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Abrams Wont question The Outcome Of Kemp Rematch But Does question Ga. Voting Rules Deltaplex News
Abrams Wont question The Outcome Of Kemp Rematch But Does question Ga. Voting Rules Deltaplex News
Abrams Won’t ‘question The Outcome’ Of Kemp Rematch But Does ‘question’ Ga. Voting Rules – Deltaplex News https://digitalalabamanews.com/abrams-wont-question-the-outcome-of-kemp-rematch-but-does-question-ga-voting-rules-deltaplex-news/ (ATLANTA) — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said she has continuing doubts about voting equity in her upcoming rematch with incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, telling ABC News in a new interview that she would “not question the outcome of the election” but would continue to “question the process.” Abrams, a former state lawmaker-turned-prominent voting rights advocate, repeatedly attacked Kemp in 2018 given that he was her rival and the sitting secretary of state who was overseeing their race. Abrams also challenged what she said were Georgia’s excessively strict regulations around voter registration and more, calling them tantamount to suppression. Kemp said he wanted to ensure election integrity. Abrams waited more than a week to acknowledge Kemp’s victory after the 2018 election. Pressed twice by ABC News congressional correspondent Rachel Scott in an interview on Sunday about whether she would concede the 2022 gubernatorial election if she lost, Abrams repeatedly drew a distinction between conceding the outcome — which she said she would do — and criticizing the process, including regulations restricting voter access to polling places and absentee voting. “I have always acknowledged the outcome of elections,” she said in a clip from the interview, set to air Oct. 9 on Hulu’s “Power Trip.” “What is deeply concerning to me is the conflation of access to the right to vote and the outcome of elections.” “Voter access is not the same as election outcomes,” Abrams continued, “and when those become conflated and we buy into the conflation, when we buy into the false equivalency, we erode access to democracy.” Conservatives have tried to draw comparisons between Abrams’ handling of the 2018 race and former President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, who won the popular vote by a margin of more than 7 million. (Abrams lost to Kemp in 2018 by some 54,000 votes.) When Abrams finally acknowledged on Nov. 16, 2018, that Kemp had won, she pointedly stated that it was “not a concession speech.” But as she later stressed, she doesn’t deny Kemp’s victory — unlike Trump. She echoed that position to ABC News. “What I said in that speech is that I would not concede [to] a system that would not permit voters to be heard,” she said. “I will always acknowledge the victor, but I will never say that there is a system in place that denies access that should be validated.” She added, “For those who do not appreciate nuance, my response is always going to be: Yes, I will acknowledge the victor. I did so in ’18. I will do so in 2022. But in 2022, I intend to be the victor myself.” On Friday, shortly before her interview with ABC News, a federal judge knocked down a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s election practices, ruling in favor of the state. Fair Fight Action, a group founded by Abrams, filed the suit shortly after the 2018 election and as part of the suit called for an overhaul of Georgia’s voting system. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, an Obama-era appointee, wrote in his order that “although Georgia’s election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the [Voting Rights Act of 1965].” Kemp and other Republicans seized on the ruling and accused Abrams of using her group’s challenge to advance her own political interests — a claim Abrams dismissed to ABC News. “This was not a lawsuit about my election,” she said. “This is a lawsuit about voting issues that were exposed by my election but were endemic to the state of Georgia.” If elected governor, Abrams said she would continue to fight to expand voting access and propose changes to the state’s voting laws. Hulu’s “Power Trip,” with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, releases new episodes on Sundays. Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Abrams Wont question The Outcome Of Kemp Rematch But Does question Ga. Voting Rules Deltaplex News
Donald Trump Takes Credit For Conservative Victories Including The One In Hungary
Donald Trump Takes Credit For Conservative Victories Including The One In Hungary
Donald Trump Takes Credit For Conservative Victories – Including The One In Hungary https://digitalalabamanews.com/donald-trump-takes-credit-for-conservative-victories-including-the-one-in-hungary/ In a recent interview for Breitbart News Former President Donald Trump claimed that he is a figurehead of a “great movement” worldwide that has lead to conservative victories in Brazil, Italy, Sweden and Hungary. “It’s a very simple movement: Give us borders, give us safe streets, we do not want crime, give us good education, give us dignity and give us respect as a nation. It is not complicated”, the former president said. “They saw what happened to me, they saw what happened to our country and now they’re comparing it to what’s happening with the Biden administration,” Trump said… It really became big. We started it—and it became very big. It’s happening here again. It’s happening now again because people see the results of the open borders and the stupidity taking place, the crime. All of the things that are happening in our country, other countries are watching”, added Trump. Donald Trump has recently endorsed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that in his interpretation lead to the current Brazilian president’s better than expected performance in the first round of election. Bolsonaro has polled double digits better than pollsters have predicted, preventing former left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva achieving a first-round victory. Donald Trump has also claimed to have influence the Hungarian elections in April this year to the benefit of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “In other places, it was very funny—when I did it in Hungary, he (Viktor Orbán) came to see me actually recently to thank me. It made a tremendous difference. He’s a very good man”, the former president remarked. When asked whether events in places like Sweden or Italy, where center-right governments have recently come to power were influenced by political developments in the US, Trump remarked that “a lot of people are using the United States as an example because they saw how well we did for four years. We had numbers that were incredible. Even though we got hit at the end by the virus but if you look at it we did unbelievably even at the end. The stock market was higher than it was—and prior to the virus coming in we had numbers the likes of which no country had ever seen before. They saw how well we did, and if you look, a lot of countries are going this way. Sweden also, by the way.” Donald Trump Praises Viktor Orbán’s Speech “In Hungary I would be dead politically if I showed any ambition for international popularity,” the Prime Minister told Compact magazine.Continue reading Featured Photo: Facebook Deák Dániel Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Donald Trump Takes Credit For Conservative Victories Including The One In Hungary
JSU Volleyball: Veteran Gamecocks Have Been Around The Block And Have Won A Whole Bunch
JSU Volleyball: Veteran Gamecocks Have Been Around The Block And Have Won A Whole Bunch
JSU Volleyball: Veteran Gamecocks Have Been Around The Block … And Have Won A Whole Bunch https://digitalalabamanews.com/jsu-volleyball-veteran-gamecocks-have-been-around-the-block-and-have-won-a-whole-bunch/ JACKSONVILLE — They aren’t ready to claim Social Security. They don’t power walk at the mall, eat dinner at 4:30 p.m., or start any sentence “in my day …” But there’s little doubt that in college athletics terms, Jacksonville State’s volleyball roster is nearly ancient. Of the nine players who appear regularly in the playing rotation, four are in their fifth year of playing because of the NCAA waiver because of Covid: setter Claire Ochs, middle blocker Katie Montgomery, and outside hitters Lena Kindermann and Sophie Riemersma. Three more are in their fourth year: outside hitter Kylee Quigley, middle blocker Zoe Gonzales and libero Erin Carmichael. Courtney Glotzbach, a third-year outside hitter, and Brooklyn Schiffli, a second-year defensive specialist, are the neophytes of the rotation. No doubt, these players have seen a thing or two Jacksonville State’s Kylee Quigley (6) and Brooklyn Schiffli (7) prepare to play a point. JSU Photo But here’s the thing: all that experience has added up to what’s turning into a memorable season for the Gamecocks. They’re 16-1 so far. Their one loss came to Auburn in five sets, and the Tigers are one of only four unbeaten teams nationally in NCAA Division I. “We’re playing a lot of upperclassmen who know how to take all the stuff that we’re doing in scouting and put it onto the court,” JSU fourth-year coach Todd Garvey said. “Almost every time we step on the court, we’ve got six different game plans for every rotation the other team is in, and they’ve done a great job of memorizing it and taking the strengths of the other team away and exploiting their weaknesses.” Maybe the biggest benefit JSU enjoys from the experienced lineup has come in long matches. Twice this year the Gamecocks have won the first two sets before losing the next two. But, they regathered themselves and won the fifth. The first came in the second weekend of the season in a road victory over The Citadel, and the next came this past weekend in a win at Liberty. On the road and with Liberty holding the momentum, JSU took the first four points of the fifth set and never trailed. “I think we really do thrive in those situations,” Riemersma said. “We go through practices and practice those same exact situations. Also, in the fifth set, I think the biggest game-changer was our energy. We just knew that it was now or never, that we had to get this game or we were going to lose it. We gave it all we had, cheering extra hard and extra loud for our teammates, and that carried us throughout that fifth set.” Jacksonville State’s Sophie Riemersma (16) enjoys a winning point. JSU Photo JSU has won three five-set matches this year. The loss to Auburn also went five sets, as the Tigers dominated the first two sets, but JSU regathered to take the third and fourth sets. Auburn squeaked out a fifth-set win. Garvey said his players are good at not dwelling on the past or looking into the future. Instead, they play each point, each set and each match as they come. They’ve experienced plenty of winning along the way. JSU has won 62 of its last 73 matches, stretching back into late in the 2019 season. They’ve won a pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles and finished second in the ASUN tournament last year. “We felt so many different things in practices when it comes from pressure to scrimmages we do in practice,” Quigley said. “It’s almost like when you go out there and your traveling with the team and you’re playing in a game, it’s like we know we’re going to get it done. So, OK, we just lost the third and the fourth. We won the first and the second. What do we have to do to get it done? We’re going to get it done.” This year’s squad may be Garvey’s most complete at JSU. In his four years, the Gamecocks always have shined on offense, but this year, they’re one of the nation’s best on defense, too. They’re ninth nationally in hitting percentage and 11th in opponent’s hitting percentage. Towson (16-0) is the only other team ranked in the top 11 in both. Jacksonville State’s Kylee Quigley prepares to serve. JSU Photo In Garvey’s first season on campus, the Gamecocks were No. 153 in the nation in opponent’s hitting percentage. He pointed out the work of Carmichael and Schiffli for helping anchor the defense. “My first year here, our defense was pretty bad,” Garvey said. “So we’ve worked really, really hard at it.” JSU also has added a pair of transfers who have fit into the playing rotation almost seamlessly: Ochs, a graduate transfer from Southeast Missouri, and Riemersma, a graduate transfer from Miami-Ohio. “I think we’re all really competitive volleyball players, and so are they,” Quigley said. “When you have people who come in and have similar mindsets as you, it’s pretty easy to insert them and get it flowing immediately.” Both are starting. Ochs leads the team in assists and is third in digs. Riemersma is third in kills. “The girls were so welcoming and such a nice group,” Riemersma said. “They were all very experienced and played a high level of volleyball. They’re intense. It’s been a pleasure to play with them, and it’s been so much fun getting to spend my last year here playing with them.” That win at Liberty improved the Gamecocks to 4-0 in the league. Only two weeks into the league schedule, the remaining 13 ASUN teams each have at least one loss. “That means we’re being successful in what we’re doing, but we need to keep getting better every week,” Quigley said. So, even after an exciting win Saturday at Liberty, the Gamecocks didn’t celebrate too much … probably because a nine-hour bus trip back to campus awaited them, which didn’t put them back home until 4 a.m. Sunday. “At least it was a happy bus ride,” Riemersma said. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
JSU Volleyball: Veteran Gamecocks Have Been Around The Block And Have Won A Whole Bunch
Ohio Elections Chief Announces New Public Integrity Unit
Ohio Elections Chief Announces New Public Integrity Unit
Ohio Elections Chief Announces New Public Integrity Unit https://digitalalabamanews.com/ohio-elections-chief-announces-new-public-integrity-unit/ COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s Republican elections chief on Wednesday announced a new public integrity unit in response to what he called Americans’ “crisis of confidence” in the electoral process even while acknowledging the state’s reputation for secure voting. The unit, taking effect next week, will consolidate and highlight the Ohio secretary of state’s investigative work and eventually have one or more dedicated investigator, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a statement. Those investigators won’t start until after the General Election, however. He referenced a growing national trend “that indicates a crisis of confidence in the electoral process.” That crisis is largely a concern of Republican voters and stems from lies told by former President Donald Trump about election fraud in the campaign won by Joe Biden. Numerous federal and local election officials in both parties, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even Trump’s own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the election fraud the former president alleges. For his part, LaRose initially said the 2020 election was secure and accurate, but as last spring’s primary neared — which LaRose won, defeating a 2020 election skeptic — he began to echo some of Trump’s talking points. LaRose claimed there were problems in other states and touted his office’s work to combat voter fraud. Trump endorsed LaRose, a longtime supporter. LaRose said his new division will help his office more efficiently and thoroughly do work it already does, such as voting system certification and investigation of election law violations, including a team dedicated at looking into rare cases of voter fraud or suppression and campaign finance violations, said LaRose, who is seeking a second term in November. “Our elections are being scrutinized like never before, and any lack of absolute confidence in the accuracy and honesty of those elections weakens the very foundation of our democracy,” LaRose said in a statement. He also referred to Ohio’s “strong national reputation for secure, accurate, and accessible elections.” LaRose’s announcement follows a decision in Florida in which lawmakers and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis created a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes. Democrats called LaRose’s news a waste of taxpayer dollars aimed at bolstering his political aspirations. LaRose’s name is often mentioned as a possible 2024 U.S. Senate candidate. LaRose identified just a single case of possible illegal voting earlier this year, said party spokesperson Matt Keyes, making the new office “a taxpayer-funded solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” Chelsea Clark, LaRose’s Democratic opponent, questioned the timing of the announcement. She also noted LaRose’s efforts to keep his other opponent, independent candidate Terpeshore Maras, off the ballot. Clark called out LaRose for a “history of politicizing these investigations to punish opponents.” Maras is a conservative podcaster who embraces Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled her eligible to run for Ohio secretary of state this fall. In August, LaRose’s office had upheld a judge’s decision that a number of Maras’ petition signatures were invalid, and invalidated her candidacy, a move overturned by the state Supreme Court. Maras dismissed the move as pre-election posturing. If elected, she wouldn’t need such a unit, because “everyone employed in our office already has some delegated part in ensuring each Ohioan has a single secure vote that is properly counted – nothing more and nothing less,” Maras said. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Ohio Elections Chief Announces New Public Integrity Unit
'Dreamers' Immigration Program Under Review Nipping Dreams In The Bud
'Dreamers' Immigration Program Under Review Nipping Dreams In The Bud
'Dreamers' Immigration Program Under Review, Nipping Dreams In The Bud https://digitalalabamanews.com/dreamers-immigration-program-under-review-nipping-dreams-in-the-bud/ Daca will be reviewed at the US supreme court for the third time, further putting the fate of immigrants on the line. A demonstration in support of DACA outside US District Court in Houston on July 19, 2021 (Getty Images) A US appeals court found unconstitutional a program on Wednesday that protects migrants brought to the nation as youngsters but allowed it to continue for current recipients. The result upholds a federal judge’s order to limit the program in July 2021. The judgment on Wednesday permits approximately 600,000 current enrollees to keep their status but continues to unjustly bar new applicants. The policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is now being reviewed by a lower court. DACA recipients are referred to as “Dreamers”. Read next: Dozens of migrant children reported missing in Houston: Reuters US President Joe Biden expressed his disappointment with the ruling, which he said means “the lives of Dreamers remain in limbo.” “Today’s decision is the result of continued efforts by Republican state officials to strip DACA recipients of the protections and work authorization that many have now held for over a decade,” he said in a statement. “It is long past time for Congress to pass permanent protections for Dreamers, including a pathway to citizenship.” In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he is reviewing the ruling and would work with the Department of Justice on a legal response. DACA, established by then-President Barack Obama in 2012, covers around 700,000 people, granting them legal status, as well as the opportunity to work.  Read next: Biden Pledges to Appeal Ruling against DACA Immigration Program In 2017, then-President Donald Trump attempted to repeal DACA, claiming that Obama had exceeded his constitutional authority. DACA recipients were granted a temporary respite in June 2020 when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Trump administration had failed to give a sufficient rationale for its efforts to stop the program. It was obvious that it was ruling primarily on procedural matters, and it left the door open for additional challenges. DACA was later reinstated, and Biden has worked to expand the program, as well as pursue broader immigration reform since taking office. Read next: Trump’s border wall construction back on track under Joe Biden However, in July 2021, Texas-based Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that Obama overstepped his jurisdiction by instituting DACA via administrative order. He described the directive as “illegal”. The ruling was appealed by the Biden administration. In addition, in August, the Department of Homeland Security adopted a final rule to codify the program and shield it from legal challenges. In its judgment on Wednesday, the appeals court stated that it lacked sufficient information to rule on the August regulation, which is slated to go into force on October 31. “The legal questions that DACA presents are serious, both to the parties and to the public,” the three-judge panel wrote in the ruling. “In our view, the defendants have not shown that there is a likelihood that they will succeed on the merits.” Democrats in Congress have also campaigned for legislation to permanently resolve the status of young arrivals, but immigration laws have long been blocked due to Republican resistance. ‘Political pawns’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on September 15 that Republican governors sending migrants to northern cities such as New York, Washington, and Chicago, are using migrants as “political pawns”. “Republican governors interfering in that [US immigration] process and using migrants as political pawns is shameful, is reckless, and just plain wrong,” Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing. “It is indeed a political play,” she said. “It is endangering people’s lives and it is inhumane. It is taking away people’s dignity.” “It’s shameful and we should call it out,” she said. In April, Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched a program that is part of the governor’s Operation Lone Star initiative, intended to slow the number of migrants crossing the border. Since then, more than 10,000 undocumented migrants from Texas and Arizona have been relocated by bus for free to cities such as New York, Washington, and Chicago. Read next: 46 migrants found dead in tractor-trailer in Texas Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
'Dreamers' Immigration Program Under Review Nipping Dreams In The Bud
Abrams Wont question The Outcome Of Kemp Rematch But Does question Ga. Voting Rules
Abrams Wont question The Outcome Of Kemp Rematch But Does question Ga. Voting Rules
Abrams Won’t ‘question The Outcome’ Of Kemp Rematch But Does ‘question’ Ga. Voting Rules https://digitalalabamanews.com/abrams-wont-question-the-outcome-of-kemp-rematch-but-does-question-ga-voting-rules/ (ATLANTA) — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said she has continuing doubts about voting equity in her upcoming rematch with incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, telling ABC News in a new interview that she would “not question the outcome of the election” but would continue to “question the process.” Abrams, a former state lawmaker-turned-prominent voting rights advocate, repeatedly attacked Kemp in 2018 given that he was her rival and the sitting secretary of state who was overseeing their race. Abrams also challenged what she said were Georgia’s excessively strict regulations around voter registration and more, calling them tantamount to suppression. Kemp said he wanted to ensure election integrity. Abrams waited more than a week to acknowledge Kemp’s victory after the 2018 election. Pressed twice by ABC News congressional correspondent Rachel Scott in an interview on Sunday about whether she would concede the 2022 gubernatorial election if she lost, Abrams repeatedly drew a distinction between conceding the outcome — which she said she would do — and criticizing the process, including regulations restricting voter access to polling places and absentee voting. “I have always acknowledged the outcome of elections,” she said in a clip from the interview, set to air Oct. 9 on Hulu’s “Power Trip.” “What is deeply concerning to me is the conflation of access to the right to vote and the outcome of elections.” “Voter access is not the same as election outcomes,” Abrams continued, “and when those become conflated and we buy into the conflation, when we buy into the false equivalency, we erode access to democracy.” Conservatives have tried to draw comparisons between Abrams’ handling of the 2018 race and former President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, who won the popular vote by a margin of more than 7 million. (Abrams lost to Kemp in 2018 by some 54,000 votes.) When Abrams finally acknowledged on Nov. 16, 2018, that Kemp had won, she pointedly stated that it was “not a concession speech.” But as she later stressed, she doesn’t deny Kemp’s victory — unlike Trump. She echoed that position to ABC News. “What I said in that speech is that I would not concede [to] a system that would not permit voters to be heard,” she said. “I will always acknowledge the victor, but I will never say that there is a system in place that denies access that should be validated.” She added, “For those who do not appreciate nuance, my response is always going to be: Yes, I will acknowledge the victor. I did so in ’18. I will do so in 2022. But in 2022, I intend to be the victor myself.” On Friday, shortly before her interview with ABC News, a federal judge knocked down a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s election practices, ruling in favor of the state. Fair Fight Action, a group founded by Abrams, filed the suit shortly after the 2018 election and as part of the suit called for an overhaul of Georgia’s voting system. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, an Obama-era appointee, wrote in his order that “although Georgia’s election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the [Voting Rights Act of 1965].” Kemp and other Republicans seized on the ruling and accused Abrams of using her group’s challenge to advance her own political interests — a claim Abrams dismissed to ABC News. “This was not a lawsuit about my election,” she said. “This is a lawsuit about voting issues that were exposed by my election but were endemic to the state of Georgia.” If elected governor, Abrams said she would continue to fight to expand voting access and propose changes to the state’s voting laws. Hulu’s “Power Trip,” with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, releases new episodes on Sundays. Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Abrams Wont question The Outcome Of Kemp Rematch But Does question Ga. Voting Rules
Missing Merced Family Of 4 Found Dead Following Kidnapping: Sheriff
Missing Merced Family Of 4 Found Dead Following Kidnapping: Sheriff
Missing Merced Family Of 4 Found Dead Following Kidnapping: Sheriff https://digitalalabamanews.com/missing-merced-family-of-4-found-dead-following-kidnapping-sheriff/ A baby girl, her parents and uncle who were kidnapped at gunpoint from their central California business two days ago were found dead Wednesday, the sheriff of Merced County said. “Our worst fears have been confirmed,” Sheriff Vern Warnke told reporters Wednesday night. A farmworker found the bodies close together in a Merced County orchard, he said. The announcement came after authorities released surveillance video of a man kidnapping 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri; her mother Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, on Monday. The Merced County Sheriff’s Office holds a press conference to update the community about the kidnapped family found dead Wednesday. Authorities said they were taken by a convicted robber who tried to kill himself a day after the kidnappings. “There’s no words right now to describe the anger I feel and the senselessness of this incident,” Warnke said. “I said it earlier: There’s a special place in hell for this guy.” Investigators, including crime lab technicians from the California Department of Justice, would be processing the crime scene through the night, Warnke said. He didn’t immediately supply other details. The family members were taken from their business in Merced, a city of 86,000 people about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland. Relatives of Jesus Salgado, 48, contacted authorities reporting that he had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping, Warnke told a local station on Tuesday. Salgado tried to take his own life before police arrived at a home in nearby Atwater, and he has since been hospitalized. Efforts to reach Salgado’s family were unsuccessful Wednesday. The video released earlier Wednesday showed the suspect first walking by the property before talking to one of the men. Later, it shows him leading the men, who had their hands zip-tied behind their backs, into the back seat of Amandeep Singh’s pickup truck. The suspect then went back to the trailer that served as the business office and led Jasdeep Singh, who was carrying her baby in her arms, out and into the truck before the suspect then drove away. Family members said nothing was stolen from the trucking company but that their relatives were all wearing jewelry. Warnke had said that after the kidnappings, an ATM card belonging to one of the victims was used in Atwater, about 9 miles (14 kilometers) north of Merced. Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands in what he believes was a financially motivated crime. Relatives of the victims had earlier asked anyone who owns a convenience store or gas station in the area to check their surveillance cameras for images of the suspect or the family. They said they were worried the baby wasn’t being fed because the family didn’t have any baby food with them at the time of the kidnapping. “Please help us out, come forward, so my family comes home safe,” Sukhdeep Singh, a brother of the victims, said, his voice breaking. The Merced County Sheriff’s Office released footage of the kidnapping of four family members at gunpoint in Merced, California. At the earlier news conference, Warnke said detectives had not been able to speak to Salgado, who has been under medical sedation in the hospital, but they were hoping to do so Wednesday with the help of doctors. “I can tell you that every time he has even come near consciousness he has been violent,” Warnke said. Salgado was previously convicted of first-degree robbery with the use of a firearm in Merced County, as well as attempted false imprisonment and an attempt to prevent or dissuade a victim or witness. He was sentenced to 11 years in state prison in that case, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was released from prison in 2015 and discharged from parole three years later. He also has a conviction for possession of a controlled substance, the corrections agency said. Investigators have not found a link between Salgado and the family to show they knew each other before the kidnapping. “As of right now, we believe it was random,” Deputy Alexandra Britton said. “We don’t have evidence to prove otherwise.” Family members told a Sacramento TV station that the office for Unison Trucking Inc., the family’s business, had only opened about a week earlier. “My husband is very peaceful and calm person. We don’t have any clue why they kidnapped them,” said Jaspreet Caur, wife of the kidnapped uncle. The sheriff said detectives believe the kidnapper destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks. The sheriff’s office said that firefighters on Monday found Amandeep Singh’s truck on fire. Merced Police Department officers went to Amandeep Singh’s home, where a family member tried to reach him and the couple. When they were not able to reach their family members, they called the Merced County Sheriff’s office to report them missing, the office said. Merced County Undersheriff Corey Gibson said a farmer found a phone belonging to one of the victims on a street in Dos Palos, a town 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Merced, and answered it when the family called it. Warnke said that while detectives have not established any motive or determined whether Salgado worked with any accomplices, he believes the suspect was driven by money and colluded with someone else. Stefanie Dazio reported from Los Angeles. News Researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York also contributed to this report. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Missing Merced Family Of 4 Found Dead Following Kidnapping: Sheriff
Myanmar Sentences Japanese Journalist To Prison On 2 Charges
Myanmar Sentences Japanese Journalist To Prison On 2 Charges
Myanmar Sentences Japanese Journalist To Prison On 2 Charges https://digitalalabamanews.com/myanmar-sentences-japanese-journalist-to-prison-on-2-charges/ By GRANT PECK – Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced a Japanese journalist to prison after he filmed an anti-government protest in July, a Japanese diplomat and the Southeast Asian nation’s government said Thursday. Toru Kubota was sentenced Wednesday to seven years for violating the electronic transactions law and three years for incitement, said Tetsuo Kitada, deputy chief of mission of the Japanese Embassy. The sentences were to be served concurrently. A statement sent to journalists from the military’s information office explained that Kubota was sentenced to seven years in total, while a trial continues on the charge of violating immigration law against him. The electronic transactions law covers offenses that involve spreading false or provocative information online, and carries a prison term of seven to 15 years. Incitement is a catch-all political law covering activities deemed to cause unrest, and has been used frequently against journalists and dissidents, usually with a three-year prison term. Kubota was arrested on July 30 by plainclothes police in Yangon, the country’s largest city, after taking photos and videos of a small flash protest against Myanmar’s 2021 takeover by the military, which ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Kubota was the fifth foreign journalist detained in Myanmar after the military seized power. U.S. citizens Nathan Maung and Danny Fenster, who worked for local publications, and freelancers Robert Bociaga of Poland and Yuki Kitazumi of Japan were eventually deported before serving full prison sentences. Since the military seized power in February last year, it has forced at least 12 media outlets to shut down and arrested about 142 journalists, 57 of whom remain detained. Most of those still detained are being held under the incitement charge, for allegedly causing fear, spreading false news, or agitating against a government employee. Some of the closed media outlets have continued operating without a license, publishing online as their staff members dodge arrest. Others operate from exile. The army’s takeover triggered mass public protests that the military and police responded to with lethal force, triggering armed resistance and escalating violence that have led to what some U.N. experts characterize as a civil war. According to detailed lists by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group based in Thailand, 2,336 civilians have died in the military government’s crackdown on opponents and at least 15,757 people have been arrested. The military said soon after Kubota’s arrest that he was detained while taking pictures and videos of 10-15 protesters in Yangon’s South Dagon township. It claimed he confessed to police that he had contacted participants in the protest a day earlier to arrange to film it. A graduate of Tokyo’s Keio University with a master’s degree from the University of the Arts London, Kubota, 26 at the time of his arrest, has done assignments for Yahoo! News Japan, Vice Japan and Al Jazeera English. His work has focused on ethnic conflicts, immigrants and refugee issues, including the plight of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. The military is particularly sensitive about the Rohingya issue because international courts are considering whether it committed serious human rights abuses, including genocide, in a brutal 2017 counterinsurgency campaign that caused more than 700,000 members of the Muslim minority to flee to neighboring Bangladesh for safety. Kubota’s countryman Kitazumi, a freelance journalist, was arrested in April 2021 and freed and deported just under a month later, after being indicted but not tried. The military government said at the time it decided to release Kitazumi “in consideration of cordial relations between Myanmar and Japan up to now and in view of future bilateral relations, and upon the request of the Japanese government special envoy on Myanmar’s national reconciliation.” Japan has historically maintained warm relations with Myanmar, including under previous military government. It takes a softer line towards Myanmar’s current government than do many Western nations, which treat it as a pariah state for its poor human rights record and undermining democracy, and apply economic and political sanctions against its army rulers and their families and cronies. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Read More…
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Myanmar Sentences Japanese Journalist To Prison On 2 Charges
Britain's Shadow Banking System Is Raising Serious Concerns After Bond Market Storm
Britain's Shadow Banking System Is Raising Serious Concerns After Bond Market Storm
Britain's Shadow Banking System Is Raising Serious Concerns After Bond Market Storm https://digitalalabamanews.com/britains-shadow-banking-system-is-raising-serious-concerns-after-bond-market-storm/ Analysts are concerned about a knock-on effect to the U.K.’s shadow banking sector in the event of a sudden rise in interest rates. Photo by Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images LONDON — After last week’s chaos in British bond markets following the government’s Sep. 23 “mini-budget,” analysts are sounding the alarm on the country’s shadow banking sector. The Bank of England was forced to intervene in the long-dated bond market after a steep sell-off of U.K. government bonds — known as “gilts” — threatened the country’s financial stability. The panic was focused in particular on pension funds, which hold substantial amounts of gilts, while a sudden rise in interest rate expectations also caused chaos in the mortgage market. While the central bank’s intervention offered some fragile stability to the British pound and bond markets, analysts have flagged lingering stability risks in the country’s shadow banking sector — financial institutions acting as lenders or intermediaries outside the traditional banking sector. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose administration introduced a rescue package for Britain’s banks during the 2008 financial crisis, told BBC Radio Wednesday that U.K. regulators would need to tighten their supervision of the shadow banks. “I do fear that as inflation hits and interest rates rise, there will be a number of companies, a number of organizations that will be in grave difficulty, so I don’t think this crisis is over because the pension funds have been rescued last week,” Brown said. “I do think there’s got to be eternal vigilance about what has happened to what is called the shadow banking sector, and I do fear that there could be further crises to come.” Global markets took heart in recent sessions from weakening economic data, which is seen as reducing the likelihood that central banks will be forced to tighten monetary policy more aggressively in order to rein in sky-high inflation. Edmund Harriss, chief investment officer at Guinness Global Investors, told CNBC Wednesday that while inflation will be tempered by the decline in demand and impact of higher interest rates on household incomes and spending power, the danger is a “grinding and extension of weakening demand.” The U.S. Federal Reserve has reiterated that it will continue raising interest rates until inflation is under control, and Harriss suggested that month-on-month inflation prints of more than 0.2% will be viewed negatively by the central bank, driving more aggressive monetary policy tightening. Harriss suggested that sudden, unexpected changes to rates where leverage has built up in “darker corners of the market” during the previous period of ultra-low rates could expose areas of “fundamental instability.” “When going back to the pension funds issue in the U.K., it was the requirement of pension funds to meet long-term liabilities through their holdings of gilts, to get the cash flows coming through, but ultra-low rates meant they weren’t getting the returns, and so they applied swaps over the top — that’s the leverage to get those returns,” he said. “Non-bank financial institutions, the issue there is likely to be access to funding. If your business is built upon short-term funding and one step back, the lending institutions are having to tighten their belts, tighten credit conditions and so forth, and start to move towards a preservation of capital, then the people that are going to be starved are those that require the most from short-term funding.” Harriss suggested that the U.K. is not there yet, however, for there is still ample liquidity in the system for now. “Money will become more expensive, but it is the availability of money that is when you find sort of a crunch point,” he added. The greater the debt held by non-banking institutions, such as hedge funds, insurers and pension funds, the higher the risk of a ripple effect through the financial system. The capital requirements of shadow banks is often set by counterparties they deal with, rather than regulators, as is the case with traditional banks. This means that when rates are low and there is an abundance of liquidity in the system, these collateral requirements are often set quite low, meaning non-banks need to post substantial collateral very suddenly when markets head south. Pension funds triggered the Bank of England’s action last week, with some beginning to receive margin calls due to the plunge in gilt values. A margin call is a demand from brokers to increase equity in an account when its value falls below the broker’s required amount. Sean Corrigan, director of Cantillon Consulting, told CNBC Friday that pension funds themselves were in fairly strong capital positions due to higher interest rates. “They’re actually now ahead of funding on the actuarial basis for the first time in I think five or six years. They clearly had a margin problem, but who is the one who’s thinly margined?” he said. “It’s the counterparties who’ve passed it on and shuffled it around themselves. If there is an issue, maybe we’re not looking at the right part of the building that’s in danger of falling down.” Read More…
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Britain's Shadow Banking System Is Raising Serious Concerns After Bond Market Storm
HBCU Football: Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA SIAC
HBCU Football: Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA SIAC
HBCU Football: Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA, SIAC https://digitalalabamanews.com/hbcu-football-stretch-run-beginning-in-ciaa-siac/ The so-called ‘stretch run’ of the 2022 HBCU football season is upon us. It begins over the next three weeks (depending on the conference).  CIAA stretch run For the CIAA, intra-divisional games – games between teams in the same division – begins this week as the regular season enters its final five weeks.  This is when determining North and South Division champions in the CIAA really begins. That’s the focus of our preview this week. The CIAA title game in Salem, Va. is set for Nov. 12. Stretch run for SIAC and others There is an almost similar schedule for the SIAC which will also stage its championship game on Nov. 12. True intra-divisional play will start up next week in the SIAC. Its title game will be played at the home of the East Division champion. Conference play between teams in the MEAC begins in earnest in two weeks (Oct. 22). It gets started with the Norfolk State / Morgan State game this Saturday. Delaware State and Norfolk State will play only the second MEAC game next week (Oct. 15). The SWAC is a little different. Teams in the SWAC will play inter-divisional games right through the Nov. 26 end of the regular season. The SWAC Championship Game will be played Dec. 3. Handicapping the CIAA North In the CIAA North, it usually comes down to three teams – three-time champion Bowie State, Virginia Union and Virginia State. It looks to be trending that way again this season. Virginia Union has had the best start. Dr. Alvin Parker’s VUU Panthers (5-0, 3-0 CIAA) are the conference’s only undefeated team. VUU is currently ranked 12th in the AFCA NCAA Div. II Coaches Poll and 17th in the D2football.com poll. Virginia Union (5-0) is inside the Top 20 in both the AFCA (Coaches) and d2football.com polls. Virginia State (4-1, 3-0) and Bowie State (3-2, 2-1) are just behind VUU in the standings.  Also in the North In other North Division games, Virginia Union is at home in Richmond, Va. (12 noon) for its homecoming vs. Elizabeth City State (1-4, 1-2). Lincoln (2-2, 1-1) has homecoming (1 p.m.) hosting Chowan (2-3, 2-1). Next week, VUU plays at Bowie State. VSU will host VUU on Nov. 5, the last week of the regular season. Handicapping the CIAA South In the South, Shaw (2-3) and four-time division champion Fayetteville State (3-2) both have 2-1 records in CIAA games. They appear on a collision course for division supremacy. They have a date in Fayetteville for Oct. 29. After getting by Bowie State, Shaw fell to VSU last week 28-24 on a Trojans’ touchdown with :12 seconds left. FSU battled unbeaten Virginia Union to the wire on Sept. 24 but fell 31-28. This week, FSU has its homecoming (2 p.m.) vs. winless Saint Augustine’s (0-5, 0-3). Shaw visits (1 p.m.) J. C. Smith (1-3, 1-2) in Charlotte (N.C.) and Livingstone (1-4, 0-3) hosts (1 p.m.) Winston-Salem State (0-4, 0-2) in Salisbury, NC. head coach Gabe Gardina’s ASU Golden Rams are tied for 22nd in the AFCA poll. They are 13th in the D2 poll. Benedict is not in the AFCA poll but is 24th in the D2 poll. Both Benedict and Albany State are in the SIAC East and will face off next week (Oct. 15) at Albany State’s homecoming. This week, Benedict puts its undefeated record on the line hosting (2 p.m.) Miles (1-3, 1-0). Albany State is at Edward Waters (1-4, 1-3). Lane and Tuskegee are both 3-2 overall and 2-0 in SIAC games to lead the West Division. Lane, coming off a big win 28-27 in overtime vs. Tennessee State, hosts (2 p.m.) Kentucky State (1-4, 1-1). Tuskegee, who needed two overtimes to defeat Clark Atlanta Saturday, plays Morehouse in Birmingham for their Classic (7 p.m.). In previous years the Morehouse-Skeege Classic was played in Columbus, Ga. HBCU Football: SWAC Now we turn our attention to FCS HBCU Football. After a bye week, undefeated and nationally-ranked Jackson State (4-0, 2-0 SWAC E) gets back into action at homecoming (2 p.m.) at Alabama State (3-2, 1-1 E). JSU is ranked eighth in both the AFCA FCS and STATS Perform FCS Top 25. Jackson is also atop the HBCUGameday FCS poll. Prairie View A&M (3-2, 3-0 W) is the early leader in the West Division. The Panthers have a key division game (4 p.m.) hosting Southern (2-2, 1-1 W). Alcorn State (2-2, 1-1 W) plays (6 p.m.) at Miss. Valley State,  Grambling State (1-4, 0-2 W) is at Alabama A&M (1-4, 1-1 E) and Texas Southern (1-4, 1-2 W) is at Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s homecoming (2 p.m.). Florida A&M (at S. C. State, 2 p.m,) and Bethune-Cookman (at Tennessee State, 5 p.m.) have out-of-conference games.    HBCU Football: Stretch run beginning in CIAA, SIAC Read More…
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HBCU Football: Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA SIAC
American Girl Has Been Selected As A Finalist In The Best Feature Film Category Of The 17th Annual Peachtree Village International Film Festival Digital Journal
American Girl Has Been Selected As A Finalist In The Best Feature Film Category Of The 17th Annual Peachtree Village International Film Festival Digital Journal
American Girl Has Been Selected As A Finalist In The Best Feature Film Category Of The 17th Annual Peachtree Village International Film Festival – Digital Journal https://digitalalabamanews.com/american-girl-has-been-selected-as-a-finalist-in-the-best-feature-film-category-of-the-17th-annual-peachtree-village-international-film-festival-digital-journal/ The Peachtree Village International Film Festival is an international festival that showcases indie and mainstream content, and American Girl is one of the finalists for this year’s competition Every year, the Peachtree Village International Film Festival (PVIFF) attracts 3,000+ people each year from around the world. PVIFF was created in 2006 and was known as Sweet Auburn International Film Festival before it was changed to its present name. Since its establishment, PVIFF has served as the launching pad for many successful filmmakers and other artists alike in the film and entertainment industry. The festival showcases feature-length films, shorts, music videos, documentaries, and screenplays from around the globe, awarding the best films and videos in a wide range of categories. Today, Al Robbins is pleased to announce that his feature film, American Girl has been selected as one finalist in the Best Feature Film category in the 17th Peachtree Village International Film Festival. The announcement was made ahead of the award event which is slated to hold from November 3 to November 6, 2022. American Girl will compete alongside several finalists for the Best Feature Film 2022 and Al Robbins is confident this is a golden opportunity and an attestation to the quality of the movie. American Girl is about a 19-year-old girl from rural Georgia who moves to Atlanta hoping to stay with a friend after an argument with her stepfather. Motivated by the social justice movement of 2020, she decides to work for Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor. She has lots of talent and personality but lacks the experience to get the job. After an argument with her friend, she finds herself suddenly homeless and must survive on the mean streets of Atlanta by any means necessary. However, help comes from the most unexpected places. The lead role was played by actor Jamila Gray, who also starred in the Paramount Plus movie “On the Come Up.” The film is still in theaters and can be streamed on the app. Directed by Saana Lathan, On the Come Up, featured an all-black cast with Jamila playing Bri, a 16 year old who wants to become one of the greatest rappers of all time, or at least win her first rap battle. The coming-of-age story follows Bri’s fight to rise to the top despite the cards being stacked against her. At the Peachtree Village International Film Festival, American Girl will premiere on Friday, November 4 at 4:45 pm. The film screens at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Perimeter At Villa Christina, 4000 Summit Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30319. It is a movie that inspires hope and shows how challenges and circumstances are not potent to determine the course of one’s life when resilience and sheer determination are in the equation. For more information, please visit https://www.pviffatl.com/. About Al Robbins: ALFRED ROBBINS was born in Queens N.Y. He was raised on Long Island and graduated from the State University of New York – Old Westbury. Robbins enjoyed a career in the insurance industry prior to becoming a filmmaker. In 2008 his debut feature film “Grapes on a Vine” was nominated for Best Director – First Feature film at the 2008 Pan African Film Festival. In 2012 Robbins directed the feature film “The Next Day” which screened at seven film festivals and was acquired domestically by Maverick Entertainment. Artmattan Productions acquired the international rights to the film. Next up for Robbins was “Mistaken”. The film was shot on location in North Africa (Morocco) and Washington D.C./Baltimore metro area. “Mistaken” (AKA “Raltat”) was recognized by the Women Film Critics Circle as one of the best films about a woman not theatrically released. The film is being distributed by Indie Rights. The title may be seen on YouTube and Amazon Prime. “All That Matters” is Robbins’ most recent feature film. The film premiered at the 2019 Peachtree Village International Film Festival in Atlanta, GA. The domestic rights to the film were acquired by Indie Rights. The film is available on various VOD platforms including Tubi and Amazon Prime Media Contact Company Name: Peachtree Village International Film Festival Contact Person: Orion Kaminky Email: Send Email Country: United States Website: https://www.pviffatl.com/ Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
American Girl Has Been Selected As A Finalist In The Best Feature Film Category Of The 17th Annual Peachtree Village International Film Festival Digital Journal
Phillies-Cardinals Position-By-Position Breakdown
Phillies-Cardinals Position-By-Position Breakdown
Phillies-Cardinals Position-By-Position Breakdown https://digitalalabamanews.com/phillies-cardinals-position-by-position-breakdown/ 46 minutes ago The last time the Cardinals and Phillies met in the postseason also happened to be the last time the Phillies played in a postseason game — it was Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series, and it left us with the indelible images of Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard writhing in pain along the first-base line after tearing his left Achilles tendon as right-hander Chris Carpenter and the Cards celebrated at Citizens Bank Park. Eleven years later, the Phillies hope to do what the Cardinals did that October: win the World Series. Meanwhile, the Cards will look to repeat their 2011 feat, particularly since that was the last time St. Louis won it all. As the two storied franchises face off in the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, with Game 1 scheduled for Friday at 2:07 p.m. ET on ABC — 11 years to the day of Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS, here’s a look at how they match up, position by position: J.T. Realmuto proved once again why he is considered the best all-around catcher in baseball with a tremendous 2022 campaign. His season began slowly at the plate, but Realmuto turned things around with a spectacular July, when he hit .358/.423/.642 with five homers. He produced a career-high 6.5 wins above replacement (FanGraphs) with his typical excellence behind the plate to go along with what he did offensively. Realmuto’s backup, Garrett Stubbs, has been solid when he’s been in the lineup, hitting .264/.350/.462 in 121 plate appearances. The Cardinals have the great Yadier Molina behind the plate in tandem with Andrew Knizner. Molina, in his final Major League season, isn’t much of a threat at the plate but is still savvy behind it, throwing out 39 percent of would-be base stealers this year (the MLB average was 24 percent). Knizner posted a .601 OPS in 293 plate appearances for St. Louis this season. In any position-by-position breakdown, if you’ve got a leading MVP candidate on your roster, you probably have the advantage wherever he’s playing. That would be the case for first base here, where Paul Goldschmidt is coming off a career year and has been the NL MVP frontrunner for most of it. Despite slumping over the final few weeks of the regular season, Goldschmidt led the NL in slugging, OPS and OPS+ as he and third baseman Nolan Arenado fueled the Cards’ lineup from start to finish. Goldschmidt’s counterpart with the Phillies is no slouch, either. Rhys Hoskins posted a .794 OPS with 30 homers for Philadelphia this season, but even those numbers take a back seat to Goldschmidt’s campaign. Jean Segura has been one of the more underrated infielders in the game in recent years. He’s been a solid contributor year-in and year-out, and 2022 was no exception. The 32-year-old hit .277/.336/.387 with 10 homers and 13 steals in a season in which he was limited to 98 games due to injury. The Cardinals, meanwhile, got good production at second base from an unexpected source. Rookie Brendan Donovan is a throwback at the plate and a proverbial Swiss Army knife in the field. He appeared at every position on the diamond save for pitcher, catcher and center field this season. But as the roster is currently constructed, he’ll likely be starting at second base in the postseason. In his first taste of the big leagues, Donovan hit .281/.394/.379, demonstrating a high-contact and low-strikeout approach to go along with a solid eye at the plate that resulted in a 12.8 percent walk rate. When Paul Dejong couldn’t get things going at the plate this season, Tommy Edman was moved from second base to shortstop. It was a move the Cardinals could afford to make thanks to the strong rookie campaign authored by Donovan. Edman had a strong season of his own, hitting 13 homers and stealing 32 bases while playing excellent defense. He finished with 5.5 WAR per FanGraphs. Veteran Didi Gregorius was the Phillies’ Opening Day shortstop, but after he struggled both at the plate and defensively, he was released and rookie Bryson Stott was installed as the starter at short. Stott got off to a slow start offensively, but steadily improved throughout the season. From July 10 through the end of the regular season, the 25-year-old posted a .759 OPS in 71 games. Nolan Arenado put together a career season in 2022, and that’s saying a lot considering he entered the year with nine Gold Glove Awards and 269 homers in nine MLB seasons. In his second year with the Cardinals, Arenado posted a career-best 7.3 WAR (FanGraphs), hitting .293/.358/.533 with 30 home runs and a seemingly endless reel of highlights at the hot corner. He finished the season in the thick of the NL MVP race along with teammate Goldschmidt. Alec Bohm had a solid campaign for Philadelphia, but his .714 OPS with 13 homers was a far cry from Arenado’s production. To be fair, most third basemen in the Majors didn’t come anywhere close to Arenado’s value in 2022. Aaron Judge captivated us with his historic season, setting a new AL record with 62 home runs. But lest we forget, the NL had a home run leader in 2022, too. That was the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, who smashed a career-high 46 homers, including 10 over the final month of the regular season. When the Phillies signed both Schwarber and Nick Castellanos to patrol the corner outfield spots, they went all in on the bats, even if it meant they’d sacrifice defense. In the case of Schwarber in left field, it worked. The Cardinals, meanwhile, saw their starting left fielder derailed by a hamstring injury that will likely cause him to miss the Wild Card Series. Tyler O’Neill won back-to-back Gold Glove Awards in 2020 and ’21, and launched 34 homers with a .912 OPS last year. This season, he was inconsistent at the plate and injuries limited him to 96 games. In O’Neill’s place, St. Louis will likely go with veteran Corey Dickerson, who posted a .699 OPS with six homers in 297 regular-season plate appearances. The Phillies traded for 24-year-old Brandon Marsh from the Angels to take over in center field after Odúbel Herrera and Matt Vierling didn’t get the job done at the plate. Marsh isn’t known for his bat, and his strikeout rate remains high, but he’s hit pretty well since joining Philadelphia and his defense has been an upgrade in center. Still, the Phillies are at a disadvantage at the position when compared to the Cards. When Dylan Carlson turned in a pair of impressive months at the plate in June and July, a span over which he hit .302/.372/.512, the Cardinals felt comfortable trading center fielder Harrison Bader to the Yankees, turning the position over to Carlson. Carlson began slumping at the plate in July, and a left thumb sprain in August didn’t help matters. The switch hitter has struggled against right-handed pitching, in particular, which may prompt manager Oliver Marmol to have Lars Nootbaar appear in center more often in the postseason. Nootbaar struggled early on this year and was optioned to Triple-A, returning when Carlson got hurt. During the second half of the season, Nootbaar posted an OPS over .800 with 10 homers. Nootbaar primarily played right field for the Cards during the regular season, and depending on what happens with Carlson in center, he may remain there — Carlson has shown some improvement against righties lately. But despite his impressive stats in the late summer, Nootbaar doesn’t have the track record of his counterpart with the Phillies. Nick Castellanos has had a disappointing first year with Philadelphia so far. He’s struggled at the plate and was recently sidelined with an oblique injury. But he’s still Nick Castellanos, a guy who had an .853 OPS with 142 homers from 2016-21 for the Tigers, Cubs and Reds. Now that he’s back in the lineup, the Phils are hoping he’ll catch fire when it counts the most: October. Albert Pujols thrilled us with an incredible — and, quite frankly, unexpected — power surge reminiscent of “the Machine” of yesteryear during the 2022 regular season. It resulted in his 700th career home run, and then three more for good measure, giving him 24 for the season. His .895 OPS was his highest since 2011, the last time he wore a Cardinals uniform before rejoining the club for one last hurrah.  Even with a magical year from the 42-year-old Pujols, the Phillies have the advantage at designated hitter thanks to a two-time NL MVP Award winner who might have made a run at a third if not for injury this year. Bryce Harper finished with an OPS of “only” .877 along with 18 homers in 99 games, missing two months of the season after suffering a broken left thumb when he was hit by a pitch in late June. But he’s still Bryce Harper, one of the most electrifying sluggers in the game. The Cards got some great starting pitching during the regular season, particularly from the ageless wonder, Adam Wainwright, as well as Miles Mikolas and midseason acquisitions Jordan Montgomery and José Quintana. But with Wainwright dealing with a “dead arm” that led to a 7.22 ERA over his final six starts of the season, Montgomery having an up-and-down finish to the season after a spectacular start to his Cardinals tenure and Jack Flaherty’s postseason role uncertain a month after coming off the injured list, there are a lot of questions surrounding St. Louis’ rotation heading into the postseason. For the Phillies, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola comprise one of the best 1-2 rotation punches in baseball. Since returning from an IL stint due to right forearm tendinitis, Wheeler has yielded just one run over 15 innings, striking out 15 and walking only one. In two starts against the Cardinals this year, he’s thrown 14 shutout innings. Nola bounced back from an uncharacteristic season in 2021, posting a 3.25 ERA in 32 starts this year, including a gem in Philadelphia’s postseason clincher, when he took a perfect game into the seve...
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Phillies-Cardinals Position-By-Position Breakdown
Biden DeSantis Meet In Florida Pledging Bipartisanship On Ian Relief
Biden DeSantis Meet In Florida Pledging Bipartisanship On Ian Relief
Biden, DeSantis Meet In Florida, Pledging Bipartisanship On Ian Relief https://digitalalabamanews.com/biden-desantis-meet-in-florida-pledging-bipartisanship-on-ian-relief/ FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — As President Biden visited this storm-stricken community in southwest Florida on Wednesday, touring the damage from Hurricane Ian and pledging billions of dollars for recovery, he used the opportunity to praise one of his top political rivals and harshest critics — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. “I think he’s done a good job,” Biden told reporters when asked about the governor’s handling of the deadly storm. “We have very different political philosophies, but we’ve worked hand in glove. … In dealing with this crisis, we’ve been in complete lockstep.” With those comments, Biden offered a nod to the kind of bipartisanship he once pledged to restore to politics, while at the same time extolling a man who could soon seek to oust him from the White House. DeSantis, who has previously assailed Biden as weak and has threatened to send planeloads of undocumented immigrants to the president’s home in Delaware, said Biden had been an admirable partner as Florida faced its deadliest storm in decades. “I want to thank President Biden,” DeSantis said before going on to praise the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the president’s leadership. “We were very fortunate to have good coordination with the White House and with FEMA.” The hurricane-related detente between the president and the governor with presidential aspirations marked a rare moment of cross-party comity in a charged political climate defined by name-calling, threats and trolling. DeSantis has seen his star rise as he has leaned in to pugilistic politics, while Biden has described the decline in decorum as a threat to the nation’s soul. Both men may have seen opportunity in embracing cooperation in the aftermath a deadly natural disaster. For Biden, who repeatedly used the word “united” on Wednesday, it was a chance to make good on his campaign pledge to calm tensions and work across the aisle. For DeSantis, it was a chance to pivot from a combative style of governing embraced by former president Donald Trump and show that he could be presidential when the moment called for it. It’s a skill that some of Trump’s supporters say he lacked, perhaps costing him the presidency. The governor, standing before the presidential seal on a lectern that had been set up for Biden, also used the meeting to praise his own handling of the hurricane. “One of the things you’re seeing in this response is that we’re cutting through the bureaucracy,” DeSantis said as he introduced Biden. Before their official remarks, the two men spent more than an hour together in a storm-ravaged marina in a part of the state that had been leveled by surging waters and fierce winds. They only spoke directly for a few minutes, shaking hands but keeping largely out of earshot of reporters. The rest of the time, they were separately working their way around the marina, speaking to local officials and hurricane survivors. The scene, against the backdrop of a damaged seafood cafe and a capsized boat, gave voters a chance to see Biden and DeSantis side by side. The governor, 44 and more than three decades younger than the 79-year-old president, was more animated with his hands during the interactions and spoke with a more forceful voice. Biden, known for being a tactile politician with a knack for comforting those experiencing grief, took off his coat and donned aviator sunglasses as he shook hands with the storm survivors and local officials he met. At one point, he draped his arm around a woman, who hugged him back. A photographer captured an image of Biden, the woman and a man in a “Florida Cracker” T-shirt — all smiling — with DeSantis standing alone in the foreground, wearing a dour expression. Before meeting with DeSantis, Biden surveyed the storm’s aftermath by helicopter, viewing snapped trees, destroyed businesses and waterlogged homes. He also attended a briefing with local officials and viewed more of the wreckage on foot, meeting with small-business owners and local residents in one of the communities most affected by the deadly Category 4 hurricane. After observing the damage, Biden pledged that while the recovery effort could take years, the federal government would provide support as long as necessary. “The only thing I can assure you is that the federal government will be here until it’s finished,” Biden said, emphasizing that in times of disaster, people across the political spectrum could come together in a time of crisis. In previewing the trip, the White House said Biden would put aside his political differences with DeSantis, who sparked the ire of the White House last month by flying dozens of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in an attempt to draw attention to the issue of illegal immigration. “There will be plenty of time to discuss differences between the president and the governor, and — but now is not the time,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday. The White House also invited Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida, and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who represents the area, and Biden spent time speaking with each official during his visit. Donalds, whose district was hit hard by Ian, took to Twitter to highlight the apolitical nature of the trip, saying he was pleased to welcome the Bidens to Florida. “Political differences aside, it’s the job of every President and First Lady to console and support Americans in need following a devastating tragedy,” he wrote on Twitter. “Before (R) and (D), we are Americans.” Still, the bipartisan meeting was not completely free of political messages, even if Biden and DeSantis were subtle in delivering them. Biden used his remarks to make the case that the hurricane and other extreme weather events highlighted the need to combat climate change. He also pledged that Florida would “build back better” after the storm, citing his 2020 campaign motto. DeSantis spoke about reducing governmental “red tape” and pushed an effort for private charities to take on some of the recovery costs, thereby reducing reliance on government aid. Both men noted the fact that power had been restored across most of the state quickly, though they offered different explanations that spoke to their political ideologies. Biden credited his work as vice president to provide millions of dollars in funding for “smart grid” technology in Florida, which he said was vital in the restoration effort. DeSantis, on the other hand, cited his push to surge hundreds of utility workers to the areas that lacked power to get it restored. The meeting was not without political risk, as previous interactions between governors and presidents from opposing parties have sometimes been used in partisan attacks against the politicians involved. Former Florida governor Charlie Crist, who is running as a Democrat against DeSantis in this year’s gubernatorial race, was driven from the Republican Party not long after he welcomed President Barack Obama to the state and accepted emergency aid from the federal stimulus package in 2009. Crist later said that the image him and Obama embracing was used by his political opponents to paint him as insufficiently conservative. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie faced similar attacks during the 2016 presidential primary from his Republican rivals for welcoming Obama to New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy devastated his state. Images of Christie and Obama embracing circulated and his Republican opponents accused him of “hugging” the Democratic president. Christie later said that he met with Obama because he needed federal help for his state after the deadly storm. Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida on Sept. 28, flooding homes, tearing off roofs, washing away roads and leaving thousands of people stranded without power or access to essential services. Biden, who traveled with first lady Jill Biden and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, had already spoken by phone with DeSantis several times in recent days and pledged to provide Florida with whatever it needs to recover from the storm. During the trip, he announced that the federal government would pay 100 percent of the costs for debris removal and other assistance for 60 days, a decision he said would probably unlock billions of additional dollars for the state. DeSantis, who had publicly expressed concern that the original 30-day window for full reimbursement would not be enough for some local communities, thanked Biden for the “significant” extension. The Florida Medical Examiners Commission has confirmed more than 70 storm-related deaths, but the total is probably higher, as searches continue for several missing people. Moreover, survivors of the storm face a long road to recovery as they try to repair their homes and rebuild their lives. The area Biden visited Wednesday had been pummeled by Ian, with hundreds of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed and much of the beachfront community’s commercial area flattened. “We took a real bad shot,” Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy said in a video message Friday. “A real hard hit. There’s a lot of devastation down here. And more to come.” DeSantis has been consistent in complimenting the Biden administration for its handling of the hurricane, thanking FEMA for its response efforts. “I think FEMA’s worked very well with the state and local, and we want to continue to do it and have all hands on deck,” he said Tuesday. Criswell, who spent time with DeSantis last week, lauded his team for its cooperation with federal officials. DeSantis has previously criticized Biden over some of his policies, focusing most recently on immigration. The governor’s decision to fly dozens of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard sparked backlash among Democrat...
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Biden DeSantis Meet In Florida Pledging Bipartisanship On Ian Relief
Stock Futures Rise On Thursday After Two-Day Market Rally Ends
Stock Futures Rise On Thursday After Two-Day Market Rally Ends
Stock Futures Rise On Thursday After Two-Day Market Rally Ends https://digitalalabamanews.com/stock-futures-rise-on-thursday-after-two-day-market-rally-ends/ U.S. stock futures were higher Thursday morning after falling in the regular trading session and breaking a massive two-day rally. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 118 points, or 0.39%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.43% and 0.55%, respectively. Stocks fought to hold onto the winning streak Wednesday but ultimately fell short. The Dow closed about 42 points lower, or 0.14%, rebounding from the session’s low of nearly 430 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.20% and 0.25%, respectively. Rising yields added pressure to stocks Wednesday. The rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury topped 3.7%, rising from 3.6% a day earlier. “Few are convinced that the recent move is more than a bear market rally, with skepticism over the durability,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “Confidence remains weak, ranging from CEOs, small businesses, consumers, and investors. Universal pessimism is bullish from a contrarian perspective, though timing of the pendulum swing is difficult to predict.” Investors continue to monitor economic data to see if inflation is cooling off, or if the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes are pushing the U.S. closer to a recession. Data from ADP showed that the labor market remained strong among private companies in September, when businesses added 208,000 jobs. That beat the 200,000 job estimate from Dow Jones. On Friday, the September jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be released, giving the central bank and investors another piece of data. Some companies are reporting earnings, as well. On Thursday, Constellation Brands will announce its results before the opening bell, and Levi Strauss will report after the market closes. Mizuho says OPEC+ supply cut confirms ‘naked desire for price buoyancy’ OPEC and its allies’ decision to cut production by 2 million barrels per day confirms the group’s “naked desire for price buoyancy, not just support,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank. A supply cut of around 1 million barrels per day would have resulted in price gains without a compromise on volumes, but a larger cut shows the alliance’s “disregard for the economic woes of, and geo-political alignment with, global partners,” he wrote. “What may have been argued as an opportunistic gamble exploiting geo-political supply kinks for self-interest advantage is now in danger of being interpreted as an affront to the U.S. and its allies (in protestation of Russia price cap plans) that aligns with Russia,” he added. — Abigail Ng CNBC Pro: Time to buy the dip? Some stocks are still trading at lows with further big upside The beginning of this week has brought something of a relief rally to stocks. Still, global as well as Wall Street indexes, are still well in the red year-to-date. That could present an opportunity for investors looking for quality stocks and future upside in a volatile environment. CNBC Pro screened for stocks trading within 10% of their 52-week low, but have a buy rating from more than 50% of Wall Street analysts that cover them. The stocks have an average price target upside of 20% or more, and earnings growth expectation for 2022 of at least 10%. Here are the stocks that turned up. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan CNBC Pro: NYU’s Aswath Damodaran names big tech stocks that are a better bet than ‘traditional safe’ ones NYU’s Aswath Damodaran loves companies that can “withstand a hurricane, a catastrophe if it does happen.” The professor of finance at New York University, who is sometimes referred to as the “Dean of Valuation, believes big tech stocks can do just that, and reveals the stocks he owns. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong October could be the start of a bull market rally, Detrick says Even though stocks pulled back Wednesday, stopping a major two-day win streak, October may still be the start of a new bull market rally according to Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. “We think this could be the start of a pretty decent-sized end of year rally,” Detrick said during CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” That’s because, traditionally, stock performance improves in October in midterm election years, said Detrick. He also noted that even though markets ended the day lower, stocks posted a major rally in the afternoon that regained a lot of lost ground. That’s a positive, according to Detrick. —Carmen Reinicke Stock futures open flat Wednesday Stock futures opened flat Wednesday evening after all three major averages closed lower, failing to continue a major two-day rally that started this week. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 7 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.02% and 0.03%, respectively. – Carmen Reinicke Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Stock Futures Rise On Thursday After Two-Day Market Rally Ends
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy KESQ
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy KESQ
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy – KESQ https://digitalalabamanews.com/liz-cheney-says-arizona-gop-candidates-threaten-democracy-kesq/ By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday said the Republican candidates for Arizona governor and secretary of state pose a huge risk for democracy because both say they will refuse to certify election results if they don’t like the results. Cheney, a prominent critic of former President Donald Trump and one of just 10 U.S. House Republicans who voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, made the comments at an event organized by the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. Cheney also leveled broadsides as what she said was a growing “Putin wing” of the Republican Party who want America to withdraw from the world stage and refuse to defend freedom in other countries. She has spent a lot of time thinking about Arizona and the upcoming elections here. “In Arizona today you have a candidate for governor in Kari Lake, you have a candidate for Secretary of State in Mark Finchem, both of whom have said — this isn’t a surprise, it’s not a secret — they both said that they will only honor the results of an election if they agree with it,” Cheney told the audience filled with ASU students. She said both looked at Trump’s 2020 loss in Arizona, and both know that it was carried out following state law, and that there were counts, recounts, audits and court challenges that all went against Trump. “They’ve looked at all of that, the law, the facts and the rulings, the courts, and they’ve said it doesn’t matter to them,” Cheney said. “And if you care about democracy, and you care about the survival of our republic, then you need to understand, we all have to understand, that we cannot give people power who have told us that they will not honor elections.” Cheney, who is vice chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and was trounced in Wyoming’s Republican primary as a result of her refusal to back Trump, spoke of what she believes is a wider threat to the nation from a Republican Party that is now fully in Trump’s control. “The first thing that we have to understand is that we’ve never been where we are,” Cheney said. “We’ve never been in a phase, a place where we’re facing this kind of a threat. And that’s because we’re facing a threat from a former president who is attempting to unravel the Republic.” Cheney, daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, spoke of how 30 years ago she worked overseas for the International Republican Institute when former Arizona Sen, John McCain chaired the group’s board. She said she saw firsthand how fragile some of those democracies were. “And I think I knew on some level that even in the United States this was fragile,” she said. “But I certainly didn’t understand just how fragile. I think that’s such an important lesson that we need to take from history.” Cheney, who said her first vote was for Ronald Reagan and is a traditional conservative Republican who favors low taxes and international engagement by the United States, also took shots at Fox News Channel. The issue came up after she was asked by the moderator, McCain Institute Democracy Fellow Sofia Gross, about the meaning of patriotism. Cheney said being a patriot means loving country more than whatever political party someone belongs to. “And that means that you put your love of country above politics, you put it above your political career,” she said. She said McCain stood for that idea that American is a nation based on freedom, and that carries with it an obligation to help defend freedom around the world. “You can’t look at something like what’s happening today with Russia and Ukraine, and say America is neutral in that,” Cheney said. “That’s a frontline in the war of freedom and America must support Ukraine.” She pointed to what she called “a growing Putin wing of the Republican Party,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “And you see news outlets like Fox News, running propaganda,” she said. “You’ve watched it not just on Tucker Carlson’s show, although he is the biggest propagandist for Putin on that network. “And you really have to ask yourself … whose side is Fox on in this battle?” Cheney added. “And how could it be that you have a wing of the Republican Party that thinks that America would be standing with Putin as he conducts that brutal invasion of Ukraine?” Cheney has floated the idea of running for president in 2024, if nothing else than to serve as a foil if the former president runs again. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy KESQ
Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA SIAC
Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA SIAC
Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA, SIAC https://digitalalabamanews.com/stretch-run-beginning-in-ciaa-siac/ The so-called ‘stretch run’ of the 2022 HBCU football season is upon us. It begins over the next three weeks (depending on the conference).  CIAA stretch run For the CIAA, intra-divisional games – games between teams in the same division – begins this week as the regular season enters its final five weeks.  This is when determining North and South Division champions in the CIAA really begins. That’s the focus of our preview this week. The CIAA title game in Salem, Va. is set for Nov. 12. Stretch run for SIAC and others There is an almost similar schedule for the SIAC which will also stage its championship game on Nov. 12. True intra-divisional play will start up next week in the SIAC. Its title game will be played at the home of the East Division champion. Conference play between teams in the MEAC begins in earnest in two weeks (Oct. 22). It gets started with the Norfolk State / Morgan State game this Saturday. Delaware State and Norfolk State will play only the second MEAC game next week (Oct. 15). The SWAC is a little different. Teams in the SWAC will play inter-divisional games right through the Nov. 26 end of the regular season. The SWAC Championship Game will be played Dec. 3. Handicapping the CIAA North In the CIAA North, it usually comes down to three teams – three-time champion Bowie State, Virginia Union and Virginia State. It looks to be trending that way again this season. Virginia Union has had the best start. Dr. Alvin Parker’s VUU Panthers (5-0, 3-0 CIAA) are the conference’s only undefeated team. VUU is currently ranked 12th in the AFCA NCAA Div. II Coaches Poll and 17th in the D2football.com poll. Virginia Union (5-0) is inside the Top 20 in both the AFCA (Coaches) and d2football.com polls. Virginia State (4-1, 3-0) and Bowie State (3-2, 2-1) are just behind VUU in the standings.  This week’s top CIAA match up Bowie State heads to Ettrick, Va. Saturday for Virginia State’s homecoming (4 p.m.). It is an intriguing match up for several reasons. Dr. Henry Frazier III at Virgina State. New VSU head coach Dr. Henry Frazier III is a Washington, D.C. native and former BSU quarterback (1986-89) who was head coach of the Bulldogs from 1999-2003.  Frazier was head coach at Prairie View A&M (2004-2010) where he won a SWAC championship in 2009. He then took over at N. C. Central (2010-2013). Frazier returned to BSU as special assistant to former head coach Damon Wilson as the Bulldogs won the last three CIAA titles. In May, Frazier was named the new head coach at VSU. A month later, Wilson left BSU to become the new head coach at Morgan State. Former BSU linebackers coach Kyle Jackson, who played for and coached under Wilson, was named BSU’s interim head coach. The rivalry Virginia State has not beaten Bowie State during the Bulldogs’ three-peat of N. Div. and CIAA titles, but the games have been close. The rivalry has been made more juicy as they will have met at each other’s homecomings in three of the last four seasons. They’ll do it again this year. The Trojans lost 51-44 last season at Bowie as the teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense. The score was tied at 44 midway thru the fourth quarter. VSU fell 24-14 at their 2019 homecoming in Ettrick. It was one of only two losses for VSU (the other to Norfolk State of the MEAC) during a 9-2 campaign. BSU led that game 17-14 entering the fourth quarter. In 2018, VSU fought back from a 20-2 deficit before falling 20-15 at Bowie State’s homecoming. VSU’s attempt at a game-winning drive was halted at midfield in the final minute. The CIAA did not play during the COVID-marred 2020 season. In fact, before Shaw’s last minute 17-14 win over Bowie State this season, the Bulldogs had only one loss in conference play – 42-23 to Chowan in 2018 – in the last three seasons.  Virginia State RB Trenton Cannon runs away from a Bowie State defender en route to a 234-yard rushing day in their 2017 match up. VSU’s 47-35 win was the last time the Trojans got by Bowie State. They meet Saturday at VSU’s homecoming. VSU last beat BSU in 2017, 47-35 behind running back Trenton Cannon’s 234 rushing yards en route to winning the N. Div. and CIAA titles. Cannon is now in his fifth season in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans. This season’s VSU/BSU match-up So far this season, VSU lost its season-opener to nationally-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne, 38-19. L-RU (4-1) is currently ranked 14th in the Coaches (AFCA) Div. II poll with its only loss to Div. II No. 1 and defending national champion Ferris State (27-5 on Sept. 10).  Bowie State’s loss was at S. Div. contender Shaw on a last-minute touchdown, 17-14. Golatt Bowie State graduate quarterback Dion Golatt Jr., a Morgan State transfer, has ably stepped in replacing Ja’Rome Johnson. Johnson quarterbacked BSU to the 2019 and 2021 CIAA titles. After a record 469-yard, four-TD passing performance in a 69-0 win against St. Augustine’s last week, Golatt is second in the conference in passing yardage at 276.8 yards per game. He leads the CIAA with ten passing touchdowns. BSU averaged nearly 180 rushing yards per game a season ago. They were led by 1,000-yard rusher Calil Wilkins. The Bulldogs are averaging 146 rushing yards per game this season. Redshirt sophomore Sam Doku is BSU’s leading rusher with 299 yards (59.9 ypg.) thru five games with three TDs. Hagans VSU senior running back Darius Hagans is second in CIAA rushing. Hagans averages 116.0 rushing yards per game and 6.0 yards per carry. He has scored three rushing touchdowns. Five-eleven, 210-pound junior Jordan Davis is the VSU quarterback. He has thrown for 738 yards (147.5 ypg.) with six touchdowns and two interceptions thru five games. Give the passing edge to Bowie State and the rushing edge to Virginia State. Both defenses are solid. Also in the North In other North Division games, Virginia Union is at home in Richmond, Va. (12 noon) for its homecoming vs. Elizabeth City State (1-4, 1-2). Lincoln (2-2, 1-1) has homecoming (1 p.m.) hosting Chowan (2-3, 2-1). Next week, VUU plays at Bowie State. VSU will host VUU on Nov. 5, the last week of the regular season. Handicapping the CIAA South In the South, Shaw (2-3) and four-time division champion Fayetteville State (3-2) both have 2-1 records in CIAA games. They appear on a collision course for division supremacy. They have a date in Fayetteville for Oct. 29. After getting by Bowie State, Shaw fell to VSU last week 28-24 on a Trojans’ touchdown with :12 seconds left. FSU battled unbeaten Virginia Union to the wire on Sept. 24 but fell 31-28. This week, FSU has its homecoming (2 p.m.) vs. winless Saint Augustine’s (0-5, 0-3). Shaw visits (1 p.m.) J. C. Smith (1-3, 1-2) in Charlotte (N.C.) and Livingstone (1-4, 0-3) hosts (1 p.m.) Winston-Salem State (0-4, 0-2) in Salisbury, NC. This week in the SIAC Chennis Berry Chennis Berry’s Tigers of Benedict are the only undefeated team (5-0) in the SIAC. But it is defending champion Albany State that continues as the league’s highest nationally-ranked team. At 4-1, head coach Gabe Gardina’s ASU Golden Rams are tied for 22nd in the AFCA poll. They are 13th in the D2 poll. Benedict is not in the AFCA poll but is 24th in the D2 poll. Both Benedict and Albany State are in the SIAC East and will face off next week (Oct. 15) at Albany State’s homecoming. This week, Benedict puts its undefeated record on the line hosting (2 p.m.) Miles (1-3, 1-0). Albany State is at Edward Waters (1-4, 1-3). Lane and Tuskegee are both 3-2 overall and 2-0 in SIAC games to lead the West Division. Lane, coming off a big win 28-27 in overtime vs. Tennessee State, hosts (2 p.m.) Kentucky State (1-4, 1-1). Tuskegee, who needed two overtimes to defeat Clark Atlanta Saturday, plays Morehouse in Birmingham for their Classic (7 p.m.). In previous years the Morehouse-Skeege Classic was played in Columbus, Ga. This week in the SWAC After a bye week, undefeated and nationally-ranked Jackson State (4-0, 2-0 SWAC E) gets back into action at homecoming (2 p.m.) at Alabama State (3-2, 1-1 E). JSU is ranked eighth in both the AFCA FCS and STATS Perform FCS Top 25. Jackson is also atop the HBCUGameday FCS poll. Prairie View A&M (3-2, 3-0 W) is the early leader in the West Division. The Panthers have a key division game (4 p.m.) hosting Southern (2-2, 1-1 W). Alcorn State (2-2, 1-1 W) plays (6 p.m.) at Miss. Valley State,  Grambling State (1-4, 0-2 W) is at Alabama A&M (1-4, 1-1 E) and Texas Southern (1-4, 1-2 W) is at Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s homecoming (2 p.m.). Florida A&M (at S. C. State, 2 p.m,) and Bethune-Cookman (at Tennessee State, 5 p.m.) have out-of-conference games.    This week in the MEAC Norfolk State (0-5) plays at Morgan State (2-2) in the first homecoming game (1 p.m.) for new MSU coach Damon Wilson. The winner will have the early lead in the MEAC race.  Games This week SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 Johnson C. Smith vs. Shaw in Charlotte, NC 1p Livingstone vs Winston-Salem State in Salisbury, NC 1p Lane vs. Kentucky State in Jackson, TN 2p Missouri Southern vs. Lincoln (MO) in Joplin, MO 2p Benedict vs. Miles in Columbia, SC 2p Allen vs. Clark Atlanta in Blythewood, SC 6p Edward Waters vs. Albany State in Jacksonville, FL 6p Warner vs. Florida Memorial in Lake Wales, FL 7p Ottawa vs. Texas College in Surprize, AZ 7p TV / STREAMING GAMES Alabama A&M  vs. Grambling State in Huntsville, AL – HBCUGo 1p  Hampton vs. Maine in Hampton, VA – Flo Sports 2p SC State vs. Florida A&M in Orangeburg, SC – ESPN+ 2p Prairie View A&M vs. Southern in Prairie View, TX – ESPN+ 4p Tennessee State vs. Bethune-Cookman in Nashville, TN – ESPN+ 5p Miss. Valley State vs. Alcorn State in Itta Bena, MS – ESPN+ 6p Morehouse-Skeege Classic Morehouse vs. Tuskegee in Birmingham, AL – ESPN+ 7p HOMECOMINGS Virginia Union vs. Elizabeth City State in Richmond, VA 12n  Central State vs...
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Stretch Run Beginning In CIAA SIAC
How To Trump-Proof The Transatlantic Alliance
How To Trump-Proof The Transatlantic Alliance
How To Trump-Proof The Transatlantic Alliance https://digitalalabamanews.com/how-to-trump-proof-the-transatlantic-alliance/ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caught Europe by surprise. Although U.S. intelligence services predicted the Russian offensive almost to the day, few European leaders took heed of their warnings, instead choosing to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin would use nonmilitary means to destabilize Ukraine. Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among the European leaders who sleepwalked into the crisis. Like much of German society, his administration was completely unprepared for a major war in Europe. For too long, the German government had clung to old certainties: that close energy ties with Russia fostered stability, that trade promoted political change, and that dialogue with Moscow was valuable in and of itself. The awakening was brutal. Overnight, all these cherished assumptions were shattered. But the shock of Russia’s war of aggression occasioned an impressive about-face in German foreign and security policy. Within days of the invasion, Scholz’s government scaled back energy imports from Russia, began arms deliveries to Ukraine, and announced a 100 billion euro special budget for defense investments, which would allow Germany to achieve the goal of spending the equivalent of two percent of GDP on defense that NATO members have pledged to do since 2014. Along with other EU countries, Germany joined the United States in imposing an unprecedented raft of sanctions on Moscow. The message from Berlin was unequivocal: Germany needs hard power to preserve European security. This sudden transformation in Berlin has helped strengthen the transatlantic alliance, bringing Germany and the United States into closer alignment than they have been in years. After the tumult of Donald Trump’s presidency, Germans have welcomed the return of the United States as a resolute defender of European security and of the rules-based international order. At the same time, however, the war in Ukraine has opened Germany’s eyes to the risks of depending on the United States for security when Washington is focused on great-power rivalry with China and mired in its own democratic uncertainty. Germany still regards the United States as an indispensable lifeline, but the possibility of Trump or some other Trumpist candidate retaking the White House has German officials deeply worried. As Norbert Röttgen, a German lawmaker who previously served as chair of the Bundestag’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, stated publicly, the greatest threat to European (and German) security is the “precarious, endangered state of American democracy.” To prevent their relationship from withering during a future far-right American presidency, Germany and the United States must urgently fortify the transatlantic alliance, deepening security and trade ties while forging a common approach to the challenges posed by China and climate change. In an era of increasing geopolitical uncertainty, only a future-proofed transatlantic bond can ensure the security of Europe. CAUSE FOR CONCERN During Trump’s presidency, U.S.-German relations sank to their lowest ebb in the postwar era. Trump’s personal aversion to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, combined with fundamental policy differences, produced a toxic relationship, with the two leaders at odds over everything from Merkel’s handling of the refugee crisis in Europe to Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from international agreements to Germany’s insufficient defense spending. (On this last issue, Trump had a point.) Germany became one of his favorite punching bags, and he reveled in slamming the country as a free rider on U.S. defense spending.    The election of U.S. President Joe Biden was a stroke of luck for Germany. An experienced transatlanticist and old-school NATO supporter, Biden was warmly welcomed in Berlin, as he was in other European capitals. In addition to restoring American leadership on the world stage, his administration immediately began repairing relations with Germany: Biden hosted Merkel at the White House before any other European leader, reversed Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Germany, and withdrew U.S. opposition to the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Germany to Russia. (The pipeline died a sudden death with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but for years it had been a source of friction between Berlin and Washington.) Although the return of the United States as a European security power was met with great relief in Berlin, Germans across the political spectrum still view the United States with concern. The events of January 6, 2021, sent shockwaves through Germany: the extreme political division on display at the U.S. Capitol, coupled with a political discourse poisoned by the culture wars, underscored that American democracy was more fragile than even four chaotic years under Trump had suggested. With the exception of supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, who make up roughly 13 percent of the German electorate, Germans of every political stripe fear the return of Trump or of another Trump-like American leader.  The possibility of Trump retaking the White House has German officials deeply worried. The German media highlight these concerns, scrutinizing political developments in the United States for signs of a Trump return. Events that would be of little note even in a neighboring European country—the results of primary races with Trump-supported candidates, the various legal troubles of Trump and his family—are often prominent news in Germany. Of particular fascination and bewilderment to Germans is the Republican Party’s continued deference to Trump after his defeat and the infamy of January 6. Even among conservative Christian Democrats, who once maintained close ties with American conservatives, there is widespread concern that the United States could face a full-fledged constitutional crisis if the results of the 2024 presidential election are contested. Part of the worry in Germany stems from a general concern about the precarious state of democracy worldwide. Should the next U.S. president fail to act as a defender of democracy and a leader of democratic states, the balance of power between weakening democracies and strengthening authoritarian regimes could shift even further in favor of the latter. This is an acute danger for Europe, since strong right-wing and illiberal forces that harbor sympathies for authoritarian regimes are already gaining ground in France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Turkey. These movements would gain additional momentum if the United States were to fall back under a Trumpist regime, potentially contributing to the destabilization of the EU. Germans also worry about the security implications of another “America first” president. The United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan exposed the dependence of European allies on U.S. military support; without U.S. troops, their presence in the country was unsustainable. The security situation in Europe is different, of course. But there, too, the Germans and especially the eastern Europeans know that they cannot guarantee their own security without the United States. Europeans view Washington’s growing focus on Beijing with unease, knowing that the United States’ turn toward Asia will force Europe to shoulder more of the military responsibility for containing Russia. The memory of Trump’s NATO skepticism and disdain for Western alliances is still vivid in Europe. So is Trump’s hostility toward the European Union, which he once called “worse than China.” UNBREAKABLE BOND? Germany is currently preoccupied with managing the fallout from its failed Russia policy. Energy prices are skyrocketing, straining social cohesion and raising fears that popular support for German efforts to aide Ukraine’s military (currently at 70 percent, but slipping) could crumble as winter approaches. What is needed, however, is strategic foresight. Germany must anticipate and plan for possible instability in the United States after the 2024 presidential election. Working through and with the EU, Berlin must strengthen the transatlantic alliance so that it cannot be broken, even under another Trump-like U.S. administration. Most urgently, European security policy must be reinvigorated. Germany has taken a big step forward with its recent hike in defense spending. But more government funding for national security will not be enough. Europe’s defense market is extremely fragmented. Twenty-seven EU member states use over 170 types of major weapons systems procured from many different arms manufacturers. Efforts to harmonize defense capabilities and create new joint defense systems are ongoing, but they must be intensified. Instead of “strategic autonomy” from NATO, as French President Emmanuel Macron has advocated, the goal should be to strengthen the European pillar of the alliance. At the same time, the EU must pursue a more assertive foreign policy. To do so, it will have to abandon the principle of unanimity by which it currently makes foreign and security policy decisions. Making decisions by “qualified majority”—that is, at least 55 percent of countries representing at least 65 percent of the EU population—as the bloc does in other policy areas would be a major improvement. This would prevent lone countries from vetoing proposals for EU sanctions, for example. But to get small and medium-sized EU countries to relinquish the unanimity requirement will likely take a pragmatic, step-by-step compromise. Germany cannot afford to wait and see what happens in the United States in 2024. The EU should also exhaust all possibilities for trade cooperation with the United States. The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council that launched in 2021 was a good start, but its ambitions are limited to consulting and coordinating between the parties. A genuine ...
·digitalalabamanews.com·
How To Trump-Proof The Transatlantic Alliance
What To Know About Georgia's Senate Race WSGW 790 AM & 100.5 FM
What To Know About Georgia's Senate Race WSGW 790 AM & 100.5 FM
What To Know About Georgia's Senate Race – WSGW 790 AM & 100.5 FM https://digitalalabamanews.com/what-to-know-about-georgias-senate-race-wsgw-790-am-100-5-fm/ Herschel Walker, the Republican running to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia, this week denied reports that he had paid for a woman’s abortion in 2009.  Walker has vehemently denied the story, called it a “flat-out lie” and threatened to sue the outlet. CBS News has not confirmed the allegations and reporting by The Daily Beast. Walker will be making his first public appearance since the allegations surfaced at a campaign event about three hours outside Atlanta on Thursday.  The Senate race had already been one of the most closely watched of the 2022 cycle. The race features a Black Democratic incumbent in a state that hadn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1996 – until it elected two in 2020. And the state had never elected a Black senator before Warnock won his special election in 2020.  Here’s what you need to know about the race and the latest allegations:  What races are on the ballot? One of Georgia’s Senate seats is on the ballot on Nov. 8, just under two years removed from the high-stakes pair of Senate runoffs in the state in Jan.  2021 that decided control of the Senate. Herschel Walker is the Republican challenger to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Both parties are once again expecting their respective paths to the Senate majority to go through Georgia, where over $243 million has been spent on advertisements this cycle, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Also on the ballot in Georgia is the governor’s race, where incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is locked in a rematch from 2018 with Democrat Stacey Abrams. Raphael Warncok, left, and Herschel Walker.  Paras Griffin/Getty Images, Megan Varner/Getty Images Why is the GOP so bullish on Georgia? It all comes down to control of the Senate. Currently, the Senate is split 50-50 but Democrats have control thanks to the Vice President providing the tie- breaking vote. But with 35 seats up for reelection in Nov., Republicans are hoping they can take control back. That’s where Georiga comes in. A win in the Peach State could be what puts the Republicans over the edge and back in the majority.  “Georgia was one they thought they could just win, even with a not particularly great candidate,”  Conservative radio host Erick Erickson told CBS News. “And now that one looks to be the most in jeopardy.”  President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by just 14,000 votes, or just 0.3%, the first Democrat to win a presidential election since Bill Clinton in 1992. There were two Senate races held in the state in 2020 because of Sen. Johnny Isaakson‘s resignation and Sen. David Perdue’s regularly scheduled race. In the race for Perdue’s seat, he actually led over Jon Ossoff, 49.7% to 47.9%, after Election Day, but falling by 0.3% short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Despite a last-minute rally by Trump, Ossoff won in the runoff. As for the other seat, incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler – who had been appointed to Isakson’s seat – was forced into a runoff after a jungle primary after Warnock captured 32.5% of the vote to 29.5% for Loeffler, although there were 21 candidates in the race. Warnock ultimately prevailed in the Jan. runoff.  Who is Herschel Walker?  Walker is best known for his Heisman Trophy-winning performance as a running back for University of Georgia. He helped lead the team to a National Championship win in 1980 and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Following three years at Georgia, Walker went on to play professional football for both the now abolished USFL and the NFL. It was during his time in the USFL that Walker got to know Former President Donald Trump, a vocal supporter of Walker’s senate race.  Walker announced his run for the Georgia Senate race August 2021, saying he  “can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.” This is first candidacy and he frequently invokes his Washington outsider status on the campaign trail. Why has Herschel Walker been in the news this week?  Walker is on the defensive following a new report from The Daily Beast that the Senate candidate, who has vocally oppposed abortion rights, allegedly paid for a woman he’d been seeing to have an abortion in 2009. CBS News has not independently confirmed this payment. The unidentified woman supported her claim with a $575 receipt from an abortion clinic — and a signed $700 personal check from Walker to cover expenses. She told The Daily Beast that she came forward because of Walker’s stance on abortion, saying “I just cant with the hypocrisy anymore. We all deserve better”  What has been his response? Walker has denied the accusation. He tweeted “this is a flat-out lie,” and “this is another repugnant hatchet job from a democrat activist disguised as a reporter.” He added in the tweet that he plans to sue The Daily Beast for defamation but Walker’s lawyer, Robert Ingram, told CBS News, “We are currently considering our options but no final decision has been made on the future handling of this matter.” Walker attended a campaign event in Atlanta on Tuesday but did not allow any press inside. His campaign has looked to turn back to their core campaign issues against Warnock: the rising cost of living and crime in Georgia. National Republicans have discredited the allegations:  National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Rick Scott equated Walker’s reported payment to the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearings. That same committee added to their ad buy in Georgia on Tuesday, after the allegation against Walker came out. Who is Christian Walker? Christian Walker is Herschel Walker’s adult son, and is a notable conservative personality on social media and YouTube. The 23-year-old has previously shown support for his father’s Senate run, tweeting in Dec. about introducing him at Mar-a-Lago and saying one year ago that “everyone’s really excited that my dad Herschel Walker is” running. After The Daily Beast story came out, Christian Walker put out several tweets and videos calling on his father to “stop the lies” and said “every family member of Herschel Walker asked him not to run for office, because we all knew (some of) his past.” Christian Walker seemed to corroborate some of The Daily Beast’s reporting, in one video he said, “it’s literally his handwriting in the card.” After his son’s initial string of posts, Herschel Walker tweeted, “I LOVE my son no matter what.” What about the polls before this incident? The latest CBS News Battleground Tracker poll, from before the allegations,  has the two candidates neck and neck, with Walker trailing incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock by just two points. This puts the race in the “toss up” category. What are Republicans saying?  Many Republicans are standing by Walker as they realize the importance of maintaining a united front ahead of the midterms in attempts to take back control of the Senate.   Scott released a statement saying Democrats, “know they are on the verge of losing the Senate, and they know that Herschel Walker is winning, so they have cranked up the smear machine.” Trump also released a statement showing support for Walker,a longtime friend, saying, “Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats.” He added, “it’s very important for our Country and the Great State of Georgia that Herschel Walker wins this Election. What is his opponent saying?  Warnock is choosing to deflect on the matter for now. During an event Monday night when asked about the latest report from The Daily Beast, he told reporters, “I’ll let the pundits decide how they think it will impact the race.”  Warnock, a pastor, himself hasn’t avoided accusations during this race, with ads frequently running accusing him of domestic abuse. The allegations stem from a 2020 incident where Warnock allegedly ran over his wife’s foot with a car, and no charges were filed. The pair are set to debate in Savannah on Friday, Oct. 14. Abortion will likely come up in the debate and this could be a chance for Warnock to bring up the accusation against Walker in a race that has become increasingly personal. What are Georgia voters saying? Just like Republicans in office, many GOP Georgia voters plan to stick with Walker in this race. Adam Whitney told CBS News that he thinks his fellow Georgia Republicans will stick with Walker despite the latest accusations against him.  “It is very much partisanship and that people tend to side with the party sometimes over the person,” Whitney said. “In terms of the overall population, I think people do just vote straight with party.” Voters on both sides also expressed growing frustration with the frequent accusations against both candidates- and the near constant TV ads running in the state about them.  “It’s unfortunate that we can’t talk about real issues that matter because we’re distracted by people without integrity like Herschel Walker,” Amy Bruckman, a registered Democrat, told CBS News. “I think it does the Republicans a disservice. I’d like to see greater dialogue about real issues between Democrats and Republicans.”  Read More…
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What To Know About Georgia's Senate Race WSGW 790 AM & 100.5 FM
Today In History: October 6 The Launch Of Instagram
Today In History: October 6 The Launch Of Instagram
Today In History: October 6, The Launch Of Instagram https://digitalalabamanews.com/today-in-history-october-6-the-launch-of-instagram/ Today in History Today is Thursday, Oct. 6, the 279th day of 2022. There are 86 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 6, 1973, war erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday. (Israel, initially caught off guard, managed to push back the Arab forces before a cease-fire finally took hold in the nearly three-week conflict.) On this date: In 1536, English theologian and scholar William Tyndale, who was the first to translate the Bible into Early Modern English, was executed for heresy. In 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, a feature containing both silent and sound-synchronized sequences. In 1928, Chiang Kai-shek became president of China. In 1939, in a speech to the Reichstag, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler spoke of his plans to reorder the ethnic layout of Europe — a plan that would entail settling the “Jewish problem.” In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, in his second presidential debate with Democrat Jimmy Carter, asserted that there was “no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.” (Ford later conceded such was not the case.) In 1979, Pope John Paul II, on a week-long U.S. tour, became the first pontiff to visit the White House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter. In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade. In 2003, American Paul Lauterbur and Briton Peter Mansfield won the Nobel Prize for medicine for discoveries that led to magnetic resonance imaging. In 2010, social networking app Instagram was launched by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. In 2014, the Supreme Court unexpectedly cleared the way for a dramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States as it rejected appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans, effectively making such marriages legal in 30 states. In 2018, in the narrowest Senate confirmation of a Supreme Court justice in nearly a century and a half, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by a 50-48 vote; he was sworn in hours later. In 2020, President Donald Trump, recovering from COVID-19, tweeted his eagerness to return to the campaign trail and said he still planned to attend an upcoming debate with Democrat Joe Biden in Miami; Biden said there should be no debate as long as Trump remained COVID positive. (The debate would be canceled.) Ten years ago: Five terror suspects, including Egyptian-born preacher Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, widely known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, arrived in the United States from England and appeared in court in New York and Connecticut. (Mustafa was convicted in 2014 of supporting terrorist organizations.) Five years ago: The board of directors of The Weinstein Co. said movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was on indefinite leave from the company he founded amid an internal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a grassroots effort aimed at pressuring the world’s nuclear powers to give up those weapons, won the Nobel Peace Prize. One year ago: A federal judge ordered Texas to suspend a new law that had banned most abortions in the state since September. (An appeals court would reinstate the law two days later.) The Los Angeles City Council voted to enact one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates; it required the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms and even a Lakers game. The World Health Organization endorsed the world’s first malaria vaccine and said it should be given to children across Africa in the hope that it would spur stalled efforts to curb the spread of the parasitic disease; the vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline in 1987. Today’s Birthdays: Broadcaster and writer Melvyn Bragg is 83. Actor Britt Ekland is 80. The former leader of Sinn Fein (shin fayn), Gerry Adams, is 74. Singer-musician Thomas McClary is 73. Musician Sid McGinnis is 73. Rock singer Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) is 71. Rock singer-musician David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) is 68. Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dungy is 67. Actor Elisabeth Shue is 59. Singer Matthew Sweet is 58. Actor Jacqueline Obradors is 56. Country singer Tim Rushlow is 56. Rock musician Tommy Stinson is 56. Actor Amy Jo Johnson is 52. Actor Emily Mortimer is 51. Actor Lamman (la-MAHN’) Rucker is 51. Actor Ioan Gruffudd (YOH’-ihn GRIH’-fihth) is 49. Actor Jeremy Sisto is 48. Actor Brett Gelman is 46. R&B singer Melinda Doolittle is 45. Actor Wes Ramsey is 45. Actor Karimah Westbrook is 44. Singer-musician Will Butler is 40. Actor Stefanie Martini is 32. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Read More…
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Today In History: October 6 The Launch Of Instagram
Trump Says FBI Raid On Mar-A-Lago Boosts Florida Property Worth To $5 Billion Free Publicity
Trump Says FBI Raid On Mar-A-Lago Boosts Florida Property Worth To $5 Billion Free Publicity
Trump Says FBI Raid On Mar-A-Lago Boosts Florida Property Worth To $5 Billion Free Publicity https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-says-fbi-raid-on-mar-a-lago-boosts-florida-property-worth-to-5-billion-free-publicity/ Former President Donald Trump was not happy about the Mar-a-Lago search by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for classified documents at his Florida house. But he sees one silver lining in the ordeal that happened in August. Trump said during a speech on Wednesday that the news of “helicopters” flying over Mar-a-Lago since the FBI search boosted business for the private club in Palm Beach, Florida, reported Business Insider. Trump said at the Hispanic Leadership Conference in Miami, organized by America First Works, that they have given “us about $5 billion of free publicity.” He shared that people tell him it’s a nice house, and that if it “weren’t so nice they probably wouldn’t be doing it.” Mar-a-Lago’s membership is paid through annual fees, but it’s not clear whether membership has changed since the August raid. The private club has been closed since Mother’s Day and will reopen later this month. During the Wednesday speech, Trump mostly defended himself in the investigation. He said that he had done “nothing wrong.” He even called the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) probe a “document hoax” and a “charade.” The former President said that they are targeting him because “they want to silence me, silence you, and silence our amazing MAGA movement.” FBI agents found many classified and top secret documents at Mar-a-Lago. According to court filings, investigators are trying to find out whether Trump violated laws about record keeping and subsequently put national security at risk. Trump also spoke about the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation into last year’s Capitol’s riot. Talking about one of the testimonies, he said that he almost didn’t want to refute a secondhand account that he tried to lunge at a Secret Service agent on Jan. 6, 2021 because it made him look “physically tough.” He was referring to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the panel, reported Insider. She had relayed that she heard secondhand that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his SUV and lunged at one of his agents on Jan. 6, 2021. According to her, he did so while demanding they take him to the Capitol where his supporters were headed. Trump didn’t mention Hutchinson by name but in the Wednesday speech, he referred to “this one very sick individual” and recounted the details of her testimony. He said to laughs in the audience that if one listens to this “one very sick individual, in order to get the Secret Service to take me to the Capitol, I grabbed one around the neck.” He added that he almost didn’t want to dispute the claim as a lot of people told him that they “never knew you were that physically tough.” Former U.S. President Donald Trump Getty Images | James Devaney/GC Images Read More…
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Trump Says FBI Raid On Mar-A-Lago Boosts Florida Property Worth To $5 Billion Free Publicity
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy
Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy https://digitalalabamanews.com/liz-cheney-says-arizona-gop-candidates-threaten-democracy/ PHOENIX (AP) — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday said the Republican candidates for Arizona governor and secretary of state pose a huge risk for democracy because both say they will refuse to certify election results if they don’t like the results. Cheney, a prominent critic of former President Donald Trump and one of just 10 U.S. House Republicans who voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, made the comments at an event organized by the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. Cheney also leveled broadsides as what she said was a growing “Putin wing” of the Republican Party who want America to withdraw from the world stage and refuse to defend freedom in other countries. She has spent a lot of time thinking about Arizona and the upcoming elections here. “In Arizona today you have a candidate for governor in Kari Lake, you have a candidate for Secretary of State in Mark Finchem, both of whom have said — this isn’t a surprise, it’s not a secret — they both said that they will only honor the results of an election if they agree with it,” Cheney told the audience filled with ASU students. She said both looked at Trump’s 2020 loss in Arizona, and both know that it was carried out following state law, and that there were counts, recounts, audits and court challenges that all went against Trump. “They’ve looked at all of that, the law, the facts and the rulings, the courts, and they’ve said it doesn’t matter to them,” Cheney said. “And if you care about democracy, and you care about the survival of our republic, then you need to understand, we all have to understand, that we cannot give people power who have told us that they will not honor elections.” Cheney, who is vice chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and was trounced in Wyoming’s Republican primary as a result of her refusal to back Trump, spoke of what she believes is a wider threat to the nation from a Republican Party that is now fully in Trump’s control. “The first thing that we have to understand is that we’ve never been where we are,” Cheney said. “We’ve never been in a phase, a place where we’re facing this kind of a threat. And that’s because we’re facing a threat from a former president who is attempting to unravel the Republic.” Cheney, daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, spoke of how 30 years ago she worked overseas for the International Republican Institute when former Arizona Sen, John McCain chaired the group’s board. She said she saw firsthand how fragile some of those democracies were. “And I think I knew on some level that even in the United States this was fragile,” she said. “But I certainly didn’t understand just how fragile. I think that’s such an important lesson that we need to take from history.” Cheney, who said her first vote was for Ronald Reagan and is a traditional conservative Republican who favors low taxes and international engagement by the United States, also took shots at Fox News Channel. The issue came up after she was asked by the moderator, McCain Institute Democracy Fellow Sofia Gross, about the meaning of patriotism. Cheney said being a patriot means loving country more than whatever political party someone belongs to. “And that means that you put your love of country above politics, you put it above your political career,” she said. She said McCain stood for that idea that American is a nation based on freedom, and that carries with it an obligation to help defend freedom around the world. “You can’t look at something like what’s happening today with Russia and Ukraine, and say America is neutral in that,” Cheney said. “That’s a frontline in the war of freedom and America must support Ukraine.” She pointed to what she called “a growing Putin wing of the Republican Party,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “And you see news outlets like Fox News, running propaganda,” she said. “You’ve watched it not just on Tucker Carlson’s show, although he is the biggest propagandist for Putin on that network. “And you really have to ask yourself … whose side is Fox on in this battle?” Cheney added. “And how could it be that you have a wing of the Republican Party that thinks that America would be standing with Putin as he conducts that brutal invasion of Ukraine?” Cheney has floated the idea of running for president in 2024, if nothing else than to serve as a foil if the former president runs again. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Read More…
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Liz Cheney Says Arizona GOP Candidates Threaten Democracy
Val Demings: Marco Rubio Should 'pay A Price' For Abstaining From Vote On FEMA Disaster Aid
Val Demings: Marco Rubio Should 'pay A Price' For Abstaining From Vote On FEMA Disaster Aid
Val Demings: Marco Rubio Should 'pay A Price' For Abstaining From Vote On FEMA Disaster Aid https://digitalalabamanews.com/val-demings-marco-rubio-should-pay-a-price-for-abstaining-from-vote-on-fema-disaster-aid/ AdPrime Is Now $139, But Few Know This Saving Trick Think you’re getting the best deal when you shop online? Don’t buy a single thing until you try this — you won’t regret it. The Hill Harris, Secret Service director concerned over Monday motorcade accident Vice President Harris and the director of the Secret Service have reportedly expressed concerns over an accident on Monday involving the vehicle Harris was traveling in after the agency initially did not disclose details about the minor collision, according to The Washington Post. The motorcade was delayed in transporting Harris to the White House… AdA Regular Mistake For Cars Used Under 50 Miles/Day Florida drivers are surprised they never knew this new tip. If you live in Florida, you better read this. AdCelebrity Homes For Sale That No One Wants To Buy Why no one wants these expensive celebrity mansions AdContestant Makes Pat Sajak Walk Off the Set This Wheel of Fortune contestant started acting strange, then people figured out why… Bloomberg DOJ Wins Faster Schedule for Mar-a-Lago Special Master Appeal (Bloomberg) — A federal appeals court granted the US Justice Department’s request to expedite its challenge to the appointment of a so-called special master to review thousands of White House documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.Most Read from BloombergMusk Revives $44 Billion Twitter Bid, Aiming to Avoid TrialTrump Says US Agency Packed Top-Secret Documents. These Emails Suggest Otherwise.Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter And Country Queen, DiesMar-a-Lago Documents Included AdAnother Ship Stuck Cost This Business Millions Someone Messed This Up Big Time And It Cost Millions AdThis Is How Brides Dress Around The World Even as the world transforms rapidly around us all these traditional wedding dresses around the world have barely changed over the course of centuries Ukrayinska Pravda Russian soldiers are surrendering en masse VALENTYNA ROMANENKO – TUESDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2022, 11:46 The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine says that more than 2,000 Russian soldiers have contacted them over the past few weeks asking for an opportunity to surrender. Read More…
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Val Demings: Marco Rubio Should 'pay A Price' For Abstaining From Vote On FEMA Disaster Aid
Can Auburn Improve Its Run Game Against Georgia?
Can Auburn Improve Its Run Game Against Georgia?
Can Auburn Improve Its Run Game Against Georgia? https://digitalalabamanews.com/can-auburn-improve-its-run-game-against-georgia/ Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin entered the season preaching about taking it old school by building the offense on a foundation of running backs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter getting yards on the ground to set up the play-action pass. Auburn got off to a good start on the ground in wins against FCS foe Mercer and non-Power 5 San Jose State. However, the Tigers languished in last week’s 21-17 loss against LSU. Auburn had 101 rushing yards, with Bigsby as the leading rusher with 45 yards on 12 carries. Hunter was the second-leading runner with 35 yards on six carries. Robby Ashford had 337 yards passing on 38 attempts, including the fourth-quarter Koy Moore interception the Tigers attempted 39 passes to 31 rushes despite taking a 17-0 lead. Read More Auburn Football: What ESPN’s College Football Power Index says about Auburn after LSU loss Is Robby Ashford ready to elevate as Auburn’s QB1? Instant Analysis: Auburn drops a 17-point lead in 21-17 loss against LSU “I think No. 1 it starts inside,” Harsin said. “That’s No. 1. We can make improvements in a lot of areas there but you’ve got to start with your interior guys, right, not giving up penetration. Like we talked about before, I thought they did a good job of that, and we’ve improved in that area. But that’s always where it starts.” Georgia allows a scant 89.20 yards per game in rushing yards, led by an aggressive defensive line and linebacker group. “You’re going to play a really good D-line,” Harsin said. “You’re going to play a good front seven. They’re going to bring pressure and eliminate that. And then protecting our edges and finding ways to get on the perimeter as well. That’s part of it too. So your tackles, your tight ends. That includes your wide receivers just getting out there on the perimeter. That’s a part of it that will help improve the run game.” Brandon Council did well in his first start at center for Auburn last week. Council is a versatile lineman who was thrust into center duty after Tate Johnson got injured and Nick Brahms had to retire before the season. Harsin said the run game starts with the interior, and Council will play a significant role. “I think we did great, and the last game could speak for itself, as you could see the push and the line playing past the line of scrimmage instead of being pushed back,” Council said. “That was just a big piece. It also goes back to communication and everybody knowing what they’re doing on the line, so you don’t have to overcome anything. You can just fire straight off the ball.” Georgia comes into the game as 29.5-point favorite on several sportsbooks. ESPN’s College Football Power Index gives Auburn less than a four percent chance of winning. Believing Auburn can win might seem irrational unless you’re Council. “It’s very important. We have the chance to go out there and do something that hasn’t been done in a long time, that’s beat Georgia at Georgia,” Council said. “I believe the last time was in 2005. That would be a big thing. Our goal is to go in there like a SWAT team, in and out and quiet the noise and beat their behinds and get out.” 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…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Can Auburn Improve Its Run Game Against Georgia?
Fifth Circuit Tasks Federal Judge With Deciding Future Of DACA Program
Fifth Circuit Tasks Federal Judge With Deciding Future Of DACA Program
Fifth Circuit Tasks Federal Judge With Deciding Future Of DACA Program https://digitalalabamanews.com/fifth-circuit-tasks-federal-judge-with-deciding-future-of-daca-program/ Legal experts say whatever the judge decides the case is likely headed to the Supreme Court for yet another ruling affecting the lives of people who depend on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to lawfully remain in the U.S. (CN) — A federal program that has protected more than 600,000 young immigrants from deportation has “fundamental substantial defects,” a Fifth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, siding with a Texas-led coalition of red states who aim to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals within two years. Writing for a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, its Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman found Texas and eight other Republican-led states who sued to end DACA in May 2018 are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that then-President Barack Obama’s administration shredded limits imposed by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act when it started DACA in 2012 as a workaround of lawmakers’ failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform. “DACA’s deficiencies are severe. … The DACA Memorandum contradicts significant portions of the INA,” Richman, a George W. Bush appointee wrote in a 46-page order joined by two colleagues appointed to the court by Donald Trump. She bought Texas’ argument that it has standing because DACA recipients cost the state more than $250 million per year in education, medical and social services costs, and if the program was eliminated, those costs would fall because some recipients would choose to leave Texas and return to their home countries. Texas was the only one of the plaintiff-states to present arguments about the economic impacts of DACA. The policy is geared toward people brought into the U.S. illegally as children or who became undocumented along with their parents when their visas expired. It allows them to obtain lawful status and work permits for renewable two-year periods and roughly 600,000 people from 150 countries are enrolled. Though a survey of more than 3,000 DACA recipients cited in the Fifth Circuit’s order found that 22% said they were likely to leave the country if DACA ended, many complain that the U.S. is the only place they know, they have few family ties in their home countries and they are weary of repeatedly having their status thrown into jeopardy by court orders. Though an estimated 1.5 million people are eligible, new enrollments came to a screeching halt in July 2021 when U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, another George W. Bush appointee, decided the Department of Homeland Security had implemented DACA in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. He vacated the memo that created DACA and remanded it to DHS to fix its defects. But Hanen stayed his vacatur order for the people already enrolled, acknowledging, “Hundreds of thousands of individual DACA recipients, along with their employers, states and loves ones, have come to rely on the DACA program.” The Biden administration, along with 22 DACA recipients represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who, joined by the state of New Jersey, intervened to try to save DACA, appealed to the Fifth Circuit and a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based appellate court heard arguments in July. Seeking to address issues Hanen had with the original DACA memo, the Biden administration worked up a new DACA rule and published it on the Federal Register on August 30, putting it through a public notice-and-comment process, a step Hanen determined it should have taken for the first iteration. The new rule is set to take effect Oct. 31. Rather than waiting until after that date and weighing in on the new rule, the Fifth Circuit decided it was best to remand to Hanen because it does not have the administrative record of what changes Homeland Security has in store for DACA. “A district court is in the best position to review the administrative record in the rulemaking proceeding,” Richman wrote. She was joined on the panel by U.S. Circuit Judges James Ho and Kurt Engelhardt, both Donald Trump appointees. The Biden administration faces a tall task in winning Hanen’s approval of its new version of DACA. He is a longtime critic of Democratic presidents’ claims that DACA is merely an exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the federal government — deciding who not to deport — given it lacks the resources to remove the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without papers. He issued an injunction in February 2015 blocking an expanded version of DACA and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, two directives Obama unveiled in November 2014, after a coalition of 26 states led by Texas sued. The Fifth Circuit upheld Hanen’s injunction. A 4-4 split at the Supreme Court in June 2016 left the order in place. The Supreme Court weighed in on DACA again in June 2020 when a 5-4 majority kept the program alive, finding the administration of former President Donald Trump had arbitrarily decided to end it. Legal experts say whatever Hanen decides the case is likely headed to the Supreme Court, for yet another ruling affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who depend on DACA. José Alonso Muñoz, deputy communications director of the immigrant-led network United We Dream, called on Congress to pass legislation shielding DACA recipients from deportation and putting them on track for citizenship. “Something has got to give here. DACA recipients have been in court for YEARS now. How much more of this legal back and forth? It’s beyond time for Congress to take DACA recipients out of this cycle of abuse and uncertainty,” he wrote on Twitter. (Emphasis in original.) Read the Top 8 Sign up for the Top 8, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your inbox Monday through Friday. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Fifth Circuit Tasks Federal Judge With Deciding Future Of DACA Program
Trump Sounds Off On State And Federal Probes At Conference For Latino Conservatives
Trump Sounds Off On State And Federal Probes At Conference For Latino Conservatives
Trump Sounds Off On State And Federal Probes At Conference For Latino Conservatives https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-sounds-off-on-state-and-federal-probes-at-conference-for-latino-conservatives/ MIAMI — Former President Donald Trump complained bitterly about the investigations he’s facing in a speech Wednesday, accusing his successor, Joe Biden, of “destroying the rule of law” and neglecting deeper problems that the nation confronts. Speaking at the end of a conference aimed at building Latino support for conservative policies, Trump devoted a chunk of his address to his legal difficulties involving sensitive records that he brought from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago home, and a separate lawsuit filed against him by New York state prosecutors. Trump said that in searching his home in Palm Beach, which doubles as a private club, investigators treated him differently than past presidents going back to George H.W. Bush. All were shown more deference in the way they treated their records upon leaving office, Trump argued. “Now the failing Biden regime wants to start investigating me, and the only reason is because I’m leading everyone in the polls, both Republicans and Democrats,” said Trump, who has sent strong signals that he plans to run again for president in 2024. He repeated a debunked claim that Obama moved millions of pages of presidential records to an “unsafe” building at the end of his term in 2017. After Trump first made that allegation, the National Archives released a statement saying Obama never had control of those records. All were in the government’s custody and stored in accordance with archival standards, the agency said. “No other president has been harassed and persecuted like we have,” Trump said. Trump delivered the keynote address following a two-day conference here hosted by the America First Policy Institute, a tax-exempt group run by former Trump administration officials. About 450 people attended his speech and gave Trump a warm reception. One speaker referred to first lady Jill Biden’s remark in San Antonio over the summer when she said that Hispanics in Texas were as “unique” as “breakfast tacos.” Through a spokesman, she later apologized for the comment made to a Latino civil rights group.  Before Trump took the stage, Abraham Enriquez, president of Bienvenido, a conservative Latino group, dismissed the “left” as “obsessed with calling us breakfast tacos.”  Trump spoke about pronounced financial gains made by Latinos during his presidency, an economic argument that seems to have gained traction with this crucial voting bloc. A recent NBC News/Telemundo poll showed that Republicans have been chipping away at Democrats’ traditional advantage among Latino voters, for whom inflation and jobs loom as urgent issues.  Enriquez described Trump as the nation’s “first Latino president in U.S. history.” Trump painted a dark picture of the United States under Biden’s presidency. The Biden administration’s priorities, Trump said, are upside down. He cited the continuing scourge of foreign drug cartels as an example. “They raided Mar-a-Lago, but the cartels, they have their own Mar-a-Lagos, those are fine,” he said. “Leave them alone. Let them continue to destroy our country.”  “Think how sick it is — what’s happening in this country,” he added. “We’re a country of investigations. We don’t talk about greatness anymore. Everybody gets investigated. … The cartels — nothing’s happening to them. But they go after politicians!” Though Trump objected to what he called the “weaponization” of law enforcement, one former federal prosecutor has said something similar happened when Trump was in power. Geoffrey Berman, the former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, writes in a new book that the Justice Department under Trump sought to protect his political interests. After Berman’s office had prosecuted a pair of Trump loyalists, he wrote, a Justice Department official called him and urged him to “even things out” before the midterm elections in 2018 by charging a former Obama White House official, Gregory Craig. Craig was never charged. Trump denounced New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, who filed suit against him last month alleging that he had fraudulently inflated his net worth to get favorable loan agreements. He called James a “totally corrupt, horrible human being” and said he is now adding up “the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes I’ve paid over the years in New York City.” He suggested he may have an odd bedfellow in New York’s former Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, another James critic. James’ office led an investigation that concluded Cuomo had sexually harassed or inappropriately touched 11 women. Cuomo resigned soon after the report, and he filed an ethics complaint against James last month. Trump told the audience that James “did get Cuomo to resign.” “Very interestingly, a lot of people are angry about that,” said Trump, who often criticized Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic when both were in office. “People like Cuomo; some people.” Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Trump Sounds Off On State And Federal Probes At Conference For Latino Conservatives
CNNs Jim Sciutto Off Air For Personal Leave After Internal Investigation (Report)
CNNs Jim Sciutto Off Air For Personal Leave After Internal Investigation (Report)
CNN’s Jim Sciutto Off Air For ‘Personal Leave’ After Internal Investigation (Report) https://digitalalabamanews.com/cnns-jim-sciutto-off-air-for-personal-leave-after-internal-investigation-report/ CNN anchor and reporter Jim Sciutto has been off the air this week for a “personal leave” after an investigation by the network related to a serious fall he had earlier this year in Amsterdam, according to reports. Sciutto had been traveling back to the United States after covering the war in Ukraine and was injured during a stopover in the Dutch city, according to The Daily Beast. Sciutto had since recovered, and CNN directed Sciutto to deal with a “personal situation,” the report said. CNN has since given him leave, The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday. He accordingly did not appear on Tuesday’s or Wednesday’s editions of CNN Newsroom, the 9 a.m. ET show he anchors alongside Poppy Harlow. CNN did not respond to a request for comment, according to The Daily Mail report. Also Read: Trump Has ‘Almost No Chance’ in Defamation Case Against CNN, Legal Experts Say Sciutto has traveled to Ukraine three times for CNN since the start of the Russian conflict and ensuing invasion to report on the war. According to The Daily Mail, the most recent trip came in April. The Daily Beast noted the network’s staff typically travels back from Ukraine through Poland. So it was unclear why Sciutto was in Amsterdam. Details of his fall or injuries were also uncertain. The developments come as CNN aims to revamp much of its news gathering and production under new president Chris Licht. The initiative has seen the network make new hires and elevate executives to new positions while also jettisoning on-air talent, including most notably former “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter, who was fired in August. Also Read: CNN’s Kasie Hunt Reflects a Year After Brain Tumor Surgery: ‘Grateful’ to Those Who ‘Brought Me to This Changed Place’ (Video) Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
CNNs Jim Sciutto Off Air For Personal Leave After Internal Investigation (Report)
Photos: First Look NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN At South Coast Repertory
Photos: First Look NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN At South Coast Repertory
Photos: First Look NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN At South Coast Repertory  https://digitalalabamanews.com/photos-first-look-nina-simone-four-women-at-south-coast-repertory/ She was known as one of the 20th century’s most powerful and impactful voices, not only as a singer, but also as a voice for the silent. South Coast Repertory (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Paula Tomei) opens the 2022-23 season with Nina Simone: Four Women by Christina Ham Oct. 2-23 on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Directed by Logan Vaughn, who helmed SCR’s Pacific Playwrights Festival’s reading of Dr. Silver: A Celebration of Life last spring, Nina Simone: Four Women tells the story behind the iconic singer fulfilling her pledge that “An artist’s responsibility is to reflect the times.” Following the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. that killed four young girls, Simone shifted her considerable talents to activism. The result was some of the most powerful, impactful civil rights anthems ever written. Ham’s intensely personal play with music takes theatregoers into how the iconic chanteuse gave voice to countless other Black women fighting to overcome stereotypes and racism. Nina Simone: Four Women includes many of Simone’s most forceful and gripping songs, including “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” “Go Limp” and “Mississippi Goddam.” Nina Simone: Four Women features Chibuba Osuala (Nina Simone), Meredith Noël (Sweet Thing), Arie Bianca Thompson (Sephronia), Jennifer Leigh Warren (Sarah) and Richard Baskin Jr. (Sam Waymon). All but Warren, who earned critical praise for her performance in the 2000 production of The Education of Randy Newman, are making their SCR debuts. The design and creative team include Baskin as musical director; Jack Magaw, set design; Jessica Ford, costume design; Christine A. Binder, lighting design; Everett Elton Bradman, sound design; Yee Eun Nam, projections design, Kevin Boseman, choreographer, and Joanne DeNaut, CSA, casting director. Maisie Chan is the production manager and Randall K. Lum is the production stage manager. Tickets are now on sale and range in price from $32 to $105, with additional discounts available for educators, seniors and theatregoers ages 25 and under. Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555. More information is available at www.scr.org. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Photos: First Look NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN At South Coast Repertory
Exclusive: Former Trooper Being Investigated Over Response To Uvalde School Massacre Was Hired To Protect City's Children | CNN
Exclusive: Former Trooper Being Investigated Over Response To Uvalde School Massacre Was Hired To Protect City's Children | CNN
Exclusive: Former Trooper Being Investigated Over Response To Uvalde School Massacre Was Hired To Protect City's Children | CNN https://digitalalabamanews.com/exclusive-former-trooper-being-investigated-over-response-to-uvalde-school-massacre-was-hired-to-protect-citys-children-cnn/ Uvalde, Texas CNN  —  The Texas state trooper arrived at Robb Elementary within two minutes of a gunman entering the school and starting his massacre last May. Crimson Elizondo is seen in her Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) uniform, handgun drawn, outside the school building in Uvalde, and then briefly in the hallway on the body camera footage from another law enforcement officer. She was one of the first of the 91 DPS officers to arrive, one of the 376 total law enforcement personnel who went to the school where the shooter was left for 77 minutes – with dead, dying and traumatized victims – before he was stopped. The response to the attack in which 19 children and two teachers were killed has been denounced as an “abject failure” with enough blame to be spread widely. The school police chief was fired and now seven DPS officers are being investigated for what they did – or did not – do. CNN has uncovered exclusively that Elizondo is one of those officers. A source close to the investigation also confirmed that to CNN. She no longer works for DPS. During the summer she left and got a new job. Now, she is a police officer for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD), where her role is to protect some of the very same children who survived the Robb Elementary shooting. Elizondo declined to speak with CNN in person, on the phone or by direct message. Uvalde CISD has said it wanted to recruit 10 more officers after the May 24 attack. It did not specifically announce the hiring of Elizondo over the summer, though the names and photos of her and four other police officers, one lieutenant and one security guard are on its website, under the banner “KEEP U.C.I.S.D. SAFE.” Superintendent Hal Harrell told a special town hall meeting in August that at least 33 DPS officers would also be deployed around the district’s eight schools. After initial concern by residents that officers who failed to stop the killing would be tasked with school security, parent Brett Cross told CNN he had been assured the deployed DPS officers would not have been responders to the shooting. In her new position, that restriction does not apply to Elizondo. Children and parents walked past her as they headed into the school year at Uvalde Elementary, the new home for the younger students who survived the Robb bloodshed. And some parents, including those who lost children in the massacre, recognized her from the body camera footage released by the mayor, family members told CNN. “We are disgusted and angry at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s (UCISD) decision to hire Officer Crimson Elizondo. Her hiring puts into question the credibility and thoroughness of UCISD’s HR and vetting practices,” according to a statement from family representatives. It made them feel uneasy, CNN has learned, yet another reminder of the deadly day in a town that is full of such reminders. But they did not know that she was under investigation. It’s also unclear if the school district knew of the investigation when she was hired. The statement from family representatives calls for all department officers to be suspended pending a third-party investigation, and its results “must be released” to the public as well as families of the victims. “Our children have been taken from us. We will not stop fighting until we have answers and we ensure the safety of the children in our community is the top priority,” the statement said. Cross, the legal guardian of Uziyah Garcia, one of the children killed at Robb Elementary, says he is “disgusted” by what the district has done. “I’m absolutely appalled,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper and says the school board met with him and offered to pull such officers to off-campus roles. He says he will continue to hold a vigil outside the school board offices until all officers are suspended. The district and its staff have not responded to emails and calls and a personal approach from CNN about this story. Texas DPS, the state body that helps local law enforcement in major incidents, announced an internal review into its employees who responded to Robb. Sources familiar with the investigation confirmed to CNN that Elizondo is one of seven officers whose conduct is being investigated by DPS, but neither their names nor their actions or inactions have been made public. In a redacted internal memo to the organization’s director obtained by CNN, DPS cited “actions which may be inconsistent with training and requirements” as the reason for the officers being referred for investigation. Sources familiar with the inquiry told CNN that Elizondo was not properly equipped and said to investigators that she was not comfortable going inside the school without her gear. Footage from police body cameras and those of other officers seen by CNN show Elizondo arriving at the outskirts of the school as one of the first officers to respond to the report of an armed man at Robb Elementary. She gets out of her official vehicle but does not retrieve any tactical body armor or her long rifle, as officers are trained to do. She does not approach the school but stays with officers from other agencies outside the fence until a call comes over the radio, “Shots fired inside the building!” Elizondo runs with other officers to the eastern end of the building that housed connecting classrooms 111 and 112. Soon after, the responding officers are told that the shooter is contained in a room on the west side. After that, there plays out on the recordings the more than one hour of confusion and delay before anyone goes to help the trapped staff and students in rooms 111 and 112, the catalog of errors that has become part of the Uvalde tragedy. Elizondo walked inside the building briefly but mostly stood outside. As officers prepared for what became the final breach, she offered to help a colleague and went to gather supplies for him. She was away from the school when the gunman was shot and killed. Within moments, the body camera recordings show, the hallway where so many had stood became a scene of carnage as officers got students out of the classrooms and assessed their injuries. Elizondo was soon there, urging students to “go, go, go” if they were able, and not to look at their injuries or the blood on the floor. She comforted one boy as an officer checked his wounds, telling him time and again that she was there with him, that he would be OK and that his parents would soon be told. The footage showed she traveled to the hospital in a school bus with students who were shot and traumatized, again helping to take care of them. DPS director Col. Steven McCraw said in August: “Every one of our officers will undergo scrutiny by the DA and an internal investigation – just because they didn’t violate the law, doesn’t mean they acted appropriately based on our policy.” Two weeks later official notes of a meeting showed McCraw telling captains, “No one is losing their jobs.” McCraw told CNN he had been misquoted in the minutes and vowed “no one gets a pass.” He said he would release all the information when he could, but the local district attorney has asked him not to do so until the criminal investigations are completed, a process he has acknowledged could take years. Prosecutor Christina Mitchell Busbee will charge anyone who has committed a crime at Robb Elementary, including law enforcement officers, she’s said. CNN reached out to the Department of Public Safety, which declined to comment for this story. A coalition of news organizations including CNN is suing the DPS for records relating to the investigation that have been withheld from the media and public. So far, the only person known to have lost their job over the response to the shooting has been school police chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, who was fired by the school board in August. Arredondo became the figurehead of the failed response, though he has said he did not consider himself the incident commander and has called to be reinstated. Elizondo earned a base salary of $59,715 at DPS, according to a database compiled by The Texas Tribune, reflecting a 12% raise a year ago. She joined the department in 2018. Her new salary is not known, but a job posting for a similar role has a lower salary range, from $41,584 to $59,158. That posting lists mental and physical demands of the position, including an “Ability to effectively deal with personal danger which may include sudden exposure to armed persons … under intense threatening conditions.” On May 24, as she rode the school bus back to Robb Elementary from the hospital, she told another officer: “Nothing could prepare you for what they brought out. It was horrible.” Later, she can be heard on body camera footage talking to fellow officers when someone asks if she had children at the school that day. The woman who now wears a school police uniform gave a blunt response. In her DPS uniform, stained with blood, she said: “If my son had been in there, I would not have been outside. I promise you that.” Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Exclusive: Former Trooper Being Investigated Over Response To Uvalde School Massacre Was Hired To Protect City's Children | CNN
North Korea Launches More Missiles As US Redeploys Carrier
North Korea Launches More Missiles As US Redeploys Carrier
North Korea Launches More Missiles As US Redeploys Carrier https://digitalalabamanews.com/north-korea-launches-more-missiles-as-us-redeploys-carrier/ SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters Thursday after the United States redeployed an aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula in response to Pyongyang’s previous launch of a nuclear-capable missile over Japan. The latest missile launches suggest North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is determined to continue with weapons tests aimed at boosting his nuclear arsenal in defiance of international sanctions. Many experts say Kim’s goal is to eventually win U.S. recognition as a legitimate nuclear state and the lifting of those sanctions, though the international community has shown no sign of allowing that to happen. The latest missiles were launched 22 minutes apart from the North’s capital region and landed between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The first missile flew 350 kilometers (217 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 80 kilometers (50 miles) and the second flew 800 kilometers (497 miles) on an apogee of 60 kilometers (37 miles). The flight details were similar to Japanese assessments announced by Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, who confirmed that the missiles didn’t reach Japan’s exclusive economic zone. He added that the second missile was possibly launched on an “irregular” trajectory. It is a term that has been previously used to describe the flight characteristics of a North Korean weapon modeled after Russia’s Iskander missile, which travels at low altitudes and is designed to be maneuverable in flight to improve its chances of evading missile defenses. South Korea’s military said it has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains readiness in close coordination with the United States. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches didn’t pose an immediate threat to United States or its allies, but still highlighted the “destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was expected to hold a telephone call with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over the North Korean threat later Thursday, said the North’s continued launches were “absolutely intolerable.” Yoon’s office said his National Security Director Kim Sung-han discussed the launch at an emergency security meeting where members discussed plans to prepare for further North Korean hostilities, including military provocations. The launches were North Korea’s sixth round of weapons tests in less than two weeks, adding to a record number of missile launches this year that has prompted condemnation from the United States and other countries. South Korean officials the North may up the ante soon by testing an intercontinental ballistic missile or conducting its first nuclear test explosion since 2017 and seventh overall, escalating an old pattern of heightening tensions before trying to wrest outside concessions. On Tuesday, North Korea staged its most provocative weapons demonstration since 2017, firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan, forcing the Japanese government to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains. Experts said the weapon was likely a Hwasong-12 missile capable of reaching the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond. Other weapons tested earlier included Iskander-like missiles and other ballistic weapons designed to strike key targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there. Thursday’s launches came as the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan returned to waters east of South Korea in what South Korea’s military called an attempt to demonstrate the allies’ “firm will” to counter North’s continued provocations and threats. The carrier was in the area last week as part of drills between South Korea and the United States and the allies’ other training involving Japan. North Korea considers such U.S.-led drills near the peninsula as an invasion rehearsal and views training involving a U.S. carrier more provocative. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the redeployment of the Reagan strike group poses “a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity.” The ministry said it strongly condemns U.S.-led efforts at the U.N. Security Council to tighten sanctions on the North over its recent missile testing, which it described as a “just counteraction” to joint U.S.-South Korean drills. After the North’s intermediate-range missile launch, the United States and South Korea also carried out their own live-fire drills that have so far involved land-to-land ballistic missiles and precision-guided bombs dropped from fighter jets. But one of the tit-for-tat launches nearly caused catastrophe early Wednesday when a malfunctioning South Korean Hyumoo-2 missile flipped shortly after liftoff and crashed into the ground at an air force base in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung. South Korea’s military said no one was hurt and civilian facilities weren’t affected. After Tuesday’s North Korean launch, the United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. But the session Wednesday ended with no consensus, underscoring a divide among the council’s permanent members that has deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine. Russia and China during the meeting insisted to fellow Security Council members that U.S.-led military exercises in the region had provoked North Korea into acting. The United States and its allies expressed concern that the the council’s inability to reach consensus on North Korea’s record number of missile launches this year was emboldening North Korea and undermining the authority of the United Nations’ most powerful body. North Korea has fired nearly 40 ballistic missiles over more than 20 different launch events this year, using the stalled diplomacy with the United States and Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to speed up arms development. ___ Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report. ___ See more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
North Korea Launches More Missiles As US Redeploys Carrier
Tyson To Move All Corporate Workers To Springdale Arkansas
Tyson To Move All Corporate Workers To Springdale Arkansas
Tyson To Move All Corporate Workers To Springdale, Arkansas https://digitalalabamanews.com/tyson-to-move-all-corporate-workers-to-springdale-arkansas/ 4029s PAUL PETITTE IS LIVE WITH THE DETAILS A TYSON SPOKESMAN SAYS THE COMPANY WILL REMODEL ITS CURRENT WORLD HEADQUARTERS HERE IN SPRINGDALE OFF DON TYSON PARKWAY. THE PLAN IS ALSO TO CONSOLIDATE THE CORPORATE TEAM OFFICES IN THREE DIFFERENT CITIES AND BRING THEM ALL TO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. A Tyson Foods slogan is “Feeding you like family.” Well, now they’re bringing their family home to Springdale. It’s big news for the city. DOUG SPROUSE / SPRINGDALE MAYOR 36:54 that’s great news. With all the uncertainty news today we have done very well. Tyson Foods is calling the plan “One Tyson.” They say It will bring together all its corporate offices in Chicago, Downers Grove, Illinois and Dakota Dunes, South Dakota to its world headquarters in Springdale. The Northwest Arkansas Council CEO says he’s excited about the move. NELSON PEACOCK/ NORTHWEST ARKANSAS COUNCIL CEO :55 it speaks to the momentum we have across Northwest Arkansas. Not only can you have a great job and work for a company like Tyson but there is great quality of life here and they will be able to attract those people here. A Tyson spokesman says about one thousand Tyson employees will have to decide by November 14 if they will make the move to Northwest Arkansas. NELSON – 2:12 we are helping to build and create a place where people want to be and these large companies that are so committed to Northwest Arkansas, feel like they have the best chance to economic and business success by relocating those employees here. In a company news release, Tyson leadership says they believe the move will spur collaboration, creativity and foster team spirit. Springdale leaders know what else it will foster. MAYOR – 38:28 its not just new jobs its other ancillary business income because of the growth The company says the new headquarters will include a multi-year remodel of some existing facilities as well as new indoor and outdoor spaces. MAYOR – 37:15 it’s not only great for Springdale its great for Northwest Arkansas. and it’s great for the State. WE LEARNED MEETINGS TOOK PLACE TODAY FOR ALL TYSON EMPLOYEES ABOUT THIS, WITH PHASE ONE OF THE MOVE TO TAKE PLACE MARCH OF 2023. COMING UP AT SIX, HOW THE ONE TYSON CONCEPT IS WHAT SAM WALTON AND DON TYSON ALWA Tyson to move all corporate workers to Northwest Arkansas, and build new campus Tyson will require all corporate employees to work at their Springdale, Arkansas world headquarters, according to a news release.Tyson will move workers from Chicago, Downers Grove, Illinois and South Dakota to Arkansas over the next ten months, starting in early 2023. “That’s great news,” said Springdale Mayor, Doug Sprouse. “With all the uncertain economic news today, we have done very well.”This will impact about 1,000 workers, Derek Burleson, company spokesperson, said. Tyson will offer relocation assistance.“It speaks to the momentum we have across Northwest Arkansas,” said Nelson Peacock, CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “Not only can you have a great job and work for a company like Tyson but there is great quality of life here and they will be able to attract those people here.”People who do not want to move may get severance, but this will be determined on a case-by-case basis, Burleson said.Springdale will be home to an expanded corporate campus called OneTyson. This will “foster closer collaboration, enhance team member agility and enhance faster decision making,” according to the news release.There are about 1,700 workers currently at the headquarters in Springdale now, Burleson said.The release stated that the company will release specific details about the OneTyson campus over the next several months. It will take multiple years to develop the campus, and some existing buildings will be remodeled.“It’s not only great for Springdale, its great for Northwest Arkansas and it’s great for the State,” said Sprouse. SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Tyson will require all corporate employees to work at their Springdale, Arkansas world headquarters, according to a news release. Tyson will move workers from Chicago, Downers Grove, Illinois and South Dakota to Arkansas over the next ten months, starting in early 2023. “That’s great news,” said Springdale Mayor, Doug Sprouse. “With all the uncertain economic news today, we have done very well.” This will impact about 1,000 workers, Derek Burleson, company spokesperson, said. Tyson will offer relocation assistance. “It speaks to the momentum we have across Northwest Arkansas,” said Nelson Peacock, CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “Not only can you have a great job and work for a company like Tyson but there is great quality of life here and they will be able to attract those people here.” People who do not want to move may get severance, but this will be determined on a case-by-case basis, Burleson said. Springdale will be home to an expanded corporate campus called OneTyson. This will “foster closer collaboration, enhance team member agility and enhance faster decision making,” according to the news release. There are about 1,700 workers currently at the headquarters in Springdale now, Burleson said. The release stated that the company will release specific details about the OneTyson campus over the next several months. It will take multiple years to develop the campus, and some existing buildings will be remodeled. “It’s not only great for Springdale, its great for Northwest Arkansas and it’s great for the State,” said Sprouse. Read More…
·digitalalabamanews.com·
Tyson To Move All Corporate Workers To Springdale Arkansas