Virgin Atlantic Says Men Can Wear Skirts Updates Gender Policy
Virgin Atlantic Says Men Can Wear Skirts, Updates Gender Policy https://digitalalaskanews.com/virgin-atlantic-says-men-can-wear-skirts-updates-gender-policy/
British airline Virgin Atlantic on Wednesday updated its gender policy and uniform requirements, allowing male employees to wear skirts.
Under the airline’s new policies, there will no longer be a “requirement for its people to wear gendered uniform options,” Virgin Atlantic said in a press release. The airline’s crew, pilots and ground team members will now get to pick which uniform they want to wear regardless of gender.
Virgin Atlantic’s crew, pilots and ground team members will now get to pick which uniform they want to wear regardless of gender. (Reuters/Phil Noble / Reuters)
VIRGIN ATLANTIC RELAXES EMPLOYEE TATTOO POLICY
Virgin Atlantic previously changed a policy related to uniforms in June, amending its tattoo policy so that employees no longer had to hide their ink while in uniform. That change came several years after the airline started allowing female cabin crew members to decide how much makeup to put on as well as to wear pants and flat shoes.
Virgin Atlantic recently relaxed its tattoo policy for employees. (Virgin Atlantic)
Virgin Atlantic on Wednesday also launched optional pronoun badges for employees and customers. Passengers can ask for them at the check-in desk or in one of its lounges, the airline said.
Additionally, the airline’s ticketing systems have been updated so that passengers with gender-neutral passports can select “U” or “X” as their gender code and “Mx” as their title when booking, according to the release.
TSA IMPLEMENTING NEW GENDER-NEUTRAL SCREENING PROCESS AT CHECKPOINTS
“At Virgin Atlantic, we believe that everyone can take on the world, no matter who they are,” the airline’s chief commercial officer, Juha Jarvinen, said in a statement. “That’s why [it’s] so important that we enable our people to embrace their individuality and be their true selves at work. It is for that reason that we want to allow our people to wear the uniform that best suits them and how they identify and ensure our customers are addressed by their preferred pronouns.”
Virgin Atlantic said it plans to roll out mandatory inclusivity training for its employees and to offer inclusivity “learning initiatives” for tourism partners and hotels. (Reuters/Phil Noble / Reuters)
Virgin Atlantic said it plans to roll out mandatory inclusivity training for its employees and to offer inclusivity “learning initiatives” for tourism partners and hotels.
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Major SHAKE UPS At Boise State After Shocker Loss To UTEP
Major SHAKE UPS At Boise State After Shocker Loss To UTEP https://digitalalaskanews.com/major-shake-ups-at-boise-state-after-shocker-loss-to-utep/
Following their loss to the UTEP Miners (!!) Boise State has a record of 2-2.
UTEP v Boise State
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So, maybe this isn’t going to be their greatest season. But when you’re a successful, overachieving team like the Broncos, losing to a program like UTEP is going to have repercussions.
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The day after Friday’s loss at the Sun Bowl, Boise head coach Andy Avalos fired his offensive coordinator Tim Plough.
UTEP v Boise State
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On Monday, starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier announced his intention to transfer. Bachmeier’s decision could be related to the firing of Plough.
It could be a reaction to such a rocky start to his senior season. But it seems likely that the loss to the Miners…the lowly Miners…is what directly precipitated the changes.
Boise State went into the game as 15 ½ point favorites, looking for their third consecutive win. The Miners walloped the Broncos 27 to 10. The MINERS! This upset is being touted as a major milestone for BOTH teams.
For UTEP it’s the most impressive victory of the Dana Dimel era. For Boise, it’s already being talked about as the worst loss since the program joined the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 1996.
UTEP v Boise State
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So, the question now is…should Miner fans get excited because of this win? The answer, I think, is a resounding “YES!” It’s not often that the Miners pull an actual UPSET. To do it so convincingly that people actually got fired THE NEXT DAY is practically unheard of.
Andy Avalos has only been the Bronco’s head coach since 2021. His current record is 7-5, including the loss to the Miners on Friday. That’s the lowest win percentage since Houston Nutt was head coach all the way back in 1997.
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Anchorage Assembly Delays Vote On Using Portable Buildings As Emergency Winter Shelters
Anchorage Assembly Delays Vote On Using Portable Buildings As Emergency Winter Shelters https://digitalalaskanews.com/anchorage-assembly-delays-vote-on-using-portable-buildings-as-emergency-winter-shelters/
A diagram showing what the Bronson administrations proposed “portable, self-contained buildings” would look like. (Municipality of Anchorage)
One element of Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s emergency shelter plan was delayed by the Anchorage Assembly Tuesday night.
Assembly members voted to postpone deciding on an ordinance that would allow for the use of portable classrooms for emergency shelters.
Midtown Assembly member Felix Rivera suggested the postponement. He says members of Bronson’s administration told Assembly members that several portable classrooms the city got for free from the Anchorage School District wouldn’t be usable this winter.
“The earliest the administration believes it could be used is the winter of ‘23, ’24,” Rivera said. “So I don’t feel like we are in a position where we’re in a rush to approve this.”
After about a month of discussion, the Assembly agreed to an emergency shelter plan Monday night that uses the Sullivan Arena, as well as housing at the former Golden Lion hotel.
The portable shelters were part of a multi-tiered emergency sheltering plan from the mayor that included using the proposed East Anchorage navigation center and shelter and providing microgrants to local nonprofits.
The ordinance on portable buildings was postponed to an Assembly meeting on Oct. 25. Members Jamie Allard, Randy Sulte and Kevin Cross voted against postponing.
Assembly members broadly supported accepting the portable buildings from the school district, noting that they could be used for non-sheltering purposes, such as storage.
The Assembly also approved an ordinance that would prohibit the use of community recreation centers for emergency shelters. Bronson’s shelter plan had initially included using the Spenard and Fairview recreation centers, but his administration later decided against using them after community pushback.
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Hurricane Ian Makes Landfall In Southwest Florida As Category 4 Storm With 150-Mph Winds | CNN
Hurricane Ian Makes Landfall In Southwest Florida As Category 4 Storm With 150-Mph Winds | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/hurricane-ian-makes-landfall-in-southwest-florida-as-category-4-storm-with-150-mph-winds-cnn/
Editor’s Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNN’s lite site for low bandwidth. You also can text or WhatsApp your Ian stories to CNN +1 332-261-0775.
CNN —
Hurricane Ian made landfall along the southwestern coast of Florida near Cayo Costa around 3:05 p.m. ET Wednesday with winds near 150 mph, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm is delivering a catastrophic trifecta of high winds, heavy rain and historic storm surge to the state and is set to cause significant power outages and flooding as it moves at a slow pace across central Florida over the next day or two.
Hurricane Ian is tied for the strongest storm to make landfall on the west coast of the Florida peninsula, matching the wind speed of Hurricane Charley in 2004. Already, over 800,000 Florida utility customers were without power as of 3:45 p.m., according to PowerOutage.us, and officials in Cape Coral and Punta Gorda reported significant impacts.
Much of west-central Florida and places inland face disaster: “Historic” storm surge up to 18 feet is possible and could swallow coastal homes; rain could cause flooding across much of the state; and crushing winds could flatten homes and stop electricity service for days or weeks.
“This is a wind storm and a surge storm and a flood storm, all in one,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. “And this is going to spread itself out across the entire state. Everybody is going to see something from this.”
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
NOAA/AP
A satellite image shows the eye of Hurricane Ian approaching the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday, September 28.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Naples Police
The streets of Naples, Florida, are flooded on Wednesday. City officials asked residents to shelter in place until further notice.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS/Abaca/Reuters
Sailboats anchored in Roberts Bay are blown around in Venice, Florida, on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Crystal Vander Weit/TCPalm/USA Today Network
Melvin Phillips stands in the flooded basement of his mobile home in Stuart, Florida, on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images
A man walks where water was receding from Tampa Bay due to a negative storm surge on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/AP
Utility trucks are staged in a rural lot Wednesday in The Villages, a Florida retirement community.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Marco Bello/Reuters
Traffic lights are blown by strong gusts of wind in Fort Myers, Florida, on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post/USA Today Network
Damage is seen at the Kings Point condos in Delray Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. Officials believe it was caused by a tornado fueled by Hurricane Ian.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Marco Bello/Reuters
A TV crew broadcasts from the beach in Fort Myers on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Highways in Tampa, Florida, are empty Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Ian making landfall. Several coastal counties in western Florida were under mandatory evacuations.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Wilfredo Lee/AP
An airplane is overturned in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP
Zuram Rodriguez surveys the damage around her home in Davie, Florida, early on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People play dominoes by flashlight during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday. Crews in Cuba have been working to restore power for millions after the storm battered the western region with high winds and dangerous storm surge, causing an islandwide blackout.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Chris O’Meara/AP
Workers board up windows on the University of Tampa campus on Tuesday, September 27.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
People walk through a flooded street in Batabano, Cuba, on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Chris O’Meara/AP
Southwest Airlines passengers check in near a sign that shows canceled flights at the Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Maria Llonch retrieves belongings from her home in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel via AP
Traffic builds along Interstate 4 in Tampa on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
A man carries his children through rain and debris in Pinar del Rio on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
People drive through debris in Pinar del Rio on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Frederic and Mary Herodet board up their Gulf Bistro restaurant in St. Pete Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
People stand outside a flooded warehouse in Batabano on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
NASA’s Artemis I rocket rolls back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday. The launch of the rocket was postponed due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Ian.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
NASA via AP
Hurricane Ian is seen from the International Space Station on Monday, September 26.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
A Cuban family transports personal belongings to a safe place in the Fanguito neighborhood of Havana on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Local residents fill sandbags in Tampa on Monday to help protect their homes from flooding.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images
A family carries a dog to a safe place in Batabano on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
People wait in lines to fuel their vehicles at a Costco store in Orlando on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Mike Lang/USA Today Network
Ryan Copenhaver, manager of Siesta T’s in Sarasota, Florida, installs hurricane panels over the store’s windows on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Kevin Morales/AP
A woman takes photos while waves crash against a seawall in George Town, Grand Cayman, on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Imagaes
A man helps pull small boats out of Cuba’s Havana Bay on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
Shelves are empty in a supermarket’s water aisle in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, Florida, references a map on Monday that indicates where storm surges would impact the county. During a news conference, she urged anyone living in those areas to evacuate.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
NOAA/NASA
This satellite image, taken Monday at 1 p.m. ET, shows Hurricane Ian near Cuba.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Andrew West/USA Today Network
Sarah Peterson fills sandbags in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Saturday, September 24.
Photos: Hurricane Ian barrels into Florida
Andrew West/USA Today Network
Besnik Bushati fills gas containers at a gas station in Naples on Saturday. The station had only premium gas that morning.
Fort Myers Beach was already feeling the brunt of the storm’s powerful eyewall just after noon Wednesday. Frank Loni, an architect from California staying in the community, posted video from a building’s balcony of some of the flooding on the streets below.
“The storm surge is very significant. We’re seeing cars and boats float down the street. We’re seeing trees nearly bent in half,” Loni said. “There’s quite a bit of chaos on the streets.”
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Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for flood-prone areas on the coast, and the National Weather Service warned those who stayed behind to move to upper floors in case of rising water levels.
“This is a powerful storm that should be treated like you would treat” a tornado approaching your home, Gov. Ron DeSantis said around 8 a.m.
Images showed extensive flooding in coastal neighborhoods in Naples, where officials asked residents to shelter in place until further notice.
In some areas, such as Charlotte County, Florida, 911 response teams have stopped emergency service due to the high winds and dangerous conditions. Sarasota Mayor Eric Arroyo said on CNN’s “At This Hour” that police officers were being taken off the streets due to the wind speeds and hazardous conditions.
“It is too late to evacuate at this point,” Arroyo said.
Ian poses several major dangers:
• Storm surge: Some 12 to 18 feet of seawater pushed onto land was predicted Wednesday for the coastal Fort Myers area, from Englewood to Bonita Beach, forecasters said. Only slightly less is forecast for a stretch from Bonita Beach down to near the Everglades (8 to 12 feet), and from near Bradenton to Englewood (6 to 10 feet), forecasters said.
Lower – but still life-threatening – surge is possible elsewhere, including north of Tampa a...
Mayhem At Russian Border As Thousands Flee Putins Draft
Mayhem At Russian Border As Thousands Flee Putin’s Draft https://digitalalaskanews.com/mayhem-at-russian-border-as-thousands-flee-putins-draft/
CHISINAU, Moldova—It took three days for two 24-year-old friends, photographer Mikhail and tech worker Dmitry, to make the grueling journey across a 16-kilometer-long traffic lineup between Russia and Georgia.
The two men, who only wanted to be identified by their first names for fear of retribution, are among the 261,000 who fled the country after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial” war mobilization last week—a decree that is set to send hundreds of thousands of young Russian men to fight in Ukraine.
Mikhail and Dmitry bought plane tickets from Moscow to the city of Mineral Waters in Russia’s Caucasus region on Thursday, just hours after the mobilization announcement. They then drove to the city of Vladikavkaz, where they said they were forced to leave their car behind after being stopped by a police officer. From there, they walked and hitchhiked their way across the Russian border to Georgia.
Their exodus was the “most horrific time of life,” Mikhail told The Daily Beast. He said it involved multiple interrogations by Russian police, as well as threats of imprisonment and extortion. But the two friends were determined to make their getaway—because they knew exactly what would happen to them if they stayed.
It felt like they were fleeing “the most hostile” country in the world, Mikhail told The Daily Beast. “During one of the interrogations by traffic police, I had to show my unusual birthmark and lie to them that I had cancer. They believed me and let us go but only to the next checkpoint, where we were once again interrogated.”
People arriving from Russia wait at the Mongolian border checkpoint of Altanbulag on September 25, 2022, after the Kremlin announced a partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine.
BYAMBASUREN BYAMBA-OCHIR/AFP via Getty
Rumors that the FSB is set to close Russian borders as thousands continue to flee the country have only fueled the panic among citizens desperate to evade conscription. The traffic lineups at Russia’s border with Georgia and Kazakhstan now stretch dozens of miles, with fleeing citizens often leaving behind their suitcases and vehicles in the midst of the chaos.
“We were treated as enemies in our own country,” Mikhail said. “I cannot blame them, they are enemies to us, we could not even think of killing people in Ukraine!”
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Telegram users on the Russian “Border Control” group chat have been documenting their experiences trying to flee Russia.
“It looks like [border authorities] now have lists of names banned from leaving, they asked me about the purpose of my travel and checked with some database,” wrote one user from the Domodedovo airport on Tuesday, who was leaving Moscow for Yerevan in Armenia. The price of that plane ticket had skyrocketed from $300 on Thursday to almost $1,000 on Monday.
Those who’ve fled Russia are leaving behind some terrifying scenes in their own cities. Russian law enforcement has been accused of beating and detaining thousands of anti-war demonstrators who have taken to the streets to protest the mobilization. Police have been accused of raping one activist, poet Artem Kamardin, with a dumbbell. Videos of inexperienced men being sent to combat zones in Ukraine have flooded Russian social media channels.
“My defense lawyer told me that if Putin decides to accuse us of a crime for running away from his mobilization, then Kazakhstan might extradite me back to Russia,” 38-year-old business manager Alexander, who fled to Kazakhstan this week, told The Daily Beast. “There were people crying and arguing and screaming in line on the border. I crossed the border last night on foot with just my backpack. I have no future plans but I am still panicking that Kazakhs might kick me out.”
People carrying luggage walk past vehicles with Russian license plates on the Russian side of the border towards the Nizhniy Lars customs checkpoint between Georgia and Russia some 25 km outside the town of Vladikavkaz, on September 25, 2022.
AFP/Getty
Photographer Mikhail had four heavy cameras in his backpack and a laptop. His friend Dmitry was also carrying heavy luggage. After hiking for several miles across the border lineup, the two were lucky to find somebody they knew traveling by car.
“There was no space for us but at least some space for our luggage, so we walked on and our friends continued to wait in that line,” Mikhail said. “But after waiting for three days, people began to fight over a spot in line, and eventually our friends turned around and went back to Moscow with our luggage.”
Another Russian escapee, 38-year-old Konstantin, did not bring any luggage with him, just a scooter. Before the war, he was a tour guide who would lead expeditions in some of Russia’s most remote regions. But even for Konstantin, the journey was “nerve-wracking,” he told The Daily Beast.
Photographer Oksana Yushko also hiked 18 kilometers across the Georgian border on Monday. She had water with her but no food. “They are not letting Caucasus nationals out, or at least they are interrogating them for a long time in some separate room,” she told The Daily Beast.
For 31-year-old event planner Alexey Lesin, the trip from his hometown of Kazan to the Georgian border took almost four days. “I spent 15 hours in the traffic jam on the border, with no movement, so I decided to walk under heavy rain all the way to the border,” Lesin told The Daily Beast. “The entire trip cost me $1,500. This is a lot of money for me but it was worth it—though I have absolutely no plan for my future life in Georgia.”
In his final comments to The Daily Beast, Mikhail said he “100 percent” believes he would have died had he been sent to Ukraine. “Now I feel like I am completely naked without any of my belongings, he said. “But I am already breathing freely here in Georgia.”
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Live Updates: Hurricane Ian https://digitalalaskanews.com/live-updates-hurricane-ian/
15m ago
Traffic cameras show massive flooding in streets of Florida island
Traffic cameras streaming video footage from Sanibel, an island just off Florida’s west coast, showed massive flooding on the streets on Wednesday morning. The live stream had become unavailable by early Wednesday afternoon.
Somehow a traffic cam on Sanibel, Island is still live during the eye wall right now during #HurricaneIan!! This is absolutely insane and extremely sad, my thoughts are with everyone in the area. #Florida #StormSurge #Hurricane #Ian pic.twitter.com/Rg1zMN9845
— BirdingPeepWx (@BirdingPeepWx) September 28, 2022
31m ago
Satellite captures eye of Hurricane Ian as it approaches Florida
As Hurricane Ian neared Florida on Wednesday, the NOAA released a satellite video of the eye of the storm. At the time of the video, the storm was churning towards the U.S. coastline.
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) September 28, 2022
32m ago
Local emergency services suspended as Ian intensifies
Several cities and counties in Florida have suspended emergency services as Hurricane Ian is approaching their areas. Services are usually suspended when winds exceed 40-45 mph.
These are the areas with suspended services:
Manatee County
North Port
Venice
Charlotte County
Cape Coral
Sarasota
Updated 8m ago
Power outages surge as Ian nears landfall
Power outages in Florida are starting to creep further north along the Gulf Coast. According to the latest tally by PowerOutage.us, more than 483,000 Florida customers are without power — more than double the number of outages reported just hours ago.
Most of those without power are confined to the southwest region of the state. Lee County has the most outages with more than 170,000 reports — more than 30% of the county’s population.
So far, the bulk of the outages extend as far up as Hernando County on Florida’s Gulf Coast, about an hour north of Tampa. East coast outages have also been reported, with nearly 19,000 in Miami-Dade alone.
1:04 PM
Generators can be deadly during hurricanes
Hurricane Ian knocked out power to thousands Wednesday, even before making landfall. With that disruption comes a need for generators, but officials are warning people to take extra precautions to avoid a potentially fatal situation.
National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said during a press briefing Wednesday morning that generators can be just as – if not more – dangerous than the effects of hurricanes.
“We’ve seen over the last couple of years in some of these big hurricanes, including Hurricane Laura that hit Louisiana, that there were more fatalities afterwards associated with generators than there was from similar storm surge of 16 to 18 feet,” he said.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has reissued safety parameters around generators.
“Using a generator can kill you in minutes,” the commission warned. “Generator exhaust contains carbon monoxide. This is a poison you cannot see or smell.”
To prevent a sudden death amid the storm, the commission said that generators should never be used inside a home or garage, even if windows and doors are open. The devices should only be used outside the home, 20 feet away from windows, doors and vents. The exhaust from the generator should also be pointed away from the home. They also recommend that people who are using generators make sure that their carbon monoxide alarms are working.
Read more here
12:50 PM
Manatee County is “locked down”
Manatee County, one of many areas on Florida’s Gulf Coast expected to be hard-hit by Hurricane Ian’s near-Category 5 force on Wednesday, is officially “locked down,” the government tweeted.
All shelters in the county and the Emergency Operations Center shut their doors as the storm approached, and first responders are “locking down.”
“Emergency response will not be available until the storm subsides,” the government said.
County Administrator Scott Hopes released a video statement telling residents to “shelter-in-place” and that it is “no longer safe to travel.”
More than 120,000 evacuations were ordered on Tuesday, but Hopes said there are only about 3,000 people in county shelters.
“Hopefully you evacuated to a friend’s house or another safe location in Florida or in Manatee County because we are about to feel the brunt of a near Category 5 hurricane in our area.”
The county is expecting “exceptional rainfall” of up to 13 inches over the next 24 hours – an amount that will flood bodies of water, neighborhoods and storm drains, Hopes said.
“As the storm leaves us, the winds are going to shift and drive all that water from the Gulf into the Bay as well as our rivers.”
Roughly 30,000 people are already without power, according to Hopes and an ongoing tally by PowerOutage.us, but Hopes said this was “only the beginning.”
12:34 PM
Only 5 hurricanes that have made landfall in U.S. have been Category 5
Hurricane Ian is set to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday — and emergency management directors in southwest Florida are concerned it could reach a Category 5. Only five hurricanes that have made landfall in the U.S. have been labeled Category 5.
Hurricane strength is measured on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains, the scale ranges from Category 1 — which has 75 to 95 mph winds and can cause damage to home exteriors, trees and power lines — all the way up to a “catastrophic” Category 5.
A Category 5 hurricane has winds of 157 mph or higher. Whereas less-strong hurricanes could tear shingles or pieces off of roofs, a Category 5 has a high risk of completely destroying homes, with total roof failure and wall collapse.
Read more here
12:28 PM
Household hacks to know as Ian hits Florida
There’s a long list Floridians and others in Ian’s path are likely checking off – from boarding up windows to lining up sandbags to divert water from their homes. But there’s always more than can be done if you have the time (or necessary help).
As the storm fast approaches, here are some other last-minute things you can do to prepare:
Fill your bathtub full with water. This way, you’ll have extra water in case you need it to flush toilets, clean dishes, use to wash yourself off or more. The National Weather Service adds that this can also be used as drinking water if you need it – just put line the tub with a bag to ensure your water stays fresh.
Fill a kiddie pool with sod for a makeshift pet potty. During high winds and heavy rain, you’ll want to keep your pets inside. To keep them warm and safe, try creating your own potty area that will allow your dog to relieve itself if necessary. Every Dog Has Its Day, a dog training facility in Orlando, Florida, previously suggested putting sod in a kiddie pool and storing it in your garage (barring any flooding) so you’ll have “a safe place for your dogs to potty during the storm.”
Make your own lantern with a water bottle and flashlight. If you lose power and are in need of some light, avoid using candles. Instead, utilize flashlights, phones and other items. Some campers suggest creating your own lantern by taping a flashlight underneath a water bottle or jug to help illuminate a room.
Use aluminum pans or other dishes to keep furniture out of water. If you have major flooding, then this trick won’t be much help, but it can be helpful if several inches of water seep into your home. Place a dish pan or aluminum pans under the legs of furniture to help prevent severe water damage.
Read more here
12:11 PM
“Catastrophic” wind damage is beginning along Florida coast
“Catastrophic” wind damage is beginning along Florida’s southwestern coast near where the storm is expected to make landfall, the National Weather Service said in its late-morning advisory, adding that “widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding” is expected in parts of central Florida.
“Considerable” flooding is also expected in southern and northern regions, and river flooding in central Florida could be prolonged, according to the advisory.
Forecasters warned that hurricane-force winds are expected to travel “well inland” near the core of the storm as it makes landfall along the coast, and “preparations to protect life and property should be urgently rushed to completion.”
Storm surges measuring 12 to 18 feet above ground level could hit parts of the southwest Florida coast from Englewood to Bonita Beach, according to NWS. They will likely be accompanied by “destructive waves,” the advisory said. Residents of those areas were urged to comply with evacuation orders.
12:06 PM
Ian’s eyewall moving onshore at Sanibel and Captiva islands
Hurricane Ian’s eyewall was moving onshore midday Wednesday at Sanibel and Captiva islands, the National Hurricane Center said in a 12 p.m. update. It was moving north-northeast at 9 mph.
11:57 AM
Public livestreams show impacts of Hurricane Ian
The already-destructive weather caused by Hurricane Ian, a major Category 4 storm, can be seen in real-time across Florida on dozens of public live streams.
A webcam in Port Tampa at the Tampa Marriott Water Street Hotel shows grey skies and empty roads as strong winds shake trees and splash rain at the camera’s lens.
Another camera in Naples shows the dangerous conditions caused by the hurricane. Before noon, the sea was as high as the pier, as large and fast-moving waves crashed against it.
Collier County – where thousands of residents had their power knocked out earlier in the day – was seeing winds strong enough to shake a Florida Department of Transportation camera throughout its livestream.
Updated 11:28 AM
“It’s going to be a tragic event,” DeSantis says
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday morning Hurricane Ian will be “tragic” and have long-lasting effects, calling it a “major, m...
UK Central Bank Intervenes In Market To Halt Economic Crisis
UK Central Bank Intervenes In Market To Halt Economic Crisis https://digitalalaskanews.com/uk-central-bank-intervenes-in-market-to-halt-economic-crisis/
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England took emergency action Wednesday to stabilize U.K. financial markets and head off a crisis in the broader economy after the government spooked investors with a program of unfunded tax cuts, sending the pound tumbling and the cost of government debt soaring.
The central bank warned that crumbling confidence in the economy posed a “material risk to U.K. financial stability,” while the International Monetary Fund took the rare step to urge a member of the Group of Seven advanced economies to abandon its plan to cut taxes and increase borrowing to cover the cost.
The Bank of England said it would buy long-term government bonds over the next two weeks to combat a recent slide in British financial assets. The bank’s actions are focused on long-term government debt, where yields have soared in recent days, pushing up government borrowing costs.
“Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to U.K. financial stability,″ the bank said in a statement. “This would lead to an unwarranted tightening of financing conditions and a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy.″
The move came five days after Prime Minister Liz Truss’ new government sparked investor concern when it unveiled an economic stimulus program that included 45 billion pounds ($48 billion) of tax cuts and no spending reductions. It also wants to spend billions to help shield homes and businesses from soaring energy price s, sparking fears of spiraling government debt and higher inflation, which is already running at a nearly 40-year high of 9.9%.
The British pound plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar Monday following the government’s announcement, and yields on U.K. government debt soared. Yields on 10-year government bonds have risen 325% this year, making it much more expensive for the government to borrow to finance its policies.
The Bank of England’s plan to buy government debt helped stabilize the bond market, with 10-year bond yields falling to 4.235% in midday trading in London.
Yields, which measure the return buyers receive on their investment, had risen to 4.504% on Tuesday from 3.495% the day before the tax cuts were announced.
The pound traded at $1.0628 on Wednesday in London, after rallying from a record low of $1.0373 on Monday. The British currency is still down 4% since Friday, and it has fallen 20% against the dollar in the past year.
Opposition parties demanded Parliament be recalled from a two-week break to confront the economic crisis. But Truss and Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng stayed silent and out of sight, gambling that the economic storm will pass.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, one of the few government ministers on view Wednesday, said the government’s policies would “make my country richer and more prosperous.”
“I think you will find economic policy takes more than a couple of days,” he said.
On Monday, the Bank of England had refrained from an emergency interest rate hike to offset the slide in the pound but said it would be willing to raise rates if necessary.
But the bank’s next scheduled meeting is not until November, and the lack of immediate action did little to bolster the pound. The bank was able to step in immediately with bond purchases because its Financial Policy Committee has a mandate to ensure the stability of the financial system.
The British government said it has fully underwritten the central bank’s intervention on government bonds, known as gilts.
“The Bank has identified a risk from recent dysfunction in gilt markets, so the Bank will temporarily carry out purchases of long-dated U.K. government bonds from today in order to restore orderly market conditions,” the Treasury said in a statement.
The U.K. government has resisted pressure to reverse course but says it will set out a more detailed fiscal plan and independent analysis from the Office for Budget responsibility on Nov. 23.
Kwarteng met Wednesday with executives from investment banks including Bank of America, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered an UBS in a bid to soothe markets alarmed by its economic plans.
The Treasury said Kwarteng underlined the government’s “clear commitment to fiscal discipline” and promised new measures soon to boost economic growth, including deregulation of financial services.
The central bank was spurred to act after volatility in financial markets spilled over into the broader economy, raising borrowing costs for the government, limiting mortgage options for homebuyers and forcing some pension funds to sell long-term government bonds used to manage risk.
Some analysts estimate that the recent spike in bond yields has added about 20 billion pounds to the cost of servicing the U.K.’s ballooning debt.
In addition, British mortgage lenders have pulled hundreds of offers from the market amid expectations the Bank of England will sharply boost interest rates to offset the inflationary impact of the pound’s recent slide.
Market reaction to the government’s plans also has exposed vulnerabilities in U.K. pension funds. In particular, some defined-benefit pension plans, where employers shoulder the risk of guaranteed payouts for their retirees, have been forced to sell long-term bonds to cover liabilities, creating the potential for a downward spiral in prices.
“The extraordinary intervention came amid growing concern that defined-benefit pension funds … were at risk of being hammered by the plunge in the value of the pound and sharp moves in the long-term gilts market,” said Alice Haine, a personal finance analyst at Bestinvest.
Jagjit Chadha, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, described Wednesday’s action as very much a traditional central bank intervention to limit market turmoil.
“What we need is, is a little bit of calm, a preparedness to commit to the way that we think policies should be designed these days, which is proper scrutiny by experts and understanding of its impact on the economy and a limit to the disruptive tendencies,″ he said. “You know, we don’t need to disrupt this economy anymore.”
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Ukrainians Flee From Russian Annexation While They Still Can
Ukrainians Flee From Russian Annexation – While They Still Can https://digitalalaskanews.com/ukrainians-flee-from-russian-annexation-while-they-still-can/
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine, Sept 28 (Reuters) – “It’s funny. Nobody voted, yet the results are in,” laughed Lyubomir Boyko, 43, from Golo Pristan, a village in Russian-occupied Kherson province as he waited on Wednesday outside a United Nations aid office with his family at a refugee reception centre.
As Russia prepares to annex a swathe of Ukrainian territory the size of Portugal after staging what it calls referendums in four provinces, hundreds of Ukrainians escaped through the last Russian checkpoint. Many said they had fled while they still can.
“A lot of people are just leaving everything behind. There are places that are completely deserted,” said Boyko. “Everybody wants to be in Ukraine, and this is why everybody is leaving. Over there is a lawless place. Entire villages are leaving.”
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He, his wife and their two children had arrived at the aid centre in the parking lot of a home improvement store in Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia city, after waiting for two days before Russian forces abruptly let them out.
Those fleeing Russian-held territory say the so-called referendum has been carried out by men with guns forcing people to cast ballots in the street.
“They can announce anything they want. Nobody voted in the referendum except a few people who switched sides. They went from house to house, but nobody came out,” Boyko said.
For now, Russian forces have been letting some people out of occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces through the one checkpoint. No one knows how long the route will stay open.
The biggest fear is that fighting-aged men will be press-ganged into Russian forces once Moscow declares the territory to be Russia. Boyko said he did not know if draft-aged men were still able to leave.
“Russian soldiers asked us, ‘Why are you fleeing Russia,'” said Tatiyana Gorobets, a 46-year-old nurse from Velyka Lepytykha, in Kherson province, who responded that she and her husband were going to visit their two children they sent to safety in Lviv two months ago. “You can’t say anything else.”
DOORS CLOSING
A view shows the Russian flag flying in the square during a five-day referendum on the secession of Zaporizhzhia region from Ukraine and its joining Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
The couple gathered their clothing, abandoned their home, and departed their town early on Sunday. Russian troops initially barred them from crossing but let them out after three nights, they said.
“We left because we could feel the pressure, the doors were closing and we would not be able to leave,” said shopkeeper Lyudmila Sapronov, 48, whose family travelled in a second car along with the Gorobets family.
With public schools ordered to switch to the Russian curriculum and classes in Russian next month, she did not want her 13-year-old son Bogdan returning to the local school.
“You can imagine how I feel now,” she continued, her eyes welling with tears. “As soon as we crossed the checkpoint, the first photo I took was of the Ukrainian flag. I’m happy.”
An air raid siren sounded, and a downpour drenched the parking lot of the Epicenter home improvement store that hosts the reception center in plastic shelters. A U.S.-based charity, World Central Kitchen, was providing hot meals inside a tent.
“The line of vehicles was so long you could not see the end of it,” recounted another man, Andriy, 37, who declined to give his last name, standing by the yellow, mud-spattered minibus in which he arrived with his wife, two children and parents.
“Seventy percent of people are leaving because of the referendum. There was no light, no gas, and no work and all of a sudden, you get the referendum,” said the agricultural worker from Beryslav, in Kherson province. “It’s complete nonsense. I don’t know a single person among those I know who voted.”
He said he saw passers-by forced to fill out ballots on their knees at a Bereslav crossroad.
Russia says voting has been voluntary and turn-out has been high. Pro-Russian officials have published what they describe as results showing overwhelming support for annexation. Kyiv and Western countries call the exercise a complete sham, aimed at justifying the annexation of territory seized by force.
“If I came to your home and told you, ‘Now this place is mine,’ what would you do?” chimed in Andriy’s 60-year-old father Viktor.
“Would you hand it over? No, you would chase them off with a pitchfork. The Russians are morally ugly. This is all awash in blood.”
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Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Editing by Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan, Alexandra Hudson
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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EU Vows To Protect Energy Network After 'sabotage' Of Russian Gas Pipeline
EU Vows To Protect Energy Network After 'sabotage' Of Russian Gas Pipeline https://digitalalaskanews.com/eu-vows-to-protect-energy-network-after-sabotage-of-russian-gas-pipeline/
EU diplomat believes sabotage probably caused leaks
Danish defence minister worried over Baltic Sea security
Danish defence minister met with NATO chief in Brussels
BERLIN/COPENHAGEN, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Any intentional disruption of EU energy networks would meet a “robust and united response”, a top diplomat said, after several states said two damaged Russian pipelines to Europe were probably attacked, causing gas to spew into the Baltic Sea.
It remained far from clear who might be behind the attack, if proven, on the Nord Stream pipelines that Russia and European partners spent billions of dollars building.
Russia, which slashed gas deliveries to Europe after the West imposed sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, has also said sabotage was a possibility.
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The European Union believes sabotage probably caused the leaks detected on Monday, Josep Borrell said, echoing views aired by Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
The EU has not named a potential perpetrator or suggested a reason for the suspected sabotage.
“Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response,” Borrell said.
Russia intends to call a United Nations Security Council meeting over damage to the gas pipelines, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram.
And a statement issued earlier by Russia’s embassy in Denmark said that any sabotage on Nord Stream’s pipelines was an attack on both Russia’s and Europe’s energy security.
The Nord Stream pipelines have been flashpoints in an escalating energy war between capitals in Europe and Moscow that has damaged major Western economies and sent gas prices soaring.
SECURITY ALERT
Denmark’s defence minister said after a meeting with NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg there was reason to be concerned about the security situation in the region.
“Russia has a significant military presence in the Baltic Sea region and we expect them to continue their sabre-rattling,” Morten Bodskov said in a statement.
Norway’s prime minister said on Wednesday that its military will be deployed near oil and gas installations, while Denmark is raising its level of preparedness.
“The military will be more visible at Norwegian oil and gas installations,” Norway’s Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news briefing.
In the Baltic Sea, gas was still bubbling from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the Swedish Coast Guard said in an email.
Denmark’s Bodskov said it might take a week or two before the areas around the leaks were calm enough to be investigated, while there were differing views over potential repairs.
“There are good teams in place to handle pipeline accidents, there are emergency pipe inventories and experts for onshore and offshore,” Jens Schumann, managing director of gas pipeline grid company Gasunie Deutschland, said.
Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 leak reaching surface of the Baltic Sea in the area shows disturbance of well over one kilometre diameter near Bornholm, Denmark, September 27, 2022. Danish Defence Command/Handout via REUTERS
“That makes me relatively optimistic that even a ruction like the one we saw there can be repaired,” he added.
But German security agencies fear that Nord Stream 1 will become unusable if large volumes of salt water flow into the pipes and cause corrosion, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported, citing government sources.
The Danish armed forces said the largest gas leak caused a surface disturbance of more than 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) in diameter, as agencies issued warnings to shipping.
Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said it will review material from a police investigation and decide on further action, after Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Tuesday that two blasts had been detected.
Although this did not represent an attack on Sweden, Stockholm was in close contact with partners such as NATO and neighbours such as Denmark and Germany, Andersson said.
Seismologists in Denmark and Sweden said they had registered two powerful blasts on Monday in the vicinity of the leaks and the explosions were in the water, not under the seabed.
European leaders and Moscow say they can not rule out sabotage. Map of Nord Stream pipelines and locations of reported leaks
GAS FLOWS
Operator Nord Stream has called the damage “unprecedented”, while Russian-controlled Gazprom (GAZP.MM), which has a monopoly on gas exports by pipeline, declined to comment.
While neither pipeline was delivering gas to Europe at the time, the incidents scupper any remaining expectations that Europe could receive fuel via Nord Stream 1 before winter.
“A development that could have a more immediate impact on gas supplies to Europe was a warning from Gazprom that Russia could impose sanctions on Ukraine’s Naftogaz due to ongoing arbitration,” analysts at ING Research said.
Naftogaz’s CEO said on Wednesday the Ukrainian energy firm will continue with arbitration proceedings against Gazprom over Russian natural gas which transits the country.
Gazprom said earlier in the week that while rejecting all Naftogaz’s claims in arbitration, it may introduce sanctions against the company in case it presses ahead with the case.
“The risk is that these flows come to a complete halt, which will only tighten up the European market further as we move towards the heating season,” the ING analysts added.
European gas prices rose following news of the leaks. The benchmark October Dutch price was up by 11% at 204.50 euros/megawatt hour on Wednesday. Although prices are still below this year’s peaks, they remain more than 200% higher than in early September 2021.
Russia reduced gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1 before suspending flows altogether in August, blaming Western sanctions for causing technical difficulties. European politicians say that was a pretext to stop supplying gas.
The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations. The plan to use it to supply gas was scrapped by Germany days before Russia began what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in late February.
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Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Alexander Smith; Editing by Louise Heavens and Elaine Hardcastle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Sterling Slides After BoE Buys Bonds Dollar Hits 20-Year High
Sterling Slides After BoE Buys Bonds, Dollar Hits 20-Year High https://digitalalaskanews.com/sterling-slides-after-boe-buys-bonds-dollar-hits-20-year-high/
Pound and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Sterling tumbled against the dollar on Wednesday before paring some losses after the Bank of England (BOE) said it would step in to prop up the gilt market, and the dollar index touched a fresh 20-year high trading was volatile.
The BOE said it would buy as many long-dated government bonds as needed between now and Oct. 14 to stabilise financial markets, and added that it would postpone next week’s start of its gilt sale programme. read more
As markets tried to digest what this meant for the pound, the currency whipsawed, jumping as high as $1.084 and falling as low as $1.0539. It was last down 0.4% at $1.0695.
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“They’re really trying to help the structure of the gilt market, more than anything else… The fact that they’re effectively doing (quantitative easing) again, while also hiking rates confuses the monetary policy outlook,” said Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies in New York.
“It also forces the pound to be the outlet valve for the additional expenditures proposed by the government.”
Investors were also eyeing the safety of the dollar against a backdrop of political uncertainty after leaks on Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Europe spewed gas into the Baltic Sea. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg attributed the leaks to acts of sabotage. read more
“Some of it is safety related, given what we saw yesterday with the NordStream and the Russia Ukraine situation,” said Bechtel, also referring to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hiking cycle aimed at taming inflation
“It is the Fed, outperforming in terms of being aggressive and continuing to hike aggressively. The world is realizing that the U.S. is in a better position to handle higher rates whereas other economies are more vulnerable.”
The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a group of major currencies, after earlier hitting a fresh 20-year high of 114.78 was last at 114.100.
While initially the dollar’s gains were broad-based, the greenback eased in the U.S. trading morning with the euro last up 0.02% at $0.9595 after falling as low as $0.95355.
The dollar was last down 0.22% against Japan’s yen at 144.510 after touching a high of 144.860 .
The Australian dollar , which is particularly sensitive to swings in investors sentiment was last up 0.420%.
Elsewhere in Asia, the offshore yuan hit a record low, pressured by expectations of further U.S. rate hikes. read more
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Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Rae Wee in Singapore and Alun John in London ; editing by Richard Pullin, Kim Coghill, Shri Navaratnam, Gareth Jones and Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Hurricane Ian Nears Florida Landfall With 155 Mph Winds
Hurricane Ian Nears Florida Landfall With 155 Mph Winds https://digitalalaskanews.com/hurricane-ian-nears-florida-landfall-with-155-mph-winds/
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., (AP) — Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified as it neared landfall along Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday morning, gaining top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. Damaging winds and rain lashed the state, and forecasters said the heavily populated Fort Myers area could be inundated by a storm surge of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters)
Air Force hurricane hunters confirmed Ian gained strength over warm Gulf of Mexico water after battering Cuba, bringing down the country’s electricity grid and leaving the entire island without power. Ian was centered about 60 miles (95 kilometers) west-southwest of Naples at 10 a.m., swirling toward the coast at 10 mph (17 kph).
“This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday, stressing that people in Ian’s path along the coast should rush to the safest possible shelter and stay there.
The massive storm appeared on track to slam ashore somewhere north of Fort Myers and some 125 miles (201 kilometers) south of Tampa, sparing the bay area from a rare direct hit from a hurricane. The area is popular with retirees and tourists drawn to pristine white sandy beaches and long barrier islands, which forecasters said could be completely inundated.
Catastrophic storm surges could push as much as 12 to 18 feet (3.7 to 5.5 meters) of water over a nearly 100-mile (160-kilometer) stretch of coastline, from Bonita Beach north through Fort Myers and Charlotte Harbor to Englewood, the hurricane center warned. Rainfall near the area of landfall could top 18 inches (46 centimeters).
“It’s time to hunker down and prepare for the storm,” DeSantis said. “Do what you need to do to stay safe. If you are where that storm is approaching, you’re already in hazardous conditions. It’s going to get a lot worse very quickly.”
More than 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders, but by law no one could be forced to flee. The governor said the state has 30,000 linemen, urban search and rescue teams and 7,000 National Guard troops from Florida and elsewhere ready to help once the weather clears.
Florida residents rushed ahead of the impact to board up their homes, stash precious belongings on upper floors and join long lines of cars leaving the shore.
“You can’t do anything about natural disasters,” said Vinod Nair, who drove inland from the Tampa area Tuesday with his wife, son, dog and two kittens, seeking a hotel in Orlando, where only tropical-storm force winds were expected. “We live in a high risk zone, so we thought it best to evacuate.”
Overnight, Hurricane Ian went through a natural cycle when it lost its old eye and formed a new eye. The timing was bad for the Florida coast, because the storm got stronger and larger only hours before landfall. Ian went from 120 mph (193 kph) to 155 mph (250 kph) in three hours, the second round of rapid intensification in the storm’s life cycle.
“With the higher intensity you’re going to see more extensive wind damage. The larger wind field means that more people will experience those storm-force winds,” University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said. And “it will really increase the amount of storm surge.”
Ian’s forward movement shifted slightly southward, likely sparing Tampa and St. Petersburg their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Instead, the most damaging winds could hit a rapidly developing coastline where the population has jumped sevenfold since 1970, according to the U.S. Census, which shows Lee County has seen the eighth largest population growth among more than 180 Atlantic and Gulf coast counties in the past 50 years.
There were 250,000 people in the Fort Myers/Lee County mandatory evacuation zones, and authorities worried ahead of the storm that only 10% or so would leave.
Gil Gonzalez wasn’t taking any chances. He boarded the windows of his Tampa home with plywood, laid down sandbags, and with his wife, packed their car with bottled water, flashlights, battery packs for their cellphones and a camp stove before evacuating. “All the prized possessions, we’ve put them upstairs in a friend’s house,” Gonzalez said.
Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West closed, as did Disney World theme parks and Sea World in Orlando ahead of the storm. Hotels along the coast either filled up or closed down, and with flights canceled, some tourists planned to join locals at emergency shelters.
Ash Dugney warily watched ocean water being sucked out below a Tampa Bay pier Wednesday morning, wondering how strong the surge would be on the way back in. He said he didn’t trust Tampa’s storm drainage system to keep his corner tuxedo rental business safe from flooding that he said happened in his neighborhood even during mild storms.
“I don’t care about the wind and the rain and the stuff like that, I just care about the flooding,” Dugney said, adding that he moved essentials out of the shop and lifted other items up to above waist-high level.
The precise location of landfall was still uncertain, but with Ian’s tropical storm-force winds extending 175 miles (280 kilometers) from its center, flash floods were possible across the whole state. Hazards include the polluted leftovers of Florida’s phosphate fertilizer mining industry, more than 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive waste contained in enormous ponds that could overflow in heavy rains.
Parts of Florida’s east coast faced a storm surge threat as well, and isolated tornadoes were spinning off the storm well ahead of landfall. One tornado damaged small planes and a hangar at the North Perry Airport, west of Hollywood along the Atlantic coast.
Florida Power and Light warned those in Ian’s path to brace for days without electricity. As a precaution, hundreds of residents were being evacuated from several nursing homes in the Tampa area, where hospitals also were moving some patients.
Parts of Georgia and South Carolina also could see flooding rains and some coastal surge into Saturday. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp preemptively declared an emergency, ordering 500 National Guard troops onto standby to respond as needed.
Before turning toward Florida, Ian struck Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province with sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph) and causing destruction in the island nation’s world-famous tobacco belt. No deaths were reported.
Local government station TelePinar reported heavy damage at the main hospital in Pinar del Rio city, tweeting photos of collapsed ceilings, widely flung debris and toppled trees. Some people left the stricken area on foot, carrying their children, while buses tried to evacuated others through waterlogged streets. Others opted to stay at their damaged houses.
“It was horrible,” said Yusimi Palacios, a resident of Pinar del Rio inside her damaged house. “But here we are alive, and I only ask the Cuban revolution to help me with the roof and the mattress.”
___
Associated Press contributors include Christina Mesquita in Havana, Cuba; Cody Jackson in Tampa, Florida; Freida Frisaro in Miami; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; Seth Borenstein in Washington and Bobby Caina Calvan in New York.
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LIV Golf Nearing Deal To Buy Time On Fox Sports To Air Its Tournaments
LIV Golf Nearing Deal To Buy Time On Fox Sports To Air Its Tournaments https://digitalalaskanews.com/liv-golf-nearing-deal-to-buy-time-on-fox-sports-to-air-its-tournaments/
LIV Golf is nearing a deal to purchase air time for its tournaments on U.S. cable television, multiple people with knowledge of the situation have told Golfweek. The potential agreement — which is still being finalized — is with Fox Sports 1.
While media companies typically pay sports leagues a substantial rights fee to air their products, the deal would not see LIV receive payment, said a person familiar with the discussions. Instead, LIV — which is controversially financed by the Saudi Arabian regime’s Public Investment Fund — would buy time on the cable channel to air its events, a move that will be widely interpreted as a failure to attract serious commercial interest in what it is offering.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Two weeks ago, LIV CEO Greg Norman said he was fielding intense interest from media companies eager to broadcast LIV tournaments.
“We’re talking to four different networks, and live conversations where offers are being put on the table,” he told ESPN. “They can see what we’re delivering.”
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COLUMN: The longer LIV Golf goes on, the bigger the farce it shows itself to be
A well-placed industry executive says LIV struck out with approaches to multiple broadcasters, including NBC, CBS, Disney, Apple and Amazon, and that Fox Sports got involved only at the behest of Lachlan Murdoch, the executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp.
Last month, Sports Business Journal reported that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, had been calling broadcasters trying to generate interest in an LIV television package. In 2021, Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, secured $2 billion in funding from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
LIV has been widely criticized as a sportswashing effort by the Saudi regime. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
A LIV tournament staged this summer at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey drew protests from the families of 9/11 victims, who point to Saudi involvement in the terrorist attacks.
LIV has three remaining events scheduled in 2022. All will be played next month, in Bangkok, Thailand; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and at Trump Doral in Miami.
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Catastrophic Flooding From Ian Expected In Florida Alzheimer
Catastrophic Flooding From Ian Expected In Florida, Alzheimer https://digitalalaskanews.com/catastrophic-flooding-from-ian-expected-in-florida-alzheimer/
On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: Catastrophic flooding expected as Ian approaches Florida
The hurricane has arrived in the Florida Keys as a Category 3. Plus, Russia declares victory in a series of elections the West calls a sham, national correspondent Tami Abdollah gives a timeline for the next Jan. 6 hearings, drugmakers deliver promising trial results for an Alzheimer’s drug and reporter Olivia Munson weighs whether you should add a cover letter to your job application.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.
Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Wednesday, the 28th of September, 2022. Today, the latest as Hurricane Ian gets ready to slam Florida. Plus what’s next for the January 6th committee and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
An abducted 15 year old girl and her father wanted in the death of her mother were both killed in a shootout with law enforcement yesterday on a California highway. It’s not clear whether the teenager was shot by responding deputies or by her father.
Nearly 200,000 Russian nationals have fled the country to Finland, Kazakhstan, and Georgia over the past week. That’s after President Vladimir Putin announced a kind of military draft for reservists in the country, as the invasion of Ukraine continues.
And every major Florida theme park is closing because of Hurricane Ian. Hear more about the storm next.
Hurricane Ian slammed into Cuba yesterday as a category 3, hitting the island with 125 mile an hour winds. Power at one point was knocked out across the country affecting some 11 million people. The storm now heads for Florida. It began hitting the Keys last night and is expected to make landfall in Southwest Florida, likely as a category 4 this afternoon, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered some 2.5 million people to evacuate.
Ron DeSantis:
It is now a major hurricane, category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. We have about 2.5 million Floridians that are currently under some type of an evacuation order. When you’re talking about storm surge like this, when you’re talking about historic flooding, that water is a very, very difficult adversary. You do not want to put yourself in harm’s way unnecessarily. So if you’re ordered to evacuate, that’s a decision based off what we’re seeing with this storm. What your local officials are seeing with the storm.
Taylor Wilson:
Conditions are expected to deteriorate through South and central Florida throughout the day, particularly on the State’s West Coast. A storm surge warning is in effect with the highest risk from Naples to Sarasota. Tampa residents, Genie and Randy Gasman debated staying, but ended up heading inland to Orlando.
Genie Gasman:
We’re here in Orlando as we evacuated. Of course, we had a disagreement on evacuating. My husband wanted to stay in a 24 floor high rise to watch the storm come in, and I wanted to play it safe and evacuate. So as you can see, I won. We’re in Orlando and we’re safe.
Taylor Wilson:
Tampa’s airport has shut down and Orlando’s will do the same later this morning. Over 1200 flights yesterday and today have been canceled because of the hurricane. FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said not to underestimate the storm.
Deanne Criswell:
By the time it reaches the shores of Florida, the storm is going to slow down to approximately five miles per hour. And this is significant because what this means is that Floridians are going to experience the impacts from this storm for a very long time. I can tell you that our biggest concern as we wait for this storm to make landfall is storm surge. And I will note that storm surge is a leading cause of hurricane related fatalities. So therefore, if people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may mean the difference between life and death. And so my message to those who may be watching at home, get ready and do not underestimate the potential that this storm can bring.
Taylor Wilson:
For updates throughout the day, stay with USATODAY.com.
Russia has declared victory in a series of elections in Ukraine’s East and South that some in the west called a sham. The Kremlin said voters in four regions voted to join Russia. The Kherson Region, they said did so at 87%, while Luhansk and Donetsk went for the move at 98% or more, and Zaporizhzhia was at 93%. But the US and others have called out the referendum as sham elections, with outcomes decided ahead of time by Russia. US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfield and UK Ambassador James Kariuki.
Linda Thomas Greenfield:
The United States will never recognize any territory Russia attempts to seize or allegedly annex as anything other than part of Ukraine. We reject Russia’s actions unequivocally, and we will continue to work with our allies, partners, and like-minded to impose costs on Russia and to provide historic amounts of support for Ukraine.
James Kariuki:
Any referenda held under these conditions at the barrel of a gun can never be remotely close to free or fair. And the very idea that a referendum on a fundamental question could be held at three days notice in the middle of a war zone is frankly farcical.
Taylor Wilson:
Elections come as Russia is seemingly launching its latest phase of the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin is threatening to throw in more troops amid a kind of military draft. And Russia has recently given vague warnings about its willingness to use nuclear weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce to parliament the new terrain on Friday in an attempt to gain public support for the war. Protests recently hit streets across Russia following the announcement of this month’s military mobilization.
The January 6th committee was set to hold its latest hearing today, but they had to postpone because of Hurricane Ian. So what happens next? Producer PJ Elliott discusses with National Correspondent Tami Abdollah.
Tami Abdollah:
There were some hints that this might be the last hearing. It’s unclear because what’s happened in the past is after a hearing more people have come forward and then they’ve decided to continue investigating and then they had more information they wanted to release to the public. I think there were some expectations that this would be the final hearing, but that remains to be seen. The hearing itself is typically a couple hours long.
PJ Elliott:
Tami, we all know that it was a very busy summer and is still busy for former President Trump, but it was also busy pertaining to members of this committee.
Tami Abdollah:
Yeah. I mean, so aside from the FBI executing the search warrant pertaining to Trump as they tell it in court documents, keeping classified materials at Mar-a-Lago improperly and other national records there, that should have gone to the archives. The summer has also been eventful because the vice chair of the January 6th house Select committee, Liz Cheney, she’s a Republican representative out of Wyoming, and she actually lost, she was actually clobbered in her primary by 30 percentage points against the primary opponent who was a Trump loyalist. So she’s no longer going to be a representative or in Congress. And so this is kind of one of her remaining outlets moving forward, especially now that we’re six weeks away from a crucial midterm.
Taylor Wilson:
In a new study, drug makers say their Alzheimer’s drug, Lecanemab, slowed cognitive decline among people with early signs of the disease. The study led by Eisai, teamed up with Biogen, showed that their drug targeting amyloid beta in the brains of study participants slowed down memory and thinking problems. The company said the nearly 1800 person study showed a 27% reduction in cognitive decline compared to the placebo. People on the medication did experience side effects like brain swelling, but it rarely caused symptoms. Eisai already submitted an application to the FDA for accelerated approval of the drug based on a smaller earlier stage clinical trial. It’ll now submit the latest trial results and the FDA is expected to make a decision by January. The study is the latest test to a three decade old theory that Alzheimer’s disease is triggered by amyloid beta plaques in the brain and can be slowed by drugs that target the buildup of those plaques. But drug companies have mostly struggled through a long list of failed clinical trials.
When applying to new jobs, you may be asked for a cover letter, but is that still important? Reporter Olivia Monsun gives some tips with PJ Elliott.
Olivia Monsun:
Cover letters are important when applying for a job, because it allows you to show your skills besides just what’s on your resume, as well as give a sense of who you are and what you yourself are going to bring to the job and relate your experiences that you’ve said on the resume to what the job description is. And that’s one of the many reasons why cover letters are necessary and needed.
PJ Elliott:
So Olivia, what would you say to those who have this stigma that the cover letter is just repetitive or unnecessary because their skills are already showcased on their resume?
Olivia Monsun:
Yeah, I think that when it comes to writing cover letters, it can seem like a tedious task and it also may feel like someone from the company or the business that you’re applying to, they may not even be reading it, but that’s not true. I think that when people get a chance to read the cove...
Trump Pressed Giuliani To 'go Wild Do Anything You Want' In Effort To Overturn Election: New Book
Trump Pressed Giuliani To 'go Wild, Do Anything You Want' In Effort To Overturn Election: New Book https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-pressed-giuliani-to-go-wild-do-anything-you-want-in-effort-to-overturn-election-new-book/
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Judge Quashes Subpoena As Texas Attorney General Claims Server Posed Threat To Family
Judge Quashes Subpoena As Texas Attorney General Claims Server Posed Threat To Family https://digitalalaskanews.com/judge-quashes-subpoena-as-texas-attorney-general-claims-server-posed-threat-to-family/
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) claimed Tuesday that he fled a man serving a subpoena to him because he “perceived this person to be a threat.”
Driving the news: A judge granted Paxton’s request to quash the subpoena on Tuesday after the process server alleged that Paxton ran away from him and avoided him for more than an hour inside his house before leaving in a truck driven by his wife.
Paxton is running to win a third term in November.
The subpoena was related to a lawsuit involving abortion rights funding.
What he’s saying: “[A] strange man came onto my property at home, yelled unintelligibly, and charged toward me,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “I perceived this person to be a threat because he was neither honest nor upfront about his intentions.”
The process server is “lucky this situation did not escalate further or necessitate force,” he added, noting that he takes “common-sense precautions for me and my family’s safety” when at home.
The big picture: Paxton faces several legal challenges in addition to the abortion funding lawsuit, including a 2015 indictment on state securities fraud charges, an investigation over alleged corruption and a lawsuit brought by the Texas state bar, the Texas Tribune reports.
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College Raptor Releases Its 2023 https://digitalalaskanews.com/college-raptor-releases-its-2023/
Lists Spotlight Lesser-Known Schools Worth Consideration
, /PRNewswire/ — College Raptor, the most accurate and comprehensive college search site, released its “2023 Hidden Gem College” rankings. In its 8th year, the rankings put a spotlight on amazing colleges and universities, one in each state and Washington D.C., that students may not know about but certainly deserve consideration.
2023 College Raptor Hidden Gem Colleges by State
For the 2023 Hidden Gems, College Raptor includes four new ranking categories recognizing colleges and universities that have a religious affiliation, are affordable for the middle-class population, offer a geographically diverse student body, and have robust STEM programs. The top schools in these new categories are:
Best Religiously Affiliated Hidden Gem College: Hillsdale College
Best Hidden Gem College for Middle-Class Affordability: Virginia Military Institute
Most Geographically Diverse Hidden Gem College: United States Coast Guard Academy
Best STEM Hidden Gem College: Harvey Mudd College
Additionally, 10 new schools took the #1 spot in their states including: University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK), Western Colorado University (CO), Gallaudet University (DC), Gustavus Adolphus College (MN), William Carey University (MS), Yeshiva University (NY), Meredith College (NC), Grove City College (PA), Virginia Military Institute (VA), and University of Washington-Bothell Campus (WA).
“At College Raptor we recognize the challenges many students and families face when creating their college application lists,” said William Staib, co-founder, and CEO, College Raptor. “With our 2023 Hidden Gem Colleges, we highlight colleges that students may not have heard of before. These are amazing schools and are worth exploring for academic, financial, and social fit.”
Hidden Gems are comprised of National and Regional Colleges within New England, Mid-East, Southeast, Plains Region, Great Lakes Region, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, and the Far West.
“We are thrilled to be named a top school in College Raptor’s Hidden Gem Colleges List,” says Karen Hunt, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Luther College. “We often talk about Luther and our hometown, Decorah, Iowa as being a destination location. Ninety percent of Luther students study away or study abroad, and our student body includes citizens from more than 60 countries and 48 states. We are happy that College Raptor has confirmed our status as a gem of Iowa and the Great Plains Region!”
The Hidden Gem Colleges are the highest-rated schools in College Raptor’s 2023 Best Colleges rankings that have fewer than 7,000 undergraduate students, have a 10% or higher acceptance rate, offer five or more unique majors, and receive fewer than 5,000 applications per year.
View the complete College Raptor 2023 Hidden Gems Colleges rankings.
About College Raptor
College Raptor is the most accurate and comprehensive college search site with tools to empower students, parents, counselors, and colleges with college planning. College Raptor is the only college search platform that enables students and families to discover quality, affordable college options based on personalized estimates of financial aid, scholarships, academic match, and acceptance odds at every 4-year college in the country. More than 25 million students and families have used College Raptor to find cost-effective, academically appropriate college options that prepare them for future careers. For more information, visit CollegeRaptor.com.
Media Contact
Liz Robinson
[email protected]
(508) 733-2447
SOURCE College Raptor
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'The Entire World Is At Stake': Trump Pitches Himself To Head Up Negotiations Between Ukraine And Russia
'The Entire World Is At Stake': Trump Pitches Himself To Head Up Negotiations Between Ukraine And Russia https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-entire-world-is-at-stake-trump-pitches-himself-to-head-up-negotiations-between-ukraine-and-russia/
Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
Donald Trump proposed himself as the solution to the war in Ukraine after apparent explosions damaged the Nord Stream pipelines.
European leaders say the leaks are likely the result of sabotage, which Trump has blamed on the U.S. and Russia has blamed on Ukraine, and the former president offered to lead negotiations to wind down the Kremlin’s invasion of its neighbor — whose president he was impeached for trying to extort.
“Everyone is talking about the big hurricane barreling into Florida, as they should be,” Trump posted early Wednesday morning, “but perhaps a far more important event in the longer term was the announcement that the Nord Stream I & II Pipelines out of Russia (which I brought to the World’s attention as President when I explained how crippling reliance on it could be for Germany and other parts of Europe. Everybody laughed at the time, but they are not laughing anymore!) has been SABOTAGED. This could lead to major escalation, or War!”
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump aides were stunned by his obsession with his staffers’ sexuality: new book
“U.S. ‘Leadership’ should remain ‘cool, calm, and dry’ on the SABOTAGE of the Nord Stream Pipelines,” Trump added. “This is a big event that should not entail a big solution, at least not yet. The Russia/Ukraine catastrophe should NEVER have happened, and would definitely not have happened if I were President. Do not make matters worse with the pipeline blowup. Be strategic, be smart (brilliant!), get a negotiated deal done NOW. Both sides need and want it. The entire World is at stake. I will head up group???”
The pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical tensions in recent months as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
While the pipelines, which are operated by a consortium majority-owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, are not currently in operation, they both still contain gas but the environmental impact appeared limited so far.
One of the leaks on Nord Stream 1 occurred in the Danish economic zone and the other in the Swedish economic zone, while the Nord Stream 2 leak was in the Danish economic zone.
A leak was first reported on Nord Stream 2 on Monday.
“Authorities have now been informed that there have been another two leaks on Nord Stream 1, which likewise is not in operation but contains gas,” Danish climate and energy minister Dan Jorgensen told AFP in a statement on Tuesday.
“It is too early to say anything about the causes of the incidents,” the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities said in a statement.
Denmark’s energy agency has, however, called for “higher levels of preparedness in the electricity and gas sector” in the country, Jorgensen said.
Russia said it was “extremely concerned” about the situation.
Asked by reporters whether it could be an act of sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that at the moment “it is impossible to exclude any options”.
With additional reporting by AFP
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Post Politics Now: Biden Convening First White House Conference On Hunger Since Nixon
Post Politics Now: Biden Convening First White House Conference On Hunger Since Nixon https://digitalalaskanews.com/post-politics-now-biden-convening-first-white-house-conference-on-hunger-since-nixon/
Today, President Biden will deliver an address at the first White House conference on hunger since 1969, when President Richard M. Nixon pulled together a similar gathering. Administration officials say they have secured $8 billion in public- and private-sector commitments toward helping provide more food and better nutrition by 2030. The speaking program includes administration officials and members of Congress, as well as José Andrés, the chef and founder of World Central Kitchen.
On Capitol Hill, the Senate moved a step closer Tuesday to avoiding a partial government shutdown after removing a controversial energy project permitting provision pushed by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). Lawmakers are scrambling to pass a stopgap funding measure by Friday before leaving town.
Your daily dashboard
10 a.m. Eastern: Biden delivers remarks at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Watch live here.
11 a.m. Eastern: Biden delivers remarks at the White House to celebrate the Americans With Disabilities Act. Watch live here.
12:30 p.m. Eastern: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. Watch live here.
7 p.m. Eastern: Biden participates in a Democratic Governors Association reception in Washington.
Got a question about politics? Submit it here. After 3 p.m. weekdays, return to this space and we’ll address what’s on the mind of readers.
Analysis: What is the Electoral Count Act, and why does Congress want to change it?
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A year and a half after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Congress has passed no legislation to prevent it from happening again. But it could be close.
The Post’s Amber Phillips and Adrian Blanco note that a group of Democrats and Republicans is recommending new limits to Congress’s and the vice president’s roles in declaring the presidential winner. Per our colleagues:
They want to change a very old law known as the Electoral Count Act that they think President Donald Trump exploited to try to stay in power in 2020.
The House of Representatives passed its bill recently, with only nine Republicans voting for it. And efforts to reform this law just got a big boost from the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who endorsed the Senate’s version of the bill.
You can read a full analysis from Amber and Adrian about the larger push here.
Our colleague Amy B Wang has more on the latest related activity in the Senate here.
On our radar: Stock trading bill unveiled, faces uncertain future
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Rep. Zoe Lofgren (R-Calif.) late Tuesday unveiled a bill to prevent insider trading by members of Congress and eliminate conflicts of interest.
The long-awaited legislation had a rough birth and has an uncertain future, The Post’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer write in The Early 202. Per our colleagues:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was reluctant at first to back a bill to ban stock trades by members of Congress after Business Insider reported that dozens of members of Congress violated a 2012 law meant to eliminate insider trading.
She eventually came around, and Lofgren was tasked with consolidating the various proposals and drafting the central bill.
It was supposed to be released last week but was delayed as Lofgren continued to work through the details with members.
A vote this week is possible, two House Democratic aides say, but it could also be punted until after the midterm elections. It could also never come up for a vote.
You can read The Early 202 in full here.
Analysis: Senate GOP, liberal Dems find common cause in sinking Manchin’s bill
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Congress is on a glide path to avoid a partial government shutdown — and there are still three days to spare before the deadline.
But the relatively drama-free funding debate did claim one casualty: the energy project permitting bill of Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), The Post’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer write.
Per our colleagues:
Manchin announced Tuesday afternoon he was pulling his proposal from the stopgap funding bill, or continuing resolution (CR), as he faced down the reality it didn’t have the 60 votes needed to pass. With that done, the spending bill cleared a key procedural vote and could pass as early as Wednesday, but more likely Thursday.
Manchin shrugged off the defeat, telling reporters he’s confident he can find the needed support when Congress returns for its post-election “lame duck” session.
He could look to attach it to the annual defense policy bill or the next government funding bill that will be needed in December.
You can read the full analysis here.
On our radar: White House hosts conference on hunger with $8 billion in commitments
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President Biden on Wednesday is hosting the first White House summit in nearly a half-century dedicated to combating hunger, with administration officials saying they have secured $8 billion in public- and private-sector commitments toward helping provide more food and better nutrition by 2030.
The Post’s Matt Viser reports that Biden is planning to speak at the conference, which will also feature several members of Congress — including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), as well as Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) — and several Cabinet officials. It will also include José Andrés, the chef and founder of World Central Kitchen, and New York Mayor Eric Adams (D).
Noted: Trump weighed bombing drug labs in Mexico, according to new book
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As president, Donald Trump weighed bombing drug labs in Mexico after one of his leading public health officials came into the Oval Office, wearing a dress uniform, and said such facilities should be handled by putting “lead to target” to stop the flow of illicit substances across the border into the United States.
The Post’s Josh Dawsey has details:
“He raised it several times, eventually asking a stunned Defense Secretary Mark Esper whether the United States could indeed bomb the labs,” according to a new book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. White House officials said the official, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir, often wore his dress uniform for meetings with Trump, which confused the former president.
“The response from White House aides was not to try to change Trump’s view, but to consider asking Giroir not to wear his uniform to the Oval Office anymore,” Haberman writes in “Confidence Man,” an extensive book about Trump’s time in New York and as president.
The 607-page book, which has long been awaited by many of Trump’s aides, is set to be published Tuesday. A copy was obtained by The Washington Post. The book details unusual and erratic interactions between Trump and world leaders, members of Congress, as well as his aides, along with behind-the-scenes accounts of his time as a businessman.
On our radar: Solomon Islands rejects Biden’s Pacific outreach ahead of White House summit
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American efforts to rally Pacific island leaders at a White House summit this week were dealt a blow when the Solomon Islands said it would not endorse a joint declaration that the Biden administration plans to unveil.
The Post’s Michael E. Miller writes that as President Biden prepared to host the leaders of a dozen Pacific countries on Wednesday and Thursday in a first-of-its-kind gathering, the Solomon Islands sent a diplomatic note to other nations in the region saying there was no consensus on the issues and that it needed “time to reflect” on the declaration.
The latest: White House says it’s pushing to allow Puerto Rico fuel shipment
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White House officials are pushing federal agencies to quickly approve a legal waiver allowing Puerto Rico to receive a shipment of diesel fuel that is being held off the island’s coast, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Post’s Jeff Stein and Toluse Olorunnipa report that as Puerto Rico reels from Hurricane Fiona and the administration faces continued blowback over the issue, President Biden is personally tracking the matter and supports granting the waiver, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private discussions.
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Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes And Four Codefendants Face Jury In Highest-Profile Jan. 6 Trial
Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes And Four Codefendants Face Jury In Highest-Profile Jan. 6 Trial https://digitalalaskanews.com/oath-keepers-founder-stewart-rhodes-and-four-codefendants-face-jury-in-highest-profile-jan-6-trial/
Washington — Of the more than 870 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, 17 have been accused of seditious conspiracy, the high crime of using force to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
Members of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers — including the group’s founder Stewart Rhodes — have been charged with this offense, the most serious that any of the Jan. 6 defendants face. They are the first group to go to trial on the charge. Jury selection began Tuesday.
Rhodes, of Texas; associates Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson, of Florida; Jessica Watkins, of Ohio; and Thomas Caldwell, of Virginia, will square off against the Justice Department prosecutors with a consistent record of getting judges and juries alike to convict Jan. 6 defendants at trial. Only one defendant in a Jan. 6 case so far has been fully acquitted of the charges brought against him at trial.
The Oath Keepers members are accused of plotting to obstruct Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election results in support of Trump, traveling to the nation’s capital ahead of Jan 6., and coordinating their movements during the riot.
The government has alleged and will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the group’s planning, communication, and coordination were vital components of the chaos that occurred that day and were meant to impede Congress’ lawful function.
Rhodes, who is not accused of actually entering the Capitol building, and his codefendants have all pleaded not guilty and made various unsuccessful attempts to get the charges against them dismissed and to delay the trial into next year, even in the weeks leading up to the trial.
Charged in January with seditious conspiracy, Rhodes, the founder and leader of the group described as an anti-government militia of extremists, is accused of laying the groundwork for their actions as early as November, 2020, allegedly publishing a “Call to Action” on his website.
Prosecutors wrote in the indictment that by December, Rhodes’ rhetoric alluded to violence, allegedly messaging fellow Oath Keepers that if Mr. Biden were to assume office, “It will be a bloody and desperate fight. We are going to have to fight.”
Meggs and Rhodes allegedly wrote in messages around Christmas, 2020, that to succeed they would need to “scare” members of Congress, and a few days later, Caldwell scouted out a hotel in the Washington, D.C., area for the group’s use, court documents allege.
At the hotel, prosecutors say, the group staged a “QRF,” a so-called quick reaction force, storing arms and other supplies outside the Washington, D.C., city limits. And by January, Caldwell allegedly mapped a route between the group’s hotel and the Capitol building, according to court documents.
On the morning of Jan. 6, after the defendants traveled to the Washington area, prosecutors allege some in the group departed for the city donning battle apparel and tactical gear. Later, as the Capitol attack was underway and the group was allegedly coordinating with messaging apps and radios, Rhodes is said to have characterized the rioters as “patriots.”
Two separate groups of Oath Keepers then allegedly made their way into the Capitol building.
Meggs, Harrelson, and Watkins are accused of being a part of the group that marched up the Capitol’s east side, ultimately joining a mob that allegedly pushed against law enforcement and later searched for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Rhodes and Caldwell were allegedly on the Capitol grounds around that time.
The second group of Oath Keepers to allegedly breach the Capitol has also been charged with seditious conspiracy and will be tried next month.
Prosecutors say in the weeks following the attack, Rhodes bought firearms and messaged others about continuing to oppose Mr. Biden’s presidency, including through the alleged use of “local militias.”
The defendants have mounted numerous defenses for their actions and deny wrongdoing on Jan. 6.
Some of the Oath Keepers defendants charged with seditious conspiracy have argued they were not in D.C. to attack the Capitol, but to provide security to some of the higher-profile individuals in the former president’s camp. Text messages released in an April court filing revealed they were asked to serve as protective details for Trump ally Roger Stone and “Stop the Steal” rally organizer Ali Alexander.
“Ken Harrelson has spent 569 days in solitary confinement under horrendous conditions for a crime he didn’t commit,” Bradford L. Geyer, Harrelson’s attorney, said in a statement to CBS News, “We are looking forward to proving him innocent of these false charges.”
The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 will be holding its ninth hearing Wednesday, as some defense attorneys raise concerns that the publicity surrounding the ongoing hearings could taint a jury and prevent a fair trial, and the voluminous evidence in the case could keep the defendants’ lawyers from mounting an effective case for their clients without more time to prepare.
Attorneys for Rhodes, Meghan, Watkins, and Caldwell did not respond to a request for comment ahead of the proceedings.
Judge Amit Mehta, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2014 by President Barack Obama, will preside over the jury trial which is expected to span multiple weeks. The judge has said he plans to poll approximately 150 potential jurors to form a group of twelve qualified, impartial jurors to hear the evidence. He has dismissed the defendants’ concerns that finding a fair group of jurors would be difficult and rejected attempts to move the trial out of D.C., citing the past Jan. 6 trials that have taken place.
At Mehta’s direction, the jury will be semi-sequestered, meaning they will meet each day at an undisclosed location before being bused over to court, entering through a protected door to avoid public and media attention. Like a jury in any other trial, they will be instructed to avoid media coverage of the trial and be restricted from performing their own independent research.
Since charging the group of five and their codefendants with seditious conspiracy, the Justice Department has flipped three individuals connected with the Oath Keepers, securing guilty pleas and cooperation agreements. One of the individuals, leader of the North Carolina Other Keepers William Wilson, told prosecutors that on the evening of Jan. 6, Rhodes repeatedly implored an unnamed individual on the phone “to tell President Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power.”
If convicted on the seditious conspiracy charge, Rhodes and his codefendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Earlier this month, attorney Kellye SoRelle, who led the Oath Keepers after Rhodes’ arrest, was arrested and charged with charges of her own stemming from the Jan. 6 breach. She has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
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Seventh Suspect Sentenced In 2010 Death Of U.S. Border Patrol Agent From Flat Rock
Seventh Suspect Sentenced In 2010 Death Of U.S. Border Patrol Agent From Flat Rock https://digitalalaskanews.com/seventh-suspect-sentenced-in-2010-death-of-u-s-border-patrol-agent-from-flat-rock/
Almost 12 years after U.S. Border Patrol Agent and Flat Rock native Brian Terry was killed during a shootout with smugglers in Arizona, the seventh and final defendant was sentenced to prison.
A federal judge last week ordered Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga to serve 50 years in prison for his role in the Dec. 14, 2010, fatal shooting of Terry, 40, who was part of an elite crew on a mission that became deadly.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, Favela-Astorga pleaded guilty to murder in April following his capture that ended his seven-year reign as a fugitive in Mexico.
Terry’s sister, Kelly Terry-Willis, said the family created the Brian Terry Foundation that has awarded over 100 college scholarships to young adults studying in the criminal justice field. The foundation also helps other families of those killed in the line of duty with financial assistance.
“It has been just shy of 12 long years that we have fought for justice for Brian,” Terry-Willis said. “The men who took his life on that fateful night were able to run back over the border and live full lives as if nothing ever happened until they were caught and extradited back to the United States.”
2012 news report:Flat Rock native, border agent killed
Favela-Astorga was one of several armed bandits who had traveled from Mexico to the U.S. to hunt for marijuana smugglers to rob. At the time, Terry and other members of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) were on extended deployment in the desert to apprehend such robbery crews.
“Today is for Brian Terry, and his loved ones and colleagues who waited 11 years to see justice come to all who were involved in his tragic murder,” said U.S. Attorney Randy S. Grossman of the Southern District of California. “We hope it fulfills the promise to everyone who protects us. We’ll relentlessly pursue justice against those who do them harm for as long as it takes.”
Around midnight on the night of the shooting, Terry’s team attempted to arrest Favela-Astorga’s crew in a rural area north of Nogales, Arizona. A member of the robbery crew fired at the agents and Terry was hit in the back, severing his spinal cord and aorta. According to evidence presented at the prior trials, Terry called to a fellow agent, “Willie, I’m hit! I can’t feel my legs.” BORTAC agents, still under fire, tried to save Terry but were unsuccessful.
Terry-Willlis, who lives in Southgate, said one of her brother’s greatest accomplishments was making the elite tactical team known as BORTAC. She said it is difficult to make the team, but he had the drive and discipline to succeed.
“Brian was a man of honor and courage and he lived his entire adult life to serve and protect this country,” she said. “But he was also a brother, son, uncle and friend that we miss tremendously. I miss his smile and all the fun times we had.”
Evidence from the trials established that the five bandits at the scene were armed with four AK-47-style assault rifles and an AR-15 assault rifle and had food to last for days.
The agent’s death exposed the operation called “Fast and Furious,” in which U.S. federal agents allowed criminals to buy firearms with the intention of tracking them to criminal organizations. But the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of most of the guns, including two found at scene of Terry’s death.
The Obama administration was criticized for the operation and former Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt by Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to the sting.
Over the years, six other defendants were captured, convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Following the shooting, Favela-Astorga and others fled back to Mexico, leaving behind Manuel Osorio-Arellanes who had been shot in the stomach by agents. Osorio-Arellanes was convicted and sentenced in 2014 to 30 years in prison after cooperating in identifying other members of the robbery crew who were fugitives.
Mexican authorities arrested Favela-Astorga in October 2017 based on a provisional arrest warrant issued at the request of the United States. He was extradited to the United States in January 2020. The other members of the robbery crew at the scene were arrested in Mexico years after the shooting and several were sentenced to life in prison.
“For over the last decade, the FBI and our partners have worked to bring justice to all involved in the killing of agent Brian Terry. We will not and did not waver in our commitment to ensure that those who commit acts of violence against law enforcement officials will be held accountable and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Chris Ormerod, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “We hope today’s final sentence will help bring a degree of comfort to Agent Terry’s family in knowing that all the individuals responsible for his murder have been brought to justice.”
Terry was a former U.S. Marine. He was a 1988 graduate of Flat Rock High School and had been an agent for four years. Prior to that he had served in the Marine Corps and as a police officer in Ecorse and Lincoln Park.
To donate and learn more about the 501(c)(3) Brian Terry Foundation, go to HonorBrianTerry.com.
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Anti-Trump Jewish Organizations Education Content Promotes Critical Race Theory Accuracy In Academia
Anti-Trump Jewish Organization’s Education Content Promotes Critical Race Theory – Accuracy In Academia https://digitalalaskanews.com/anti-trump-jewish-organizations-education-content-promotes-critical-race-theory-accuracy-in-academia/
September 28, 2022, Spencer Irvine, Leave a comment
A prominent Jewish organization, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), apparently included Critical Race Theory beliefs in its education content after Fox News Digital investigated the organization’s curriculum. The curriculum is posted online and is meant for distribution for K-12 students.
Fox News Digital reported about the ADL’s adoption of Critical Race Theory and ADL disputed Fox News’s claims. ADL’s statement, in part, claimed, “We do not teach Critical Race Theory, period.”
The organization’s statement was a long-winded defense of its original mission and how it has “developed anti-bias and anti-hate education programs” in the last 40 years, as if it excused the allegations of promoting Critical Race Theory in its publicly-available education materials.
But the investigation tells a different story.
For context, ADL’s website claimed that it reached up to 4.8 million K-12 students and over 46,000 teachers participated in anti-bias training in 2021.
The ADL’s World of a Difference Training Institute Programs is an anti-bias training program that school districts pay for. For example, ADL was paid $75,000 for three years by Clark County, Nevada, to have access to the training program for its teachers, according to a Fox News report.
Among ADL’s listed terms in its glossary section is “intersectionality,” a term often used by the Left and Critical Race Theory promoter Kimberlé Crenshaw, which term was used in a 2020 ADL lesson on women’s rights. There was also praise in the same lesson for the left-wing radical group Women’s March, which is a group that struggled to combat charges of harboring anti-Semitic activists.
There were also mentions of white privilege and structural racism in one of ADL’s cited articles for teachers and students. Additionally, an ADL lesson plan also called for students to identify their own white privilege.
ADL’s education materials included at least one lesson plan on reparations and included material from controversial author and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates has a history of controversial statements, such as not feeling sorry for first responders killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The indoctrination does not stop there: Black Lives Matter was included in its education materials to the point that there is an activity asking the student to list the accomplishments of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Gender ideology also reared its head, with the push to promote “gender-neutral” pronouns such as “they” or “them” and addressing gender transition treatment (i.e. the use of puberty blockers).
ADL’s partisanship is not new because it consistently criticized President Donald Trump throughout his presidency, despite the multiple pro-Israel policies that Trump enacted while in office. Much of the organization’s press releases blasted Trump, such as his alleged “racist tweets,” called for the removal of Trump from the presidency, and advocated for extending Facebook’s ban of Trump on social media.
Also, parents should demand answers from their local school districts about the potential use of ADL’s biased and partisan education resources in their schools.
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Analysis | Senate GOP Liberal Dems Find Common Cause: Sinking Manchin's Bill
Analysis | Senate GOP, Liberal Dems Find Common Cause: Sinking Manchin's Bill https://digitalalaskanews.com/analysis-senate-gop-liberal-dems-find-common-cause-sinking-manchins-bill/
Good morning to everyone, especially Lizzo who played James Madison’s crystal flute flawlessly last night. “History is freaking cool you guys.” Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us.
In today’s edition … Congress is moving closer to changing the Electoral Count Act … Josh Dawsey got his hands on Maggie Haberman’s new Trump book … What we’re watching: Democrats releases stock trading ban bill … NARAL launches final midterms blitz in key states … but first …
Manchin plans next moves on permitting bill after Tuesday’s defeat
Congress is on a glide path to avoid a partial government shutdown — and there are still three days to spare before the deadline.
But the relatively drama free funding debate did claim one casualty: Sen. Joe Manchin III‘s (D-W.Va.) energy project permitting bill.
Manchin announced Tuesday afternoon he was pulling his proposal from the stopgap funding bill, or continuing resolution (CR), as he faced down the reality it didn’t have the 60 votes needed to pass. With that done, the spending bill cleared a key procedural vote and could pass as early as today, but more likely Thursday.
Manchin shrugged off the defeat, telling reporters he’s confident he can find the needed support when Congress returns for it’s post election “lame duck” session.
He could look to attach it to the annual defense policy bill or the next government funding bill that will be needed in December.
“We have other avenues,” Manchin said, adding he’s already spoken to Republican leaders and fellow West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) on what changes will be needed to secure a deal.
Manchin has made making it easier to get federal permits for energy projects a top priority, in part, because of the importance of the natural gas Mountain Valley Pipeline Project to his state.
To gain Manchin’s his support for Democrats’ health care, climate and tax bill (aka the Inflation Reduction Act) in August, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised Manchin he would pass his permitting proposal.
But it fell to the West Virginian to find the needed 60 votes in what amounted to role reversal for Manchin who is often the senator being heavily courted by his colleagues.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) used his levers of influence to convince fellow Republicans, even the ones from states that would benefit from the bill, to oppose the permitting proposal.
Republicans angry at Manchin’s decision to support the IRA, didn’t bother hiding their desire to sink his bill as retribution for that vote even though they have pushed for permitting changes for years. They argued it contained bad policies too for good measure.
Totally support @LeaderMcConnell efforts to make sure that weak and ineffective permitting reform – to reward Senator Manchin for supporting the misnamed ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ – is soundly rejected.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 27, 2022
Manchin had a smile on his face Tuesday night and said there were no hard feelings.
“It’s never too contentious. We’ve been around for too long to be contentious,” Manchin said.
It wasn’t only Republicans eager to trumpet the defeat of the permitting proposal, progressive Democrats were as well after casting the bill as a gift to fossil fuel companies. (Manchin and some other Democrats said it would help renewable energy projects as well).
“You know, this is a victory for the American people, for the hundreds of environmental and social justice organizations who understand that the last thing we need in the midst of this terrible climate crisis is more fossil fuel projects and a pipeline,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said.
House Democrats who made clear they might not support a funding bill with Manchin’s proposal attached, also seemed to relish Manchin’s defeat after clashing with him for most of this Congress on the party’s agenda.
“I don’t think any Democrat owes Joe Manchin anything — especially now,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “Sen. Schumer gave him the chance to find 60 votes and he couldn’t do it. I think we should close the book on this and move on.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups that lobbied for permitting reform aren’t ready to move on. They’re lobbying for Democrats to compromise with Republicans on provisions dealing with interstate transmission lines and try to pass the bill again in when government funding expires in December.
“I think our path forward is regrouping with [the electric] utilities and clean energy advocates and trying to find the compromise that threads the needle,” Christopher Guith, senior vice president of the Chamber’s Global Energy Institute, said on Tuesday evening. “And I’m cautiously optimistic that that’s possible.”
But tweaking the policies included in the bill might not mollify Republicans still upset with Manchin for voting for Democrats’ climate bill.
The failure of Manchin’s bill on Tuesday “reflects a distrust on the Hill right now,” Chris Treanor, a Democratic lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, wrote in an email to the Early. “The [White House] is still cleaning up from the IRA celebrations and we are right before a midterm election. It’s a tough environment for bipartisanship around a new — or renewed — proposal.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Tuesday night that President Biden would continue “to find a vehicle to bring this bill to the floor and get it passed and to the President’s desk.”
And Manchin expressed confidence Tuesday he can eventually strike a deal, even if it won’t be easy.
“Nothing’s easy around here,” he said.
NOTE: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) has sent a notice to his Republican colleagues that leadership urges a “no” vote on the continuing resolution.
Congress moves closer to passing bill to thwart future attempts to overturn presidential elections
The Senate Rules Committee approved legislation Tuesday to overhaul the Electoral Count Act with the support of both Senate leaders, the first time they came out in support of the measure (although it was expected). Schumer voted for the bill in committee and McConnell did too, announcing his position on the Senate floor Tuesday.
The bill amounts to rebuke of former president Donald Trump who attempted to use the 19th century law to overturn the presidential election results by pressuring Vice President Pence to reject electors from certain states by falsely arguing there was widespread voter fraud.
The bill, among other things, would make clear the vice president’s role in the counting electoral votes is purely ceremonial.
Just one Republican on the committee opposed it: Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), saying it “will decrease the ability of Congress to address the problem of voter fraud.” He then stated the obvious: “This bill is all about Donald J. Trump.”
Cruz, who joined Trump in trying to overturn the election results, argued Democrats had in previous elections voted to object to certifying Republican presidential victories, but never called for changes to the ECA until after the 2020 election. Those previous objections were mostly protests votes by a small group and weren’t accompanied by violence like that seen on Jan. 6, 2021, by people echoing Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.
Republican support in the Senate for changing the ECA marks a vast difference from the House where just nine Republicans backed a similar bill. None of the nine will face voters in November.
Later that evening in the Capitol, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) who led the effort on the bill, passed the top Republican on the Rules panel, Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), in the hallway. She stopped, put her hand on his shoulder and said. “Thank you. Good job. Thank you. Thank you.”
It is expected to be brought to the Senate floor in the “lame duck” session.
A first look at Maggie Haberman’s new Trump book
‘Confidence Man’: Our colleague Josh Dawsey gives us the first look at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s long-awaited book “Confidence Man.” The 607-page book details several unusual — sometimes bizarre — moments in Donald Trump’s presidency, such as when he weighed bombing drug labs in Mexico; resisted calls to condemn white supremacists more forcefully because “a lot of these people vote,” he said; and didn’t wait until aides removed classified details from a photo of an Iranian facility before tweeting because “if you take out the classification, that’s the sexy part,” he told aides. The book is out Tuesday.
“Throughout the book, Trump is portrayed as transactional and narcissistic — at times charming, at other times cruel — but always attuned to his own political fortunes, no matter the issue,” Dawsey writes. “During his meeting in the Oval Office with Barack Obama in 2016, he eschewed policy and asked Obama how he kept his approval ratings high, according to the book.”
On his relationship with others: “Trump was often crass and profane about world leaders and others in his orbit. He referred to German Prime Minister Angela Merkel as ‘that b—-,’ according to the book. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg was dying in 2020, the book says, Trump would sarcastically raise his hands to the sky in prayer and say: ‘Please God. Please watch over her. Every life is precious,’ before asking an aide: ‘How much longer do you think she has?’”
On the coronavirus pandemic: “Trump was appalled by the sight of protective face masks, telling aides to remove them in his presence throughout 2020. ‘Get that f—ing thing off,’ he said during one meeting, according to Haberman’s book. Trump repeatedly wanted credit for vaccines but told aides he could not get the credit he deserved because of the ‘radical right,’ referring ...
Mastriano Gets A Boost From Trump To End A Difficult Campaign Day
Mastriano Gets A Boost From Trump To End A Difficult Campaign Day https://digitalalaskanews.com/mastriano-gets-a-boost-from-trump-to-end-a-difficult-campaign-day/
Published September 28, 2022 at 6:09 AM EDT
On a day when he was haunted by old remarks about abortion and dogged by fundraising woes, Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano got a shot in the arm from former Donald Trump Tueday, as the former president joined him for teletown hall Tuesday night. Trump insisted that Mastriano could rein in crime and boost the state’s economy while praising Mastriano’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“Nobody felt more strongly, or feels more strongly about election integrity than Doug,” said Trump during the 15-minute event. “Maybe me, I’m not sure.” He later falsely contended that the election was “rigged” and “we won Pennsylvania by a lot.”
Mastriano was among the loudest voices arguing that Joe Biden’s win in the state should be overturned, despite the fact that courts repeatedly rejected such efforts, and despite the absence of evidence of widespread fraud.
After Trump spoke, Mastriano himself pledged to fight for “free and fair” elections, “starting with voter ID and many other initiatives.” As governor, Mastriano would be in a position to appoint the state’s top election officer. He has already named a number of election deniers to his campaign effort, including former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis and his would-be transition team chair Frank Ryan, a state representative who promoted a completely discredited theory that more write-in ballots were sent in by voters than were printed.
Trump also blasted Mastriano’s Democratic rival, Josh Shapiro, as “a total lightweight” who as attorney general “has been weak on crime, letting vicious gangs and violent felons and dangerous criminal aliens run wild on your streets.” He falsely asserted that Shapiro “supports unrestricted abortion on demand right up until the moment of birth and even after birth,” though Shapiro himself has said he supports the current Pennsylvania abortion law. That law limits abortion at the 24th week except in cases where pregnancy poses a threat to a woman’s life or health.
Notably, that was the evening’s only mention of abortion, though earlier in the day news reports resurfaced a 2019 interview in which Mastriano said that both the person seeking an abortion and the doctor providing it should be charged with murder. During the Tuesday call, Mastriano raised another culture-war issue instead, saying he would oppose transgender athletes playing in women’s sports, and that there would be “no more games with pronouns.”
Trump has stood beside Mastriano before, having appeared at a rally with him in Wilkes-Barre earlier this month. The appearance Tuesday reprised many of the same themes, though one notable difference was that Trump’s remarks by phone were much shorter, and much less focused on himself, than his nearly two-hour-long rally in Wilkes-Barre.
And for Mastriano, the call was a key sign of support on a day when newly filed campaign finance reports showed him well behind Shapiro. Mastriano raised slightly less than $3.2 million since the May primary. Of that, $1 million came from an Illinois couple, Richard and Liz Uihlein , noted for funding far-right candidates and opposing LGBT rights.
By contrast, Shapiro reported raising more than $25 million this summer.
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Stock Futures Fall After S&P 500 Hits New Low For The Year; 10-Year Treasury Yield Tops 4%
Stock Futures Fall After S&P 500 Hits New Low For The Year; 10-Year Treasury Yield Tops 4% https://digitalalaskanews.com/stock-futures-fall-after-s-10-year-treasury-yield-tops-4/
Stock futures fell Wednesday as traders struggle to find their footing after the S&P 500 notched a fresh bear market low in the previous session, with the 10-year Treasury yield continuing its march higher.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 67 points, or about 0.2%. S&P 500 futures shed 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures slid about 0.8%.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose 4 basis points to 4.005%, marking the first time since 2010 that it traded above the key 4% level. The shorter-term 2-year rate dipped 6 basis points to 4.248%.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England said it would temporarily purchase long-dated UK government bonds in an effort to stabilize the plunging British pound. Sterling briefly popped on the news before trading 0.5% lower against the dollar at $1.0647.
During Tuesday’s session, the S&P 500 hit of 3,623.29 to mark a new 2022 and bear market low. The broader market index pared losses after reaching that level, but still ended the day down 0.2% for its sixth consecutive daily decline.
Several technical metrics show that the stock market may be oversold, but some on Wall Street are worried that investors have not priced in an earnings slowdown and the impact of the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. The S&P 500 breaking below its previous low is a key indicator for some that stocks still have further to fall.
“I think we’re certainly not at the end of the road in terms of pricing in the full recessionary outcome. … We really need to get to dirt cheap valuations on equities, and we’re not quite there yet,” Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at iCapital, said on Tuesday’s “Closing Bell.“
British pound briefly pops after Bank of England announcement
The British pound got a brief boost Wednesday after the Bank of England said it would buy long-dated UK government bonds in an effort to stabilize the country’s currency.
The pound recently hit a record low against the dollar around $1.03. On Wednesday, sterling traded 0.6% lower at $1.0672.
—Fred Imbert
European markets slide as global stocks retreat
European stocks were sharply lower on Wednesday as global markets sold off on economic concerns surrounding inflation and the growth outlook.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1.9% by mid-morning, with banks and insurance stocks plunging 4.2% to lead losses. Healthcare was the only sector in positive territory, adding 0.7%.
The negative trade in Europe comes after a torrid night for markets in the Asia-Pacific.
– Elliot Smith
CNBC Pro: Credit Suisse says now’s the time to buy two green hydrogen stocks — and gives one over 200% upside
Credit Suisse says it’s time to enter the green hydrogen sector, with a number of catalysts set to drive the clean energy powerhouse.
“Green hydrogen is a growth market — we increase our 2030 market estimates by [over] 4x,” the bank said, forecasting that green hydrogen production will expand by around 40 times by 2030.
It names two stocks to play the boom — giving one upside of more than 200%.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield breaches 4% for the first time since 2010
–Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Asset manager reveals what’s next for stocks — and shares how he’s trading the market
Neil Veitch, investment director at Edinburgh-based SVM Asset Management, says he expects the macro landscape to remain “quite difficult” for the remainder of the year.
Speaking to CNBC Pro Talks last week, Veitch named the key drivers that could help the stock market to turn “more constructive” and shared his take on growth versus value.
CNBC Subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
Earnings questions, potential recession mean more selling could be ahead
The Dow and S&P 500 have fallen for six straight days, with many of those seeing broad selling typical of so-called “washout” days.
That can sometimes be a contrarian buy signal on Wall Street, but many investment professionals are skeptical that the selling is over. One reason is that earnings expectations for next year still show solid growth, which would be unlikely in the event of a recession.
“We know that if we start seeing a turnaround in the 2-year yields … and if we start seeing a turnaround in the dollar, that gives us the ability to bounce from these extremely oversold conditions,” said Andrew Smith, chief investment strategist of Delos Capital Advisors in Dallas. “But I have a hard time reconciling in my mind that the earnings story is going to be as good as we expect.”
Additionally, the dramatic moves in the bond and currency markets means that “something broke” and it may be smart to wait for that information to shake out, Smith said.
On the positive side, Smith pointed to a strong labor market and signs of continued spending on travel as a sign that the U.S. economy may be able to avoid a major recession.
— Jesse Pound
Futures open higher
Stock futures rose slightly after trading began at 6 p.m. Dow futures rose more than 60 points at one time, though those gains have since shrunk.
Nasdaq 100 futures had the biggest early jump of three, suggesting that tech may continue to outperform on Wednesday.
— Jesse Pound
S&P 500 takes out June low on Tuesday
Though Tuesday’s closing levels showed relatively modest daily moves, the S&P 500 fell below its previous intraday low for the year during the session. That move was seen by many as confirmation that the summer rally for stocks has failed.
The S&P 500 is now 24.3% off of its record high, and the Dow is also in bear market territory, down roughly 21.2%. The Nasdaq Composite, whose decline dates back to last November, is 33.2% below its high-water mark.
The next key metric for investors in the days ahead could come from the bond market, where the 10-year Treasury yield has surged to just below the 4% level.
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
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Ukraine Live Briefing: West Condemns Staged Referendums Calls Nord Stream Explosions deliberate Act
Ukraine Live Briefing: West Condemns Staged Referendums, Calls Nord Stream Explosions ‘deliberate Act’ https://digitalalaskanews.com/ukraine-live-briefing-west-condemns-staged-referendums-calls-nord-stream-explosions-deliberate-act/
Western leaders have condemned the staged referendums that concluded in parts of four Ukrainian regions under Russian control this week, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing Moscow of engaging in a “diabolical scheme” to annex Ukraine’s territory. The votes were illegal under international law, with reports of residents being coerced into voting. Russian state media claimed that initial results show 98% of those voting in Donetsk and Luhansk support joining Russia.
Meanwhile, the European Union said Wednesday that explosions damaging the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines and causing leaks into the Baltic Sea appeared to be “the result of a deliberate act.” President Ursula von der Leyen said investigations were underway into what she called “sabotage action,” underscoring that any deliberate disruption to European energy infrastructure would “lead to the strongest possible response.”
Here’s the latest on the war and its impact across the globe.
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Staged referendums yield expected result as Russia readies annexations. Putin’s plan to illegally annex four partially occupied regions in Ukraine lurched forward on Tuesday, as Russian officials and Kremlin proxy leaders claimed that staged referendums showed residents in favor of joining Russia by absurd margins of more than 95 percent.
Moscow does not fully control any of the four Ukrainian regions, either militarily or politically, The Post’s Mary Ilyushina and Isabelle Khurshudyan write. Moscow’s war against Ukraine has taken another disastrous turn in recent days, as Putin’s declaration of a partial military mobilization has led more than 180,000 Russians to leave the country to escape potential conscription, according to the neighboring countries of Georgia, Kazakhstan and Finland. The total is likely much higher.
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Track Hurricane Ian’s Path In Florida https://digitalalaskanews.com/track-hurricane-ians-path-in-florida/
The latest: As of Tuesday evening, Ian is a major hurricane between Cuba and the Florida Keys. Its most recent track shows landfall in Southwest Florida.
Where is Ian heading right now?
Here is the latest forecast track and cone from the National Hurricane Center, as well as recent satellite footage. The line and cone represent where the eye of the storm is expected to go in the coming days.
No prediction is exact — the cone shows the range that two out of three storms would take on average. But a third of the time, storms leave the cone.
A storm’s effects can reach much farther than its eye. This satellite video shows the storm for the last three hours.
Hover or tap on the circles on the map to see when the storm is predicted to reach each point.
Data from the National Hurricane Center. Video images from the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service.
• • •
2022 Tampa Bay Times Hurricane Guide
HOW TO TALK TO KIDS ABOUT THE HURRICANE: A school mental health expert says to let them know what’s happening, keep a routine and stay calm.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SHELTER: What to bring — and not bring — plus information on pets, keeping it civil and more.
SAFEGUARD YOUR HOME: Storms and property damage go hand in hand. Here’s how to prepare.
IT’S STORM SEASON: Get ready and stay informed at tampabay.com/hurricane.
RISING THREAT: Tampa Bay will flood. Here’s how to get ready.
DOUBLE-CHECK: Checklists for building all kinds of hurricane kits
PHONE IT IN: Use your smartphone to protect your data, documents and photos.
SELF-CARE: Protect your mental health during a hurricane.
• • •
Rising Threat: A special report on flood risk and climate change
PART 1: The Tampa Bay Times partnered with the National Hurricane Center for a revealing look at future storms.
PART 2: Even weak hurricanes can cause huge storm surges. Experts say people don’t understand the risk.
PART 3: Tampa Bay has huge flood risk. What should we do about it?
INTERACTIVE MAP: Search your Tampa Bay neighborhood to see the hurricane flood risk.
Read More Here