Digital Alaska News

Trump Team Told National Archives That Mar-A-Lago Boxes Only Contained News Clippings https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-team-told-national-archives-that-mar-a-lago-boxes-only-contained-news-clippings/ By Jamie Gangel, CNN (CNN) — A former top official in the Trump White House counsel’s office told the National Archives last fall that, according to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, there were only 12 boxes of records at Mar-a-Lago and they were just filled with newspaper clippings, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The Archives was following up on information from the White House Office of Records Management that there were about two dozen boxes in the residence, according to the source. There was a back and forth in September 2021 between the Archives’ chief counsel, Gary Stern, and former White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin, who was also a designee for the Archives regarding the Trump records, according to the source. The source said that the engagement was part of the ongoing process of getting the boxes back. Stern asked Philbin about the records. Philbin asked Meadows and relayed to the Archives that Meadows said there were only 12 boxes, that they were just filled with newspaper clippings and that Meadows had assured him that no documents had been destroyed. Stern then reiterated to Philbin that the Archives had information that there were more than 12 boxes, that it had a list of missing documents, and to please keep looking. Stern made clear that “we need you to keep looking,” said the source familiar with the conversation, adding that the Archives “believed there were about 24 boxes.” Stern memorialized his conversation with Philbin in an internal email. That email provides the Justice Department with real-time contemporaneous notes of what Trump’s team was telling the Archives. Philbin also relayed to the Archives that Meadows had said they were not aware of any other boxes. Philbin has contended he was unaware of the contents of the boxes or that there was classified material inside, according to a person familiar with the matter. The source tells CNN the National Archives saw the exchange as part the prolonged effort to get former President Donald Trump to send presidential records to the Archives from Mar-a-Lago. The exchanges were first reported by The Washington Post on Friday. Ultimately, many more than 40 boxes were found at Mar-a-Lago containing documents with classified markings and presidential records. As CNN has previously reported, Meadows has also engaged in efforts to get Trump to return documents to the National Archives since last year. Meadows is one of Trump’s designees to the Archives, and he became involved in the summer of 2021 after being contacted by Philbin. While he was at Mar-a-Lago last summer, Meadows talked with Trump about the documents that the Archives was seeking to have returned, sources said. Meadows continued to work with the Archives in its efforts to recover documents since then, according to the sources. “Mr. Meadows did not personally review the boxes at Mar A Lago and did not have a role in examining or verifying what was or wasn’t contained within them,” Meadows’ spokesperson Ben Williamson told CNN. Philbin did not provide comment when asked by CNN. The Archives has not responded to CNN’s request for comment. This story has been updated with additional details. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Book Donation Camp Organised https://digitalalaskanews.com/book-donation-camp-organised/ A book fair organised at Saroop Rani Government College for Women on Saturday. Tribune photo Department of Computer Science, Saroop Rani Government College for Women introduced Portable Pathshala, in which book donation camp was organised for the welfare of students. Principal, Dr Daljit Kaur inaugurated the event. She stressed on recycling and sharing of books from seniors to juniors for maximizing their utility. She highlighted that this initiative shall be extended to other departments also. The move behind this was to motivate students to donate books to others. The usage of used books shall inculcate the feelings of empathy and also save the environment. Around 100 books were distributed to students. TNS World Ozone Day celebrated Amritsar: SR Government College for Women, Amritsar celebrated World Ozone Day on September 16 by organising range of activities spreading environment awareness. A rally was conducted by the NSS volunteers, slogan writing and poster making competition was also held by Departments of Chemistry and Geography. A seminar was organised by Eco Club in collaboration with a NGO, Voice of Amritsar. The President of Voice of Amritsar, Neeta Mehra, Jasmeet Nayyar, the former principal, SR College and Ex DPI graced the occasion as Chief Guests. They talked about the need on our part to save the environment as our life depends on it. Power point presentations in this context were showcased by the students of Geography and Chemistry Departments. It was followed by distribution of eco-friendly bags by the NGO as a token to save our Mother Earth from the abuse of plastic. Swimming competitions at GNDU Inter- department swimming (Boys/Girls) competitions were organized under Fit India Program, Government of India by GNDU. Dr Amandeep Singh, teacher in-charge, GNDU Campus Sports said various departments participated in these competitions.Winners of Inter-department swimming were: Rohan of Computer Science in 50 metre free style (Men), Agam Mahajan of the Laws in 100 metre free style (Men), Karanbir Mehta of University Business School in 200 Metre free style (Men). Among women, winners, Aabha Deshpande of GNDU MYAS Department of Sports Science performed very well and won medals in various events. Course on Banking sector starts Post-Graduate Department of Commerce and Business Administration, Khalsa College, Amritsar has started “Certificate Programme on Banking, Finance and Insurance Sector (CPBFI)” in collaboration with Bajaj Finserv Ltd. This programme was a part of MoU signed between Khalsa College Amritsar and Bajaj Finserv Ltd. to impart practical training and essential skills to the students with a view to create employment opportunities for them in Banking, Finance and Insurance Sector. The programme was planned and executed under the supervision of Dr Mehal Singh (Principal and Programme Chairman) and Dr AK Kahlon (Dean and Programme Director). Dr Ajay Sehgal (Assistant Professor, Commerce Department & Programme Coordinator) introduced the chief guest Raja Dcruz, Bajaj Representative and management team. Dr Megha (Assistant Professor, Commerce Department & Programme Assistant) has been deputed for the conduct of CPBFI Programme. Raja Dcruz explained the benefits of the program for the students. More than 55 students from the commerce department participated in the programme. School marks World Ozone Day Special events and activities were organised in Shri Ram Ashram school to promote the benefits of Ozone layer and to make the students aware of the reasons for its depletion. Teachers enlightened the students about the history of World Ozone Day. Students of Grade VII and VIII participated in poster making competition. Through their posters, they spread the message that ozone layer not only protects human beings but also the birds, animals and other creatures on the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays. At the end, a pledge was taken by all to adopt eco- friendly ways in our day- to-day life and contribute our part to protect ozone layer by making a judicious use of our resources. Read More Here

Mosquito Fire: Firefighters Hold Off Flames Fueled By Saturday Wind Gusts, Fire Doesn't Jump Perimeter Lines https://digitalalaskanews.com/mosquito-fire-firefighters-hold-off-flames-fueled-by-saturday-wind-gusts-fire-doesnt-jump-perimeter-lines/ Crews battled gusty winds on Saturday that complicated efforts on the eastern flank of the Mosquito Fire. Officials are hopeful that the forecast rain on Sunday will slow the fire’s growth. The fire has burned at least 71,292 acres and is 21% contained as of early Saturday morning. Containment is a measure of the perimeter crews have established to prevent the spread of a wildfire. Battling the BlazeThe strategy on Saturday to fight the Mosquito Fire was securing control lines to prepare for windy conditions.”To make sure we don’t have the spots that are flaring up that could pose a danger by throwing embers or casting embers across the fire line,” said public information officer Scott McClean.The strategy also includes continuing to set backfires.”They’ve been working on that for several days, backfiring large chunks so the fire can’t come up and hook around those drainages,” McClean said. “They’ve been very successful doing that and they will continue to work on that.”Firefighters worked throughout the canyons and ridges, using heavy machinery and walking the land with hand tools, hoes and shovels. They also sprayed water to dampen the forest to keep the fire from spreading.Crews eliminated dry brush and branches by putting them into a wood chipper, getting rid of the ripe fuel for the Mosquito Fire to burn.While firefighters continue to battle the fire in the canyon, there are signs of progress. Utility crews worked in Michigan Bluff. Workers put up new power poles and installed power lines to the small community. Some residents will return to destroyed homes and property, while many other homes were spared by the fire. “It’s very erratic up here and that has to do with the drainages that go in various directions that are funneling the wind,” McClean said.Meanwhile, on the west and north side of the fire crews have reported progress, while growth has also slowed on the southeast corner of the fire as it burns into the King Fire scar, Cal Fire said. While wind is a concern on Saturday, rainfall is expected to arrive early Sunday and last through Wednesday, which could slow the fire’s growth. But is not expected to be a “season-ending event,” Cal Fire said. Meanwhile, authorities said that 78 structures have been destroyed so far in the fire. Cal Fire said 9,236 structures remain threatened.Some evacuation orders reducedSome residents in the community of Georgetown in El Dorado County were allowed to return home on Friday. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office reduced the evacuation order, a lawful mandate to leave immediately, to an evacuation warning, which is a recommendation to be ready to leave in case wildfire activity becomes threatening. For evacuated residents, a drop from order to warning is also a green light for them to begin repopulating. Evacuation orders were reduced for the area west of Wentworth Springs Road at Citabria Lane, north of Greenwood Road and Graybar Mine Road. Also included is east of Highway 193 at Sliger Mine Road, and south of Bottle Hill Road and Snow Cap Road. The reduced orders do not include Sliger Mine Road north of Loriel Drive and Spanish Dry Diggins Road north of Odyssey Falls Drive.Georgetown is about 18 miles north of Placerville and about 19 miles east of Auburn. See all evacuation orders and warnings below. App users, click here.Evacuation centersPlacer CountySierra College — 5100 Sierra College Blvd, Rocklin, CA 95677 (Parking in Lot B, shelter will be in the Building J cafeteria)El Dorado CountyCameron Park Services District — 2502 Country Club Drive, Cameron Park, CA 95682. Overnight shelter, meals, showers, limited health services and parking for trailers will be provided. Animals in crates and carriers will also be accepted.Green Valley Community Church — 3500 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville, CA. This location with accept human and small domestic animals on leashes or in creates. No Large animal and no birds. Limited RV parking and no hookups.Animal evacuation centersPlacer County Gold Country Fairgrounds — 209 Fairgate Road, Auburn, CaliforniaDiamond Springs Shelter (small animals only) — 6435 Capitol Avenue, Diamond Springs, CA 95619Rancho Murieta Equestrian Center (equines only) — Call for information: 916-985-7334Flying M Ranch (large animals only) — 5421 Buck Mountain Road, Placerville, CA 95667Road ClosuresThe Placer County Sheriff’s Office said hard road closures are in place on Foresthill Road and Lincoln Way in Auburn. There are also closures at the Old Foresthill Road at the Confluence.The eastbound Interstate 80 offramp to Foresthill Road is closed due to the fire.(Click through the gallery below for a glimpse at the firefight.) Large Mosquito Fire flare-up spottedKCRA 3 Photojournalist John Breedlove earlier this week captured a large flare-up from the Mosquito Fire. A massive column of smoke could be seen coming up from those flames. That flare-up has since destroyed vehicles and structures near Foresthill High School. Foresthill students take classes in AuburnHigh school is tough enough without students having to worry about their town or school burning in a massive wildfire.Yet, for 200 Foresthill High School students, they are now taking classes at Placer High in Auburn while the town of Foresthill remains under an evacuation order because of the Mosquito Fire.”The first few days, I wasn’t able to focus because the fire kept getting closer and closer to our town,” said Foresthill sophomore Bryce Dowling. Full story here. Foresthill resident who didn’t evacuate recalls terrifying flare-upMitch Griffith has lived in the town of Foresthill in Placer County for the last 22 years.He is also one of the residents who chose to stay put when mandatory evacuations were issued for his home when the Mosquito Fire began threatening that area.“Tuesday morning was a great morning,” Griffith said. “It was beautiful. Everything was great, and then this fire jumped up.” Full story here.El Dorado County and Placer County residents can check if their home is destroyedResidents in El Dorado and Placer counties can check if their homes have been damaged, destroyed, or still intact.The sheriff’s offices for both counties released their own respective interactive maps that let you click on homes that are color-coded based on the amount of damage. Damaged or destroyed homes will also include pictures showing what the house looks like. Homes without damage will not have their pictures posted.View the El Dorado County map below. App users, click here.View the Placer County map below. App users, click here.State of emergency declared Placer County issued a local emergency due to the blaze.“A local emergency proclamation asserts continuing risk to life and property and that the response is beyond the capabilities of local resources,” a release from the county said. “Placer’s proclamation requests state and federal assistance, but neither a state nor a federal disaster has yet been declared that would authorize individual disaster assistance for residents and businesses.” Gov. Gavin Newsom also declared a state of emergency in Placer and El Dorado counties due to the fires. With the state of emergency declared, that opens up federal resources to assist in combating the fire. PG&E files incident report to CPUCIt’s still unclear how the Mosquito Fire started. However, PG&E filed a report with the state’s public utility commission for a pole near where the fire started. The U.S. Forest Service had placed “caution tape around the base of a PG&E transmission pole” the report said on Thursday. “Thus far, PG&E has observed no damage or abnormal conditions to the pole or our facilities near Oxbow Reservoir, has not observed down conductor in the area or any vegetation related issues.”PG&E is investigating. Here’s a look at the current air quality in Northern CaliforniaSmoke from the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties will continue to impact areas across the Sacramento region, according to Spare the Air. The Sacramento Metropolitan, El Dorado, Feather River, Placer and Yolo-Solano air districts forecast unhealthy air quality for parts of the region.| MORE | Sacramento region’s air quality impacted by unhealthy smoke from the Mosquito Fire Crews battled gusty winds on Saturday that complicated efforts on the eastern flank of the Mosquito Fire. Officials are hopeful that the forecast rain on Sunday will slow the fire’s growth. The fire has burned at least 71,292 acres and is 21% contained as of early Saturday morning. Containment is a measure of the perimeter crews have established to prevent the spread of a wildfire. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Battling the Blaze The strategy on Saturday to fight the Mosquito Fire was securing control lines to prepare for windy conditions. “To make sure we don’t have the spots that are flaring up that could pose a danger by throwing embers or casting embers across the fire line,” said public information officer Scott McClean. The strategy also includes continuing to set backfires. “They’ve been working on that for several days, backfiring large chunks so the fire can’t come up and hook around those drainages,” McClean said. “They’ve been very successful doing that and they will continue to work on that.” Firefighters worked throughout the canyons and ridges, using heavy machinery and walking the land with hand tools, hoes and shovels. They also sprayed water to dampen the forest to keep the fire from spreading. Crews eliminated dry brush and branches by putting them into a wood chipper, getting rid of the ripe fuel for the Mosquito Fire to bur...

Millions Told To Evacuate As Typhoon Nanmadol Heads For Japan | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/millions-told-to-evacuate-as-typhoon-nanmadol-heads-for-japan-cnn/ CNN  —  About two million people in southwestern Japan have been ordered to evacuate ahead of a powerful typhoon forecast to hit the region on Sunday, according to public broadcaster NHK-World Japan. The typhoon is forecast to hit southern Kyushu, one of Japan’s southwest islands, specifically within Kagoshima Prefecture, according to NHK. “Weather officials have issued an emergency warning for violent winds, high waves and a storm surge for Kagoshima Prefecture,” NHK reported. Residents in 965,000 households have been ordered to evacuate across the seaside cities of Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Amakusa. A level five alert, the highest on Japan’s disaster warning scale, was issued to more than 14,000 people in the city of Nishinoomote on Kyushu island, NHK reported. “There is a possibility that it will be record heavy rain and an emergency heavy rain warning will be announced,” said Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA). “The highest level of vigilance is required for rising water levels and flooding of rivers, landslide disasters, and flooding of lowlands.” Ryuta Kurora, a JMA official, warned Saturday strong winds could cause houses to collapse. Kurora urged residents to evacuate before the storm hit to escape the risk of landslides and flooding. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have already canceled at least 335 flights that were scheduled to depart from or arrive at airports in Japan on Sunday, according to NHK. “The eye of Typhoon Nanmadol is clearly visible in satellite images. The typhoon has developed rapidly since Friday night,” NHK reported. Read More Here

Tiffany Smiley Would Be The GOP’s New Star, But She’s In The Wrong State https://digitalalaskanews.com/tiffany-smiley-would-be-the-gops-new-star-but-shes-in-the-wrong-state/ Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington won her seat 30 years ago, campaigning as “the mom in tennis shoes.” But there’s another mom in contention, Murray’s 2022 Republican challenger, Tiffany Smiley—who is trying to convince voters it’s time for a change as she blasts Murray’s long record and presents herself as the new mom on the block—full of can-do energy and optimism, ready to pick up the baton and run with it. Smiley is a former triage nurse who battled the Pentagon to allow her husband, blinded by a suicide bomber in Iraq, to continue to serve on active duty—breaking barriers for disabled members of the military. Impressive stuff, to be sure, and the kind of biography that political stars are made of. Personally recruited more than a year ago by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Smiley filled the bill of a fresh face, a charismatic motivational speaker on veterans’ issues, and someone who could upset Murray in what was shaping up to be a Republican year. The problem, for Smiley, is that the expected “red wave” is cresting, now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and total abortion bans have become an electoral liability for the GOP. Republican Tiffany Smiley, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., speaks Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, at a Republican Party event on Election Day in Issaquah, Wash., east of Seattle. Smiley and Murray advanced Tuesday to the fall election in Washington’s top-two primary system in which the two candidates with the most votes move on to the November ballot, regardless of party. Ted S. Warren/AP Photo She’s also got a “Big Lie” problem—which is to say she doesn’t want to publicly support Trump’s false assertion that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election, but she doesn’t want to say it so explicitly that she offends the MAGA base. It’s a tough needle to thread. When Smiley was interviewed in September a year ago by Inside Elections, a nonpartisan newsletter, she repeatedly declined to acknowledge that Biden won the 2020 election, foreshadowing her current ambivalence and prompting the publication to conclude she understands the challenge of running in a state Trump lost bigly in 2020. And in a news clip that made the rounds in political circles, Smiley was asked three times by CNN’s Dana Bash if she considers Biden a legitimately elected president. Through a deer-in-the-headlights glaze, Smiley conceded that Biden is president, but stopped short of the “legitimately elected” part—thereby staying in MAGA’s good graces without being saddled with the “Big Lie” baggage. With an eye on electability in the majority blue state of Washington, Smiley is also trimming her pro-life campaign rhetoric, supporting the Texas ban on abortion, but also saying it doesn’t fit Washington state, which has a 1991 ballot initiative on the books that legalizes abortion. When Sen. Lindsey Graham this week proposed a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks, Smiley reiterated to Politico that she believes states should make these calls. “Patty Murray has spent millions to paint me as an extremist,” Smiley says in a campaign ad. “I’m pro-life, but I oppose a federal abortion ban.” The ad is an effective counterpunch to the Murray campaign’s charge that Smiley would be a rubber stamp for McConnell, who has floated the idea of a federal ban if Republicans win control of Congress. “Patty Murray wants to scare you,” Smiley says in the tag line. “I want to serve you.” “ Running in the primary, Smiley said it would be ‘awesome’ to have Trump’s endorsement. Now, running in the general election, it’s less valuable. ” Elisa Carlson, communications director for the Smiley campaign, was driving home from an evening reception earlier this month when she took my call. Asked about the confusion over where her candidate stands with Biden’s legitimacy, she replied sharply, “From our point of view, she answered the question yes. Acknowledging he’s the president is also acknowledging he is legitimately elected.” She added: “She didn’t like answering three times…but she didn’t use the specific words somebody was trying to put in her mouth.” On abortion, Carlson says Smiley has not changed her position. “Her position is pro-life, and she respects the decision the state of Texas made, and Washington State, too,”—where a 1991 ballot referendum narrowly passed with 50.14 percent of the vote to legalize abortion until the fetus is viable. Like many Republicans facing a general electorate, Smiley is downplaying earlier themes like “election integrity”—which could be interpreted as casting doubt on the veracity of the 2020 election—removing it from her website. But there’s nothing to see here, either, said Carlson. “We’re in the process of rolling out policy initiatives. The website is updated weekly.” Will “election integrity” reappear? “We will be rolling out new policy initiatives,” Carlson repeated. Running in the primary, Smiley said it would be “awesome” to have Trump’s endorsement. Now, running in the general election, it’s less valuable. Nut Carlson wants inquiring minds to know, “Not having Trump’s endorsement doesn’t make you a moderate. We’ve never positioned her as a moderate. We’re focused on Washington state, we care about Washington state.” Jessica Taylor follows Senate races for the non-partisan Cook Political Report. She says Smiley is “one of the better Republican candidates they have this cycle. She has an incredibly compelling story,” and advocating for her husband the way she did, “anyone who has dealt with the VA (Veterans Administration) bureaucracy knows how difficult it is—and that she has impressive skills.” Despite being “an excellent candidate,” says Taylor, Washington state hasn’t sent a Republican to the Senate since 1994, and the last GOP governor was elected in 1980. Joe Biden carried the state in 2020 by 19 points. “Too bad they can’t switch her out for Republicans in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia,” says Taylor. She would outshine any of the struggling GOP candidates in those battleground states while the climb to victory in deep blue Washington state is prohibitively steep by any conventional measure, and boosted by the abortion issue. “That’s why we’re keeping the seat solidly Democrat” in the Cook Political Report ratings, says Taylor. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) speaks on reproductive rights during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on September 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. Murray spoke out against the Republican’s recently proposed bill on a federal 15-week abortion ban. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Taylor cites last month’s “jungle primary” where the top two finishers—of any party—face off in November. Murray garnered 52.2 percent; Smiley 33.7 percent. If you add the other Democrats to Murray, and the other Republicans to Smiley in the multi-candidate field, Murray has 55.36 percent to Smiley’s 41.47. “Other polls show it closer,” says Taylor, “but this is the best poll—actual voters who voted” in the August primary. With their candidates floundering in key senate races, Republicans are trying to expand the map of competitive senate seats. There’s a flurry of excitement around Smiley, but Democrats are not sounding the alarm. Biden’s approval rating is inching up and Matt Bennett with Third Way, a moderate Democrat group, says the president “would have to be down at his nadir for her to have a prayer.” Bennett adds, “She may run a little better than a nobody, but she’s not going to beat Patty Murray.” If she were running in Ohio, she’d be a better candidate than JD Vance, or in Wisconsin, where GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is flailing, says Bennett. “Lucky for us, she’s in a blue state, not a purple state.” The GOP has a potential star in Smiley, but she’s in the wrong state to get away with parsing both the abortion issue and the “election integrity” dance. No one questions Smiley’s skill as the new mom on the block, but the winds of change that drew her to the race have shifted, at least for now, and it will take more than her considerable talent to vanquish a popular incumbent. Read More Here

WYFP? Do You Keep A 'death List' https://digitalalaskanews.com/wyfp-do-you-keep-a-death-list/ News of an Oath Keeper’s J6 “death list” made me think about whether Johnny Depp or other celebrities keep death lists much like the Dead Pool or “rule of three” that emerges when a celebrity dies. Trumpist culture is the kind that actually keeps such lists, much like hypothesizing that Trump keeps such a list, or has flushed several down a toilet. Such pathological signs of obsession, much like watching the Depp-Heard trial on TV, or the mourning for the UK monarchy. Recent court documents allege the names of Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss were written on a pad of paper labeled “death list” found by police in the home of suspected Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell, Salon reports. Earlier this month, prosecutors revealed the existence of the “death list” but did not name the workers. Caldwells is charged with serious conspiracy. www.theroot.com/… Here is DeathList 2022. This is a list of 50 celebrities chosen by the DeathList committee, before the start of the year, for the fact they may die in 2022. The concise summary of the DeathList rules: Candidates must be famous enough such that their death is confidently expected to be reported by the UK media; Candidates cannot be famous solely for the fact they are likely to die imminently and only 25 candidates can reappear from the previous year’s list. After the record-breaking year of 2020, DeathList 2021 was a bit of a let-down with only 12 deaths, well short of the record of 20. deathlist.net “Trumpism is here to stay, for the foreseeable future. Which means that authoritarianism—with inflections, or at least overtones, of fascism—will be here for a while, too. With an infrastructure, with a popular base, and with elite enablers.”https://t.co/GJ6qcJEU8n — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 2, 2022 ‘ readability=”8.8888888888889″ x “Trumpism is here to stay, for the foreseeable future. Which means that authoritarianism—with inflections, or at least overtones, of fascism—will be here for a while, too. With an infrastructure, with a popular base, and with elite enablers.”https://t.co/GJ6qcJEU8n — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 2, 2022 Read More Here

Reuters US Domestic News Summary | Politics https://digitalalaskanews.com/reuters-us-domestic-news-summary-politics/ Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. Justice Dept asks appeals court to allow review of classified docs in Trump probe The U.S. Justice Department on Friday asked a federal appeals court to let it resume reviewing classified materials seized in an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. In the filing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the Justice Department said the circuit court should halt part of the lower court decision that prevents prosecutors from relying on the classified documents in their criminal investigation into the retention of government records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach after his presidency ended. Two small planes collide in midair near Denver, three dead Three people were killed on Saturday when two small planes collided in midair over Boulder County, Colorado, crashing into an open field and leaving two separate crash sites, local authorities said. Shortly before 9 a.m. local time, police “received multiple emergency phone calls” from witnesses who saw the two aircraft collide about 30 miles north of Denver, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Special master examining Trump documents to hold first hearing on Tuesday An independent arbiter, known as a special master, appointed to examine the contents of classified documents seized by the FBI from ex-President Donald Trump’s Florida estate last month will hold a first hearing on Tuesday, according to a court filing. Lawyers should submit agenda items by close of business on Monday, Special Master Raymond Dearie- who was appointed this week- said in the document. New York’s Yeshiva University halts student clubs in dispute over LGBT group Yeshiva University, ordered by a judge to formally recognize an LGBT student group even as the Jewish school in New York City argues that doing so would violate its religious values, on Friday announced that it has halted the activities of all its undergraduate student clubs as it plans its next steps. Yeshiva’s announcement came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block New York state judge Lynn Kotler’s June ruling that the university is subject to a city anti-discrimination law and must recognize the club called Y.U. Pride Alliance. U.S. appeals court rejects big tech’s right regulate online speech A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld a Texas law that bars large social media companies from banning or censoring users based on “viewpoint,” a setback for technology industry groups that say the measure would turn platforms into bastions of dangerous content. The largely 2-1 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, sets up the potential for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the law, which conservatives and right-wing commentators have said is necessary to prevent “Big Tech” from suppressing their views. University of Michigan finalizes $490 million sexual abuse settlement The University of Michigan said a $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 people who alleged sexual assault by a former sports doctor was finalized on Friday. The doctor, Robert Anderson, was a physician for the football team and other athletic programs at the university, where he worked from 1966 until his retirement in 2003. He died in 2008. Most of the victims were male. Biden meets families of Russian-held detainees Griner, Whelan President Joe Biden met on Friday with families of two Americans being held by Russia, and personally reassured them he is working to gain freedom for the detainees. Biden sat down in the Oval Office with Cherelle Griner, wife of women’s basketball star Brittney Griner, and Elizabeth Whelan, sister of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. Puerto Rico faces hurricane, life threatening floods, as tropical storm Fiona approaches Tropical storm Fiona gained strength on Saturday as it headed toward Puerto Rico, prompting the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to issue a hurricane warning and alerts for “life threatening floods and mudlsides” for the U.S. territory and watches for the U.S. Virgin Islands. One man was found dead in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, after heavy rains from the massive storm swept away his house in the Basse-Terre district, according to local authorities. Florida governor defends migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard, suggests more to come Florida’s Republican governor on Friday defended his decision to fly dozens of migrants to the wealthy vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard from Texas, and said similar actions could follow as a political dispute over border security deepened in the run-up to U.S. elections in November. DeSantis claimed credit for a pair of chartered flights on Wednesday that carried around 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of a broader Republican effort to shift responsibility for border crossers to Democratic leaders. Remnants of typhoon bring floods to Alaska’s western coast Remnants of the former typhoon Merbok flooded Alaska’s western coast on Saturday, bringing high waves, with wind gusts up to 60 mph pushing rising sea waters inland and knocking some houses off foundations in Nome, as the storm crawled north through the Bering Sea, the National Weather Service. The typhoon formed over the northwestern Pacific during the second week of September but has transitioned into a powerful rainstorm as it moves ashore. (This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Read More Here

‘Look, These Are Our Boys’: Ukrainian Troops Drive Russian Tanks On New Front Line https://digitalalaskanews.com/look-these-are-our-boys-ukrainian-troops-drive-russian-tanks-on-new-front-line/ September 17, 2022 at 4:28 p.m. EDT Vehicles are seen on and around a damaged bridge in Kupyansk. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post) KUPIANSK, Ukraine – The front line is now a river, the Oskil, that runs through the middle of the eastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk. On one side are the charging Ukrainian forces who have pushed their Russian enemies almost entirely out of the northeastern Kharkiv region during a sweeping counteroffensive this month. From her bedroom window, Liza Udovik, 26, has a view of the other side, to where the Russians have retreated. The sound of outgoing fire from the Ukrainians rocked her apartment these past few days, when the Ukrainian military moved into Kupiansk and the town became a battleground. Russian tanks and armored vehicles still patrol the streets, but it’s the Ukrainians driving them, using the Russians’ own abandoned weapons against them. Udovik started counting the seconds between hearing the deafening boom of artillery launched and the appearance of smoke in the distance. From just Tuesday to Wednesday, the gap got longer, stretching from 9 seconds to 13. “They’re getting pushed back,” she said with a smile. The Oskil became a shield for the Russians on Sept. 9. As the Ukrainians closed in, the invading forces crossed the bridge and blew it up behind them to slow Kyiv’s advance. And Kupiansk was suddenly cut off from its second half. The next morning, 55-year-old Lena Danilova stared in confusion at the Ukrainian vehicles driving down the town’s streets. A man next to her tugged on her sleeve, pointing out the different uniforms on the soldiers now patrolling the area. “Look, these are our boys,” he whispered to her. Danilova said she wiped away tears of joy. “Finally,” she said. But then she had a sick realization. Two of her children were stuck on the other side of the river. They had gone to attend a school there just days before. Now it’s the line where the Russians are desperate to stop Ukraine’s hard-charging advance further south, into the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions. After Kupiansk was captured without a fight just three days into the war, the town was at least spared Russian bombardment. Now people here are confronting some of the horrors of war that other Ukrainians lived through months ago. They waited and hoped for Ukrainian liberation, many said, but they didn’t imagine it would be like this: the threat of Russian shelling, no power in the city and no way to get basic medicines. Locals packed their most essential belongings quickly and evacuated in a rush with volunteers this week, evoking images of the first days of the war. Valya, 58, left behind her cats. Bowls of water lined the floor of her apartment, and she left a key with her friend to feed them. With only Russian state television channels, a Kremlin propaganda tool, available in Kupiansk for the past six months, people were cut off from independent news about what was happening in Ukraine. The Russian government prohibits media from even naming this a war, preferring to call it a “special military operation,” and information is tightly controlled. While evacuating with her mother, Udovik was asked if she knew about the atrocities Russian soldiers committed against civilians in Bucha, including torture and killings – what had been major international news in April. Udovik shook her head. “Bucha?” Udovik said. “I think I heard something about it, but I’m not sure.” The Russian channels she sometimes watched focused instead on how Europe might be facing an energy crisis this winter with Russian natural gas flows cut, she said. People spoke in hushed voices about what transpired during occupation because they say a portion of the population is sympathetic to Moscow, and if the Russian soldiers return, then neighbors could inform on neighbors. Udovik’s own family was torn apart by it. Her grandmother stopped speaking to her sister after she hung a Russian flag outside her home. On Feb. 27, just three days after Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion, Kupiansk’s mayor, Gennady Matsegora, posted a video on Facebook admitting that he surrendered the city over to the Russian military. Matsegora was a member of Ukraine’s pro-Russian party. “Today at 7:30 a.m. the commander of a Russian battalion called to propose negotiations,” he said. “If declined, the city would be stormed ‘with all the consequences.’ I decided to take part in the talks to avoid casualties and destruction in the city.” Udovik, who considers herself a Ukrainian patriot, acknowledged that Matsegora will almost certainly be considered a traitor. But her own feelings are complicated. “For citizens of course, that decision probably did save lives,” she said. “We didn’t hear these explosions we hear now. In the beginning it was quiet, but we knew that eventually, this would all start.” The Russians used Kupiansk as the seat of their occupation government. A propaganda radio station, called “Kharkiv-Z” – the letter “Z” has become a symbol of the Russian military – blared through local shops. Residents could only make calls to Russia. Even without formal annexation, the town became so integrated into Russia that Udovik even had a relative visit from Vladivostok, the Far East Russian city near the North Korean border. The Moscow-established authorities advertised that people could receive Russian passports. Danilova said she was forced to send her children to school, even though she knew Russian curriculum would be taught. People were threatened that if they didn’t, their parental rights could be revoked. Others said they feared the strict 8 p.m. curfew because there were rumors of people disappearing if they were caught outside past time. The Russians had used Kupiansk as a transport hub, moving hundreds of tanks and armored personnel vehicles through it and toward what was then the front line. Some of those same vehicles are back – trophies of the Ukrainian military using the equipment Russians left behind during their retreat. On Thursday, as the sounds of outgoing fire reverberated through the town, shells crashing on the liberated side of the river were scarcely heard – a sign that Russians’ ammunition depots could be depleted after Ukrainian strikes and a quick withdrawal that forced them to abandon or destroy much of it. On the road into Kupiansk, the Ukrainians were transporting pontoon bridges, preparing to cross the river and continue their advance. The sign announcing the town, painted white, red and blue — the colors of the Russian flag — was torn down and in ruins. War in Ukraine: What you need to know The latest: Grain shipments from Ukraine are gathering pace under the agreement hammered out by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports had sent food prices soaring and raised fears of more hunger in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including loads of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed. The fight: The conflict on the ground grinds on as Russia uses its advantage in heavy artillery to pummel Ukrainian forces, which have sometimes been able to put up stiff resistance. In the south, Ukrainian hopes rest on liberating the Russia-occupied Kherson region, and ultimately Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014. Fears of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station remain as both sides accuse each other of shelling it. The weapons: Western supplies of weapons are helping Ukraine slow Russian advances. U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) allow Ukrainian forces to strike farther behind Russian lines against Russian artillery. Russia has used an array of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts. Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground from the very beginning of the war — here’s some of their most powerful work. How you can help: Here are ways those in the U.S. can help support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating. Read our full coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video. Read More Here

Alaska Governor Declares Disaster After ‘historic-Level Storm’ Floods Coastal Towns https://digitalalaskanews.com/alaska-governor-declares-disaster-after-historic-level-storm-floods-coastal-towns/ JUNEAU, Alaska — Remnants of Typhoon Merbok are causing widespread damage along the western coastline of Alaska. The powerful storm is traveling north through the Bering Strait and has caused widespread flooding in several coastal communities, according to The Associated Press. Some homes have been moved off their foundations from the force of the water. At 9:39 am local time, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster for the communities affected by the storm. “Just now, I verbally declared a disaster for communities impacted by the West Coast storm. SEOC (State Emergency Operations Center) has received no reports of injuries at this time. We will continue to monitor the storm and update Alaskans as much as possible,” Dunleavy said. Just now, I verbally declared a disaster for communities impacted by the west cost storm. SEOC has received no reports of injuries at this time. We will continue to monitor the storm and update Alaskans as much as possible. — Governor Mike Dunleavy (@GovDunleavy) September 17, 2022 Coastal flooding has already been reported in various isolated communities in the Norton Sound in western Alaska. In Shaktoolik, a village 125 miles east of Nome, waves have already broken over the seawall and are entering the town. Shaktoolik is reporting coastal flooding is starting. Significant waves are starting to break over the berm and water is entering the community and getting close to some homes. Residents have evacuated to the school and clinic. The water levels will not peak until this afternoon. — NWS Fairbanks (@NWSFairbanks) September 17, 2022 University of Alaska Fairbanks climate specialist Rick Thoman told The Associated Press that “it’s a historic-level storm.” Typhoon Merbok formed farther east in the Pacific Ocean than where such storms typically appear. Water temperatures are unusually warm this year so the storm “was able to spin up,” Thoman said. Other coastal cities in the Norton Sound have reported significant flooding, including Gloving, Kotlik and Nome. Major flooding in Golovin this morning. Water is still expected to rise 1-2 feet by this afternoon Our thoughts are with the community. (photos courtesy C. Lewis) #akwx pic.twitter.com/BO63uN8dGL — NWS Fairbanks (@NWSFairbanks) September 17, 2022 According to the National Weather Service, Nome has reported a tide height of over 10 feet. The highest tide in the area was 12 feet in 1974. Flights from Anchorage to the sparsely populated region have been canceled due to the storm. Alaska state troopers are working with various government agencies, including the Alaska National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and Alaska’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Bering Sea storm Major storm strikes western Alaska. ©2022 Cox Media Group Read More Here

John Fetterman, Facing Health Questions, Boosts Public Schedule In Pennsylvania Senate Bid https://digitalalaskanews.com/john-fetterman-facing-health-questions-boosts-public-schedule-in-pennsylvania-senate-bid/ Republicans contend the Democrat, who is recovering from a stroke, has been trying to hide his condition from voters Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman greeted supporters Sunday in Blue Bell, Pa. Photo: kriston jae bethel/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Updated Sept. 17, 2022 6:53 pm ET SCRANTON, Pa.—Four months after a life-threatening stroke took him off the campaign trail, John Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, is presenting himself more often to voters as he tries to show that he retains the ability to serve effectively. His Republican opponent, the celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, says that Mr. Fetterman is shielding his health status from voters, by declining to hold news conferences and by agreeing to appear at only one debate. That debate is scheduled for Oct. 25, two weeks before Election Day and more than a month after Pennsylvania counties are allowed to start early voting. Read More Here

The Alaska Stalker – September 17, 2022 https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-alaska-stalker-september-17-2022/ Welcome to this edition of the Alaska Stalker, a lighthearted round up of the best and worst of Alaska’s social media landscape. *** If you enjoy the Alaska Stalker, please consider supporting working moms like me by sending in hot tips, screencaps, overheards, and spotted ins. You can reach me at [email protected] As always, thanks for reading. *** Let’s all take a moment to recognize Congressperson Mary Peltola for her amazing achievement. Heading to DC this morning and so far I feel like this is going to be a good trip! It’s the little things that really make my day! #alaska #marypeltola pic.twitter.com/ka5s9pc4tP — Mary Peltola (@MaryPeltola) September 10, 2022 *** What a beautiful moment on a historic day. Congratulations! *** Although her popularity is skyrocketing, Mary seems to be taking it all in stride. Just look at her reply to Mark Hamill! *** Back in Alaska, races are heating up and it’s time for an Alaska Stalker sign report! I feel like there’s been a sharp increase of signs with candidate’s faces on them. With so many new legislators expected in Juneau this year, I suppose it’s a good way to start getting to know all those unfamiliar faces. *** Maxine Dibert went with her face AND power yellow outfit combo. Looks like she’s having fun hanging out with some buds. Advertisement. For information about purchasing ads, please click here. *** Steve Menard also went with yellow – a bright yellow lightening bolt in the middle of his signs. You’d think he’d pick literally any other color to try and distance himself from #peegate. But, no. Menard gonna Menard. The Make Alaska Great Again and TERM LIMITS add on signs are a nice touch. *** Up in Fairbanks, Borough Assembly candidate Barbara Haney is leaving the lights on – debuting her solar powered lighted signs. WOW. I foresee a new trend. *** Sen. Mike Shower shared that many of his signs were destroyed quote: “by Gorilla fireworks.” I’m not sure if he means the actual gorilla, fireworks purchased from Gorilla Fireworks, or perhaps his signs located near the popular fireworks stand. Until we know for sure, please keep your eyes out for an anti-Shower gorilla loose in the Valley. *** First his signs, and now his social media. Sen. Shower is facing a double assault from big gorilla and big tech. *** Shower’s opponent, Doug Massie, is also dealing with sign vandalism. How did they even do that? *** Doug seems to be taking it personally. I am pleased to report I have not yet been unfriended. Either he decided to go with the stealth unfriending approach or he grew some thicker skin; moments after posting this rant it mysteriously disappeared… *** The vandalism (and deleted posts) continue, this time up in Fairbanks. *** Last, but certainly not least, Lisa Murkowski signs continue to be defaced from Fairbanks down through the Peninsula. While sign vandalism is nothing new, it does seem to be a bit out of control this year. Advertisement. For information about purchasing ads, please click here. *** Rep. Sarah Vance spilled some lukewarm tea on her Facebook page (someone told someone else she is pro-banning books or something ), and now Rep. Kevin McCabe is officially challenging her to a rumor contest! Okay, I’ll bite. I hear Kevin pays less property taxes than me yet has an actual hanger on his 40 acre recently renovated property. Hold on to that beer, Kevin!!! *** *Squints* I don’t see the word “elected” but I do see several words that describe our elected officials on the board. I will let the readers decide if I mean sage, saner, roaches or anger. *** Matt, I know Halloween is right around the corner, but this ad is creepy AF. *** Poor Rep. McKay would like everyone to know he’s having a very sad day because he cannot access the Zoom link for the Alaska Educational Forum. SAD. *** Rep. Geran Tarr would like everyone to know it’s her birthday. Happy birthday Geran, love Geran. *** “One of us had to give” = I’m losing. *** Dang, the sparkly vampire on the peninsula has Rep. Gillllllhammm so shook he’s misspelling his own name. *** YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO THIS IS. Welcome to one of my favorite “Guess the Legislators” of all time. Scroll to the end to find out who this is. *** I would have pegged Pat Chesbro for a funicular gal, not a stairs gal. Maybe it’s not open yet. *** Yes, I am aware this is a Caroline Storm stan column now, but I just love how she addresses her public speaking fears, and how she’s overcoming them on the campaign trail. Advertisement. For information about purchasing ads, please click here. *** A new approach! *** Take it from Genevieve Mina: stop trying to make vetch happen. She’s not a regular politician, she’s a cool politician. IYKYK. *** I’m having trouble embedding it, but State House candidate Ruben McNeill has a contender for weirdest  most Alaska campaign video of the week. Filmed with his iPhone while on top of a ladder (in Xtratufs, natch) Ruben outlines his platform of freedom, faith and hard work all while filling his heating oil tank the old fashioned way. *** Give it to Tuckerman Babcock to spell Chesbro, Murkowski and Tshibaka correctly, but not the word and. *** The Senate is going to be wild next year. Do you think in addition to Kuspuk Fridays they’ll have Carhartt Tuesdays or something? *** Knock, knock Forrest and Löki . There’s a new addition to the Carhartt Crew! I ‘m sure they’ll welcome Sarah with open arms. *** On one side the Walker campaign is literally cuddling with puppies. On the other side… *** Earlier this week I saw a concerning thread on Twitter that encouraged doxing and violence against local elected officials: seven Republicans and one Democrat. Popular Alaska Twitter personality Hrrrl Scouts poised the question, “Which ak politician should I challenge to fight before I leave the state? For long-standing personal beef I’m leaning towards Matherly, but there’s so many needing a slap.” Folks recommended Hrrrl throw food on Governor Dunleavy, punch and publicly publish Rep. Eastman’s cell phone number, punch Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly, “adjust Dunleavy’s plane so he pulls a Begich” and more. Truly sick stuff. *** Hrrrl Scouts isn’t just some unknown account. She is very involved with Alaska politics, regularly live tweets Anchorage Assembly meetings, and was recently described as “an important asset to the Anchorage Left” by the East Anchorage Book Club podcast, hosted by State House candidate Andrew Gray. A brief look at her account showed these prominent Alaskans follow her: Elected officials: Rep. Sara Hannan, Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, Rep. Harriet Drummond, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, Sen. Mia Costello and North Pole Councilmember Santa Claus. Candidates: Les Gara, Donna Mears, Denny Wells, CJ McCormick, Pat Chesbro, Jennie Armstrong, Maxine Dibert, Andrew Timothy Gray, Genevieve Mina and Cliff Groh. Journalists: Liz Ruskin, Tom Hewitt, Julia O’Malley, Dermot Cole, Matt Buxton, the Anchorage Daily News, Kyle Hopkins, Elizabeth Harball, Alaska Beacon and Matt Tunseth. Politicos: Melanie Bahnke, Randall Kowalke, Pat Race, Nora Morse, Erin Kirkland Brady, Jason Grenn and many, many others. Shockingly, none of these people spoke out against the violence of our public officials. Poor Rep. Zack Fields!!! *** Most alarmingly, Sen. Scott Kawasaki publicly “liked” Hrrrl’s tweet. Kawasaki is running against Matherly for the State Senate seat. Is Sen. Kawasaki condoning violence against his opponent? You would think one of the dozen or more journalists that follow Hrrrl’s account would think to inquire. Luckily, the Landmine is on the case! *** If the echo chamber wasn’t large enough, good old Hrrrl is now claiming victim after Mayor Matherly, a person she wrote to thousands of followers that she wanted to fight and wad up into a ball and throw at Dunleavy as a “two for one deal” blocked her on social media. LOLOLOLOL. *** Sent to the Stalker: What, no Pat Chesbro on the Yard Sign Rodeo ad? Also, pretty sure I spotted some Kelly Merrick signs at this event. So weird Pat and Kelly didn’t make the cut! *** Spotted at Costco on Dimond: Sen. Roger Holland loading what appeared to be eight dozen eggs into his truck. You know, the one with the giant campaign sign in the back. *** Overheard in Midtown Anchorage: “Can’t wait for the inevitable to happen this fall: if Sarah loses, it’s rigged. If Mary loses, it’s racism. And, if somehow Nick wins, it’s sexism.” *** Sent to the Stalker: “Mike Porcaro has the patience of a saint. Every day he walks the same listeners through how to do ranked choice voting. He gets through his whole spiel and then they say, “Okay, I think I get it now. I’m just going to rank Sarah 1 and 2.” or “Okay, I think I get it now. I’m going to rank Nick 1 and Mary 4.” And then it’s just silent for a beat, while Mike dies a little inside and starts his explanation all over again.” *** Spotted in Washington D.C. during Congressperson Peltola’s swearing in ceremony: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, former Sen. Mark Begich, Sen. Tom Begich, Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, Rep. Zack Fields, Rep. Harriet Drummond, and many more. *** Spotted at Kriner’s Diner: OMG, DID WE FIND CHARLIE?!!! Alas, it’s just Edie. Charlie is still too busy working on his campaign to be seen in public. *** Drumroll please….. The answer to “guess the legislator” is…. Rep. Harriet Drummond!!!!! *** The Alaska Stalker was born and raised in Alaska. She lives in South Anchorage with her husband and three kids five and under. She is not Jeff Landfield. Read More Here

Marion McKeone: Ravenous Republicans Eyeing House Majority With Slew Of Extremist Candidates https://digitalalaskanews.com/marion-mckeone-ravenous-republicans-eyeing-house-majority-with-slew-of-extremist-candidates/ US The primaries have ended with hardliners winning out over moderates, setting the scene for bitterly contested midterms in November As the US midterm primary skirmishes end and the fog of warfare lifts, Republicans and Democrats are assessing their losses, their liabilities and the likelihood of further carnage in November and beyond. The volatility of the 2022 primaries has underscored the notion that in this midterm season, anything can happen. But one certainty has emerged: for now, at least, Donald Trump remains the dominating force in the Republican Party. Some 96 per cent of the … Read More Here

T https://digitalalaskanews.com/t-5/ Thin crowds and empty seats in Ohio as Trump prepares to take the stage for rally in support of Senate candidate JD Vance – after saying most Republican candidates would LOSE without his endorsement Trump said he’s campaigning in Ohio because he was asked to do so by JD Vance, who he endorsed for US Senate against Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan He about the ‘massive crowd’ but the stadium is only about two-thirds full  While the crowd does not fill the entire 7,000-seat Covelli Centre, the Trump supporters who made it to Youngstown on Saturday were wildly excited Ohio is home to more Trump-endorsed federal and gubernatorial candidates than any other state except for Texas  By Elizabeth Elkind, Politics Reporter In Youngstown, Ohio For Dailymail.Com Published: 18:08 EDT, 17 September 2022 | Updated: 18:16 EDT, 17 September 2022 Donald Trump boasted about his ‘sold out’ Ohio rally on Saturday hours before taking the stage and said most Republicans ‘would lose’ their races if not for his endorsement. Trump is speaking at the 7,000-seat Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio at 7pm – but the ‘massive crowd’ he bragged about on his Truth Social app only fills about two-thirds of the stadium. It’s worth noting that the rally is going on at the same time as a major college football game between Ohio State University and the University of Toledo.  The former president also said he’s in Ohio because he was asked to campaign there by Republican Senate candidate JD Vance, who is locked in a tight race against Democratic House Rep. Tim Ryan. ‘Both J.D. Vance and Dr. Oz asked me to do big Rallies for them in Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively, and I did,’ Trump wrote. ‘The Pennsylvania Rally was a massive success, “packed” with great American Patriots, and the Ohio Rally, tonight, is a likewise sold out juggernaut – Look at the massive crowds.’ Trump is rallying for Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance in Youngstown on Saturday night The stadium is about two-thirds full now, less than an hour before Trump is expected to take the stage  The rally is going on at the same time as a major football game between two Ohio colleges He added, ‘Both candidates wanted this and I, as usual, delivered. ALL Republican candidates want Rallies. Without the Rallies and, even more importantly, the Endorsements, most would lose. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’ Trump’s Congressional ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia joined a crowded list of speakers at the Saturday rally, where she got a standing ovation. Trump has played a heavy hand in Ohio’s midterm races, endorsing 14 candidates for Congress or the governorship – more that he has in any other state save for Texas. The 2020 presidential race saw Buckeye State voters choose Trump over President Joe Biden by a margin of about 8 percent. Saturday’s rally is a test of his lingering influence in the critical battleground – joining Trump on stage will be all four Congressional hopefuls that he’s backed, as well as pro-Trump stalwart Reps. Jim Jordan and Bill Johnson. The former president’s support helped author and venture capitalist Vance clinch the GOP Senate primary despite a crowded race full of MAGA hopefuls. Trump bragged about the crowd sizes at the Ohio rally and his rally in Pennsylvania He’s facing Democratic House Rep. Tim Ryan in November to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Rob Portman. As an added jab at the left-wing populist, Saturday’s rally is in Ryan’s current Congressional district. Vance and Ryan are currently locked in a close race. A Friday poll from Emerson College Polling/The Hill the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author leading Ryan by four percent. But he’s wildly popular among Trump supporters, judging by the enthusiastic cheers when he took the stage on Saturday.  Trump’s pick for Ohio’s 7th Congressional District is his former White House aide Max Miller, whose wedding the ex-president officiated at his Bedminster golf course in August. He’s also supporting conservative commentator and former Miss Ohio Madison Gesiotto Gilbert in the 13th Congressional District. Also at Saturday night’s rally is Air Force veteran J.R. Majewski, who is vying to unseat vulnerable Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 9th district. Majewski was present on the US Capitol grounds when a mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed law enforcement and stormed the building. Notably absent is Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, whom Trump only recently endorsed despite the Republican leader disputing Trump’s claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Last year DeWine also defended Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez for his vote to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot. ‘He made that call. That was his decision. I think he’s been a good member of Congress. He should not resign,’ DeWine said. DeWine told the Youngstown Vindicator on Friday that he was missing the rally to watch his granddaughters participate in an evening cross country race event going on at the same time. Advertisement Read More Here

Voter Challenges, Records Requests Swamp Election Offices Nationwide https://digitalalaskanews.com/voter-challenges-records-requests-swamp-election-offices-nationwide/ Conspiracy theorists flooding local officials with paperwork sometimes just days before balloting By Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press Published: September 17, 2022, 3:07pm 4 Photos Gwinnett County elections supervisor Zach Manifold looks over boxes of voter challenges on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in Lawrenceville, Ga. Manifold estimated his office has a month to log and research the challenges, before mail ballots go out for the November elections. “It is a tight window to get everything done,” he said. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Photo Gallery Spurred by conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, activists around the country are using laws that allow people to challenge a voter’s right to cast a ballot to contest the registrations of thousands of voters at a time. In Iowa, Linn County Auditor Joel Miller had handled three voter challenges over the previous 15 years. He received 119 over just two days after Doug Frank, an Ohio educator who is touring the country spreading doubts about the 2020 election, swung through the state. In Nassau County in northern Florida, two residents challenged the registrations of nearly 2,000 voters just six days before last month’s primary. In Georgia, activists are dropping off boxloads of challenges in the diverse and Democratic-leaning counties comprising the Atlanta metro area, including more than 35,000 in one county late last month. Election officials say the vast majority of the challenges will be irrelevant because they contest the presence on voting rolls of people who already are in the process of being removed after they moved out of the region. Still, they create potentially hundreds of hours of extra work as the offices scramble to prepare for November’s election. “They at best overburden election officials in the run-up to an election, and at worse they lead to people being removed from the rolls when they shouldn’t be,” said Sean Morales-Doyle of The Brennan Center for Justice, which has tracked an upswing in voter challenges. The voter challenges come as activists who believe in the election lies of former President Donald Trump also have flooded election offices across the country with public records requests and threats of litigation, piling even more work on them as they ready for November. “It’s time-consuming for us, because we have to consult with our county attorneys about what the proper response is going to be,” said Rachel Rodriguez, an elections supervisor in Dane County, Wis., which includes Madison, the state capital. She received duplicate emails demanding records about two weeks ago: “It’s taking up valuable time that we don’t necessarily have as election officials when we’re trying to prepare for a November election.” Michael Henrici, the Democratic commissioner of elections in New York’s Otsego County, received a single-line email last week warning of unspecified “election integrity” litigation, then a follow-up complaining that he hadn’t responded. “These aren’t people with specific grievances,” Henrici said. “They’re getting a form letter from someone’s podcast and sometimes filling in the blanks.” Multiple investigations and reviews, including one by Trump’s own Department of Justice, found no significant fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and courts rejected dozens of lawsuits brought by Trump and his allies. But Trump has continued to insist that widespread fraud cost him re-election. That has inspired legions of activists to become do-it-yourself election sleuths around the country, challenging local voting officials at every turn. In Linn County, Iowa, which includes the city of Cedar Rapids, Miller said he and the auditors who run elections in the state’s other 98 counties have been deluged with both records requests and voter challenges. “The whole barrage came in a two-week period,” Miller said, following the tour by Frank, who uses mathematical projections to make claims of a vast conspiracy to steal the election from Trump, “and it’s happening to auditors across the state.” Election offices routinely go through their voter rolls and remove those who have moved or died. Federal law constrains how quickly they can drop voters, and conservative activists have long complained that election officials do not move swiftly enough to clean up their rolls. The recent challenges stem from activists comparing postal change-of-address and other databases to voter rolls. Election officials say this is redundant, because they already take the same steps. Sometimes the challenges come after election conspiracists go door to door, often in heavily minority neighborhoods, seeking evidence that votes were cast improperly in 2020. Texas’ heavily Democratic Harris County, which includes Houston, received nearly 5,000 challenges from a conservative group that went door to door checking voter addresses. The election office said it dismissed the challenges it legally had to review before the election and will finish the remainder after Nov. 8. Activists in Gwinnett County, which stretches across the increasingly Democratic northern Atlanta suburbs, spent 10 months comparing change-of-address and other databases with the county’s voter rolls. They submitted eight boxes of challenges last month. About 15,000, they said, were complaints that specific voters improperly received mail ballots in 2020. Another 22,000 were for voters they contend are no longer at their registered address. There are so many challenges that election officials have yet to even count them all. But Zach Manifold, Gwinnett’s election supervisor, said that in every single mail ballot complaint the office has sampled, the voter properly received a mailed ballot. But if any of the address-challenged voters do try to cast a ballot in November, the county’s elections board will need to decide whether that vote should count. They’ll have only six days to make a decision, as they have to certify their vote total by the Monday after Election Day under Georgia law. Manifold estimated that his office has a month to log and research the challenges, before mail ballots go out for the November elections: “It is a tight window to get everything done,” he said. Many of the large counties facing voter-roll challenges are places where President Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020, including Gwinnett and Harris. Yet those behind the effort dispute the notion that they are targeting Democratic-leaning counties and say they’re working on behalf of all voters. In Florida’s Nassau County, for example, Trump won with more than 72 percent of the vote. “They should be glad that the voter rolls are being cleaned up so they can make sure their votes count,” said Garland Favorito, a conservative activist who has teamed up with supporters of Trump’s election lies and is helping with voter challenges in Georgia. Favorito said more challenges are coming in other Georgia counties. Under legislation passed last year by the Republican-controlled Legislature, there are no limits on the number of voter challenges that can be filed in Georgia. Most states implicitly set restraints on challenges, said Morales-Doyle of the Brennan Center. They require a complainant to have specific, personal information about the voters they target and establish penalties for making frivolous challenges. Florida is an example. Its voter-challenge law permits the filing of challenges only 30 days before an election, requiring election officials to contact each voter challenged before Election Day. It is a misdemeanor to file a “frivolous” challenge. But voter challenges almost derailed Florida’s primary last month in heavily Republican Nassau County, in the northeastern part of the state. Two members of a conservative group called County Citizens Defending Freedom dropped off the nearly 2,000 challenges at the county elections office six days before the Aug. 23 primary. Luckily for the office, the challenges were filed in an incorrect format. Elections Supervisor Janet Adkins told the activists that the challenges would be reviewed anyway — after the primary. “To take away a person’s right to vote is a very serious thing,” Adkins said. Read More Here

Midair Collision Kills Three People, Colorado Authorities Say https://digitalalaskanews.com/midair-collision-kills-three-people-colorado-authorities-say/ Two planes crashed midair in Colorado on Saturday, killing three people, authorities say. Joshua Bonafede, a Boulder County sheriff’s deputy, said two planes collided on Saturday morning. One plane was found about 30 miles northwest of downtown Denver. According to NBC affiliate 9 News, the other plane was found a few blocks away. At about 8:50 a.m. local time, a single-engine Cessna 172 and a second aircraft collided and crashed near Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, a spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration told The Washington Post in an email. Two people were aboard the Cessna 172, the FAA spokesperson said. The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that it is investigating a Cessna 172 collision with a plane it identified as a Sonex Xenos in Longmont, Colo. “The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the FAA spokesperson said. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.” The Cessna 172, also known as a Skyhawk, is one of the most popular airplanes in the world. It can seat four and is commonly used in flight instruction. Midair collisions are rare, with fewer than 30 occurring in the United States in a typical year. They almost always involve small private planes or military craft, not commercial jets, and are usually the result of human error such as miscommunication or navigation issues. Under federal aviation regulations, private pilots are required to “see and avoid” other aircraft flying in the space near them, and they must follow takeoff and landing procedures closely. Collisions are more likely in populous, heavily trafficked areas. Mountain View Fire Rescue, which serves the area, confirmed the three deaths and asked people to avoid the Niwot area, northeast of Boulder. Police had closed some roads in the area, Bonafede told The Washington Post. “It’s still very early in the investigation,” Bonafede said, adding that federal investigators were “on their way.” Praveena Somasundaram contributed to this report. Read More Here

Facing Historic Biden-Era Border Crisis, GOP Governors Go On The Offensive https://digitalalaskanews.com/facing-historic-biden-era-border-crisis-gop-governors-go-on-the-offensive/ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! With an enormous migrant crisis at the southern border that has seen millions of migrants cross illegally during the Biden administration, and with no end in sight, Republican governors are taking increasingly aggressive action to push back. The move this week by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to fly two planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard marks the latest such example of unorthodox and aggressive tactics by governors to bring pressure on the Biden administration and relief to overwhelmed border communities facing an unprecedented migrant wave. In a move first reported by Fox News Digital, DeSantis sent approximately 50 migrants to the top vacation hotspot for liberal elites. It sparked outrage from Democrats and the White House, who accused DeSantis of acting cruelly and treating migrants like political pawns. “They used them as political pawns — treated them like chattel in a cruel, premeditated political stunt,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday. WHITE HOUSE ACCUSES REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS OF TREATING MIGRANTS LIKE ‘CHATTEL’ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard this week. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) DeSantis brushed off the criticism. “We take what’s happening at the southern border very seriously, unlike some,” DeSantis said in a Thursday speech, “and unlike the president of the United States, who has refused to lift a finger to secure that border.” DeSantis noted that the numbers being sent to sanctuary cities and jurisdictions was just a fraction of those being encountered at the border.  “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they go berserk, and they’re so upset that this is happening. And it just shows you that their virtue-signaling is a fraud,” he said. MEDIA ATTACK RON DESANTIS’ ‘CRUEL’ AND ‘XENOPHOBIC’ MIGRANT FLIGHTS, CALL FOR INVESTIGATION  DeSantis’ move echoes previous initiatives that started in April when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants to Washington, D.C. Since then, his state has sent migrants to New York City and Chicago. Arizona has also bused migrants to D.C. Over 10,000 migrants have now been sent to those cities — all of which describe themselves as “sanctuary cities.” The busing has caused havoc in the liberal cities. Washington, D.C., declared a public emergency, while all three have appealed for federal assistance. NYC Mayor Eric Adams recently said that the Big Apple’s social services were at “breaking point” over the migrant flow. Despite a wave of anger from Democrats over the issue, Abbott, too, has not stood down. This week, migrant buses were sent near Vice President Kamala Harris’ D.C. residence after she said the border was “secure.” “The Biden-Harris administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years,” Abbott said in a statement. “Our supposed border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open-border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is ‘secure.’” Harris accused Republican governors of a “dereliction of duty” in a Vice News interview. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff called the arrivals “shameful” and a “political stunt.” 50 MIGRANTS ARRIVE AT VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS’ RESIDENCE, 6 MORE BUSES TO NYC  Abbott’s migrant busing is itself an expansion of a unique project Texas launched last year called Operation Lone Star, which surged law enforcement to the border in order to deal with the migrant crisis that has since seen more than two million migrant encounters this fiscal year alone. According to statistics released by Abbott’s office, it has resulted in over 304,000 migrant arrests and nearly 20,000 criminal arrests. Meanwhile, the state has launched its own effort to build a wall along its southern border, after the Trump-era project was halted by the Biden administration. Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star last year. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Arizona has taken a similar wall-related effort, with Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration last month building a makeshift wall near Yuma, Arizona, with welded shipping containers. The construction consists of 130 double-stacked shipping containers, welded shut and topped with four feet of razor wire. His office said that it is 22 feet tall, and each container weighs nearly 9,000 lbs. “For the last two years, Arizona has made every attempt to work with Washington to address the crisis on our border. Time and time again, we’ve stepped in to clean up their mess. Arizonans can’t wait any longer for the federal government to deliver on their delayed promises,” he said. However, with the crisis continuing with no end in sight, others are calling for more. Officials and law enforcement in both Texas and Arizona have called on the governors to declare an “invasion” at the southern border so they can use powers to expel migrants. So far, no governor has done so, although Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has promised to make such a move if elected. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In the meantime, there are no signs of the governors backing away from their confrontational stances. DeSantis said on Friday that the migrant flights are “just the beginning efforts.” “We’ve got an infrastructure in place now,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot more that’s happening.” Fox News’ Paul Conner, Timothy Nerozzi and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.   Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, with a focus on immigration. He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY Read More Here

Why Some Anti-Abortion Rights Backers Want A Ban That Would Stop Few Abortions https://digitalalaskanews.com/why-some-anti-abortion-rights-backers-want-a-ban-that-would-stop-few-abortions/ (WASHINGTON) — Confused yet on where the abortion debate stands? If not, you probably should be. Three months after securing the biggest victory in their political lives at the Supreme Court, a close ally of former President Donald Trump and a major anti-abortion rights group proposed a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The plan by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America included some exceptions for rape and incest, and got a nod from former Vice President Mike Pence, a hero of the cause. Yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vast majority of abortions occur by 15 weeks. In fact, 93% of abortions happen before 13 weeks. That means that after decades of promising to end abortions, a major slice of the anti-abortion rights movement just rallied around legislation that would curb only a fraction of them. Why? “It’s political opportunism by Graham, who is trying to give Republicans a place to stand,” said Chuck Coughlin, a Republican strategist who runs the Arizona-based consulting firm HighGround. “But it’s like standing in the middle of a highway,” he added. “There’s no base that’s going to support that.” It’s an unexpected twist in the never-ending U.S. debate on abortion: As Republicans in statehouses, including those in Georgia, Indiana and West Virginia, embrace near-total abortion bans, strategists are warning these hard-line positions could spook more moderate and independent voters. With midterm elections on the horizon, several GOP candidates have begun avoiding the issue with at least one — Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters — scrubbing his website of a previous declaration that he is “100% pro life.” To political strategists like Coughlin, Graham’s proposal was clearly aimed as a lifeline to flailing conservative candidates, even as the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he had no intention of trying to get a floor vote on the bill. “I think that’s where the country is at. So, I don’t mind talking about pro-life issues,” Graham said Wednesday, adding, “I think my proposal over time will be supported by the public at large.” Polls show that a majority of Americans support upholding Roe v. Wade, which ruled a right to an abortion up until viability of a fetus, usually around 24 weeks. At the same time, support for abortion rights dwindle as a woman’s pregnancy continues. Mallory Carroll, vice president of communications for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told ABC News that it opted to swing behind Graham’s proposal as a way of setting a “federal minimum” that showed strong voter support. The proposed legislation includes a provision that would still allow states to enact tougher restrictions. “Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has consistently urged elected officials at the federal and state level to be as ambitious as possible to save unborn children while using the tools of democracy to debate and arrive at a consensus,” Carroll wrote in a statement. Another benefit of Graham’s legislation to his fellow Republicans, some strategists say, could have been to turn the tables on Democrats by asking them to explain their support for second-trimester abortions. As the CDC data show, such procedures are extremely rare and doctors say they can occur because of severe abnormalities with the fetus or because of risks to their own health. Yet, as this week wore on, all of that nuance was lost. GOP lawmakers in Washington and candidates in the field dodged questions on the bill, while Democrats cited a federal ban as extreme. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quipped that Republicans “think that life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.” Sarah Isgur, a former Trump administration official and now an ABC News contributor, said that at the end of the day, Graham’s political move just didn’t make sense. “He’s dividing the GOP base even among pro-life Republicans, and he’s nationalizing a conversation that conservatives argued for decades they wanted decided at the state level,” she said. Also, Republicans fare better when talking about issues like inflation and crime, she added. “So why is Graham trying to keep abortion — an issue that clearly energizes Democratic voters more than Republican ones–at the top of the agenda?” Isgur said. Either way, the underlying message from both parties this week to voters: Let’s not get too caught up in the details on abortion. “I, for one, want to focus on the inflation numbers that came out today” and the possible railway strike, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters at one point. “That’s what people are talking about,” he said. Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read More Here

US-UK Relations Enter New Chapter As New PM, King Settle In https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-uk-relations-enter-new-chapter-as-new-pm-king-settle-in/ LONDON — (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived in London to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II at a time of transition in U.S.-U.K. relations, as both a new monarch and a new prime minister are settling in. The hawkish approach of Prime Minister Liz Truss to Russia and China puts her on the same page as Biden. But the rise of Truss, 47, who once called the relationship “special but not exclusive,” could mark a decidedly new chapter in the trans-Atlantic partnership on trade and more. Of high concern for Biden officials in the early going of Truss’s premiership is her backing of legislation that would shred parts of the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland. Analysts say the move could cause deep strain between the U.K. and the European Union, and undermine peace in Northern Ireland. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the move “would not create a conducive environment” for crafting a long-awaited U.S.-UK trade deal coveted by Truss and her Conservative Party. “She’s signaled that she’s willing to go to the mattresses on this and that’s going to cause a rift not just between the U.K. and EU, but the UK and the U.S.,” said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a former senior State Department official in the Obama administration. “It’s one that’s going to keep the White House up at night.” Biden arrived in London late Saturday and had been set to meet with Truss on Sunday, but the prime minister’s office said Saturday they would skip the weekend hello, opting instead for a meeting in New York at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, though Truss still planned to gather with other world leaders converging on London for the royal funeral. The White House confirmed the U.N. meeting just as the president boarded Air Force One. The two close allies now find themselves in a period of political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. Not unlike his fellow septuagenarian Biden, King Charles III faces questions from the public about whether his age will limit his ability to faithfully carry out the duties of the monarch. Charles, 73, and Biden, 79, discussed global cooperation on the climate crisis last year while both attended a summit in Glasgow, Scotland. They also met at Buckingham Palace in June 2021 at a reception the queen hosted before a world leaders’ summit in Cornwall. Truss finds herself, as Biden does, facing questions about whether she has what it takes to lift a country battered by stubborn inflation borne out of the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unleashing chaos on the global energy market. All the while, Britain — and the rest of Europe — is carefully watching to see what the upcoming U.S. midterm elections will bring for the Democratic American president after he vowed upon taking office that “America is back” to being a full partner in the international community after four years of Republican Donald Trump pushing his “America First” worldview. “It certainly is a time of change and transformation in the U.K.,” said Barbara A. Perry, presidential studies director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. She added, “We don’t know what will happen in our midterms. We don’t know what will happen in 2024.” Truss, a former accountant who was first elected to Parliament in 2010, hasn’t had much interaction with Biden. The U.S. president called her earlier this month to congratulate her. Truss, as foreign secretary, accompanied her predecessor, Boris Johnson, on a White House visit last year. It’s been more than 75 years since Winston Churchill declared there was a “special relationship” between the two nations, a notion that leaders on both sides have repeatedly affirmed. Still, there have been bumps along the way. Tony Blair was derisively branded by the British tabloids as George W. Bush’s “poodle” for backing the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq. David Cameron and Barack Obama had a “bromance,” but Obama also had his frustrations with the Brits over defense spending and the U.K.’s handling of Libya following the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan forged a close alliance in the midst of the Cold War, with the prime minister once telling students that the Republican president’s “really good sense of humor” helped their relationship. But there were difficulties too, such as when Thatcher and members of her Cabinet bristled at the Reagan administration’s initial neutrality in the Falklands War. The White House wasn’t expecting Truss’s announcement in May, when she was foreign secretary, that the government would move forward with legislation that would rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The agreement was part of the U.K.’s 2020 Brexit withdrawal from the EU that was designed to avoid a hard north-south border with Ireland that might upset Northern Ireland’s fragile peace. Now, in the first weeks of Truss’s premiership, Biden administration officials are carefully taking the measure of the new British leader. Analysts say there is some trepidation in the administration that undercutting the Northern Ireland protocol could plunge Europe into trade turmoil at a moment when Biden is working mightily to keep the West unified in confronting Russia over its aggression against Ukraine. “Brexit could once again become the issue — the issue that can make it difficult for all of Europe to work together at a time when it is critical for Europe to work together,” Bergmann said. “If you’re the Biden administration, this is not the time for the two of your closest partners getting into fights.” To be certain, there were areas of friction between Biden and Johnson, who had a warm rapport with former President Donald Trump. Biden staunchly opposed Brexit as a candidate and had expressed great concern over the future of Northern Ireland. Biden once even derided Johnson as a “physical and emotional clone” of Trump. Johnson worked hard to overcome that impression, stressing his common ground with Biden on climate change, support for international institutions and most notably by making certain Britain was an early and generous member of the U.S.-led alliance providing economic and military assistance to Ukraine in the aftermath of the Russian invasion. The former prime minister also unsuccessfully pressed Biden starting days into his administration to begin negotiations on a new U.S.-U.K. trade deal just as the U.K. regained control over its national trade policy weeks before Biden took office and following the end of a post-Brexit transition period. But Biden largely kept focus on his domestic to-do list in the early going of his presidency— passing trillions in spending on coronavirus relief, infrastructure, and more — and put negotiations on trade deals on the back burner. Elliot Abrams, chairman of the conservative foreign policy group Vandenberg Coalition, said that Truss needs Biden to make a new U.S.-U.K. trade deal a priority. Queen Elizabeth’s funeral won’t be the setting for tough bilateral conversations, but it still marks a moment for the two leaders to begin taking stock of each other. Truss, who succeeded Johnson after he was forced to resign in the face of a string of scandals, has lagged in the opinion polls. She also won her election with a smaller margin than her recent predecessors and is looking for an early win. “I think if I were (Truss), I want recognition of the leading role Britain’s played, far more than any other country outside the United States in supporting Ukraine,” said Abrams, who served in senior national security and foreign policy roles in the Trump, George W. Bush and Reagan administrations. “And I think I’d want some positive economic message to give the British people, which could be that the free trade agreement negotiations are starting.” ___ Madhani reported from Washington. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

LIVE Kodiak Vs. Lathrop – High School Football https://digitalalaskanews.com/live-kodiak-vs-lathrop-high-school-football/ CLICK HERE http://4ty.me/tere51 STREAMING Today! Alaska High School Football, Kodiak vs Lathrop Bears @ Malemutes Time 7:00:00 PM The Lathrop (Fairbanks, AK) varsity football team has a home conference game vs. Kodiak (AK) on Saturday, September 17 @ 7p. Kodiak High School Football Lathrop High School Football Kodiak vs. Lathrop Lathrop vs. Kodiak ====================== Kodiak vs. Lathrop – High School Football Lathrop vs. Kodiak | High School Football Come on join in our game for Chanel we went through all the Statistics game, please help support and subscribe to Our Channel. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reporting—but good journalism isn’t free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution. Read More Here

US Forecast https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-forecast-53/ City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index Albany, NY;74;60;81;64;A shower in the p.m.;S;8;66%;100%;4 Albuquerque, NM;87;63;86;63;Mostly sunny;S;9;29%;15%;7 Anchorage, AK;58;46;56;48;Increasing clouds;SE;6;67%;89%;2 Asheville, NC;78;54;79;54;Partly sunny;E;5;64%;3%;7 Atlanta, GA;83;62;85;62;Sunshine;ENE;6;58%;2%;7 Atlantic City, NJ;77;67;81;70;Sunlit, breezy, nice;SW;15;63%;3%;5 Austin, TX;94;74;95;75;Mostly sunny;SE;4;62%;3%;8 Baltimore, MD;83;65;88;69;Mostly sunny, warm;SW;6;51%;6%;5 Baton Rouge, LA;92;73;91;71;A t-storm around;SE;7;69%;43%;8 Billings, MT;76;53;78;56;Partly sunny;SE;9;42%;6%;5 Birmingham, AL;85;65;87;64;Partly sunny, nice;E;6;58%;3%;7 Bismarck, ND;65;47;80;54;Mostly sunny, warmer;SSW;8;59%;41%;4 Boise, ID;80;58;78;53;An afternoon shower;NNE;8;41%;44%;3 Boston, MA;68;62;84;63;Warmer;NNE;12;55%;82%;5 Bridgeport, CT;72;63;84;67;Warmer, more humid;SW;10;58%;20%;5 Buffalo, NY;80;67;78;67;Winds subsiding;SSW;14;65%;91%;2 Burlington, VT;69;60;73;61;A little p.m. rain;SSE;8;77%;98%;2 Caribou, ME;64;46;63;35;Turning sunny;N;6;53%;1%;4 Casper, WY;73;45;79;48;Sunshine and nice;SSW;8;53%;7%;5 Charleston, SC;83;71;85;71;A t-storm around;ENE;8;65%;55%;7 Charleston, WV;85;61;84;61;Sunshine and humid;S;5;61%;7%;6 Charlotte, NC;84;60;85;61;Plenty of sun;ESE;5;56%;3%;6 Cheyenne, WY;73;48;81;52;Plenty of sun;WSW;10;30%;6%;6 Chicago, IL;86;69;82;67;A t-storm around;S;11;67%;92%;5 Cleveland, OH;82;69;83;69;Warm with some sun;SSW;11;59%;75%;5 Columbia, SC;87;63;86;65;Sunny;E;6;55%;5%;7 Columbus, OH;83;60;83;65;Warm with sunshine;SSW;8;62%;61%;5 Concord, NH;70;53;82;58;Showers around;ESE;8;65%;99%;2 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;93;75;94;76;Lots of sun, warm;SSE;10;53%;2%;7 Denver, CO;82;54;87;58;Sunny;SW;6;24%;5%;6 Des Moines, IA;74;65;81;63;A strong t-storm;ENE;6;79%;80%;5 Detroit, MI;85;66;84;68;Mostly cloudy, warm;SW;10;59%;97%;3 Dodge City, KS;96;70;99;68;Hot;S;18;36%;5%;6 Duluth, MN;68;61;70;57;Cloudy;WSW;9;72%;26%;2 El Paso, TX;95;69;93;70;Sunny and very warm;SE;9;36%;33%;8 Fairbanks, AK;56;44;56;40;Clearing;NE;6;57%;21%;1 Fargo, ND;68;49;73;54;Partly sunny;S;8;79%;5%;3 Grand Junction, CO;80;56;85;58;Breezy in the a.m.;SSE;13;26%;0%;6 Grand Rapids, MI;82;67;78;64;A shower or two;SW;11;74%;94%;5 Hartford, CT;73;60;84;65;Warmer;SSW;9;61%;30%;5 Helena, MT;73;46;74;50;Mostly cloudy;S;4;49%;29%;4 Honolulu, HI;88;75;88;76;A couple of showers;ENE;13;64%;85%;5 Houston, TX;90;76;91;77;Humid with a shower;ESE;7;70%;81%;6 Indianapolis, IN;84;64;85;68;Partly sunny, warm;SSW;9;60%;60%;5 Jackson, MS;90;67;91;70;Mostly sunny, nice;SE;3;60%;2%;7 Jacksonville, FL;82;74;82;74;A stray a.m. t-storm;NNE;8;74%;93%;5 Juneau, AK;59;48;58;42;A shower in the a.m.;NE;5;75%;55%;2 Kansas City, MO;90;74;94;74;Hot;SSW;14;59%;9%;5 Knoxville, TN;84;60;85;59;Mostly sunny;SE;4;61%;3%;6 Las Vegas, NV;94;68;94;68;Plenty of sunshine;S;10;18%;0%;6 Lexington, KY;84;62;85;65;Mostly sunny, warm;S;7;62%;13%;6 Little Rock, AR;91;70;93;71;Mostly sunny and hot;SSW;7;55%;2%;7 Long Beach, CA;77;67;78;64;Partly sunny, nice;W;7;55%;5%;6 Los Angeles, CA;78;65;78;62;Partly sunny;SW;7;55%;27%;6 Louisville, KY;85;64;87;68;Sunshine and warm;S;8;60%;41%;6 Madison, WI;80;66;79;57;A p.m. t-storm;NNW;8;78%;77%;2 Memphis, TN;90;71;94;72;Mostly sunny and hot;SE;6;48%;1%;6 Miami, FL;88;78;87;78;A stray t-shower;ENE;8;74%;69%;7 Milwaukee, WI;84;68;82;63;A morning t-storm;W;11;70%;80%;3 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;82;62;74;58;Variable cloudiness;W;8;68%;26%;2 Mobile, AL;91;73;92;71;Mostly sunny;NNW;7;65%;9%;8 Montgomery, AL;87;66;86;64;Mostly sunny, nice;ENE;6;61%;2%;7 Mt. Washington, NH;44;41;49;43;Afternoon rain;SSE;36;98%;100%;1 Nashville, TN;86;62;89;64;Warm with sunshine;S;6;56%;2%;6 New Orleans, LA;88;77;89;76;A t-storm in spots;SSE;10;69%;44%;7 New York, NY;75;66;87;70;Warmer, more humid;SW;10;51%;9%;5 Newark, NJ;77;63;86;68;Warm and more humid;SW;9;54%;10%;5 Norfolk, VA;83;64;86;67;Sunny and very warm;S;6;60%;4%;6 Oklahoma City, OK;94;74;95;72;Breezy and hot;S;15;54%;2%;6 Olympia, WA;67;49;75;45;Partly sunny;NE;7;51%;2%;4 Omaha, NE;83;63;84;62;Brilliant sunshine;ENE;7;80%;30%;5 Orlando, FL;87;73;88;74;A t-storm or two;E;5;73%;75%;8 Philadelphia, PA;83;65;87;69;Mostly sunny, warm;SSW;9;52%;5%;5 Phoenix, AZ;101;77;103;80;Mostly sunny, warm;W;7;17%;1%;7 Pittsburgh, PA;82;63;84;66;Fog in the morning;SSW;7;58%;27%;5 Portland, ME;67;56;73;55;Afternoon rain;NE;10;67%;97%;2 Portland, OR;71;56;78;54;Mostly cloudy;NNE;7;53%;4%;3 Providence, RI;72;60;83;65;Warmer;SW;10;60%;28%;5 Raleigh, NC;84;58;85;62;Mostly sunny;S;5;63%;5%;6 Reno, NV;76;52;67;47;An afternoon shower;NW;11;38%;60%;2 Richmond, VA;83;59;87;62;Warm with sunshine;S;7;57%;3%;6 Roswell, NM;97;64;92;65;Sunny and very warm;SSE;10;45%;10%;7 Sacramento, CA;78;61;72;62;A couple of showers;SE;10;61%;99%;2 Salt Lake City, UT;78;60;88;62;Increasingly windy;SSE;15;30%;0%;5 San Antonio, TX;94;75;95;75;Partly sunny, humid;SE;7;59%;27%;8 San Diego, CA;74;65;75;64;Partly sunny;NW;8;60%;0%;6 San Francisco, CA;66;62;72;63;Breezy with rain;SSE;18;69%;98%;2 Savannah, GA;84;71;84;70;A stray p.m. t-storm;ENE;11;75%;47%;7 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;66;55;72;52;Mostly cloudy;NNE;11;51%;3%;3 Sioux Falls, SD;83;56;78;56;Mostly sunny;E;5;68%;25%;5 Spokane, WA;72;48;78;50;Decreasing clouds;SSW;2;39%;3%;3 Springfield, IL;86;66;85;67;More humid;SSW;8;65%;85%;5 St. Louis, MO;89;66;91;71;Hot and more humid;SSW;8;61%;83%;6 Tampa, FL;90;72;87;73;Mostly sunny;N;6;74%;44%;8 Toledo, OH;85;62;83;66;Increasing clouds;SW;7;60%;97%;5 Tucson, AZ;100;71;99;73;Mostly sunny and hot;NW;8;27%;9%;7 Tulsa, OK;95;74;97;72;Hot;S;10;52%;7%;6 Vero Beach, FL;86;72;87;73;A t-storm in spots;NNE;6;84%;84%;4 Washington, DC;83;63;87;65;Mostly sunny, warm;S;7;51%;5%;5 Wichita, KS;91;72;98;71;Sunny, breezy, hot;SSW;17;49%;6%;6 Wilmington, DE;82;64;86;67;Mostly sunny, warm;SSW;10;56%;5%;5 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More Here

US Forecast https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-forecast-52/ City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index Albany, NY;74;60;81;64;A shower in the p.m.;S;8;66%;100%;4 Albuquerque, NM;87;63;86;63;Mostly sunny;S;9;29%;15%;7 Anchorage, AK;58;46;56;48;Increasing clouds;SE;6;67%;89%;2 Asheville, NC;78;54;79;54;Partly sunny;E;5;64%;3%;7 Atlanta, GA;83;62;85;62;Sunshine;ENE;6;58%;2%;7 Atlantic City, NJ;77;67;81;70;Sunlit, breezy, nice;SW;15;63%;3%;5 Austin, TX;94;74;95;75;Mostly sunny;SE;4;62%;3%;8 Baltimore, MD;83;65;88;69;Mostly sunny, warm;SW;6;51%;6%;5 Baton Rouge, LA;92;73;91;71;A t-storm around;SE;7;69%;43%;8 Billings, MT;76;53;78;56;Partly sunny;SE;9;42%;6%;5 Birmingham, AL;85;65;87;64;Partly sunny, nice;E;6;58%;3%;7 Bismarck, ND;65;47;80;54;Mostly sunny, warmer;SSW;8;59%;41%;4 Boise, ID;80;58;78;53;An afternoon shower;NNE;8;41%;44%;3 Boston, MA;68;62;84;63;Warmer;NNE;12;55%;82%;5 Bridgeport, CT;72;63;84;67;Warmer, more humid;SW;10;58%;20%;5 Buffalo, NY;80;67;78;67;Winds subsiding;SSW;14;65%;91%;2 Burlington, VT;69;60;73;61;A little p.m. rain;SSE;8;77%;98%;2 Caribou, ME;64;46;63;35;Turning sunny;N;6;53%;1%;4 Casper, WY;73;45;79;48;Sunshine and nice;SSW;8;53%;7%;5 Charleston, SC;83;71;85;71;A t-storm around;ENE;8;65%;55%;7 Charleston, WV;85;61;84;61;Sunshine and humid;S;5;61%;7%;6 Charlotte, NC;84;60;85;61;Plenty of sun;ESE;5;56%;3%;6 Cheyenne, WY;73;48;81;52;Plenty of sun;WSW;10;30%;6%;6 Chicago, IL;86;69;82;67;A t-storm around;S;11;67%;92%;5 Cleveland, OH;82;69;83;69;Warm with some sun;SSW;11;59%;75%;5 Columbia, SC;87;63;86;65;Sunny;E;6;55%;5%;7 Columbus, OH;83;60;83;65;Warm with sunshine;SSW;8;62%;61%;5 Concord, NH;70;53;82;58;Showers around;ESE;8;65%;99%;2 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;93;75;94;76;Lots of sun, warm;SSE;10;53%;2%;7 Denver, CO;82;54;87;58;Sunny;SW;6;24%;5%;6 Des Moines, IA;74;65;81;63;A strong t-storm;ENE;6;79%;80%;5 Detroit, MI;85;66;84;68;Mostly cloudy, warm;SW;10;59%;97%;3 Dodge City, KS;96;70;99;68;Hot;S;18;36%;5%;6 Duluth, MN;68;61;70;57;Cloudy;WSW;9;72%;26%;2 El Paso, TX;95;69;93;70;Sunny and very warm;SE;9;36%;33%;8 Fairbanks, AK;56;44;56;40;Clearing;NE;6;57%;21%;1 Fargo, ND;68;49;73;54;Partly sunny;S;8;79%;5%;3 Grand Junction, CO;80;56;85;58;Breezy in the a.m.;SSE;13;26%;0%;6 Grand Rapids, MI;82;67;78;64;A shower or two;SW;11;74%;94%;5 Hartford, CT;73;60;84;65;Warmer;SSW;9;61%;30%;5 Helena, MT;73;46;74;50;Mostly cloudy;S;4;49%;29%;4 Honolulu, HI;88;75;88;76;A couple of showers;ENE;13;64%;85%;5 Houston, TX;90;76;91;77;Humid with a shower;ESE;7;70%;81%;6 Indianapolis, IN;84;64;85;68;Partly sunny, warm;SSW;9;60%;60%;5 Jackson, MS;90;67;91;70;Mostly sunny, nice;SE;3;60%;2%;7 Jacksonville, FL;82;74;82;74;A stray a.m. t-storm;NNE;8;74%;93%;5 Juneau, AK;59;48;58;42;A shower in the a.m.;NE;5;75%;55%;2 Kansas City, MO;90;74;94;74;Hot;SSW;14;59%;9%;5 Knoxville, TN;84;60;85;59;Mostly sunny;SE;4;61%;3%;6 Las Vegas, NV;94;68;94;68;Plenty of sunshine;S;10;18%;0%;6 Lexington, KY;84;62;85;65;Mostly sunny, warm;S;7;62%;13%;6 Little Rock, AR;91;70;93;71;Mostly sunny and hot;SSW;7;55%;2%;7 Long Beach, CA;77;67;78;64;Partly sunny, nice;W;7;55%;5%;6 Los Angeles, CA;78;65;78;62;Partly sunny;SW;7;55%;27%;6 Louisville, KY;85;64;87;68;Sunshine and warm;S;8;60%;41%;6 Madison, WI;80;66;79;57;A p.m. t-storm;NNW;8;78%;77%;2 Memphis, TN;90;71;94;72;Mostly sunny and hot;SE;6;48%;1%;6 Miami, FL;88;78;87;78;A stray t-shower;ENE;8;74%;69%;7 Milwaukee, WI;84;68;82;63;A morning t-storm;W;11;70%;80%;3 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;82;62;74;58;Variable cloudiness;W;8;68%;26%;2 Mobile, AL;91;73;92;71;Mostly sunny;NNW;7;65%;9%;8 Montgomery, AL;87;66;86;64;Mostly sunny, nice;ENE;6;61%;2%;7 Mt. Washington, NH;44;41;49;43;Afternoon rain;SSE;36;98%;100%;1 Nashville, TN;86;62;89;64;Warm with sunshine;S;6;56%;2%;6 New Orleans, LA;88;77;89;76;A t-storm in spots;SSE;10;69%;44%;7 New York, NY;75;66;87;70;Warmer, more humid;SW;10;51%;9%;5 Newark, NJ;77;63;86;68;Warm and more humid;SW;9;54%;10%;5 Norfolk, VA;83;64;86;67;Sunny and very warm;S;6;60%;4%;6 Oklahoma City, OK;94;74;95;72;Breezy and hot;S;15;54%;2%;6 Olympia, WA;67;49;75;45;Partly sunny;NE;7;51%;2%;4 Omaha, NE;83;63;84;62;Brilliant sunshine;ENE;7;80%;30%;5 Orlando, FL;87;73;88;74;A t-storm or two;E;5;73%;75%;8 Philadelphia, PA;83;65;87;69;Mostly sunny, warm;SSW;9;52%;5%;5 Phoenix, AZ;101;77;103;80;Mostly sunny, warm;W;7;17%;1%;7 Pittsburgh, PA;82;63;84;66;Fog in the morning;SSW;7;58%;27%;5 Portland, ME;67;56;73;55;Afternoon rain;NE;10;67%;97%;2 Portland, OR;71;56;78;54;Mostly cloudy;NNE;7;53%;4%;3 Providence, RI;72;60;83;65;Warmer;SW;10;60%;28%;5 Raleigh, NC;84;58;85;62;Mostly sunny;S;5;63%;5%;6 Reno, NV;76;52;67;47;An afternoon shower;NW;11;38%;60%;2 Richmond, VA;83;59;87;62;Warm with sunshine;S;7;57%;3%;6 Roswell, NM;97;64;92;65;Sunny and very warm;SSE;10;45%;10%;7 Sacramento, CA;78;61;72;62;A couple of showers;SE;10;61%;99%;2 Salt Lake City, UT;78;60;88;62;Increasingly windy;SSE;15;30%;0%;5 San Antonio, TX;94;75;95;75;Partly sunny, humid;SE;7;59%;27%;8 San Diego, CA;74;65;75;64;Partly sunny;NW;8;60%;0%;6 San Francisco, CA;66;62;72;63;Breezy with rain;SSE;18;69%;98%;2 Savannah, GA;84;71;84;70;A stray p.m. t-storm;ENE;11;75%;47%;7 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;66;55;72;52;Mostly cloudy;NNE;11;51%;3%;3 Sioux Falls, SD;83;56;78;56;Mostly sunny;E;5;68%;25%;5 Spokane, WA;72;48;78;50;Decreasing clouds;SSW;2;39%;3%;3 Springfield, IL;86;66;85;67;More humid;SSW;8;65%;85%;5 St. Louis, MO;89;66;91;71;Hot and more humid;SSW;8;61%;83%;6 Tampa, FL;90;72;87;73;Mostly sunny;N;6;74%;44%;8 Toledo, OH;85;62;83;66;Increasing clouds;SW;7;60%;97%;5 Tucson, AZ;100;71;99;73;Mostly sunny and hot;NW;8;27%;9%;7 Tulsa, OK;95;74;97;72;Hot;S;10;52%;7%;6 Vero Beach, FL;86;72;87;73;A t-storm in spots;NNE;6;84%;84%;4 Washington, DC;83;63;87;65;Mostly sunny, warm;S;7;51%;5%;5 Wichita, KS;91;72;98;71;Sunny, breezy, hot;SSW;17;49%;6%;6 Wilmington, DE;82;64;86;67;Mostly sunny, warm;SSW;10;56%;5%;5 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More Here

8 Cheetahs Arrive To India From Namibia As Part Of Reintroduction Project | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/8-cheetahs-arrive-to-india-from-namibia-as-part-of-reintroduction-project-cnn/ CNN  —  After going extinct in India over 70 years ago, cheetahs are finally making a comeback in the country with a new reintroduction program. Eight cheetahs from Namibia arrived in India on Saturday, according to a tweet from the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). The big cats were released into India’s Kuno National Park in the state of Madya Pradesh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was there to welcome the cheetahs to their new home. “A long wait is over,” Modi wrote on Twitter alongside pictures of the cats in their new environment. Today, the spotted felines are found in southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). But the endangered cats used to have a much larger range. Historically, cheetahs roamed throughout the Middle East and central India as well as most of sub-Saharan Africa. Habitat loss, poaching, and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations. There are now less than 7,000 cheetahs left in the wild, says the WWF. In Iran, there are just 12 adult cheetahs in the wild. The release of the eight animals is part of a larger plan to reintroduce the cats to their former range. In January, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced in a news release that the government planned to release 50 cheetahs into Indian national parks over the next five years. The group that arrived in Kuno consists of three male and five female adult cheetahs from Namibia, according to a news release from the CCF. Each cheetah was vaccinated, fitted with a satellite collar and kept in isolation at the fund’s location in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, according to the release. The animals chosen for the 11-hour trek were selected “based on an assessment of health, wild disposition, hunting skills, and ability to contribute genetics that will result in a strong founder population,” says the organization. It took a multi-step journey to get the cats from Namibia, on Africa’s southwestern coast, to central India. On Friday, the cheetahs traveled from the CCF’s center to the Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, Namibia. Then, they took a private jet to Jaipur, India. Finally, on Saturday the cats were taken to Kuno National Park and released into their new home. “As a conservationist, I am thrilled, and as CCF’s leader, I am exceptionally proud of the work of our CCF reintroduction team,” Laurie Marker, the founder and executive director of the CCF, said in the release. “Without research and dedication to cheetah conservation, this project could not take place.” Jhala Yadvendradev, dean of the Wildlife Institute of India and principal scientist for India’s Project Cheetah, said that the project will benefit India’s ecoystems at large – not just cheetahs. “Bringing back a top predator restores historic evolutionary balance, resulting in cascading effects, leading to better management and restoration of wildlife habitat, for the benefit of all species, and will uplift the livelihoods of poor forest dwelling communities,” Yadvendradev said in the release. Read More Here

Powerful Storm Expected To Bring Historic Flooding, Damaging Winds And Power Outages To Alaska | MyCentralOregon.com https://digitalalaskanews.com/powerful-storm-expected-to-bring-historic-flooding-damaging-winds-and-power-outages-to-alaska-mycentraloregon-com/ (NEW YORK) — A powerful storm is bearing down on western Alaska, with historic tidal surges, damaging winds and widespread power outages expected throughout the weekend. As is typical for fall storms in Alaska, this one was a typhoon at one point. The remnants of post-tropical typhoon Merbok are tracking northeastward through the Bering Strait. The center of ex-typhoon Merbok is about to make its way through the Bering Strait and enter the Chukchi Sea this morning. GOES water vapor imagery from the overnight hours. #akwx pic.twitter.com/bpoMSRhQeH — NWS Alaska Region (@NWSAlaska) September 17, 2022 Historic coastal flooding is forecast for many communities in the region Saturday into Sunday, according to Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “There hasn’t been a September storm this strong in the northern Bering Sea region in the past 70 years,” he said on Twitter. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Saturday that he has verbally declared a disaster for communities impacted by the storm. “We will continue to monitor the storm and update Alaskans as much as possible,” he said on Twitter, noting that the state has not received any reports of injuries at this time. The National Weather Service has issued coastal flood warnings for much of the northwestern coast of Alaska. In the Yukon Delta, some regions have seen high winds, floods and power outages. Footage out of Hooper Bay shows homes floating off foundations. “Significant” coastal flooding is also forecast for the Seward Peninsula, where a number of remote communities are already threatened by erosion. Water levels are expected to be as high as 18 feet above the normal high tide line in the communities of Elim and Koyuk, near Nome. “Major” flooding has been reported in the region in Golovin, the National Weather Service said Saturday. “The highest water levels not expected until this afternoon, flooding will get worse,” it said. “Water is surrounding the school, homes and structures are flooded, at least a couple homes floating off the foundation, some older fuel tanks are tilted over.” Across the bay in Shaktoolik, south of the Seward Peninsula, residents have evacuated to the local school and clinic as “significant waves” have started to break and are getting close to homes, the National Weather Service said Saturday. Peak levels in and around Nome are expected Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning, the National Weather Service warned. Many roads are likely to close and homes, businesses and local airports “inundated,” it said. High wind warnings also are in effect into Saturday evening, with some regions in the Yukon Delta and Bering Straight Coast expected to see hurricane-force wind gusts of up to 90 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Widespread power outages are expected. Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. One rower injured, one missing after apparent lightning strike in Orlando: Fire department Douglas Sacha/Getty Images (ORLANDO, Fla.) — One person has been injured and another is missing after an apparent lightning strike during rowing practice at Lake Fairview in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday night, the fire department said. Members Mississippi lifts boil water notice for Jackson residents Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images (JACKSON, Miss.) — Mississippi ended its boil water notice for all of Jackson’s residents on Thursday, the state’s health department announced. The news comes nearly two weeks after water pressure Jan. 6 rioter wearing ‘Camp Auschwitz’ sweatshirt sentenced David Taludkar/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Robert Packer, the Jan. 6 rioter seen in photos wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt, to 75 days in prison. Packer had previously pleaded guilty to one Michigan school board president resigns months after school shooting Emily Elconin/Getty Images, FILE (OXFORD, Mich.) — Oxford school board president Tom Donnelly, who has been heavily criticized, resigned from his position months after a Michigan school shooting left four students dead. Seven people, including a teacher, NY attorney general rejected settlement offer from Trump Organization Spencer Platt/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — The New York attorney general’s office rejected an offer this month to resolve a civil investigation into former President Donald Trump and his family real estate business, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC Read More Here

Gaetz Sought Pardon Related To Justice Department Sex Trafficking Probe https://digitalalaskanews.com/gaetz-sought-pardon-related-to-justice-department-sex-trafficking-probe/ Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told a former White House aide that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from President Donald Trump regarding an investigation in which he is a target, according to testimony given to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Johnny McEntee, according to people familiar with his testimony, told investigators that Gaetz told him during a brief meeting “that they are launching an investigation into him or that there’s an investigation into him,” without specifying who was investigating Gaetz. McEntee added that Gaetz told him “he did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great.” Gaetz told McEntee that he had asked White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a pardon. Asked by investigators if Gaetz’s request for a pardon was in the context of the Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, McEntee replied, “I think that was the context, yes,” according to people familiar with the testimony who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The testimony is the first indication that Gaetz was specifically seeking a pardon for his own exposure related to the Justice Department inquiry into whether he violated sex trafficking laws. His public posture in the final months of the Trump administration was much less specific, repeatedly calling for broad preemptive pardons to fend off possible Democratic investigations. McEntee testified that Gaetz met him briefly one evening and discussed the issue of a pardon but McEntee could not recall whether their conversation happened before or after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, according to people familiar with the testimony. The Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz paid for sex, paid for women to travel across state lines to have sex, and had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, was opened in the final months of the Trump administration with approval from Attorney General William P. Barr. The probe stemmed from a federal investigation of Gaetz’s friend who is now a convicted sex trafficker. Gaetz has denied paying for sex or having sex with a minor as an adult. McEntee did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Neither Meadows nor his lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Gaetz declined to address the testimony or whether Gaetz discussed a pardon with McEntee or Meadows and instead responded that Gaetz never directly asked Trump for a pardon. “Congressman Matt Gaetz discussed pardons for many other people publicly and privately at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “As for himself, President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago stating, ‘Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon.’ Rep. Gaetz continues to stand by President Trump’s statement.” The House select committee also declined to comment. Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes but Joel Greenberg, a Gaetz associate and former tax collector for Seminole County, Fla., pleaded guilty in the spring of 2021 to six criminal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor. Greenberg agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testify in court, and has been providing investigators with information about Gaetz since 2020, The Washington Post previously reported. “The last time I had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, I was 17,” Gaetz has previously said. On Nov. 25, 2020, weeks after Trump lost the presidential election, Gaetz told Fox News that Trump “should pardon everyone from himself to his administration officials to Joe Exotic if he has to.” Cassidy Hutchinson, a top White House aide to Meadows, told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack that she recalled Gaetz and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) both advocating for a “blanket pardon” for lawmakers who attended a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting at the White House to discuss efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In the previously aired testimony, she said they also advocated for pardons for “a handful of other members that were not at the December 21st meeting.” Hutchinson added that Gaetz, however, “was personally pushing” for a pardon “since early December.” But the focus of that pardon request was not clear from Hutchinson’s testimony. “I’m not sure why Mr. Gaetz would reach out to me to ask if he could have a meeting with Mr. Meadows about receiving a presidential pardon,” she added. Brooks, who put a request for a pardon in an email to a White House aide at the time, defended his actions in a statement after Hutchinson’s testimony saying, “There was a concern Democrats would abuse the judicial system by prosecuting and jailing Republicans” for objecting in Congress to the certification of the election. Eric Herschmann, a former Trump White House lawyer, told investigators that he also believed that Gaetz was seeking a pardon, according to an excerpt of the deposition played during one of the committee’s public hearings. “The general tone was, we may get prosecuted because we were defensive of, you know, the president’s positions on these things,” Herschmann recalled. “The pardon that he was discussing requesting was as broad as you can describe, from the beginning — I remember he is — from the beginning of time up until today for any and all things. Then he mentioned Nixon. And I said Nixon’s pardon was never nearly that broad.” Gaetz ultimately did not receive a pardon from Trump. Read More Here

Garland Calls On Americans To Overcome Polarization In Emotional Ellis Island Speech https://digitalalaskanews.com/garland-calls-on-americans-to-overcome-polarization-in-emotional-ellis-island-speech/ NEW YORK — Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the “urgent” need to overcome the “intense polarization in America” in an impassioned and at times emotional speech on Saturday. Garland delivered his remarks after administering the oath of allegiance to 200 new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony on Ellis Island in New York. “We must not allow the fractures between us to fracture our democracy,” Garland said. “We are all in this together. We are all Americans.” In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, Garland choked back tears as he reflected on his own family’s immigration story, and the religious persecution that led some of his relatives to seek refuge on Ellis Island early in the 20th century. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers a statement at the U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 11 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) He shared the story of his grandmother, one of five children born to a Jewish family in what is now Belarus, who fled religious persecution during World War II. Only three of them made it to the United States, however, including his grandmother. The other two, he said, “were killed in the Holocaust.” “If not for America, there is little doubt that the same would have happened to my grandmother,” Garland said, his voice quivering. “But this country took her in. And under the protection of our laws, she was able to live without fear of persecution. “That protection,” he continued, “is what distinguishes America from so many other countries.” This message, and the welcoming scene at Ellis Island, stood in stark contrast to those seen this week on Martha’s Vineyard, and outside Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington, D.C., where migrants (many of them Venezuelan asylum-seekers) found themselves in the middle of a bitter political fight between the Biden administration and Republican governors of Southern border states, who blame what they see as lax immigration policies for the record number of migrants apprehended along the Mexican border this year. A naturalization ceremony at Ellis Island in New York on Sept. 17. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz) The Biden administration also faced criticism from immigration advocates this week, following reports that it is looking to expand its use of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that uses the pandemic as justification to immediately turn away migrants apprehended at the border, even if they may have legitimate claims of asylum. Many experts have cited the policy, which the Biden administration has publicly sought to repeal, as a key contributor to the record number of border apprehensions, which include many repeat crossers. Garland’s remarks also come amid an ongoing court battle between the Department of Justice and former President Donald Trump over classified documents that FBI agents seized from Trump’s Florida estate last month. The Justice Department, and Garland himself, have been accused by the former president and his allies of playing politics in its ongoing criminal investigation into the possible mishandling of sensitive government documents that were taken from the White House after Trump left office last year. In recent rulings granting Trump’s request to appoint a special master, the federal judge overseeing the case has suggested that it requires different treatment because it involves a former president. “As a function of Plaintiff’s former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own,” said a Sept. 5 decision from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee. “A future indictment, based to any degree on property that ought to be returned, would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude.” A mother and child in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., on Sept. 15 stand outside the St. Andrew’s Parrish House, where migrants were given lunch with food donated by the community. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Cannon also noted in a Sept. 15 ruling that the “principles of equity require the Court to consider the specific context at issue, and that consideration is inherently impacted by the position formerly held by Plaintiff.” Garland, who typically refrains from engaging in politics, did not address either debate, but instead talked about the importance of the rule of law in upholding democracy. “The rule of law means that the law treats each of us alike,” he said. “There is not one rule for friends, another for foes; one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless; one rule for the rich, another for the poor; or different rules, depending upon one’s race or ethnicity or country of origin.” Saturday was the 235th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, and the Ellis Island event kicked off a week of special naturalization ceremonies around the country orchestrated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to celebrate “the connection between the Constitution and citizenship.” Attorney General Merrick Garland swore in 200 new United States citizens at the Ellis Island naturalization ceremony on Saturday. (Credit: Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News) Ahead of the ceremony, “America the Beautiful” played over speakers as citizenship candidates and their loved ones filtered into the Great Hall, where 12 million immigrants before them were once processed upon arriving in the United States. The 200 new citizens sworn in Saturday came from 57 different countries, including Albania, China, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Japan, Lebanon, Moldova, Nepal, Pakistan and Venezuela. Among them were Joyce Ramdan, who moved to the U.S. from Guyana in 1996. She said she finally decided to join her children and grandchildren in becoming a citizen earlier this year, so that she could have more security and freedom to travel. Ramdan told Yahoo News she was “excited” and “happy to be a citizen, so that I can vote.” People attend a naturalization ceremony at Ellis Island on Saturday. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz) Voting was also the reason why Nick Parker, a native of the United Kingdom, decided to become a citizen after 13 years in the United States. Parker told Yahoo News he’d driven down with his wife and two daughters to the city from Westchester, N.Y., for the ceremony, and by the time they’d arrived at Ellis Island, it had already been a long morning with a lot of time spent waiting in line. When asked if he was excited to hear the attorney general speak, Parker’s face lit up with surprise. “Oh, I didn’t know! I had no idea,” he said, adding, “We haven’t really been told a lot.” “That’s why there’s so many people,” he said, taking in the long lines of people around him with a new appreciation. “Well, that’s super cool.” Read More Here

M https://digitalalaskanews.com/m-5/ Back in contact! MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is pictured texting at Trump’s Ohio rally after claiming FBI agents had seized his phone at a Hardee’s drive-thru MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said on his podcast this week that FBI agents seized his phone while he was in a Hardee’s in Minnesota He was photographed by DailyMail.com on Saturday at the venue of Donald Trump’s Youngstown, Ohio rally hours before the ex-president takes the state Lindell did not respond to DailyMail.com’s shouted requests for comment He is currently being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion Trump is in Ohio for midterm candidates JD Vance and Max Miller among others  By Elizabeth Elkind, Politics Reporter In Youngstown, Ohio For Dailymail.Com Published: 15:05 EDT, 17 September 2022 | Updated: 15:18 EDT, 17 September 2022 MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a staunch ally of Donald Trump‘s, was spotted at the former president’s Ohio rally on Saturday using a cell phone – days after claiming his own was seized by the FBI. Lindell is a full-throated supporter of Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential race was rigged and has held events dedicated to unraveling alleged evidence of voter fraud by Dominion Voting Systems. He stated on his podcast this week that federal agents approached him while he was at a Hardee’s in Mankato, Minnesota and took his. It’s not clear if it’s someone else’s phone or if Lindell has gotten himself a replacement, but he was spotted texting and speaking into his phone in the 2 p.m. hour, just as crowds began to pour into the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio. Lindell did not respond to DailyMail.com’s shouted requests for comment at the rally. The conservative entrepreneur is currently being sued by Dominion for $1.3 billion. He stated on his podcast that agents questioned him about the voting company, his connection to an Ohio-based election denier named Doug Frank, and Tina Peters, an Arizona election official. In the video-taped segment, Lindell proceeded to hold up a letter from a Colorado-based federal prosecutor that indicated that they were in the midst of an ‘official criminal investigation of a suspected felony.’ MyPillow Mike Lindell seen texting days after he said the FBI seized his phone at a Minnesota Hardee’s Lindell is a regular fixture at Trump’s campaign rallies and always received a warm welcome from crowds It comes as Trump readies to rally in Youngstown on Saturday night, and will appear with four Congressional hopefuls – three of whom have also cast doubt on the 2020 election. Lindell is a regular fixture at Trump’s Make America Great Again events, and always receives a warm welcome from the crowd.  The last presidential race saw Buckeye State voters choose Trump over President Joe Biden by a margin of about 8 percent. Saturday’s rally is a test of his lingering influence in the critical battleground – joining Trump on stage will be all four of the aforementioned candidates that he’s backed, as well as pro-Trump stalwart Reps. Jim Jordan and Bill Johnson. The former president’s support helped conservative JD Vance clinch the GOP Senate primary despite a crowded race full of MAGA hopefuls. Vance, an author and venture capitalist, is facing Democratic House Rep. Tim Ryan in November to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Rob Portman. As an added jab at the left-wing populist, Saturday’s rally is in Ryan’s current Congressional district. Vance and Ryan are currently locked in a close race. A Friday poll from Emerson College Polling/The Hill the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author leading Ryan by four percent. Trump’s pick for Ohio’s 7th Congressional District is his former White House aide Max Miller, whose wedding the ex-president officiated at his Bedminster golf course in August. He’s also supporting conservative commentator and former Miss Ohio Madison Gesiotto Gilbert in the 13th Congressional District. Also at Saturday night’s rally is Air Force veteran J.R. Majewski, who is vying to unseat vulnerable Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 9th district. Majewski was present on the US Capitol grounds when a mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed law enforcement and stormed the building. Notably absent is Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, whom Trump only recently endorsed despite the Republican leader disputing Trump’s claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Last year DeWine also defended Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez for his vote to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot. ‘He made that call. That was his decision. I think he’s been a good member of Congress. He should not resign,’ DeWine said. DeWine told the Youngstown Vindicator on Friday that he was missing the rally to watch his granddaughters participate in an evening cross country race event going on at the same time. He told the outlet it was a ‘special night’ for the family. ‘They’re running under the lights, which is kind of unusual for cross country,’ DeWine said. Advertisement Read More Here

Matt Gaetz Sought Pardon In Sex Trafficking Probe, Report Says https://digitalalaskanews.com/matt-gaetz-sought-pardon-in-sex-trafficking-probe-report-says/ Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida sought a “preemptive pardon” from then-President Donald Trump regarding a sex trafficking probe in which he is allegedly a target, according to a report by the Washington Post. The newspaper reported Saturday that Johnny McEntee, a former White House Aide, told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot that Gaetz sought the “preemptive pardon.” The Post, citing unnamed sources familiar with the investigation, said McEntee told the committee that Gaetz told him “he did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great.” Gaetz did not specify the investigation, but also told McEntee he asked White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a pardon, the Post said. A spokesman for Gaetz told the Post that the Congressman from North Florida stands behind Trump’s statement that Gaetz never sought a pardon from him. Other witnesses close to Trump have also testified to the committee that Gaetz was seeking a pardon, though he never actually received one. Several news outlets have reported Gaetz is under investigation into whether he had sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl whom he paid to travel out of the country with him. The investigation emerged from the case into disgraced Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, who is friends with Gaetz and pleaded guilty to sex trafficking last year and is a key witness into Gaetz and other political figures. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing. Read the full story at the Washington Post. dharris@orlandosentinel.com Read More Here

B https://digitalalaskanews.com/b-7/ We’ve detected unusual activity from your computer network To continue, please click the box below to let us know you’re not a robot. Read More Here

(#23) Kodiak Vs. (#2) Lathrop | Alaska https://digitalalaskanews.com/23-kodiak-vs-2-lathrop-alaska/ Sep 17, 2022 1 hr ago 0 Post a comment as anonymous Welcome to the discussion. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don’t Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the ‘Report’ link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reporting—but good journalism isn’t free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution. By MAISIE THOMAS Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Apr 4, 2022 1 In Alaska, Covid-19 cases are leveling off after reaching record highs during the Omicron surge, but a new and even more highly contagious variant is on the rise. The BA.2 variant of Omicron now accounts for over 50% of new cases nationally, and just under half of cases in Alaska, state epid… LINDA F. HERSEY Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Apr 1, 2022 0 North Pole Rep. Mike Prax was one of eight lawmakers diagnosed with Covid-19 Wednesday in an outbreak that has swept through the Alaska House. By LIV CLIFFORD Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Mar 31, 2022 0 Alaskans lost more than $13 million to suspected internet crimes in 2021, federal data shows. Read More Here

Trump Documents Case: Judge Dearie's Appointment As Special Master Welcomed Across Board https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-documents-case-judge-dearies-appointment-as-special-master-welcomed-across-board/ WASHINGTON: When Florida Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Raymond J. Dearie, a former Chief Federal Judge in New York, to sort through more than 11, 000 documents – including classified materials – that FBI agents seized from former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence last month, jurists across both the Republican and Democrats side hailed the move. The 78-year-old Dearie, a former Chief Federal Judge in New York and the then President Ronald Reagan appointee, was described by his peer group lawyers and colleagues as an exemplary jurist who is well suited to the job of special master, having previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), which oversees sensitive national security cases. The Department of Justice also said he was acceptable to them after Judge Cannon rejected two candidates proposed by them. In 2015, Dearie took the unusual step of reducing the prison sentences of three convicted Canadian terrorists, saying he had been “haunted” by the case and his growing sense that their sentences were unfair. Under federal law, Dearie had been required to sentence the men to 25-year terms for conspiring to acquire missiles on behalf of the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group fighting the government of Sri Lanka. He later cut those sentences to 15 years. While the DOJ has been hit by Florida Judge Cannon’s ruling to slow down investigation into Trump’s classified documents case until Dearie reviews the documents in public interest to prevent reputational harm with a possible indictment of the former President, the DOJ has continued to maintain that a special master is legally unnecessary and should not be charged with reviewing any of the 100 or so seized documents marked as classified. Appointing a special master to review these documents, prosecutors argued in numerous court filings, would slow down a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information and could pose a national security risk, according to multiple reports in the media outlets. Here’s everything you need to know about Dearie and what he will be doing in this high-profile and unusual investigation. What is a special master? A special master is an impartial outside expert who can essentially be viewed as a judge’s helper, said David R. Cohen, an attorney and longtime special master. In theory, the special master can help with whatever a judge needs. In this case, Cannon appointed a special master to sort through the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago on August 8 to see if any should be shielded from criminal investigators because of attorney-client or executive privileges. How did Judge Cannon choose Dearie? When Cannon granted Trump’s request to appoint a special master earlier this month, she asked the Justice Department and Trump’s legal team to jointly submit a list of potential candidates. In a subsequent joint filing, the Justice Department named two judges as candidates. Trump’s side proposed a lawyer who is not a judge, and Dearie. Trump’s lawyers then told the judge they did not believe any of the Justice Department’s candidates would be suitable special masters. The Justice Department said they thought Dearie would be acceptable. Days later, Cannon named Dearie for the high-profile job. Is Dearie still working as a judge? Yes, Dearie still serves as a judge in Brooklyn federal court, albeit on senior status, which means he can take a reduced caseload if he chooses. He has also recently signalled that he plans to leave the bench. It is not immediately clear if the appointment will speed his departure from Brooklyn federal court or if court administrators will work out some other accommodation for the unusual dynamic of a judge appointing another judge a special master. What will he do as a special master in this case? The Justice Department and Trump’s lawyers have held drastically different positions on what the special master should do in this case. Trump wants the special master to search through all the seized documents – including the classified ones – to see if any are protected by attorney-client or executive privileges and should not be used in the investigation. On the other side, the Justice Department has questioned whether Trump, who is no longer President, can even invoke executive privilege – a power that Presidents can assert to shield communications from courts, Congress, or the public. Either way, the Justice Department did not want classified documents to be part of the special master review, saying that privilege would not apply to them or to the unclassified documents, and that delaying investigators’ access to those sensitive documents could pose national security risks. Ultimately, Cannon ruled in Trump’s favour. She also denied a bid by prosecutors to allow them to use the seized material in their ongoing criminal investigation before Dearie conducts his review. How long does Dearie have to complete the job? Cannon ordered Dearie to complete his review by November 30. She said he should prioritise sorting through the classified documents, though she did not provide a timeline as to when that portion must be completed. The Justice Department had asked in a previous court filing for the review to be completed by October 17. And Trump’s lawyers had said a special master would need 90 days to complete a review. Does Dearie have the necessary clearance to sift through these highly classified materials? Because Dearie previously served on the FISA court, it will probably not take much time or effort to get him authorised to review the classified material, and he may not have to travel far to look at them. New York City has a number of federal facilities in which Dearie could review highly classified material, which is important since the storage and safekeeping of such documents is the crux of the case. Can Dearie get help for his review? In theory, yes. Special masters typically have others help them review documents. But in this case, staff assistance could be complicated by the 100 classified documents, and whether any potential assistants have the necessary security clearances. It is possible that Dearie could end up reviewing that material on his own, and hiring others to help him with the non-classified documents. Now what? The Justice Department is expected to file an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. Depending on what part of Cannon’s decision the government challenges, the appeal may or may not interfere with the special master’s review. Once Dearie completes his review, he would deliver his recommendations to Cannon on what documents should be shielded from investigators. It’s up to Cannon to decide whether she will follow those recommendations. Trump documents case: Judge Dearie’s appointment as special master welcomed across board Read More Here