Digital Alabama News

Instant Analysis: UAB Overcomes Rough Start; Defense Shines Second Half https://digitalalabamanews.com/instant-analysis-uab-overcomes-rough-start-defense-shines-second-half/ UAB safety Grayson Cash set the tone for the second half with an interception on the first play and sealed the deal with another pick on the opponent’s final opportunity of the game. The Blazers got off to a rocky start but got back on track in the second frame in bullying their way to a 34-20 victory over Charlotte, Saturday, Oct. 15, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. The announced attendance for the game was 22,101 as UAB improves to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league action. DeWayne McBride led the rushing attack, amassing 137 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 carries, extending his touchdown streak to 12 straight games, and Jermaine Brown Jr. added 56 total yards on 16 touches. Trea Shropshire and Tejhaun Palmer led the receiving effort, both bringing down 3 catches in the game and combining for 89 yards. T.J. Jones added 2 catches for 59 yards, Fred Farrier II had 2 receptions for 24 yards and Samario Rudolph had a clutch 35-yard reception on UAB’s first drive of the second half. Defensively, UAB held the 49ers to 321 total yards of offense and a 3-for-10 performance on third-down conversions. The Blazers collected only a single sack but forced three turnovers with Grayson Cash securing two interceptions. Noah Wilder had 11 tackles, moving him into seventh place on UAB’s all-time tackles list (284), and Jaylen Key had 8 tackles and a forced fumble. Early miscues and errors Coming off an impressive offensive outing last week, UAB chose to go deep on the first play from scrimmage and did not end well for the Blazers. Rather than checking down, Dylan Hopkins drove a pass downfield into double coverage, intended for Trea Shropshire, and was intercepted but Charlotte’s Geo Howard. The 49ers scored the opening touchdown three plays later, catching the UAB defense napping on a 60-yard pass from Chris Reynolds to Elijah Spencer. The Blazers answered on their second possession, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by DeWayne McBride, but Matt Quinn missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt after UAB had 1st-and-10 at the 24-yard line of Charlotte. Hopkins took an unavoidable sack on third down, pushing UAB just inside Quinn’s threshold. Charlotte took a 14-7 lead near the end of the first frame with Reynolds slicing up UAB’s formidable pass defense. The senior quarterback was 4-of-4 for 61 yards on the drive, dropping a 28-yard dime to Spencer on 2nd-and-19 and Shadrick Byrd capping the possession with a 2-yard touchdown run. Second-quarter turnaround After falling behind 14-10 in the opening frame, UAB’s defense was roused from its first-quarter slumber. The Blazers forced Charlotte into a three-and-out on both of its second-quarter possessions, allowing only six offensive plays for 10 yards in the second frame. UAB opened the second quarter with a 1st-and-10 at its 43-yard line and promptly entered Charlotte territory on a 22-yard reception by Trea Shropshire to open the frame. However, the drive eventually stalled and Hopkins was taken down for a 9-yard loss on 4th-and-Goal at the 1-yard line after a botched snap. The Blazers forced their first three-and-out of the quarter on the ensuing Charlotte possession and cut into the lead on a 20-yard field goal by Quinn, capping a grueling 15-play, 50-yard drive. Charlotte was forced into its second three-and-out on the following drive and UAB ended the half with a 6-yard pass to Shropshire. The defense did not fall back asleep in the second half, forcing turnovers on Charlotte’s first two possessions of the third quarter — an interception by Grayson Cash, who intercepted his second pass with 41 seconds left in the game, and a fumble recovery by Will Boler that was forced by Jaylen Key. The Blazers scored on each ensuing possession to take a 19-14 lead near the end of the third quarter. Hopkins grinds away for another win Despite throwing an interception on the first play of the game, Dylan Hopkins has a solid day in leading the UAB offense. He finished 15-of-23 for 231 yards and a touchdown, including the pick, and added 103 yards and a score on 10 rushing attempts. Hopkins was efficient on third down, completing 3-of-5 passes for 28 yards and converting multiple times with both his arm and legs, and completed passes to seven different receivers in the game. He was unable to avoid an early sack but escaped pressure time and time again, including a 13-yard run on a 3rd-and-11 play and two straight runs for 34 yards to open UAB’s second possession of the third quarter. The junior quarterback may have made the most important play of the game on a simple 7-yard run out-of-bounds at the 27-yard line as Charlotte was pegged with a late hit on the play. UAB scored on the next play on a 14-yard touchdown run by McBride and Hopkins connected with Shropshire on the 2-point conversion attempt to put the Blazers up 27-20 early in the final frame. Interestingly enough, Hopkins almost was responsible for a turnover in the fourth quarter after the ball squirted from his hand before attempting to throw a pass. Given it’s the month of October, Hopkins could always blame a spooky ghost for the almost near-disaster. While attempting to milk the clock in the final two minutes, Hopkins found an open running lane and scampered downfield 61 yards for a touchdown with 1:01 remaining in the game. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Michael Cohen Says Trump Doesn't Have The Audacity To Testify Before The 1/6 Commission – The Bharat Express News https://digitalalabamanews.com/michael-cohen-says-trump-doesnt-have-the-audacity-to-testify-before-the-1-6-commission-the-bharat-express-news/ Michael Cohen said Donald Trump doesn’t have the guts to testify before the 1/6 committee. Video: The answer to that is absolutely not. He’s not coming in. He’ll play the song we’ve all heard over and over. I want to do it. I’m going to make it happen. I’m going to sit for it. I have nothing to fear. I am innocent. Blah, blah, blah. And we all know it’s absolutely not true. This is all part of the economic slump that Trump has become so adept at. They’re already sending emails from the GOP. Hey, buddy, they’re attacking us again. We need your help. 1,000 time contest and all. This is all part of the great economic slump that is the legacy of the Trump administration. There is no way Donald Trump will appear to testify before the 1/6 committee. If Trump testified he would either have to confess to crimes or commit perjury by lying, and he doesn’t want to go to jail, the failed former president will probably try to beat the clock and hope the Republicans win back the House and make it 1/6 Committee leaves. It would be shocking if Trump agreed to testify and then showed up. Trump has so far only testified when forced to do so by a judge. Once the subpoena is issued, Trump will file a lawsuit and the stalwart tactics will begin. Mr Easley is the editor in chief. He is also a White House Press Pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduation work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements. Awards and Professional Memberships Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association Read More…

Local Official Takes Offense To Staten Islander’s Donation Of Trump Gear To Asylum Seekers https://digitalalabamanews.com/local-official-takes-offense-to-staten-islanders-donation-of-trump-gear-to-asylum-seekers/ STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After Staten Island immigrant service organizations put out a call for assistance last week requesting donations of warm clothing for the hundreds of asylum seekers who are being temporarily housed in a Travis hotel, many borough residents responded, offering up gently used coats, sweatshirts and more. But others used the show of goodwill to make a political statement. “On my way back from the Comfort Inn in Staten Island where I dropped off two bags of clothing to the migrants because people said they were knocking on doors asking for clothes and food,” local comedian Jen Remauro said in an Instagram reel, recording herself on her way home from the drop-off site. “I think it’s a good thing, some people might think it’s a bad thing because I filled those two bags with all of my Trump hoodies, pants and t-shirt and whatnot. So, basically there will be like 100 migrants roaming around Travis all wearing Trump paraphernalia.” Remauro, a self-employed social media marketing consultant and daughter of Leticia Remauro, who ran a failed bid for borough president in 2021, goes by the handle @funnychicnyc and has more than 12,000 followers on the social site. A former Sirius XM radio host and stand-up comedian who often takes to social media to offer her political views, Remauro says her donation was not intended as malicious, but instead was offered to draw attention to the city’s lack of planning. “I did want to donate clothing because the migrants were reportedly knocking on doors looking for clothes,” Remauro said when contacted about the Instagram reel, which has since been taken down. “Some of the clothing were my old Trump hoodies and sweatshirts. A subtle message to our sitting President that this is not okay. I’m not against immigration at all. My family came here as immigrants too, but we need to have a plan. We need to do it correctly. Opening the borders and letting everyone in and then bussing them all over and leaving them in hotels with no guidance, resources or warm clothing is not a structured plan.” But Staten Island elected officials who saw the reel immediately took offense to Remauro’s actions. “These are human beings. People should take a moment to think how they would feel if they were in the same place in life,” noted State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn). “Think about how desperate you would be if you walked thousands of miles to get to the U.S. Regardless of what your politics are, you should have a little compassion.” Savino even equated the current migrant situation to what her own family experienced decades ago. “We are two generations away from people who struggled and came here to build a better life,” the Senator said. “My grandfather was 18 when he left the old country and he left on his own. Can we at least offer a little kindness for these human beings while we figure out the political mess?” Remauro’s move comes as the arrival of roughly 600 asylum-seekers from Latin America has divided the Staten Island community. According to an article published in the Gothamist, the owners of Verde’s Pizza & Pasta House, who have been delivering free pies to the recently arrived migrants in the hotels, as well as offering leftovers to those who wander into the store, have been threatened with boycotts, with residents accusing them of supporting a migrant “invasion.” “We want everyone to understand that we are Republicans and we don’t like the border policy,” Verde’s owner Sam Bongiovanni said during a recent Community Board meeting, as reported by the Gothamist. “But these are family people. When we fed them, they acted like they hadn’t eaten in two days.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Biden’s Pot Pardons Could Boost States’ Legalization Drives https://digitalalabamanews.com/bidens-pot-pardons-could-boost-states-legalization-drives-2/ Kayla Snedeker, right, assists a customer at The Flower Shop Dispensary, a medical marijuana retail facility, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Friday. The dispensary opened after South Dakota voters legalized medical marijuana in 2020. (AP Photo/Stephen Groves) LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There are few surprises expected on Election Day in solidly Republican Arkansas, where Donald Trump’s former press secretary is heavily favored in the race for governor and other GOP candidates are considered locks. But one big exception is the campaign to make Arkansas the first state in the South to legalize recreational marijuana. A proposal to change the state’s constitution is drawing millions of dollars from opponents and supporters of legalization, with ads crowding the airwaves. President Joe Biden’s recent announcement that he will pardon thousands of people for simple marijuana possession has shined a new spotlight on the legalization efforts in Arkansas and four other states. Voters in Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota are also taking up measures on recreational marijuana. Biden’s step toward decriminalizing the drug could provide a boost for legalization in some of the most conservative parts of the country, experts say. “The most powerful elected leader in the world has publicly declared it was a mistake to criminalize people for using cannabis and I think that will go a long way with regard to voters who may be on the fence,” said Mason Tvert, partner at VS Strategies, a cannabis policy and public affairs firm. Biden’s announcement only covers people convicted under the federal law. But he has called on governors to issue similar pardons for those convicted of state marijuana offenses, which reflect the vast majority of marijuana possession cases. The president also directed his health secretary and attorney general to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. The moves come as opposition to legalization has softened around the country, with recreational marijuana legal in 19 states, despite resistance at the federal level. Advocates say it shows that states are ahead of the federal government on the issue. Eddie Armstrong, chairman of the Responsible Growth Arkansas campaign, speaks at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. The campaign is backing a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana. Arkansas is one of five states with recreational marijuana proposals on the ballot in November. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo ) “I think it’s an example of state level leadership and citizens pushing the federal government in the right direction,” said Eddie Armstrong, a former state legislator who leads the Responsible Growth Arkansas group campaigning for legalization. In 2016, Arkansas became the first Bible Belt state to approve medical marijuana, with voters approving a legalization measure. More than 91,000 people have cards to legally buy marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries, which opened in 2019. Patients have spent more than $200 million so far this year, the state says. An ad by Responsible Growth Arkansas points to benefits such as the thousands of jobs it says legalization would create. The main group opposing the measure is running an ad that urges voters to “protect Arkansas from big marijuana.” The proposal faces opposition from Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration who criticized Biden’s pardon announcement. Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, the Republican front-runner to succeed Hutchinson, has said she will vote against the measure. Her Democratic rival, Chris Jones, said he supports it. In neighboring Missouri, a proposed constitutional amendment would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older and expunge records of past arrests and convictions for nonviolent marijuana offenses, except for selling to minors or driving under the influence. Supporters said they do not expect Biden’s pardon announcement for some federal marijuana offenses to have much of an impact on the Missouri measure, which could expunge several hundred thousand state marijuana offenses. “There is some danger of confusion, but I think most people understand the distinction of the federal and state processes,” said John Payne, campaign manager for Legal Missouri 2022. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican and former sheriff, opposes the ballot measure but has not aggressively campaigned against it. He has no plans to emulate Biden’s pardon announcement. Parson has granted pardons “to individuals who demonstrate a changed life-style, commitment to rehabilitation, contrition and contribution to their communities — rather than as a blanket approach to undermine existing law,” said Parson spokesperson Kelli Jones. Similarly, North Dakota’s legalization campaign does not expect to incorporate Biden’s pardons into its messaging. Mark Friese, treasurer of the New Approach Initiative backing the legalization ballot proposal, said he doubts Biden’s pardon will have much of an impact in North Dakota or sway the legalization effort. “The number of North Dakotans convicted in federal court is small,” said Friese, a prominent North Dakota lawyer and former police officer. “Small amounts of marijuana are typically and historically not prosecuted in North Dakota.” Matt Schweich, center, speaks at a Wednesday news conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to launch a statewide voter registration tour. Schweich is managing South Dakota’s ballot campaign to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. (AP Photo/Stephen Groves) Matt Schweich, who is running South Dakota’s ballot initiative campaign to legalize recreational marijuana possession for adults, said the president’s pardons may hand the campaign a boost with older Democrats. It also underscores the campaign’s message that convictions for pot possession hurt people on job or rental applications, as well as that enforcing pot possession laws are a waste of time and resources for law enforcement, he said. South Dakotans, including a sizable number of Republicans, voted to legalize marijuana possession in 2020, but that law was struck down by the state Supreme Court in part because the proposal was coupled with medical marijuana and hemp. This year, recreational pot is standing by itself as it goes before voters. It remains unclear whether Biden’s pardon move will inject party politics into an issue that supporters say crosses partisan lines. For example, Arkansas voters in 2016 approved medical marijuana the same year they overwhelmingly backed Trump. All of the states with recreational marijuana on the ballot next month, except for Maryland, voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. And the issue is going before voters as GOP candidates have been stepping up their anti-crime rhetoric. “From our perspective the people of Arkansas, they didn’t vote for Biden initially and so we don’t anticipate this really having any sort of influence over anybody’s decision,” said Tyler Beaver, campaign manager for Safe and Secure Communities, the main group campaigning against the proposal. ___ Associated Press writers David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri; Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and James MacPherson in Bismarck, North Dakota; contributed to this report. Read More…

Instant Analysis: Auburn Loses 48-34 At No. 9 Ole Miss https://digitalalabamanews.com/instant-analysis-auburn-loses-48-34-at-no-9-ole-miss/ Auburn Football Published: Oct. 15, 2022, 3:44 p.m. Auburn (3-4, 1-3) is on a three-game losing streak after failing to overcome a 21-0 deficit during Saturday’s 48-34 loss against No. 9 Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium. Quinshon Judkins was one of three Rebels to run for over 100 yards. Judkins’ 41-yard score in the fourth quarter was his third touchdown and put Ole Miss ahead 48-34 with 6:26 left in the game. Auburn settled for an Anders Carlson field goal on the drive before Judkins went for the touchdown to ice the game. Robby Ashford lost four yards on 1st and goal from the two with a little over 10 minutes left in the game and the Tigers trailing by 10 points. The drive stalled at the 10 with Carlson nailing the 28-yard field goal. A rare miscue by Tank Bigsby on third down drew a five-yard penalty pushing to 3rd and 11. Ole Miss outscored Auburn 14-0 in the first quarter. Dayton Wade caught a 35-yard touchdown from Rebel quarterback Jaxon Dart at the 6:42 mark in the first. Running back Zach Evans corraled the second score for 23 yards. Evans scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard rush on second down. Dart, Evans, and Judkins each rushed for over 100 yards on a night that saw Auburn allow 448 rushing yards. It was the first time Auburn allowed over 400 yards on the ground since 2015 against LSU. Auburn falls to 9-11 under second-year coach Bryan Harsin heading into the bye week. The Tigers are 3-9 since last season’s victory over No. 10 Ole Miss at Jordan Hare. Auburn was 6-2 after beating the Rebels last Halloween weekend and hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since that win. The Tigers are 1-7 in their last eight SEC games since beating Ole Miss last season. Here are AL.com’s key takeaways from Saturday’s game at Ole Miss. Turnovers and bad breaks Ole Miss scored its first touchdown on a short field after Ashford threw an interception with Wade’s catch. T.J. Finley made his return to the lineup since getting benched during the Penn State loss. Finley’s stay was short and ended with a fumble that led to the second Ole Miss touchdown. Rebels’ coach Lane Kiffin went into his trick bag in the third quarter with an onsides kick after a 23-yard field goal that put Ole Miss ahead 31-24 with 9:50 left in the quarter. There’s no analytics book that will a coach to make that call. If it fails the Rebels give up great field position to Auburn. The gamble paid off with a Judkins touchdown and the Rebels led 38-24 with less than seven minutes left in the third quarter. Redemption for Ashford. Ashford regained the reins of the offense on the drive after Finley’s fumble that led to the third touchdown by Ole Miss. He drove the Tigers down the field for a nine-play 75-yard drive that he finished with a two-yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper. Ashford threw two interceptions, including one with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter. He also battled through a tough game and finished with 140 passing yards and 35 rushing yards with two touchdowns. Big day for Bigsby Ole Miss had nearly 500 yards on the ground, however, the Tigers had the leading rusher. Tank Bigsby had 179 rushing yards on 20 carries. His 50-yard running score brought the Tigers within four points of Ole Miss. Auburn trailed 28-24 early in the third quarter. The Tigers had 301 running yards. Jarquez Hunter ran 80 yards on 10 carries. Auburn had success running the ball for the first time in several games. Perhaps Auburn can build on it going forward. Nubyjas WIlborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Sunday Shows Preview: Jan. 6 Committee Votes To Subpoena Trump; Inflation Accelerates In September https://digitalalabamanews.com/sunday-shows-preview-jan-6-committee-votes-to-subpoena-trump-inflation-accelerates-in-september/ Getty Images/Pool The House Jan. 6 committee holds a hearing on Thursday, October 13, 2022 to focus on former President Trump’s efforts to remain in power following his 2020 election defeat. The Jan. 6 committee’s vote to subpoena former President Trump and September’s inflation report will likely dominate the Sunday talk shows this week. The committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol unanimously voted to subpoena Trump during what may have been its final public hearing on Thursday.  “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6,” Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said at the hearing. “So, we want to hear from him.” However, the “serious and extraordinary action” — as Thompson described it — is unlikely to produce testimony from the former president, who has fought the committee from its inception. Trump immediately turned to social media to criticize the subpoena announcement on Thursday. “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” Trump wrote on Truth Social soon after the committee wrapped. “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” The vote to subpoena Trump came at the very end of Thursday’s chock-full hearing. The committee released never-before-seen footage from the day itself, showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) making urgent calls from a secure location in an effort stop the riot. Testimony and recently obtained communications from the Secret Service also underscored previous testimony that Trump sought to travel to the Capitol on Jan. 6, as his supporters converged on the building. Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), two of the committee’s nine members, are set to join ABC’s “This Week” and NBC’s “Meet the Press” respectively on Sunday. The September inflation report will likely also be a topic of discussion on the Sunday show circuit, as inflation continued to accelerate for the second month in a row. Inflation rose by 8.2 percent over the last 12 months, driven by housing, food and medical costs, according to the report released on Thursday.  The Federal Reserve is expected to continue raising interest rates as a result. The interest rate hikes are meant to slow the economy but also risk triggering a recession. President Biden on Thursday acknowledged that “prices are still too high” but touted his administration’s “progress in the fight against higher prices.” However, with the midterm elections just weeks away, Thursday’s report represents bad news for Democrats, who had hoped inflation would begin to subside by the election. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is set to discuss inflation, the U.S. jobs report and recession fears with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, while White House economic advisors Cecilia Rouse and Jared Bernstein chat with CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday” respectively. Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:  ABC’s “This Week” — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.); Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.); Evan McMullin, independent candidate for Senate in Utah CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Buttigieg; Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova; Betsey Stevenson, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan CNN’s “State of the Union” — National security adviser Jake Sullivan; White House economic adviser Cecilia Rouse; Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.); the nominees for Arizona governor, Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs; Joe O’Dea, Republican nominee for Senate in Colorado “Fox News Sunday” — Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.); White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.); former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Republican candidate for governor in New York; Kiyan Michael, Republican candidate for Florida House of Representatives; Trump Media CEO and former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) Read More…

Co-Founder Of Trump’s Media Company Details Truth Social’s Bitter Infighting https://digitalalabamanews.com/co-founder-of-trumps-media-company-details-truth-socials-bitter-infighting/ Will Wilkerson, then an executive at former president Donald Trump’s start-up Trump Media & Technology Group, was at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., coffee shop with company co-founder Andy Litinsky last October when Trump called Litinsky with a question: Would he give up some of his shares to Trump’s wife, Melania? Trump Media, the owner of the fledgling social network Truth Social, had just been boosted by a huge merger agreement and a flood of investment that had made the stake worth millions of dollars. Trump had already been given 90 percent of the company’s shares in exchange for the use of his name and some minor involvement, leaving everyone else to split the rest. Litinsky tried to brush it off, telling Trump “the gift would have meant a huge tax bill he couldn’t pay,” Wilkerson said in an interview. “Trump didn’t care. He said, ‘Do whatever you need to do.’ ” Five months later, Litinsky, who first met Trump in 2004 as a contestant on the TV show “The Apprentice,” was abruptly removed from the company’s board. Wilkerson said he believes it was payback for his refusal to turn over a small fortune to the former president’s wife. Litinsky thought so, too, according to an email Wilkerson and his attorneys shared with The Washington Post and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In that email, Litinsky complained that Trump was “retaliating against me” by threatening to “ ‘blow up the company’ if his demands are not met.” Litinsky did not respond to emails and phone messages. It is unknown whether he still retains his shares. The email — one of hundreds of previously unreported company messages, documents, photos and audio recordings that Wilkerson has provided to the SEC in connection with a whistleblower submission — reveals a stunning portrait of the animosity that has built up inside Trump Media since its high-profile debut last year. Promoted as the centerpiece of Trump’s post-presidential business ambitions, the company had marketed itself as a budding media empire, with enterprises planned in social media, video streaming, live events and online payments — a powerful rival not just to Twitter but Disney, Google and Amazon. But inside the company, Wilkerson said, those plans gave way to bitter infighting, technical failures and a chaotic jockeying for power among Trump allies that undermined its potential and left some employees crying at their desks. Wilkerson, who was fired from his job Thursday as a senior vice president of operations at the company after he spoke to The Post, filed the whistleblower complaint with the SEC in August. The complaint, drafted by Wilkerson’s attorneys, alleges that the company’s bid to raise money via an investment vehicle known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, relied on “fraudulent misrepresentations … in violation of federal securities laws.” The SEC, a federal watchdog agency, allows members of the public to submit tips, complaints and referrals about suspected financial wrongdoing via a document the agency calls a Form TCR. Whistleblowers can be granted confidentiality protections and, in some cases, financial awards. Litinsky did not join in the complaint. Wilkerson is cooperating with investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, said his attorneys, Phil Brewster, Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell. Among the materials he filed with the SEC’s whistleblower office is a detailed, day-to-day computer log compiled by company co-founder Wes Moss, Litinsky and Wilkerson about their daily company-related activities. He also provided to The Post a copy of that log as well as numerous other memos, photographs and videos that chronicled the creation of Trump Media. All of the materials Wilkerson shared with The Post were previously provided to government investigators, his attorneys said. The SEC and the SDNY declined to comment. In an SEC filing in December, Digital World acknowledged that the SEC was investigating and had sought documents related to the merger with Trump Media. In another filing in June, Digital World said it had become aware that a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York had issued subpoenas to its board members seeking documents related to its initial public offering filings and “communications with or about multiple individuals.” The investigations, the company said, could “impede or prevent” the merger. Wilkerson said he was still working for the company on Oct. 6 when his SEC complaint was first reported by the Miami Herald. A Trump Media attorney sent Wilkerson a letter that night suspending him for what the lawyer said was a “blatant violation” of his nondisclosure agreement. After interviewing Wilkerson alongside his attorneys, The Post on Wednesday sent a detailed list of claims and questions raised by Wilkerson’s allegations to representatives for Trump, Trump Media and the Trump Organization, Trump’s long-running family business. Only Trump Media responded, saying in a statement that Trump, as company chairman, had hired former congressman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) as CEO to “create a culture of compliance and build a world-class team to lead Truth Social.” The company said it was already a success, having launched on the Apple and Google app stores, “executed multiple feature updates” and attracted millions of users. “Ignoring these achievements, The Washington Post sent us an inquiry rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas.” The statement did not directly address any of Wilkerson’s claims. Trump Media fired Wilkerson on Thursday, citing his “unauthorized disclosures” to The Post. Brewster, his attorney, called the termination “patent retaliation against an SEC whistleblower of the worst kind.” Digital World Acquisition, the SPAC that is pushing to take Trump Media public, has asked shareholders to give the company more time to finalize the merger, which would unlock hundreds of millions of dollars for Trump Media but is effectively frozen pending the outcomes of the federal investigations. Digital World and its chief executive, Patrick Orlando, did not respond to requests for comment. The revelations to the SEC from Wilkerson, the most prominent company official to speak publicly about its operations, come at a turbulent time for Trump Media’s business. Investors, discouraged by the halted merger, have sent the SPAC’s share price plunging from a high of $175 to less than $18 on Friday. Roughly 4 million users follow Trump on the company’s sole product, Truth Social — far below his Twitter peak of 88 million. The company has pledged to investors it would surpass 50 million total users by 2024. In past public statements, Nunes, Orlando and Trump have argued that Trump Media will ultimately prove to be a successful business. But Wilkerson said he expects its internal problems could lead the company to fall apart. “We weren’t trying to be Trump Org 2.0,” he said. “We always saw Trump as the rocket fuel to send this thing to space. I wanted this to succeed more than anything. … But these are glaring issues, and they’re threatening me now for calling them out. I couldn’t stay quiet anymore.” Wilkerson, 38, isn’t a traditional Trump critic. When Litinsky and Moss, another former “Apprentice” contestant, first started discussing the idea of a multipronged Trump media business after Trump’s November 2020 election loss, the men had asked for his help developing the business, Wilkerson said. A former executive producer for Litinsky’s conservative radio show, Wilkerson was excited about monetizing the following of a person he considered a master marketer with 40 years as a political and household name. Wilkerson shared a photo from that time of the men sketching the original concept on a whiteboard, titled “Trump’s New Media Empire,” that would ultimately compose the company’s public pitch, including new business lines (“Trump Digital Subscription,” “Trump Documentaries”) and a chain of “Trump technologies,” including in servers and online payments. After Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump was banned from major social networks, the men drew up plans for a tech platform that would be “resilient to cancel culture and the impact of bias against the right,” according to the daily log Wilkerson shared with The Post and the SEC. To meet with Trump, the men sought help from another “Apprentice” contestant, Bradford Cohen, a Florida criminal-defense attorney who represented two rappers, Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, to whom Trump had granted clemency on his final day in the White House. In late January, three weeks after the riot, Cohen, Litinsky and Moss met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his opulent home and club in Palm Beach, Fla., to discuss the idea. Over cheeseburgers, Diet Cokes and ice cream, the men offered to build Trump a media company that he would own 90 percent of without putting in any of his own money, Wilkerson said. He was interested, and Trump Media was born. Cohen and Moss did not respond to requests for comment. Raising money, however, proved to be a major challenge. The investment bankers they called rejected them because of fears over Trump’s post-election behavior, Wilkerson said. So they started cold-calling SPACs. Known as “blank-check companies,” SPACs sell shares to investors before merging with a private company, allowing the combined business to make money on the stock market without abiding by the traditional transparency requirements of a public listing. They ultimately found a willing partner in Orlando, a financier in Miami who had recently launched a SPAC, Benessere Capital Acquisition, with $100 million in its coffers. In late February, Orlando, Wilkerson an...

US Forecast https://digitalalabamanews.com/us-forecast-73/ 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;68;43;60;43;Fog in the morning;SE;5;56%;25%;3 Albuquerque, NM;76;52;56;45;Windy;E;22;59%;98%;1 Anchorage, AK;40;35;43;37;Showers around;NNE;7;86%;82%;0 Asheville, NC;80;50;76;52;Mostly cloudy;NW;7;55%;85%;3 Atlanta, GA;81;52;83;58;Partly sunny;WSW;6;50%;25%;5 Atlantic City, NJ;68;55;68;56;Partly sunny;S;7;51%;93%;3 Austin, TX;92;72;90;65;A shower and t-storm;ENE;6;62%;94%;2 Baltimore, MD;78;52;71;57;Becoming cloudy;SSE;5;49%;92%;4 Baton Rouge, LA;88;60;88;66;Mostly cloudy;SE;6;62%;30%;4 Billings, MT;64;38;64;41;Sunny;S;6;50%;3%;3 Birmingham, AL;83;54;82;58;High clouds;SW;7;55%;28%;5 Bismarck, ND;59;29;46;20;Cooler;N;12;42%;4%;3 Boise, ID;76;46;77;44;Sunny and warm;E;6;28%;0%;3 Boston, MA;70;51;67;48;Some sun;SSE;6;57%;12%;3 Bridgeport, CT;68;48;66;48;Partly sunny;SW;7;51%;55%;3 Buffalo, NY;55;41;61;45;Breezy in the a.m.;WSW;11;51%;59%;3 Burlington, VT;69;42;59;42;Decreasing clouds;SE;7;59%;16%;3 Caribou, ME;65;47;61;42;Becoming cloudy;N;5;62%;21%;3 Casper, WY;55;33;60;32;Sunny;S;6;48%;2%;4 Charleston, SC;76;56;82;64;Mostly sunny;S;7;49%;9%;5 Charleston, WV;77;47;72;47;Showers around;SW;7;67%;90%;2 Charlotte, NC;79;53;82;58;Mostly cloudy;SW;7;48%;53%;3 Cheyenne, WY;59;34;57;33;Partly sunny;WNW;7;53%;0%;4 Chicago, IL;54;44;56;32;Breezy;WNW;14;53%;5%;2 Cleveland, OH;57;45;65;44;Milder;W;13;48%;57%;4 Columbia, SC;82;52;86;61;Mostly sunny;SSW;7;46%;19%;5 Columbus, OH;60;40;69;39;Mostly sunny;WNW;9;43%;11%;4 Concord, NH;70;41;65;37;Some sun;SE;6;58%;11%;3 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;93;68;74;61;A shower and t-storm;NNE;9;77%;98%;1 Denver, CO;64;41;58;40;Partly sunny;SSW;6;60%;1%;4 Des Moines, IA;64;40;57;28;Breezy in the p.m.;NW;11;51%;5%;4 Detroit, MI;55;41;61;40;Becoming cloudy;W;9;53%;86%;3 Dodge City, KS;78;45;68;35;Partly sunny;NNE;11;49%;3%;4 Duluth, MN;45;38;43;26;A snow squall;NNW;15;64%;57%;2 El Paso, TX;85;60;73;53;Rain and a t-storm;NE;7;67%;99%;3 Fairbanks, AK;35;27;36;24;Mostly cloudy;NNE;6;70%;72%;1 Fargo, ND;53;31;43;22;Partly sunny, breezy;NNW;17;56%;25%;3 Grand Junction, CO;74;43;71;42;Partly sunny;ENE;7;35%;0%;4 Grand Rapids, MI;50;40;53;36;Inc. clouds;WNW;9;68%;88%;2 Hartford, CT;71;47;67;46;Sun, some clouds;SSW;6;55%;26%;4 Helena, MT;63;34;66;38;Sunny and pleasant;SSW;5;48%;0%;3 Honolulu, HI;86;73;87;73;Sunshine, pleasant;ENE;10;53%;14%;7 Houston, TX;90;72;89;70;A thundershower;ESE;7;66%;92%;4 Indianapolis, IN;60;41;66;35;Mostly sunny;WNW;9;48%;6%;4 Jackson, MS;88;58;85;62;Considerable clouds;WNW;6;58%;24%;3 Jacksonville, FL;82;60;86;65;Mostly sunny;SE;6;55%;10%;5 Juneau, AK;55;49;59;49;A shower in the p.m.;ESE;7;81%;100%;1 Kansas City, MO;74;47;68;37;Abundant sunshine;N;8;44%;4%;4 Knoxville, TN;83;55;73;53;A shower in the p.m.;WSW;8;68%;96%;1 Las Vegas, NV;88;62;83;60;Sunshine;NE;6;43%;0%;4 Lexington, KY;71;45;72;41;A shower;W;8;59%;83%;3 Little Rock, AR;91;62;71;52;Rain, a thunderstorm;NNW;7;82%;83%;2 Long Beach, CA;74;63;72;61;Low clouds breaking;WNW;6;70%;6%;3 Los Angeles, CA;70;61;73;59;Low clouds breaking;SW;6;75%;7%;4 Louisville, KY;68;46;74;43;Mostly sunny;WNW;8;50%;12%;4 Madison, WI;53;35;51;27;Mostly cloudy;NW;10;60%;3%;2 Memphis, TN;76;64;74;51;Rain, a thunderstorm;NW;6;75%;83%;2 Miami, FL;85;77;85;76;Showers around;NE;11;72%;94%;3 Milwaukee, WI;54;39;52;31;Breezy in the p.m.;WNW;12;59%;15%;3 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;54;36;45;26;Chilly with clearing;NW;15;55%;3%;2 Mobile, AL;83;59;84;67;Mostly cloudy;S;7;64%;31%;4 Montgomery, AL;85;51;83;59;Partly sunny;SW;5;54%;5%;5 Mt. Washington, NH;43;32;38;29;Breezy in the a.m.;SW;19;67%;13%;4 Nashville, TN;79;55;70;43;A few showers;WNW;8;70%;88%;1 New Orleans, LA;86;68;85;71;Humid;SE;8;66%;36%;5 New York, NY;70;53;66;54;Partly sunny;S;7;46%;60%;3 Newark, NJ;70;49;67;51;Clouds and sunshine;S;6;46%;61%;3 Norfolk, VA;78;54;77;60;Clouds and sun;S;5;55%;88%;4 Oklahoma City, OK;89;59;70;47;Rain, a thunderstorm;N;10;69%;64%;1 Olympia, WA;79;43;76;44;Hazy sun and smoky;WSW;5;62%;4%;3 Omaha, NE;71;42;60;29;Breezy and cooler;NNW;13;49%;6%;4 Orlando, FL;86;68;87;69;Sunshine, pleasant;ESE;8;60%;4%;5 Philadelphia, PA;74;51;69;55;Partly sunny;SSE;6;43%;83%;3 Phoenix, AZ;84;65;80;65;A t-shower in spots;WNW;5;54%;40%;4 Pittsburgh, PA;66;39;67;44;Mostly sunny;SW;7;47%;27%;4 Portland, ME;64;47;62;45;Some sun;SE;5;68%;5%;3 Portland, OR;83;56;80;50;Hazy sun and smoky;SSW;7;44%;4%;3 Providence, RI;71;48;69;45;Partly sunny;SSW;5;57%;14%;4 Raleigh, NC;78;53;81;59;Inc. clouds;SSW;6;52%;61%;4 Reno, NV;80;41;78;41;Sunny and warm;W;4;26%;0%;4 Richmond, VA;78;53;77;59;Becoming cloudy;SSW;7;56%;98%;4 Roswell, NM;85;56;59;50;Rain, a thunderstorm;N;11;74%;100%;1 Sacramento, CA;81;53;78;51;Partly sunny;S;7;56%;1%;4 Salt Lake City, UT;73;48;73;45;Mostly sunny;ESE;7;33%;0%;4 San Antonio, TX;92;71;91;67;A shower and t-storm;E;7;61%;90%;5 San Diego, CA;71;64;73;64;Low clouds breaking;NNW;7;70%;27%;2 San Francisco, CA;63;56;65;55;Low clouds breaking;W;11;67%;1%;2 Savannah, GA;81;54;83;62;Mostly sunny;S;6;53%;11%;5 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;78;56;79;52;Smoky with hazy sun;SSW;6;44%;4%;3 Sioux Falls, SD;67;35;51;23;Breezy and cooler;NNW;14;45%;4%;3 Spokane, WA;76;41;77;42;Hazy sun;E;6;45%;1%;3 Springfield, IL;58;39;65;32;Breezy in the p.m.;NW;11;50%;5%;4 St. Louis, MO;66;44;70;38;Sunny and pleasant;NNW;8;44%;4%;4 Tampa, FL;87;68;89;68;Sunny and humid;ESE;7;67%;11%;5 Toledo, OH;53;39;62;37;Increasing clouds;W;8;55%;64%;4 Tucson, AZ;82;60;76;57;A shower in places;NE;7;54%;40%;5 Tulsa, OK;86;57;72;44;Partly sunny, cooler;N;7;59%;18%;3 Vero Beach, FL;85;72;86;68;Sunshine, pleasant;E;10;63%;5%;6 Washington, DC;76;52;72;57;Becoming cloudy;S;6;55%;93%;4 Wichita, KS;80;50;73;38;Partly sunny;NNE;11;49%;2%;4 Wilmington, DE;74;49;69;54;Clouds and sun;SSE;6;47%;81%;3 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More…

Trump Media Fired Executive Whistleblower After He Spoke To Washington Post, Shared Documents https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-media-fired-executive-whistleblower-after-he-spoke-to-washington-post-shared-documents/ In this photo illustration, the social media platform, Truth Social logo seen displayed on a smartphone with a photo of former US President Donald Trump displayed in the background. Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images Former President Donald Trump’s media company fired an executive Thursday after he shared internal documents from a Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower complaint with The Washington Post and spoke with the newspaper, the news outlet reported Saturday. Will Wilkerson was a senior vice president of operations at Trump Media and Technology, which owns the social network Truth Social, and was one of the company’s first employees. Wilkerson filed the SEC whistleblower complaint in August, alleging that the company relied on “fraudulent misrepresentations … in violation of federal securities laws” in its bid to be taken public via an investment vehicle known as special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, according to the Post. In the article, he also described strife within Trump Media, including tension with CEO Devin Nunes, who, as a Republican congressman, was one of Trump’s most loyal defenders. Wilkerson also said another executive detailed how Trump pressured him to give shares in the company to his wife, Melania Trump. Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC seeking to take the media company public, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Wilkerson has CNBC also reached out to Wilkerson’s attorneys for comment. Trump Media fired Wilkerson for making “unauthorized disclosures” to the Post, the newspaper said. One of his lawyers called the firing a retalation against a whistleblower, according to the report. There are laws that protect whistleblowers. The report comes as DWAC pushes its shareholders to vote to delay its planned merger with Trump Media, which was announced last year. DWAC has warned it could liquidate if it doesn’t complete the merger, which would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump Media. DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando directed another of his companies to give DWAC funding to keep it afloat until December. He has already adjourned a shareholder meeting four times, an indication that he doesn’t have the shareholder support to delay the merger. The Trump Media-DWAC deal is being investigated by regulators at the SEC and prosecutors in the Justice Department. Trump Media has blamed the SEC for delaying the deal. In the article, he also described undisclosed discussions between Trump, his media company’s executives and Orlando last year, before DWAC went public and the deal was announced. Those talks may have violated SEC rules. Wilkerson shared internal logs, memos, photographs, videos and other material relevant to the SEC investigation with the Post. All of the materials were previously provided to government investigators, the Post said, citing Wilkerson’s attorneys. Trump Media had suspended the executive after the Miami Herald first reported the SEC complaint on Oct. 6, calling it a “blatant violation” of his nondisclosure agreement, the Post said. Read the full Washington Post report here. Read More…

When Was The Last Time Tennessee Beat Alabama? https://digitalalabamanews.com/when-was-the-last-time-tennessee-beat-alabama/ Saturday’s SEC showdown between the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers is the most anticipated matchup in this series’ history in quite some time. Since Nick Saban’s arrival to Tuscaloosa, AL, the historic “Third Saturday in October” has been completely one-sided, with the Tide dominating the Volunteers. The last time Tennessee defeated Alabama was in 2006, when the Vols edged the Crimson Tide 16-13 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN. The Vols managed to win despite quarterback Erik Ainge throwing three interceptions in the game. Future NFL Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster punched in a touchdown on the ground and caught five receptions for 42 yards in the victory. That 2006 game was a perfect illustration of how different both programs were the last time UT got the edge in the series. The Vols were nearing the end of national championship winning head coach Phillip Fulmer’s tenure in Knoxville, while the Tide were in the final year of the Mike Shula era. In fact, this loss helped lead to Shula’s ouster just one month later, setting the table for the hiring of Saban from the Miami Dolphins. Since then, well, here’s the results: Bama vs. Tennessee since 2007 Year Location Winner Score Loser Score Year Location Winner Score Loser Score 2007 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 41 Tennessee 17 2008 Knoxville, TN Alabama 29 Tennessee 9 2009 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 12 Tennessee 10 2010 Knoxville, TN Alabama 41 Tennessee 10 2011 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 37 Tennessee 6 2012 Knoxville, TN Alabama 44 Tennessee 13 2013 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 45 Tennessee 10 2014 Knoxville, TN Alabama 34 Tennessee 20 2015 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 19 Tennessee 14 2016 Knoxville, TN Alabama 49 Tennessee 10 2017 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 45 Tennessee 7 2018 Knoxville, TN Alabama 58 Tennessee 21 2019 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 35 Tennessee 13 2020 Knoxville, TN Alabama 48 Tennessee 17 2021 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 52 Tennessee 24 A win on Saturday would snap a 15-game losing streak in this series for Tennessee. Read More…

US Forecast https://digitalalabamanews.com/us-forecast-74/ 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;68;43;60;43;Fog in the morning;SE;5;56%;25%;3 Albuquerque, NM;76;52;56;45;Windy;E;22;59%;98%;1 Anchorage, AK;40;35;43;37;Showers around;NNE;7;86%;82%;0 Asheville, NC;80;50;76;52;Mostly cloudy;NW;7;55%;85%;3 Atlanta, GA;81;52;83;58;Partly sunny;WSW;6;50%;25%;5 Atlantic City, NJ;68;55;68;56;Partly sunny;S;7;51%;93%;3 Austin, TX;92;72;90;65;A shower and t-storm;ENE;6;62%;94%;2 Baltimore, MD;78;52;71;57;Becoming cloudy;SSE;5;49%;92%;4 Baton Rouge, LA;88;60;88;66;Mostly cloudy;SE;6;62%;30%;4 Billings, MT;64;38;64;41;Sunny;S;6;50%;3%;3 Birmingham, AL;83;54;82;58;High clouds;SW;7;55%;28%;5 Bismarck, ND;59;29;46;20;Cooler;N;12;42%;4%;3 Boise, ID;76;46;77;44;Sunny and warm;E;6;28%;0%;3 Boston, MA;70;51;67;48;Some sun;SSE;6;57%;12%;3 Bridgeport, CT;68;48;66;48;Partly sunny;SW;7;51%;55%;3 Buffalo, NY;55;41;61;45;Breezy in the a.m.;WSW;11;51%;59%;3 Burlington, VT;69;42;59;42;Decreasing clouds;SE;7;59%;16%;3 Caribou, ME;65;47;61;42;Becoming cloudy;N;5;62%;21%;3 Casper, WY;55;33;60;32;Sunny;S;6;48%;2%;4 Charleston, SC;76;56;82;64;Mostly sunny;S;7;49%;9%;5 Charleston, WV;77;47;72;47;Showers around;SW;7;67%;90%;2 Charlotte, NC;79;53;82;58;Mostly cloudy;SW;7;48%;53%;3 Cheyenne, WY;59;34;57;33;Partly sunny;WNW;7;53%;0%;4 Chicago, IL;54;44;56;32;Breezy;WNW;14;53%;5%;2 Cleveland, OH;57;45;65;44;Milder;W;13;48%;57%;4 Columbia, SC;82;52;86;61;Mostly sunny;SSW;7;46%;19%;5 Columbus, OH;60;40;69;39;Mostly sunny;WNW;9;43%;11%;4 Concord, NH;70;41;65;37;Some sun;SE;6;58%;11%;3 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;93;68;74;61;A shower and t-storm;NNE;9;77%;98%;1 Denver, CO;64;41;58;40;Partly sunny;SSW;6;60%;1%;4 Des Moines, IA;64;40;57;28;Breezy in the p.m.;NW;11;51%;5%;4 Detroit, MI;55;41;61;40;Becoming cloudy;W;9;53%;86%;3 Dodge City, KS;78;45;68;35;Partly sunny;NNE;11;49%;3%;4 Duluth, MN;45;38;43;26;A snow squall;NNW;15;64%;57%;2 El Paso, TX;85;60;73;53;Rain and a t-storm;NE;7;67%;99%;3 Fairbanks, AK;35;27;36;24;Mostly cloudy;NNE;6;70%;72%;1 Fargo, ND;53;31;43;22;Partly sunny, breezy;NNW;17;56%;25%;3 Grand Junction, CO;74;43;71;42;Partly sunny;ENE;7;35%;0%;4 Grand Rapids, MI;50;40;53;36;Inc. clouds;WNW;9;68%;88%;2 Hartford, CT;71;47;67;46;Sun, some clouds;SSW;6;55%;26%;4 Helena, MT;63;34;66;38;Sunny and pleasant;SSW;5;48%;0%;3 Honolulu, HI;86;73;87;73;Sunshine, pleasant;ENE;10;53%;14%;7 Houston, TX;90;72;89;70;A thundershower;ESE;7;66%;92%;4 Indianapolis, IN;60;41;66;35;Mostly sunny;WNW;9;48%;6%;4 Jackson, MS;88;58;85;62;Considerable clouds;WNW;6;58%;24%;3 Jacksonville, FL;82;60;86;65;Mostly sunny;SE;6;55%;10%;5 Juneau, AK;55;49;59;49;A shower in the p.m.;ESE;7;81%;100%;1 Kansas City, MO;74;47;68;37;Abundant sunshine;N;8;44%;4%;4 Knoxville, TN;83;55;73;53;A shower in the p.m.;WSW;8;68%;96%;1 Las Vegas, NV;88;62;83;60;Sunshine;NE;6;43%;0%;4 Lexington, KY;71;45;72;41;A shower;W;8;59%;83%;3 Little Rock, AR;91;62;71;52;Rain, a thunderstorm;NNW;7;82%;83%;2 Long Beach, CA;74;63;72;61;Low clouds breaking;WNW;6;70%;6%;3 Los Angeles, CA;70;61;73;59;Low clouds breaking;SW;6;75%;7%;4 Louisville, KY;68;46;74;43;Mostly sunny;WNW;8;50%;12%;4 Madison, WI;53;35;51;27;Mostly cloudy;NW;10;60%;3%;2 Memphis, TN;76;64;74;51;Rain, a thunderstorm;NW;6;75%;83%;2 Miami, FL;85;77;85;76;Showers around;NE;11;72%;94%;3 Milwaukee, WI;54;39;52;31;Breezy in the p.m.;WNW;12;59%;15%;3 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;54;36;45;26;Chilly with clearing;NW;15;55%;3%;2 Mobile, AL;83;59;84;67;Mostly cloudy;S;7;64%;31%;4 Montgomery, AL;85;51;83;59;Partly sunny;SW;5;54%;5%;5 Mt. Washington, NH;43;32;38;29;Breezy in the a.m.;SW;19;67%;13%;4 Nashville, TN;79;55;70;43;A few showers;WNW;8;70%;88%;1 New Orleans, LA;86;68;85;71;Humid;SE;8;66%;36%;5 New York, NY;70;53;66;54;Partly sunny;S;7;46%;60%;3 Newark, NJ;70;49;67;51;Clouds and sunshine;S;6;46%;61%;3 Norfolk, VA;78;54;77;60;Clouds and sun;S;5;55%;88%;4 Oklahoma City, OK;89;59;70;47;Rain, a thunderstorm;N;10;69%;64%;1 Olympia, WA;79;43;76;44;Hazy sun and smoky;WSW;5;62%;4%;3 Omaha, NE;71;42;60;29;Breezy and cooler;NNW;13;49%;6%;4 Orlando, FL;86;68;87;69;Sunshine, pleasant;ESE;8;60%;4%;5 Philadelphia, PA;74;51;69;55;Partly sunny;SSE;6;43%;83%;3 Phoenix, AZ;84;65;80;65;A t-shower in spots;WNW;5;54%;40%;4 Pittsburgh, PA;66;39;67;44;Mostly sunny;SW;7;47%;27%;4 Portland, ME;64;47;62;45;Some sun;SE;5;68%;5%;3 Portland, OR;83;56;80;50;Hazy sun and smoky;SSW;7;44%;4%;3 Providence, RI;71;48;69;45;Partly sunny;SSW;5;57%;14%;4 Raleigh, NC;78;53;81;59;Inc. clouds;SSW;6;52%;61%;4 Reno, NV;80;41;78;41;Sunny and warm;W;4;26%;0%;4 Richmond, VA;78;53;77;59;Becoming cloudy;SSW;7;56%;98%;4 Roswell, NM;85;56;59;50;Rain, a thunderstorm;N;11;74%;100%;1 Sacramento, CA;81;53;78;51;Partly sunny;S;7;56%;1%;4 Salt Lake City, UT;73;48;73;45;Mostly sunny;ESE;7;33%;0%;4 San Antonio, TX;92;71;91;67;A shower and t-storm;E;7;61%;90%;5 San Diego, CA;71;64;73;64;Low clouds breaking;NNW;7;70%;27%;2 San Francisco, CA;63;56;65;55;Low clouds breaking;W;11;67%;1%;2 Savannah, GA;81;54;83;62;Mostly sunny;S;6;53%;11%;5 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;78;56;79;52;Smoky with hazy sun;SSW;6;44%;4%;3 Sioux Falls, SD;67;35;51;23;Breezy and cooler;NNW;14;45%;4%;3 Spokane, WA;76;41;77;42;Hazy sun;E;6;45%;1%;3 Springfield, IL;58;39;65;32;Breezy in the p.m.;NW;11;50%;5%;4 St. Louis, MO;66;44;70;38;Sunny and pleasant;NNW;8;44%;4%;4 Tampa, FL;87;68;89;68;Sunny and humid;ESE;7;67%;11%;5 Toledo, OH;53;39;62;37;Increasing clouds;W;8;55%;64%;4 Tucson, AZ;82;60;76;57;A shower in places;NE;7;54%;40%;5 Tulsa, OK;86;57;72;44;Partly sunny, cooler;N;7;59%;18%;3 Vero Beach, FL;85;72;86;68;Sunshine, pleasant;E;10;63%;5%;6 Washington, DC;76;52;72;57;Becoming cloudy;S;6;55%;93%;4 Wichita, KS;80;50;73;38;Partly sunny;NNE;11;49%;2%;4 Wilmington, DE;74;49;69;54;Clouds and sun;SSE;6;47%;81%;3 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More…

D.A. To Charge Raleigh Shooting Suspect As An Adult As Chilling 911 Calls Describe Chaos, Bodies On The Ground https://digitalalabamanews.com/d-a-to-charge-raleigh-shooting-suspect-as-an-adult-as-chilling-911-calls-describe-chaos-bodies-on-the-ground/ RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina district attorney said Friday that she intends to charge the 15-year-old suspected in a mass shooting that killed five people in Raleigh as an adult.  Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said that her office had filed petitions to transfer the case “to Superior Court and to proceed against the individual as an adult.” The suspect, who has not been identified, remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday, authorities said.  Freeman’s announcement came as a neighborhood northeast of Raleigh was left reeling and families of those killed mourned their loss. In 911 calls released Friday, several people described seeing bodies on the ground and begged the operators to send help. “There’s people out front,” one man said. “I think someone just got shot. I think I heard three or four gunshots. There were people screaming.” Another caller said that two of her neighbors had been shot and that one was lying in a bush and the other on a porch. “We heard the shots and we heard them screaming,” she said. “And so we got down.” In another call, a man said an off-duty officer had been shot in the chest and described the shooter as wearing “all camouflage.” The massacre unfolded Thursday evening on the street and then along the Neuse River Greenway as people were walking their dogs or out for a run, police said. The victims ranged in age from 16 to their 50s and have been identified as Nicole Connors, 52; Susan Karnatz, 49; Mary Marshall, 35; Gabriel Torres, 29, an off-duty Raleigh police officer who was on his way to work; and James Thompson, 16.  Two people were injured in the attack: Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark, 33, who was treated and released from a hospital, and Marcille Gardner, 59, who was listed in critical condition. Saynya Jones described her family’s harrowing encounter with the gunman. “My family was outside actually walking back on the greenway where he walked down and they had to run into somebody’s house,” Jones, 32, said Friday. Jones lives a few houses down from Torres, one of the victims. “He shot somebody in the park and then came down and shot my neighbor while he was coming out to get something in the car.” “Why did a 15-year-old have access to stuff like that?” she said of the suspect’s weapon. Officials said the suspect was taken into custody after a “long standoff” with police and was in critical condition. Nicole Connors and her dog, Sami, were shot and killed.Courtesy Tracey Howard Connors was killed alongside her dog, Sami, a roughly 13-year-old Jack Russell mix. Her husband remembered her Friday as a “go-getter” and a caring person who always “looked out for” others. She was a “caregiver” who left a job in human resources to care for her mother after she had a stroke, her husband, Tracey Howard, told NBC News on Friday morning. She always knew how to “take charge of everything” in order to help her loved ones, Howard said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I always thought it would be me to go before she went,” he said. Mary Marshall, 35, was to be married at the end of the month.Mary Marshall via Facebook / via Facebook Marshall, another victim of the shooting, was set to be married in two weeks, Oct. 29, her sister Meaghan McCrickard said on Friday.  “Her fiancé Rob, he was just the love of her life,” McCrickard said. “I think we’re going to still do a celebration of life, that’s the plan, for the date of the wedding.” “She is just a light. She loved everyone. The most loyal, loving person I’ve ever known. And we just want people to know that about her,” McCrickard said. But the family is still “numb” and in “disbelief.”  Ginny Marshall, Marshall’s mother, sobbed as she spoke about the loss of her daughter.  “Mary’s birthday is next week and she was going to be married in two weeks,” she said with tears running down her cheeks. “We don’t know what to do.” McCrickard said she wants the shooter to survive his injuries and face justice.  “I want him to know what he did and how he completely shattered our lives and we are never going to be the same. I don’t want him to get off,” she said. Susan Karnatz had three boys and loved nature, her sister said.Sue Butler Karnatz via Facebook Karnatz, a wife and mother to three boys, “loved life and nature, and had the most gentle of hearts,” her sister, Sharon Butler Kaivani, wrote in a post on Facebook. “She loved her family fiercely and there is a big hole there now,” she wrote. “As is the case for so many who lose loved ones too soon, the tragedy seems so very senseless, and I just can’t understand it.”  “I know that this loss is one of many yesterday, affecting so many people. Profoundly. Other families are aching just as we are,” she wrote. Tom Karnatz, Susan’s husband, wrote a tribute to his wife describing “plans together for big adventures” and “plans together for the mundane days in between,” plans with their three children and plans to grow old together. “Now those plans are laid to waste,” he wrote.  Instead, the couple now has “memories together of joyous occasions” and “memories together of plain times in between,” memories from before their children were born and “many memories together” with their boys. Keith Richardson, principal of Knightdale High School, said in a statement Friday that Thompson, the youngest victim, was a junior at the school. “This is an incredibly difficult time for our school community as well as the broader Raleigh community,” Richardson wrote in a statement. “Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to James’ family, the other victims, their families and all who have been impacted by yesterday’s events.” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the shooting spree “the nightmare of every community.” President Joe Biden said Friday that he was grieving alongside the families of loved ones killed “in yet mass shooting in America” and called for a ban on assault weapons. “We are thinking of yet another community shaken and shattered as they mourn the loss of friends and neighbors, including an off-duty police officer,” Biden said in a statement. Daniella Silva and Marlene Lenthang reported from New York, and Jo Yurcaba reported from North Carolina. Read More…

Evin Prison Fire: Gun Shots And Sirens Heard At Notorious Detention Centre https://digitalalabamanews.com/evin-prison-fire-gun-shots-and-sirens-heard-at-notorious-detention-centre/ Image source, Twitter Image caption, Images posted online appear to show a fire at Evin prison. A fire has broken out at Iran’s notorious Evin prison, with footage posted online showing flames and smoke billowing from the area. Gun shots and alarms have been reported as coming from the jail, the primary site for detaining political prisoners. An official quoted by state media said “troubles” involving “criminal elements” were to blame for the blaze. The fire comes as Iran continues to be rocked by its most intense unrest in decades. Protests have been taking place in at least a dozen cities across the country once again on Saturday. They first erupted last month when anger over the death in police custody of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini boiled over. Officials say she died from an underlying health condition, but her family say she died after being beaten by morality police. Hundreds of those detained during the protests have reportedly been sent to Evin. Anti-government monitoring group 1500tasvir posted videos of the fire online, in one of which chants of “death to the dictator” – one of the main slogans of the anti-government protest movement – could be heard in the background. The state news agency said that the inmates in one of the wings had set fire to one of the storage rooms of the prison, however, the BBC is unable to independently confirm this report. Official news agency IRNA also said the unrest which led to the fire was over and quoted an unnamed official as saying that “troubles” erupted between inmates and guards in the section of the prison holding “thugs”, appearing to suggest that political prisoners were not involved. “The situation is currently completely under control,” IRNA quoted the unnamed source as saying. Riot police were seen entering the prison and state media also reported that firefighters are at the scene, while there are reports that special forces have been deployed to the area. Security forces are also reported to have closed the roads leading to the prison. A witness told Reuters news agency that “families of prisoners have gathered in front of the main door”. They added: “I can see fire and smoke. Lots of special forces. Ambulances are here too.” As well as political prisoners, journalists, and many dual and foreign nationals are also imprisoned in Evin. British-Iranian dual nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were both held on spying charges, which they denied, before their release earlier this year. They were imprisoned for six and five years respectively. The prison has long been criticised by Western rights groups. Human Rights Watch has accused authorities at the prison of using threats of torture and of indefinite imprisonment, as well as lengthy interrogations and denial of medical care for detainees. A group of hackers calling themselves Edalat-e Ali (Ali’s Justice) posted videos in August last year of leaked surveillance footage from Evin prison showing guards beating or mistreating inmates. Read More…

Giuliani's Lawyers Submit Witness List For Upcoming DC Attorney Discipline Hearing – KRDO https://digitalalabamanews.com/giulianis-lawyers-submit-witness-list-for-upcoming-dc-attorney-discipline-hearing-krdo/ By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Rudy Giuliani‘s attorneys plan to rely on several prominent former advisers to Donald Trump as witnesses in an upcoming attorney discipline hearing in Washington, DC, for the onetime Trump lawyer. Giuliani’s list of witnesses includes the former New York City mayor himself, along with other notable names related to the former President’s attempt to challenge his 2020 election loss in court. Those include Peter Navarro, Corey Lewandowski, Jenna Ellis and Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, according to a filing on Friday in the proceeding. The DC bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which has brought an ethics case against Giuliani as a member of the DC bar, says he was pushing unsubstantiated election fraud accusations in a Pennsylvania federal court on behalf of Trump. In oral arguments for the lawsuit filed days after the 2020 election, Giuliani claimed, without evidence, that the “best description of this situation is it’s widespread, nationwide voter fraud of which this is a part.” The disciplinary filings allege that Giuliani sought to “leverage the lawful rejection of two ballots by non-defendant counties into invalidating up to 1.5 million votes already counted.” The DC bar also charges that there was no “legal basis” for the constitutional claims Giuliani pursued in the Pennsylvania litigation. The disciplinary office proceeding, called a charge, further puts Giuliani’s status as a lawyer in jeopardy. An upcoming hearing in December will be akin to a trial and takes place before a committee that will make findings and could make recommendations for possible professional sanctions of Giuliani, a former US Attorney. Giuliani had already been suspended from practicing law by the New York bar as that office also investigates his election fraud efforts on behalf of Trump in court. The DC Court of Appeals has the ultimate authority over the bar’s disciplinary proceedings, and the court reviews and approves any disciplinary actions that include the suspension or disbarment of an attorney accused of misconduct. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report. Read More…

LSU Vs. Florida By The Numbers https://digitalalabamanews.com/lsu-vs-florida-by-the-numbers/ LSU (4-2, 2-1) at Florida (4-2, 1-2) 6 p.m. CDT Saturday (ESPN) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida 1 LSU offensive lineman has started every game this season – Miles Frazier, but he has started at three positions. Frazier has been the starting left guard in three games, right guard in two games and right tackle in one game. 2 Of the past 33 Florida-LSU games have featured two unranked teams, including Saturday’s game. Since unranked Florida defeated unranked LSU 16-13 on Oct. 7, 1989, the teams have squared off in their annually rivalry as unranked opponents only once before Saturday – when LSU defeated Florida 30-27 in 2014. The series is tied 5-5-1 when both teams are unranked. MORE SEC FOOTBALL BY THE NUMBERS: · TOP 10 FOR WEEK 7 · TOP 10 FROM WEEK 6 2 Punts in the past three games for Florida’s Jeremy Crawshaw, who punted once against Tennessee on Sept. 24 and once against Missouri on Oct. 8. Florida did not need to punt against Eastern Washington on Oct. 2. 3 TD passes and 1 TD run for Florida QB Anthony Richardson in 16:47 of second-half clock time in the Gators’ 49-42 loss to LSU last season. Richardson sparked Florida after entering the game in the second half. Richardson has five TD passes and five TD runs for the Gators in 2022. 7 Teams in the nation have allowed their opponents to convert at least half of their third-down snaps into first downs this season, including Florida. The 85 third-down plays against the Gators defense have yielded 43 first downs. The teams that have been worse on third-down defense than Florida are Colorado, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Northern Illinois and Oregon. Washington has allowed the same conversion rate as Florida. The LSU offense has converted 46 percent of its third-down snaps into first downs (37-of-91). 30 Games against Florida for LSU without reaching 300 passing yards. LSU hasn’t passed for 300 yards in a game against Florida since throwing for 339 in a 28-21 loss on Oct. 10, 1992. The Tigers have passed for at least 300 yards in three games this season, including last week against Tennessee. 33 Victories for Florida, 32 victories for LSU and three ties in the Gators-Tigers series. LSU has won the past three meetings. The Tigers have won four consecutive games against the Gators once – from 1977 through 1980. Florida leads the series 16-14-3 in Gainesville. The teams have squared off annually since 1971. 429 Games have been played by Florida since it was most recently shut out, the longest scoring streak in major-college football history by 57 games. The Gators haven’t been blanked since losing to Auburn 16-0 on Oct. 29, 1988. 2,937 Yards of offense have been piled up on the past three Florida-LSU games. Even though the Gators have outgained the Tigers 1,554 to 1,383 yards in those games, LSU won all three. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Tim Ryan https://digitalalabamanews.com/tim-ryan/ At least one Democrat has started to figure out how to exploit a GOP weakness. He’s Tim Ryan, who is running against J.D. Vance for Ohio’s open Senate seat. What has Ryan figured out? He’s calling out Vance as a beta male. Look, in a different world – say, the planet Vulcan – where the inhabitants, like Mr. Spock, were unburdened by primitive passions and instincts, everyone would make decisions about political candidates based entirely upon rational policy choices. But that’s not how humans operate. Part of politics is about policies, of course. But beneath the surface – and these days, not very far beneath the surface – political combat partakes of the dog park. There are rituals of alpha dominance and beta submission. Recall that in July 1988, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was running 17 points ahead of Vice President George H.W. Bush. Nothing crashed his numbers more surely than his response to a debate question. CNN’s Bernard Shaw, noting the governor’s opposition to the death penalty, asked whether, if Dukakis’ wife, Kitty, were raped and murdered, he thought he might change his view. Dukakis responded: “No, I don’t, Bernard, and I think you know that I’ve opposed the death penalty during all of my life.” Now, granted, it was a bad question, because all of us would respond with rage if someone we loved were raped and murdered, and that’s not the best way to make policy. So Dukakis’ answer was perfectly appropriate as a policy matter, but it was a disaster as a political matter. Voters thought he was some sort of machine bereft of human feelings and betraying his role as manly wife defender. Candidates have long performed at two levels in debates, parrying and thrusting about issues but also asserting dominance in mammalian code. In 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush were seated on chairs without lecterns for a townhall-style debate. At one point, as Bush was speaking, Gore strode over to his side of the stage and right into Bush’s personal space. Bush looked at him and gave him a curt nod as if to say, “I see what you’re doing, and it’s not working.” So voters want their leaders to be assertive and commanding. That has always been the case, and in recent decades, before the Trump era, it was kept within reasonable bounds. Trump, of course, made the subtext the headline, proclaiming, “I alone can fix it,” and claiming to be the smartest, toughest, wealthiest, savviest, most capable leader the world had ever seen. Like his hero, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who posed shirtless on horseback and with big game “kills,” Trump took the alpha posturing to absurd lengths. Actually, if Trump had merely pretended to kill tigers, it would have been less offensive than his promises to commit war crimes (such as targeting the families of terrorists). It remains a mystery that these absurd boasts by the most obviously insecure manchild in living memory were not met with the ridicule they deserved. But here we are. Trump’s image as some sort of Rambo persists with his most perfervid followers, and even non-MAGAites continue to see him as strong. Most Democrats have responded to the Trump alpha gorilla routine by reminding voters that he’s dangerous and unhinged. It’s all true. But in the process of strutting as cock of the walk, Trump has emasculated every other Republican. He may look strong, but he demands that every other Republican become weak in his service. Men like Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have abased themselves to remain in Trump’s good graces. Cruz performed one of the most humiliating kowtows, tamely accepting insults to his wife’s appearance, to say nothing of Trump’s lunatic assertion that Cruz’s father had a role in the Kennedy assassination. They all hold their manhoods cheap. And because Trump is vindictive, petty and cruel, he couldn’t resist reminding an Ohio audience that J.D. Vance, the candidate he had come to support but who had once been a Trump critic, was “kissing my ass.” At their first debate on Monday, Ryan took the shot. Reminding viewers that he had stood up to leaders of his own party including Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders, he noted that Vance was such a Trump lackey that even Trump had described it in those terms. Pressing the point, he recalled that even after Trump had “taken his dignity away from him,” Vance had returned to the stage to shake Trump’s hand and smile for the camera. Hitting the everyman theme, Ryan offered, almost with pity, that “I don’t know anybody I grew up with, I don’t know anybody I went to high school with, that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that and then get back up on stage.” Ryan thus simultaneously elevated his own alpha status while reinforcing Vance’s weakness. Every Republican who has bent the knee to Trump – male or female – is vulnerable in this way. Ryan has taught Democrats something. Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the “Beg to Differ” podcast. Her most recent book is “Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense.” To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com. Read More…

Giuliani's Lawyers Submit Witness List For Upcoming DC Attorney Discipline Hearing – ABC17NEWS https://digitalalabamanews.com/giulianis-lawyers-submit-witness-list-for-upcoming-dc-attorney-discipline-hearing-abc17news/ By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Rudy Giuliani‘s attorneys plan to rely on several prominent former advisers to Donald Trump as witnesses in an upcoming attorney discipline hearing in Washington, DC, for the onetime Trump lawyer. Giuliani’s list of witnesses includes the former New York City mayor himself, along with other notable names related to the former President’s attempt to challenge his 2020 election loss in court. Those include Peter Navarro, Corey Lewandowski, Jenna Ellis and Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, according to a filing on Friday in the proceeding. The DC bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which has brought an ethics case against Giuliani as a member of the DC bar, says he was pushing unsubstantiated election fraud accusations in a Pennsylvania federal court on behalf of Trump. In oral arguments for the lawsuit filed days after the 2020 election, Giuliani claimed, without evidence, that the “best description of this situation is it’s widespread, nationwide voter fraud of which this is a part.” The disciplinary filings allege that Giuliani sought to “leverage the lawful rejection of two ballots by non-defendant counties into invalidating up to 1.5 million votes already counted.” The DC bar also charges that there was no “legal basis” for the constitutional claims Giuliani pursued in the Pennsylvania litigation. The disciplinary office proceeding, called a charge, further puts Giuliani’s status as a lawyer in jeopardy. An upcoming hearing in December will be akin to a trial and takes place before a committee that will make findings and could make recommendations for possible professional sanctions of Giuliani, a former US Attorney. Giuliani had already been suspended from practicing law by the New York bar as that office also investigates his election fraud efforts on behalf of Trump in court. The DC Court of Appeals has the ultimate authority over the bar’s disciplinary proceedings, and the court reviews and approves any disciplinary actions that include the suspension or disbarment of an attorney accused of misconduct. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report. Read More…

Netanyahu Book Details Frustration With Trump https://digitalalabamanews.com/netanyahu-book-details-frustration-with-trump/ i24NEWS October 15, 2022, 06:41 PM 2 min read SAUL LOEB / AFPUS president Donald Trump watches as Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, United States, September 15, 2020. Netanyahu details in his memoir using visual aids for Trump, including ‘simple slides’ Israeli Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in his upcoming memoir his frustration with former US president Donald Trump’s “fixation with the Palestinians” when they both served as leaders of their respective countries.  Netanyahu was reportedly determined to put off dealing with the Palestinian issue and instead focus on pursuing peace with neighboring Arab states. This led to the US-brokered Abraham Accords, which saw the Jewish state normalize ties with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.  According to The Guardian, which obtained an advanced copy of Netanyahu’s memoir “Bibi: My Story,” the former premier described his frustration with Trump’s “fixation” rather than “a great political deal of peace with Arab states that I believed was around the corner.” Netanyahu detailed using visual aids for Trump – reportedly known for not reading most briefings – saying he showed “a simple slide for the president” while trying to convince the president that peace with the Palestinians was not feasible.   “It showed the distance from Tel Aviv to the 1967 lines to which the Palestinians demanded we retreat. Superimposed on the map was the distance from Trump Tower to the George Washington Bridge” to represent that the distances were very similar. “‘Mr. President,’ I said, ‘would you let a regime that wants to annihilate you set up a state at the George Washington Bridge? Of course not. Neither would we,’” the memoir continued, according to The Guardian. Netanyahu continued that the prospects of achieving peace with the Palestinians compared to other Arab countries were described using golf terms such as “hole-in-one” and “30-foot putt.”  “The president got it. For the time being, at least, we had certainly moved him to a better place.” Read More…

Live Updates: Raleigh Shooting Suspect May Be Tried As An Adult; Brother Among Victims https://digitalalabamanews.com/live-updates-raleigh-shooting-suspect-may-be-tried-as-an-adult-brother-among-victims/ READ MORE Raleigh shooting coverage Seven people were shot in Raleigh, NC, near the Neuse River Greenway Trail. Five were killed, including a Raleigh police officer. Check back for the latest updates from The N&O’s breaking news team. Expand All One day after the deadly shooting in Raleigh that injured two and claimed five lives, including an off-duty police officer, a suspect is in custody and the city reels from the losses. The shooting Thursday was one of the worst in North Carolina history. Friday morning, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson named the victims at the press conference. Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29 Nicole Connors, 53 Susan Karnatz, 49 Mary Marshall, 34 James Thompson, 16 READ MORE: What we know about the victims of the Raleigh shootings The Raleigh Police Department confirmed that a 15-year-old boy was in custody with life-threatening injuries, as of 9:37 p.m. Thursday night. More details about the identity of the shooter have not been released but sources have confirmed to The News & Observer that the suspect is Austin Thompson, the younger brother of James. In total, the suspect shot seven people Thursday in the Hedingham neighborhood in northeast Raleigh near Osprey Cove and Bay Harbor Drive just after 5 p.m. Two other victims shot in the incident were treated for injuries at a local hospital. One of those victims was a Raleigh police senior officer who had non-life threatening injuries, according to Raleigh Police. Another, Marcille Lynn Gardner, is still in the hospital in critical condition. As of Saturday morning, the investigation remains active. Check back here for live updates on the latest news. GoFundMe pages for victims Updated 11:03 a.m. A GoFundMe page organized by Back the Blue North Carolina, a non-profit that supports law enforcement, has garnered almost $35,000 in donations as of Saturday morning. The proceeds from the page will be given to the surviving family members of Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres, according to the group. The 29-year-old officer was on the job for 18 months when he was shot and killed Thursday, on his way to work. Another fundraiser for Marcille Lynn Gardner has raised almost $8,000. Gardner was shot and severely injured in the incident and is in the ICU but is in stable condition, according to the GoFundMe page for her. The donations are intended to help with medical bills and her recovery as she has “many surgeries ahead of her,” according to the GoFundMe page. Gardner turned 60 years old on Saturday. —Kristen Johnson, @kristensuzettee A call for gun control Updated 7:04 p.m. Friday. Leaders of local civil rights and gun safety groups renewed calls on state lawmakers and city officials Friday to take action to prevent gun violence after Thursday’s mass shooting left five people dead. Becky Ceartas, executive director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, said she grieved with the families who had lost their loved ones. She said it was also important to remember other kinds of gun violence that impact cities like Raleigh every day, including community gun violence, homicides, suicides and domestic violence. “Gun violence is incredibly tragic because of the lives that are stolen, and because there are policies and programs that we know work, and we know must be put in place now,” Ceartas said at a press conference Friday afternoon. Ceartas and other advocates called on city officials to invest in community violence intervention strategies, which include direct intervention to help resolve conflicts and stop violence before it happens, and support services for survivors of gun violence. Advocates also called on state lawmakers to pass a red flag law, which enables authorities to temporarily confiscate an individual’s guns if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. Such legislation has been introduced by Democratic lawmakers but hasn’t advanced in either chamber of the Republican-controlled General Assembly. “This evening, we will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter, and we’ll tell them we love them. And we’ll remind each other how much deeply we love each other,” said Gerald Givens Jr., the president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP. “But some Raleigh families don’t get to do that tonight.” Givens also urged gun owners to make sure their firearms are stored securely, especially during the upcoming holiday season. “We have suffered too much from these tragedies over the years,” Givens said. —Avi Bajpai, @avibajpai_ Billy Graham chaplains to come to Raleigh Updated 5:53 p.m. Friday. Chaplains from Billy Graham Ministries are headed to Raleigh in response to the mass shooting. A mobile ministry center will be set up at the Hedingham Community Pool on Grand Traverse Drive as “a hub for prayer and conversation with locals.” The news release did not say when the center would be set up or how long it would stay. All of the victims lived in the neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Neuse River Greenway trail. —Anna Johnson, @Anna_M_Johnson ‘We heard them screaming’ Updated 4:08 p.m. Friday. In 911 calls received to the Raleigh Police Department Thursday night, callers are heard describing the scene to the dispatcher. Those who saw the shooter say he was dressed in camouflage and carrying a long gun that looked like a shot gun. One caller was the friend of slain Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres who said Torres was “bleeding from his chest.” Another said she heard the incident happen and saw people on the ground: “We heard the shots, and we heard them screaming. And so we got down because we heard it was a gun.” —Richard Stradling, @RStradling & Kimberly Cataudella, @kcataudella Knightdale High postpones homecoming Updated 3:58 p.m. Friday. Hours after learning 16-year-old James Thompson, a junior at Knightdale High School, was shot and killed in Raleigh, the school postponed their homecoming events that were scheduled for Friday night. The school’s football game, against Rolesville High School, is rescheduled to Monday night. The homecoming tailgate party, and homecoming court and dance are rescheduled for Oct. 28. —Martha Quillin, @MarthaQuillin Suspect identified as victim’s brother Updated 3:42 p.m. Friday. Sources have confirmed for The News & Observer that the suspect in Thursday night’s mass shooting is 15-year-old Austin Thompson, a sophomore at Knightdale High School and the brother of 16-year-old shooting victim James Thompson. Austin Thompson is hospitalized in critical condition at WakeMed, where he was taken after being captured by police Thursday night. —Anna Johnson, @Anna_M_Johnson Potential charges Updated 3:28 p.m. On Friday afternoon, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The N&O that she has begun the process of moving this case from juvenile court to Superior Court. Her office has filed petitions for a probable cause hearing, the first step in transferring the case to Superior Court. Because these petitions were filed in juvenile court, Freeman’s office has not released the suspect’s name. Pending the suspect’s health, Freeman said a probable cause hearing is typically held within 15 days of the incident. If probable cause is determined, the case will automatically be moved to superior court, per a North Carolina law that elevates Class A felonies to superior court under these circumstances. “In this situation, there’s no question the mass loss of life, in my opinion, this case be transferred and tried in superior court,” Freeman said. —Colleen Hammond, @colleenchamm ‘Enough’ President Joe Biden released a statement Friday afternoon regarding the deadly shooting in Raleigh saying, “Enough. We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shooting.’ “Too many families have had spouses, parents, and children taken from them forever,” he said. “This year, and even in just the five months since Buffalo and Uvalde, there are too many mass shootings across America, including ones that don’t even make the national news.” The president also renewed his call for a ban on assault weapons. Raleigh Police have not confirmed if the weapon used Thursday was an assault weapon. Several elected officials released statements about the tragedy mourning the losses and some, calling for action. “Now more than ever, it’s clear we have to make real, tangible progress and make sure our communities are safe from gun violence,” said N.C. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri. —Kristen Johnson, @kristensuzettee Section of Neuse River greenway closed The City of Raleigh closed the Neuse River Greenway Trail between Buffalo Road and Anderson Point Park while the area is under investigation. The trail stretches across 27.5 miles in Wake County. The remainder of the greenway will remain open, according to a statement. The Neuse River Greenway Trail is closed between Buffaloe Road and Anderson Point Park until further notice to support the ongoing investigation, according to the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources office. Andrew Carter Andrew Carter —Kristen Johnson, @kristensuzettee What we know about the victims Updated 3:14 p.m. According to the Wake County Public School System, James Thompson was a junior at Knightdale High School. WCPSS sent a message from Lindsay Mahaffey, the board chair, and Catty Moore, the superintendent, to parents in the school system with information about how students can get help to cope with the traumatic event. “Like you, we are shocked, saddened and broken-hearted,” the message read. “Our hearts go out to the victims’ loved ones, and our community continues to seek answers around this tragedy and solutions...

Ukraine Missionary Speaks At Women On Mission Meeting https://digitalalabamanews.com/ukraine-missionary-speaks-at-women-on-mission-meeting/ Missionary Linda Gray’s megawatt smile revealed her gigawatt-powered heart for the Ukrainian people, according to many attendees recently at the October meeting and luncheon of Women on Mission at Claremore’s First Baptist Church. Gray’s 23 years of service in Ukraine began when she was 48 years old and single, following her graduation from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX. Her love for the Ukrainian people and her enthusiasm for sharing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ have continually grown through her years of service there, she stated. “Ukraine is my heart!” she exclaimed. In recent months, however, Gray has been on furlough in the United States and has been guest speaker at a number of churches and organizations. She plans on returning in mid-December to work in Bucharest, Romania with Ukrainian refugees crossing the border into Romania because of the increasing violence of Russian military attacks. Gray’s home and ministry for the past 18 years have been in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, the second largest city in Ukraine. She was required to leave the country this year when the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention reassigned Gray and other missionaries to safer locations, such as Romania. “We left a month prior to the first attacks on Kharkiv and Ukraine,” Gray said. “When the IMB, believing war was imminent, took all of their personnel out of the country. I was notified of the time to leave on January 25. “At that time, I was given three hours to get ready and leave my home, ministry, and local church in Kharkiv, which is about 20 miles from the Russian border,” she continued. “I packed one suitcase with three sets of clothes, a pair of boots, a coat, and a few teaching materials. I had to leave everything else. However, that was not important to me. More important,” she explained, “were the friends, neighbors, and other people I had to leave behind.” Gray says she stays in touch when possible with her pastor and other friends in eastern Ukraine. “Pray for peace for Ukraine,” she urged. “My pastor and six other men know the power of prayer and God’s protection,” she continued. “After sending their wives and children to safer areas in western Ukraine, the men were sitting together in a kitchen praying when a Russian missile went through the roof over their heads. “However, the missile did not explode,” she exclaimed, indicating that it would have taken out the entire neighborhood along with the house if it had detonated. “Your prayers matter,” Gray stated. “We won’t know until we get to Heaven what your prayers have accomplished.” Gray’s Russian language study in Kyiv in 1999 prepared her for her lengthy ministry in eastern Ukraine because Russian is the primary language spoken in that area. She has led Bible studies and equipped Ukrainian women to teach other women. She also has hosted female international medical students through a local church, meeting with them in her home for Bible study and fellowship. One of her most rewarding ministries, she says, has been a book club, or English club, which focuses on conversational English discussion sessions, Bible study, and Christian films—and which also has resulted in faith commitments to Jesus. Gray’s other work has included teaching at women’s conferences; assisting with new church starts; coordinating volunteer teams; and ministering to displaced people needing food, prescriptions, and medical care. She has helped families dealing with alcohol and drug addiction and facilitated Celebrate Recovery support groups. As Gray concluded her remarks to her audience of more than 60 people gathered at First Baptist, she offered a challenge that those present continue to embrace Claremore as their mission field. “Ukraine is my heart,” she restated. “Is Claremore your heart, as you love people and share the Gospel of salvation through Christ?” Special recognition and a love offering were given during the meeting to several family members from Ukraine who are living in Claremore and staying with a local host family. A love offering also was provided to Linda Gray for her ministry, along with her current work with Ukrainian refugees in Romania. Women on Mission actively assists in mission projects locally, regionally, and nationally, as well as internationally through the Woman’s Missionary Union, headquartered in Birmingham, AL. WMU boasts a membership of nearly one million women spread among local Southern Baptist Convention churches nationwide. Read More…

Why Is Britain Comparing Its Prime Minister To A Lettuce? https://digitalalabamanews.com/why-is-britain-comparing-its-prime-minister-to-a-lettuce/ LONDON — What do British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s political tenure and a wilting head of lettuce have in common, you might ask? They both have an expiration date. Installed by her party just last month after her predecessor Boris Johnson was dramatically ousted, Truss has been in office less than six weeks. But already some pundits say her days in the job are numbered, as she clings to her political life on a dizzying economic roller coaster she has been largely blamed for. She has also become the butt of quintessentially British jokes — most notably by being compared to a head of lettuce by both The Economist newspaper (considered one of the world’s preeminent news journals) and The Daily Star, an entertainment-focused tabloid that brands itself the “home of fun stuff” and regularly features photos of scantily-clad celebrities. The gag began in an article by The Economist which earlier this week dubbed Truss “The Iceberg Lady,” bluntly predicting her career has “the shelf-life of a lettuce.” By Friday, the Daily Star was offering its readers a live stream of a store-bought head of lettuce (worth 60 pence — just under a dollar — and with a shelf-life of around 10 days), positioned next to a framed photograph of Truss, accompanied by the question: “Day one: Which wet lettuce will last longer?” The live-streamed decay has since attracted more than 350,000 viewers, as people tune in to see whether Truss’s political career or the salad staple (which briefly donned a wig and googly eyes) will expire faster. The Daily Star accused Truss of being a “lame duck PM” following a “shambolic day,” on Friday as she fired her finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, after just 38 days in office and u-turned on tax policies, in a bid to steady the wobbling economy. Kwarteng, who will go down in history books as Britain’s second shortest-serving chancellor of the exchequer, was also subject to jokes from the British press — who pointed out that the shortest-serving chancellor had died (Iain Macleod in 1970 after 30 days in the job) rather than being ousted. On social media Saturday the hashtag “#lettuceliz” was gaining steam, with users unsure whether to laugh or cry at the state of national affairs. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” wrote one person on Twitter. “Brilliant,” wrote another. Some online complained they had cheese in the fridge that had lasted longer than Kwarteng’s spell in office, while one trans-Atlantic observer quipped: “In the US we measure such things in Scaramuccis,” referring to Anthony Scaramucci — the short-serving White House communications director, who lasted roughly 11 days in the Trump administration. The British prime minister also faced criticism for holding an abnormally brief news conference after announcing Kwarteng’s departure on Friday, lasting just eight minutes and 21 seconds. The Daily Mail newspaper called the news conference a “car crash,” the Guardian front page decried “A day of chaos,” while the Mirror tabloid simply said “Time’s up.” Britain’s opposing political parties, meanwhile, are calling for a general election. “Changing the Chancellor doesn’t undo the damage made in Downing Street. Liz Truss’ reckless approach has crashed the economy, causing mortgages to skyrocket, and has undermined Britain’s standing on the world stage,” said Labour leader Keir Starmer, whose party is enjoying a boost in opinion polls. “We need a change in government.” The smaller Liberal Democrat Party echoed a similar sentiment: “Enough is enough. It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy. It is time for the people to have their say.” Truss’s promise to simultaneously slash taxes and maintain social programs without deep borrowing has left the market and her party members reeling over the last few weeks, plunging the pound and forcing the Bank of England to take unprecedented interventions to quell the financial revolt. She swiftly replaced Kwarteng (who had been attending a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington before frantically flying back to the U.K.), with a former foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, who pledged Saturday to restore economic credibility. Hunt lost the Conservative Party leadership race to Johnson in 2019. Truss also walked back one of her top campaign pledges — and will now allow corporate taxes to rise from 19 percent to 25 percent in April 2023, she said. Like other nations in Europe, Britain is grappling with rising inflation, a cost of living crisis and multiple worker strikes from transport to health and postal sectors, with some predicting a possible winter of discontent on the horizon. The average price of lettuce, at least, hasn’t gone up too badly. Karla Adam and William Booth contributed to this report. Read More…

Love Vinyl Records, All Things Vintage? Don’t Miss This Alabama Event https://digitalalabamanews.com/love-vinyl-records-all-things-vintage-dont-miss-this-alabama-event/ Fifty-thousand vinyl records. A hundred-twenty-one vendors. Six hours. Prepare for Indiana Jones levels of crate digging, when the inaugural Records & Retro market comes to Orion Amphitheater 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The market is free to attend. The event’s been in the works even before Orion, the world-class music venue that opened in Huntsville this spring, was finished being built. Married couple Andy and Ashley Vaughan, the owners of Huntsville’s fantastic record store Vertical House Records, organized Records & Retro, inspired by an idea from Orion general manager Ryan Murphy, who had success with a record fair at the previous venue he ran, Florida’s St. Augustine Amphitheater. For vinyl enthusiasts, a big draw of record shows is getting to dig through records they don’t get to see every week at their local stores. Local stores like Vertical House and Madison’s Black Dog Grounds & Sounds will have booths at Records & Retro. But so will Birmingham’s Seasick Records, Chattanooga’s Yellow Racket Records, Atlanta’s Waterloo Sunset Records and Hendersonville’s Elevator Vinyl among others. In a treat for back-in-the-day Huntsvillians, Jay Ratts, the former owner of Huntsville’s dearly departed Sunburst Records, will have a booth too. Rocker Jack White’s Nashville based record label Third Man Records will be at Records & Retro. Americana star John Paul White’s Single Lock Records imprint from Muscle Shoals too. Other record labels set for Records & Retro include Birmingham’s Earth Libraries and Florence’s Arkam Records. The Vaughns found vendors for Records & Retro through connections made over the years of visiting other record stores as well as through Instagram. They also found vendors through a sales reps’ database. “Several vendors are actually customers that come to the shop and have huge collections,” Andy says. “We hosted a (smaller scale) record show at Lowe Mill (the Huntsville arts center Vertical House is located at) so we had contacts from that as well.” As the name suggests, Records & Retro has a twist: all things vintage. “We wanted to blend the traditions of a record show with the addition of retro vendors to add that extra element to the event,” Ashley says. “These range from folks who sell and repair analog equipment, and others who specialize in clothing, furniture, tchotchkes, comic books, etc.” A complete list of Records & Retro vendors can be found at Vertical House’s website. In addition to aisles of records, cassettes and CDs, Vertical House also includes an embedded vintage store in the back of the shop, Ida Mae Vintage. Ashley’s been around vintage stuff since she was a baby, getting pushed around in a stroller at antique shops her parents brought her to almost every weekend. In high school, finding vintage T-shirts at thrift-stores became one of her favorite things to do. “Even nowadays my closet is 90 percent second-hand,” Ashley says. “For most items, I’ll shop at an estate sale or thrift store before buying new, if at all possible. It’s definitely a part of just how we live.” Back when the Vaughns started Vertical House Records in spring 2007, Andy was still working his graphic design job. Ashley was waiting tables. After launching the store in a 200-square-foot space on Lowe Mill’s second floor. Dovetailing with the vinyl retail resurgence, Vertical House grew into one of the Southeast’s must-visit record store. They’ve moved into bigger spaces at Lowe Mill (address 2211 Seminole Drive) five or so times, the last being in 2013 to their current “railroad room” outside the arts center. Vertical House’s used and new stock can range from David Bowie, Queen, Prince and Aretha Franklin to Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Childish Gambino and Lizzo. For their Records & Retro booth, Andy’s been holding back items he’s bought for Vertical House the last few months to curate an all-star selection. “Definitely a good mix of classic rock, pop, soul, psychedelic, punk, indie, metal, hardcore, folk, jazz, and blues albums,” Andy says. That stash includes records by The Beatles, Hendrix, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, The Zombies, Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, Robert Johnson and The Who. “The majority hasn’t hit the shelves in our store yet,” Andy says. Records & Retro is taking place all over the Orion Amphitheater campus, which is located at 701 Amphitheater Drive N.W. at the MidCity development off University Drive. Vendors will be set up within the amphitheater’s main dome, its concourses and beyond. “Vendors are all mixed among each other to encourage guests to visit all of the areas,” Ashley says. Humans can’t live on vinyl and vintage alone. So there will be food trucks near Orion’s north gate entrance. Huntsville’s Yellowhammer Brewing will have pop-up bars set up and Gold Sprint Coffee is providing free (!) coffee to fuel your perusing. Live bands, including indie roots rockers The Invisible Teardrops, and DJs will set the day’s soundtrack. For the best selection, obviously it’s best to hit a record show early in the day. But the Vaughns planned Records & Retro to be a cool all-day hang not just a Black Friday-type madhouse. In addition to a good day of sales, the Vaughns hopes Records & Retro allows attendees to meet new friends and reconnect with friends they haven’t seen in a while. They also hope the event blossoms into a new Huntsville staple. Ashley says vibrant vintage retailing adds to a city’s culture by adding unique options for buying local. “Sure, it’s easy to get stuff online, but it’s so fun to go treasure hunting.” MORE ON MUSIC Update on Orion Amphitheater group’s next Huntsville music venue Inside the mind of guitarist who supercharged David Lee Roth, Whitesnake 12 yesteryear Huntsville venues popular musicians played The plan to give Huntsville teens their own place to rock-out to heavy-metal How Women in Music Weekend could lead to a new Huntsville music festival If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Mobile Fire-Rescue On Scene At 2-Story, Wood Apartment Building Fire https://digitalalabamanews.com/mobile-fire-rescue-on-scene-at-2-story-wood-apartment-building-fire/ The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is on scene at Peach Place Inn Apartments on Leroy Stevens Road for a “heavy fire,” according to a tweet from MFRD. The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is on scene at Peach Place Inn Apartments on Leroy Stevens Road for a “heavy fire,” according to a tweet from MFRD. by: Brett Greenberg Posted: Oct 15, 2022 / 12:52 PM CDT Updated: Oct 15, 2022 / 01:19 PM CDT The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is on scene at Peach Place Inn Apartments on Leroy Stevens Road for a “heavy fire,” according to a tweet from MFRD. The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is on scene at Peach Place Inn Apartments on Leroy Stevens Road for a “heavy fire,” according to a tweet from MFRD. by: Brett Greenberg Posted: Oct 15, 2022 / 12:52 PM CDT Updated: Oct 15, 2022 / 01:19 PM CDT UPDATE (1:00 p.m.): The “first floor search is all clear,” according to a tweet from MFRD. Crews are still battling a fire on the second floor. MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is on scene at Peach Place Inn Apartments on Leroy Stevens Road for a “heavy fire,” according to a tweet from MFRD. Officials with MFRD said this is a “2-alarm fire” which calls for more trucks, firefighters and equipment. There is heavy fire “showing from a 2-story, wood apartment building,” according to a tweet. This is a developing story. WKRG News 5 is working to gather more information. We will update this story as more information becomes available. 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. Latest Videos More Local News Trending Stories Read More…

Will Trump Comply With Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena? What’s Next After Thursday’s Hearing https://digitalalabamanews.com/will-trump-comply-with-jan-6-committee-subpoena-whats-next-after-thursdays-hearing/ A video showing then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., talking with then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen is played as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press WASHINGTON — After closing out what could be the final installment in a series of high-profile hearings, the House’s Jan. 6 select committee is left with decisions to make in its remaining weeks that could have profound effects for years to come. The committee will need to square whether it will play a role in the Justice Department’s investigation and determine how the raw information it has collected will be preserved and disseminated. But ultimately the panel’s largest decisions will be about what recommendations to make and what information its final report should contain. Republican leaders had fought the creation of an independent commission to review the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and what led to it. The House panel is the only government entity tasked with the inquiry, and is compiling what is expected to be the definitive historical record of what led to the insurrection. What the committee produces is likely to become the bedrock evidence in criminal and civil cases, and will be examined by historians and studied in schools much like the 9/11 commission report has been, said Grant Tudor, a policy advocate for Protect Democracy. “These types of evidence-gathering and truth-telling exercises have ramifications for other accountability efforts long after they’re done,” Tudor said. Prosecutors, journalists and government watchdog groups are clamoring for access to the more than 1,000 depositions, hundreds of hours of video and hundreds of thousands of pages of documents collected in the investigation. The committee has been guarded about how much material might be made public. “While we’re obviously anticipating this final report, that’s not the same as anticipating access to the vast body of evidence that’s gathered and the analysis of that evidence,” Tudor said. “It seems really likely that it’s going to take a pretty intentional editing hand in deciding what to include and what not to include. The committee has collected this staggering volume of records and troves of witness testimonies.” The report is all but certain to provide more detail than was possible in a hearing format. Despite early signals of what the panel intended to scrutinize, such as who was behind fundraising for the rally where then-President Donald Trump spoke before the attack, the committee ultimately focused on Trump’s role in the events and his mindset around Jan. 6, pushing some issues to the back burner. Topics raised in hearings were often not completely followed. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is left. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press The committee’s hearings barely touched on information it had gathered on several topics key to understanding the events on and around Jan. 6, including what failures in law enforcement intelligence gathering allowed the insurrection to happen, who funded efforts to find evidence of fraud in the election, and who paid for some Trump supporters to travel to Washington to march on the Capitol. “There is potentially a huge wealth of evidence that could be coming,” Debra Perlin, policy director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told reporters Friday. Along with an account of the plans to keep Trump in power that led to the violence on Jan. 6, the report is expected to include recommendations for legislation or action by federal agencies, and possibly by state and local governments. But the potential outcome most are watching for is whether the committee will recommend criminal charges against Trump or others. Its members have been divided on whether it is appropriate to recommend criminal charges to the Justice Department, or whether the panel should refrain from doing so to prevent the potential appearance of politicizing a decision that the department is supposed to make based on facts alone. The panel has so far held itself apart from the efforts of prosecutors, including refusing requests to share depositions and other evidence with them. “We think we very, very much proved the case in a compelling way by the end of that hearing series,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Politico. “And now, frankly, on the criminal side, because we’re not the criminal committee, it’s up to the [Justice Department]. … They have the torch, and we’ll see where they go with it.” Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said at Thursday’s hearing that criminal referrals for multiple individuals were likely, but did not elaborate. In the spring and summer, members of the House committee publicly criticized U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, saying he was moving tentatively compared with their proceedings. But the Justice Department made increasingly aggressive moves over the summer, and appears to be conducting multiple investigations at once. Agents have seized cellphones, brought dozens of high-ranking Trump confidants before a grand jury and conducted court-approved searches of private homes, including executing a warrant at the home of former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, whom they left handcuffed outside without pants. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing Thursday, on Capitol Hill in Washington, as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., look on. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press The department has been careful not to indicate whether indictments are coming, and traditionally it doesn’t make moves in the weeks before an election so as not to potentially influence the outcome. Many legal experts have expressed confidence that charges will come after the midterm elections next month. Duke University professor Asher Hildebrand, a former high-ranking Capitol Hill staffer, said regardless of whether a criminal referral comes from the committee, the hearings show the panel has done its job. “It does feel like the Jan. 6 committee’s contribution to the broader consideration of what happened on Jan. 6, and leading up to it, what crimes were committed by the president … that contribution is sort of secure. And that, at this point, is really a question of whether, when and how the Justice Department and other law enforcement authorities act on all of this information,” he said. As the report is poised to assume center stage, the committee’s investigation is ongoing. On Thursday, its members voted unanimously to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony, saying he has an obligation to answer for his actions. In a rambling 14-page response Friday, Trump didn’t commit to an interview or to sharing documents. Instead he reiterated baseless claims of election fraud and shared photos of the crowd at his rally that day. “You have not gone after the people that created the fraud, but rather great American patriots who questioned it, as is their constitutional right,” he wrote. “These people have had their lives ruined as your committee sits back and basks in the glow.” Trump is likely to fight the subpoena, or ignore it completely. With just more than two months left before the committee is set to disband, it will need to decide how much time to spend pushing for Trump to comply, or whether to consider the subpoena to be largely symbolic. The panel will also need to determine which ongoing fights for records and testimony are still worth pursuing. More than a dozen witnesses have sued to block the committee from gaining access to cellphone or email records, and others are fighting subpoenas to testify in court. Some of the cases have been ongoing for more than a year, in part because the committee has sought more time to craft a strategy. How the committee will present its final report is unclear. All that is required to issue it is a vote of its members, but after nine carefully orchestrated hearings this year, a visual presentation of some kind is expected. “It seems unlikely that it will just drop a large bound book and not say anything about it or not use it as a public platform to also make a series of closing arguments,” Tudor said. “Even if it’s out of the context of a formal hearing.” Invalid username/password. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. 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Voters Care About Spiking Living Costs More Than Abortion Access, Poll Shows https://digitalalabamanews.com/voters-care-about-spiking-living-costs-more-than-abortion-access-poll-shows/ October 15, 2022 01:37 PM Inflation and gas prices are more pressing concerns for midterm election voters than abortion, a fact Republicans hope will boost them into the majority in Congress, as the parties are neck and neck weeks before the midterm elections, a recent poll showed. Though Democrats made gains in fundraising and voter enthusiasm following the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protections for abortion, persistently rising inflation and gas prices are higher priorities for a majority of voters when picking candidates than the issue of abortion. The NBC News poll found that 59% of voters are most concerned with what candidates will do to address the cost of living, while 37% say a candidate’s abortion position is their tipping point. To be sure, one poll in isolation doesn’t indicate how an election will turn out. Trend lines over weeks and months are important, and voter priorities can change until the moment they cast ballots. PENCE URGES REPUBLICANS NOT TO BACK DOWN FROM ABORTION ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL Stephen Parlato of Boulder, Colo., holds a sign that reads “Hands Off Roe!!!” as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington, as the court hears arguments in a case from Mississippi, where a 2018 law would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, well before viability. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Andrew Harnik/AP Still, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Washington Examiner that the survey’s finding bodes well for his party in the midterm elections. House Republicans need to net five seats in the 435-member chamber to gain a majority for the first time since the 2018 elections. “It’s a security election. It’s your economic security, and it’s your physical security,” Emmer said, alluding to crime, another major issue for voters. “Democrats failed at both.” Inflation is hitting voters hard, making them more likely to vote for House Republicans, Emmer said. “On the economic security front, every American family that is not part of the political elite, that is not part of the uber-wealthy, that is just trying to raise a family and chase their American dream, has to make a choice every day right now between buying groceries versus putting gas in the tank,” Emmer continued. “And these guys actually think here in this bubble called Washington, D.C., that they can make this argument that ‘Oh, gas prices have actually dropped.'” The NBC poll, which was conducted between Sept. 9 and 13 among 1,000 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.1%, also found that the parties are tied on a generic ballot. Each party has 46% of voters favoring Republican or Democratic control of Congress after the midterm elections. When Democratic candidates talk about the economy, which is rare, they emphasize the small improvements in recent months. Gas prices have dropped, that’s true, and the August inflation rate decreased to 8.3% from a whopping 9.1% in June. They’ve also emphasized a commitment to abortion access. Candidates such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman are banking on their bases and independents turning out to vote en masse, with abortion as their primary motivator. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER But those concerns may fall short against GOP messaging on the economy. Republicans often point out that people have lost an entire month of income to increased costs of living. Gas prices, though not as frighteningly high as $5, $6, or even $7 a gallon, as they were this summer, are still hovering around $3.70 a gallon — well over the $2.20 average in September 2020 under former President Donald Trump. Families have lost an average of $6,800 in real annual income this year. “You could buy gas across this country at a buck eighty-five to $2.20 a gallon when Joe Biden took office,” Emmer said. “This idea that somehow, now we can buy it at $3 to $4.50 a gallon, by the way, not all states — you’re paying a lot more than that still in California and the northwest. Plus, think about what’s about to hit: Home heating costs are up, I think, close to 70%, and that’s hitting right now. On economic security, they have completely failed the American family right now.” GOP lawmakers no longer talk of a red wave sweeping Republicans to majorities in the House and Senate. But Democratic political momentum over the summer may also be fading. Just because inflation and gas prices aren’t getting worse month to month doesn’t mean they won’t make a meaningful difference in voters’ wallets — at least by Election Day. Juliegrace Brufke contributed to this report. Read More…

Sidney Powell Nonprofit Raised $16 Million Spreading Election Lies: Report https://digitalalabamanews.com/sidney-powell-nonprofit-raised-16-million-spreading-election-lies-report/ Powell worked with Trump and his allies to spread the lie that the election had been stolen from him. (Photo: Photo by Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images) Powell worked with Trump and his allies to spread the lie that the election had been stolen from him. (Photo: Photo by Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images) Conspiracy theorist and election denier Sidney Powell raised more than $16 million through a nonprofit as she spread the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. The nonprofit, Defending the Republic spent $8 million between Dec. 1, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2021, with nearly $4 million going to legal fees and another $2 million spent on “other” expenses, The Washington Post reported Friday. An attorney, Powell worked with Trump and his allies to spread the lie that the election had been stolen from him. She has long claimed ― without evidence ― that Dominion Voting Systems machines were manipulated to add more votes for President Joe Biden. Dominion Voting Systems is now suing Powell for defamation. The nonprofit has put its spending into “challenging issues and instances of government overreach and abuse of individual rights” and litigating “cases of constitutional infringement,” the filings said. Read the full story at The Washington Post. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related… The Right Can’t Stop Talking About This Conspiracy Theory Movie — And It’s Roiling The Midterms ‘I’m Sorry … Mr. Snowflake’: Trump Gets Stark Reality Check From Rep. Jamie Raskin Rep. Lauren Boebert Ripped By GOP Primary Rival In Withering Op-Ed Trump-Endorsed Tudor Dixon Makes Outlandish Remark On ‘Single,’ ‘Working’ Women Read More…

Auburn Vs. No. 9 Ole Miss Live Score Updates, Analysis https://digitalalabamanews.com/auburn-vs-no-9-ole-miss-live-score-updates-analysis/ Auburn Football Updated: Oct. 15, 2022, 10:55 a.m.| Published: Oct. 15, 2022, 10:30 a.m. 10/15/22; Oxford, MS, USA; Derick Hall (29) pregame before Auburn vs Ole Miss Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsTodd Van Emst//AU Athletics Welcome to Oxford, Miss., on what should be an unseasonably warm mid-October afternoon at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Auburn (3-3, 1-2 SEC) is set to take on No. 9 Ole Miss (6-0, 2-0) at 11 a.m., with the game airing on ESPN. Auburn is trying to bounce back from back-to-back losses in SEC play — a blown lead against LSU at home and then a blowout loss on the road against rival Georgia — while Ole Miss is seeking its second 7-0 start in the last 60 years. Read more Auburn football: Lane Kiffin: “Let’s both beat the state of Alabama today; Go Vols” A closer look at Auburn’s improved pass defense in SEC play Where Bryan Harsin’s 2022 salary, buyout rank nationally, in the SEC For Auburn, Saturday’s visit to Oxford presents a chance for Bryan Harsin’s team to turn a corner before its bye week next weekend. The Tigers have gone just 3-8 since their top-10 win against the Rebels late last October at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with just one Power 5 win during that stretch (September’s overtime escape at home against Missouri). While the numbers this season don’t favor Auburn — it enters the game as a two-touchdown underdog — the program has historically performed well against Ole Miss and in Oxford. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 35-11, have won each of the last six meetings and are 13-3 all-time on the road against the Rebels. We’ll see if Auburn can improve that record Saturday. AL.com will provide live updates and analysis throughout Saturday’s action in the space below, so be sure to refresh the page for all the latest action from Oxford. Also be sure to stay tuned to al.com/auburnfootball for full postgame coverage from Auburn’s Week 7 matchup. PREGAME — Auburn’s first-team offensive line in pregame warmups: LT Kilian Zierer, LG Jeremiah Wright, C Brandon Council, RG Kam Stutts, RT Brenden Coffey. — T.J. Finley is going through early warmups with Robby Ashford, Holden Geriner and Trey Lindsey. Finley has not played since suffering a shoulder sprain Sept. 17 against Penn State. Finley is repping behind Ashford and Geriner in pregame drills. — Wide receiver Malcolm Johnson Jr. is also going through pregame warmups. He has not seen the field since the Penn State game either. — Offensive tackle Austin Troxell is not on the field for early warmups with the offensive line. He left last week’s game against Georgia with an undisclosed injury. Alec Jackson, who also got injured in the Georgia game, is going through warmups. Troxell did not travel with the team to Oxford, according to Auburn’s radio broadcast. AL.com will update this post. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

AP News Summary At 11:51 A.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1151-a-m-edt-2/ Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter’s review of Trump docs WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master. He was assigned last month by a judge to inspect the thousands of records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out from the investigation any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege. Ukraine: Russia hits power site by Kyiv, defends seized land KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A missile strike has seriously damaged a key energy facility near Ukraine’s capital. The governor of the Kyiv region said Saturday’s strike didn’t kill or wound anyone. The country’s power system operator said repair crews were working to restore power but warned residents about possible outages. The Russian military strove to cut water and electricity in populated areas of Ukraine this week after a truck bomb explosion damaged the bridge that links Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Regions of southern Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally designated as Russian territory last month remained a focus of fighting on Saturday. New UK Treasury chief: Mistakes were made, tax rises coming LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new Treasury chief has acknowledged mistakes made by his predecessor and suggested that he may reverse much of Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax-cutting plans, in order to bring stability to the country after weeks of economic and political turbulence. Jeremy Hunt was brought in Friday to replace Kwasi Kwarteng and restore order in Truss’ administration. He warned of “difficult decisions” to come, saying taxes could rise and public spending budgets would likely be squeezed further in the coming months. Truss had previously insisted that her tax-cutting plans were what Britain needs to boost economic growth. But a “mini-budget” which she and Kwarteng unveiled in September sent the British pound tumbling and left her credibility in tatters. Frantic 911 callers describe bodies during Raleigh shooting Callers who dialed 911 during a fatal North Carolina shooting rampage described encountering bodies on the streets of their North Carolina neighborhood and along a trail popular with runners and bikers. The 911 calls released late Friday by the Raleigh Police Department illustrate the chaos of the scene on Thursday evening in which authorities said a 15-year-old boy began firing in a tightly packed neighborhood and then on the walking trail. killing five and wounding two others. The recordings also provide new details about the teen, with multiple callers saying that he was wearing camouflage and one caller saying he was carrying a shotgun. Violent week a grim sign as targeted killings of police rise SEATTLE (AP) — It’s been an especially violent week for police across the U.S., including the deaths of two Connecticut police officers and the wounding of a third. Even as the number of officers has dropped in the past two years, the number being targeted and killed has risen. Organizations that track violence against police say 56 officers have been killed by gunfire so far this year — a number that is up 14% from this time last year and about 45% from this time in 2020. The country is on track to approach or surpass other top annual totals of recent years, including 73 officers killed in 2011 and 67 in 2016. Social Security boost seen as unlikely to help Dems at polls WASHINGTON (AP) — The news that 70 million people will see an 8.7% boost in their Social Security checks next year came just weeks before Election Day, but it’s unlikely to give Democrats the edge they’re desperately seeking at the polls. In fact, the promise of bigger payments in 2023 could call even more attention to the surging prices that have been inflicting pain on households. And inflation was the reason behind Thursday’s announcement of the the program’s largest cost-of-living increase in four decades. One analyst says the boost is going “to bring more money to people’s pockets, but it primes people to think about high inflation.” Kemp vs. Abrams II: Republican has incumbent advantage now ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia governor’s race is a rematch of 2018, when Republican Brian Kemp narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams. But circumstances have changed. This time, it is Kemp who holds a lot of advantages as he seeks reelection. Abrams is trying to rekindle the star power that had people talking about her being president one day. Kemp became the target of Donald Trump’s wrath when the defeated president threatened retribution after Kemp certified Democrat Joe Biden’s slate of presidential electors in Georgia. But not only did Kemp maintain support among most Republican voters while defying Trump, he seems to have only grown stronger heading into his rematch with Abrams. Musk has a ‘super app’ plan for Twitter. It’s super vague For months, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has expressed interest in creating his own version of China’s WeChat — a “super app” that does video chats, messaging, streaming and payments — for the rest of the world.. At least, that is, once he’s done buying Twitter after months of legal infighting over the $44 billion purchase agreement he signed in April. Musk has claimed on Twitter that his acquisition of the company would speed development of an “everything app” he calls X by three to five years. But there are just a few obstacles. Mamie Till depiction seen as tribute to Black female leaders NEW YORK (AP) — A new biopic about the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year old Black boy whose lynching in Mississippi in 1955 catalyzed the U.S. civil rights movement, is being promoted as a tribute to Black women and Black mothers who are continuing her legacy and fight for justice, equality and equity. From civil rights and politics to business and performance art, promotional events and screenings of “Till” in select cities across the U.S. honor the courageous works of Black female leaders whose contributions have historically been overlooked, deemphasized or made a footnote. Obama headed to Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin as vote nears WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is headed to Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin in the closing days of the 2022 campaign to give a boost to Democrats running for governor, senator and on down the ballot. He goes first to Atlanta, where Stacey Abrams is taking on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Nov. 8. She lost a close race to him in 2018. Georgia also may once again decide which party controls the Senate, with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock facing a challenge from Republican candidate Herschel Walker. After campaigning in Atlanta on Oct. 28, Obama heads the following day to Detroit and Milwaukee for events to help get out the vote. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More…

The Latino Voter Shift Comes Into Focus In South Texas – ABC17NEWS https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-latino-voter-shift-comes-into-focus-in-south-texas-abc17news/ By Boris Sanchez, CNN What first appeared as statistical noise is now becoming clearer: Historically left-leaning Latino voters are shifting toward the GOP, with the potential to swing major races come November’s midterm elections. And with razor-thin margins determining control of Congress, Hispanic communities where Donald Trump unexpectedly made gains in 2020 are coming into sharp focus, especially the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Here, the battle for Texas’s 15th Congressional District between Republican Monica De La Cruz and Democrat Michelle Vallejo is arguably the state’s most competitive House race and may be a test for Republicans’ appeal among Hispanic Americans. Hispanic Americans make up a fifth of registered voters in more than a dozen hotly contested House and Senate races in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Texas. While Democrats are still expected to win a majority of Latino voters, their margins appear to be shrinking — dramatically, in some cases. “What we’re seeing now is that the GOP has stepped in and helped us get our messaging out to show Latinos their values of faith, family and freedom really align with the Republican Party,” De La Cruz said Vallejo argues that the shift is tied to an increase in outside spending by the GOP: “I think the resources and money they’re getting from the outside really does add fuel to their fire. … It’s not deeply connected with the desire from the community to drive up and bring solutions that are specifically from South Texas.” Inspired by Trump For De La Cruz, attending her first Trump rally inspired her to start a career in politics. “I was busy raising a family, raising my business,” De La Cruz said. “(Trump) caught my attention to look at national politics and what was happening in DC and say, ‘Those policies don’t reflect me or my values.’” The entrepreneur insurance agent and mother of two says she’s a former Democrat whose family voted against Republicans for generations, including her “abuelita.” “This area had been under Democrat rule for over 100 years and what we’re seeing here is that Democrats haven’t done anything for us. … (They) just abandoned Latinos and Latinos are seeing that their values of faith, family and freedom just align better with the Republican Party.” Part of a trio of Latina Republican congressional nominees on the ballot in South Texas, De La Cruz is attempting to redefine the region’s political tradition alongside Cassy Garcia, a former Ted Cruz aide who is running in the 28th District, and US Rep. Mayra Flores in Texas’ 34th who became the party’s first representative from the Rio Grande Valley in more than a century after winning a special election earlier this year. The “triple threat,” as some Republicans call them, are part of a record number of Republican Latino nominees this fall, with many taking a page from Trump’s pro-border wall playbook. Asked whether she ever felt insulted by Trump’s rhetoric toward Latino immigrants (“They are bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” the then-candidate said when announcing his first presidential run in 2016), De La Cruz, the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, said his words didn’t turn her away. “Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have said things the way he said them, but I think people were able to look past those things because they knew he’s not a politician. He didn’t have a political background. He was a businessman,” said De La Cruz. “He stood up against the establishment and put forth policies that worked for American families.” ‘More attention and more respect’ Like her GOP opponent, Vallejo, the Democrat running in Texas’ 15th, is a relatively new to politics and an entrepreneur. She operates the Pulga Los Portales flea market in Alton, which her parents founded some 25 years ago. “Our community deserves more attention and more respect,” Vallejo said of the newly drawn district, which would have voted for Trump by nearly 3 percentage points in 2020. “I think that both national parties were leaving us out.” Vallejo said Republicans have “demonized” Latino immigrants to score political points. “We have pride and dignity and we will not stand for anyone making fun of us, making fun of our community and our culture. We’re deserving and we give a lot back to this country,” she said. Running as a progressive in an area that more often elects moderate Democrats, Vallejo defeated her primary opponent by only 35 votes and is campaigning on guaranteed abortion rights, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, and raising the minimum wage to $15. “There are a lot of issues being ignored,” Vallejo said. “It’s time we see a change for South Texas, and we need progressive, bold policies … so that we finally get a voice at the table.” Vallejo points to outside influence and spending to account for the GOP’s gains in the area, saying, “Outside interests did see an opportunity to swoop in, pouring millions and millions of dollars to pretty much buy up our seat.” As for Latinos who drifted from Democrats to support Trump, Vallejo said she “looks forward to hopefully earning their support.” “I’m fighting for all our families here in South Texas, whether they’re Republican, independent or people who have never felt engaged by the political system before,” she said. Central issues Polling indicates that Latino voters are more likely than any other ethnic groups to cite the economy or inflation as the most important issue facing the country. But other issues, such as immigration and abortion, also loom large. “It’s become so difficult. … Supply chain issues are a big problem. And inflation — we used to pay $19 for a box of eggs. Now, I pay $54,” said Rodolfo Sanchez-Rendon, the owner of Teresita’s Kitchen in McAllen. Sanchez-Rendon also faults Democrats for undervaluing faith, family and small business. “Their values have changed,” he said. “Extremely liberal, where religion becomes an afterthought. … They’ve drifted from our values.” But the economy remains the most important issue to voters like Sanchez-Rendon, who immigrated to the United States in 1986 and said unchecked illegal immigration is out of control across the southern border. Contractor Edgar Gallegos said he plans to vote Republican because of the economy, despite Trump’s rhetoric about Latino immigrants. “I’ll take a mean tweet right about now, over what we have,” Gallegos said. Other voters, like Justin Stubbs, say they feel Democrats lack urgency on the issue of immigration. “It seems like Republicans care and talk about the border issue a lot more. … I just don’t see a lot of Democrats talking about the border crisis and honestly, there’s a lot of people down here that are affected by that,” he said. One voter in nearby Alton, Texas, said he and his wife will remain loyal to the Democratic Party because he believes it will do more to help the community. “We want candidates who will pay attention to our needs,” says Jose Raul Guerrero, who says he’s voting for Vallejo partly because he’s known her since she was a child. “She understands our needs. … and we need a lot of help right now.” ‘The first Hispanic president’ “What people have to understand is that Hispanic Americans have hard working-class values,” said Giancarlo Sopo, a former Barack Obama campaign worker who led Trump’s hyper-local Hispanic advertising in 2020. “Who’s America’s blue-collar billionaire? Donald Trump,” he said. Sopo said part of the Trump’s campaign’s success with Latinos was tied to an ad campaign that “used words and ways of speaking” that were unique to specific nationalities and generations, tailoring ads meant to target Puerto Ricans, for example, with slang and references common to the island. “The reality is there are many Hispanic communities,” Sopo says. “You open the door with culture and engage Hispanics on a policy level.” Pointing to trends over the last decade that show Latinos experiencing gains when it comes to incomes, home purchases and starting new businesses, Sopo said many in the community view Trump aspirationally — adding that among some Latinos, especially men, the former President’s brash rhetoric may have worked to his advantage. “To a lot of Hispanic Americans — the same way that Bill Clinton was the first Black president before Barack Obama — Donald Trump, to them, is the first Hispanic president,” Sopo said. “He’s very charismatic, he’s not politically correct, he’s a successful entrepreneur. … These values really resonate.” The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More…

HBCU Football Schedules And How To Watch | Week 7 https://digitalalabamanews.com/hbcu-football-schedules-and-how-to-watch-week-7/ HBCU football schedules and how to watch in Week 7 of the 2022 season. SWAC Schedule in Week 7 Florida A&M at Grambling State – 1:00 PM CT | HBCU GO Mississippi Valley State at Alabama State – 2:00 PM CT Jackson State vs. Bethune – Cookman – 3:00 PM CT | ESPN+  Alcorn State at Southern – 6:00 PM CT | ESPN+  Alabama A&M vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff – 3:00 PM CT RB Howard for 78-yard touchdown run vs. UAPB on Sept. 24, 2022.  Credit: HBCU GOQB Besean McCray scores against Prairie View A&M; Credit – Southern University Athletics SWAC Game of the Week Alcorn State (3-2, 2-0 SWAC) at Southern (3-2, 2-1 SWAC)  Another battle of SWAC heavyweights as Fred McNair’s Braves visit Eric Dooley’s Jaguars at Mumford Stadium. Southern’s Joshua Griffin (ST Player of the Week) and Besean McCray (Newcomer Player of the Week) for their phenomenal performances against Prairie View. Southern: Offense – 41.4 pts/game, Defense allows – 21.00 pts/game Alcorn: Offense – 25.0 pts/game, Defense allows – 26.0 pts/game Alcorn leads series history since 1951, 40-28-2. Under Head Coach Fred McNair, the Braves are 5-2 against the Jaguars. The “Trident” offensive backfield with running backs Jarveon Howard, Niko Duffey and Javonta Leatherwood has produced 1,014 yards between the three ball-carriers this season. Redshirt senior running back enters the weekend tied for seventh in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) for rushing touchdowns (8), while also ranked fourth for rushing yards (634). Currently, the Braves rank first in the SWAC for sacks (4.0) and sacks allowed (1.2).  Alcorn defensive linemen Malachi Bailey and Chris Ballard are ranked in the top 35 of the FCS for quarterback sacks. Bailey enters the weekend ranked tied for 24th with 4.0 sacks, while Ballard is tied for 33rd with 3.0 sacks. Prediction: Southern 45, Alcorn State 27  MEAC Schedule in Week 6 NCCU 59, Morgan State 20 Virginia University of Lynchburg vs. South Carolina State at 1:30 PM ET | TV: ESPN+ / MEAC Digital Network Harvard vs. Howard at 4:00 PM ET | TV: ESPN3 (re-air on ESPNU, 11 PM ET) Delaware State vs. Norfolk State at 2 PM ET | TV: ESPN+ / MEAC Digital Network  MEAC Game of the Week Delaware State (3-2, 0-0 MEAC) at Norfolk State (1-5, 1-0 MEAC) In Week 6, Norfolk State defeated Morgan State in “dramatic fashion last Saturday, as receiver Da’Quan Felton caught a 3-yard TD pass with five seconds left to lift the Spartans past Morgan State, 24-21.” 27th meeting between the Hornets and Spartans. Delaware State snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with its come-from-behind victory in Dover, Del., last season.  The Hornets lead the MEAC thus far in total defense (298.2 ypg allowed) and rushing defense (96.0 ypg). 2021’s improbable 28-26 DSU win in Dover on Nov. 13, when the Hornets rallied from a 26-0 halftime deficit. Prediction: Delaware State 31, Norfolk State 27 Bowie vs VA Union; Credit: Bowie State Scroll to Continue CIAA Schedule in Week 6 Viginia State vs. Chowan at 1 PM ET, Murfeesboro, NC  Shaw vs. Winston-Salem State, 1:30 PM ET, Winston-Salem, NC Johnson C. Smith vs. St. Augustine’s, 1:00 PM ET, Raleigh, NC Fayetteville State vs. Livingstone, 1:30 PM ET, Salisbury, NC Lincoln (PA) vs. Elizabeth City State, 2:00 PM ET, Elizabeth, NC CIAA Game of the Week in Week 6 Virginia Union vs Bowie State at 12:00 PM ET, Bowie, MD | LIVE on Bulldogs Network Prediction: VA Union 31, Bowie State 27 SIAC Schedule in Week 6 Morehouse at Fort Valley State 2 PM ET, Fort Valley, GA Lane College at Miles College 4 PM ET, Fairfield, AL Central State at Tuskegee University 5 PM ET, Montgomery, AL Edward Waters at North Carolina A&T 1 PM ET, Greensboro, NC Allen University at Kentucky State 2 PM ET, Frankfort, KY Savannah State at Clark Atlanta 2 PM ET, Atlanta, GA Albany vs. Benedict; Credit: Benedict Athletics SIAC Game of the Week Benedict College (6-0, 4-0 SIAC) at Albany State (5-1, 3-0 SIAC) 2 PM ET, Albany, GA The much-hyped football game will pit the 5-1 and 21st-ranked Albany State Golden Rams against the 6-0 and 23rd-ranked Benedict Tigers for first-place supremacy in the SIAC East Division.  Kickoff from Albany State’s Coliseum is 2 PM ET. Streamed Live HBCU League Pass Plus.  Benedict is first in the SIAC and fourth in Division II in total defense, allowing 211 yards per game to opponents.  Benedict leads the SIAC and ranks second nationally in scoring defense, allowing opponents 8.3 points per game Albany State, which prides itself on a long history of a stout defense – nicknamed the “Dirty Blue Defense” – is allowing 275.7 yards per game.  Over the past three games, the Golden Rams have allowed just 157 yards and 3.3 points per game. Prediction: Albany State 38, Benedict 35 OT What happens next for the HBCU Sports? Don’t miss out on any HBCU news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our FREE newsletter and get breaking HBCU Sports news delivered to your inbox! HBCU Legends’ Recent Articles: Don’t Bro-Hug Me; I’m SWAC, He Ain’t SWAC Deion Sanders and Eddie Robinson Jr. Have Heated Post-Game Handshake Southern Trounces Prairie View, Controls SWAC West Fate SWAC Game of the Week: McDowell Confident Panthers Can Defeat Jaguars HBCU Football Coaches Seats Starting to Get Warm Alabama State’s ‘Ugly Win’ Over TSU was ‘Beautiful’ to Eddie Robinson Jr. TSU-ASU Halftime Report HBCU Football: Featured Games of Week 5 CIAA Receives $10K Donation from HBCU All-Star Game, CBS Sports SWAC Football Schedule, How to Watch, Predictions | Week 5 Read More…