piece of furniture. This makes solid woods such as bamboo and engineered wood such as medium-density fiberboard the most popular materials when it comes to the cabinet’s frame.
On the inside, the cabinet features a metal basket or cloth bag for holding the dirty clothes. Baskets are sturdier, but bags are often easier to pull out and carry to the laundry room without the need to switch to a separate laundry basket. Cloth bags can retain odors but are also machine-washable.
Metal hardware vs. cutout handles
There are two types of handles most commonly associated with laundry hamper cabinets.
- Metal handles come in different shapes, sizes and colors. They are screwed into the door for opening and closing.
- Handles carved directly into the wood or fiberboard surface of the cabinet door or lid provide a sleek, natural-looking design. They are often used in conjunction with bamboo furniture.
Single vs. double hamper
A hamper cabinet with one compartment takes up less space and is more affordable. However, a cabinet with two or even three built-in hampers instead is a great convenience.
With separate compartments, you can sort out light and dark items as you go. When it comes time to do laundry, you don’t have to worry about sorting clothes over the washing machine.
What to look for in a quality laundry hamper cabinet
Storage space
Most laundry hamper cabinets have a basic shelf on top for storing or displaying items—but the best cabinets go a step further. They include one to three drawers or tiered shelving. This minimizes the need for additional cabinetry and can be a real asset when furnishing a small bedroom or bathroom.
Tilt-out design
A helpful laundry hamper cabinets features a tilt-out door. This makes it easier to scoop out dirty laundry and also saves space. It leaves the top of the cabinet free as a storage area and means you don’t have to bother with opening and closing doors to get to the laundry bag or basket. The tilt-out bin opens and shuts with one easy motion.
Removable laundry bag
The best laundry cabinets feature a bag or basket on the inside that is entirely removable. This way you can remove all the laundry together instead of digging out all the clothes individually. A durable cloth such as canvas tends to work best for portability but a metal frame with a cloth lining has more structure and support.
How much you can expect to spend on a laundry hamper cabinet
A single-hamper cabinet usually costs $50-$200. A double- or triple-hamper cabinet costs $80-$400.
Laundry hamper cabinet FAQ
What’s the difference between wood and fiberboard?
A. Natural wood is a solid, organic material that comes from trees. Fiberboard uses wood particles and other non-organic materials to make a lightweight alternative designed to resemble wood. It’s less expensive but can also be less durable.
Can a laundry cabinet get wet?
A. Since laundry cabinets are often kept in the bathroom and come into contact with wet clothes, they tend to be reliably water-resistant. Fiberboard can get wet and natural wood can handle moisture as long as the surface has been properly treated.
What’s the best laundry hamper cabinet to buy?
Top laundry hamper cabinet
Crosley Furniture Tara Linen Hamper
What you need to know: This cottage-style pine cabinet has a birch veneer and a tilt-out hamper with a cloth laundry bag and metal handle. It measures 35.35 inches tall and 18 inches across.
What you’ll love: It holds two loads’ worth of laundry and the cloth bag is easily removable. It comes in vintage gray or vintage white with a sleek, classic design.
What you should consider: It’s listed as being easy to assemble, but many buyers have found it difficult to assemble.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Macy’s
Top laundry hamper cabinet for the money
Oceanstar Spa-Style Bamboo Laundry Hamper
What you need to know: This spa-inspired cabinet is constructed from bamboo with a cutout handle and a lid on top that opens to a canvas-lined metal laundry basket. It measures 25 inches tall and 20 inches across.
What you’ll love: The bamboo is attractive with a beautiful natural finish. It’s well-made and assembly is easy. The metal rods make the canvas laundry basket sturdy.
What you should consider: The way it opens and closes provides no permanent shelving space.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Macy’s
Worth checking out
Evideco Tilt-Out Laundry Hamper
What you need to know: This fiberboard cabinet features cutout handles and a tilt-out hamper with a cloth laundry bag. It measures 38.5 inches tall and 14.4 inches across.
What you’ll love: The cloth bag is easily removable and machine-washable. There are two shelves for storage instead of the standard one. It comes in white, bamboo and white with an oak brown door.
What you should consider: There are no walls to completely conceal the laundry basket.
Where to buy: Sold by Home Depot and Wayfair
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Emily Verona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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Which pink Crocs are best?
Crocs may be a point of mockery for many, but those that do mock are all but guaranteed to have never tried them. If they had, they would know that Crocs are among the most comfortable shoes you can own. If you’re concerned about backlash, you can choose one of Crocs’ many styles that aren’t recognizably part of the brand. If you don’t care, then it’s difficult not to recommend the style that started it all: the Crocs Classic Clogs.
What to know before you buy pink Crocs
Pink Crocs styles
Pink Crocs are available in all Crocs styles.
- Clogs are the first style Crocs made, and the style is synonymous with the Crocs name. If you aren’t sure where to start, start here.
- Boots are essentially clogs, except they have a nylon drawstring bag attached that extends a little past the ankle. These are a good choice if you want to keep your feet dry.
- Slides are great options for those wanting something quick and easy. Grab a pair for short trips to the store and the like.
- Sandals are similar to slides except they have two small straps rather than one large one, plus they have a thicker sole.
- Flip-flops are more breathable than slides and sandals, but some people dislike the feeling of the strap between their toes.
- Platforms take a pair of clogs, slides, sandals or flip-flops and add roughly an inch of thickness to the sole. They’re good for adding a little height or a bit more cushion.
- Sneakers combine all the usual benefits of Crocs, such as the buoyancy, cushy comfort and high breathability, but in the form of a regular shoe.
Sizing
Most pink Crocs for adults are unisex, meaning they make no change to the design like other types of shoes do such as men’s sizing being wider. You may find pink Crocs being listed as women’s and with matching sizing numbers, but you can subtract two from the size to get the matching men’s sizing. Pink Crocs also come in children’s sizing.
Looks
Pink Crocs come in more than just plain pink. Several shades are available, though some are discontinued and may cost more than those currently being produced. Some options mix pink with other colors, such as white. Some even combine multiple shades of pink.
What to look for in quality pink Crocs
Fit
Pink Crocs come in one of three fits.
- Standard Crocs sit as close to the foot as possible.
- Relaxed Crocs add some extra space, especially in the toe box.
- Roomy Crocs are as loose on the foot as possible.
Heel strap
Some pink Crocs styles give you the option of a heel strap. These are mostly for keeping Crocs on in the water, but they can also help limit how much your feet slide around. However, some people find these straps cause irritation or even blisters.
How much you can expect to spend on pink Crocs
Most Crocs cost around $35-$50. Styles with less material such as slides can cost as little as $20 while styles with more material, such as sneakers, can cost as much as $80.
Pink Crocs FAQ
What are Crocs made of?
A. They’re mostly made of a proprietary material called Croslite, which is a type of resin that acts like a mix of rubber and foam. It’s cushy, durable and buoyant. It’s also the reason Crocs cost more than you would think. Crocs also have a few other proprietary materials it may mix in, such as LiteRide used in its sneakers.
What are Crocs best for?
A. That depends on the style you choose but, generally speaking, Crocs are best for two situations. The first is for wearing around water. The original clogs were designed to serve as boating shoes. The second is jobs requiring you to be on your feet. The Croslite material is well known for being especially cushy and comfortable, making Crocs a common choice for wait staff and nurses, and so forth.
What are Jibbitz?
A. Jibbitz are special charms designed to attach to Crocs’ signature ventilation holes. They come in uncountable designs so there’s something for everyone. Some pairs even include a Jibbitz or two with purchase.
What are the best pink Crocs to buy?
Top pink Crocs
What you need to know: This is the style that started it all.
What you’ll love: The classic ventilation holes access the front and top of the shoes to maximize breathability. They have interior bumps that give you extra traction so they don’t slip around and can provide some minor massaging. The tread provides a strong grip, even on slick surfaces.
What you should consider: Some customers found them a little large and suggested ordering a size down. They can shrink if left in prolonged contact with heat.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Kohl’s
Top pink Crocs for the money
What you need to know: These slides are perfect for quick trips or for wearing around your home.
What you’ll love: They have interior bumps that provide extra traction and minor massaging. Plus, they have an excellent and grippy tread. They come with a pair of Jibbitz and each shoe can hold up to 13 of them.
What you should consider: A few consumers found it difficult to find a comfortable size. There is a rare issue of the top strap being attached too low.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Crocs Classic Cozzzy Fuzzy Sandals
What you need to know: If you love fuzzy slippers but find your feet get too warm, try these fuzzy sandals instead.
What you’ll love: The faux-fur lining is soft, luxurious and provides plenty of warmth but the sandal-style straps allow just enough airflow to prevent your feet from getting sweaty. Each shoe can hold up to seven Jibbitz and two are included to get you started.
What you should consider: Some purchasers had issues with the lining coming unstitched from the sole. The lining can also be difficult to clean.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods
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Jordan C. Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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Which white Crocs are best?
Crocs may have started with the basic clogs, but over the years have pushed into a range of comfortable and stylish shoes. For those who like attracting even more attention, white Crocs are available. They may be a touch harder to clean, but the brilliant white is worth it. You can even customize white Crocs to really be attention-getting.
The best white Crocs are the Crocs LiteRide 360 Clogs. They have all the same properties as the original Crocs but with a shiny new look and increased comfort.
What to know before you buy white Crocs
White Crocs types
White Crocs come in a variety of styles.
- Clogs are the original design. They have several large holes along the front and top to let water out for fast drying and a heel strap to keep it secured, though the strap can also be moved out of the way. Today there are multiple substyles of clogs, including ones without any holes or different styling of holes, ones lined with fur and “boots” with drawstring nylon pouches that go up past the ankle.
- Sandals differ from most sandals in that the two top straps aren’t adjustable on Crocs. To make up for this, some Crocs sandals include the adjustable heel strap.
- Flip-flops are identical to other flip-flops, they’re just made of Crocs’ proprietary material.
- Slides are identical to other slides, except the top strap is hole-punched like most Crocs.
- Platforms take another style such as clogs or sandals and add thicker soles to both, increasing cushioning and height.
- Sneakers are Crocs take on the style. They use a mix of Crocs’ proprietary materials to have the same quick-drying, extra-cushioned, floating properties but with more security.
Sizing
Most adult Crocs are unisex in sizing, though there are some exceptions. There are also kids’ sizes. Additionally, Crocs doesn’t use half sizes.
What to look for in quality white Crocs
Fit
Crocs shoes have three fits.
- Standard fit has the Crocs placed snuggly against the entire foot. It shouldn’t feel tight; if it does it’s too small.
- Relaxed fit opens up the toe box but stays snug across the rest of the foot.
- Roomy fit adds space around the entire foot for those who prefer the loosest feel.
Material
Crocs shoes use a variety of special materials. Some of the most common are:
- CrocsLite is the main proprietary material that all Crocs are at least partially made from, and the reason Crocs cost more than similar shoes. It’s a closed-cell resin that mimics foam and rubber and is buoyant and durable.
- LiteRide is Crocs technological leap in outsole comfort. Many of Crocs recent shoes use it.
- MatLite is used for the upper of Crocs’ sneakers. It’s extra flexible to let the foot move naturally and comfortably.
How much you can expect to spend on white Crocs
They can cost as little as $20 to as much as $80. Kids’ shoes and styles with less material such as slides and sandals cost the least while sneakers cost the most. The average Crocs cost $30-$50.
White Crocs FAQ
How do I keep white Crocs clean?
A. Crocs are easy to keep clean. No matter the style, all you need is to give them a good scrub with a soft cloth and a mixture of soap and warm water. Some styles such as the original clogs can be safely machine-washed. Always double-check if your Crocs are machine-safe before doing so.
Can I customize white Crocs?
A. Yes. In fact, it’s common to do so. The best supplies to use are latex or acrylic paint. These take time to dry and set, meaning if you make a mistake, you can just wash it off and start again. This also means you need to protect them while they dry.
You can also use permanent markers on your Crocs. These set immediately and can be removed with rubbing alcohol if you make a mistake. This doesn’t have quite the same pop as paint, which is a pro or a con, depending on your vision.
What are Jibbitz?
A. Jibbitz are special charms made by Crocs that you can slip into the large holes found on most of its shoes. Many Crocs styles include one or more Jibbitz. They come in just about any form you can imagine, including superheroes, animals, inanimate objects, etc. You can also find or order custom Jibbitz on websites such as Etsy.
What are the best white Crocs to buy?
Top white Crocs
What you need to know: This is the suped-up version of the classic clogs for even more comfort.
What you’ll love: The LiteRide insole pushes the comfort up to the max and the fresh design of the upper looks sleeker than the original large-holed look. They have a roomy fit. The ankle straps have two holes for fitting up to four Jibbitz overall.
What you should consider: The Jibbitz placement may cause some irritation on your heel, and a few purchasers wished there were more cushioning in the heel, too.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top white Crocs for the money
What you need to know: It doesn’t get more simple — or more comfortable — than a good pair of slides.
What you’ll love: The midsole is covered with little bumps to help your feet stick to the shoe, and the outsole is grooved for extra traction. There are several shades of white to choose from, as well as pairs with extra color or a special design.
What you should consider: Several customers reported these feeling too tight and recommended ordering a size up. Others reported them feeling oddly stiff with less cushioning than expected.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Kohl’s
Worth checking out
Crocs LiteRide 360 Pacer Sneakers
What you need to know: These sneakers are perfect for when you need something more secure on your feet.
What you’ll love: The upper is made of MatLite to stay flexible and match the natural movements of your feet while the outsole is made of LiteRide foam for superior cushioning and comfort. There’s space for one Jibbitz on each shoe, just under the last line of laces.
What you should consider: A few purchases had issues with the laces slowly cutting through the eyelets. Others reported the laces as being too long.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Which Aerin perfume is best?
Aerin Beauty is a luxury fragrance brand launched in 2012. It was founded by Aerin Lauder, granddaughter of beauty magnate Estee Lauder, as part of the lifestyle brand Aerin, which is an arm of the Estee Lauder company.
According to its founder, Aerin is a brand centered around living life beautifully and effortlessly. Aerin perfumes provide a range of floral fragrances with sweet and musky notes. For an Aerin perfume that combines class and quality, the Aerin Lilac Path Eau De Parfum is a good pick.
What to know before you buy an Aerin perfume
Occasion
Although preference plays a huge role in determining what fragrance to use at what time, some scents are best worn for particular occasions. For example, light, breezy scents would be preferable for day wear while heavy scents with more musk go better at nighttime. You can also select perfumes based on the season: summer, springtime, fall or winter.
Fragrance notes
Perfumes usually have three different notes; the key notes, heart notes and base notes, each noticeable at different times. The key notes, or top notes, are usually the scents gotten within the first few minutes. They tend to wear off after about half an hour and the next prominent notes are the heart notes. The base notes come last and linger the longest.
Application
When applying your perfume, there are certain places on your body where it lasts longer. The best places to apply your perfume are on your wrists and behind your ears, neck, chest, hair and even behind your knees. Generally, the larger the area on which you spray your perfume, the longer it will last.
Your body chemistry
Body chemistry differs with each person, and this might make the same fragrance smell different on different people. It is best to test perfume on your wrist or as a sample before making a purchase.
When testing, dab a little of the perfume on your skin, preferably when your skin is damp. After letting it sit for a while, do a sniff test to learn how well the perfume works with your body chemistry and whether you like it. Aerin perfumes provide a wide range of sample sizes you can test with before making your final choice.
What to look for in a quality Aerin perfume
Longevity
Aerin perfumes are high-quality and long-lasting. The fragrances with the highest concentration of oils (eau de parfum and extrait de parfum) last the longest, for about eight to 10 hours. Fragrances with more base notes than top or heart notes also seem to last the longest, as base notes always linger on the skin.
Design
Aerin perfumes come in glass bottles with beautiful lids that shimmer and mimic precious stones. The design is elegant and is carefully constructed to have a chic feminine appeal. Though the bottle and lid are consistent across fragrances, they vary in color.
Strong floral notes
When creating Aerin perfumes, the brand says that Aerin Lauder’s goal was to re-create scents that reminded her of places she’s been. That’s why most Aerin perfumes consist of floral or fruity notes from exotic places around the world.
How much you can expect to spend on Aerin perfumes
Depending on their fragrance and design, Aerin perfumes usually fall within the price range of $150-$350.
Aerin perfume FAQ
Do Aerin perfumes last long?
A. Yes. Some reviewers say they last a full day or more.
How do I store my Aerin perfume so it lasts?
A. Storing it at room temperature and away from direct sunlight is the best way to keep all its notes intact.
Will perfume damage my clothing?
A. Perfume can either be worn on the skin or on clothing. If you will be using perfume on your clothes, make sure its color is light so that it doesn’t stain your fabric. You can test this on a white piece of paper before spraying it on your clothes.
What’s the best Aerin perfume to buy?
Top Aerin perfume
Aerin Lilac Path Eau De Parfum
What you need to know: This is a flower-garden scent with notes of crisp greens and lilac.
What you’ll love: It’s light and airy enough to be worn outdoors without being too overwhelming. The jasmine and lilac scent notes are balanced out with little hints of aquatic tones, giving it a good fragrance blend that smells like summer.
What you should consider: If you’re looking for a fragrance with subtle floral tones, this might not be the perfume for you, as its tones are bold.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Sephora
Top Aerin perfume for the money
Aerin Beauty Meditteranean Honeysuckle Eau De Parfum Travel Spray
What you need to know: This exciting fragrance features notes of honeysuckle, gardenia and grapefruit.
What you’ll love: This sweet fragrance combines fruity and floral scents. The perfume comes in a small vial that is convenient for when you’re on the go.
What you should consider: It may be considered pricey, considering its size.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Sephora
Worth checking out
Aerin Hibiscus Palm Eau De Parfum
What you need to know: This brilliant tropical fragrance captures scents of lotus flower with hibiscus palm wrapped in coconut milk.
What you’ll love: It’s bold and can be easily layered. Its heart notes consist of white blossoms, which make it fresh and exotic.
What you should consider: For some, it might be initially overpowering, but it fades away quickly.
Where to buy: Sold by Sephora
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Nentapmun Gomwalk writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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| 2022-09-21T15:40:56Z
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Which leather camera bag is best?
Some casual photo- and video-takers are satisfied with the results they get from the point-and-shoot cameras built into their smartphones, but not all. Enthusiasts and those who seek higher-quality images want the flexibility and control that comes from using real cameras with interchangeable lenses.
A good camera bag can hold your cameras, lenses, filters, tripod and more. And a leather camera bag does all this in style. If you are looking for a water-resistant canvas backpack for your camera and gear, take a look at the Tiding Vintage Leather Camera Backpack.
What to know before you buy a leather camera bag
Camera bags are functional, designed to hold digital cameras, bodies, lenses and accessories. Leather camera bags add a bit of fashion because they look great and wear well, some looking even better with age.
Types of camera bags
- Shoulder: This is the most common type, where you sling a single strap over one shoulder. Its design makes it easy to remove things quickly. Shoulder bags are also the most stylish, often looking more like large fashionable purses than utilitarian camera bags.
- Sling: These modified messenger bags are worn like holsters, with a single strap that crosses over your chest, making them a good choice for photographers who want quick access to their cameras.
- Backpack: This type of camera bag is usually the largest, has the most padding and holds the most gear. The downside is that it is not as easy to work out of, because it is made primarily for carrying your camera gear from one place to another.
- Luggage: Wheelie bags make great camera bags for air travelers who need to take their gear with them. They hold a lot but have no exterior pockets for quick access.
Types of leather
- Cowhide has the natural texture and coloring of the cow’s skin and hair. Full grain cowhide is tough and has imperfections. Top grain cowhide has those imperfections removed and is softer and more pliable.
- Suede is the inside of the leather hide and has a soft feel and slightly fuzzy look.
- Artificial leather, also known as faux leather and sometimes labeled PU leather, is manufactured with smooth consistency and is the cheapest of the leathers.
Capacity
Most camera bags list their exterior dimensions. This misleads some consumers into buying a bag that doesn’t have as much interior space as they need. One reason for this is they forget they want to use some of the bag’s space for their laptop, phone, keys and wallet.
What to look for in a quality leather camera bag
Organization
- Compartments: The more compartments in your camera bag, the easier it is to keep things organized.
- Dividers: Most bags have several interior dividers, usually made of padded fabric panels that attach via nylon hook-and-loop fastening strips and can be configured however you like. Larger bags have more panels.
- Pockets: Exterior pockets are handy for keeping the gear you want to grab quickly.
Closures
Look for heavy-duty zippers that open and close from both sides for easiest access. Also look for double stitching at the stress points where straps are attached. Flaps with buckle closures are more secure than those with hook-and-loop fasteners.
Access
Quick, easy access to your camera and gear is important when you’re busy taking action shots, so look for bags that have quick-reach pockets with simple flap openings.
Padding
The best way to keep your cameras and lenses safe is by surrounding them with padding. Look for pads you can arrange to fit your equipment so your gear is held snugly in place.
How much you can expect to spend on a leather camera bag
Small leather camera bags can be found for less than $50. Depending upon the quality of the materials and the prestige of the designer, camera bags can cost more than $2,000. Most leather camera bags cost from $50-$100.
Leather camera bag FAQ
How big a camera bag do I need?
A. Customers who leave reviews often say that the bag they bought turned out to be too small, so buy one with enough room to accommodate your personal items.
What’s the best way to store all the little things I need to carry?
A. Small items such as media cards and lens wipes are easy to find when you keep them in a small zippered pouch made of mesh or see-through plastic.
What’s the best leather camera bag to buy?
Top leather camera bag
Tiding Vintage Leather Camera Backpack
What you need to know: This backpack is made of full grain cowhide leather with premium two-way zippers and is loaded with pockets.
What you’ll love: Inside this spacious 15.7- by 12.9- by 8.2-inch bag are two main compartments with four pouches, a zip pocket and a padded laptop sleeve. In front, it has two zipper pockets and room for a tablet. In the back, there is a hidden zip pocket that keeps your valuables safely out of sight.
What you should consider: The external USB charging port does not come with a battery pack.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top leather camera bag for the money
Basic Gear Rustic Leather Camera Bag
What you need to know: This 10- by 7.25- by 4.5-inch bag holds a camera and one extra lens.
What you’ll love: It’s made of full grain buffalo leather, naturally distressed for a classic rugged look, hand-sewn and reinforced at all stress points. It has a separate pocket for your tablet, two pockets under the main flap and three outside pockets. The removable shoulder strap is lined with thick cotton padding for extra comfort and strength.
What you should consider: The Velcro closures don’t match the quality of the leather.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Vintage Crafts Genuine Leather DSLR Camera Shoulder Bag
What you need to know: This 11- by 9- by 5-inch messenger bag is made of strong, supple goat leather and holds nearly 500 cubic inches of camera gear.
What you’ll love: The lining is made of soft velvet to protect your photographic gear and has two adjustable padded dividers so you can customize your fit. The rivets, metal zippers and buckle closures are sturdy and the three exterior pockets are roomy.
What you should consider: Some reviewers report an initial offensive smell, though they say it goes away after a few days.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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David Allan Van writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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| 2022-09-21T15:41:03Z
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What is the best silver cleaner?
Pure silver is naturally soft and often combined with other metals to protect its beauty. This combination, though, can lead to tarnishing that requires a silver cleaner to restore the original shine. Some cleaners have powerful chemicals for the most tarnished pieces, but there are less toxic, chemical-free options for everyday use.
For its scratch-free formula that can be used on silver and multiple other metals, the best silver cleaner is Wright’s Silver Cleaner and Polish Cream.
What to know before you buy silver cleaner
There are different types of silver
Most kinds of silver are combined with another metal, usually copper, to form an alloy. This combination can become tarnished by moisture or pollutants over time.
- Sterling silver is mixed with copper and most found in jewelry and tableware. It is between 92.5%-95% pure silver. A similar combination is used for coin silver. Many silver products from other countries are made from this combination.
- Plated silver is a thin layer of silver placed over a base of another metal. Silver-plated items are attractive but delicate, because the silver can wear off over time. They must be handled gently when cleaning.
- Antique silver is darker and used in jewelry that commonly has an oxidized finish. Extra care is needed to avoid removing the finish. Cleaning cloths gently applied to the jewelry are the best option.
- Fine silver is used in trinkets and 99.9% pure silver. It is soft and won’t usually tarnish due to its purity.
There are different types of silver cleaner
- Polish, also called cream, is reserved for large tarnish-removing jobs. It is wiped on and buffed out. It requires medium exertion and should be used sparingly on plated silver.
- Wipes are easy to use and come in a single-serve format. They aren’t messy and can be used on most silver items.
- Cloths are best suited for small items. One side has cleaning solution embedded in the fibers, and the other side is used for buffing.
- Dips are excellent for deep tarnish removal. They are commonly used with flatware or rings. The item is submersed in the liquid and then either rinsed or rubbed with a cloth, as instructed.
- Sprays work well on large items and even silver-plated pieces. They require wiping but no rinsing. Sprays are an easy method for distributing large volumes of silver cleaner at one time.
There are different ways to display silver
The best way to store and display silver is inside a glass case with an airtight door. This keeps air from circulating and protects your silver from moisture and pollutants. If you have to display or use a piece outside of the case, keep it away from the kitchen.
What to look for in silver cleaner
Cleaning method
Look for the method that is gentlest on your items and easiest for you to perform. Read the instructions carefully and always err on the side of gentle pressure.
Cleaning formula
Ammonia-based formulas are effective but can be harsh on your skin and the environment. There are many nontoxic, ammonia-free formulas available. Look for the cleaner that completes the job effectively but safely.
Cleaning other metals
Some silver cleaners also clean other metals like gold, copper, steel, brass and platinum. Review the instructions to make sure you can use it on other metals.
How much you can expect to spend on silver cleaner
Silver cleaners are priced between $4-$20 depending on the type of cleaner and the quantity per container.
- Cleaning cloths are $5-$8.
- Polishes and foams are $4-$15.
- Dips are $8-$15, with full kits priced closer to $20.
- Wipes are $6-$16 depending on the quantity per canister.
- Sprays are $12-$17.
Silver cleaner FAQ
Can you make your own silver cleaner?
A. A simple solution of a half-cup of white vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda creates a dip for items to be submerged in for one hour and then gently rubbed off. They should then be rinsed. Commercial products are still the better option, though, since they have been formulated for specific silver items.
What’s the best way to polish silver?
A. Always use a small amount of cleaner with a clean cloth or brush. Work the cleaner into your item in small circular motions that move vertically along the item. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for buffing and rinsing.
What’s the best silver cleaner to buy?
Top silver cleaner
Wright’s Silver Cleaner and Polish Cream
What you need to know: From a long-trusted brand, this cleaner works on many metals and leaves a protective covering to prevent future tarnishing.
What you’ll love: The no-scratch formula is gentle on silver. Free of ammonia, the cream works on silver, steel, chrome, pewter and porcelain. It can even repair scratched DVDs and CDs. A polishing cloth is included.
What you should consider: Application can get messy and takes time to work through.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top silver cleaner for the money
What you need to know: This affordable polish works quickly with just one application and a follow-up rinse.
What you’ll love: No rubbing or scrubbing is required with the easy wipe-and-rinse process. It can be used as a cleaning dip for small items. It’s safe for gems and jewelry in addition to other silver items.
What you should consider: The odor is intense and unpleasant.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Worth checking out
Mayflower Products Pro Size Polishing Cleaning Cloth
What you need to know: This innovative cleaner is nontoxic and free of chemicals. It comes with two pre-treated cloths for the initial polish and follow-up.
What you’ll love: The cloths are made of cotton fiber and can be used on silver, gold and platinum. There is no mess to clean up. The cloths work well on all sizes of items. They are American made, with a 60-day return policy.
What you should consider: This cleaner is made primarily for silver and not other metals.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Steve Ganger writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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| 2022-09-21T15:41:11Z
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Which blackout curtain liner is best?
A blackout curtain liner is an affordable alternative to buying new, thicker curtains. Blackout curtains can be bulky and come in limited patterns and colors. Plus, you like your curtains — they don’t just block out the sun. Keep your attractive, sheer curtains, and limit outside light with a liner. You will get the best of both worlds and won’t have to worry about redesigning your room. If you want an easy way to make your room into a cave-like habitat, the Driftaway Thermal Blackout Curtain Liners are the top choice.
Why are blackout curtain liners beneficial?
Blackout curtain liners offer a number of benefits.
- Noise reduction: Liners minimize how sound travels and provides you with privacy in your room.
- Insulate your room: Blocking windows limits weather effects on the temperature inside, helping to keep your room consistent.
- Fade prevention: Sunlight can cause fading and damage to your furniture, but a blackout liner can help prevent that.
What to know before you buy a blackout curtain liner
The number of panels you need can depend on how big your windows are and how many you want to cover. Figure out how many you need, how thick you want them to be and the shape and style of your windows.
Material
Liners come in soft, polyester blends and thicker, tighter woven fabrics. Many are machine-washable, but each set is different. Read the instructions for your liners before washing them. Some flame retardant styles come with separate instructions.
Length and width
Liners come in many sizes and sets of two, so curtains can be left open from the middle. Measure your windows and the current curtains you are using. This will help you find the size you need and what set of liners suits you best.
Shape and thickness
Curtain liners commonly come in long rectangular panels. However, they can be shaped in other ways and have a difference in thickness. There are short curtain liners to accommodate smaller windows and several fabrics with varying thicknesses to ensure total blackout.
Style
Blackout curtain liners are available in multiple styles.
- Grommet: This style has holes in the fabric with protective rings to effortlessly weave the curtain onto the rod.
- Ring: These curtains require rings that help lock them into place and slip over the rod.
- Single-rod pocket: This is when the fabric at the top loops over as a sleeve around the rod.
- Fabric loop: In this case, extra fabric is used to create several loops for the rod to go through.
What to look for in a quality blackout curtain liner
Darkness
While there are many reasons to use blackout curtains, complete darkness in a room is at the top of the list. There are levels of darkness — some styles simply mute the light, while others snuff it out. If you want a true blackout in your room, you may need a thicker material for your liner.
Easy installation
After doing all the measuring, you want the liners to go up quickly and easily. Many liners provide instructions to install your curtains and simplify the process. Certain brands only use Velcro to attach them to your curtains, while others may require you to take the rod down to attach and secure the liner.
Retractability
Blacking out the room is the goal, but you still want to be able to open the windows. Make sure that your liners can be pulled back easily to let in the daylight when you want. Liners should stay securely on your rods as you open and close them daily.
How much you can expect to spend on a blackout curtain liner
The total price you spend ultimately depends on how many windows or glass doors you want to cover. The average set of blackout curtain liners is $20-$40.
Blackout curtain liner FAQ
How do I clean blackout curtain liners?
A. You can use laundry soap or a vacuum to spot clean your liners. When they need a full refresh, check the instructions to see if they are machine-washable or not.
What is the difference between blackout and thermal liners?
A. Blackout liners are focused on reducing light to maximize darkness in a room. Although this can help regulate temperature, thermal liners are designed to help keep heat and cold air from coming in through closed windows.
What’s the best blackout curtain liner to buy?
Top blackout curtain liner
Driftaway Thermal Blackout Curtain Liners
What you need to know: This set of curtain liners keeps your room free from outside light.
What you’ll love: These liners block 100% of the light from your windows. The thermal effect helps keep the temperature of your room from getting too hot or cold. This liner comes with 16 hanging rings, and it is machine-washable.
What you should consider: A few customers complained of a chemical smell that needed to be washed out.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top blackout curtain liner for the money
Nicetown White Curtain Liner Panels
What you need to know: This pair of blackout liners is inexpensive, multipurpose and effective at completely blocking light from coming in through your windows.
What you’ll love: Every two-panel package of liners comes with 16 hooks. These liners can be easily put up behind sheer curtains to block the light out of your room. The polyester blend is soft but effective and comes in white, black or gray.
What you should consider: A few customers stated that these liners darkened their room but did not block it out entirely.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Rose Home Fashion Blackout Curtain Liner
What you need to know: These curtain liners block 99% of light coming in through your windows.
What you’ll love: This is a set of two liners you can use behind any curtains to minimize light in your room. Each curtain is machine-washable and comes with eight rings to hold it up. These rings can be easily draped with the curtain and put in a locked position to secure it.
What you should consider: A few customers reported they had issues using the metal rings to hang the curtains up.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Erica Redding writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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Which women’s Vans are best?
Vans shoes have come a long way since the 1960s. They started out as affordable sneakers for skateboarders and gradually evolved into one of the most impactful shoe brands in history. Now Vans come in half a dozen styles and in a nearly endless array of colors and limited-time designs. And yet, they still remain among the most affordable sneakers.
The best women’s Vans are the Vans Sk8-Hi Skate Shoe. These shoes’ design is intended for serious skateboarders, but their high-top style looks great in almost any situation.
What to know before you buy women’s Vans
Vans types
Vans come in no less than 10 types.
- Authentic Vans are the original design, preserved since inception. The main marker is the waffle pattern on the front of the outsole that provides extra grip.
- Eras look identical to Authentic Vans, but add padding to the collar for extra comfort.
- Old Skools essentially just add the trademarked Vans Sidestripe to a pair of Eras.
- Sk8-His use padded high-tops and a sturdier toe box to protect skateboarders’ feet. Non-skateboarders also wear them for style points.
- Ultraranges are designed for extra-long walks. They have extra durability, arch support in the midsole and breathable uppers.
- Platforms take other Vans types and make the sole thicker to give you some extra height.
- Slip-ons take Era Vans, remove the laces and make the tongue elastic so you can easily slip them on and off.
- Sandals, flip-flops and slides are exactly that — Vans branded sandals, flip-flops and slides.
Sizing
Technically, both all Vans and no Vans come in women’s sizes — all Vans are unisex in size and design. The only exception is kids sizes.
What to look for in quality women’s Vans
Upper material
Vans outsoles are made of vulcanized rubber, which necessitates natural materials for the upper, as synthetics would melt.
- Canvas is the most common. It’s durable, breathable and the easiest to clean.
- Leather requires more maintenance, but you get a classier look as well as better water resistance. However, they don’t breathe as well as canvas.
- Suede also requires more maintenance, but its look is unique — perfect for someone trying to make a splash.
Sidestripe
One of Vans’ signature looks is a wavy stripe on both sides of the shoe, similar to the Converse heel star. If you want to make it plain you’re wearing Vans, you need a pair with Sidestripes. They’re only available on Old Skool, Sk8-Hi and Ultrarange types.
How much you can expect to spend on women’s Vans
They can cost as little as $35 or as much as $120. Sandals, slides and flip-flops typically cost less than $50. The average pair of Vans costs $60-$90. Specialty and limited-time designs cost up to $120 or more.
Women’s Vans FAQ
How long do Vans usually last?
A. The average pair of Vans lasts roughly two years. Using them for skateboarding and other rough activities drops expectancy down to about a year. Carefully maintain them to make them last three years or more.
How do I maintain Vans?
A. The requirements for cleaning Vans differ slightly based on the upper material. However, all materials should always be washed by hand.
- Suede: First, use a suede brush to remove all surface grime. Secondly, use suede cleaner and a toothbrush to clean deep-set grime. Thirdly, clean the rubber soles with soap, water and a different toothbrush. Finally, leave them out to dry.
- Leather: First, remove surface grime with a shoe brush. Secondly, use a leather cleaner and a brush to clean deep-set grime. Thirdly, work a leather waterproofer into the upper if desired. Finally, leave them out to dry.
- Canvas: First, remove surface grime with a shoe brush. Secondly, pre-treat deep stains with a stain cleaner. Thirdly, remove the laces and insoles before washing the shoes in warm water with mild detergent. Fourthly, press any excess water out of the Vans and wrap them in a towel to dry.
- Laces: Remove them and clean them in warm water with mild detergent. Leave them out to dry.
- Insoles: Remove them and scrub them with a toothbrush topped by a mixture of baking soda and mild detergent. Let it sit for 15 minutes before rinsing and air drying.
What are the best women’s Vans to buy?
Top women’s Vans
What you need to know: These high-top shoes simply ooze style.
What you’ll love: They’re designed to protect the foot from skateboarding injuries, such as twisted ankles and crushed toes. They come in a variety of styles including white on white, white on red and a Spongebob Squarepants-inspired dye job.
What you should consider: Some consumers said the shoes feel uncomfortable when worn for long periods. They use suede, which isn’t compatible with vegan lifestyles since it’s a form of leather.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top women’s Vans for the money
What you need to know: These are the classic Vans style in classic Vans affordability.
What you’ll love: The rubber sole and canvas upper offer plenty of natural durability. The collar and tongue are padded for extra cushioning and comfort. There are 36 designs to choose from, including lime green, rainbow checkered and pink roses on black.
What you should consider: A few customers had issues finding the right size, reporting that they run small. Others had issues with the collar padding rubbing uncomfortably.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Vans Slip-On Core Classics Low-Top Trainers
What you need to know: Comfort and ease are the names of the game for these shoes.
What you’ll love: The tongue and ankles stretch comfortably to make slipping in them a breeze, and restrict enough to keep the foot stable without feeling too tight. The collar and tongue are padded for comfort. There are 65 designs, including all black and all white.
What you should consider: A few purchasers noted these shoes don’t offer much in the way of arch support. Others reported the shoes needing a long break-in time.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Jordan C. Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-09-21T15:41:34Z
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Alabama stars Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. are among four players from the top-ranked Crimson Tide selected to The Associated Press preseason All-America team.
Joining Young, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, and Anderson, the star pass rusher, were Alabama defensive backs Jordan Battle and Eli Ricks as first-team selections.
The AP preseason All-America team presented by Regions Bank was selected by a panel of Top 25 poll voters and released Monday.
Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs made the second team as an all-purpose player and Crimson Tide guard Emil Ekiyor was also a second-team selection.
Alabama’s four first-teamers and six players on the two teams overall were the most for any school.
Ohio State was second behind Alabama, just like in the AP Top 25, with three first-team selections and five players overall.
Offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., running back TreVeyon Henderson and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba were all selected to the first team. C.J. Stroud, who finished fourth in the Heisman voting last year, is the second-team quarterback. Tackle Dawand Jones made the second-team offensive line.
Defending national champion and No. 3 Georgia had three players picked to the first-team: tight end Brock Bowers, defensive tackle Jalen Carter and cornerback Kelee Ringo. Nolan Smith made the second-team at edge rusher.
In a sign of college football’s new era of loosened transfer rules, seven players selected to the two teams have transferred in their college careers, including Gibbs (Georgia Tech) and Ricks (LSU) from Alabama.
Southern California receiver Jordan Addison, the Biletnikoff Award winner at Pitt in 2021, was a first-team selection.
Transfers joining Gibbs on the second-team were Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence (Louisiana-Lafayette); Baylor defensive tackle Siaki Ika (LSU); Notre Dame safety Brandon Joseph (Northwestern); and Florida State defensive back Jammie Robinson (South Carolina).
FIRST TEAM
Offense
Quarterback — Bryce Young, junior, Alabama
Running backs — Bijan Robinson, junior, Texas; TreVeyon Henderson, sophomore, Ohio State.
Tackles — Peter Skoronski, junior, Northwestern; Paris Johnson Jr., junior, Ohio State.
Guards — Andrew Vorhees, sixth-year, Southern California; Caleb Chandler, sixth-year, Louisville.
Center — Jarrett Patterson, senior, Notre Dame.
Tight end — Brock Bowers, sophomore, Georgia.
Wide receivers — Jordan Addison, junior, Southern California; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, junior, Ohio State; Kayshon Boutte, junior, LSU.
All-purpose player — Deuce Vaughn, junior, Kansas State.
Kicker — Jake Moody, senior, Michigan.
Defense
Edge rushers — Will McDonald IV, senior, Iowa State; Isaiah Foskey, senior, Notre Dame.
Linemen — Bryan Bresee, junior, Clemson; Jalen Carter, junior, Georgia.
Linebackers — Will Anderson Jr., junior, Alabama; Noah Sewell, junior, Oregon; Jack Campbell, senior, Iowa.
Cornerbacks — Kelee Ringo, sophomore, Georgia; Eli Ricks, junior, Alabama.
Safeties — Jordan Battle, junior, Alabama; Antonio Johnson, junior, Texas A&M.
Defensive back — Riley Moss, senior, Iowa.
Punter — Adam Korsak, senior, Rutgers.
SECOND TEAM
Offense
Quarterback – C.J. Stroud, junior, Ohio State.
Running backs — Braelon Allen, sophomore, Wisconsin; Sean Tucker, junior, Syracuse.
Tackles — Connor Galvin, senior, Baylor; Dawand Jones, senior, Ohio State.
Guards — O’Cyrus Torrence, senior, Florida; Emil Ekiyor, senior, Alabama.
Center — John Michael Schmitz, sixth-year, Minnesota.
Tight end — Michael Mayer, junior, Notre Dame.
Wide receivers — Xavier Worthy, sophomore, Texas; Josh Downs, junior, North Carolina; A.T. Perry, senior, Wake Forest.
All-purpose player — Jahmyr Gibbs, junior, Alabama
Kicker — Harrison Mevis, junior, Missouri
Defense
Edge rushers — Myles Murphy, junior, Clemson; Nolan Smith, senior, Georgia.
Linemen — Calijah Kancey, junior, Pittsburgh; Siaki Ika, junior, Baylor.
Linebackers — Nick Herbig, junior, Wisconsin; Andre Carter II, senior, Army; Edefuan Ulofoshio, senior, Washington.
Cornerbacks — Cam Smith, junior, South Carolina; Clark Phillips III, junior, Utah.
Safeties — Brandon Joseph, junior, Notre Dame; Jalen Catalon, junior, Arkansas.
Defensive back — Jammie Robinson, senior, Florida State.
Punter — Kyle Ostendorp, junior, Arizona.
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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| 2022-09-21T15:41:49Z
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Larson has just two wins this season and both came at the expense of teammate Chase Elliott.
The relationship between NASCAR’s last two Cup champions seemed precarious Sunday night at Watkins Glen International as Larson celebrated in victory lane while Elliott sought out team leadership for what appeared to be an animated conversation.
The 2020 Cup champion and NASCAR’s most popular driver had just clinched the regular-season title, but Elliott had dominated the race and might have picked up his fifth win of the year had Larson not muscled his way past his teammate on the final restart.
Larson forced Elliott to miss the corner and slide back into traffic, all while Larson skirted away to his first victory since February at Fontana. He ran Elliott into the wall to win that race.
“I am not proud of it,” Larson said upon climbing from his car Sunday. “I don’t like to do that. But in that moment, that was my only shot to win. I haven’t won a lot this year. I felt like I did what I had to do to benefit our playoffs.”
Elliott, meanwhile, was locked into a conversation with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and vice chairman Jeff Gordon. Elliott appeared to do most of the talking, and after he walked away, he had little to offer in interviews about the finish of the race or his regular-season title.
“Just a huge congratulations to Kyle and everybody on the 5 team. Congratulations to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for getting another win,” was Elliott’s first response.
Larson said he expected a conversation between the two at the Hendrick competition meeting. What would Elliott have to say?
“Congratulations. He did a great job. Seriously, they deserve it,” Elliott said. “Looking forward to going to Bristol next week and trying to get one for our team.”
And what about Rick Hendrick, did he offer any words of consolation as one of his drivers celebrated and the other stewed? Elliott refused to bite.
“Like I said, always good to see HMS win,” Elliott said. “The boss deserves all the wins, all the great things that go on with this company. Proud of that. Looking forward to next week.”
Elliott on multiple references looked ahead to Bristol — apparently so angry in the moment that he forgot the regular-season finale Saturday night is at Daytona International Speedway. The Cup Series doesn’t race at Bristol until Sept. 17 in the first-round playoff elimination race.
It’s unlikely the Hendrick camp will allow this feud to fester for an entire month and get to Bristol, where deliberate revenge could knock someone to an early exit from the playoffs. But it has been difficult for Elliott and Larson to build much of a relationship since Larson joined the four-car Hendrick fleet in 2021.
NASCAR and HMS were still operating within COVID-19 protocols and face-to-face interactions were limited when Larson first joined the team. It wasn’t until midway through the season that the two spent any meaningful time together, and by that point Larson had already established himself as NASCAR’s top driver.
He was the new driver at HMS and teammates with the reigning Cup champion, but Larson outperformed Elliott and won 10 races en route to his own first Cup title. If there were hard feelings, it didn’t show until February of this year at Fontana when Elliott was clearly aggravated at how Larson raced him for the win.
Just like Sunday at Watkins Glen, Larson was instantly apologetic and sought out Elliott the next week to clear the air. He anticipated putting this latest kerfuffle to quick rest, but the playoffs start in a week with a Cup title on the line and two drivers have carved out their own personal inner-team rivalry that could stretch the next two-plus months.
Hendrick is unlikely to let it fester — don’t forget, HMS actually has all four of its drivers in the 16-driver playoff field — and the boss has long preached that ships are typically sunk from within. He’ll do his best this week to have Elliott calmed down before he gets to Daytona this weekend.
Whether that helps Larson the rest of the season remains to be seen.
“In my position you have to expect not getting any breaks cut my way,” Larson said. “I think and I hope it will be fine, but we’ll see. I didn’t end his day, but I did probably take a win from him. The next 11 weeks, 10 weeks in the playoffs, there’s more than just me to worry about.
“I definitely know there may be moments throughout the playoffs where I feel like we’re around each other a lot because we’re pretty equal on track and stuff. Yeah, there may be moments. In my position, you kind of have to accept it.”
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T15:41:57Z
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ASHDOWN, Ark (KMSS/KTAL) – First year Ashdown Offensive Coordinator La’Darius McElroy believes everything happens for a reason.
A former standout player for the Panthers, McElroy’s first opportunity at the professional level came on a fifty yard field, for the Indoor Football League’s San Diego Strike Force.
“I ended up pulling both of my groins so I got sent home due to injury but then COVID hit anyway and the season got shut down,” said McElroy. “Then come to find out I had a little girl on the way.”
As the sports world took a pause, the former Panther’s coaching career hit play.
“He wasn’t interested. I had to talk him into it,” said Ashdown Head Coach Matt Richardson. “I knew he’d be amazing with the kids and I knew his knowledge of the game was there and we’re not ever worried about that “
“I’m able to coach my two younger cousins,” said McElroy. “Like I said, everything happens for a reason.”
After two years on the Ashdown coaching staff, helping the Panthers reach the playoffs in both seasons, McElroy’s mantra has paid off.
The player turned coach is turning back to player, signing with the USFL’s Michigan Panthers.
“First thing I told him was that’s the league Reggie White started in! Those are the kind of guys we’re talking about were in the USFL,” said Richardson when asked his reaction of finding out his OC would be playing professionally.
“I can’t wait to get in. Can’t wait to see what I’ve got left,” said McElroy, who’s last football game came four years ago. “I know I’ve still got a lot left.”
The league played it’s entire 2022 schedule in Birmingham, Alabama. Coach Richardson says “If they stay in Birmingham, there’ll be a bus full of kids driven to Birmingham to watch a football game.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:19Z
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CHICAGO (AP) — Loyola University’s Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt got some Chicago hardware with her name on it for her 103rd birthday.
School, city and state leaders celebrated Sunday with the Catholic nun who became something of a folk hero as chaplain for the Loyola men’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 2018.
A highlight was the renaming in her honor of the Chicago train station plaza at the Loyola campus. Students and visitors will pass by a large sign marking it as “Home of the World Famous Sister Jean!”
Loyola officials praised Sister Jean, who was dressed in school colors of maroon and gold, as a mentor to generations of students.
When asked what she’s looking forward to in the upcoming school year, Sister Jean’s answer was simple: “Just being with the students. I just love being at Loyola.”
She called the plaza dedication “very special” and gave her secrets to longevity: “I eat well. I pray well — I hope I pray well — and I sleep well.”
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:27Z
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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Finally, there are signs of life at Manchester United.
Against a backdrop of protests against the club’s ownership, United delivered a performance of intensity and spirit to beat fierce rival Liverpool 2-1 on Monday and claim its first points in the Premier League this season.
Composed finishes by Jadon Sancho in the 16th minute and Marcus Rashford in the 53rd earned a victory at Old Trafford that will bring some respite for under-pressure manager Erik ten Hag, who made a huge statement in his team selection by dropping star striker Cristiano Ronaldo and club captain Harry Maguire and was validated.
“I wanted a different attitude and that is what I saw them bring on the pitch,” said Ten Hag, who has started his tenure at United amid something of a crisis at England’s biggest club. “But it’s only the start.”
Suddenly, the heat is on Liverpool — widely expected to be a title contender again this season — with Jürgen Klopp’s team still waiting for a win after three games and now languishing behind United in the standings on just two points.
Mohamed Salah scored an 81st-minute consolation but it was another below-par display from Liverpool after draws with Fulham and Crystal Palace, even if this was a first league loss in 2022.
“In the warm-up, it was the quietest I have heard this stadium and they wanted something to lift them,” Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson said. “And we gave them it.”
What is historically the biggest game in English soccer was preceded by a pre-match protest by thousands of United fans angry at the direction and state of the club under its owners of 17 years, the Glazer family.
The supporters called for the U.S-based Glazers to sell the club as they walked to Old Trafford then gathered on the concourse outside the storied stadium, in front of a large police presence. Many lingered as the match began.
The pressure was on United after losses to Brighton (2-1) and Brentford (4-0) to open the season, and the players fed off a frenzied atmosphere that seemed to affect Liverpool early on.
“The start of the game was exactly what everyone expected, what United fans expected. They were after us,” Klopp said. “They started slightly more aggressive than us.”
Lisandro Martinez, an offseason signing at center back who has come under enormous criticism in recent days, was particularly impressive and set the tone by clattering into Salah in the first minute, then barging into the Liverpool forward after getting up off the ground. Later in the first half, Raphael Varane, who replaced Maguire, virtually rugby-tackled Luis Diaz to the ground, to roars of approval from United’s fans even if it earned him a booking.
Sancho’s goal came in United’s best spell of the game, the winger showing great composure to trick James Milner by feigning to shoot, cut back inside and place a shot into the corner as Virgil van Dijk bizarrely stood motionless in front of him. It was the seventh straight Premier League match that Liverpool had fallen behind.
The stadium erupted again when Anthony Martial, a halftime substitute, played through Rashford and the striker sprinted toward the area before placing a calm finish inside the near post.
United had to defend stoutly at times but hung on to end an eight-match winless run against Liverpool and a losing streak of four matches in the league stretching back to the end of last season.
It’s down to United to string a run of similar battling performances together, starting at Southampton next weekend. Ten Hag will have Casemiro, whose $60 million signing from Real Madrid was completed Monday, available for that game and the Brazil midfielder was presented on the field before kickoff.
With more signings potentially arriving before the end of the transfer window, things might be looking up for the record 20-time English champions.
“We just have to produce like today in every single game,” Sancho said.
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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:35Z
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Facing ‘potential crisis,’ Cook County recruits veterans to serve as election judges: ‘We need you’
COOK COUNTY, Ill. - Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough on Tuesday issued a clarion call for military veterans to step back into service as poll workers this election year, as the region faces a "critical shortage" of the election judges they need to make the ballot-casting process run efficiently.
With seven weeks to go before Election Day, Yarbrough said her office has about 4,350 people lined up to work at suburban polling places on Nov. 8, but she needs at least 7,000 "to adequately cover" all of them.
That "potential crisis" is why the county is urging veterans to "step up one more time for democracy, because that’s what’s on the ballot," Yarbrough said at her Loop office.
"Rather than saying, ‘We want you,’ like they did for the military, we’re saying, ‘We need you,’" Yarbrough said. "Our veterans, they’re a trusted and committed group of men and women who have already displayed the courage to serve this country in difficult times. They have the skills, the discipline and the pride to serve and to help restore a level of confidence in our electoral system.
"And they can even make some cash in the process," she added.
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Cook County’s roster of election judges has dipped about 40% over the past eight years, according to Yarbrough’s office, from 7,530 in 2014 to 4,500 in the primary earlier this summer.
Election authorities across the U.S. have reported a steep decline in the number of available poll workers over the past few cycles. Yarbrough’s call to action follows the national "Vet the Vote" campaign, launched earlier this summer, that seeks to recruit 100,000 veterans and military family members to help staff polling places nationwide.
More than 130,000 poll workers have dropped out across the country since 2018, according to Vet the Vote, which says about two-thirds of election authorities that year reported trouble finding enough workers.
Experts have said it’s partly due to the overall worker shortage seen in industries across the board throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention the fact that most election workers are 61 or older — and thus more susceptible to severe cases of the coronavirus.
Yarbrough pointed to retirement as a factor behind Cook County’s attrition rate, with the average election judge in the Chicago area being between 65 and 70 years old.
But authorities in other states have also reported the poll worker pool has been drained amid increased political polarization and hostility toward election workers, fueled by lies of 2020 election-rigging spread by former President Donald Trump and some of his supporters. Officials haven’t found any legitimate evidence of widespread voter fraud anywhere in the nation.
Yarbrough said that type of extreme vitriol generally hasn’t been directed at Cook County poll workers beyond the usual Election Day complaints.
But officials warned that understaffed polling places will lead to overworked election judges and possibly longer lines.
"If there’s one person in a precinct, we’re putting a heavy weight of democracy on their shoulders," said Ed Michalowski, the county’s deputy clerk of elections.
Workers are especially needed in the north and northwest suburbs, Yarbrough said.
Election judges make $200 for the day, and polling place technicians make $365.
To apply, visit cookcountyclerk.com/work.
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:41Z
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Marcus Mariota is feeling — and playing — like a starter again.
After leading Atlanta to scores on two of his three drives in the Falcons’ 24-16 loss against mostly New York Jets backups Monday night, Mariota appears to have strengthened his hold on the quarterback job.
“The last couple years were a good reset for me, but I’m excited about the opportunity, excited about this team,” said Mariota, who was a backup the last two years in Las Vegas and hasn’t started a regular-season game since 2019 with Tennessee.
Mariota was 6 of 10 for 132 yards and a touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus before giving way to rookie Desmond Ridder with a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.
“I’m pleased with Marcus,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “Looked like he got into a good rhythm.”
Ridder, a third-round pick out of Cincinnati, wasn’t too shabby, either, going 10 of 13 for 143 yards and leading the Falcons to two field goals during his three series that were marred by penalties.
“He’s young, spunky and he’s showing flashes out here today,” said tight end Kyle Pitts, one of only a few projected Falcons starters who played.
Pitts made his presence felt quickly with a 52-yard reception on Atlanta’s second play from scrimmage. He got wide open on Bryce Hall, who’s competing with rookie Sauce Gardner for a starting job at cornerback, to put the Falcons at the Jets 9.
“Well, you know, it makes it easy when you’ve got a guy like Kyle,” Mariota said. “But yeah, we felt good about the player, felt good about the look and hats off to Kyle for executing it.”
The drive stalled, though, and the Falcons had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo. But Mariota led Atlanta into the end zone on the next possession. He hit a wide-open Anthony Firkser for a 39-yard gain to get to the Jets 14, and then found Zaccheaus for a 13-yard TD two plays later.
The Jets sat most of their projected starters, including quarterback Joe Flacco — who took over as New York’s QB1 in place of the injured Zach Wilson. Coach Robert Saleh said after the game the Jets will treat this week as a “dress rehearsal” for the regular season and the starters are expected to play Sunday against the Giants.
Wilson is out a few weeks as he recovers from a bone bruise and surgically repaired torn meniscus in his right knee, with his availability for the season opener against Baltimore on Sept. 11 uncertain. It would be Flacco under center if Wilson can’t go, but Mike White got the start against the Falcons and was mostly ineffective with the backups.
White went 12 of 17 for 90 yards, and the offense punted on each of his first four series before Greg Zuerlein’s 44-yard field goal ended the first half with the Jets trailing 16-3.
“It was one of those preseason games where you couldn’t get into a rhythm,” White said.
COMEBACK CHRIS
Fourth-stringer Chris Streveler, who hadn’t thrown a pass in team drills before leading the Jets to two touchdowns in the preseason opener at Philadelphia, was at it again against Atlanta.
The former CFL quarterback, who had previous NFL stints with Arizona, Baltimore and Miami, replaced White in the third quarter and engineered TD drives in his first two series.
First came a 34-yard TD pass to Lawrence Cager, then an eight-play drive that was capped by La’Mical Perine’s 7-yard run that gave the Jets a 17-16 lead 11 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Streveler finished 8 of 11 for 119 yards and the TD, and was intercepted by Teez Tabor. He also led the Jets with 33 yards rushing on six carries.
SCOOP AND SCORE
Jets defensive lineman Bradlee Anae, competing for a roster spot on a deep unit, made his case to stick around. He sacked Franks, causing him to fumble, and then picked up the ball and rumbled 30 yards into the end zone for a touchdown in the rain that gave New York a 24-16 lead.
SLOPPY
Ridder led the Falcons to the Jets 1 in his first series, but a false start penalty on offensive lineman Jalen Mayfield on fourth down had Atlanta opt instead for a 23-yard field goal by Koo.
The next drive featured five more penalties — four on the Falcons, with one declined — and Atlanta settled for a 30-yard field goal.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined,” Smith said. “We’ve got to operate cleaner. We’ve got to finish those drives in the red zone.”
Atlanta finished with 13 penalties for 121 yards. New York wasn’t much better: The Jets were penalized 11 times for 104 yards.
“It was sloppy on both sides,” Saleh said.
INJURIES
Jets WR Tarik Black was being evaluated for a concussion. … Jets WR Irvin Charles left with a rib injury in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
Falcons: Wrap up their preseason schedule by hosting Jacksonville on Saturday.
Jets: Host the Giants on Sunday in their annual preseason showdown.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:42Z
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NEW YORK (AP) — Banker-turned-reliever Nate Fisher found out the hard way Monday that baseball really is a numbers game.
A day after a sparkling major league debut that brightened the sports world, Fisher was cut by the New York Mets.
The NL East leaders made the move heading into the two-game Subway Series against the New York Yankees. In fact, Fisher actually was in the Mets’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium two hours before game time, then was designated for assignment.
Now completely off the 40-man roster, Fisher could be traded or placed on waivers during a seven-day period. If unclaimed, he could be assigned outright back to the minors with the Mets.
Going into these matchups against the Yankees, the 26-year-old lefty likely wouldn’t have been able to pitch after throwing three scoreless innings Sunday against Philadelphia. And with the Mets needing fresh arms, he was let go.
“I think these guys kind of know where we are,” manager Buck Showalter said after a 4-2 loss to the Yankees. “They understand what’s going on as far as trying to keep our bullpen through a really hard, long stretch with Atlanta, four in Philadelphia before and trying to get through here.”
“So they understand, but it’s still kind of tough to have those conversations,” he said.
The move came while many were still reveling in the sheer improbability of Fisher’s path.
After once giving up his hopes of a baseball career and moving into the financial world with a job in Nebraska, he dazzled in his debut.
Fisher allowed just one hit against the Phillies, giving the Mets a chance to rally in a game they eventually won 10-9.
From determining whether to approve commercial loans at the First National Bank of Omaha in June 2021 to pitching in a pennant race at Citizens Bank Park in 2022.
“It’s pretty surreal right now,” Fisher said after the game. “I’m so thankful and so blessed for the opportunity. It hasn’t even sunk in yet.”
Fisher gave up one hit, walked two and struck out one. His outing spanned a 46-minute rain delay, making his work even more valuable.
When he was introduced and made his way to the mound to begin the fifth inning, the fans weren’t the only ones wondering about this newcomer.
“I didn’t even know who this guy was when he came into the game today,” said Mark Canha, who hit two home runs in the win.
Fisher wasn’t drafted out of the University of Nebraska, then pitched 12 games at Single-A for the Seattle Mariners organization in 2019.
In the wake of COVID-19 uncertainty, Fisher left baseball and joined a former coach in the banking world in 2020 in his hometown. He re-signed with the Mariners last summer and reached Triple-A.
This year in the Mets system, Fisher was 0-1 with a 3.77 ERA in 12 games at Double-A Binghamton and 1-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 12 games at Triple-A Syracuse before his call-up prior to Sunday’s game.
And hours later, he was on the mound.
“This is my dream,” he said after that outing — for now, his only big league appearance.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:50Z
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Teen charged in killing of 18-year-old, armed robbery of two others
CHICAGO - A 16-year-old boy was charged with first degree murder and armed robbery in connection to incidents that happened in late July and early August.
The teen was arrested on Tuesday in the 5500 block of West Grand Avenue by Chicago police and Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Police say the suspect was identified as the second offender in a fatal shooting of an 18-year-old on Aug. 1 in Galewood.
The teen also faces charges connected to an armed robbery of two men, ages 48 and 53, on July 28 in the 6900 block of West Shakespeare, also in Galewood.
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No further information is available at this time.
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| 2022-09-21T15:42:59Z
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CHICAGO (AP) — Albert Pujols reached out and drove Drew Smyly’s high fastball through the night sky at Wrigley Field.
Just like that, it was over. Put Smyly on Pujols’ list.
Pujols hit career homer No. 693, Jordan Montgomery pitched a one-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Monday for their season-high eighth straight victory.
Pujols led off the seventh with a drive to left-center for his seventh homer in his last 10 games and No. 14 overall in his final big league season. There was a noticeable round of cheers from the crowd of 29,719 as the three-time NL MVP rounded the bases on his second hit of the night.
“I think at the end of the day you know you have to trust your work, and that’s something that I do,” the 42-year-old Pujols said. “I come out here, no matter where I’m playing, and continue to do my work for 22 years.”
Pujols matched Barry Bonds’ major league record by homering off his 449th different pitcher. It was Pujols’ 940th multihit game, snapping a tie with Paul Waner for 10th on the career list.
Smyly (5-7) called it a tough way to lose, given the pitch was way out of the strike zone.
“I was thinking just change his eye level and like, you know, don’t let him hit it obviously was my thought,” Smyly said.
“But he’s ‘The Machine’ for a reason. He’s back.”
That one run was all Montgomery (7-3) needed. The left-hander struck out seven and walked none in his first career complete game, improving to 4-0 with a sparkling 0.35 ERA in four starts since he was acquired in an Aug. 2 trade with the New York Yankees.
“Every bullpen I’m working on something and then when I get to take the ball, I’m competing and just trying to make pitches,” he said.
Rookie Christopher Morel doubled with two out in the third for Chicago’s only hit. Morel hustled into third when shortstop Paul DeJong mishandled the relay from left fielder Tyler O’Neill. But Montgomery retired Nick Madrigal on a grounder to DeJong, ending the inning.
Montgomery threw 99 pitches for the NL Central leaders in the opener of a five-game series, 65 for strikes.
“That’s a pretty special outing,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
Chicago wasted a sharp performance by Smyly (5-7) in its second straight loss after a five-game win streak. The lefty allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in seven innings.
“He’s throwing the ball really well for us,” manager David Ross said. “That was a really impressive night from both starters, obviously.”
WORTH NOTING
Yadier Molina went 0 for 3 for St. Louis after missing the previous two games so he could be with his basketball team in Puerto Rico for the end of its championship run. The 40-year-old Molina owns the Vaqueros de Bayamón, who beat San Germán 75-61 on Saturday to clinch their 16th Baloncesto Superior Nacional title.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: LHP Steven Matz (left MCL tear) is slated to throw another side session on Wednesday. … Marmol said he got a positive report on Jack Flaherty’s third rehab start on Sunday. Flaherty, who is coming back from a strained right shoulder, threw four innings of one-run ball for Double-A Springfield. Flaherty will make another rehab start with Triple-A Memphis on Friday, going up to about 80 pitches. “Once we go through that, we’ll sit down … and figure out what’s next,” Marmol said.
Cubs: 3B Patrick Wisdom (injured ring finger on this left hand) was out of the staring lineup, but manager David Ross said he was available off the bench. … RHP Kyle Hendricks will not return this season. Hendricks is recovering from a capsular tear in his shoulder. … RHP Adbert Alzolay (right shoulder strain) was slated to begin a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Monday night.
UP NEXT
The teams play a split doubleheader Tuesday. Adam Wainwright (9-8, 3.11 ERA) starts the opener for St. Louis, and Jake Woodford (2-0, 2.66 ERA) takes the mound for the second game. Javier Assad makes his major league debut for Chicago in Game 1, and Adrian Sampson (1-3, 3.51 ERA) gets the ball for the nightcap.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T15:43:05Z
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The Minnesota Vikings have acquired backup quarterback Nick Mullens from the Las Vegas Raiders for a conditional 2024 seventh-round draft pick.
The Vikings announced the deal Monday and said it will be finalized as soon as Mullens passes a physical. The Raiders will get the 2024 pick only if Mullens is on the active roster for at least one game this season.
Mullens will compete with second-year player Kellen Mond and veteran Sean Mannion to be the No. 2 quarterback behind Kirk Cousins.
Mond and Mannion have split time this preseason with Cousins sitting out. Mond, the team’s third-round pick in 2021, threw two TD passes in the Vikings’ exhibition opener against Las Vegas but had two interceptions on Saturday night against San Francisco.
Mannion, who has thrown 110 passes in seven seasons as a backup in the NFL, also struggled to move the ball against the 49ers.
Mullens has appeared in 20 career games with 17 starts with San Francisco and Cleveland since entering the league as an undrafted free agent with the Niners in 2017.
He has completed 64.6% of his passes, averaging 267.8 yards passing in his starts, with 26 TDs, 22 interceptions and an 87.3 passer rating. He went 20 for 30 for 147 yards and a TD in his only appearance last season for the Browns.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows Mullens well, having spent time with him during his tenures in both San Francisco and Cleveland.
Mullens was 21 for 29 for 205 yards and a TD in three exhibition games for the Raiders this summer.
The trade by Las Vegas clears the way for Jarrett Stidham to be the backup behind Derek Carr. Stidham had started all three preseason games, going 25 for 40 for 244 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for two scores.
Stidham has thrown 48 passes in three seasons as a backup in New England before following coach Josh McDaniels to Las Vegas this offseason.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T15:43:13Z
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, ending what has been described as an 11-day, prearranged break from training camp for personal reasons.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion didn’t address the media after practicing. Teammates and coach Todd Bowles said the 45-year-old quarterback was sharp throwing the ball and essentially took up where he left off when he left the team on Aug. 11.
“If anybody can get away with the 11-day break during training camp, it’s Tom,” tight end Cameron Brate said. “He came back, kind of firing on all cylinders again. We’re all excited he’s back and ready to move on.”
While he was away, Brady missed two preseason games that Bowles said the quarterback would not have played in even if he were with the team.
The coach said the break had been planned since well before the start of training camp last month.
“His presence is different, just the leader he is, the type of guy he is,” linebacker Lavonte David said. “It’s great to have a guy like that back. He came back ready to take off where he left off.”
In Brady’s absence, backup Blaine Gabbert and third-stringer Kyle Trask shared most of the snaps in practice and during preseason losses to the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts. Bowles said it has not been determined if — or how much — Brady might play in Saturday night’s preseason finale at Indianapolis.
The quarterback’s return comes as the Bucs continue to deal with injuries to an offensive line facing the prospect of entering the Sept. 11 season opener with at least two new starters. Center Ryan Jensen was lost to a knee injury on the second day of camp and left guard Aaron Stinnie suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Titans last weekend.
Bowles said the biggest thing Brady missed during his time away was some conditioning.
“He’s very familiar with the offense. So him coming back in, and us getting back to work, is kind of normal,” the coach said.
“Any time you have all your guys back, you feel good,” Bowles added. “Especially after the injury bug we’ve had lately, we’re glad to have him back.”
Stinnie, who was competing for the opening on the offensive line created by the surprise retirement of Ali Marpet, and linebacker Cam Gill (foot) were placed on injured reserve Monday.
Second-year pro Robert Hainsey is the leading option to open the season at center.
With Stinnie out, rookie Luke Goedeke and second-year pro Nick Leverett will compete for the left guard job, although there’s still a possibility the team could try to find outside help.
“We like our in-home options, but there has got to be a player available for us to like to add a player,” Bowles said. “We’re not just going to sign one to sign one.”
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T15:43:21Z
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Under threat of Russian attacks in a war that stopped all soccer in Ukraine in February, a new league season starts Tuesday in Kyiv with the goal of restoring some sense of normal life.
The elegant Olympic Stadium has staged the biggest European soccer games in the past decade though none as poignant as the opening-day meeting of Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalist 1925 from Kharkiv — teams from eastern cities that are fighting for their very existence.
No fans will be allowed in the 65,000-capacity downtown stadium for the 1 p.m. local time kickoff and the players must be rushed to bomb shelters if air-raid sirens sound.
“We have rules in case of an alarm and we should go to be underground,” Shakhtar captain Taras Stepanenko said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “But I think the teams, the players will be proud of this event.”
“We are ready, we are strong and I think we will show to all the world Ukrainian life and will to win,” the national-team veteran said.
The Ukrainian Premier League returns with the blessing of the nation’s leaders and in a week heavy with meaning.
Tuesday is Ukraine’s national flag day and Wednesday — Aug. 24 — is the celebration of independence from control by Moscow that the former Soviet Union republic declared in 1991.
“I spoke with our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about how important football is to distract,” Ukraine soccer federation president Andriy Pavelko told the AP in June about the commitment to restart. “We spoke about how it would be possible that football could help us to think about the future.”
No competitive soccer has been played in Ukraine since mid-December when the league paused for a scheduled midwinter break. Games were due to resume on Feb. 25, until the Russian military invasion started one day earlier.
The 16-team league restarts without Desna Chernihiv and Mariupol, teams from cities that have suffered brutal destruction.
All games will be played in and around Kyiv and further west and will be shown domestically, abroad and on YouTube in a deal with broadcaster Setanta agreed last week. The total value of $16.2 million over three years is less than some elite English Premier League players will earn this season.
The concept of home-field advantage may have gone for most teams though simply playing on Ukrainian soil — other games Tuesday are in Kyiv, Uzhhorod and Kovalivka — is remarkable.
Ukrainian clubs fulfilling their games in UEFA’s European competitions in recent weeks played in neighboring Poland and Slovakia, or Sweden, to ensure the safety of opponents like Benfica and Fenerbahçe.
Shakhtar, which was top of the domestic standings when last season was formally abandoned, will host opponents at Legia Warsaw’s stadium when the Champions League group stage starts Sept. 6. The groups are drawn Thursday.
Just 10 months ago, Stepanenko and Shakhtar faced eventual title winner Real Madrid in a Champions League game at the Olympic Stadium — the same field where the storied Spanish team won the final in 2018.
Last season, Shakhtar could field the core of Brazilian players it became famous for, funded by billionaire businessman Rinat Akhmetov who also owns the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
Those star players have now left Ukraine and Shakhtar will rely more on young, homegrown talent, just like its traditional rival Dynamo Kyiv, which starts Sunday against Dnipro-1.
“Of course, it’s a new team,” Stepanenko acknowledged, adding: “We feel confident because we play for our country and for our people.”
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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T15:43:28Z
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Gov. Asa Hutchinson held a briefing Monday to discuss efforts the state is taking to reduce crime.
Hutchinson started by addressing efforts the state is taking as crime continues throughout the state. He talked about the Intensive Supervision Program. The program is for individuals who have been released from prison on parole looking to get a second start in life.
Hutchinson added that he set aside $75 million prison expansion in the state to relieve the pressure on the local and county jails. From January to August, Hutchinson said that there has been a 30% reduction in the county jail backup.
He also noted that the state court system was backed up due to COVID-19. The state has set aside $1 million of reserve funds for prosecutor’s offices and public defenders to help move cases forward. The funds allowed the state to hire 21 deputy prosecuting attorneys. Hutchinson said he has asked the general assembly to approved $4.5 million each for state prosecutors and public defenders.
Hutchinson said he has also asked the general assembly to allocate $3 million for an additional crisis stabilization center in south Arkansas. He explained that the centers are to provide mental health care for those released from prison.
He also addressed an incident resulting in the suspension of two deputies and a police officer in Crawford County.
“That is reprehensible conduct in which a suspect is beat in that fashion.”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on the Crawford County arrest video
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office released the names of the law enforcement officers seen in a viral arrest video appearing beat a man. The Arkansas State Police and federal authorities are currently investigating the incident.
A live stream of the briefing is available in the video player above.
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Heavy rain returned to the ArkLaTex late Sunday and Sunday night. The threat of more heavy rain will likely continue through at least Tuesday with a Flood Watch in effect for most of the area. The heaviest rain will shift to the south with rain chances then decreasing during the last half of the week.
The Flood Watch continues: More widespread showers and thunderstorms returned to the ArkLaTex Sunday evening and began a period of very heavy rain for our area. As of this writing, the heaviest rain has fallen over Northeast Texas where totals have surpassed 7” in a few spots. Most of the area has received at least 1-2 inches of rain. The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for most of the ArkLaTex that will be in effect through Tuesday.
More heavy rain: Futurecast shows that the threat of heavy rain will continue Monday night and Tuesday. It appears that the focus of the heavier downpours will shift to the south and east into parts of East Texas and Northwest Louisiana. The areas of heavy rain will likely be most widespread Monday night and will gradually become more scattered in nature Tuesday. While rain will continue to be possible, the chance of rain will continue to gradually decrease through the rest of the week.
How much more rain? We will likely see big variations in rainfall amounts that will be reported in the next few days. The vast majority of the area will receive at least 1-3” of rain, but we will have pockets that could receive more than 6” of additional rain. You can see the locations that could see the heaviest rain as indicated by Futurecast. In situations like this with big differences in rainfall potential, it’s important not to take model forecasts too literally. The key word in these outlooks is potential. In other words, it’s looking likely that we will see 6 or more additional inches of rain somewhere in the ArkLaTex. As of right now, it appears that the heaviest additional rainfall will likely fall over the southern half of the area mainly near and south of Interstate 20.
Long-range outlook: We will continue to see the chance of rain in the ArkLaTex into next week. The rain will likely be much more isolated late this week and then increase once again by the beginning of next week. With all of this rain in the forecast, daytime temperatures will stay well below normal for this time of year. Highs later this week will warm back into the mid to upper 80s with 90 degrees possible in spots. We will likely stay in that range through most of next week. Overnight lows in the next ten days will likely stay close to normal in the low to middle 70s. Enjoy the big break from the heat!
As the heavy rain continues into the night, local law enforcement is standing by, ready to respond to any weather related emergencies. Officials say the rain in Natchitoches will last from 10:00 p.m. Monday to 1:00 p.m. Tuesday. If it rains six to eight inches, deputies say I-49 and Hwy 6W will be one of the first places to flood. Louisiana 3191 is also an area likely to flood overnight. Police ask the public to drive safely and turn around if they see a flooded area of the road.
Get daily forecasts and exclusive severe weather details on storms as they approach your area by downloading the Arklatex Weather Authority app now available in the App Store and Google Play
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Leon Vitali, the “Barry Lyndon” actor who became one of Stanley Kubrick’s closest associates, has died. He was 74.
Vitali died Friday in Los Angeles, his family told The Associated Press Sunday.
Though Vitali was often described as Kubrick’s assistant, Tony Zierra’s 2017 documentary “ Filmworker ” shed light on Vitali’s enormous and largely unsung contributions to the work of one of cinema’s greatest figures from “The Shining” through “Eyes Wide Shut.” He did everything from casting and coaching actors to overseeing restorations. Vitali even once set up a video monitor so that Kubrick could keep an eye on his dying cat.
Matthew Modine, who starred in Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” tweeted his condolences Sunday.
“There are people we meet who have a profound impact upon our lives. Leon Vitali was one such person in mine,” Modine wrote. “An artist in every aspect of his life. A loving father & friend to so many. A kind, generous & forgiving nature. He exemplified & personified grace.”
Filmmaker Lee Unkrich also tweeted that he was, “Completely heartbroken to hear about the passing of Leon Vitali. He helped me (asterisk)enormously(asterisk) with my Shining book and I’m gutted that he won’t see it. He was a sweet, kind, humble, generous man and a vital part of Stanley Kubrick’s team.”
Before meeting Kubrick, Vitali was a rising actor in England, appearing in several British television shows including “Softly, Softly,” “Follyfoot,” “Z Cars” and “Notorious Woman.” Then in 1974 he got his biggest break yet, when he was cast in “Barry Lyndon” as Lord Bullingdon, the stepson of Ryan O’Neal’s title character.
Vitali was so fascinated by Kubrick and his processes that he made an unusual decision: He gave up on acting and devoted himself entirely to the famously demanding director for over two decades. His next Kubrick credit was as “personal assistant to the director” on “The Shining,” though that’s only part of the story — Vitali famously helped cast 4-year-old Danny Lloyd to play Danny Torrance and Louise and Lisa Burns as the creepy Grady twins (citing Diane Arbus as inspiration).
“I made one truly, truly radical change in my life and that was when I said, ‘I’m more interested in that’ than I was in the acting,” Vitali told the Associated Press in 2017. “That’s the biggest conscious decision I’ve ever made. There were some sacrifices, but there were gains too.”
After Kubrick’s death in 1999, Vitali oversaw restorations for many of Kubrick’s films. He received a Cinema Audio Society award for his work. He later worked with director Todd Field on his films “Little Children” and “In the Bedroom.”
Vitali died surrounded by loved ones including his three children, Masha, Max and Vera.
“Leon was a special and lovely man driven by his curiosity, who spread love and warmth wherever he went,” his children said in a statement provided by Masha Vitali. “He will be remembered with love and be hugely missed by the many people he touched.”
Before making the documentary, Zierra said that he and many Kubrick-obsessed fans knew Vitali for his performances in “Barry Lyndon” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” in which he played Red Cloak, and as a key member of Kubrick’s inner circle. But when they finally met Vitali to make the film, they were struck by “his kindness, humility and the fascinating scope of his story.”
Zierra is working on a director’s cut of “Filmworker” that will include new footage that he and Vitali wanted in the film, but couldn’t get done in time for its Cannes debut in 2017.
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This story has been updated to correct a reference to Vitali’s character in “Barry Lyndon.”
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Walmart adding 40,000 jobs ahead of holiday shopping season
Walmart is hiring 40,000 new employees — both seasonal and permanent positions — ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.
Why it matters: This is far fewer jobs than the 170,000 new positions the world’s largest retailer announced in September 2021, but Walmart told Axios that its “staffing is stronger heading into this holiday season than it was last year.”
Details: Walmart said most of the new jobs are for seasonal store associates.
- The company also plans to hire approximately 1,500 full-time, permanent truck drivers with starting pay up to $110,000 a year.
- About 2,000 will be hired for full-time and seasonal roles in “customer care and marketplace call centers.”
- Virtual call centers are located in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Phoenix, Northwest Arkansas and Draper, Utah.
- Current part-time employees can also choose to pick up additional shifts.
By the numbers: Walmart said its average U.S. wage is more than $17 an hour and that many associates earn more based on role and market.
Zoom out: As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates swiftly to crush inflation, businesses continue to hire workers at a robust pace, Axios’ Courtenay Brown reports.
- America added 315,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% as more workers entered the labor force, the government said in early September.
Flashback: In April, Walmart announced the start of a new truck driver training program and that it was driving the starting pay for new drivers up to $110,000.
- The retailer raised the average hourly pay for its store and Sam’s Club pharmacy technicians to more than $20 an hour in June amid a nationwide labor shortage of pharmacy technicians.
Walmart holiday hiring: Where to apply
What's next: Walmart said the 40,000 employees will work "in a variety of seasonal and full-time roles across our business" and that applications are being accepted on its careers website.
More from Axios:
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POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Echoing down the corridors of eastern Ukraine’s Pokrovsk Perinatal Hospital are the loud cries of tiny Veronika.
Born nearly two months prematurely weighing 1.5 kilograms (3 pounds, 4 ounces), the infant receives oxygen through a nasal tube to help her breathe while ultraviolet lamps inside an incubator treat her jaundice.
Dr. Tetiana Myroshnychenko carefully connects the tubes that allow Veronika to feed on her mother’s stored breast milk and ease her hunger.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, three hospitals in government-controlled areas of the country’s war-torn Donetsk region had facilities to care for premature babies. One was hit by a Russian airstrike and the other had to close as a result of the fighting ‒ leaving only the maternity hospital in the coal mining town of Pokrovsk still operating.
Myroshnychenko, the site’s only remaining neonatologist, now lives at the hospital. Her 3-year-old son divides the week between staying at the facility and with his father, a coal miner, at home.
The doctor explains why it’s now impossible to leave: Even when the air-raid sirens sound, the babies in the hospital’s above-ground incubation ward cannot be disconnected from their lifesaving machines.
“If I carry Veronika to the shelter, that would take five minutes. But for her, those five minutes could be critical,” Myroshnychenko says.
Hospital officials say the proportion of births occurring prematurely or with complications has roughly doubled this year compared to previous times, blaming stress and rapidly worsening living standards for taking a toll on the pregnant women still left in the area.
Russia and Moscow-backed separatists now occupy just over half the Donetsk region, which is similar in size to Sicily or Massachusetts. Pokrovsk is still in a Ukrainian government-controlled area 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of the front lines.
Inside the hospital’s maternity wards, talk of the war is discouraged.
“Everything that happens outside this building of course concerns us, but we don’t talk about it,” Myroshnychenko said. “Their main concern right now is the baby.”
Although fighting in the Dontesk region started back in 2014, when Russia-backed separatists began battling the government and taking over parts of the region, new mothers are only now being kept in the hospital for longer periods because there’s little opportunity for them to receive care once they have been discharged.
Among them is 23-year-old Inna Kyslychenko, from Pokrovsk. Rocking her 2-day-old daughter Yesenia, she was considering joining the region’s massive evacuation westward to safer areas in Ukraine when she leaves the hospital. Many essential services in government-held areas of the Donetsk region — heat, electricity, water supplies — have been damaged by Russian bombardment, leaving living conditions that are only expected to worsen as the winter grows near.
“I fear for the little lives, not only for ours, but for all the children, for all of Ukraine,” Kyslychenko said.
More than 12 million people in Ukraine have fled their homes due to the war, according to U.N. relief agencies. About half have been displaced within Ukraine and the rest have moved to other European countries.
Moving the maternity hospital out of Pokrovsk, however, is not an option.
“If the hospital was relocated, the patients would still have to remain here,” said chief physician Dr. Ivan Tsyganok, who kept working even when the town was being hit by Russian rocket fire.
“Delivering babies is not something that can be stopped or rescheduled,” he noted.
The nearest existing maternity facility is in Ukraine’s neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, a 3 1/2 hour drive along secondary roads, a journey considered too risky for women in late-term pregnancy.
Last week, 24-year-old Andrii Dobrelia and his wife Maryna, 27, reached the hospital from a nearby village. Looking anxious, they talked little as doctors carried out a series of tests and then led Maryna to the operating room for a C-section. Tsyganok and his colleagues hurriedly changed their clothes and prepared for the procedure.
Twenty minutes later, the cries of a newborn baby boy, Timur, could be heard. After an examination, Timur was taken to meet his father in an adjoining room.
Almost afraid to breathe, Andrii Dobrelia tenderly kissed Timur’s head and whispered to him. As the newborn calmed down on his father’s chest, tears came to Andrii’s eyes.
As the war reaches the six-month mark, Tsyganok and his colleagues says they have a more hopeful reason to stay.
“These children we are bringing into the world will be the future of Ukraine,” says Tsyganok. “I think their lives will be different to ours. They will live outside war.” ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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State ballot measures are becoming the new battleground over abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Abortion rights advocates are energized after voters in Kansas earlier this month rejected an attempt to strip abortion protections from the state constitution, the first statewide vote on abortion since the court’s decision in June.
Polls show most Americans support some form of abortion access, and reproductive rights advocates are eager to take the issue directly to the voters.
“When abortion rights are on the line, people stand up and vote to protect them,” said Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group.
An Ipsos poll released Aug. 10 found seven in 10 Americans, regardless of party affiliation, would support their state using a ballot measure to decide abortion rights at the state level.
In such a hypothetical state-level ballot measure, 54 percent said they would vote in favor of abortion legality.
In Kansas, nearly 60 percent voted against the constitutional amendment, stunning anti-abortion activists who had been anticipating a win in the state former President Trump carried by nearly 20 percentage points over President Biden in the 2020 election.
Next up in November are votes in Kentucky, Michigan, California, Vermont and Montana, the most abortion-related ballot initiatives ever to take place in a single year.
Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, a progressive group that helps organize ballot measures, said the increasing polarization of state and federal politics is leaving voters with no other options to get their voices heard.
“Ballot measures are not just a tool in the toolbox. I think they will be an increasingly central pathway for moving these conversations forward in states and not just in the abstract … but actually making policy,” Hall said.
Ballot measures are expensive and challenging undertakings, and Hall said they are normally a tool of last resort.
But now, she said there is a major disconnect between extreme politicians and the voters.
“That opens up a space for ballot measures to be not just an option, but often the only option, where there’s no way to get middle-ground common sense policies through the usual mechanisms of lawmaking,” Hall said.
Voters in Kentucky will vote on a measure that’s the most similar to Kansas. Vermont, California and Michigan are moving to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, while Montana would mandate medical care for children “born alive” after an abortion.
According to Nash, the anti-abortion movement had a string of successful ballot initiatives in recent years.
In 2020, Louisiana voted to amend the state constitution so there would be no guarantee of abortion protections. Alabama and West Virginia passed similar constitutional amendments in 2018, and Tennessee did so in 2014.
In contrast, this is the first time abortion rights groups have sponsored state ballot measures since 1992. According to data from Ballotpedia, 85 percent of the abortion related measures on state ballots have been proposed by anti-abortion groups.
Still, groups on both sides of the issue pointed out that there’s only so much that can be gleaned from Kansas.
In a statement after the Kansas ballot measure failed, Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director Addia Wuchner made it clear “we’re not in Kansas!”
Wuchner said the wording of the amendments is similar, but noted Kentucky’s amendment is simpler. The state also already has a near-total abortion ban in place.
“The wording of Kentucky’s Amendment 2 is very clear and concise. It is probably too soon to fully analyze the reason for the Kansas ballot outcome. The wording on the Kansas ballot was longer than our statement, and that may have been a factor,” Wuchner said.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in June to overturn Roe v. Wade is leading to a patchwork of state laws across the country, some of which are being litigated on a constantly changing basis.
“The lack of legal clarity about abortion in Michigan has already caused far too much confusion for women who deserve certainty about their health care,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in a statement Friday, after a judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the state’s 1931 abortion ban.
“Once, over the course of a single day, abortion was legal in the morning, illegal around lunch time, and legal in the evening. We cannot have this kind of whiplash about something as fundamental as a woman’s right to control her own body,” Whitmer said.
Michigan is one of the next key battleground states, where residents will vote on a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to protect the right to make choices on reproductive issues such as contraception and abortion.
Nicole Wells Stallworth, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, said the organization had been working on the ballot initiative since last fall, but the effort took on new urgency once a draft opinion leaked in May that showed the Court was going to overturn Roe.
“When the draft leaked opinion came out, we saw a surge in people and individuals coming to our campaign wanting to participate and help in some way,” Stallworth said.
The group saw a similar outpouring of support in June once Roe was officially overturned.
“I think that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has really sparked for people a desire to get involved in the process, and this opportunity in November gives them some form of hope that we can actually save access to abortion in Michigan,” Stallworth said.
Stallworth said politicians have been unable to repeal the abortion ban, so passing a ballot measure would ensure abortion protections won’t be tampered with in the future.
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TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading lower Tuesday, echoing a broad sell-off on Wall Street amid speculation about another interest rate raise from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Benchmarks in Asia slid across the region in morning trading, including Japan, China, South Korea and Australia. The latest market slide comes as investors grapple with uncertainty over when the highest inflation in decades will ease significantly, how much the Fed will have to raise interest rates in order to get it under control and how much the rate hikes will slow the economy.
Investors will be looking for insight into these unknowns later this week, when the Federal Reserve holds its annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“The downbeat mood in Wall Street is playing out in the Asia session as well, and although another round of rate cuts to benchmark lending rate in China yesterday may aid to cushion some losses, overall upside could still remain limited amid the shunning of risks,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore.
The People’s Bank of China cut a lending rate Monday, a week after it cut interest rates.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.3% in morning trading to 28,413.04. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.5% to 7,009.30. South Korea’s Kospi dipped nearly 1.0% to 2,438.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.7% to 19,520.36, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 3,267.19.
“Investors are being cautious as continuous risk-off flows have hit global markets,” said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades, noting that rising gas prices were a big risk, especially for Europe.
The S&P 500 had its biggest slide since mid-June, sliding 2.1%, nearly doubling its losses from last week, when it broke a four-week winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.9% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.5%.
Technology companies and retailers had some of the heaviest losses Monday. Smaller company stocks also lost ground, pulling the Russell 2000 index 2.1% lower.
Bond yields gained ground. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences rates on home mortgages and other loans, rose to 3.03% from 2.97% late Friday.
The broader market’s losses come on the heels of a weekslong rally. Investors are trying to figure out where the economy goes from here as stubbornly hot inflation hurts businesses and consumers. Record-high inflation also has investors focusing on central banks and their efforts to fight high prices without further damaging economic growth.
“You’ve had quite a rally and there’s reason to not be sure where we’re going from here,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. “There’s still decent potential for a recession.”
Minutes last week from the Federal Reserve’s July board meeting affirmed plans for more rate hikes despite signs of weaker economic activity. Traders worry aggressive steps to slow the economy might go too far and bring on a recession.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to give a speech on Friday morning at the central bank’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, which starts Thursday. The Fed is holding its meeting following a heavy week of company and economic data that showed inflation is still squeezing the economy, but consumer spending remains resilient.
“I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet on inflation,” Martin said. “We still don’t really know how inflation is going to pan out and what the Fed is going to do.”
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost 54 cents to $90.23 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 77 cents to $97.25 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 137.14 Japanese yen from 137.49 yen. The euro was little changed at 99 cents.
___
AP Business Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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(The Hill) — Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Sunday said the Biden administration is due to announce a decision on whether to extend a pause on federal student loan debt in the next week, butting up to an Aug. 31 deadline when the current moratorium on loan payments expires.
Cardona told NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd the announcement was forthcoming but declined to share any other details.
“We know August 31st is a date that many people are waiting to hear something from,” the secretary said. “We’ve been talking daily about this, and I can tell you the American people will hear within the next week or so.”
Last week, Cardona teased a similar announcement was coming soon. It’s not yet known if the administration is set to extend a freeze on student loan payments and interest accrual or if the Education Department will also announce a more permanent solution, such as canceling some debt per borrower.
The Biden administration has faced pressure from some Democratic lawmakers to cancel up to $50,000 in debt per borrower. The president has championed forgiving up to $10,000 in debt but no official announcement has been made on debt forgiveness.
The Education Department has already made strides to forgive student loan debt, which is estimated to be at $1.7 trillion spread across 45 million Americans.
The Biden administration has cleared $32 billion in student loan relief for more than 1.6 million borrowers, mostly from students who were defrauded or misled by schools or through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PLSF), which forgives debt for those who work in public service or other qualifying jobs.
Cardona on Sunday said the PSLF has forgiven more than $10 billion for borrowers to date under the Biden administration.
“Public Service Loan Forgiveness was broken,” he said. “We fixed it so that our teachers, our nurses, can get loan forgiveness right away.”
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(The Hill) – Russian authorities are investigating a blast in the outskirts of Moscow on Sunday that killed the daughter of a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said in a statement that Daria Dugina, a journalist and political scientist, was killed after an explosive device that was planted under her Toyota Land Cruiser went off.
Dugina was the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a political philosopher and an outspoken supporter of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dugin, who pushed a vision of Russia becoming more “powerful” and “aggressive,” has been featured on Russian state television and is described as “Putin’s brain” by many.
U.S. officials hit Dugin with sanctions in March for his support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Dugina was sanctioned for her work at a media outlet that the U.S. has said spreads disinformation.
Dugina appeared on Russian nationalist network Tsargrad as a radio commentator and news anchor.
British officials imposed sanctions on Dugina last month, calling her a prominent “contributor of disinformation in relation to Ukraine and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on various online platforms,” The New York Times noted.
Authorities said that both Dugin and his daughter were in attendance at a Russian nationalist festival called “Traditions” on Saturday before the blast.
Officials in Ukraine have denied any responsibility for the blast.
“Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with yesterday’s explosion,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a televised address on Sunday. “We are not a criminal state like the Russian Federation, much less a terrorist one.”
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(The Hill) – Former NBA star Dennis Rodman reportedly said he is traveling to Russia to help secure the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was recently sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for possessing cannabis oil cartridges.
Rodman, who previously inserted himself into US-North Korea diplomacy, told NBC News on Saturday he secured permission to travel to Russia and is “trying to go this week.”
The U.S. State Department has a do not travel advisory in effect for Russia, which also warns Americans in the country to leave immediately.
The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment on Rodman’s plans.
The Biden administration is currently negotiating the release of Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, having reportedly proposed an exchange involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Rodman, a hall-of-famer who played for several NBA teams, including time with the Chicago Bulls alongside Michael Jordan, has visited Russia before and once called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “cool guy.”
In 2014, Rodman took credit for the release of Kenneth Bae from North Korea, a nation he visited multiple times despite high tensions with the U.S. Rodman once called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a “friend.”
The former NBA player told NBC News on Saturday that he “knows Putin well” and was confident he could negotiate with the Russian leader.
Griner was arrested by Russia in February as tensions between the Russian government and the U.S. spiked over the pending invasion of Ukraine. The US has officially declared Griner as being wrongfully detained.
The WNBA star pled guilty to carrying the cannabis oil cartridges, but argued she packed them into her suitcase by mistake and had no criminal intent.
Griner has appealed the nine-year sentence a judge handed down this month.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States and South Korea began their biggest combined military training in years Monday as they heighten their defense posture against the growing North Korean nuclear threat.
The drills could draw an angry response from North Korea, which has dialed up its weapons testing activity to a record pace this year while repeatedly threatening conflicts with Seoul and Washington amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises will continue through Sept. 1 in South Korea and include field exercises involving aircraft, warships, tanks and potentially tens of thousands of troops.
While Washington and Seoul describe their exercises as defensive, North Korea portrays them as invasion rehearsals and has used them to justify its nuclear weapons and missiles development.
Ulchi Freedom Shield, which started along with a four-day South Korean civil defense training program led by government employees, will reportedly include exercises simulating joint attacks, front-line reinforcements of arms and fuel, and removals of weapons of mass destruction.
The allies will also train for drone attacks and other new developments in warfare shown during Russia’s war on Ukraine and practice joint military-civilian responses to attacks on seaports, airports and major industrial facilities such as semiconductor factories.
The United States and South Korea in past years had canceled some of their regular drills and downsized others to computer simulations to create space for the Trump administration’s diplomacy with North Korea and because of COVID-19 concerns.
Tensions have grown since the collapse of the second meeting between former President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in early 2019. The Americans then rejected North Korean demands for a major release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions in exchange for dismantling an aging nuclear complex, which would have amounted to a partial surrender of the North’s nuclear capabilities. Kim has since vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent in face of “gangster-like” U.S. pressure.
South Korea’s military has not revealed the number of South Korean and U.S. troops participating in Ulchi Freedom Shield, but has portrayed the training as a message of strength. Seoul’s Defense Ministry said last week that Ulchi Freedom Shield “normalizes” large-scale training and field exercises between the allies to help bolster their alliance and strengthen their defense posture against the evolving North Korean threat.
Before being shelved or downsized, the United States and South Korea held major joint exercises every spring and summer in South Korea.
The spring drills had included live-fire drills involving a broad range of land, air and sea assets and usually involved around 10,000 American and 200,000 Korean troops. Tens of thousands of allied troops participated in the summertime drills, which mainly consisted of computer simulations to hone joint decision-making and planning, although South Korea’s military has emphasized the revival of field training this year.
The drills follow North Korea’s dismissal last week of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “audacious” proposal of economic benefits in exchange for denuclearization steps, accusing Seoul of recycling proposals Pyongyang has long rejected.
Kim Yo Jong, the increasingly powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, described Yoon’s proposal as foolish and stressed that the North has no intentions to give away an arsenal her brother clearly sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.
She harshly criticized Yoon for continuing military exercises with the United States and also for letting South Korean civilian activists fly anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other “dirty waste” across the border by balloon.
She also ridiculed U.S.-South Korean military capabilities for monitoring the North’s missile activity, insisting that the South misread the launch site of the North’s latest missile tests on Wednesday last week, hours before Yoon used a news conference to urge Pyongyang to return to diplomacy.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement came a week after she warned of “deadly” retaliation against South Korea over a recent North Korean COVID-19 outbreak, which Pyongyang dubiously claims was caused by leaflets and other objects floated by southern activists. There are concerns that the threat portends a provocation which might include a nuclear or missile test or even border skirmishes, and that the North might try to raise tensions sometime around the allied drills.
In an interview with Associated Press Television last month, Choe Jin, deputy director of a think tank run by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said the United States and South Korea would face “unprecedented” security challenges if they don’t drop their hostile military pressure campaign against North Korea, including joint military drills.
Last week’s launches of two suspected cruise missiles extended a record pace in North Korean missile testing in 2022, which has involved more than 30 ballistic launches, including the country’s first demonstrations of intercontinental ballistic missiles in nearly five years.
North Korea’s heighted testing activity underscores its dual intent to advance its arsenal and force the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power so it can negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength, experts say.
Kim Jong Un could up the ante soon as there are indications that the North is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017, when it claimed to have developed a thermonuclear weapon to fit on its ICBMs.
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(Motor Authority) — The DeLorean has finally returned, but instead of a flux capacitor the reborn icon is battery-powered.
On Monday, the DeLorean Alpha5 broke cover in its production design ahead of the car’s formal online debut set for May 31. With gullwing doors, seating for four, and lots of LED lighting, the car features a few nods to the past while firmly planting itself in the electric era.
Not going back to the future
Like the DMC-12 of the late 1970s, the Alpha5 was penned by Italdesign. However, it’s not a throwback or typical reimagination of a cult classic, and the body is not made of stainless steel. The clean-sheet design features horizontal LED headlights and taillights, a fan-like wheel design, massive gullwing doors, gullwing outlines in the lower front grille and rear valence, a louver-like design on the rear window, and the world DeLorean on the left side of the rear bumper, but the nods to the past seem to stop there.DeLorean Alpha5
The cabin appears to be completely modern with an almost Porsche Taycan-like design. A digital gauge cluster and floating touchscreen infotainment system grab the eyes, and the climate controls are set low behind the touchscreen infotainment system. Based on photos, the four seats are upholstered in a wool-like material, possibly with some leather portions. The rear seats are full size, but they may lack much leg room, possibly making the car a 2+2 rather than a true four seater.
DeLorean Alpha5
This baby is electric
Initial specs revealed align with what DeLorean Motor Company CEO Joost DeVries told Motor Authority in March.
The Alpha5’s battery pack is larger 100 kWh and can fast charge at a rate of about 150 kw. DeLorean says the range will exceed 300 miles thanks in part to an estimated 0.23 coefficient of drag.
DeLorean hasn’t talked about the Alpha5’s motors yet, but Chief Marketing Officer Troy Beetz told MA “You could assume that with most EV sports cars, the all-wheel drive would be a must as would a flat floor battery.” We take that to mean there will be a motor up front and one in the back.
DeLorean said the Alpha5 has an estimated top speed of 155 mph, sprints from 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds, and hits 88 mph in 4.4 seconds. Any speculation that it travels back in time at that speed is purely conjecture.
Beetz told MA the new DeLorean will “be a driver’s car, bringing back the joy of driving.” De Vries followed with, “in other words, it’s not an iPad on wheels.”
DeLorean Alpha5
The original DeLorean DMC-12 was 168.0 inches long and 78.3-inches wide, with a 95.0-inch wheelbase. The Alpha5 is larger in every way, at 196.7-inches long, 80.5-inches wide, and a 90.6-inch wheelbase.
DeVries told MA the reborn DeLorean will be based on a new chassis structure with a carbon-fiber tub.
The Alpha5 will make its public debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d ‘Elegance Award ramp on Aug. 18 and appear on the Concept Lawn during Monterey Car Week on Aug. 21.
DeLorean Alpha5
More to come
DeVries told MA DeLorean can’t survive as a company with just a coupe as it’s a niche market. Other models are set to augment the Alpha5. Quietly placed on the Alpha5 microsite are the graphics for an Alpha, Alpha2, and Alpha3. Curiously absent is an Alpha4. No information on these other models has been shared or teased, but DeVries told MA these other vehicles will represent larger segments in the marketplace and each will feature its own platform.
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(The Hill) – Former President Trump could be facing mounting legal troubles as new details emerge about the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation that prompted an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump has called for the release of more information tied to the search, an effort that corresponds with bashing the agency for what he claims is a politically motivated attack.
Meanwhile, the DOJ has fought to limit how much information will come out about an ongoing investigation with Trump as its target.
Here’s what we’ve learned this week.
Trump eyed for ‘willful’ violations of the Espionage Act
Although the most highly sensitive materials underlying the Mar-a-Lago search warrant remained under seal this week, the judge presiding over the case did make one court record newly available to the public. That document, known as a criminal cover sheet, provided additional insight into the nature of the crime under investigation, according to some legal experts.
It was already known that investigators believed the materials housed at Trump’s residence were linked to a likely violation of the Espionage Act, a WWI-era statute designed to help safeguard the country’s vital national security secrets. What the criminal cover sheet revealed, after it was unsealed Thursday, is that law enforcement had probable cause to think a “willful retention of national defense information” occurred.
That new detail appeared to lend further support to the theory — one that was already widely assumed — that Trump himself is the target of the investigation.
“This aligns with what we know so far from public media reporting, as well as the minimal information we have derived from the unsealed court filings,” Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer and partner in the law office of Mark S. Zaid, told The Hill in an email.
“All indications are that the government’s argument will amount to three things: (1) Trump took the properly marked classified records with him to Florida; (2) he left them in boxes in the basement; (3) when confronted about it, he willfully held onto records despite demands from NARA and later the FBI to return them,” he added, referring to the National Archives and Records Administration, which takes custody of White House records when a president leaves office.
DOJ appears to be investigating Trump’s claims around a ‘standing order’
In a sign the Department of Justice is not content to have simply secured the return of classified materials, its investigators appear to be contacting former Trump-era officials about his claims of having declassified the contents removed from his Florida home.
According to reporting from Rolling Stone, the FBI has thus far been conducting voluntary interviews with those who could have knowledge of such an order, including former staff on the National Security Council.
Shortly after the warrant was executed, Trump claimed the documents removed from his home were “all declassified.” He later elaborated in a statement to Fox News that he had “a standing order” to declassify any documents.
“If the DOJ was really focused on recovering the classified material and was not criminally investigating the former president, they would not be calling in former NSC officials to question them about Trump’s supposed “standing order” declassifying documents,” Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, wrote on Twitter.
National security law experts who previously spoke with The Hill noted that while Trump would have broad powers as president to declassify documents, such a practice is usually done on a case-by-case basis, and also triggers notification to other agencies that hold classified information, so that they can reclassify them appropriately in their own system.
“Realistically, no one actually believes that Trump had such an order. It was not written down anywhere, doesn’t make a lot of sense (as some of his own appointees have pointed out), and was never raised by Trump’s lawyers during their communications with DOJ,” Mariotti continued.
Even if Trump did declassify documents, that isn’t a defense for the Espionage Act, one of the three statutes cited in the warrant. That law only requires mishandling national defense information to trigger a violation.
Trump wants it all released
Former President Trump and his allies have responded to the government’s desire for redactions with calls for the release of the full document.
“Pres. Trump has made his view clear that the American people should be permitted to see the unredacted affidavit related to the raid and break-in of his home. Today, magistrate Judge Reinhard rejected the DOJ’s cynical attempt to hide the whole affidavit from Americans,” Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for the former president, said Thursday.
Trump separately posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, calling for the “immediate release” of the unredacted affidavit, citing the need for transparency. He also called for Reinhart to recuse himself from the case without giving a clear reason.
The former president and his allies have attacked the credibility of the FBI and DOJ ever since the search was executed earlier this month, pointing to the handling of the Russia investigation to allege it is the latest politically biased attack on Trump.
By calling for the unredacted affidavit to be released when the government opposes such a move, Trump will likely further fuel distrust in the Department of Justice among his supporters.
DOJ is working through redactions
The Department of Justice, however, does not want its affidavit for the warrant fully released.
The department argued that the affidavit should remain under seal in its entirety, saying the information it contained laid out a “roadmap” to its ongoing investigation, “highly sensitive information about witnesses,” and “specific investigative techniques.”
But a federal magistrate judge on Thursday dismissed efforts by the DOJ to maintain the affidavit entirely under seal.
“I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed,” Judge Bruce Reinhart said in a brief order.
Reinhart said there were parts of the affidavit that “could be presumptively unsealed,” The New York Times reported.
The DOJ has until noon Thursday to submit their proposed redactions, after which Reinhart, who approved the initial warrant, will review them — meaning a redacted version of the affidavit could be released as early as next week.
What it means for Trump and 2024
Casting a cloud over the entire proceeding is the fact that Trump is likely to announce a 2024 White House bid in the coming months, though he may wait until after the midterm elections.
Trump denied in an interview last month with New York Magazine that any presidential run would be a way to insulate himself from criminal consequences as he faces investigations over election interference in Georgia, business dealings in New York, the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021, and now his handling of classified information.
And while some experts believe it’s unlikely Trump will ultimately be indicted over the documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago, the political consequences could still loom large over his desire to return to the White House.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted this week found that 54% of Republicans believe the FBI behaved irresponsibly following the Mar-a-Lago search, compared to 23% who said the agencies behaved responsibly.
Comparatively, 71% of Democrats felt law enforcement had acted responsibly, as did 50% of independent voters. It is the latter category that bears watching in determining how the search could swing Trump’s political fortunes.
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SHREVEPORT, La (KMSS/KTAL) – Every week during the 2022 season, the KTAL Sports Team will release weekly power rankings for each state in our coverage area. Here’s the preseason power rankings for our Louisiana teams entering the season.
10. Homer
2021: 1A State Champs (defeated Logansport 41-28)
After capturing their first state championship in 80 years, the Homer Pelicans are poised to make another deep run this fall. Returning is running back Eljay Curry for his senior season. The bell-cow back rushed for 1,200 yards last fall and will try and maintain that level of success in ’22. The Pelicans will have to replace dynamic Takeviuntae Kidd at quarterback, who tossed 30 touchdown passes last fall.
9. North Caddo
2021: 2A Quarterfinals (lost to Avoyelles, 46-28)
The North Caddo Titans had their greatest season in school history last fall. Advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time gave these Titans seniors their first taste of postseason success. Replacing Juvontavious Hodge at quarterback will be senior Aiden Brock. Brock’s weapons will make other team’s QBs jealous. With Nebraska wide-receiver commit Omarion Miller and three star running back KJ Black, the Titans return the skill talent to carry them to another deep postseason run.
8. Logansport
2021: 1A Runner-Ups (lost to Homer, 41-28)
The Logansport Tigers vanquished their most hated rival, Oak Grove, in the semi-finals last season, 22-14. As good a feeling as that must have been, the Tigers fell short in the 1A state championship game. After the loss, head coach Kevin Magee made sure his team watched the championship trophy presentation and remembered the feeling of being so close. This fall, the Tigers will use that feeling as fuel, returning DI wide-receiver prospect Jayven Claybrook and prolific quarterback Kham Boykins. Can the Tigers climb back to the title game and finish things off this season? “The last game left a bad taste in our mouths. There’s a lot of things that we have to clean up,” said Magee.
7. Parkway
2021: 5A Quarterfinals (lost to Acadiana, 42-14)
The surprise darling of District 1-5A last fall, the Panthers overcame a slow start in district play (1-3 in their first four district contests) to defeat district rival (and two seed Captain Shreve) in the postseason. The Panthers quarterfinal appearance solidified their postseason run as the deepest in the district last fall, and with Cpt. Shreve transfer Ashton Martin taking over for Cannon Link at QB and star running back Jaylan White returning at running back (White is just 700 yards away from owning the Panthers career rushing mark), the Panthers are out to prove last season wasn’t an accident.
6. Calvary
2021: DIV Semi-Finals (lost to OCS, 40-37)
How do you replace the 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year? The Calvary Cavaliers will have to try and answer that question this fall. With Landry Lyddy off to Louisiana Tech, it will either be Abram Wardell or Bryce Carpenter trying to fill his shoes. The Cavaliers fell to rival Ouachita Christian in the DIV semi-finals last fall, and will try to make it two state championship appearances in their last three seasons this year. With a move up to 2A, and a pre-district schedule filled with tough teams (Captain Shreve, Byrd, Logansport), the path to another title becomes more difficult. The Cavaliers are ready for the challenge.
10. Homer: The Pelicans won their first state title in over 80 years last season and bring back the pieces to do it again. 9. North Caddo’s quarterfinal run was lead by Nebraska commit Omarion Miller, who returns to Vivian for his senior season. 8. Logansport: The Tigers fought valiantly in the 1A Title game and return the QB/WR combo that led them there. 7. Parkway: Jaylan White accumulated over 1,800 total yards in 2021. With Ron’tavious Richmond gone, White may get even more touches this fall. 6. Calvary: A move to 2A comes with replacing one of the most prolific passers in state history in Landry Lyddy. Abram Wardell and Bryce Carpenter are battling to be QB1.
5. Huntington
2021: 4A Regionals (lost to Bell Chasse, 31-28)
The Raiders have come a long way under head coach Steven Dennis. As recently as 2018, the team won two games. Last fall, the Raiders won nine, and hosted a playoff game for (maybe?) the first time in school history. Gone are the likes of Demajah Riley, Kendrick Rucker and Zyion Claville to the college ranks, but returning is All-State QB Kam Evans. Evans will have to rely on new targets, but Dennis speaks highly of sophomore wide-out Kaleb Tucker. The Raiders know to advance past the second round, they’re going to have to put the finesse aside and get physical. “For us to progress in the playoffs when it’s cold and not that easy to throw the ball around the yard, we have to have a toughness and a presence and they’ve bought into that,” said Dennis.
4. Northwood
2021: 4A Quarterfinals (lost to Westgate, 34-32)
Three quarterfinals appearances in the last five years. Four 1-4A titles in five years. “It’s time to take the next step,” said head coach Austin Brown. The Northwood Falcons return a roster loaded with FBS talent. Mar’jayvious Moss (15 FBS offers) and TaDerius Collins (21 FBS offers) give the Falcons one of the most formidable defenses in the state. With quarterback Mason Welch returning for his senior season, a schedule with important rivalry games (Benton, North Desoto), and one of the best young coaches in Louisiana, Northwood will once again be one of the most exciting teams to watch this fall.
3. Captain Shreve
2021: 5A Regionals (lost to Parkway, 30-23)
Captain Shreve found a gem in quarterback in Kenyon Terrell last fall. Terrell accumulated 30 total touchdowns and close to 3,000 total offense for the Gators as Captain Shreve captured a share of the 1-5A title. Gone is long-time head coach Bryant Sepulvado. In his place, offensive coordinator Adam Kirby was gifted the keys to the kingdom. Kirby will match Terrell with Texas Tech football (and track) commit Marquez Stevenson, who’s speed gives the Gators a distinct advantage on the outside. In one of the state’s toughest districts, the Gators will miss Kendrick Law, Ckelby Givens, and Braylon Finney. Can the Gators prove last fall wasn’t a one-hit wonder? “Our team goals here is one, win a district championship and two is practice on Thanksgiving Day,” said Kirby.
2. C.E. Byrd
2021: DI Quarterfinals (lost to Brother Martin, 45-14)
19 wins. A pair of 1-5A titles. The Yellow Jackets are in the midst one of their all-time great runs over the last two years. The team hasn’t skipped a beat since Stacey Ballew took over for Mike Suggs last fall. With Devon Strickland returning (led team in rushing with 940 yards in ’21) and linebacker Brooks Brossette (led team with 106 total tackles), the pieces are in place for another Division I title run. The seniors on this team were sophomores during the 2020 DI title game appearance, and believe “we have the blue-print to do it again,” said senior QB Lake Lambert. Behind the most rabid fan-base in the city and one of the most complete coaching staffs, don’t be surprised when the Yellow Jackets are playing in December.
1. Many
2021: 2A Runner-Up (lost to Amite, 17-6)
History is on the Many Tigers’ side. Every single time they’ve lost in the state championship game, the next season they’ve won it. If history isn’t enough to convince you, let’s take a closer look at head coach Jess Curtis’ roster. Up front, there’s Joseph Cryer, a 6’4 man-child with offers from Michigan State and Kansas State, among others. He’ll be leading the way for Jeremiah James and Jamarlyn Garner in the backfield. “We’ll never hurt for talented running backs,” said Curtis. Then there’s safety duo Tackett Curtis and Tylen Singelton. Curtis is committed to USC, and Singleton will have his pick of every major FBS school when his time comes. The roster is loaded. The schedule is set (Many hosts two 5A opponents and Arch Manning at home this season). Many is poised to run 2A once again in 2022.
5. Huntington: Kam Evans returns after an All-State campaign. Several of his weapons are gone, but the Raiders talent runs deep under Steven Dennis. 4. Northwood: Mason Welch may be the most physical QB in the area, and leads a loaded Falcons roster ready to advance past the quarterfinals. 3. Cpt. Shreve: Kenyon Terrell and OC-turned HC Adam Kirby are ready to defend their share of the 1-5A title from a season ago. 2. C.E. Byrd: Lake Lambert started for the Yellow Jackets in the 2020 DI championship game and hopes to return the team to the same heights in 2022. 1. Many: With a roster stacked with DI talent, the Tigers look to continue their dominance of 2A behind S/QB Tackett Curtis, who committed to USC this summer.
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MASON COUNTY, Wash. — In late 2021, a group of volunteers turned onto Coulter Creek Road on a mission to uncover fraud and incompetence in Mason County elections.
They hit paydirt - literally an empty lot of dirt and trees with no house. Yet, four voters were registered at this Belfair property.
The vacant lot is exhibit No. 1 in the Mason County Voter Research Project’s “Voter Anomaly” report, submitted to Mason County officials this summer along with a demand for the county to investigate any “mistake or fraudulent act” in the 239 voter registration anomalies identified in their report.
“This is not acceptable. One illegal vote disenfranchises every legal voter,” the report states.
Two additional voters were registered at nearby vacant lot on Coulter Creek Road, a potential violation because voters are required to register at the address where they actually live, according to the report.
But there was a problem. The volunteers made a wrong turn. The voters in the county’s registration records do live on Coulter Creek, however, they live on the other side of the road. Their address is correctly listed in the Research Project's records, but volunteers apparently missed that the homes are on Coulter Creek Road South.
The mishap was one of several uncovered by the KING 5 Investigators as they retraced some of the steps of the Voter Research Project’s door-to-door canvassing efforts, which purportedly visited 544 addresses of selected Mason County voters.
“They need to do more research. It really didn’t seem that difficult to find us,” said Melanie, one of four voters who lives at the house on Coulter Creek Road South that Research Project volunteers misidentified as a vacant lot.
“I really think it just seems to be an error in how it was documented,” said Brian, at the house down the street, who confirmed that two registered voters live at the address.
The Research Project's canvassing efforts in several Washington counties to uncover elections fraud shows how national claims of a “stolen election” in the 2020 presidential race have trickled down to local communities.
KING 5 investigated some of Mason County Research Project's more striking claims: A dead man who voted, multiple people registered at houses where they do not live, voters improperly registered to post office boxes where they receive their ballots, and mysterious “ghost voters” who cast ballots on behalf of people who said they did not vote.
The 'deceased voter'
The report identifies a “deceased voter” who lived at a house on East Lakewood in Shelton until he “died in the summer of 2019 prior to the November 2020 General Election in which he voted.” Two neighbors contacted by KING 5 disputed that timeline and said the man moved at a later date to live with a family member in Arizona. In addition, Mason County Elections received a notice from the post office that the man moved to Arizona in 2021, well after the 2020 elections.
County elections workers routinely check federal death records to de-register deceased voters, but sometimes the death is not recorded in the federal database for several months. The neighbors said the man died after he moved to Arizona.
With all the evidence in hand, it does not appear that a ballot was cast in the name of a dead man.
The 'ghost voter'
In another case, Mary gave a chuckle when she spoke to a KING 5 crew on her doorstep who told her she had been identified as a “ghost voter” in the Research Project's report. The Shelton woman could not recall canvassers coming to her door. Records show Mary cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election, but Research Project volunteers said Mary told them she had not voted. Mary did not recall saying that and was confused by some of KING 5’s questions.
County election records show Mary did vote in the election. The county elections office said her ballot signature matched her signature on file and there is no evidence of fraud.
Sometimes the truth about voter “anomalies” could be found in the Research Project's own report.
Fewer anomalies than reported
The report stated a man who used to live at a home on East Fairchild in Shelton was still registered at that address even though “…he joined the Coast Guard two years ago and no longer lives at this address.” The Research Project is apparently unaware that The Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act allows service members and their families to remain registered at their last Washington address, and have their ballots mailed overseas. Service member’s information is kept confidential in voting records, but county records reviewed by KING 5 indicate the man’s voter registration is legal and active.
KING 5 visited more than a dozen address of supposed “voter anomalies” and mailed and messaged additional voters. Most of the voter registrations KING 5 checked were not anomalies and could be explained or verified as legitimate voters.
“I personally went through every (voter) name on that list,” said Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire, who runs the county elections office.
He said he investigated Research Project's claims that they found 239 voter anomalies among the 411 residents they spoke with.
McGuire said more than 80% of the “anomalies” in the Research Project's report were either incorrect or involved information that was already known to elections workers.
“They have identified 67 voters that I would describe as possible anomalies and not confirmed anomalies, but possible. We have 44,500 registered voters in Mason County. One is too many, but 67 is a pretty small number,” McGuire said.
The report was authored by Steve Duenkel, a first-time candidate for Mason County Auditor who garnered 49% of the vote during the August primary. He’ll face incumbent McGuire – with nearly two decades of elections experience -- in the November election.
Duenkel, a retired Boeing manager, has not responded to multiple requests from KING 5 for an interview. He is running on an “election integrity” platform and has embraced some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the “stolen” 2020 presidential election.
“There’s a lot of questions out there about our voting machines, a lot of uncertainly,” Duenkel told iFibreOne KMAS in May, long after conspiracies about Dominion Voting Systems and other machines had been debunked. Duenkel suggested returning to in-person voting and hand-counting ballots as a fix.
Some accuracies found in report
Not all the Research Project's report is inaccurate.
Volunteers reported that 12 voters are registered to post offices boxes at the Bear Creek Store in Belfair. Another eight voters are registered to PO boxes at the nearby post office.
McGuire said voters are required to provide the address where they reside and cannot substitute a PO box instead. So, those 20 voters are in violation of registration requirements.
McGuire said his office is aware of these instances, and over the last three years he has reduced PO box registrations using a new, more secure statewide voter registration system called VoteWA, which went live in 2019.
“There were more than 100 (PO box registrations) when we started this process,” McGuire said.
Still, he said he can’t cancel the remaining PO box voter registrations without additional evidence. He said the law presumes that registered voters are valid unless someone files a voter registration challenge along with a signed affidavit. No one with the Research Project has submitted such a challenge.
McGuire was asked if election deniers will use this as an example of government incompetence at rooting out voter registration fraud.
“I think it’s important to recognize that small issues don’t mean fraud,” said McGuire.
That’s what KING 5 found in the Mason County Voter Research Project's report -- mostly small issues, no conspiracies, and an elections system that is striving to deliver full and fair elections.
McGuire said he passed his findings along to the Voter Research Project, but its members didn’t seem interested in what he had to say.
“It’s troubling to see people who walk into the process uninterested in learning the truth (and they) only seem interested in proving fantasies about widespread voter fraud,” McGuire said.
This report is the first in a series called “The Fraud Crusade, which will investigate allegations of voter fraud and incompetence in western Washington.
WATCH: KING 5 Investigator reports
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NEW YORK — President Joe Biden is ready to make the case to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that Russia's “naked aggression” in Ukraine is an affront to the heart of what the international body stands for as he looks to rally allies to stand firm in backing the Ukrainian resistance.
Biden, during his time at the U.N. General Assembly, also planned to meet Wednesday with new British Prime Minister Liz Truss, announce a global food security initiative and press allies to meet an $18 billion target to replenish the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
But White House officials say the crux of the president's visit to the U.N. this year would be a full-throated condemnation of Russia as its brutal war nears the seven-month mark.
OTHER NEWS: Another big interest rate hike expected today
“He’ll offer a firm rebuke of Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and make a call to the world to continue to stand against the naked aggression that we’ve seen these past several months,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in previewing the president's address. “He will underscore the importance of strengthening the United Nations and reaffirm core tenets of its charter at a time when a permanent member of the Security Council has struck at the very heart of the charter by challenging the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
The address comes as Russian-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine have announced plans to hold Kremlin-backed referendums in days ahead on becoming part of Russia and as Moscow is losing ground in the invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial mobilization to call up 300,000 reservists and accused the West of engaging in “nuclear blackmail.”
Biden is confronting no shortage of difficult issues as leaders gather this year.
In addition to the Russian war in Ukraine, European fears that a recession could be just around the corner are heightened. Administration concerns grow by the day that time is running short to revive the Iran nuclear deal and over China's saber-rattling on Taiwan.
When he addressed last year’s General Assembly, Biden focused on broad themes of global partnership, urging world leaders to act with haste against the coronavirus, climate change and human rights abuses. And he offered assurances that his presidency marked a return of American leadership to international institutions following Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.
But one year later, global dynamics have dramatically changed.
Stewart Patrick, senior fellow and director of the Global Order and Institutions Program at the Washington think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in an analysis that Biden’s task this year is “immense” compared to his first address to the U.N. as president.
“Last year, the U.S. leader won easy plaudits as the ‘anti-Trump,’ pledging that ‘America was back,’” Patrick said. “This year demands more. The liberal, rules-based international system is reeling, battered by Russian aggression, Chinese ambitions, authoritarian assaults, a halting pandemic recovery, quickening climate change, skepticism of the U.N.’s relevance, and gnawing doubts about American staying power.”
Beyond diplomacy, the president is also doing some politicking. This year's gathering comes less than seven weeks before pivotal midterm elections in the United States. Shortly after arriving in Manhattan on Tuesday night, Biden spoke at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser for about 100 participants that raised nearly $2 million, and he's set to hold another fundraiser on Thursday before heading back to Washington.
His Wednesday address comes on the heels of Ukrainian forces retaking control of large stretches of territory near Kharkiv. But even as Ukrainian forces have racked up battlefield wins, much of Europe is feeling painful blowback from economic sanctions levied against Russia. A vast reduction in Russian oil and gas has led to a sharp jump in energy prices, skyrocketing inflation and growing risk of Europe slipping into a recession.
Biden's visit to the U.N. also comes as his administration's efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appears stalled.
The deal brokered by the Obama administration — and scrapped by Trump in 2018 — provided billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for Iran’s agreement to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to extensive international inspection.
Sullivan said no breakthrough with Iran is expected during the General Assembly but Biden would make clear in his speech that a deal can still be done "if Iran is prepared to be serious about its obligations." He added that administration officials would be consulting with fellow signatories of the 2015 deal on the sidelines of this week's meetings.
This year's U.N. gathering is back to being a full-scale, in-person event after two years of curtailed activity due to the pandemic. In 2020, the in-person gathering was canceled and leaders instead delivered prerecorded speeches; last year was a mix of in-person and prerecorded speeches. Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to host a leaders' reception on Wednesday evening.
China's President Xi Jinping opted not to attend this year's U.N. gathering, but his country's conduct and intentions will loom large during the leaders' talks.
Last month, the U.N. human rights office raised concerns about possible “crimes against humanity” in China's western region against Uyghurs and other largely Muslim ethnic groups. Beijing has vowed to suspend cooperation with the office and blasted what it described as a Western plot to undermine China’s rise.
Meanwhile, China’s government on Monday said Biden’s statement in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that American forces would defend Taiwan if Beijing tried to invade the self-ruled island was a violation of U.S. commitments on the matter, but it gave no indication of possible retaliation.
The White House said after the interview that there has been no change in U.S. policy on Taiwan, which China claims as its own. That policy says Washington wants to see Taiwan’s status resolved peacefully but doesn’t say whether U.S. forces might be sent in response to a Chinese attack.
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CHICAGO — Remember when everyone was talking about that $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot? Weeks later, two people have come forward to claim their prize — but kept their identities secret.
The Illinois Lottery said it couldn't share any information about the winners, who bought the winning ticket at a gas station in suburban Chicago. Some states allow lottery winners to stay anonymous; in Illinois, anyone who wins $250,000 or more can keep their identity under wraps.
Is this unusual?
Many lottery winners stay anonymous when given the option to avoid unwanted attention and requests for money.
We still don't know who won the largest Mega Millions prize in history, a $1.5 billion jackpot drawing in 2018, because the winner chose to remain anonymous. All that's known about that person was that they were a South Carolina resident who visited Greenville.
Winners don't need to claim their prize right away, so even lottery officials won't know a winner's identity for a while. The Mega Millions winner had a year to come forward, but Illinois lottery rules state they only had 60 days to pick whether to take the smaller cash lump sum -- which the vast majority of people choose to do.
In this case, the winner of the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot only had a few more days before that deadline hit. According to the Illinois lottery, the prize for the July 29 drawing was claimed by two individuals who had agreed to split the prize if they won. The winners opted to take the lump sum payment of $780.5 million.
Should the winner come forward?
Winners have good reasons to keep their sudden windfall quiet if they can.
One expert who has worked with past lottery winners says the winners should avoid going to the lottery office altogether, instead sending an attorney or financial adviser to preserve their anonymity — if lottery officials allow.
“There are going to be people doing everything they can to figure out who the winner is,” said trusts and estates attorney Kim Kamin to the Associated Press. “There are going to be many eyes watching.”
Some past winners have been less than lucky, being hounded for money and becoming victims of scams.
One such winner is Manuel Franco of Wisconsin, who claimed a $768 million lottery jackpot in April 2019. The then-24-year-old reportedly went into hiding due to unwanted attention.
That wasn't the end of his lottery-related troubles. Using Franco's name in messages and phone calls, scammers told recipients they had been chosen to receive money. Instead, the BBB said they phished for personal information and tricked people out of thousands of dollars.
Despite the problems encountered by the winners, lottery officials prefer to publicly identify winners to build public trust in the games -- some past drawings have been rigged.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON — The central idea behind House and Senate bills to reform an arcane federal election law is simple: Congress should not decide presidential elections.
The bills are a direct response to the Jan. 6 insurrection and former President Trump’s efforts to find a way around the Electoral Count Act, a 19th century law that governs, along with the U.S. Constitution, how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential election winners. The House is voting on its version of the legislation on Wednesday and a Senate committee will consider its bipartisan bill next week.
While the House bill is more expansive, the two bills would make similar changes, all aimed at ensuring that the popular vote from each state is protected from manipulation by bad actors or partisans who want to overturn the will of the voters.
House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a lead sponsor of the House bill, says people who wanted to overturn the 2020 election took advantage of ambiguous language “to have Congress play a role that they really aren’t supposed to play.”
Supporters in both chambers — Democrats and some Republicans — want to pass an overhaul before the start of the next Congress and ahead of the 2024 presidential campaign cycle, as Trump has signaled that he might run again. Ten GOP senators have backed the legislation, likely giving Democrats the votes they need to break a filibuster and pass their electoral bill in the 50-50 Senate.
A look at what the two bills would do:
CLARIFY THE VICE PRESIDENT’S ROLE
Lawmakers and legal experts have long said the 1887 law is vague and vulnerable to abuse, and Democrats saw Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, as a final straw. Supporters of the former president attacked the Capitol that day, echoing his false claims of widespread election fraud, interrupting the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s victory and calling for Vice President Mike Pence’s death because he wouldn’t try to block Biden from becoming president.
Both the House and Senate bills would clarify that the vice president’s role presiding over the congressional certification every Jan. 6 after a presidential election is “ministerial” and that he or she has no power to determine the results of the election — an effort to make that point emphatically in the law after Trump and some of his allies put massive pressure on Pence. He resisted those entreaties, but many lawmakers were concerned that the law wasn’t clear enough on that point.
The Senate bill states that the vice president “shall have no power to solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate or resolve disputes over the proper list of electors, the validity of electors, or the votes of electors.” The House bill has similar language and adds that the vice president “shall not order any delay in counting or preside over any period of delay in counting electoral votes.”
MORE DIFFICULT TO OBJECT
The two bills would also make it more difficult for lawmakers to object to a particular state’s electoral votes. Under current law, just one member of the Senate and one member of the House need to lodge an objection to automatically trigger votes in both chambers on whether to overturn or discard a state’s presidential election results. Both bills would significantly raise that threshold, with the House bill requiring a third of each chamber to object and the Senate bill requiring a fifth of each chamber to object.
The House bill goes even further, specifying very narrow grounds for the objections, such as if certain electors are ineligible under the law or if a state submitted too many votes.
Brookings Institution Fellow Norm Eisen, a legal expert who consulted with lawmakers writing the legislation, said the House bill puts tighter parameters around “opportunities for mischief” by lawmakers who may be taking sides.
NO FAKE ELECTORS
Both bills would ensure that there is one “single, conclusive slate of electors,” as senators put it, a response to Trump allies’ unsuccessful efforts to create alternate, illegitimate slates of Trump electors in states that Biden narrowly won in 2020.
Each state’s governor would be required to submit the electors, which are sent under a formal process to Congress and opened at the rostrum during the congressional session on Jan. 6 after every presidential election. The House and the Senate bills would also establish legal processes if any of those electors are challenged by a presidential candidate.
'CATASTROPHIC EVENTS'
The House and Senate legislation would also revise language in current law that wasn’t challenged during the 2020 election, but that lawmakers think could be vulnerable to abuse. The law now allows state legislatures to override the popular vote in their states by calling a “failed election,” but the term is not defined under the law.
The Senate bill says a state could only move its presidential election day if there are “extraordinary and catastrophic” events that necessitate that to happen. House lawmakers and legal experts like Eisen have argued that the Senate language is still too vague, and the House bill would only allow such a delay if a federal judge agrees that there has been a genuine catastrophic event affecting enough ballots.
The House bill would also limit such a move to the affected geographic area and would require the extension to last no longer than five days after Election Day.
CERTIFYING ELECTIONS
The House bill would add language to try to prohibit state or local officials from refusing to count valid votes in a presidential election or refusing to certify a legitimate election — an attempt to assuage some lawmakers' fears that the next presidential candidate will follow Trump's lead and try to pressure lower-level officials to overturn the results. Presidential candidates could go to court to force such a count.
The Senate bill has no such language.
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(The Hill) — The U.S. Secret Service did not inform Capitol Police about a threat made against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot until after the attack was underway, according to a watchdog group.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) published a report on Wednesday that included a copy of email communications the group said it had obtained between officials around the time of the Capitol riot.
In one of the emails, which was sent from the Secret Service to Capitol Police, the Secret Service said in a correspondence dated Jan. 6 at 5:55 p.m. that it was “passing notification to the US Capitol Police regarding discovery of a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
The Secret Service noted that it became aware of threatening posts made on a Parler account at least as early as Jan. 4, 2021, according to CREW. Among some of the posts the agency found, was one made on Dec. 31, 2020.
“January 6 starts #1776 all over again!! Fight for God! Fight for Your Freedom!! Fight for Your Children!! Fight for Trump!! Fight for America!! Fight for EVERYTHING… Enemies: #MSM #BarackObama #HillaryClinton #GeorgeSoros #JoeBiden #AndrewCuomo #GavinNewsom #NancyPelosi #BillDeBlasio.”
It is not immediately clear when Secret Service learned about the specific post, but the agency’s correspondence with Capitol Police indicated that the same user and its linked accounts on other social media platforms showed the user making threats elsewhere, CREW noted.
“Biden will die shortly after being elected. Patriots are gonna tear his head off. Prison is his best case scenario,” the user reportedly wrote on Parler on Jan. 2, 2021.
The email exchange adds to the controversy around how law enforcement agencies responded to the Capitol riot during which a pro-Trump mob ransacked the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying President Biden’s win.
It also comes amid increasing scrutiny over how the Secret Service has preserved their text communications following the rioting – correspondences that are being sought by the House select committee investigating the attack.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, did not appear to address the timing of the text messages in a statement to CNN but said it had an “outstanding working relationship” with other law enforcement agencies.
“While we do not comment on issues pertaining to protective intelligence, the United States Secret Service has an outstanding working relationship with all law enforcement agencies in the National Capitol Region,” he told the network.
“The Secret Service works tirelessly to share pertinent information with our law enforcement partners. In the communication where there was a reference to Speaker Pelosi, that information was provided to the US Capitol Police for their situational awareness.”
The Hill has reached out to Pelosi’s office and the Secret Service for comment.
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(The HIll) – President Biden’s approval rating ticked up 3 percentage points in the past week, according to a Politico-Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday, as Democrats scored a major legislative win with the passage of their climate, health and tax reform package.
The poll showed that 42 percent of registered voters said they approve of the job Biden is doing as president. The same poll released last week showed Biden’s approval rating was at 39 percent.
At the same time the number of registered voters who said they disapproved of his job performance dropped from 59 to 56 percent.
The latest poll is likely welcome news for Democrats less than three months ahead of November’s midterms. Presidential approval ratings are considered one indication of how the president’s party will perform in elections, though Democrats still face other headwinds.
The survey was conducted in the days after House Democrats passed a sweeping health, tax reform and climate bill with every member of the caucus voting in favor. Senate Democrats had passed the bill through reconciliation the previous week.
Biden signed the measure Tuesday.
It was a key win for the president and his party after a year of trying to pass various versions of a larger climate and social spending bill and being stymied by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) because passing the measure through reconciliation required the support of all 50 Democrats.
The surprise deal between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was a slimmed down package but it still contained some of Biden’s campaign promises and significant climate investments.
The Politico-Morning Consult poll was conducted between Aug. 12 and Aug. 14 with 2,005 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
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(NEXSTAR) – Following a sweeping move to forgive $3.9 billion in federal student loan debt for 208,000 borrowers defrauded by ITT Technical Institute earlier this week, the Biden administration has now approved $32 billion in loan forgiveness.
The loan discharge, announced Tuesday, applies to any federal student loans borrowers received to attend ITT between January 2005 to the institute’s closure in September 2016. The Department of Education had previously decided to forgive student loans for borrowers who attended ITT due to the school’s “widespread and pervasive misrepresentations related to the ability of students to get a job or transfer credits.” ITT had already been accused of lying about the “programmatic accreditation” of its associate nursing degree.
With this latest discharge, the Biden administration has approved nearly $32 billion in student loan forgiveness for over 1.6 million borrowers.
Students defrauded by their school have received the most relief. One million borrowers have received $13 billion in debt discharge under the Biden administration. This includes forgiveness for students of ITT, Corinthian Colleges, Marinello Schools of Beauty, DeVry University, Westwood College, and the Minnesota School of Business/Globe University’s criminal justice programs. If you believe your school misled you or engaged in misconduct, here’s how to file a report with the Federal Student Aid office.
Another $9.6 billion has been forgiven for roughly 175,000 borrowers who qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Commonly referred to as PSLF, this program provides loan relief for those working in public service after they’ve made a set number of payments on their qualifying loans.
A temporary waiver set to expire at the end of October has suspended some of the program’s requirements, expanding debt relief access to borrowers who may not have qualified before. As many as nine million public service workers may qualify for PSLF, a recent report found. Here’s how to determine if you qualify.
More than 425,000 borrowers have received $9 billion in student debt relief through total and permanent disability discharges, the Education Department said earlier this week. To identify eligible borrowers, officials use existing data from the Social Security Administration. Details about how to show that you qualify for a TPD loan discharge can be found here.
The federal student loan payment pause is set to expire in less than two weeks. While it is clear President Joe Biden is nearing some sort of decision on student loans, it’s not clear what that decision will entail or when he will announce it.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Tuesday that he could not outline any of President Biden’s potential plans regarding federal student loans but that “borrowers will know directly and soon from us when a decision is made.”
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