Deceased = Unangst Kurt Daniel :: So. Md. Obituary
Deceased = Unangst, Kurt Daniel :: So. Md. Obituary https://digitalalabamanews.com/deceased-unangst-kurt-daniel-so-md-obituary/
Kurt Daniel Unangst, 69, of California, MD passed away on September 22, 2022 at Hospice House of St. Mary’s, Callaway, MD.
He was born on September 21, 1953 in Sioux City, IA to Addison Franklin Unangst, Jr., and Rosemarie (Ansbach) Unangst of Hellertown, PA.
Kurt graduated from Lehigh University in 1975 and earned his Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh in 1976. He then proudly served in the U.S. Navy as a P-3 pilot and aerospace engineering duty officer from his commissioning in Pensacola, FL in July of 1977 until his retirement at the rank of Lieutenant Commander in August of 1994. His most memorable achievement during his service was graduating from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1983 with his many good friends of the storied Class 83. Over the years, he worked at Naval Air Station Patuxent River for several government contractors as a Test Pilot and Engineer. In 2006, he founded AdvantEdge, an aerospace nickel electroforming company, with his dear friends in the Pinkel family and with the proud help of his father, Addie.
He married Elizabeth “Bitsy” Hawes on July 11, 1998 in Fort Mitchell, KY. Together they enjoyed travel, local dining, sailing, skiing, flying, and, most of all, raising their two busy children. Kurt was a devoted member of Patuxent Presbyterian Church.
Kurt is survived by his wife, Bitsy, and his sons, Dan and Tim, all of California, MD; his parents, Addie and Rosemarie, of Brookfield, CT; siblings Kathy Snyder (Chris) of Hoover, AL; Lisa Unangst of Helena, AL; Todd Unangst (Angela) of Mammoth, CA; Scott Unangst of Brookfield, CT; and by many extended family members and friends.
A Memorial Service will be held at Patuxent Presbyterian Church on the morning of Saturday, November 19, 2022.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.
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Stunts & Lifts Return To Mobile County Cheer After Being Grounded For 30 Years
Stunts & Lifts Return To Mobile County Cheer After Being Grounded For 30 Years https://digitalalabamanews.com/stunts-lifts-return-to-mobile-county-cheer-after-being-grounded-for-30-years/
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – It’s safe to say — Friday night lights in Mobile County — would not be the same without cheerleaders!
“Cheerleading is a sport — whether it’s recognized or not — these girls are athletes. They train hard. They work hard. They are not here just for the spirit of the school… They’re training their bodies all the time,” explained Elizabeth Blackburn, MGM Cheerleading Coach.
The Mary G. Montgomery Viking Cheer Team — continues to work and perfect their stunts and lifts.
“At first it was very stressful. But now since we’ve kind of gotten it a little bit more — these new things we are trying out have been a lot easier and a lot more fun,” said Madelynn Stewart, MGM 10th Grade Cheerleader.
As we watch — it’s more than just cheering — they’re having to work as a unit — united with spirit. Safety always in the forefront.
“That’s the whole thing about stunting — working together and sometimes it can be a challenge learning a new one because we get tired — but after a while and we get the adrenaline rush and we get up every single time,” said Breilyn Withers, MGM 12th Grade Cheerleader.
Phasing it in — many of these cheerleaders are learning to soar for the first time. Stunting finally making a return to Mobile County Public School cheer more than 30 years after a lawsuit kept cheerleaders grounded.
“It has been challenging, but it’s also been super exciting and fun because we are getting to try all these things we’ve watched other teams do at nationals and to be able to finally get our hands on and get that experience is just been amazing,” said Abigail Pierce, MGM 12th Grade Cheerleader.
With their first cheer competition in six weeks where they will be able to stunt — they’re ready to bring it!
“In the past — for our team maybe going against teams from Hoover or Vestavia Hills – we didn’t exactly have the same playing field and our girls weren’t getting to show their fullest potential,” said Blackburn.
Proving practice makes perfect — we won’t be surprised if they bring home top honors.
Stunting is a skill the cheerleaders will need if they plan to advance to the college cheer level. Meanwhile, they tell us stunts will eventually be phased in at the middle school level as well — making it an easier transition as they advance to high school.
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Here Are Some Of The Cringiest Revelations In The Elon Musk Text Dump
Here Are Some Of The Cringiest Revelations In The Elon Musk Text Dump https://digitalalabamanews.com/here-are-some-of-the-cringiest-revelations-in-the-elon-musk-text-dump/
A new, particularly juicy document has surfaced in discovery leading up to the Elon Musk v. Twitter trial, slated to take place in a few weeks. Behold: a trove of texts between Musk and key figures at Twitter, like founder Jack Dorsey, board chair Bret Taylor and current CEO Parag Agrawal, and other casual chats with investor Jason Calacanis and even Joe Rogan.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s get down to it.
‘I kinda don’t think I should be the boss of anyone’
Elon Musk doesn’t want to be a boss. That’s a big revelation for someone who’s the CEO of more than a few companies.
In an early April conversation with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal – before their relationship soured to the point of poop emojis – Musk admitted that he doesn’t love being a leader.
“Frankly, I hate doing mgmt stuff. I kinda don’t think I should be the boss of anyone. But I love helping solve technical/product design problems,” Musk told Agrawal.
Musk and Agrawal’s relationship seemed promising at the beginning.
“Treat me like an engineer instead of a CEO,” Agrawal told Musk.
Throughout their conversations, founder and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey routinely speaks highly of Agrawal’s engineering ability. But on April 26, Dorsey, Musk and Agrawal got on a Google Hangout together to discuss the takeover. Judging by the texts, it didn’t go well.
“At least it became clear that you can’t work together. That was clarifying,” Dorsey said.
Count your blessings that you don’t need to pay Doge to tweet
Elon Musk has had some controversial ideas for Twitter, like verifying all human users and making the algorithm open source (this was Dorsey’s idea first). But perhaps his worst idea yet is to combat bot spam by making people pay dogecoin to tweet.
“I have an idea for a blockchain social media system that does both payments and short text messages/links like twitter. You have to pay a tiny amount to register your message on the chain, which will cut out the vast majority of spam and bots. There is no throat to choke, so free speech is guaranteed.”
A few days later, on April 13, Musk’s idea took greater shape.
“My Plan B is a blockchain-based version of twitter, where the ‘tweets’ are embedded in the transaction of comments,” he told Steve Davis, president of The Boring Company. “So you’d have to pay maybe 0.1 Doge per comment or repost of that comment.”
Thankfully, Musk later concluded that a blockchain-based Twitter would not be feasible at this time.
Jack Dorsey is known as ‘jack jack’ in Elon’s phone
We already knew that Dorsey was aboard the Musk takeover train. But in these texts, it seems that the two entrepreneurs do really respect each other. So much so that Dorsey earned the pet name “jack jack” in Elon’s phone. Cute!
As early as March, Dorsey and Musk were conversing over the future of Twitter.
“A new platform is needed. It can’t be a company. This is why I left,” Dorsey said. When Musk asked what Twitter should look like, jack jack replied, “I believe it must be an open source protocol, funded by a foundation of sorts that doesn’t own the protocol, only advances it. A bit like what Signal has done. It can’t have an advertising model.”
In a public comment in April, Dorsey said that “Elon is the singular solution” that he trusts. But he was just as supportive of Musk in private.
“I appreciate you. This is the right and only path. I’ll continue to do whatever it takes to make it work,” jack jack told Musk.
Gayle King: Buying Twitter is a ‘gangsta move’
Elon Musk doesn’t employ communications teams and generally does not enjoy talking to journalists. But, alas, he talks to Gayle King, co-host of CBS mornings.
“ELON! You buying twitter or offering to buy twitter Wow!” the news anchor told Musk. “Now Don’t you think we should sit down together face to face this is as the kids of today say a ‘gangsta move.’”
We are pretty sure that the kids are not saying this. But it is worth noting that Gayle King is one of very few women who Musk ever talks to over hundreds of texts.
Musk then told Gayle King that Oprah should join the Twitter board.
“Maybe Oprah would be interested in joining the Twitter board if my bid succeeds. Wisdom about humanity and knowing what is right are more important than so-called “board governance” skills, which mean pretty much nothing in my experience,” Musk said.
To be honest, we would watch an Oprah interview with Elon Musk.
Joe Lonsdale wanted to connect Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded Palantir and now runs the venture firm 8VC, also makes an appearance. Lonsdale recently made remarks blaming Black culture for racial disparities in funding and calling men who take paternity leave “losers,” for context.
“I love your ‘Twitter algorithms should be open source” tweet…” Lonsdale texted in late March. “Our public squares need to not have arbitrary sketchy censorship.”
Musk responded with “Absolutely. What we have right now is hidden corruption!”
Lonsdale dropped back by in mid-April. “Haha even Governor DeSantis just called me just now with ideas how to help you and outrages at that board and saying the public is rooting for you,” Lonsdale wrote. “Let me know if you or somebody on your side wants to chat w him.” (Musk replied with a brief and brutal “Haha cool.”)
Jason Calacanis volunteered to be Twitter CEO
Angel investor Jason Calacanis couldn’t help but slide into Musk’s texts in April when news of the offer to buy Twitter was out in the wild, joking that Musk should raise his offer to $54.21 — “the perfect counter.”
“You could easily clean up bots and spam and make the service viable for many more users — removing bots and spam is a lot less complicated than what the Tesla self driving team is doing,” Calacanis wrote. “And why should blue check marks be limited to the elite, press and celebrities? How is that democratic?”
Calacanis also swooped in the following day offering more unsolicited advice, including his suggestion to cut Twitter’s workforce by more than half to make its revenue math more favorable. “Day zero,” Calacanis wrote. “Sharpen your blades boys. 2 day a week Office requirement = 20% voluntary departures.”
He also suggested that Twitter recruit MrBeast to make original video content as well as dip a toe into more creator monetization features with video — a “huge unlock”— giving video creators 100% of ad revenue up to their first $1 million then splitting revenue.
Both Musk and Calacanis agreed that Twitter Blue is “an insane piece of shit” and its features should be razed and rethought outright. “These dipshits spent a year on Twitter Blue to give people exactly… Nothing they want!” Calacanis texted.
When Musk asked if he wanted to be a strategic advisor if the deal panned out, Calacanis swore the text equivalent of an oath to Twitter’s future owner: “Board member, advisor, whatever… you have my sword,” Calacanis wrote. “Put me in the game coach! Twitter CEO is my dream job.”
His enthusiasm appears to have gotten him into hot water with Musk soon after.
“What is going on with you marketing an SPV to randos? This is not ok,” Musk wrote in May. “Morgan Stanley and Jared [Birchall, Musk’s wealth manager/right-hand man] think you are using our friendship not in a good way.”
Calacanis defended himself by describing how the Musk/Twitter deal “captures the world’s imagination in an unimaginable way,” hence why he took it upon himself to field investment interest.
“You know I’m ride or die brother — I’d jump on a grande [sic] for you,” Calacanis said, earning himself a tapback.
Joe Rogan was stoked
“I REALLY hope you get Twitter,” Joe Rogan texted on March 23. “If you do, we should throw a hell of a party.” (Musk replied with the 100 emoji.)
Rogan also asked if Musk would “liberate Twitter from the censorship happy mob.”
“I will provide advice, which they may or may not choose to follow,” Musk said.
Riot Games President Mark Merrill thinks Elon is Batman
We quote directly with no comment:
“You are the hero Gotham needs — hell F’ing yes!”
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Weekend Predictions: Falcons Lose, Georgia Rolls https://digitalalabamanews.com/weekend-predictions-falcons-lose-georgia-rolls/
After a rough start to the season, Weekend Predictions is making steady progress. My record in picking games against the spread is only two games above break-even after five weeks, but momentum is on my side. I’ve had back-to-back winning weeks, which is better than Geoff Collins could do as Georgia Tech’s coach.
The Yellow Jackets are looking for a coach who can take them to the next level. If they want to go the unconventional route, they should consider hiring me for the job. I’m not a football coach, but I am a proven winner. Also, I’ll accept much less than $3 million to produce lopsided losses, so think of the savings.
Browns (-1) at Falcons
The Browns are 2-1, but there’s a cloud over their season. Eventually, quarterback Deshaun Watson will return from his suspension for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy. Then Browns fans will have to rationalize cheering for a guy that an independent arbitrator ruled “engaged in sexual assault (as defined by the NFL)” against four women (Watson said he’s innocent). Falcons fans should remember that Arthur Blank was willing to put them in the same position.
Jacoby Brissett has been good as Watson’s fill-in. Brissett ranks ninth in Total QBR, and Pro Football Focus grades him as third best. The Browns ranked fourth in points scored after three weeks. They’ve been tough to stop because of Brissett’s passing, Nick Chubb’s running and the offensive line’s blocking. Those are the reasons I’m picking Cleveland to cover, even though I expect the Falcons to score plenty of points with a run-heavy attack.
ExploreMore AJC coverage of the Falcons
No. 1 Georgia (-28) at Missouri
The Bulldogs played a sloppy game against Kent State on Saturday. That gave Kirby Smart a rare opening to gripe about his team, but he didn’t take it. Smart’s reasoning was that it’s hard to be mad about 529 yards of offense with no punts in a 17-point victory. Makes sense, but Smart is being selfish by not thinking about those of us who picked Georgia and gave the 45 points.
Mizzou lost at Auburn in overtime Saturday on a fumble at the goal line. That was bad luck. But don’t let it distract from the fact that coach Eli Drinkwitz is 13-14 at Mizzou, with six losses in seven games against ranked opponents. The Tigers gave him a salary that’s $1 million more than predecessor Barry Odom, and they’re getting worse results. Drinkwitz will add another blowout loss to the Bulldogs to his ledger. Georgia covers the spread.
ExploreMore AJC coverage of the Bulldogs
Georgia Tech (+22) at No. 24 Pittsburgh
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi took the high road when reporters asked him this week about Collins’ petulant brushoff after Tech’s loss at Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2020: “He was mad at the officials. He’s intense. He’s a really good football coach.” Collins sometimes was preoccupied with officials, and he’s certainly intense, but he rarely demonstrated that he’s a good football coach at Tech.
Tech interim coach Brent Key on the team’s biggest problem this season: “We’re sitting back waiting for something to happen. … We need to go make things happen.” That really spoke to me as someone who’s always looking for reasons to back underdogs. The Jackets played better at Central Florida, but were undermined by the usual assortment of mistakes. I’m banking on more progression with Key in charge. Tech covers.
ExploreMore AJC coverage of the Yellow Jackets
Georgia State (+7½) at Army
This is not a good time for the Panthers to go to West Point and face Jeff Monken’s triple-option. They’re 0-4 for the first time since 2016, largely because they’ve had trouble stopping anyone. The Cadets are 0-2 against FBS opponents, but they’ve gained 280.3 yards rushing per game. I want to believe the Panthers will be able to run the ball, too, but they’ve been beaten up physically by their tough schedule. Army is the pick.
ExploreWeek 5 college football schedule: How to watch all 63 FBS games
Other college games of interest
No. 2 Alabama (-17) at No. 20 Arkansas
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman likened the Crimson Tide to “piranhas” because they feast on mistakes. Hearing that was triggering for me because it immediately activated memories of the 1978 movie “Piranha.” That flick scared me so badly as a kid that I didn’t want to go in the water. Who the heck let me watch it? Last season Arkansas gained 468 yards at Alabama, didn’t commit a turnover while forcing two and still lost 42-35. I like the Razorbacks as a strong home ‘dog in the rematch.
No. 10 NC State (+6½) at No. 5 Clemson
N.C. State took the Textile Bowl trophy home after winning at Clemson last year and apparently stuck it on a shelf in the equipment room alongside some unused signs and packages. That’s no way for the Wolfpack to treat a trophy they hadn’t won in nine years and have owned only twice since 2003. Clemson showed a lot of tenacity while winning in three overtimes at Wake Forest last weekend. N.C. State’s defense is a lot better. I’m taking the Wolfpack with the points.
No. 7 Kentucky (+7) at No. 14 Ole Miss
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin opened his Monday news conference by griping about empty seats at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after halftime in games. Said Kiffin: “When you come back out, run out of the tunnel and it looks like a high school game playing in a college stadium, you can’t let that affect you.” I’m thinking Ole Miss fans have been affected by two lackluster home efforts against Tulsa and Troy and a blowout victory against FCS Central Arkansas. The Grove is more entertaining. Kentucky covers.
No. 17 Texas A&M (+4) at Mississippi State
Texas A&M has earned consecutive victories over Miami (home) and Arkansas (neutral) since losing to Appalachian State. That should temporarily slow Google searches in College Station about Jimbo Fisher’s contract buyout (it’s still $95.6 million if the Aggies fire him). TAMU’s defense is great, but the offense still is a mess. Bulldogs cover.
LSU (-9) at Auburn
Auburn beat Missouri on Saturday, so that naturally led to more speculation about coach Bryan Harsin’s job security. Former Alabama QB AJ McCarron appeared on a podcast for The Ringer and said anonymous sources told him Harsin has been told he won’t be retained. Later that day, AL.com’s anonymous sources shot down McCarron’s report while noting that Harsin is “operating as normally as possible.” I like the implication that this drama isn’t normal for the Auburn football coach. Tigers cover.
Other NFL games of interest
Cardinals (+1) at Panthers
The Panthers beat the Saints on Sunday to end a nine-game losing streak dating to last season. There’s a chance the Panthers will relax after enjoying so much success, but coach Matt Rhule is on top of it. “I challenged them today to have the same intensity about improving that they had last week at 0-2,” Rhule told reporters Monday. That inspiring, confusing message was all I needed to hear to take the Panthers to cover again.
Chiefs (pick) at Buccaneers
Pro Football Talk reports that after the Buccaneers signed Cole Beasley, Tom Brady called Giants coach Brian Daboll to tease him for not being able to close the deal. We’ll see who’s laughing when Beasley starts up with his anti-vax nonsense again. Can’t blame the Bucs for taking a chance on Beasley despite the risk of a distraction. It’s not every day you can sign a washed-up slot receiver. Bucs are the pick.
Vikings (-2½) vs. Saints (London)
The Saints followed their Week 1 victory at the Falcons by scoring a total of 24 points in losses to the Buccaneers and Panthers. QB Jameis Winston basically has played one good quarter this season. Unfortunately for the Falcons, he did it against them at the worst possible time. Coach Dennis Allen said he’s sticking with Winston as the starter even though he’s struggling and injured. I’m taking the Vikings to cover.
Last week: 6-5 (19-17 season)
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Man Struck, Killed In Monroe Co. https://digitalalabamanews.com/man-struck-killed-in-monroe-co/
A crash involving two vehicles on Thursday has caused a Marshall County Road to shut down, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). (Logo | Alabama…
A crash involving two vehicles on Thursday has caused a Marshall County Road to shut down, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). (Logo | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)
by: Aspen Popowski
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 / 06:49 PM CDT
Updated: Sep 29, 2022 / 06:49 PM CDT
A crash involving two vehicles on Thursday has caused a Marshall County Road to shut down, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). (Logo | Alabama…
A crash involving two vehicles on Thursday has caused a Marshall County Road to shut down, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). (Logo | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)
by: Aspen Popowski
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 / 06:49 PM CDT
Updated: Sep 29, 2022 / 06:49 PM CDT
MONROE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating after a Monroeville man was struck and killed early Thursday morning.
Solomon Wilson, 42, was killed after being struck by an SUV traveling along Monroe County 136. Wilson was pronounced dead on scene, according to a news release from the ALEA.
The crash happened Thursday, Sept. 29 at Monroe County 136, about two miles west of Excel in Monroe County, according to the release.
Stay ahead of the biggest stories, breaking news and weather in Mobile, Pensacola and across the Gulf Coast and Alabama. Download the WKRG News 5 news app and be sure to turn on push alerts.
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Good Afternoon News: Election Official Slaps Down Gonzalez AGAIN Voodoo Doughnut Workers Unionize And Trump Judge Once Again Sides With Trump
Good Afternoon, News: Election Official Slaps Down Gonzalez AGAIN, Voodoo Doughnut Workers Unionize, And Trump Judge Once Again Sides With Trump https://digitalalabamanews.com/good-afternoon-news-election-official-slaps-down-gonzalez-again-voodoo-doughnut-workers-unionize-and-trump-judge-once-again-sides-with-trump/
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
GOOD AFTERNOON, PORTLAND! First of all… calling all wing lovers! The Mercury‘s absolutely delicious WING WEEK returns this Monday, October 3—and get this—you can go to your fave restaurants and get six creative wings for only SIX BUCKS a plate! (Better start stretching out your tummy!) But first… the NEWS.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Bad news for City Council candidate Rene Gonzalez: The city elections office told the candidate that, actually, he DID clearly violate small donor election laws after accepting—and failing to report—a whopping 96 percent discounted rental rate for a campaign office in offered up by local moneybags Jordan Schnitzer, and will have to pay his historic fine. Stay tuned for our story on Gonzalez’s eventual appeal, and then the follow-up story when his appeal is DENIED. (We can play this game all day! )
• Oh, and if you give a crap about various local moneybags who are attempting to take over the city, you’re gonna wanna watch THIS:
Tonight at 5:30 pm, it’s a Charter Reform debate featuring campaign leaders from both sides and co-moderated by the Mercury’s own Alex Zielinski and the O’s Shane Kavanaugh! More info:https://t.co/UOBrgD0Giq pic.twitter.com/DVQZtz84KI
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury) September 29, 2022
• Workers at the Old Town location of Voodoo Doughnuts have decided to join other service workers across the city (such as New Seasons and Burgerville) and unionize, becoming members of the Doughnut Workers United—which is a federally recognized union!
• Nike co-founder Phil Knight has certainly donated his fair share of moolah to Oregon Republican candidates in the past—but it’s NOTHING like he’s been doing during this election year, in which he’s already spent a whopping $2 million on trying to put Republicans in the state House and Senate.
• Let’s go, smarty pants! It’s time for the newest edition of the super-fun trivia game, POP QUIZ PDX. This week: quizzy Qs about shady Portland tycoons, local killer robots, and the many reasons why autumn BLOWS.
André Burgos is known to Portlanders as one half of the post-soul / space-jazz duo Brown Calculus. However, he also performs and records as Brown Calvin—where he fully blasts off into the cosmic concept rhythm stratosphere. https://t.co/y5xjTCeZBB
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury) September 29, 2022
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Having devastated the coast of Florida, Hurricane Ian (which was originally downgraded to a tropical storm, but has now once again reached hurricane status) is heading to the Carolinas. Meanwhile officials in Florida say at least 500 people have been rescued from flooding, but the death count is currently unknown. However, President Biden says we should expect “a lot.”
Ron DeSantis, as a freshman congressman in 2013, opposed a federal bailout after Hurricane Sandy. Now, as Florida confronts the devastation and costly destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, DeSantis is seeking relief. https://t.co/WqOvwyPn1w
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 29, 2022
• Overwhelmed by the negative response to his renewed Russian draft, Vladimir Putin is furiously backpedaling on his order, acknowledging that “mistakes” were made, while also blaming other officials.
• Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, has (surprise!) once again sided with Trump in his continuing fight against the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid. This time she has rejected the order from special master Raymond J. Dearie who wanted Trump’s lawyers to prove that the FBI had planted evidence, saying, “Naaaaaaah, you guys don’t have to do that. By the way, where are you taking me to lunch today?”
Ginni Thomas told Jan. 6 committee she still believes the election was stolen, chair says https://t.co/AgVx128iIj via @nbcnews
— Tammy (@TammyFCh1) September 29, 2022
• RIP rapper Coolio (“Gangsta’s Paradise,” “Fantastic Voyage”) who has died at the too-young age of 59.
• And finally… oh crap, now I’ll never look at Lord of the Rings in the same way again.
If you are gonna do conspiracy theories go big or go home. pic.twitter.com/qhVPoqG37s
— Axel Folio, PhD, a half Black/ half brown hobbit (@ISASaxonists) September 29, 2022
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NotedDC Hurricane Ian Brings DeSantis Biden Together
NotedDC — Hurricane Ian Brings DeSantis, Biden Together https://digitalalabamanews.com/noteddc-hurricane-ian-brings-desantis-biden-together/
President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are putting aside their rocky relationship to aid the millions of people affected by Hurricane Ian’s devastation after it made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday afternoon.
Images of flattened buildings, flooded homes and drivers caught in head-tall waters in the wake of the storm have dominated media attention the past two days, with the president painting a bleak outlook of the storm’s toll after being briefed on Thursday.
In an appearance at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, D.C., the president dismissed a reporter’s question about his personal differences with DeSantis, whose profile has risen amid various conflicts with Biden over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation related to treatment of people in the LGBTQ community and the handling of migrants.
The pair, who could ultimately face each other in the 2024 presidential election, have spoken repeatedly over the past week as Florida seeks additional federal support to respond to Hurricane Ian, the worst storm to hit the area in decades.
“I’ve talked to him four, five times already, and it’s not a matter of my disagreements with him on other items,” Biden said. “He complimented me. He thanked me for the immediate response we had. He told me how much he appreciated it. He said he was extremely happy with what’s going on.
“We’re gonna pull together as one team — as one America,” he added.
The coordination comes just days after Democrats and administration officials called out DeSantis for flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in protest of the federal government’s handling of border enforcement, with officials accusing the governor of using migrants as political props.
For now, the duo — and their reputations as executives — are tied up together as they respond to a significant natural disaster just weeks before a major election.
Welcome to NotedDC: Your guide to politics, policy & people of consequence in D.C. Today’s issue is brought to you by Liz Crisp. Sign up HERE to get this newsletter in your inbox each week!
Crisis averted
The Senate on Thursday advanced a bill to keep the federal government funded through Dec. 16, moving quickly to send it to the House ahead of a Friday deadline.
“This legislation avoids a very bad thing — shutting down the government — and does a lot of good things: Money for the people of Ukraine, funding for communities reeling from natural disasters, aid to families with their heating bills, just to name a few,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “Millions and millions of people can breathe easy knowing that we have done this in a timely way and the money to continue the government will be there.”
The move paves the way for the legislation to be enacted before the end of the month. The House is expected to pass it on Friday and send it to President Biden for a signature.
What’s next: Shortly after the Senate passed the spending plan, Schumer announced that there will be no more votes until after the midterms. However, lawmakers are expecting to be busy during the lame-duck session that follows.
“Members should be prepared for an extremely — underline extremely — busy agenda in the last two months of this Congress,” Schumer said.
Ginni Thomas speaks to Jan. 6 committee
Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, gave a voluntary interview on Thursday to the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The interview caps a monthslong effort by the select committee to speak with the conservative activist about her efforts following the 2020 election and leading up to Jan. 6.
Thomas reportedly exchanged emails with several key Trump allies including John Eastman — the lawyer who drafted memos for the Trump campaign outlining how then-Vice President Mike Pence could keep Trump in power.
Jan. 6 committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters that during the interview Thomas reiterated her belief that the 2020 election was stolen, despite there being no evidence of widespread election fraud.
ELECTION 2022: PENNSYLVANIA SENATE OUTLOOK
Republicans’ hopes of keeping retiring Sen. Pat Toomey‘s (R) Pennsylvania Senate seat rose slightly this week after a poll showed the race to succeed him tightening.
Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz (R) is within 4 points of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) in a Fox News survey released Wednesday, with Fetterman at 45 percent and Oz at 41 percent.
Democrats have viewed the Keystone State race as one of their best chances at flipping a Senate seat this year, and Fetterman has kept a lead in most polls.
The bitter battle has seen the pair exchange barbs over crudités, the candidates’ homes and even clothing choices.
LOBBYING WORLD
Karl Evers-Hillstrom of The Hill has a weekly roundup of news from the lobbying world (and you can send NotedDC your professional updates too!).
Here are some highlights from this week:
Cole Rojewski has joined RBW Group as a partner. Rojewski previously was chief of staff to House Appropriations ranking member Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas).
Alison Graab joined the Alpine Group as a senior vice president after a stint as GOP clerk and staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee.
Michael O’Mara has been tapped to be the first president and chief operating officer of the Clyde Group. O’Mara previously was a top executive at IMRE.
Long-awaited Truman statue joins Statuary Hall
President Truman is back at the Capitol — or at least a statue of him is.
The bronze statue of the nation’s 33rd president was unveiled Thursday, making it the newest piece in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
Truman died in 1972 at the age of 88.
The statue’s pedestal is engraved with the words “The buck stops here” — Truman’s often-used motto.
Remember: Every state gets to place two statues in the Capitol, as typically decided by state lawmakers. Truman, a Missouri native who represented the Show Me State in the Senate before becoming vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt, replaces a statue of Thomas Hart Benton, a Missouri senator who died in 1858. Truman’s statue is one of only 10 presidential statues in the rotunda.
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“We’re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life,” – President Biden after getting a FEMA briefing Thursday, warning Hurricane Ian could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history.
More from The Hill:
Here are 10 of the worst hurricanes to hit the US
NUMBER TO KNOW
$3.78
National average price per gallon of gasoline — up six cents since Monday, according to AAA.
Have some news, juicy gossip, insight or other insider info? Send tips: Elizabeth Crisp. And encourage friends to sign up here: thehill.com/noted.
See you next week!
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Tropical Storm Ian Regains Hurricane Strength Live
Tropical Storm Ian Regains Hurricane Strength – Live https://digitalalabamanews.com/tropical-storm-ian-regains-hurricane-strength-live/
Hurricane Ian: Waves flood roads in Key West as storm strengthens to category 4
After spending most of Thursday as a tropical storm, Ian was upgraded to a hurricane again as it takes aim at the South Carolina coastline.
The National Hurricane Center stated in its 5pm ET update that Hurricane Ian was “taking aim at the Carolinas and Georgia with life-threatening flooding, storm surge and strong winds.”
The hurricane is now moving north-northwest at around 10 mph with maximum sustained winds increasing to 75 mph with strong gusts.
“Ian could slightly strengthen before landfall tomorrow, and is forecast to rapidly weaken over the southeastern United States late Friday into Saturday,” the advisory said.
Dozens of rescue operations have been taking place across Florida after unprecedented flooding from one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the United States.
Thousands of people are stranded across the state as coastguard helicopters were seen plucking people from roofs after several feet of water surged into neighorboods. Some 2.5million people were currently without power.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the hurricane as a “500-year flood event” and said that major infrastructure had been badly damaged including the Sanibel Causeway in southwest Florida and the bridge to Pine Island, near Fort Myers.
President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Florida following the catastrophic impacts. “This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history,” he said later during a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters.
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AL.com Recruiting: Watch Us Analyze Alabama's 2023 WRs
AL.com Recruiting: Watch Us Analyze Alabama's 2023 WRs https://digitalalabamanews.com/al-com-recruiting-watch-us-analyze-alabamas-2023-wrs/
Alabama Football
Published: Sep. 29, 2022, 6:34 p.m.
We’ve covered the quarterbacks and the running backs, you could guess what was coming next. On this week’s edition of the AL.com Recruiting Show, we’re analyzing Alabama’s future wide receivers.
Sponsored by Inline Lighting, reporter Nick Alvarez and social media producer Patrick Greenfield break down the latest commitment of the Crimson Tide’s 2023 class, four-star Jalen Hale; the top junior college player in the nation, Malik Benson and Oklahoma three-star Cole Adams.
We also look at the impact of the current freshmen pass-catchers and how one in-state receiver had a recruiting moment with an Alabama coach.
More Tide football: The work ethic that made Alabama freshman Kobe Prentice is rooted in family
How Alabama football signs the highest-rated recruiting class in history
How Alabama’s best 2024 commit is handling a different position this fall
The Alabama Recruiting Show on AL.com will occur live throughout the season on our social media channels. If you have a recruiting question re: any targets, strategies or flips, please email us at nalvarez@al.com or drop them in the show comment section. Click here for our previous show. Thanks for tuning in!
Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com.
Patrick Greenfield (@PCGreenfield) is a digital sports & social media producer for AL.com based out of Birmingham.
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
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Ian Regains Hurricane Strength As It Tracks Toward South Carolina; Set To Drench NC On Friday
Ian Regains Hurricane Strength As It Tracks Toward South Carolina; Set To Drench NC On Friday https://digitalalabamanews.com/ian-regains-hurricane-strength-as-it-tracks-toward-south-carolina-set-to-drench-nc-on-friday/
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Tropical Storm Warnings are now in effect for much of central North Carolina as Ian continues track toward the Tar Heel State.
As of late Thursday afternoon, Ian regained hurricane status as a Category 1 and was expected to make landfall Friday afternoon near Charleston, South Carolina, as a hurricane.
The storm continued to move north-northeast movement at 9 mph.
This all comes after the storm devastated Florida, knocking out power to more than 2 million people and reportedly causing multiple deaths.
Timeline
Wind gusts began to pick up in North Carolina on Thursday. Gusts could be around 20 miles per hour throughout Thursday, which means people should go ahead and secure loose items outside.
The rain will not begin until late Thursday or early Friday morning.
Friday will be a complete washout with pretty much all of North Carolina seeing heavy rainfall during an approximately 18-hour window.
In central North Carolina, heavy rain will likely begin before the morning commute and last into the evening hours. However, by late Friday evening the majority of the rain will be over.
Saturday will include some scattered showers, especially in the morning.
What to expect
Most people in central North Carolina can expect to see tropical storm conditions, meaning heavy rain and strong winds.
ABC11 Meteorologist Kweilyn Murphy said central North Carolina can expect anywhere from 3-7 inches of rain from Ian.
Flooding will not be widespread, but localized flooding is possible in areas that see heavy downpours.
There is also an isolated tornado risk — mainly south and east of the Triangle.
Big Weather’s hurricane emergency kit
Wind gusts could get up to 40 miles per hour at times. That is strong enough to lift and move some unsecured items.
Tropical Storm Warnings are also in effect along the North Carolina coast from the South Carolina border up past Morehead City. No storm surge warnings are yet in effect in North Carolina.
North Carolina prepares for Ian
Gov. Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency on Wednesday ahead of the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ian.
Cooper is scheduled to give an update on preparations at 3 p.m. ABC11 will broadcast that update live on television and in all of our apps.
North Carolina’s price gouging law against overcharging in a state of emergency is also in effect statewide.
Cooper also authorized the activation of about 80 members of the North Carolina National Guard to assist as needed.
Officials at Duke Energy said they’ve kept their North Carolina crews at home just in case we see widespread outages. They’ve spent the last couple of days making grid improvements and securing equipment, so if there is an outage, they’ll be able to respond quickly.
“We do expect to see outages. Where those are going to be were continue to monitor. But certainly it’s a real storm. People should take it seriously until it’s out of the area and we can move ahead,” said Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy.
Right now, they say they have three major concerns: wind, rain and flooding.
“This is just an all hands on deck kind of storm. It’s going to be a historic storm. The damage we’re seeing in some areas the entire grid will have to be rebuilt. Those are the kind of conditions they’re dealing with there. We’re thankful that we’re probably not going to see that here. But we could still see a lot of outages,” Brooks said.
If you do experience an outage at your home, Duke energy wants you to report it. You can text the word OUT to 57801, use the Duke energy app or call them at 800.769.3766.
Once the storm moves out of the area, Duke Energy will reevaluate and assign crews based on the hardest hit areas.
Meanwhile, home repair experts suggest homeowners take time before Ian arrives to prepare their homes and check their insurance.
WATCH: People living in Triangle flood zones ‘nervous’ about Ian
Destruction in Florida
Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2 million people before aiming for the Atlantic Coast.
One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States barreled across the Florida peninsula overnight Wednesday, threatening catastrophic flooding inland, the National Hurricane Center warned.
The center’ said Ian became a tropical storm over land early Thursday and was expected to emerge over Atlantic waters near the Kennedy Space Center later in the day. Flooding rains continued across the state, and a stretch of the Gulf Coast remained inundated by ocean water, pushed ashore by the massive storm.
“Severe and life-threatening storm surge inundation of 8 to 10 feet above ground level along with destructive waves is ongoing along the southwest Florida coastline from Englewood to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbor,” the center said.
In Port Charlotte, along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm surge flooded a lower-level emergency room in a hospital even as fierce winds ripped away part of the roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.
Water gushed down onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital’s sickest patients — some of whom were on ventilators – to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. Staff members used towels and plastic bins to try to mop up the sodden mess.
The medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients were forced into just two because of the damage. Bodine planned to spend the night there in case people injured from the storm arrive needing help.
“As long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that’s what matters,” Bodine said.
Law enforcement officials in nearby Fort Myers received calls from people trapped in flooded homes or from worried relatives. Pleas were also posted on social media sites, some with video showing debris-covered water sloshing toward homes’ eaves.
More than 250 people have been rescued in Orlando as the city experienced “historic flooding” from Hurricane Ian, according to Orlando Chief Charlie Salazar.
A total of 91 people were rescued from the Maxwell apartment complex, and 175 people were rescued from the Dockside apartment complex, said Chief Salazar. The city received 14 inches of water from the storm, according to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
About 25% of Orlando remains without power, said Dyer. Flooding has affected the entire city, with a number of lakes and other bodies of water “out of their boundaries,” according to the mayor.
Crews will continue to assess storm damage in Orlando as the city prepares for more rain in the coming days. Search and rescue missions will continue.
WATCH: First Alert to Hurricane Season
Brittany Hailer, a journalist in Pittsburgh, contacted rescuers about her mother in North Fort Myers, whose home was swamped by 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water.
“We don’t know when the water’s going to go down. We don’t know how they’re going to leave, their cars are totaled,” Hailer said. “Her only way out is on a boat.”
Hurricane Ian turned streets into rivers and blew down trees as it slammed into southwest Florida on Wednesday with 150 mph (241 kph) winds, pushing a wall of storm surge. Ian’s strength at landfall was Category 4 and tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane, when measured by wind speed, to ever strike the U.S.
Ian dropped to a tropical storm early Thursday over land, but was expected to intensify again once its center moves over the Atlantic Ocean and menace the South Carolina coast Friday at near-hurricane strength. Storm surges as high as 6 feet (2 meters) were expected on both sides of the peninsula.
At 5 a.m. Thursday, the storm was about 40 miles (70 km) southeast of Orlando and 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Cape Canaveral, carrying maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph) and moving toward the cape at 8 mph (13 kmh), the Miami-based hurricane center said.
Hurricane warnings were lowered to tropical storm warnings across the Florida peninsula, with widespread, catastrophic flooding remaining likely, the hurricane center said.
Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 415 miles (665 km) from the center, and nearly the entire state was getting drenched, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain forecast for parts of Northeast Florida, coastal Georgia and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. As much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) could fall in southern Virginia as the storm moves inland over the Carolinas, the center said.
No deaths were reported in the United States from Ian by late Wednesday. But a boat carrying Cuban migrants sank Wednesday in stormy weather east of Key West.
The U.S. Coast Guard initiated a search and rescue mission for 23 people and managed to find three survivors about two miles (three kilometers) south of the Florida Keys, officials said. Four other Cubans swam to Stock Island, just east of Key West, the U.S. Border Patrol said. Air crews continued to search for possibly 20 remaining migrants.
The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country’s electrical grid.
The hurricane’s eye made landfall near Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of heavily populated Fort Myers. As it approached, water drained from Tampa Bay.
More than 2 million Florida homes and businesses were left without electricity, according to the PowerOutage.us site. Nearly every home and business in three counties was without power.
Sheriff Bull Prummell of Charlotte County, just north of Fort Myers, announced a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. “for life-saving purposes,” saying violators may face second-degree misdemeanor charges.
“I am enacting this ...
FDA Approves First ALS Drug In 5 Years After Pleas From Patients
FDA Approves First ALS Drug In 5 Years After Pleas From Patients https://digitalalabamanews.com/fda-approves-first-als-drug-in-5-years-after-pleas-from-patients/
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday overcame doubts from agency scientists and approved a fiercely debated drug for ALS, a move that heartened patients and advocates who pushed for the medication but raised concerns among some experts about whether treatments for dire conditions receive sufficient scrutiny.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Sunny Brous, 35, who was diagnosed with ALS seven years ago after she had trouble closing her left glove while playing softball. She plans to begin taking the drug as soon as she can.
“Anything that shows any amount of efficacy is important,” the resident of Pico, Tex., added. Even a small change, Brous said, “might be the difference between signing my own name and someone else signing it for me.”
The newly approved therapy, which will be sold under the brand name Relyvrio, is designed to slow the disease by protecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord destroyed by ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The ailment paralyzes patients, robbing them of their ability to walk, talk and eventually breathe. Patients typically die within three to five years, though some live much longer with the condition sometimes called “Lou Gehrig’s disease” for the renowned baseball player diagnosed in 1939.
“This approval provides another important treatment option for ALS, a life-threatening disease that currently has no cure,” Billy Dunn, director of the FDA’s Office of Neuroscience, said in a statement.
The agency said the efficacy of Relyvrio, the first new therapy approved for ALS in five years, was demonstrated in a 24-week study in which 137 patients were randomized to receive Relyvrio or placebo. The patients treated with the drug experienced a 25 percent slower rate of decline in performing essential activities such as walking, talking and cutting food compared with those receiving a placebo.
In addition, the FDA said, a long-term analysis showed that patients who originally received Relyvrio vs. those who took the placebo lived longer. Amylyx, the Cambridge, Mass., biotech company that makes the drug, said that survival benefit was a median of about 10 months.
During reviews of the drug, the FDA staff expressed concerns about the medication’s effectiveness and posed questions about the clinical trial. On Thursday, the agency acknowledged there were “limitations” to the data that resulted in uncertainty about the drug’s degree of effectiveness. But the agency said that regulatory flexibility was acceptable because of the “serious and life-threatening nature of ALS and the substantial unmet need” for treatments.
Amylyx officials said they plan to move as quickly as possible to make the drug available.
“[Amylyx’s] goal is that every person who is eligible for Relyvrio will have access as quickly and efficiently as possible as we know people with ALS and their families have no time to wait,” co-CEOs Josh Cohen and Justin Klee said in a statement.
The company said information on the price would be coming soon.
Patients, advocates and ALS specialists hailed what they called a landmark approval, saying the drug represents the kind of modest advance needed to make progress against the disease. About 30,000 people in the United States have ALS, with 6,000 new cases diagnosed every year. Two other drugs — including Radicava, which came to the U.S. market in 2017 — are approved for the ailment but have extremely limited effectiveness.
Some drug policy experts, however, said insufficient evidence exists that the drug works. A trial with 600 patients won’t be completed until late 2023 or early 2024.
“There is some evidence to support the efficacy of the product, but I don’t think it hits the bar that the FDA typically requires,” said G. Caleb Alexander, an internist and epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who serves on the FDA advisory committee that reviewed the drug. “How much should the FDA lower the bar — if at all — for products for a devastating disease” that lacks effective treatments?
Diana Zuckerman, president of the of National Center for Health Research, a think tank, agreed.
“How many ineffective ALS drugs do we need?” Zuckerman said. “It would be better to have one that has been proven to make a meaningful difference to live longer.”
But Jinsy A. Andrews, an associate professor of neurology and director of neuromuscular clinical trials at Columbia University, applauded the approval and said she plans to start prescribing the drug as soon as it is available. Other ALS specialists agreed.
“I see patients living with this disease, and I diagnose them every day,” Andrews said. “So to have another therapy for the tool kit is helpful.” Andrews is an investigator in the large trial for the drug now underway.
The drug consists of two components — a prescription drug called sodium phenylbutyrate used to treat rare liver disorders and a nutritional supplement called taurursodiol. The drug comes in a powder that is dissolved in water and can be swallowed or given through a feeding tube.
Two Brown University undergraduates — Cohen and Klee — came up with the idea for the therapy almost a decade ago, initially thinking it would be for Alzheimer’s disease.
ALS advocates said the approval shows the importance of patients and advocates getting involved in efforts to bring drugs to the market.
“We still have a lot of work to do to cure ALS, but this new treatment is a significant step in that fight,” said Calaneet Balas, president and CEO of the ALS Association.
In 2014, the organization raised $115 million in six weeks from the Ice Bucket Challenge and provided $2.2 million of that to help pay for testing AMX0035, the drug’s name during development. The medication is the first funded by the organization to receive FDA approval. Amylyx has agreed to use proceeds from sales of the medication to repay the organization 150 percent of its investment.
In 2019, Brian Wallach, a staffer in the Obama White House, and his wife founded a group named I AM ALS after Wallach was diagnosed. That organization made getting the Amylyx drug onto the market a priority.
The two groups pressed the FDA to be faster and more flexible in clearing ALS drugs, saying patients would accept treatments with increased safety risks in return for even a small benefit — a viewpoint incorporated into the agency’s 2019 guidance to the pharmaceutical industry on developing ALS therapies. In 2020, the two ALS organizations submitted more than 50,000 signatures to the FDA calling for approval of AMX0035.
In a do-it-yourself effort, some ALS patients in the United States already are taking the ingredients of the medication. Because sodium phenylbutyrate was already approved, doctors may prescribe it off-label to ALS patients. The nutritional supplement taurursodiol, also called TUDCA, can be bought online.
Steve Kowalski, 58, who lives in Boston and takes the components of the drug, along with the other two approved ALS drugs, credits the regimen for slowing his deterioration. With careful planning and the help of his three adult children, he can still go see his beloved Red Sox but is exhausted when he gets home, he said.
Kowalski welcomed the FDA action on the drug. He prefers to get a high-quality, approved version of the medication rather than having to buy a supplement online.
The company’s application to the FDA was based largely on the 24-week clinical trial and follow-up data from an “open label” study in which all trial participants were offered the drug.
Typically, the FDA expects drugmakers to submit “substantial evidence of effectiveness” provided by two well-designed clinical investigations. But the agency says a single trial may be sufficient if the study demonstrates a “clinically meaningful and statistically very persuasive effect” on extending survival or some other aspect of the disease.
In March, however, the FDA staff issued a mostly negative assessment — suggesting the data was not persuasive — and the agency’s advisers agreed, voting 6-4 to recommend against FDA approval. Patients and advocates flooded the FDA with more than 10,000 emails pleading for approval, advocates said.
In a rare move, the FDA held a second advisory meeting this month to consider additional analyses submitted by the company. Once again, the FDA staff suggested in a memo that there was not enough evidence of effectiveness to approve the drug.
But the tone of the meeting differed markedly from that of the first session. At the outset, Dunn acknowledged the data for the drug raised numerous questions but also stressed the “tremendous unmet medical need” for ALS and the seriousness of the disease. He said the agency had the legal authority to be flexible. And in a highly unusual move, Dunn asked the Amylyx officials whether they would voluntarily withdraw the drug from the market if the large trial failed; they said they would.
With a few of the outside experts on the advisory committee changing their position, the panel recommended approval 7-2.
The debate over the drug has echoes of the battle over Aduhelm, the controversial Alzheimer’s drug approved by the agency in June 2021. Critics said there was scant evidence of efficacy for that medication, and Medicare declined to cover it except in trials. The drug collapsed in the marketplace, never gaining traction with patients or physicians.
But ALS doctors insist the ALS drug is different. It reached its primary goal in the trial, even if the benefit was modest, they noted. And even small gains are meaningful to people with the disease, they argued.
The FDA said the drug did not pose major safety concerns; the most common adverse reactions were diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and upper respiratory tract infection. The agency added that taurursodiol, a bile aci...
Quake Info: Unconfirmed Earthquake Or Seismic-Like Event: 3.7 Mi Northeast Of Decatur Morgan County Alabama USA Thursday Sep 29 2022 At 11:18 Am (GMT -5) 133 User Experience Reports
Quake Info: Unconfirmed Earthquake Or Seismic-Like Event: 3.7 Mi Northeast Of Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama, USA, Thursday, Sep 29, 2022 At 11:18 Am (GMT -5) – 133 User Experience Reports https://digitalalabamanews.com/quake-info-unconfirmed-earthquake-or-seismic-like-event-3-7-mi-northeast-of-decatur-morgan-county-alabama-usa-thursday-sep-29-2022-at-1118-am-gmt-5-133-user-experience-reports/
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Decatur, Alabama / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : One loud boom and a quick shaking of everything. It seemed like a large explosion rather than an earth quake. | 7 users found this interesting.
Decatur al (4.6 km SW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Felt like someone drilling under me | 5 users found this interesting.
Madison, AL (7.9 km E of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Sitting at a desk at work in Madison, AL right by 565 and 65. A very loud boom lasting over 5 seconds, shaking and rattling of our warehouse style building with windows all around. I’ve never felt one before so I googled and checked facebook and found others are reporting this as well. | 3 users found this interesting.
near Trinity, Morgan, Alabama (25.6 km WSW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Shift one side | 4 users found this interesting.
Decatur, AL 905 Market Street NE / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / very short : Heard a very loud noise…I looked outside to see if a dumpster had been dropped. It seemed the building shook & the windows rattled at the same time. | 3 users found this interesting.
Decatur, AL SW side of town (7.7 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Rattling, vibration that felt like something enormous had dropped and shaken the whole house. It felt like from a scale of 0-10 an 3.5 | 2 users found this interesting.
Working on computer / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : Loud boom, felt like a foreign object struck our house. | 4 users found this interesting.
Madison, AL 35746 (8.4 km ENE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : Building shuck thought it was an explosion from building next door! | 3 users found this interesting.
Madison AL (7.4 km ENE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : Felt like an explosion and made me jump. Rattled the building i was in. | 3 users found this interesting.
Decatur, AL (6.4 km SW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / very short : Sounded like a tree fell on my house or the neighbors house. | 3 users found this interesting.
Decatur Al / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe / 5-10 s : Heard a boom and house vibrated and shooked. Really believed something hit our house or blew up outside close by. | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s : There was a loud boom. The whole house shook and the windows rattled. I felt my body shake and move with the house. Light shaking. | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur, AL / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Felt my house move slightly and pictures jarring on my wall. Definitely knew something was going on, other than normal construction trucks, ext.. | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur, AL / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : It felt like someone dropped a huge weight on the ground. Windows vibrated, large THUD sound, then nothing. | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur AL / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : There was a loud boom and the windows rattled as well as felt floor vibrations and pictures on wall rattles. | 2 users found this interesting.
Athens, Al (18.6 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : it was a large boom, some rattles, felt the wall of my office move, thought it was someone slamming a door however it very loud. | One user found this interesting.
Belle Mina, Alabama (5.3 km ENE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s : I was standing hanging up clothes, and then I heard a loud thud and felt vibration under me. It was like the whole house shook for a second. I thought a tree fell on the house, but everything was normal. I called my friend at 11:19 a.m. when it happened, and then later on my mom told me there was a small earthquake at that exact time exactly where I was! In Belle Mina, Alabama | One user found this interesting.
Martinwood Ln Deerfoot Subdivision Decatur Al / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / very short : Felt our house shake and dog door blew open. Felt like something hit something big | 3 users found this interesting.
Decatur/Priceville Alabama / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : First big boom and then house shaking, windows rattled. | 3 users found this interesting.
CADDO, AL (19.4 km WSW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : Loud noise, minor vibration. | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur Al / not felt : My son and dogs came running into my room and our whole house was shaking for about 12 seconds. My one dog still is scared. It sounded almost like an explosion. | One user found this interesting.
300 North Beaty St, Athens, AL 35611 (18.4 km N of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s : Three-story brick office building with basement. It felt as if someone had closed a very large door or hit the building with a truck. Single, large jolt accompanied by boom. Hard to describe as more vertical or more lateral.
TVA Rd. Hartselle, Al (15.5 km SSW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Inside the house was also felt upstairs kinda like a really close and really loud clap of thunder that shook the house approximately 11:20am September 29th 2022 there was also another one at approximately 3:35 today heard this one as well but did not shake the house like the first one.
6 tubman drive (12.6 km ENE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s : Light shake, felt like a quarry blast hitting the house. Just one large jolt. Loud explosion sound accompanied the jolt. No rolling or shaking.
Priceville, AL (13 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 2-5 s : Sitting at work in Priceville and we heard a loud boom. It did not rattle the windows or brick building. We thought it was something in Huntsville. Sounded like dynamite when they blow up the beaver dams.
Tanner, al / Light shaking (MMI IV) / very short : It felt the same as a large explosion, a “boom” that rattled the building | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s : Loud boom and house shook like it was hit with something large SE Decatur | 2 users found this interesting.
Somerville, AL / Light shaking (MMI IV) / very short : Heavy percussion with slight vibration for a couple of seconds | 2 users found this interesting.
calhoun community college / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / very short : Loud boom and shaking | 2 users found this interesting.
Decatur Al / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single vertical bump / very short : Loud boom like an explosion | 2 users found this interesting.
Madison, Al 35756 / not felt : I heard a loud boom, but did not feel anything move. | 2 users found this interesting.
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Groups: Retaliation After Migrants Report Detention Center
Groups: Retaliation After Migrants Report Detention Center https://digitalalabamanews.com/groups-retaliation-after-migrants-report-detention-center/
FIEL – The Torrance County Detention Facility is shown in this, Nov. 11, 2000, file photo, in Estancia, N.M. Migrants held by U.S. authorities at the detention center in rural New Mexico have endured retaliation rather than aid after reporting unsanitary conditions at the government-contracted jail, a coalition of civil rights advocacy groups said Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.
MATT YORK – staff, AP
ESTANCIA, N.M. (AP) — Migrants held by U.S. authorities at a detention center in rural New Mexico have endured retaliation rather than aid after reporting unsanitary conditions at the government-contracted jail, a coalition of civil rights advocacy groups said Wednesday.
A public letter signed this week by at least a dozen migrants within the Torrance County Detention Facility describes broken plumbing, insect infestations, insufficient access to medical care and rationed bottles of drinking water.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
When the Los Angeles Rams take on the San Francisco 49ers for the third time this calendar year the stakes will be lower than the two meetings last year, but the intensity is always high. Ever since Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan took over as coaches in Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2017, the franchises have used each other as measuring sticks. The Rams have had better team success with four playoff berths, two Super Bowl appearances and the title last season. The Niners have had the edge in the head-to-head battle, winning the past six regular-season matchups. But Los Angeles won the NFC title game last season on the way to their Super Bowl victory.
Transaction values YS Biopharma at pre-money equity value of $834 millionCertain investors (“Forward Purchase Investors”) are expected to invest $30 million in a private placement concurrently with the closing of the business combination transaction pursuant to certain forward purchase agree…
Charleston Gazette-Mail. September 24, 2022.
Here’s a look back at Week 3’s action, and fantasy advice for the week ahead:
Like a pair of moviegoers huddled in debate outside a movie theater, the past and future of film converge in conversation at the New York Film Festival, which on Friday launches its 60th edition with the premiere of Noah Baumbach’s Don DeLillo adaptation, “White Noise.” In those six decades, the Lincoln Center festival has been arguably the premier American nexus of cinema, bringing together a teeming portrait of a movie year with films from around the globe, anticipated fall titles and restored classics. The festival runs through Oct. 16 and has been trying to reconnect with New York, expanding its footprint around the city.
The fires that burn excess gas at oil fields, landfills and manufacturing plants pollute the atmosphere more than they are given credit for, University of Michigan scientists found in a recent study.
TAMPA, Fla. — Early Thursday morning, just as first responders began to assess the catastrophic damage inflicted by Hurricane Ian, a team of chefs packed 5,000 meals to go and hit the road, driving south.
DALLAS — The families of three students who survived the May massacre at a Uvalde elementary school filed a federal lawsuit alleging a combination of negligence, intentional choices and a “culture of noncompliance with safety protocols” led to the shooting.
Hotels, restaurants and other businesses along Florida’s southwest coast face a long rebuilding process after Hurricane Ian. Damage assessments began Thursday. Fort Myers took a direct hit, as did Sanibel, a barrier island dotted with tourist resorts. The damage appears to be lighter in the Orlando area, home to Walt Disney World and other theme parks. Disney says the park is closed while crews assess damage and clear debris. Some airports are already reopening, and two of the biggest, in Orlando and Tampa, plan to resume flights on Friday morning, according to federal officials.
The previous time Dennis Allen coached in London, his then-Oakland Raiders lost and he was fired the next day. But the New Orleans Saints coach says he’s right where he wants to be ahead of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. He says “I enjoy getting away with the football team and really getting a chance to just spend a week, 24 hours a day really focusing on football.” The Saints have lost back-to-back games. The Vikings are coming off a victory. It’s the NFL’s first international game this season. The teams have taken different approaches to jet lag. The Saints arrived on Monday to get fully acclimated, while the Vikings scheduled a Friday arrival.
Joel Embiid is an American citizen. Embiid said he was sworn in as a citizen two weeks ago in Philadelphia. Embiid is a native of Cameroon and also has French citizenship. Embiid said it’s way too early to think about which country he could potentially represent in international basketball. Embiid played one season of college basketball at Kansas. The 28-year-old Embiid averaged a career-best 30.6 points in 68 games and won the NBA scoring title.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins home season ended Thursday with the lowest total yearly attendance in Target Field history, with the exception of the pandemic-impacted years.
Dalton Daily Citizen. September 28, 2022.
The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to authorize for another year the inspection of vessels off the coast of Libya suspected of smuggling migrants or engaging in human trafficking from the North African nation. The resolution adopted Thursday reaffirms the need to end the proliferation of smuggling operations in the Mediterranean Sea. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his latest report that the Mediterranean remains “among the deadliest routes for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe.” He urged more resettlement of Libyan migrants.
Demolition of the long-vacant Packard auto plant that for generations has been a symbol of urban blight in Detroit has begun. Crews on Thursday began tearing apart one of the massive structure’s crumbling exterior walls and ripping out old bricks and concrete along the upper floors. The work follows up on a plan by Mayor Mike Duggan to start razing parts of the plant complex, which Peruvian developer and owner Fernando Palazuelo failed to do after buying it in 2013. The Packard Automotive Co. built the plant in 1903, but by 1954, it had become obsolete and Packard car production was being done elsewhere.
Hours after Grammy-winning “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper Coolio died Wednesday, “Dangerous Minds” actor Michelle Pfeiffer saluted him as a “gifted artist.”
Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren is experiencing the rehab process for the first time. The No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA draft suffered a right foot injury during a pro-am game in August, and the Thunder declared him out for the season. Holmgren is a versatile 7-footer who had great moments during summer league. He is dealing with being sidelined as the Thunder start training camp this week. His only workout limitation is that he can’t put weight on the injured foot. But that forces him to focus on other aspects of the game, such as film study.
PLANO, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 29, 2022–
BURLINGTON, Mass. & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 29, 2022–
Alex Bowman will miss Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway with a concussion the Hendrick Motorsports driver apparently suffered last week at Texas. HMS said Bowman was evaluated Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ruled out of this weekend’s playoff race. Noah Gragson will drive the No. 48 Chevrolet for Bowman. Bowman is now the second driver sidelined with a concussion suffered in a crash of NASCAR’s new Next Gen car. Kurt Busch has been out since a crash July 23 in qualifying at Pocono and withdrew his spot in the 16-driver playoff field. Bowman finished Sunday’s race at Texas after crashing.
DETROIT — AJ Hinch has been thinking about moving Akil Baddoo into the leadoff spot for a while now. But he wanted him to earn the privilege, which he certainly did hitting .300 with a .400 on-base average the last two weeks.
The Biden administration is proposing a new permitting program for wind energy turbines, power lines and other projects that kill bald and golden eagles. The move comes amid growing concern among scientists that a rapid expansion of renewable energy in the U.S. West that’s now underway could harm golden eagle populations now teetering on decline. The Fish and Wildlife Service program announced Thursday is meant to encourage companies to work with officials to minimize the harm to golden and bald eagles. There are about 350,000 bald eagles but only 40,000 golden eagles, which need much larger areas to survive and are more inclined to have trouble with humans.
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a resolution condemning the detention and death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old was detained by Iran’s morality police this month for allegedly wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf too loosely. Her death has sparked large-scale protests across Iran that have captured the world’s attention, with women protesters making a show of taking off their headscarves and cutting their hair in solidarity with Amini. The Iranian government has pushed back, clashing with demonstrators and clamping down on internet access. Dozens of Republican and Democratic senators showed their support for the resolution Thursday.
The Blue Jays clinched a postseason berth without taking the field. Toronto was assured of an AL wild card berth when the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3. If Toronto holds its current position as the first of the AL’s three wild cards, the Blue Jays would open a best-of-three ...
Capitol Riot Jury Picked For 1st Seditious Conspiracy Trial
Capitol Riot Jury Picked For 1st Seditious Conspiracy Trial https://digitalalabamanews.com/capitol-riot-jury-picked-for-1st-seditious-conspiracy-trial/
Thomas Caldwell of Berryville, Va., a defendant charged with seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, arrives at the federal courthouse on the third day of jury selection Thursday in Washington. Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A jury was selected Thursday in the seditious conspiracy case against the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates in the highest profile prosecution stemming from the Capitol riot to reach a trial.
A panel of 12 jurors and four alternates was chosen after three days of questioning about their feelings concerning the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and potential biases against the far-right group accused of plotting to use force to stop the transfer of presidential power.
Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in federal court in the case against Stewart Rhodes and his associates – the first Jan. 6 defendants to go to trial on the Civil War-era charge of seditious conspiracy.
The stakes are high for the Justice Department, which will try to prove that Rhodes spent weeks rallying his followers to prepare to use violence in a desperate bid to keep Republican Donald Trump in the White House. If convicted of seditious conspiracy, they could face up to 20 years behind bars.
Court records show the Oath Keepers, in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, discussing paramilitary training and setting up a “quick reaction force” that could get weapons into Washington quickly if they were needed. Oath Keepers stashed weapons for the “quick reaction force” at a Virginia hotel and equipped themselves with communication devices, helmets, vests and other battle gear before storming the Capitol with the large mob of angry Trump supporters, prosecutors say.
Rhodes is not accused of going inside the Capitol, but telephone records show he was communicating with Oath Keepers who did enter around the time of the riot and he was seen with members outside afterward.
Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell face several other charges in addition to seditious conspiracy.
Drawing from an original pool of 150 potential jurors, the judge and lawyers individually questioned about half of them over three days. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta disqualified dozens of the prospective jurors, mainly based on concerns about whether they could be fair and impartial.
Thomas Caldwell’s lawyer, David Fischer, asked many of the prospective jurors for their opinions about supporters of former President Donald Trump.
“I don’t understand the allegiance to him,” said a woman who is an elementary school principal. The judge rejected defense lawyers’ request to dismiss her.
One of the many lawyers from the jury pool described Trump’s die-hard supporters as “misinformed” and referred to the Jan. 6 attack as an “insurrection.” The judge disqualified him.
Many members of the jury pool said they did hold have strong opinions about Trump or could at least set aside their political views.
“People are entitled to believe what they believe,” said a woman who is a marketing and communications professional.
A man who described the Oath Keepers as a paramilitary group intent on keeping Trump in office also expressed concern about the safety of him and his family if he were picked to serve on the jury, calling it a “very high-profile case.” Mehta disqualified him.
Rhodes has said he believed Trump was going to invoke the Insurrection Act and call up a militia to support his bid to stay in power. Rhodes’ lawyers have said they will tell jurors that he is not guilty of seditious conspiracy because his actions in anticipation of what he believed would have been lawful orders from Trump under the Insurrection Act.
His lawyers have said the “quick reaction force” outside Washington was meant for defensive purposes if Trump did so. Lawyers for the other Oath Keepers have said they came to Washington only to provide security for figures such as Trump ally Roger Stone at events before the riot.
Nearly 900 people have been charged so far in the Jan. 6 riot and more than 400 have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Sentences for the rioters so far have ranged from probation for low-level misdemeanor offenses to 10 years in prison for a retired New York City police officer who used a metal flagpole to assault an officer at the Capitol.
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Putin Says Mistakes Of Military Mobilisation Should Be Corrected
Putin Says Mistakes Of Military Mobilisation Should Be Corrected https://digitalalabamanews.com/putin-says-mistakes-of-military-mobilisation-should-be-corrected/
This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
MOSCOW, Sept 29 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that “all mistakes” made in a call-up to reinforce Russia’s military operation in Ukraine should be corrected, his first public acknowledgment that the “partial mobilisation” he announced last week had not gone smoothly.
There have been widespread public expressions of discontent from officials and citizens over the way the mobilisation has been handled, including complaints about enlistment officers sending call-up papers to clearly ineligible men.
Thousands of men have fled Russia to avoid a draft that was billed as enlisting those with military experience and required specialities but has often appeared oblivious to individuals’ service record, health, student status or even age.
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Some 2,000 people have also been arrested at unsanctioned anti-war protests in over 30 towns and cities, and some of them promptly given call-up papers – something the Kremlin said was perfectly legal.
“In the course of this mobilisation, many questions are coming up, and all mistakes must be corrected and prevented from happening in the future,” Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting via video link in Sochi, Russia September 27, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
“For example, I’m thinking of fathers of many children, or people suffering from chronic diseases, or who those who are already past conscription age.”
Russia’s announcement on Sept. 21 of its first public mobilisation since World War Two had even attracted criticism from the Kremlin’s own official supporters, something almost unheard of in Russia since it sent its army into Ukraine seven months ago.
“They’re infuriating people, as if on purpose, as if out of spite. As if they’d been sent by Kyiv,” the strongly pro-Kremlin editor of Russia’s state-run RT news channel, Margarita Simonyan, said on Saturday.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that some call-ups had been issued in error, saying mistakes were being corrected by regional governors and the ministry of defence.
Putin notably refrained from assigning blame for the errors – either to the ministry, led by his close ally Sergei Shoigu, or to the regional officials entrusted with deciding precisely who call-up papers should go to.
Shoigu said last week that Moscow planned to enlist only 300,000 personnel. The Kremlin later denied a report by the independent Novaya Gazeta Europe that an undisclosed clause in Putin’s mobilisation decree provided for one million reservists to be called up.
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Reporting by Reuters; writing by Kevin Liffey; editing by Philippa Fletcher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Historic Storm: Floods Strand Florida Residents As Hurricane Ian Heads To South Carolina Live
‘Historic Storm’: Floods Strand Florida Residents As Hurricane Ian Heads To South Carolina – Live https://digitalalabamanews.com/historic-storm-floods-strand-florida-residents-as-hurricane-ian-heads-to-south-carolina-live/
‘Historic storm’: floods strand Florida residents as Hurricane Ian heads to South Carolina
Emergency crews on boats and helicopters were racing to reach stranded residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast after Ian, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the US mainland, left behind deadly floodwaters, downed power lines and widespread damage.
Ian flooded Gulf Coast communities before plowing across the peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean, where it regained hurricane strength as it spun towards South Carolina. It is expected to make a second landfall there on Friday morning.
The extent of deaths and injuries remained uncertain.
President Joe Biden, speaking earlier at Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) headquarters in Washington, said Ian could prove to be the deadliest in Florida history. “The numbers are still unclear, but we’re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life,” Biden said.
Officials locally were more cautious. Chris Constance, commissioner of Charlotte county, said he knew of six confirmed fatalities, but was unaware of the circumstances. In Lee county, sheriff Carmine Marceno said he was aware of “roughly five”.
Authorities confirmed at least one Florida death — a 72-year-old man in Deltona who fell into a canal while using a hose to drain his pool in the heavy rain, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said. Two other storm deaths were reported in Cuba.
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Here’s where things stand:
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US president Joe Biden warned a short time ago, of the storm’s effects: “It is still moving across the state today. This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history. The numbers are still unclear but we are hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life.” The death toll so far is not known.
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The National Hurricane Center said that, after making landfall in south-west Florida, the monster storm is expected to take: “A turn toward the north-northeast … later today, followed by a turn toward the north and north-northwest with an increase in forward speed Friday and Friday night.” The center of the hurricane is expected to move off the east-central coast of Florida and will make its way to the coast of South Carolina on Friday.
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Florida governor Ron DeSantis said this morning that: “We’ve never seen a flood event like this. We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude.”
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Biden approved a Florida disaster declaration. The move by the president sends federal money to help state, tribal and local recovery efforts, including debris removal, emergency protective measures and hazard mitigation. Crucially, it also makes federal funds available to individuals in specific counties.
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There are reports of “what may be substantial loss of life,” president Joe Biden said while speaking at the FEMA headquarters in Washington DC this afternoon.
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Speaking about Hurricane Ian, Biden said, “It is still moving across the state today. This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history. The numbers are still unclear but we are hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life.”
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The president continued, “My message to the people of Florida and to the country: At times like this, America comes together. We’re going to pull together as one team, as one America.”
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“However long it takes, we’re going to get there,” Biden said, adding, “That’s my commitment to you.”
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Hurricane Ian is moving toward the north-east near 8 mph (13 km/h), according to an advisory released by National Hurricane Center this morning.
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“A turn toward the north-northeast is expected later today, followed by a turn toward the north and north-northwest with an increase in forward speed Friday and Friday night,” it said.
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The center of the hurricane is expected to move off the east-central coast of Florida and will make its way to the coast of South Carolina on Friday.
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On Friday night and Saturday, the center will move farther inland cross the Carolinas, the advisory said, adding that maximum sustained winds will remain near 65 mph (100 km/h) with higher gusts.
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A section of the Sanibel Causeway – a major roadway connecting the Sanibel and Captiva Islands to the mainland – has been destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
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“Where the bridge rises from the mainland toward the island, one of the first sections of the span has disappeared. Crumbled pavement lies near the water’s edge. The rest of the bridge stretches forward, unreachable,” the Tampa Bay Times reported.
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The pavement surrounding the bridge is described to have “folded up like an accordion, ripped to ribbons.”
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“Two cars tried to pass out to the island about 1:30 a.m., including a group of young men hoping to reach their friend. They had to turn around,” the outlet added.
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#BreakingNews: An approximately 50-65 foot section of the Sanibel Causeway Bridge has fallen into the Gulf of Mexico. @NBC2 pic.twitter.com/vOI2EvyVOY
— Gage Goulding – NBC2 (@GageGoulding) September 29, 2022
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“We’ve never seen a flood event like this. We’...
Elon Musk Lawyers Sought https://digitalalabamanews.com/elon-musk-lawyers-sought/
Elon Musk’s legal team attempted to include the word “Trump” in a search of Twitter’s internal communications in an attempt to understand the company’s bot problem amid its attempts to justify ending his acquisition of the social media network in court.
The legal team alleged that the presence of the former president’s name is connected to spam accounts, according to unsealed documents reviewed by Bloomberg.
MUSK RESEARCHERS FAILED TO FIND ENOUGH BOTS TO JUSTIFY END OF TWITTER DEAL
“Trump is relevant for the reasons we explained, namely that the name is often associated with spam, false accounts, and bots,” argued Musk attorney Silpa Maruri in a July 29 email exchange made public as part of Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk.
Twitter’s legal team dismissed the notion, arguing that the company was “unpersuaded” by the need to look for the keyword “Trump” due to him being among “many irrelevant subjects” that would result in too many search results.
Trump was accompanied by many keywords requested by Musk’s team, including “Bangalore” and “New Delhi,” according to the emails. The terms were desired due to Musk’s team learning that “Twitter filed a lawsuit against the government in Bangalore challenging orders blocking certain user accounts” and the Big Tech company failing to disclose the lawsuit as part of the merger agreement.
Musk has been attempting to justify his decision to end the deal to acquire Twitter through his team’s legal proceedings and discoveries. The latest development found that researchers hired by Musk were unable to provide sufficient evidence to confirm that Twitter had 20% or more bots on its platform.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The two parties are scheduled to meet in court in the Delaware Court of Chancery in October to resolve conflicts involving Musk’s termination of the contract. Musk has been attempting to prove that Twitter lied about its proceedings, while Twitter has focused on establishing that Musk got cold feet and withdrew from the deal after Tesla’s stock value dropped.
Original Location: Elon Musk lawyers sought ‘Trump’ word search to confirm Twitter spam count
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The Justice Department Must Steer Clear Of The Trump Investigations The Bharat Express News
The Justice Department Must Steer Clear Of The Trump Investigations – The Bharat Express News https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-justice-department-must-steer-clear-of-the-trump-investigations-the-bharat-express-news/
Photo illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
The Justice Department’s decision to consider former President Donald Trump to be (essentially) his client, defending him in the libel suit of writer E. Jean Carroll, has put the DOJ in the awkward position of not only prosecuting their own client. investigations for possible criminal behavior, but also in contradiction with their client’s other lawyers.
This is a DOJ’s own mess, and one that needs to be fixed soon.
Carroll is suing Trump for libel for denying raping her in 1995 — and also plans to charge him directly for the alleged rape under New York State’s Adult Survivor’s Act, which opened a one-year term for filing lawsuits for sexual assault. even if the usual time limits for filing a lawsuit have passed.
The ’60 days’ rule does not exist. It’s time to sue Trump now.
Despite the alleged crime allegedly taking place decades before Trump became president, former Attorney General Bill Barr — always looking to use DOJ to help Trump — decided to intervene in Carroll’s libel suit, under a law. which allows the federal government to replace itself as the defendant in a case against a federal employee charged with acting in the course of their work.
Barr’s theory was that since Trump made the denials while he was president, he must have acted within his official capacity when he denied raping Carroll. Given the chance to reject this tense reading of the law, Attorney General Merrick Garland’s DOJ doubled down on it. It even fought for the right to defend Trump until the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which agreed with the DOJ’s stance on the matter.
Garland’s decision to side with Bill Barr—presumably taken while Garland was wearing his institutional cape—may have only been distasteful, if not because of Mar-a-Lago’s search warrant and the ongoing criminal investigation. But crucial to the DOJ’s reasoning that it can represent Trump — and what the Second Circuit agreed on — is that Trump was a federal employee when he made the allegedly defamatory statements.
Attorney General Merrick Garland
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Attorney General Merrick Garland
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
But that’s not what Trump’s other attorneys think, as evidenced by a May 25 letter from Trump attorney Evan Corcoran to the DOJ denying the president of the United States is a federal employee. Corcoran argued against DOJ that Trump could not possibly be held criminally liable for mishandling classified information, because DOJ would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Trump was an “official, employee, contractor or adviser of the United States” and “The President is none of these.”
This inconsistency entails more than just embarrassment to DOJ.
As noted earlier, it may provide Trump defenses in other civil lawsuits filed by victims of the Jan. 6 violence, but it also creates potential problems with DOJ’s criminal investigation into the removal and handling of national security information related to Trump’s actions. at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump and his attorneys have already defamed the integrity of the DOJ and the FBI, suggesting evidence may have been planted and the possibility that several investigators may have to be disqualified if they were tainted by exposure to information the special master assigned to the case may decide they shouldn’t have seen it.
The fact that DOJ is simultaneously defending Trump and potentially investigating him for criminal charges is a logical conflict of interest argument, and one that Trump’s legal team can use in defense.
And a legal analysis shows that the difference of opinion among Trump’s lawyers about whether Trump is a federal employee is not merely an esoteric legal issue. Rather, the question of whether Trump is a federal employee is critical to whether the DOJ can defend him in the Carroll case and critical to whether Trump may face criminal exposure under federal criminal law.
Trump needed (and got) a lot of help to be so corrupt
Of course, DOJ probably thought about this too. After all, AG Garland is a former federal appeals court and probably has good arguments as to why this tricky but rare situation isn’t a real conflict of interest.
One solution could be for the DOJ to appoint a special counsel to handle the Carroll defense, as that is an easier case to separate than the investigation involving Mar-a-Lago. Another solution would be for DOJ to reject former AG Barr’s decision and withdraw from Trump’s defense in Carroll’s libel suit.
E. Jean Carroll
Alec Tabak/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
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Alec Tabak/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
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Alec Tabak/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Any of these solutions – and just doing nothing – will likely be subject to challenges and the inevitable delays associated with litigating the issues.
But withdrawing from the Carroll case is the best option, as it obliterates one of Barr’s attempts to use DOJ as a political weapon.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Cahaba Brewing's Oktoberfest Makes Best Oktoberfest Beer In US List | Bham Now
Cahaba Brewing's Oktoberfest Makes Best Oktoberfest Beer In US List | Bham Now https://digitalalabamanews.com/cahaba-brewings-oktoberfest-makes-best-oktoberfest-beer-in-us-list-bham-now/
Cahaba Brewing has the best Oktoberfest beer in Birmingham. (Cahaba Brewing / Facebook)
Vine Pair, a wine, spirits and beer publication, recently released a list of the “Best Oktoberfest Beers in the U.S.” Birmingham’s beloved Cahaba Brewing’s Oktoberfest brew made the list.
Oktoberfest is a Bavarian tradition welcoming the fall season with traditional games, music and food and drinks including the infamous Oktoberfest beer, a German beer that has grown extremely popular. Brewers around the world try their hand at the style each fall, and one of our favorites has gotten recognized.
Best Oktoberfest Beer in Birmingham
Cahaba Brewing Company and Birmingham District both have nice takes on the Oktoberfest Marzen style. Cahaba’s Local Amber has the classic full body you expect from a Märzen while staying low on ABV at 3.8 percent, making it extremely drinkable. Birmingham District’s Oktoberfest stays true to style with rich caramel notes and an effervescent carbonation enhancing the flavor.”
Tosh Brown, Head Brewer, Back Forty Beer Company
Cheers!
What better way to celebrate with Cahaba than grabbing a seasonal beer at the brewery—or two?
Here are a few brews we recommend giving a try:
Oktoberfest | Oktoberfest | 6.9% ABV
Irish Stout | Irish Stout | 4.3% ABV
DD’s Cherry Hibiscus Sour | Berliner Weisse | 4.2% ABV
Steel Cut City | Oatmeal Stout | 5.4% ABV
Address: 4500 Fifth Avenue South Building C, Birmingham, AL 35222
Contact: 205-578-2616
Hours: Monday 3-10PM | Tuesday-Saturday 11AM-10PM | Sunday 11AM-8PM
Website | Facebook | Instagram
What do you think about Cahaba Brewing making the Best Oktoberfest Beer list? Tag us @BhamNow on socials and let us know. Don’t forget to subscribe to our FREE newsletter.
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Little Big Town https://digitalalabamanews.com/little-big-town/
Mr. Sun, the 10th studio album from ACM, CMA and GRAMMY Award-winning band Little Big Town and released September 16, officially debuts as the Top Country Album by a group in 2022 in addition to taking the No. 1 spot as Current Country Album in pure album sales. The album also marks the band’s seventh debut in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart.
The album’s lead single “Hell Yeah” hits its highest peak on Billboard’s Country Streaming Songs Chart for the week of October 1, with more than 4.5 million streams during album release week alone. The song has amassed more than 60 million streams to date since its April release.
Mr. Sun has received both fan and critical praise alike, including The New York Times hailing it “a sweeping record” and MusicRow declaring it “the band’s most unique and universal project to date.” Rolling Stone calls it “smooth and sweet, with just the right undercurrent of sadness,” with production that feels “spacious and golden.”
PEOPLE highlights that “the album arrives with all the attributes that are long-established LBT trademarks: the sublime vocal blends, the sumptuous production, the subtle influences of other legendary harmonizers like the Eagles and the Bee Gees… Add to that the evocative songwriting… and a full spectrum of musical moods … Also at the forefront is music that speaks to what matters most to the quartet – love, family and friendship.”
American Songwriter additionally observed that “inside the record, notes reminiscent of the Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, and the Eagles ring out, but they’re all tailored to Little Big Town’s country expertise.”
Billboard singles out the album’s “swelling” closing track “Friends of Mine,” as a “benediction to finding the collective strength to persevere through tough times,” while Rolling Stone further ties it to the full record: “Like much of Mr. Sun, it feels like a warm embrace from a loved one.”
Little Big Town spent all summer bringing their exceptional live shows to fans worldwide – they recently wrapped up The Bandwagon Tour with Miranda Lambert and joined The Eagles on all dates of their European stadium tour this summer. Next month, Little Big Town will join Wynonna Judd on select dates of The Judds: The Final Tour in Duluth, GA (October 14) and Huntsville, AL (October 15).
GRAMMY, ACM, CMA, AMA and Emmy Award-winning group, Little Big Town – consisting of members Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, and Jimi Westbrook – first entered the music scene over 20 years ago with hit songs “Boondocks,” “Bring It On Home,” “Good As Gone” and the GRAMMY-nominated “Little White Church.” The band’s breakthrough albums Tornado and Pain Killer produced multiple #1 singles, including “Pontoon,” “Tornado,” and “Day Drinking,” as well as the history-making, best-selling country single of the year (2015) “Girl Crush.”
2017’s The Breaker debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and Top 10 (No. 4) on the Billboard 200 to critical acclaim. The album features their GRAMMY-winning, multi-week #1 single, “Better Man,” as well as the 2019 GRAMMY-nominated, “When Someone Stops Loving You.” The band’s self-produced ninth studio album Nightfall was released January 2020 and hit the top of the Billboard Country Charts.
The record included critically-acclaimed and GRAMMY-nominated “The Daughters,” “Over Drinking” and “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” – the latter of which has reached more than 380 million global streams. In April 2022, they released their new single “Hell Yeah,” which has amassed more than 60 million global streams to date.
Little Big Town has earned more than 45 award show nominations anad has taken home nearly 20 awards, including multiple GRAMMY, AMA, People’s Choice, CMA and ACM Awards, in addition to an Emmy award. Their highly anticipated 10th studio album Mr. Sun was released on September 16, 2022.
Listen to the new album here:
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Alexis Atkins Is A 2022 Woman Of Impact https://digitalalabamanews.com/alexis-atkins-is-a-2022-woman-of-impact/
Alexis Atkins has seen a lot of changes in the beer industry over the past 46 years.
But, to her, it’s the people who matter – from her position as vice president of human resources/principal in co-ownership of Mobile’s Budweiser Busch Distributing to her post as vice chair of the University of South Alabama Board of Trustees to past chair of Feeding the Gulf Coast.
She moved to Mobile from her hometown of St. Louis to work for her father, Al Fuchs Jr. when he bought the Budweiser Busch distributing franchise in Mobile in 1965.
That was when beer distributors only sold beer and tobacco products. Today, the company distributes Eleven 86 water and several large national non-alcoholic brands, such as energy drinks.
“When my father bought the business, it was a very small distributorship,” she said. “It was primarily a distributor of cigarettes and cigars, but the owner at the time took on some
Anheuser-Busch products. Initially, we were a full-bodied beer distributor, and we only sold three Anheuser-Busch brands. By comparison, today we work with 45 different suppliers and craft beer breweries.
“But, in the past 15 to 20 years, the nation has become very health conscious, preferring lighter beers like Michelob Light and low carb seltzers.”
And then there is the rise of craft beers, which has been the most significant change locally and nationally.
“Craft made a very big difference in our business, but in a good way,” she said. “We are
associated with several different beer breweries in Alabama: Braided River Brewing in Mobile; Ghost Train Brewing in Birmingham; Fairhope Brewing Co.; Back Forty Beer Co. in Birmingham; and Black Warrior Brewing in Tuscaloosa.
“So, we represent craft beers from different cities across Alabama and the sales department has a new slogan, ‘Local is the new craft’,” she said.
Building these other brands was a slow process, Atkins said, but it all comes down to relationships, which she said is another key to their success.
“Growing up in a family business and being an HR manager, it is always the people who are the real secret of our success,” Atkins said. “I am proud to say we have provided income and jobs for a lot of families through years.
“We have a very good history with employment. For the first 35 years, when someone came to work for us, they stayed with us for years, which is how it developed into a family business – not just our own family, but the employees became part of that extended family.
She said up until about 10 years ago in fact, people had an attitude of, “get a good job with
benefits and stay there until you retire.”
“And we still have a lot of employees who have been with us a long time, but without sounding like an ‘older person’, there is a different attitude about it,” she said. “That is not to mean these younger people are not doing a great job because they are in my opinion, but it has been changing for the past 10 years and you have to change with it.”
But despite rising to all the challenges the industry and contemporary lifestyles throw at them, the growth in sales has been by far the company’s proudest milestone.
“We sell approximately 4.5 million cases of beer and non-alcoholic beverages annually, and that’s a lot,” she said.
Furthermore, Atkins said, Anheuser-Busch spends a significant amount of money every year on programs that promote responsible drinking.
She said they bring in speakers who go out and talk to kids at schools from sixth-grade through high school about responsible drinking; they educate their retailers about responsible vending practices and teach servers and bartenders how to responsibly handle people who are drinking.
“We have a variety of programs, some of which I have taught myself, and it is very, very
important to us as a company that we promote responsible drinking throughout the
community.”
How does a busy, successful businesswoman settle into ‘semi’ retirement?
“Now I have more time to focus on my volunteer work, which I love, but I still go into the office periodically to check on things – just so they don’t forget who I am,” she said. “Most of the people who work in HR have been with the company a good many years, so that has made them more to me than just employees. They have become friends, and I care about them, and their families and I still enjoy seeing them.”
She still sits on the company Board and attends meetings, and she is still involved in the
company’s retirement and 401k plans, but she said she really enjoys having more time for
volunteer work.
In fact, Atkins is very active in volunteer work. She is on the University of South Alabama’s Jaguar Athletic Fund board, the USA Mitchell College of Business board of advisors, is a member of the South Alabama National Alumni Association, Executive Women International, and she is past chair of Feeding the Gulf Coast, an organization close to her heart.
Several years after dropping out of college to move to Mobile and work for her dad, Atkins
decided to go back to school. She was a single mother raising two kids and working fulltime, helping her mother with the business after her father died.
She did not know it at the time, but it would lead to her deep involvement with the University of South Alabama, and one of the volunteer projects she enjoys the most.
“I really did not need a degree, but it was a personal goal I wanted to accomplish,” she said. “I was not active on campus or involved in any way with the University. I was just a student.
“I graduated from South Alabama in 1997 and a couple years later, a year friend put my name up for nomination to the USA alumni board. I was hesitant. ‘Are you sure?’ I asked him. Board members are usually deeply involved with the university.”
But he was adamant that she would do a good job.
“I was on the alumni board for a while and worked my way up to president,” she said. “I really enjoyed it; I mean I loved it. It was a completely different perspective on the school, and I was fascinated by it.”
Atkins said she was term-limited and several years passed when another friend nominated her for the USA Board of Trustees. That position must be approved by the governor and in 2016, she went on the Board of Trustees and is vice chair.
“I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it. My heart is totally into it and when I think about what I knew about the university as an alumni president, that was nothing compared to what I have learned as a trustee,” she said.
USA Health owns two hospitals — USA Health University Hospital and USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, along with the Mitchell Cancer Institute and the USA Health physician
practices.
“They have contributed so much to improve the lives of people on the Gulf Coast, and I am so honored to be a part of it,” she said.
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US Forecast https://digitalalabamanews.com/us-forecast-48/
US Forecast for Friday, September 30, 2022
_____
City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index
Albany, NY;63;39;63;44;Plenty of sun;E;5;54%;8%;4
Albuquerque, NM;80;55;81;58;Partly sunny;S;8;30%;16%;6
Anchorage, AK;50;42;51;40;A morning shower;SSW;7;79%;83%;1
Asheville, NC;69;46;62;54;Some wind and rain;ESE;9;72%;100%;1
Atlanta, GA;73;55;70;57;Cloudy;NNE;9;55%;95%;2
Atlantic City, NJ;66;56;67;57;Some wind and rain;ENE;13;72%;99%;1
Austin, TX;92;59;89;58;Plenty of sunshine;E;5;33%;2%;6
Baltimore, MD;69;52;68;59;Some wind and rain;ENE;13;63%;99%;2
Baton Rouge, LA;77;52;81;52;Sunny and delightful;N;8;45%;2%;6
Billings, MT;85;54;60;48;Rain and drizzle;ENE;9;71%;98%;2
Birmingham, AL;75;52;78;52;Breezy in the a.m.;N;9;44%;0%;6
Bismarck, ND;80;49;80;53;Partly sunny, warm;ENE;10;54%;35%;3
Boise, ID;70;49;73;48;Mostly sunny;NNW;10;49%;28%;4
Boston, MA;63;48;62;50;Mostly sunny;S;7;54%;8%;4
Bridgeport, CT;67;47;66;50;Thickening clouds;ENE;8;52%;9%;4
Buffalo, NY;64;38;65;44;Mostly sunny;E;6;52%;9%;4
Burlington, VT;56;38;63;43;Sunny and warmer;SE;5;56%;5%;4
Caribou, ME;56;34;63;41;Sunny and milder;SW;6;53%;6%;4
Casper, WY;78;51;71;46;A t-shower in spots;NE;11;53%;64%;3
Charleston, SC;68;62;71;64;Hurricane Ian;S;51;85%;100%;1
Charleston, WV;68;45;68;53;Increasing clouds;E;3;64%;80%;5
Charlotte, NC;71;54;62;56;Rain and wind;ENE;31;79%;100%;1
Cheyenne, WY;76;52;70;47;A t-storm around;SW;11;49%;79%;2
Chicago, IL;61;50;67;54;Sunshine;ENE;8;52%;4%;4
Cleveland, OH;59;46;65;52;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;8;58%;8%;4
Columbia, SC;70;59;64;59;Hurricane Ian;ESE;42;84%;100%;1
Columbus, OH;65;43;71;49;Partly sunny;NE;6;52%;11%;5
Concord, NH;61;36;64;39;Plenty of sun;SSW;6;54%;7%;4
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;83;59;83;57;Sunny and nice;ESE;8;34%;2%;6
Denver, CO;84;55;76;51;A stray t-shower;W;6;42%;55%;4
Des Moines, IA;69;47;74;49;Mostly sunny, breezy;SE;15;49%;25%;4
Detroit, MI;62;46;67;48;Plenty of sunshine;NE;7;55%;4%;4
Dodge City, KS;85;56;87;57;Breezy in the p.m.;SSE;17;35%;7%;5
Duluth, MN;66;49;63;49;Partly sunny, nice;ENE;9;67%;29%;4
El Paso, TX;84;60;86;60;Mostly sunny;SSE;8;32%;8%;6
Fairbanks, AK;57;35;51;34;Mainly cloudy;N;4;75%;38%;1
Fargo, ND;73;51;76;53;Partly sunny, warm;ESE;12;53%;27%;4
Grand Junction, CO;81;55;71;48;A stray p.m. t-storm;SE;8;61%;57%;3
Grand Rapids, MI;63;41;69;43;Sunshine;ENE;5;60%;3%;4
Hartford, CT;67;44;67;46;Mostly sunny;E;5;51%;9%;4
Helena, MT;76;48;58;47;A shower or two;WNW;7;70%;85%;1
Honolulu, HI;88;75;87;74;Mostly sunny;ENE;9;63%;36%;8
Houston, TX;83;57;83;57;Sunny and pleasant;ENE;7;36%;3%;7
Indianapolis, IN;68;46;71;49;Sunny and pleasant;NE;7;53%;4%;5
Jackson, MS;75;50;81;51;Sunny and nice;N;8;43%;0%;6
Jacksonville, FL;70;68;72;61;Windy in the morning;SE;26;88%;44%;3
Juneau, AK;59;52;56;49;Rain, some heavy;SE;8;96%;100%;0
Kansas City, MO;72;50;76;51;Sunny and pleasant;SE;8;43%;3%;5
Knoxville, TN;77;48;73;55;Mostly cloudy;NE;8;52%;92%;4
Las Vegas, NV;97;73;97;71;Sunny and hot;WNW;8;25%;2%;5
Lexington, KY;68;45;72;54;Partly sunny;NE;10;55%;9%;5
Little Rock, AR;77;49;80;52;Sunny and nice;NNE;8;45%;3%;5
Long Beach, CA;82;65;79;63;Turning sunny;S;7;69%;0%;5
Los Angeles, CA;83;64;82;63;Clouds, then sun;SSE;7;68%;0%;6
Louisville, KY;68;48;76;53;Partly sunny;NNE;8;51%;3%;5
Madison, WI;64;41;69;44;Plenty of sun;ESE;6;57%;4%;4
Memphis, TN;75;52;80;55;Sunny and pleasant;NE;9;40%;2%;5
Miami, FL;86;74;88;73;Mostly sunny;SSW;7;64%;12%;8
Milwaukee, WI;60;48;66;51;Sunny;E;8;61%;4%;4
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;69;51;72;52;Partly sunny;SE;12;48%;28%;4
Mobile, AL;78;56;83;58;Mostly sunny;NNE;10;44%;0%;6
Montgomery, AL;77;54;78;54;Winds subsiding;NW;16;53%;0%;6
Mt. Washington, NH;37;29;44;37;Sunny and milder;WNW;16;57%;8%;4
Nashville, TN;74;48;78;52;Partly sunny;NNE;9;46%;3%;5
New Orleans, LA;78;62;81;64;Sunny and pleasant;NNE;11;45%;2%;7
New York, NY;67;52;65;55;Becoming cloudy;E;8;50%;56%;3
Newark, NJ;69;48;66;53;Increasing clouds;ENE;7;51%;56%;3
Norfolk, VA;70;63;71;66;Rain and wind;E;30;75%;100%;1
Oklahoma City, OK;81;55;83;54;Plenty of sunshine;SE;10;39%;6%;5
Olympia, WA;71;48;71;48;Partly sunny, nice;NE;7;66%;3%;4
Omaha, NE;74;52;78;53;Sunshine and breezy;SSE;19;48%;5%;4
Orlando, FL;76;69;75;64;Mostly sunny, breezy;SSW;19;78%;31%;5
Philadelphia, PA;70;54;67;56;Becoming cloudy;NE;9;54%;91%;2
Phoenix, AZ;98;76;97;74;Partly sunny;SE;7;29%;4%;6
Pittsburgh, PA;61;43;69;50;Turning out cloudy;ENE;5;52%;55%;5
Portland, ME;63;41;59;43;Plenty of sunshine;SW;6;54%;8%;4
Portland, OR;68;53;76;54;Mostly sunny;NE;7;66%;2%;4
Providence, RI;66;43;67;45;Mostly sunny;ESE;6;52%;9%;4
Raleigh, NC;69;57;65;59;Rain and wind;ENE;31;83%;100%;1
Reno, NV;82;45;79;45;Plenty of sunshine;NNE;6;31%;0%;5
Richmond, VA;68;54;70;60;Rain and wind;ENE;21;73%;100%;1
Roswell, NM;86;55;86;56;Abundant sunshine;SSE;9;35%;9%;6
Sacramento, CA;85;56;89;55;Plenty of sunshine;SW;5;41%;0%;5
Salt Lake City, UT;82;53;72;48;Not as warm;E;7;47%;29%;5
San Antonio, TX;92;60;90;56;Plenty of sun;E;6;38%;2%;7
San Diego, CA;74;66;75;65;Clouds, then sun;WNW;8;70%;0%;4
San Francisco, CA;73;56;72;57;Partly sunny;SW;8;64%;0%;5
Savannah, GA;66;59;68;62;Hurricane;SSW;38;83%;97%;1
Seattle-Tacoma, WA;70;54;71;54;Partly sunny;NNE;9;69%;4%;4
Sioux Falls, SD;76;54;77;56;Breezy with some sun;SE;15;46%;14%;4
Spokane, WA;60;51;72;48;Mostly sunny, warmer;ESE;5;66%;20%;3
Springfield, IL;67;42;72;44;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;6;55%;3%;5
St. Louis, MO;69;45;75;48;Sunny and pleasant;NE;7;52%;2%;5
Tampa, FL;77;70;80;67;Sunshine and breezy;N;18;72%;22%;5
Toledo, OH;61;43;67;48;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;6;59%;5%;4
Tucson, AZ;88;66;90;66;Mostly cloudy;SE;8;39%;15%;5
Tulsa, OK;80;50;83;50;Sunny and beautiful;SE;7;40%;3%;5
Vero Beach, FL;80;72;86;64;Breezy in the a.m.;NW;14;65%;18%;5
Washington, DC;70;53;69;59;Some wind and rain;ENE;13;66%;99%;2
Wichita, KS;82;56;83;56;Mostly sunny, breezy;SSE;16;40%;8%;5
Wilmington, DE;69;51;69;55;Becoming cloudy;NE;10;54%;94%;2
_____
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Copyright 2022 AccuWeather. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For Related Stories: Hurricane Ian
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Trump Records Probe: Tensions Flare Over Special Master
Trump Records Probe: Tensions Flare Over Special Master https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-records-probe-tensions-flare-over-special-master/
WASHINGTON (AP) — The parallel special master process spawned by the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate has slowed the Justice Department’s criminal investigation and exposed simmering tensions between department prosecutors and lawyers for the former president.
As the probe into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago continues, barbed comments in recent court filings have laid bare deep disagreements related to the special master’s work — not just among lawyers but judges, too. And the filings have made clear that a process the Trump team initially asked for has not consistently played to the ex-president’s advantage.
A look at where things stand:
WHO IS THE SPECIAL MASTER AND WHAT IS HIS ROLE?
A federal judge in Florida appointed at the Trump team’s request an independent arbiter to inspect the thousands of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago and to weed out from the investigation any that might be protected by claims of either attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.
FILE – President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. The FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate has spawned a parallel special master process that this month slowed down a criminal investigation and exposed simmering tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and lawyers for the former president. The probe into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago continues. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Evan Vucci
FILE – This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. The FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate has spawned a parallel special master process that this month slowed down a criminal investigation and exposed simmering tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and lawyers for the former president. The probe into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago continues. (Department of Justice via AP, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE – President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is seen from the media van in the presidential motorcade in Palm Beach, Fla., March 24, 2018, en route to Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. The FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate has spawned a parallel special master process that this month slowed down a criminal investigation and exposed simmering tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and lawyers for the former president. The probe into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago continues. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Carolyn Kaster
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That arbiter, formally known as a special master, is Raymond Dearie. He’s a former federal prosecutor who was appointed a U.S. District judge in Brooklyn by then-President Ronald Reagan. He also has served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
He was initially tasked by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, with reviewing all of the records taken from Mar-a-Lago. But a federal appeals court shrunk the scope of his duties last week, ruling that the Justice Department did not have to share with him the roughly 100 documents with classified markings that were taken during the Aug. 8 search.
That leaves for his evaluation the roughly 11,000 other, unclassified documents — which a Trump lawyer said actually total roughly 200,000 pages — recovered by the FBI.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THEN REGARDING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS?
The past week has revealed stark divisions in how both sides envision the process playing out, as well as the precise role the special master should have.
An early hint surfaced when the Trump team resisted Dearie’s request for any information to support the idea that the documents had been declassified, as Trump has repeatedly asserted. A lawyer for Trump, James Trusty, said that inquiry was “premature” and “a little beyond” what Cannon had in mind at the time she appointed the special master. Dearie mused aloud that “my view of it is you can’t have your cake and eat it,” by ducking that question.
The following day, in a setback for the Trump team, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overruled an order from Cannon that had temporarily halted the Justice Department’s ability to use the seized classified documents as part of its investigation. Besides restoring the department’s access, the order also lifted Cannon’s mandate that investigators give the special master those records.
More conflict followed, this time related to the scanning and processing of non-classified government records that were seized.
Government lawyers revealed in a letter Tuesday that none of the five document-review vendors they had recommended for the job was “willing to be engaged” by the Trump team. The Justice Department said it was confident it would be able to secure the arrangements on its own while noting that it continued to expect the Trump team to pay.
But Trusty responded with his own letter Wednesday attributing the difficulty in securing a vendor to the sheer quantity of documents, which he said totaled roughly 200,000 pages. He said the department’s deadlines for the production of documents was overly “aggressive” — “It would be better to base deadlines on actual data and not wistful claims by the Government,” he noted — and scolded the department for what he said were “antagonistic” comments.
“DOJ continues to mistake itself as having judicial authority. Its comments are not argument, but proclamations designed to steamroll judicial oversight and the Plaintiff’s constitutional rights,” Trusty wrote.
WHAT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN NEXT?
The FBI’s investigation took a major step forward when the appeals court lifted Cannon’s hold on its ability to scrutinize the seized classified documents as it evaluates whether Trump or anyone else should face criminal charges.
Dearie’s work as special master will continue alongside that probe, though there’s little chance any action he takes at this point could substantially alter the outcome of the FBI investigation or affect major decisions that lie ahead.
But early disagreements between Cannon and Dearie over the scope of his duties also bear watching. For instance, Cannon on Thursday overturned a directive from the special master that would have required the Trump team to say whether it had any objections to a detailed property inventory that the FBI assembled to catalog all of the items it removed from the home.
That response could have been illuminating given that Trump and some of his allies have raised unsupported suggestions that the agents who searched his home may have planted evidence. If his lawyers were to affirm the inventory’s accuracy, they would likely have contradicted their own client’s claims while also acknowledging the presence of classified materials in the home.
The Justice Department this week made what it called minor revisions to the inventory, but said it was an otherwise full and accurate accounting of what was taken.
Yet newly disclosed correspondence showed the Trump team balking at being forced to assess the inventory’s accuracy. Trusty said in a letter Sunday that the directive that it do so goes beyond what Cannon had envisioned when she appointed Dearie. Cannon herself agreed, canceling Dearie’s requirement Thursday and writing that her “appointment order did not contemplate that obligation.”
The Justice Department, for its part, had earlier suggested that the Trump team should not be able to avoid stating its position on the record or following other of Dearie’s directives.
“The Special Master needs to know that he is reviewing all of the materials seized from Mara-Lago on August 8, 2022 — and no additional materials — before he categorizes the seized documents and adjudicates privilege claims,” the department said.
The letter Tuesday ended with this tart reminder to Trump and his lawyers: “Plaintiff brought this civil, equitable proceeding. He bears the burden of proof.”
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Prosecutors Use Emails To Build A Case Against A Key Trump AllyFGN News
Prosecutors Use Emails To Build A Case Against A Key Trump AllyFGN News https://digitalalabamanews.com/prosecutors-use-emails-to-build-a-case-against-a-key-trump-allyfgn-news/
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NEW YORK (Associated Press) – Prosecutors opened a cache of emails and other communications in a federal trial Thursday that they say show how the former chair of Donald Trump’s inaugural committee worked behind the scenes in 2016 to get the future president to embrace the United States. United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Some of the email traffic was between Tom Barrack – accused of acting at the direction of the UAE as a secret foreign agent – and Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager at the time. The exchanges focused in part on Trump’s 2016 energy policy speech.
In one email read by an FBI agent to the jury, Barak complained to Manafort that the original draft of the letter did not mention the UAE or Saudi Arabia, or the importance of their role in the Middle East.
“Fantastic. The billionaire private equity manager wrote of the draft, ‘I was struck by how bad this was.
Manafort replied, “Send me a suitable accessory for our friends.”
Trump’s speech ended by noting the need to cooperate with our “supportive Gulf allies” as part of a broader counterterrorism strategy in the region. After that, Barak received an email from an Emirati official congratulating him for doing a “great job”.
In other emails, Manafort assured those in the back channel network that he would persuade Trump to tone down his anti-Muslim rhetoric and that he would hold face-to-face meetings between Trump and Emirati and Saudi leaders.
Another email from Barrack indicated that he lobbied Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner on Manafort’s behalf for the campaign manager position. Manafort was eventually convicted in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, then was pardoned by Donald Trump.
Prosecutors say the communications show Barak’s efforts to manipulate the Trump campaign and later administration to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates. At the same time, they say, the energy-rich Gulf state has poured millions of dollars into businesses run by Barak.
Barak, 75, has pleaded not guilty to charges of acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government, obstruction of justice and making false statements.
In his opening remarks this week, defense attorney Stephen Schachter insisted there was no evidence that Barak received orders from the UAE or that he betrayed his country by turning into an undercover agent.
“Tom Barrack is his man,” said the lawyer.
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Nate Weitzers High School Football Picks And Games To Watch For Week 4 The Boston Globe
Nate Weitzer’s High School Football Picks And Games To Watch For Week 4 – The Boston Globe https://digitalalabamanews.com/nate-weitzers-high-school-football-picks-and-games-to-watch-for-week-4-the-boston-globe/
Week 4 Primer
Peabody at Marblehead: The Magicians (3-0) found motivation in the Globe picking North Andover to snap their state-high 23-game winning streak, so we’ll double down to give them some extra juice. The Tanners (3-0) come in averaging 38.7 ppg. with junior quarterback Shea Lynch lighting it up. Pick: PEABODY.
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Walpole at Milton: After blanking Natick and surviving a 27-23 thriller at Wellesley on Saturday, Walpole gets ready for a third straight test within the Bay State Conference. Both teams come into their first Herget Division matchup at 3-0. Pick: MILTON.
Central Catholic at Andover: It’s been 10 years since Andover was able to get past the titans of the Merrimack Valley. The Golden Warriors (3-0) have the tools to keep pace with the Raiders (2-1) in this matchup with Scotty Brown and Lincoln Beal leading their offense. Pick: CENTRAL CATHOLIC.
Stoneham at Wakefield: Spartans coach Bob Almeida has shuffled his offensive line to keep his double wing attack rolling despite key graduation departures. The veteran coach is going for his 200th career win and a key opening win in Middlesex Freedom action. Pick: STONEHAM.
Bishop Fenwick at St. Mary’s: David Brown Jr. and Derick Coulanges form a two-headed monster in the backfield for St. Mary’s (3-0), which managed to hold off Fenwick (3-0) last fall in a 21-19 thriller. Pick: ST. MARY’S.
Franklin at North Attleborough: Coming off their first Hockomock Kelley-Rex title since 2009, the Panthers (2-1) will look to stop the Rocketeers (2-0) and bounce back from last Friday’s nonleague loss to Duxbury. Pick: FRANKLIN.
Plymouth South at Hanover: Junior Casious Johnson looks to keep carrying the Panthers (3-0) after missing much of last season with a foot injury. But Hanover (2-1) has flexed its muscles with 93 points over its last two wins. Pick: HANOVER.
Hull at Randolph: It’s a rematch of the Division 8 Super Bowl with the Pirates (3-0) in position to exact some revenge on the Blue Devils (1-2). Pick: HULL.
St. Sebastian’s at Nobles: Sophomore quarterback Ty Ciongoli threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns in his debut last Saturday and he’ll try to repeat the feat against a Nobles team that is replete with speed in the secondary and at the skill positions. Pick: ST. SEBASTIAN’S.
Thayer at BB&N: Thayer’s five-star lineman, Samson Okunlola, paved the road in a 34-7 opening win at St. Mark’s. Now he’ll try to lead the way against a BB&N squad that is strong in the trenches. Pick: BB&N.
Thursday
EASTERN MASS
COMMONWEALTH — Whittier at Lynn Tech, 5:30.
DUAL COUNTY — Waltham at Westford, 6.
HOCKOMOCK — Mansfield at Canton, 6:30.
MIDDLESEX — Wilmington at Melrose, 7.
NORTHEASTERN — Saugus at Swampscott, 7.
TRI-VALLEY — Westwood at Medway, 6.
NONLEAGUE — Abington at North Quincy, 7.
WESTERN MASS.
NONLEAGUE — Ludlow at Taconic.
Friday
EASTERN MASS.
BAY STATE — Brookline at Framingham, 6:30; Walpole at Milton, 7; Weymouth at Needham, 7.
CAPE & ISLANDS — Nantucket at Dennis-Yarmouth, 4; Martha’s Vineyard at Sandwich, 6; Falmouth at Nauset, 7.
CAPE ANN — Ipswich at North Reading, 6; Newburyport at Lynnfield, 6:30; Triton at Amesbury, 6:30.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL — Bishop Feehan at Archbishop Williams, 6; Bishop Stang at Arlington Catholic, 6; Cathedral at Cardinal Spellman, 6:30; Bishop Fenwick at St. Mary’s, 7:30.
COMMONWEALTH — Essex Tech at Manchester Essex, 6; Northeast at Greater Lowell, 6; Shawsheen at Greater Lawrence, 6; Nashoba Valley Tech at Georgetown, 7.
DUAL COUNTY — Newton South at Concord-Carlisle, 7; Wayland at Bedford, 7.
GREATER BOSTON — Medford at Lynn Classical, 5; Lynn English at Revere, 6; Somerville at Malden, 6.
HOCKOMOCK — Attleboro at Milford, 7; Franklin at North Attleborough, 7; Oliver Ames at Stoughton, 7; Taunton at King Philip, 7.
MAYFLOWER — Tri-County at Southeastern, 4:30; Cape Cod Tech at Holbrook/Avon, 6; Blue Hills at Diman, 7; South Shore Voc-Tech at Bristol-Plymouth, 7.
MERRIMACK VALLEY — Billerica at Dracut, 7; Central Catholic at Andover, 7; Chelmsford at Lowell, 7; Methuen at Haverhill, 7; North Andover at Tewksbury, 7.
MIDDLESEX — Stoneham at Wakefield, 6; Watertown at Burlington, 6; Lexington at Winchester, 6:30; Belmont at Reading, 7; Woburn at Arlington, 7.
NORTHEASTERN — Danvers at Winthrop, 6:30; Peabody at Marblehead, 6:30; Salem at Gloucester, 7.
PATRIOT — Plymouth North at Silver Lake, 7; Plymouth South at Hanover, 7; Scituate at Pembroke, 7; Whitman-Hanson at Hingham, 7.
SOUTH COAST — Fairhaven at Bourne, 6:30; Old Rochester at Greater New Bedford, 6:30; Somerset Berkley at Dighton-Rehoboth, 6:30.
SOUTH SHORE — Hull at Randolph, 6; Rockland at Norwell, 6:30; Carver at Cohasset, 7; Middleborough at East Bridgewater, 7.
TRI-VALLEY — Ashland at Bellingham, 6; Dover-Sherborn at Dedham, 6:30; Medfield at Norwood, 7.
NONLEAGUE — English High at Cambridge, 5; Boston Latin at South Boston, 6; Braintree at Holliston, 6; Durfee at Barnstable, 6; East Boston at Chelsea, 6; La Salle (R.I.) at St. John’s Prep, 6; Latin Academy at Oakmont, 6; Minuteman at Atlantis, 6; Nashoba at Malden Catholic, 6; Natick at Brockton, 6; Weston at Roxbury Prep, 6:15; Brighton at West Bridgewater, 6:30; Dartmouth at Apponequet, 6:30; Millis at David Prouty, 6:30; Sharon at Joseph Case, 6:30; Uxbridge at Seekonk, 6:30; Acton-Boxborough at Wachusett, 7; Bishop Hendricken at Catholic Memorial, 7; Bridgewater-Raynham at Marshfield, 7; Everett at BC High, 7; Foxborough at Hopkinton, 7; New Bedford at Lincoln-Sudbury, 7; Lawrence at Xaverian, 7:30.
NEPSAC
ISL — Middlesex at St. Mark’s, 6; St. George’s at Tabor, 6:30.
CENTRAL MASS.
COLONIAL — Bay Path at Monty Tech, 6.
MID-WACH — Leominster at Shepherd Hill, 7; Littleton at Lunenburg, 7; Maynard/Advanced Math and Science at Hudson, 7; Murdock at Quabbin, 7; North Middlesex at Groton-Dunstable, 7; West Boylston at Clinton, 7.
NONLEAGUE — Bartlett at Keefe Tech, 7; Doherty at Tantasqua, 7; Fitchburg at St. John’s (Shrewsbury), 7; Nipmuc at Assabet, 7; Oxford at Abby Kelley Foster, 7; St. Bernard’s at Leicester, 7; Westborough at Auburn, 7; Worcester North at Quaboag, 7; Worcester South at Narragansett, 7.
SWCL — Millbury at Northbridge, 7.
WESTERN MASS.
AA — Longmeadow at Springfield Central, 7; Minnechaug at Chicopee Comprehensive, 7; Westfield at Holyoke/Dean Tech, 7.
INTERCOUNTY — Athol at Greenfield, 7; Commerce at Belchertown, 7; Easthampton at Hoosac Valley, 7; Frontier at Lee, 7; Mahar at Franklin County Tech, 7.
NONLEAGUE — Amherst-Pelham at Agawam, 7.
SUBURBAN — Putnam at Pittsfield, 6; Chicopee at South Hadley, 7; East Longmeadow at Wahconah, 7; Northampton at West Springfield, 7.
TRI-COUNTY — Drury at McCann Tech, 6; Pathfinder at Smith Vocational, 6.
Saturday
EASTERN MASS.
BAY STATE — Newton North at Wellesley, 1.
CAPE ANN — Pentucket at Hamilton-Wenham, 2:30.
MAYFLOWER — Old Colony at Upper Cape, 12.
NORTHEASTERN — Masconomet at Beverly, 2.
NONLEAGUE — Monomoy at St. John Paul II, 7.
NEPSAC
EVERGREEN — New Hampton at Portsmouth Abbey, 2:30; Proctor at Pingree, 5; Kingswood-Oxford at Austin Prep, 5:30.
ISL — Rivers at Groton, 3; Brooks at Governor’s Academy, 3:30; Lawrence Academy at Milton Academy, 3:30; Roxbury Latin at Belmont Hill, 3:30; St. Sebastian’s at Nobles, 3:30; Thayer at BB&N, 3:30.
NONLEAGUE — Phillips Exeter at Lawrenceville (N.J.), 2:30; St. Luke’s at Dexter Southfield, 6.
CENTRAL MASS.
COLONIAL — Worcester Tech at Blackstone Valley, 1.
MID-WACH — Algonquin at Shrewsbury, 6; Ayer Shirley at Gardner, 6.
NONLEAGUE — Southbridge at Burncoat, 1; Sutton at St. Paul, 2:30; Tyngsborough at Blackstone-Millville/Hopedale, 3.
WESTERN MASS.
INTERCOUNTY — Ware at Palmer, 1.
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Texas Awards $307 Million In Contracts For 14 Miles Of New Border Wall
Texas Awards $307 Million In Contracts For 14 Miles Of New Border Wall https://digitalalabamanews.com/texas-awards-307-million-in-contracts-for-14-miles-of-new-border-wall/
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State officials awarded two contracts on Thursday worth $307 million to build nearly 14 miles of new barriers along the Texas-Mexico border.
The Texas Facilities Commission voted to approve a $167 million contract for New Mexico-based Southwest Valley Constructors Co. to build nearly 6.7 miles of border wall near Del Rio and a second contract worth $140 million to Montana-based BFBC of Texas, which plans to build 6.95 miles of wall in the Rio Grande Valley.
John Raff, the commission’s deputy executive director, said the state has either “closed or is in the process of closing” agreements to acquire just over 2.5 miles of land for the Del Rio project. Raff said BFBC of Texas will begin with 2.73 miles in the Rio Grande Valley.
A commission spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Texas Tribune about the exact location of the land and who owns it.
Former President Donald Trump made building a wall his signature issue, and the federal government constructed 80 miles of new barrier during his four years in office, including 21 miles along the Texas-Mexico border. When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he halted border wall construction, canceled some of the previously awarded contracts and repurposed some of the wall money for other border projects such as levees.
More than a year after Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas would use state money to resume border wall construction along the approximately 1,200-mile Texas-Mexico border, the state has so far completed 1.7 miles of barrier on state-owned land in Starr County, according to the Facilities Commission, which is overseeing the project.
That segment was erected by New York-based Posillico Civil, Inc., which won a $162 million state contract in November to build a total of 8 miles of wall — a cost of just over $20 million a mile. By comparison, border wall construction under the Trump administration ranged from $6 million to $34 million per mile, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.
The Facilities Commission has said it is working with private property owners to secure land for additional wall construction. During Thursday’s meeting, commission leaders didn’t reveal additional details about land acquisition; the agency’s website says it is “contacting and working with about 150 landowners to secure land-use permission agreements that align with the project’s goals.”
In February, the commission obtained 1,700 metal panels, enough for about 1.3 miles of barrier, from the federal government that were intended to be for the Trump administration’s border wall. The panels were free, and the state paid Posillico Civil $2 million to haul them from San Diego to Eagle Pass.
In July, the commission purchased $43.3 million worth of bollard panels — enough to erect 12.8 miles of barriers — from a Texas company, Gibraltar Fabrications.
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US Sanctions Traders Of Iranian Oil As Nuclear Talks Stall
US Sanctions Traders Of Iranian Oil As Nuclear Talks Stall https://digitalalabamanews.com/us-sanctions-traders-of-iranian-oil-as-nuclear-talks-stall/
By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of firms it says have played a critical role in shipping sanctioned Iranian oil.
The State Department designated two Chinese companies, and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control hit a network of companies based in Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. sanctions on Iran have accelerated in recent months, as administration officials try to bring Tehran back to negotiations for a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Sanctions were imposed in July on a group of firms tied to the sale and shipment of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products to East Asia.
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“So long as Iran refuses a mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the United States will continue to enforce its sanctions on the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
The administration uses an August 2018 executive order signed by then-President Donald Trump as its authority to impose the sanctions.
President Joe Biden’s administration has been working to renew the nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew the U.S. from in 2018. The agreement placed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, which Iran insists it never received.
In addition, the U.S. has taken steps to punish Iran’s government after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She was detained this month by the morality police, who said she didn’t properly cover her hair with the mandatory Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab. Amini collapsed at a police station and died three days later.
Her death set off protests in dozens of cities across the country, and the government responded with a fierce crackdown. An Associated Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 14 dead, with more than 1,500 demonstrators arrested.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on the morality police and the leaders of other Iranian law enforcement agencies, denying them access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Biden: FEMA's Response To Hurricane Ian Is reinforcing Faith In Government
Biden: FEMA's Response To Hurricane Ian Is ‘reinforcing’ Faith In Government https://digitalalabamanews.com/biden-femas-response-to-hurricane-ian-is-reinforcing-faith-in-government/
President Joe Biden on Thursday praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its response to Hurricane Ian, telling the room full of FEMA workers that they’re restoring Americans’ faith in their government.
Biden stopped to speak to the workers after attending a FEMA briefing on the hurricane’s devastation in Florida. He said over the past six to 10 years, faith in government institutions has been eroding.
“You are reinforcing people’s faith in institutions,” Biden said at the FEMA headquarters. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Restoring trust in government and its institutions has long been a pillar of the Biden’s agenda, and was a focal point of his campaign for president as he challenged Donald Trump in 2020. During Biden’s first year in office, he signed an executive order aimed at this priority, making it easier for Americans to renew passports, apply for Social Security and receive aid after facing natural disasters — the idea being to put public interest and customer service at the center of government operations.
The public’s trust in government has remained low through much of the 21st Century. But the data is approaching a new all-time low, according to the latest research from Pew Research Center that found that just 20 percent of Americans feel that “they trust the government in Washington to do the right thing just about always or most of the time.”
During Thursday’s speech, Biden thanked FEMA again and other federal employees for their emergency response.
“I’ve seen you in action all across the country from the West coast of the Northwest and the Northeast, down in Louisiana, all across this country,” Biden said. “And just in the last two weeks, you’ve been working 24/7. No matter what, when emergencies happen, FEMA is always there. You deserve the nation’s gratitude and full support.”
Asked Thursday about his calls with GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Biden brushed off the divergent politics and rhetorical sparring between the two men that have escalated in recent weeks ahead of November’s midterm elections. Already Biden has issued a disaster declaration in the state, which will provide Florida with federal aid to supplement state, local and tribal recovery efforts in impacted areas. The president also said he will travel to Florida when conditions allow.
“This is not about anything having to do with our disagreements politically. This is about saving people’s lives, homes and businesses,” he said. “That’s what this is about.”
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