Digital Arizona News

Biden Says He Plans To Run In 2024, But “it's Just An Intention” https://digitalarizonanews.com/biden-says-he-plans-to-run-in-2024-but-its-just-an-intention/ President Biden said it’s his intention to run for re-election, but it’s “much too early” to make a “firm decision” on 2024. Why it matters: Biden’s comments during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday evening mark a departure from previous remarks he and White House aides have made about the 2024 presidential election. Driving the news: Biden told CBS’ Scott Pelley in the “60 Minutes” interview filmed before he flew to the U.K. to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral that “a whole range of things come into play” if he’s running for re-election, including election laws. “My intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen,” Biden said. “I’m a great respecter of fate. And so, what I’m doing is I’m doing my job. I’m gonna do that job. And within the timeframe that makes sense after this next election cycle here, going into next year, make a judgment on what to do.” The big picture: During the wide-ranging interview, Biden said the “pandemic is over,” vowed to “get control of inflation” and responded to a photo of top-secret documents strewn on the floor of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home by raising concerns that data may have been compromised and questioning how “anyone could be that irresponsible.” Worth noting: President Biden reiterated that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan if Chinese forces were to invade the self-governing island Beijing claims is a breakaway territory — prompting the White House to again stress that U.S. policy had not changed on the matter. Editor’s note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates. Read More Here

Frog And Firkin Football Frenzy: Week 6 Schedule | ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com https://digitalarizonanews.com/frog-and-firkin-football-frenzy-week-6-schedule-allsportstucson-com/ A LOOK BACK TO WEEK ONE Sabino 42, Coolidge 20 San Tan Foothills 48, Palo Verde 0 Benson 20, Tombstone 16 St. David 42, Ray 0 Baboquivari 50, Ft. Thomas 6 Hayden 64, Valley Union 0 San Manuel 30, Anthem Prep 14 Pusch Ridge 37, ALA West Foothills 7 A LOOK BACK TO WEEK TWO Florence 73, Palo Verde 0 Pusch Ridge 63, Paradise Honors 28 Morenci 44, Tanque Verde 0 Benson 21, San Tan Foothills 14 San Pasqual 28, Catalina 0 Bisbee 16, Santa Cruz 6 Globe 40, Santa Rita 0 Willcox 39, Gilbert Christian 14 St. David 58, Baboquivari 6 Ray 28, Valley Union 0 Mogollon 59, San Manuel 0 A LOOK BACK TO WEEK THREE Sunnyside 16, Desert View 6 Mica Mountain 28, Ironwood Ridge 0 St. David 70, Bagdad 20 Chaparral 23, Salpointe 20 (OT) Marana 37, Mountain View 21 Cienega 41, Catalina Foothills 21 Tucson 29, Dobson 21 Canyon del Oro 28, Walden Grove 7 Pueblo 42, Cholla 20 Rio Rico 10, Nogales 0 Buena 27, Sahuarita 9 Sahuaro 41, Seton Catholic 24 Empire 20, Rincon/UHS 0 Flowing Wells 28, Amphitheater 7 Sabino 47, ALA West Foothills 27 Pusch Ridge 51, Mohave 14 Douglas 10, Bisbee 8 Palo Verde 60, Catalina 0 Willcox 56, Benson 25 Tanque Verde 49, Valley Lutheran 0 Heritage Academy Laveen 35, Santa Rita 0 Sequoia Pathway 32, Tombstone 14 Desert Heights Prep 44, Baboquivari 8 San Manuel 40, Duncan 13 Lincoln Prep 46, Valley Union 0 A LOOK BACK TO WEEK FOUR Salpointe 35, Boulder Creek 22 Marana 35, Buena 0 Cactus Shadows 17, Sunnyside 14 Paradise Valley 37, Flowing Wells 0 Higley 49, Mountain View 7 Skyline 47, Tucson 28 Copper Canyon 12, Rincon/UHS 6 (OT) Cholla 14, Sahuarita 11 Pueblo 35, Safford 27 Sabino 41, Sahuaro 20 Walden Grove 48, Greenway 7 Bradshaw Mountain 41, Mica Mountain 14 Pusch Ridge 34, Catalina Foothills 9 Pima 43, Tanque Verde 0 Benson 55, Bisbee 18 Tombstone 47, Globe 8 Willcox 49, Sequoia Pathway 0 St. David 52, Duncan 0 Baboquivari 24, Valley Union 16 San Manuel 48, Mohave Accelerated 0 Phoenix Cortez over Catalina (forfeit) Palo Verde over Santa Rita (forfeit) A LOOK BACK TO WEEK FIVE San Tan Valley Poston Butte 40, Mica Mountain 0 Kingman Academy 54, Catalina 0 Basha 46, Salpointe 14 Canyon del Oro 38, Desert View 7 Goodyear Millennium 42, Cienega 14 Vista Grande 31, Ironwood Ridge 17 Buena 41, Nogales 0 Douglas 56, Cholla 49 Phoenix Alhambra 32, Rincon/UHS 10 Phoenix Thunderbird 55, Amphitheater 7 Chandler AZ College Prep 28, Walden Grove 20 Phoenix Sierra Linda 14, Empire 12 Flagstaff 59, Rio Rico 12 Sabino 55, Palo Verde 6 Pusch Ridge 59, Benson 0 Morenci 21, Willcox 14 Tombstone 56, St. John Paul II 0 Gilbert San Tan Charter 16, Tanque Verde 7 Phoenix Veritas Prep 27, Bisbee 8 Baboquivari 20, Kearney Ray 14 St. David 61, Heber Mogollon 44 San Manuel 58, Valley Union 6 Phoenix Cortez over Santa Rita (Forfeit) A LOOK TO WEEK SIX FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 Salpointe (1-2) at Cienega (1-1) Sunnyside (1-1) at Waddell Canyon View (1-2) Ironwood Ridge (0-2) at Goodyear Desert Edge (2-1) Phoenix South Mountain (2-1) at Tucson (1-1) Canyon del Oro (2-0) at Marana (2-0) Catalina Foothills (0-2) at Mica Mountain (1-2) Mesa Red Mountain (2-1) at Mountain View (0-2) Safford (1-4) at Sabino (4-0) Pusch Ridge (5-0) at Thatcher (4-0) Nogales (0-2) at Sahuaro (1-1) Amphitheater (0-2) at Tempe Marcos de Niza (3-0) Cholla (1-2) at Buena (2-1) Sahuarita (0-2) at Rincon/University (0-3) Rio Rico (1-1) at Douglas (2-0) Pueblo (2-0) at Walden Grove (1-2) Flowing Wells (1-1) at Avondale Agua Fria (0-3) Morenci (4-0) at Tombstone (2-2) Empire (1-1) at Glendale Deer Valley (0-3) Pima (3-1) at Willcox (3-1) Phoenix North Pointe (0-4) at Tanque Verde (1-3) Globe (1-3) at Catalina (0-4) Palo Verde (2-3) at Benson (3-2) Phoenix NFL Yet (2-2) at Bisbee (1-3) St. David (5-0) at Valley Union (0-5) Duncan (1-3) at Baboquivari (3-2) Fort Thomas (0-5) at San Manuel (4-1) Whittmann Mountainside over Santa Rita (Forfeit) BYE: Desert View (0-2). A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK SEVEN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 Tucson at Catalina Foothills Cienega at Goodyear Desert Edge Sunnyside at Ironwood Ridge Canyon del Oro at Phoenix St. Mary’s Mesa Westwood at Marana Mountain View at Nogales Flowing Wells at Desert View Vista Grande at Rio Rico Thatcher at Sahuaro Sabino at Pusch Ridge Tanque Verde at Santa Rita Glendale Independence at Douglas Pueblo at Amphitheater Sahuarita at Empire Willcox at Bisbee Tombstone at Catalina Valley Union at Fort Thomas Baboquivari at Mayer San Manuel at St. David BYES: Salpointe, Cholla, Rincon/UHS, Buena, Walden Grove, Mica Mountain, Benson, Palo Verde. FOLLOW @ANDYMORALES8 ON TWITTER Named one of “Arizona’s Heart & Sol” by KOLD and Casino del Sol, Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and a 2019 AZ Education News recognition. He was a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling and his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is a Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019, became a member of the Sunnyside Los Mezquites Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2021 and he was a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee. He earned a Distinguished Service Award from Amphitheater and he was recognized by the Sunnyside School District and by Tucson City Councilman Richard Fimbres. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com Read More…

Hong Kong Tech Leads Losses In Mixed Asia Session; Fed, Bank Of Japan Rate Decisions Ahead This Week https://digitalarizonanews.com/hong-kong-tech-leads-losses-in-mixed-asia-session-fed-bank-of-japan-rate-decisions-ahead-this-week/ Hong Kong Exchange logo Lewistsepuilung | Istock Editorial | Getty Images Shares in the Asia-Pacific was mixed on Monday ahead of major central bank meetings this week. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 0.64% lower, with the Hang Seng Tech index down 1.9%. South Korea’s Kospi opened higher before falling 0.56% and the Kosdaq was 0.99% lower. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.22% and the Shenzhen Component also gained 0.14%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was up 0.15%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4%. Japan’s market was closed for a holiday Monday. Later this week, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan will be announcing their interest rate decisions. Traders are betting on a 75-basis-point rate hike from the Fed, with the probability standing at 82%,  according to the CME FedWatch tracker of Fed funds futures bets. The Bank of Japan is expected to keep rates on hold at ultra-low levels, analysts predicted in a Reuters poll. Chinese yuan has room to weaken further in the near-term, Goldman Sachs says There’s still room for the Chinese yuan to weaken further, economists at Goldman Sachs said after both the onshore and offshore yuan fell to their lowest levels since July 2020 last week. “We expect CNY weakness to persist in the near-term, underpinned partly by broad USD strength,” strategists said in a note, adding the next key level to watch is 7.20, which was last tested in May 2020. Such a move, however, will come in tandem with a “sizable” strengthening the U.S. dollar, they said in the note, adding “CNY is unlikely to weaken by 3% in isolation.” —Jihye Lee CNBC Pro: Buy these inflation-beating funds to protect your money, strategist says As inflation remains stubbornly high, where can investors hide out given that U.S. stocks and bonds alike have been volatile? There are three types of funds that look appealing right now, according to Mark Jolley, global strategist at CCB International Securities. He named his favorites in each category. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan Read More Here

Queen Elizabeth's Funeral Today, World Leaders In Attendance: 10 Points https://digitalarizonanews.com/queen-elizabeths-funeral-today-world-leaders-in-attendance-10-points/ The funeral will bring to an end 11 days of national mourning across the United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth’s hour-long state funeral, the first in Britain since the death of her first prime minister Winston Churchill in 1965, will take place today at Westminster Abbey in London. Here are the top points in this big story: The funeral will bring to an end 11 days of national mourning across the United Kingdom that has seen the personal sorrow of the royal family play out in the glare of intense international attention. World leaders will join Britain’s royal family, its political elite and members of the military, judiciary and charitable organisations at the state funeral. The funeral will be shown by around 125 cinemas across Britain, while parks, squares and cathedrals will also set up viewing screens for the huge ceremonial event, the government said on Saturday. At the funeral, the Queen’s coffin will be carried on the same gun carriage used for her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria’s funeral. The spectacular ceremony at Westminster Abbey – expected to be watched by billions around the globe – will see 142 sailors pulling the gun-carriage bearing her lead-lined coffin. The route will be lined by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The procession will pass by Parliament Square where members of the navy, army and air force will form a Guard of Honour, accompanied by a band of the Royal Marines. The procession will be led by Scottish and Irish regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Air Force numbering 200 musicians. The coffin will be followed by King Charles and members of the royal family. The influx of dignitaries – along with that of hundreds of thousands of mourners from across Britain and around the world – poses an extraordinary challenge for Britain’s police. More than 2,000 officers have been drafted from across the country to help Scotland Yard. While the leaders of the European Union, France, Japan, India and many other countries will attend, those of Russia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria and North Korea were not invited. After the televised service, the Queen’s coffin will be transferred by royal hearse to Windsor Castle, west of London, for a committal service. That will be followed by a family-only burial in which the queen will be laid to rest alongside her late husband Prince Philip, her parents and her sister. Queen Elizabeth reigned for 70 years and 214 days – the first British sovereign to celebrate a platinum jubilee. She died aged 96. Read More Here

What Worked And What Didn’t In The Herm Edwards Era https://digitalarizonanews.com/what-worked-and-what-didnt-in-the-herm-edwards-era/ The Herm Edwards era is over at Arizona State, just three games into his fifth season as head coach. ASU went 26-20, including an 8-5 finish in 2021. The experiment went south once a NCAA investigation began due to recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lot that went wrong, but there’s also some things he accomplished that were a positive for players in his program. GOOD: Creating a Path to the NFL Seven ASU players made NFL rosters as rookies in the 2022 season. As Chase Lucas put it during a Twitter space hosted by Ralph Amsden today, the pro model that Edwards set out to build was accomplished. “When I got to the league, all my coaches knew I was prepared because of Herm, Marvin Lewis, and other pros on the ASU staff,” Lucas said after appearing in his first NFL game for the Detroit Lions. “That part of the pro model worked.” The Sun Devils did have the most players from the Pac-12 at the 2022 NFL combine. Edwards’ coaching staffs did develop pro-level guys and prepared them for the league. Having NFL experienced coaches on staff does create that culture, even if it didn’t translate to wins in Tempe. BAD: Old-School Playstyle, NIL Reluctance This is where Edwards fell short on the field. Whether or not he was intended to just be a “CEO figure,” or a true head coach, he did have a say in how this team calls plays. His playstyle is outdated. Running as few plays as possible and trying to drain clock doesn’t work in Power-5 college football. Name, Image, and Likeness is part of the ever-evolving landscape of college football. Ray Anderson subtly referred to this in his press conference on Sunday, by saying that the next coach will likely be younger and more suited for this landscape. Edwards didn’t appear to be equipped for this task. It remains to be seen if Anderson is as well… GOOD: Finding Quality Position Coaches For the purpose of this story, we’ll stay away from coaches that were allegedly involved in recruiting violations under Edwards. Interim head coach Shaun Aguano and defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez were hired by Edwards. Both are bright spots in the program, who have potential to do great things. Aguano was the head coach at Chandler high school, winning a title in each of his final three seasons before going to ASU. Multiple running backs coached under Aguano are in the NFL now (Eno Benjamin, Rachaad White). Despite the 1-2 start this season, the ground game has once again impressed. Lucas was coached by Aguano in high school before reuniting at ASU. When he found out about the news, he was overjoyed. “He’s the best answer for this team right now,” Lucas said. “He’s a true leader of men, and he will do everything in his power to right the ship, just like he did for us at Chandler.” Rodriguez is one of the most energetic coaches on the staff. At every practice, it’s easy to get drawn into his conversations with the defensive line. He’s as smart as they come, and will be a head cooach one day if he desires. BAD: In-State Recruiting Everyone understands why Edwards and his staff wanted to recruit at a national level. That’s one path to becoming a national powerhouse. But, Arizona is a hot bed for high school talent and is catching up to Texas, California, and Florida.  Lucas and Kyle Soelle are great examples of impact players who come from state 48. They both arrived at ASU before Edwards did. There has to be a balance. When high school coaches from top programs in your own state feel like their best guys aren’t shown respect from ASU recruiting, that’s a problem.  The next coach will need to make that a priority. Read More Here

Joe Kent Seeks Election On ‘America First Agenda, That’s What I Stand For’ https://digitalarizonanews.com/joe-kent-seeks-election-on-america-first-agenda-thats-what-i-stand-for/ By Isabel Vander Stoep  / isabel@chronline.com  Editor’s Note: A profile on Democratic congressional candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, can be found here. Working for the CIA, former Green Beret Joe Kent lived about as covert a life as one can. Now, by the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate from Yacolt has been thrust into the public eye.  Well over a year ago now, Kent was roused to candidacy by Republican incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler’s vote to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.  Long before the filing deadline last May, he and candidates Heidi St. John and Wadi Yakhour held a pact that the former president’s endorsement of one would spur the other two to drop out of the race. While the promise was not kept by St. John, Kent secured the endorsement and later punched his ticket to the Nov. 8 general election when he came up over Herrera Buetler, ending her service after six terms representing Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. His opponent is Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal. After holding phone town halls with the former president and making multiple appearances on Fox News with Tucker Carlson, Kent is coming to grips with massive changes to his life in rural Clark County, where he lives with his two sons, 7-year-old Colt and 5-year-old Josh. “Initially it was hard. But I mean, we’re in very odd times right now, very, I think, desperate times. I was able to kind of put that aside. And I feel passionately about what I’m doing and the issues that I stand for and the movement I’m a part of,” he said, later describing that movement as an “‘America First’ agenda, that’s what I stand for.” ‘Galvanized’ Asking Kent, 43, a Gold Star husband who’s traveled the world, to summarize his life story is asking for a Washington November without rain.  He grew up in Portland as a Boy Scout who loved visiting Mount St. Helens. His grandparents fought in World War II, giving him interest in war history from childhood.  In 1993, “savage combat” of the Black Hawk Down incident shocked and inspired him, he said.  He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1998 and was stationed at Fort Lewis. During the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, he was in training for the Special Forces.  “The mentality coming from the ‘80s and ‘90s, a lot of us thought, ‘Oh man, the guys that got to go spend that early phase in Afghanistan, that’s going to be it. That’s going to be our Panama, Grenada or Mogadishu and we’re not going to go to war for another 10, 15 years.’ So, I was definitely galvanized (by 9/11). There’s some real threats out there. I wanted our country to take them seriously,” he said.  His service as a Green Beret often meant spending half his year deployed and the other half in training, he said, until 2018.  “Then, retired on a Friday and swore in with the CIA on Monday as a CIA paramilitary operations officer,” he said, calling that wing of the agency the “pointy edge of covert operations.” He primarily worked out of the Middle East, speaking Arabic and training partner forces to take out terrorists.  In Baghdad in 2007, he briefly met Shannon Smith, who was serving on an intelligence team of Navy SEALs. The next time they met in 2013, the two served in a small unit together and bonded quickly, Kent recalled. He was 33 when they met the second time. In the following two years, they were married and had their first child. While he always thought of the Pacific Northwest as home, the duo intended on raising their children overseas, going from embassy to embassy and combining family life with service to their country, Kent said. As Trump was making his rise toward the presidency in 2015-16, Kent said he was one of the few to take him seriously early on. When Trump talked foreign policy and immigration on the debate stage, Kent said, “he went for the throat of the Bush foreign policy.” But Kent’s desire to be involved in policymaking didn’t come until 2019, when his wife was killed by a bombing in Syria.  Resolved to stop being “shot at for a living” and after meeting Trump during a tribute to Shannon and others who were killed, Kent had a lot to say.  “And whoever will listen to me, I’ll do my best to contribute to the conversation,” he said. Joe Kent’s Style In his “old life,” as he referred to it, Kent’s neighbors never knew where he was. Now, he spends his time talking to everyone, be it on podcasts, TV or during in-person town halls. He’s also engaged to be married.  He recognized Trump is the guy with the mean tweets, “for lack of a better term,” and no doubt a polarizing figure.  “My style is not that at all. If they come to my town halls, and I think if they get to know me, you’ll see that difference,” Kent said, adding later that because of his military background, he could see how people might mistake him as stoic. “But I try and do enough unscripted media where people can actually see me.” When the Clark County candidate thinks of the “America First” agenda, he imagines energy independence, strict immigration policy and spending federal dollars on law enforcement in the 3rd district with the goal of knocking out crime. He has previously proposed ending all legal and illegal immigration besides immigration through marriage and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He is anti-abortion, calling abortion a “sacrament of the Democrat religion right now,” in his interview with The Chronicle.  And, maybe more than anything, he’s against what he calls “establishment” Republicans, consistently joining those lambasting Herrera Beutler as a “RINO,” Republican in Name-Only, for her impeachment vote.  He said he doesn’t mind when people call him far-right, “because that typically means you’re not an establishment Republican. I personally don’t think I’m extreme.” He’s taken a firm stance on the 2020 presidential election, saying it was stolen from Trump, and even speaking at a rally in Washington, D.C. in support of those accused of storming the Capitol, calling them “political prisoners,” as reported by The New York Times. Asked what he would say to those who agree with his platform up until his claims of widespread election fraud, Kent said in the 3rd district he doesn’t believe it’s actually a hot-button issue “in the way the media thinks.” Pointing to the cumulative 41.99% of the vote split between him, St. John and candidate Vicki Kraft in the primary, he said, “Vicki and I both would say it’s rigged and stolen. Heidi said there’s major problems with the election. With our base right now, there’s a lot of people that have major issues with election integrity.” The question of how Kent will bridge the gap and earn the votes from supporters of Herrera Beutler remains. He previously told The Chronicle he thinks voting for Herrera Beutler is no different from voting for a Democratic candidate, and further, that the Democratic Party simply does not have moderate candidates anymore. “I think folks just have to recognize what the stakes are. And unfortunately, I hate to say it this way, but they have to decide which side they’re going to be on. Because there’s no middle. You can’t be a wishy-washy person now as you’re either with what’s going on with the current administration or you’re going to fight it. And that’s it,” Kent said.  A Big District, A Young Man’s Game In his office in Vancouver, Kent’s campaign manager, Ozzie Gonzalez mans the door. Energetic and intense, the 22-year-old graduated from Camas High School a few years ago and began working for the campaign after Kent filed for office. Gonzalez says the campaign hired 12 staffers over the summer and half returned to college in the fall. Kent said it was an honor to have young folks on his team. He felt with COVID-19, Gen-Z has been forced to grow up fast, relating that to his young adulthood around the time of Sept. 11.  “(Campaigning) is definitely a young man’s game,” Kent said. “Being able to run around the district a whole bunch and still have the energy to keep up with everything.” In a district spanning parts of Thurston County and encompassing Clark, Lewis, Cowlitz, Pacific, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties, the landscape and its people are diverse. The Chehalis, Columbia and Willapa River Basins are all firmly within its political lines, as are the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mount St. Helens. A long list of environmental issues face the district. Kent and Gluesenkamp Perez alike want their potential stints in Congress to be defined by championing problems for rural Washingtonians, and both have a focus on increasing family wage jobs, reducing crime and supporting commercial fishermen, loggers and recreators.  Ultimately, Kent believes it’s these issues and relationships that earned him a shot at the general.  “I think we won the election because we knocked on doors, went out and talked to people, and then town halls. If people come and experience that, they’re going to see who I am,” he said. The top vote-getter this November will serve a two-year term and will make a $174,000 yearly salary. For more on the candidates, visit the online voters’ guide at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/current-election/. To register to vote, head to https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/voter-registration/ or call 360-740-1164 to find registration nearest you. The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The League of Women Voters of Clark County will hold a debate between the two 3rd Congressional District candidates at 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15, at the downtown Vancouver public library at 901 C St., Vancouver.  Read More Here

AP News Summary At 8:20 P.m. EDT https://digitalarizonanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-820-p-m-edt/ Hurricane Fiona rips through powerless Puerto Rico HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Fiona has struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coast as it unleashed landslides, knocked the power grid out and ripped up asphalt from roads and flung the pieces around. Forecasters said the storm would cause catastrophic flooding and threatened to dump “historic” levels of rain, with up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) possible in isolated areas. Fiona on Sunday is lashing a U.S. territory that is still recovering from a string of strong earthquakes and Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm that caused deaths and destruction across the island in 2017. More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof. Bidens among thousands paying respects to Queen Elizabeth II LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden paid his respects at Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin as thousands of police, hundreds of British troops and an army of officials made final preparations for the queen’s state funeral. The funeral on Monday at Westminster Abbey will be a spectacular display of national mourning that will also be the biggest gathering of world leaders for years. People across Britain paused for a minute of silence at 8 p.m. to honor the queen. Also late Sunday, authorities closed a miles-long queue for people to see the queen lying in state. New arrivals were turned away, so that everyone in the line can file past the coffin before Monday morning, when it will be taken to Westminster Abbey for the queen’s funeral. Zelenskyy promises no ‘lull’ in taking back Ukrainian towns KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised his country Sunday there would be no letup after a series of Ukrainian victories taking cities and towns back from Russian troops. He said there would be no lull until all of Ukraine is freed. Russian shelling hit cities and towns across a wide stretch of Ukraine over the weekend. The British defense ministry warned that Russia is likely to increase attacks on civilian targets as it suffers battlefield defeats. A Vatican envoy distributing humanitarian aid was among those who came under fire. There were no injuries. And prosecutors in Kharkiv are accusing Russia of torturing civilians in one village that was recently freed. Biden: Classified documents at Mar-a-Lago raise concerns WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the discovery of top-secret documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and calls it “irresponsible.” In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Biden says he has not asked for any specifics “because I don’t want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they could take.” The FBI served a court-authorized search warrant at Trump’s Florida home on Aug. 8. Agents took about 11,000 documents, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office. They ended wanted pregnancies. Post-Roe, they face new pain. Ashley Lefebvre hugs her unborn daughter’s urn each night. Sarah Halsey treasures the tiny hat worn by her baby who lived just 38 minutes. Abi Frazier lives in a new home because she couldn’t bear to return to the one with the furnished nursery and empty crib. All ended wanted pregnancies because of grave fetal medical problems.  Such seldom discussed abortions are different from the most common type performed early in an unwanted pregnancy. For many who have endured them, the abortion debate since Roe’s reversal has unleashed a torrent of pain — and also brought them together to support each other, speak out and share their stories. In world beset by turbulence, nations’ leaders gather at UN UNITED NATIONS (AP) — World leaders are gathering at the United Nations this week under the shadow of Europe’s first major conflict since World War II. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the fighting it produced has sparked a global food crisis and a division among major powers not seen since the Cold War at a time of increasing international turbulence. The many facets of the war in Ukraine are expected to dominate the annual General Assembly meeting. It is taking place as many countries across the globe are also confronting inequality, an escalating climate crisis, the threat of multiple famines and increasing misinformation and hate speech. EXPLAINER: How the strong U.S. dollar can affect everyone NEW YORK (AP) — The value of the U.S. dollar has been on a tear for more than a year against everything from the British pound across the Atlantic to the South Korean won across the Pacific. The dollar is hovering close to its highest level in more than two decades against a key index measuring six major currencies. Many professional investors don’t expect the dollar to ease off anytime soon. Its rise makes an impact on nearly everyone, even those who will never travel beyond U.S. borders. The strength helps to limit inflation, but it can also hurt profits for many U.S. companies. First public global database of fossil fuels launches On Monday, the world’s first public database of fossil fuel production, reserves and emissions launches. Called The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels, it was developed by the groups Carbon Tracker and the Global Energy Monitor, and contains data on over 50,000 oil, gas and coal fields in 89 countries, covering 75% of global production. It shows that the United States and Russia have enough fossil fuel reserves to exhaust the world’s remaining carbon budget to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius warming. And it shows that if burned, the world’s reserves would generate 3.5 trillion tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all that’s been produced since the Industrial Revolution. Las Vegas Aces win first WNBA title, Chelsea Gray named MVP UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Chelsea Gray scored 20 points to lead the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA title in a 78-71 road win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 4. Gray went 9 of 13 from the floor, and was named MVP after averaging 18 points over the run. The Aces improved to 4-0 in this year’s playoffs with two days rest. Riquna Williams added 17 points Kelsey Plum added 16 points for the Aces, Jackie Young had 13 and league MVP A’ja Wilson added 11 points to go with 14 rebounds. It’s the first major pro sports title for a team from Las Vegas. Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is huge security challenge LONDON (AP) — London Mayor Sadiq Khan says Monday’s state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II is an “unprecedented” security challenge. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pack central London for an service attend by 500 emperors, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and other leaders from around the world. London’s Metropolitan Police says the “hugely complex” policing operation is the biggest in the force’s history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics. More than 10,000 police officers will be on duty Monday, with London bobbies supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain’s 43 police forces. The operation will also involve police spotters on rooftops, sniffer dogs on the streets, marine officers on the River Thames and mounted police on horseback. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

Trump Says He's Going To Mar-A-Lago To Survey The Damage Of 'ransacking' Himself — 5 Weeks Later https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-says-hes-going-to-mar-a-lago-to-survey-the-damage-of-ransacking-himself-5-weeks-later/ Donald Trump golfing at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach (Twitter) Former President Donald Trump raged on his social media site that he’ll be returning to his Palm Beach country club to survey the scene of the search warrant executed to gather documents he stole from the White House. Trump made the statement with a sense of urgency and dramatic tone, claiming he had to see “the unnecessary ransacking of rooms and other areas of the house.” The moment comes five weeks after the search on Aug. 8, leaving questions about why Trump is only now seeing the pressing need. Trump spent two weeks going back and forth between his New York City condo and his New Jersey golf club. He then spent another week at his club in Virginia, where he drove around the course in the drizzle. It was two weeks after the search was executed and the documents had been sifted by the Justice Department that Trump’s team was able to cobble together a legal complaint. To be fair, there was also a delayed reaction on Trump delivering the documents. The National Archives has been asking him to turn things back over after 18 months. His White House counsel revealed to the NARA that Trump shouldn’t have them. The NARA catalogs everything from a presidency and then presidents can access their documents after that for up to 12 years. The National Archives sources also suggested to the DOJ that documents were still at Mar-a-Lago, leading the House Oversight Committee to ask the DOJ whether this was true. It has since been revealed that Trump not only stole documents but he also stole a number of classified documents, including those that detail the nuclear capabilities of another country. Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com. Stories Chosen For You Read More Here

Strong Earthquake Hits Southeastern Taiwan, 146 Injured https://digitalarizonanews.com/strong-earthquake-hits-southeastern-taiwan-146-injured/ Firefighters work at the site where a building collapsed following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake, in Yuli, Hualien county, Taiwan September 18, 2022. Taiwan’s 0918 Earthquake Central Emergency Operations Centre/Handout via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Train carriages derailed, four rescued from collapsed building Tsunami warnings cancelled, chip foundries unaffected More than 600 trapped by blocked mountain roads Quake follows 6.4 magnitude tremor on Saturday TAIPEI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the sparsely populated southeastern part of Taiwan on Sunday, the island’s weather bureau said, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse and trapping hundreds on mountain roads. The weather bureau said the epicentre was in Taitung county, and followed a 6.4 magnitude temblor on Saturday evening in the same area, which caused no casualties. read more The U.S. Geological Survey measured Sunday’s quake at a magnitude 7.2 and at a depth of 10 km (six miles). Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Taiwan’s fire department said one person had died and 146 were injured by the quake. All four people were rescued from a building that collapsed in Yuli, while three people whose vehicles fell off a damaged bridge were rescued and taken to hospital. The Taiwan Railways Administration said six carriages came off the rails at Dongli station in eastern Taiwan after part of the platform canopy collapsed, but the fire department said there were no injuries. More than 600 people are trapped on the scenic Chike and Liushishi mountain areas by blocked roads, though there were no injuries and rescuers were working to reopen the roads, the department said. The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Taiwan after the tremor but later lifted the alert. Japan’s weather agency lifted a tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture. The quake could be felt across Taiwan, the weather bureau said. Buildings shook briefly in the capital Taipei, and aftershocks have continued to jolt the island. Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to major semiconductor factories, said there was no impact on operations. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), , the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said there was “no known significant impact for now”. Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Sam Nussey and Anirudh Saligrama; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Mosquito Fire: Firefighters Hopeful Forecast Rain Will Slow Fire's Growth https://digitalarizonanews.com/mosquito-fire-firefighters-hopeful-forecast-rain-will-slow-fires-growth/ Fire crews are working to use the forecast rain in their favor as they look for opportunities to contain flames and create stronger perimeter lines around the Mosquito Fire on Sunday. The fire has burned at least 74,748 acres and is 34% contained as of Sunday morning. Containment is a measure of the perimeter crews have established to prevent the spread of a wildfire. Thousands of people were allowed to go home on Sunday as more evacuation orders were downgraded in Placer County. At least 78 structures have been destroyed so far in the fire and another 13 have been damaged. Battling the BlazeThe strategy for Sunday is to use the forecast colder temperatures and good humidity to help build containment lines around the blaze. The rain event however is not expected to be a “season-ending event,” Cal Fire said.”As rain showers are forecasted to continue through the day and become heavier overnight, crews will look for opportunities to make containment progress as it is safe to do so,” a Cal Fire Sunday morning report said. “Firefighters will continue shoring up the corners of the fire and ensure the southern and western flanks hold along the communities.”On Saturday, firefighters battled strong winds and worked to prevent spot fires and flare-ups. Crews also continued to set backfires. “They’ve been working on that for several days, backfiring large chunks so the fire can’t come up and hook around those drainages,” said public information officer Scott McClean. “They’ve been very successful doing that and they will continue to work on that.”Firefighters worked throughout the canyons and ridges, using heavy machinery and walking the land with hand tools, hoes and shovels. They also sprayed water to dampen the forest to keep the fire from spreading. While firefighters continue to battle the fire in the canyon, there are signs of progress. Utility crews worked in Michigan Bluff. Workers put up new power poles and installed power lines to the small community. Some residents will return to destroyed homes and property, while many other homes were spared by the fire. “It’s very erratic up here and that has to do with the drainages that go in various directions that are funneling the wind,” McClean said.Meanwhile, on the west and north side of the fire crews have reported progress, while growth has also slowed on the southeast corner of the fire as it burns into the King Fire scar, Cal Fire said. Some evacuation orders reducedOn Sunday morning, some evacuation orders in Placer County were reduced to warnings and people could start to go home. Zones 7B, 8, 9, 10, 11A, 12, 15 and 26 all on the west side of the fire are the ones that were downgraded. At least 3,701 people are able to return home, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday. For those returning home to spoiled food, there are dumpsters available in the parking lot at the LDS Church on Todd Valley Road, authorities said. Some orders in El Dorado County were also downgraded on Sunday.The communities allowed to return home include Cannon Creek, Bottle Hill and Grey Eagle. The warnings in Cool, Garden Valley, Georgetown Proper and Swansboro were lifted. On Saturday evening, evacuation orders were reduced to warnings for Zone 12 in Placer County and some people along Foresthill Road, among others, will be allowed to go home. However, authorities warn people there is no gas available in Foresthill and Worton’s Market remains closed. Some residents in the community of Georgetown in El Dorado County were allowed to return home on Friday. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office reduced the evacuation order, a lawful mandate to leave immediately, to an evacuation warning, which is a recommendation to be ready to leave in case wildfire activity becomes threatening. For evacuated residents, a drop from order to warning is also a green light for them to begin repopulating. Evacuation orders were reduced for the area west of Wentworth Springs Road at Citabria Lane, north of Greenwood Road and Graybar Mine Road. Also included is east of Highway 193 at Sliger Mine Road, and south of Bottle Hill Road and Snow Cap Road. The reduced orders do not include Sliger Mine Road north of Loriel Drive and Spanish Dry Diggins Road north of Odyssey Falls Drive.Georgetown is about 18 miles north of Placerville and about 19 miles east of Auburn. See all evacuation orders and warnings below. App users, click here.Evacuation centersPlacer CountySierra College — 5100 Sierra College Blvd, Rocklin, CA 95677 (Parking in Lot B, the shelter will be in the Building J cafeteria)El Dorado CountyCameron Park Services District — 2502 Country Club Drive, Cameron Park, CA 95682. Overnight shelter, meals, showers, limited health services and parking for trailers will be provided. Animals in crates and carriers will also be accepted.Green Valley Community Church — 3500 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville, CA. This location with accept human and small domestic animals on leashes or in creates. No Large animal and no birds. Limited RV parking and no hookups.Animal evacuation centersPlacer County Gold Country Fairgrounds — 209 Fairgate Road, Auburn, CaliforniaPeople can start to pick up their animals starting at 8 a.m. on SundayDiamond Springs Shelter (small animals only) — 6435 Capitol Avenue, Diamond Springs, CA 95619Rancho Murieta Equestrian Center (equines only) — Call for information: 916-985-7334Flying M Ranch (large animals only) — 5421 Buck Mountain Road, Placerville, CA 95667Road ClosuresThe Placer County Sheriff’s Office said hard road closures are in place on Foresthill Road and Lincoln Way in Auburn. There are also closures at the Old Foresthill Road at the Confluence.The eastbound Interstate 80 offramp to Foresthill Road is closed due to the fire.(Click through the gallery below for a glimpse at the firefight.) Large Mosquito Fire flare-up spottedKCRA 3 Photojournalist John Breedlove earlier this week captured a large flare-up from the Mosquito Fire. A massive column of smoke could be seen coming up from those flames. That flare-up has since destroyed vehicles and structures near Foresthill High School. Foresthill students take classes in AuburnHigh school is tough enough without students having to worry about their town or school burning in a massive wildfire.Yet, for 200 Foresthill High School students, they are now taking classes at Placer High in Auburn while the town of Foresthill remains under an evacuation order because of the Mosquito Fire.”The first few days, I wasn’t able to focus because the fire kept getting closer and closer to our town,” said Foresthill sophomore Bryce Dowling. Full story here. Foresthill resident who didn’t evacuate recalls terrifying flare-upMitch Griffith has lived in the town of Foresthill in Placer County for the last 22 years.He is also one of the residents who chose to stay put when mandatory evacuations were issued for his home when the Mosquito Fire began threatening that area.“Tuesday morning was a great morning,” Griffith said. “It was beautiful. Everything was great, and then this fire jumped up.” Full story here.El Dorado County and Placer County residents can check if their home is destroyedResidents in El Dorado and Placer counties can check if their homes have been damaged, destroyed, or still intact.The sheriff’s offices for both counties released their own respective interactive maps that let you click on homes that are color-coded based on the amount of damage. Damaged or destroyed homes will also include pictures showing what the house looks like. Homes without damage will not have their pictures posted.View the El Dorado County map below. App users, click here.View the Placer County map below. App users, click here.State of emergency declared Placer County issued a local emergency due to the blaze.“A local emergency proclamation asserts continuing risk to life and property and that the response is beyond the capabilities of local resources,” a release from the county said. “Placer’s proclamation requests state and federal assistance, but neither a state nor a federal disaster has yet been declared that would authorize individual disaster assistance for residents and businesses.” Gov. Gavin Newsom also declared a state of emergency in Placer and El Dorado counties due to the fires. With the state of emergency declared, that opens up federal resources to assist in combating the fire. PG&E files incident report to CPUCIt’s still unclear how the Mosquito Fire started. However, PG&E filed a report with the state’s public utility commission for a pole near where the fire started. The U.S. Forest Service had placed “caution tape around the base of a PG&E transmission pole” the report said on Thursday. “Thus far, PG&E has observed no damage or abnormal conditions to the pole or our facilities near Oxbow Reservoir, has not observed down conductor in the area or any vegetation related issues.”PG&E is investigating. Here’s a look at the current air quality in Northern CaliforniaSmoke from the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties will continue to impact areas across the Sacramento region, according to Spare the Air. The Sacramento Metropolitan, El Dorado, Feather River, Placer and Yolo-Solano air districts forecast unhealthy air quality for parts of the region.| MORE | Sacramento region’s air quality impacted by unhealthy smoke from the Mosquito Fire Fire crews are working to use the forecast rain in their favor as they look for opportunities to contain flames and create stronger perimeter lines around the Mosquito Fire on Sunday. The fire has burned at least 74,748 acres and is 34% contained as of Sunday morning. Containment is a measure of the perimeter crews have established to prevent the spread of a wildfire. Thousands of people were allowed to...

S&P 500 Futures Are Little Changed Ahead Of The Federal Reserve's September Meeting This Week https://digitalarizonanews.com/ss-september-meeting-this-week/ Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on September 13, 2022 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images S&P 500 futures were little changed on Sunday evening after the major averages posted their worst week since June and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting this week. Futures tied to the broad market index were flat in premarket trading. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.1% higher, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%. On Friday, stocks slid as investors reacted to a hotter-than-expected inflation report and a dismal warning from FedEx about a “significantly worsened” global economy. The Dow industrials dropped 139 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9%. Investors are focused on the Fed’s two-day meeting, which will begin Tuesday. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by another three-quarters of a point, though investors are also watching for guidance about corporate earnings before the next reporting season begins in October. “As the S&P 500 hovers below the all-important 3,900 level, and the 10-year Treasury yield inches ever closer to 3.5%, the Fed-sensitive 2-year Treasury note flirts with 3.9%, suggesting that the Fed’s aggressive campaign to kill off inflation is to be taken seriously,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. “The canary in the coal mine may not yet be dead, but is probably struggling to breathe.” Beyond the Fed meeting, there are just a few economic data releases this week, including August housing starts on Tuesday and initial jobless claims on Thursday. There are also a handful of corporate earnings on deck, including Costco, Darden Restaurants, General Mills and Lennar. —CNBC’s Patti Domm contributed reporting. Goldman expects Fed funds rate at 4% to 4.25% this year Strategists say the most important information investors are looking for from the Federal Reserve will be what’s on the dot plot, the Fed’s so-called interest rate forecast. After the CPI release last week, the futures market for fed funds priced a big jump higher in the terminal rate, or end point where the Fed stops hiking. It had been pricing in a 4% terminal rate by April. “We expect the median dot to show the funds rate at 4-4.25% at end-2022, an additional hike to a peak of 4.25-4.5% in 2023, one cut in 2024 and two more in 2025, and an unchanged longer-run rate of 2.5%,” Goldman Sachs’ David Mericle said in a note late Sunday. “How high will the funds rate ultimately need to go? Our answer is high enough to generate a tightening in financial conditions that imposes a drag on activity sufficient to maintain a solidly below-potential growth trajectory,” he added. “We could imagine the hiking cycle extending beyond this year if additional tightening proves necessary to keep growth on a below-potential path.” — Tanaya Macheel, Patti Domm Stocks could fall below 3,700 before the next rally, says Fundstrat’s Newton Mark Newton, head of technical analysis at Fundstrat, said investors shouldn’t get too tempted by a potential bounce in the coming days as the S&P 500 could fall under 3,700 before a more meaningful rally kicks in. “September’s Triple Witching Friday close at multi-week lows is particularly negative for the prospects of a rally, and further selling still looks likely over the next couple weeks to undercut 3,700 before a relief rally can get underway in October,” he said. The S&P 500 on Friday ended the week at 3,873.33. “While one cannot rule out a 1-2 day bounce attempt given this week’s decline, I do not expect much strength until prices have reached support under 3,700 in October,” he added. “Tactically, ‘cash remains king’ and one should be patient until markets reach downside targets, and begin to show either volume and breadth divergences, or capitulation to buy.” — Tanaya Macheel Stock futures open little changed on Sunday night Stock futures opened little changed on Sunday evening, after the major averages posted their worst week since June, driven largely by a hotter-than-expected inflation report and a dismal warning from FedEx about the global economy. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by just 0.05%, while S&P 500 futures increased 0.03%. Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 0.07%. The moves came as investors were looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day September meeting, which begins Tuesday. — Tanaya Macheel Read More Here

Donald Trump Invited To US Memorial Service For Queen Elizabeth https://digitalarizonanews.com/donald-trump-invited-to-us-memorial-service-for-queen-elizabeth/ Former US President Donald Trump has been invited to a memorial service for Queen Elizabeth in Washington DC. The 76-year-old businessman was left off the guest list for the funeral in London but received an invite from the British government for the “Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”, according to The Telegraph newspaper. The service will take place at Washington’s National Cathedral, which can hold around 1,700 people, on Wednesday (09.21.22). The cathedral has previously hosted state funerals for former US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George HW Bush. Queen Elizabeth’s US memorial service is being arranged by the British embassy in Washington. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation to the Queen’s funeral in London on Monday (09.17.22). White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the invitation was transmitted as a diplomatic note from the protocol directorate of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with Biden accepting. She said: “The invitation was extended to the US government for the President and the First Lady only.” In a previous statement about Queen Elizabeth after her death, Trump wrote: “Melania and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Together with our family and fellow Americans, we send our sincere condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom during this time of great sorrow and grief. “Melania and I will always cherish our time together with the Queen, and never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor. What a grand and beautiful lady she was–there was nobody like her!” Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Read More Here

Trump’s Latest Rally Was Even Weirder Than Usual https://digitalarizonanews.com/trumps-latest-rally-was-even-weirder-than-usual/ Can you finger it out? Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Trump rallies are still in some ways a singular phenomenon in American politics, but rarely does anything truly unexpected happen at them. The events typically feature more of the same, from the vivid demonstrations of Donald Trump’s cult of personality, to the all-too-familiar grievances and claims that make up the bulk of the former president’s long, rambling, partially improvised speeches. These days, Trump is just as likely to go on and on (and on) about the 2020 election and Hunter Biden and the Mar-a-Lago raid as he is likely to barely mention whatever GOP candidate he’s ostensibly appearing to support. But Trump’s rally in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday night broke some new weird ground — surprising even longtime observers of the events. At the end of his speech, eerie music began to play on the loudspeakers as Trump reached the part of his remarks where he ominously goes through a list of all the many ways America and the world are becoming an apocalyptic hellscape without him as president. The music was a song inspired by the QAnon conspiracy theory. And while this was happening, many in the crowd raised their arms and pointed a finger upward. It’s not clear what the gesture meant. The song, as the New York Times pointed out Sunday, was nearly identical to a track named “Wwg1wga” — an abbreviation of the QAnon slogan “Where we go one, we go all.” The same song — which Trump aides told the Times was called “Mirrors” — was also used in a recent Trump video his team produced and was played at the end of Trump’s recent rally in Pennsylvania, too. In a statement to the Times, a Trump spokesman reiterated the claim that the track was just “a royalty-free song from a popular audio library platform.” He also waved off criticism of them using the music as “a pathetic attempt to create controversy and divide America.” Last month, VICE News reported that the two songs were definitely one in the same, according to several analyses, and that regardless of what the Trump team claims, many QAnon supporters view the use of the track as a not-so hidden message meant for them. Meanwhile, the finger-pointing gesture which spontaneously broke out among the crowd on Saturday night seems to have professional Trump-rally watchers and extremism analysts stumped, at least for now. The Times reported that “scores of people in the crowd raised fingers in the air in an apparent reference to the ‘1’ in what they thought was the song’s title,” and that “It was the first time in the memory of some Trump aides that such a display had occurred at one of his rallies.” No one else had seen it before either, so there was a lot of head scratching afterward. It could have been a QAnon thing, or some kind of America First thing, or another demonstration of the ascent of Christian nationalism in the MAGA-era GOP. Regardless, as the Associated Press reported Friday, Trump is no longer just winking at the QAnon contingent of the MAGA faithful, more and more he’s now at least posing as their fellow traveler. The former president posted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin on Truth Social on Tuesday, and has also been sharing dozens of other posts that directly or indirectly reference the conspiracy theory. Whether he buys into the dark and disturbing fantasy himself or not, he clearly wants the believers to continue to buy into him. This post has been updated. Trump’s Latest Rally Was Even Weirder Than Usual Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission. 9:00 a.m. christian nationalism christian nationalism Mixing Christianity With Nationalism Is a Recipe for Fascism By Ed Kilgore Ron DeSantis is but the latest in a long series of leaders exploiting Jesus, the enemy of all nationalism. what we know Martha’s Vineyard Migrants Leave Island As Outrage at DeSantis Grows By Chas Danner The dozens of migrants now have temporary shelter at a military base in Cape Cod. 9/17/2022 Russia tries to dig back in Western defense officials and analysts on Saturday said they believed the Russian forces were setting up a new defensive line in Ukraine’s northeast after Kyiv’s troops broke through the previous one and tried to press their advances further into the east. The British Defense Ministry said in a daily intelligence briefing that the line likely is between the Oskil River and Svatove, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. … Moscow “likely sees maintaining control of this zone as important because it is transited by one of the few main resupply routes Russia still controls from the Belgorod region of Russia,” the British military said, adding that ”a stubborn defense of this area” was likely, but that it remained unclear whether the Russians would be able to withstand another concerted Ukrainian assault. Ukrainian forces, in the meantime, continue to cross the key Oskil River in the Kharkiv region as they try to press on in a counteroffensive targeting Russian-occupied territory, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. 9/17/2022 just asking questions just asking questions What Would a Ukraine Victory Look Like? 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By Ed Kilgore The House select committee is planning at least one more hearing, and it has plenty of time to reach a fitting conclusion. royals Sorry, Americans, But King Charles May Hate Us By Margaret Hartmann From fixing him up with Nixon’s daughter to staging the Princess Diana–John Travolta dance, we’ve often shown him a bad time. life after roe Lindsey Graham Caught the Garbage Truck By Sarah Jones The senator thought he was doing his party a favor with his abortion ban. politics Charlotte Bennett Hits Andrew Cuomo With a Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit By Nia Prater In her lawsuit, Bennett is suing Cuomo for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation. early and often The FBI Seized Mike Lindell’s Phone in a Hardee’s Parking Lot By Benjamin Hart Somehow, that seems appropriate. 2022 midterms Republicans Shudder as Extremist Don Bolduc Wins Senate P...

Biden Says He Doesn https://digitalarizonanews.com/biden-says-he-doesn/ Maureen Groppe   | USA TODAY Watch Video: Here’s why a judge granted Trump’s request for a special master WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS he has not been briefed on the classified documents federal agents retrieved last month from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. Biden told “60 Minutes” he hasn’t “asked for the specifics of those documents” because he doesn’t want to get involved in the Justice Department’s investigation. “I agreed I would not tell them what to do and not, in fact, engage in telling them how to prosecute or not,” he said. Biden has previously said he had “zero” advance notice before the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. Agents seized 11,000 documents, including 54 marked “secret” and 18 “top secret.” His comments to CBS were his most extensive about the documents. Biden said he has “not personally spoken to anyone” about what national security secrets are in the documents. But, he added, “I’m sure my administration is aware of all of that, and so is the National Security Council.” Prosecution vs. politics: Can AG Garland pursue Trump probes without influencing the midterms? 2022-09-18T23:30:16Z Read More Here

More Than 100 Golf Carts Gather For MAGA Club Rally In The Villages https://digitalarizonanews.com/more-than-100-golf-carts-gather-for-maga-club-rally-in-the-villages/ The Villages MAGA Club held a golf cart rally Sunday afternoon. The club, which has split from Villagers for Trump, offered some familiar themes as members showed their support for Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. More than 100 golf carts gathered for the event which traveled from Lake Sumter Landing to Brownwood. Many of the participants in the rally indicated they belong to both the new MAGA Club and Villagers for Trump. The Villages MAGA Club held a golf cart rally Sunday afternoon. Janin Robert with her dog Oscar took part in her first golf cart rally in The Villages. Janin Robert of the Village of Bonnybrook attended the rally with her Goldendoodle, Oscar. She has been in The Villages for about a year. They moved to The Villages from Louisiana, in part because of the support Villagers have shown for President Trump. She is also a big fan of DeSantis. “This is the first golf cart rally I have done,” she said. The MAGA Club will hold its inaugural dinner Oct. 24 at the Wildwood Community Center. Lara Trump, who is married to Donald Trump’s son, Eric. She has worked for Inside Edition and as a contributor to Fox News. Read More Here

Report: Some Census Takers Who Fudged Data Didn’t Get Fired https://digitalarizonanews.com/report-some-census-takers-who-fudged-data-didnt-get-fired-2/ By Associated Press Published: September 18, 2022, 3:26pm FILE – A briefcase of a census taker is seen as she knocks on the door of a residence Aug. 11, 2020, in Winter Park, Fla. The House has passed legislation on a party-line vote that aims to make it harder for future presidents to interfere in the once-a-decade headcount that determines political power and federal funding. The bill is a Democrat-led response to the Trump’s administration’s failed efforts to place a citizenship question on the 2020 census. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) Some census takers who falsified information during the 2020 count didn’t have their work redone fully, weren’t fired in a timely manner and in some cases even received bonuses, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s watchdog group. The findings released Friday by the Office of Inspector General raise concerns about possible damage to the quality of the once-a-decade head count that determines political power and federal funding, Off-campus students at colleges and universities were likely undercounted since the census started around the same time students were sent home to stop the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, the review found. During the 2020 census, The Associated Press documented cases of census takers who were pressured by their supervisors to enter false information into a computer system about homes they had not visited so they could close cases during the waning days of the census. Supervisors were able to track their census takers’ work in real time through mobile devices that the census takers used to record information about households’ numbers, demographic characteristics and members’ relationships to one another. As a result, supervisors would get alerts when actions raised red flags about accuracy, such as a census taker recording data on a home while far away from the address or a census taker conducting an interview in just a few minutes. As a quality control check, others census takers were sent back to homes to re-interview residents. The Inspector General’s probe concluded that some alerts weren’t being properly resolved, some re-interviews weren’t properly conducted and that the work of some census takers whose work had been flagged for falsifying data had not been reworked to fix its accuracy. In fact, some census takers whose work was flagged for falsifications were given more cases, weren’t fired and were reassigned to other operations, the report said. Of the 1,400 census takers who were designated “hard fails” because questions about the accuracy of their work, only 300 were fired for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. Of the 1,400 “hard fail” census takers, 1,300 of them received bonuses ranging from $50 to $1,600 each, the report said. The census is the largest nonmilitary mobilization in the U.S. Data gathered during the census determines how many congressional seats each state gets. The numbers also are used for redrawing political districts and distributing $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. Because of that, undercounts can cost communities funding. The 2020 census faced unprecedented challenges including the pandemic, natural disasters and political interference from the Trump administration. In response to the Inspector General’s report, the Census Bureau said it appreciated the concerns that were raised but disagreed with the conclusions that data quality may have been damaged since the report cited only a small number of cases out of the overall workload. “As a result, we asserted that the findings could not and should not be presented as a conclusive assessment of overall census quality,” Census Bureau Director Robert Santos said in the written response. Under Census Bureau rules, college and university students should have been counted where they spent the most time, either at on-campus housing or off-campus apartments, even if they were sent home because of the pandemic. Most schools didn’t provide the Census Bureau with off-campus student data, and the bureau had to use a last-resort, less-accurate statistical tool to fill in the information gaps on more than 10% of the off-campus student population when they were given the information, the Inspector General’s report said. Schools often didn’t provide the data because they didn’t have information on off-campus students or because of privacy concerns. The Inspector General recommends passage of legislation that would require schools to provide needed information in future head counts. “Although difficult to quantify, the fiscal implication of specifically undercounting off-campus students at the correct location for states and localities is potentially far-reaching,” the report said. The city of Boston, which is home to Northeastern University, Boston University and several other schools, said in a challenge to its census figures that the count missed 6,000 students. Read More Here

China Values UN Relationship Despite Human Rights Criticism https://digitalarizonanews.com/china-values-un-relationship-despite-human-rights-criticism-3/ BEIJING —  As world leaders gather in New York at the annual U.N. General Assembly, rising superpower China is also focusing on another United Nations body that is meeting across the Atlantic Ocean in Geneva. Chinese diplomats are speaking out and lobbying others at an ongoing session of the Human Rights Council to thwart a possible call for further scrutiny of what it calls its anti-extremism campaign in Xinjiang, following a United Nations report on abuses against Uyghurs and other largely Muslim ethnic groups in the western China border region. The concurrent meetings illustrate China’s divided approach to the United Nations and its growing global influence. Beijing looks to the U.N., where it can count on support from countries it has befriended and in many cases assisted financially, as a counterweight to U.S.-led blocs such as the Group of Seven, which have grown increasingly hostile toward China. “China sees the U.N. as an important forum that it can use to further its strategic interests and goals, and to reform the global order,” said Helena Legarda from the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. While holding up the United Nations as a model of multilateralism, China rejects criticism or decisions that the ruling Communist Party sees as counter to its interests. Its diplomats struck back at the report published last month by the U.N. human rights office raising concerns about possible “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang — vowing to suspend cooperation with the office and blasting what it described as a Western plot to undermine China’s rise. China had pushed hard to block the report on Xinjiang, delaying its release for more than a year. In the end, the information did come out — but just minutes before embattled U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet left office. Like the United States, China feels a certain freedom to ignore U.N. institutions when it wants: The Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the Human Rights Council in 2018, accusing it of anti-Israel bias. The Biden administration jumped back in this year and has made a priority of defending Israel in the 47-member-state body. Also like the United States, China leverages its influence to get its way — effectively stymieing an investigation by the U.N.’s World Health Organization into whether China was the birthplace of the coronavirus pandemic. Ken Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to redefine what human rights are, in part by casting economic development as a key criterion. China, Roth said, “more than any government in the past, is trying to undermine the U.N. human rights system” — by pressuring U.N. officials, retaliating against witnesses and trying to bribe governments. “One of their top priorities right now — maybe after Taiwan — is to avoid condemnation by the Human Rights Council,” Roth said. The self-governing island of Taiwan is claimed by China as its sovereign territory, an issue that the Beijing government is vociferous about internationally. Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University in China, said advocating for the U.N.’s role in maintaining the international order doesn’t mean that China agrees with every U.N. body, citing the COVID-19 origins study and the recent Xinjiang report. “When the U.N high commissioner for human rights issues such a report, in the eyes of China, it is the same as all organizations in the world, no matter official or private, that defames China,” Shi said. But China doesn’t want its pique toward the rights office, which falls under U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to spill over to its deepening relationship with other parts of the world body that deal with refugees, climate, the internet, satellites, world hunger, atomic weapons, energy and much more. China wields power as one of the five veto-holding members of the Security Council, helping it build relationships with the United States and others who needed China’s support for past resolutions on Iran and North Korea. That influence has diminished somewhat with the overall deterioration of U.S.-China ties, Shi said. Subsequently, both China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed resolution in May to impose new sanctions on North Korea. Under Xi, who came to power 10 years ago, China has expanded its U.N. involvement from primarily international development early on to political, peace and security issues, Legarda said. China has stepped into a diplomatic void created by a lack of U.S. leadership, said Daniel Warner, a Geneva-based political analyst. Former President Donald Trump shunned many international institutions, Warner said, and successor Joe Biden has been preoccupied with domestic issues. China holds the top jobs at three of the U.N.’s 18 specialized agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Industrial Development Organization and the International Telecommunications Union, where the United States has put up a candidate to succeed outgoing chief Houlin Zhao. A Chinese official headed the International Civil Aviation Organization until last year. For China, it’s a matter of prestige as well as influence, Warner said. “The United States and the Western countries were very much involved in the initial United Nations,” he said. “China doesn’t want to have that kind of leadership. They’re not talking about liberal values, but they want to make sure that their interests are defended in the U.N. system.” Chinese diplomats spearheaded a joint statement — which it said was backed by 30 countries including Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela — that blasted “disinformation” behind the U.N. report on Xinjiang and the “erroneous conclusions” drawn in it. And China’s ambassador in Geneva said Beijing could no longer cooperate with the human rights office — without specifying how. Sarah Brooks, a China expert at the International Society for Human Rights advocacy group in Geneva, said China could hold up its funding for the office — which lately has come in at $800,000 a year, far less than Western countries that give tens of millions. Still, Brooks said it would be a “huge blow” if funding from China were to stop, in part because many countries appreciate and support the causes that Beijing helps pay for. “The optics of it are really damaging,” she said. “You have a country that says, ‘Hi, I want to be responsible, but I’m so thin-skinned … I’m still going to lash out at the organization that drafted it.’” Read More Here

Rare September Rainstorm Batters The Bay Area After Grueling Heat And Drought https://digitalarizonanews.com/rare-september-rainstorm-batters-the-bay-area-after-grueling-heat-and-drought/ Sep. 18, 2022Updated: Sep. 18, 2022 3:34 p.m. Dark clouds gather over Oracle Park in San Francisco during Saturday’s game between the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Bay Area braced for a rare September rainstorm. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Rain battered the Bay Area on Sunday, moving from the northern valleys toward the south, upending street events in San Francisco and triggering fears of blackouts or toppled trees. For residents recovering from a record heat wave, in a season typically marked by grueling wildfires and protracted drought, the rain brought surprise and relief, along with a fair share of panic. In downtown San Francisco, the showers came in bursts, picking up at about 9:45 a.m. and spraying down hard enough, within a few minutes, to rattle the tin chimney caps of apartment buildings. By 10 a.m. the dounpour had washed leaves down the drains and was threatening to clog them up and start building lakes in intersections. A storm that generated weeks of tantalizing forecasts had finally arrived. Then, by 10 :15 a.m., it was over, another illustration of California’s extreme vicissitudes in weather, where atmospheric rivers follow long parched periods. At 11 a.m. the wind began moaning and the rain started again. Organizers canceled the annual LeatherWalk in SoMa, the Stern Grove Festival and Sunday Streets in the Western Addition. Inclement weather delayed Flower Piano, a popular performance festival in Golden Gate Park, by one hour, though the even proceeded at 11 a.m. with tents covering all twelve pianos. “The crowd is less than if it were a sunny day but there is a phenomenal dedicated hearty group of pianists and listeners who are here and outfitted in their finest rain jackets, rain boots and umbrellas,” said Brendan Lange, spokesperson for Flower Piano. Yasmin Bahl started her regular run up the Lyon Street steps in a pouring rain at Green Street. By the time she reached the top at Broadway, the rain had cleared enough to see a lone sailboat on the slate gray bay. “We blinked. It’s over,” she said of the storm, before she started on her second of 10 sets on the steps. Gentle rains that moistened pavement at about 8 a.m. in the East Bay turned fierce in the afternoon, when the rain came pouring down in sheets. By then the storm had doused much of the North Bay, where forecasters predict the mountains may see up to 3.5 inches of rainfall. Powerful winds blasting southward along the coast prompted the National Weather Service to issue an advisory for Sunday and warn of likely outages. “We’re definitely considering this a welcomed rain event that will bring moisture to some of our dry fuels,” said Brooke Bingaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Thouth the storm’s behavior may seem erratic, Bingaman and other weather scientists expect it will produce unseasonably high levels of precipitation. Southerly winds gather over the Bay Area on Saturday night, with rain forecast for all area by Sunday night into early Monday. National Weather Service Bay Area In downtown San Francisco, residents should anticipate about an inch, roughly four times what the city collects in an average September, Bingaman said. So far amounts vary from a few hundredths to 0.13″ Sonoma and Marin Counties. A few drops of rain already at San Francisco within last hour, more arriving from the southwest. The surface to upper level low still spinning up (strengthening) ~ 200 miles west of Point Reyes. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/8VM6V9tr06 — NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 18, 2022 Oakland should expect a half-inch to .75-inch of rain, possibly doubling its September rain average, she added. Forecasts expect similar totals in the San Jose area, which may also double its September average. “But it’s another case where the North Bay is the winner for rain,” Bingaman said. Sonoma and Napa counties should get 1-2 inches of widespread rain that began lashing the North Bay valleys Saturday night, pelting Mount Tamalpais and Mill Valley, the National Weather Service reported, as winds picked up in the East Bay hills and Santa Cruz mountains. Commuters should expect a messy Monday morning drive, Bingaman said, as the first rain of the year mixes with oil residue on Bay Area roads, creating dangerous conditions, along with high winds blowing debris onto roadways. The winds could also blow tree limbs onto power lines, causing outages. In addition, the first rains can turn accumulated dirt on power lines into mud, which conducts electricity and can damage the system and cause outages. Fortunately, Bingaman said, the Bay Area’s wildfire burn scars are older, so she is not expecting mudslides in the area. In the Lake Tahoe area, there’s the possibility of light snow in higher elevations, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Tolby. But the bigger impact should be cooler temperatures, breezier conditions and about an inch of rain in the area. Tolby said residents are finally getting a reprieve from smoky air. “The Mosquito Fire has been pouring in smoke,” he said. “So, we’re all quite excited to see some wind, rain and clouds.” Matthias Gafni and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni @rachelswan Read More Here

Russian Pop Star Alla Pugacheva Speaks Out Against War In Ukraine https://digitalarizonanews.com/russian-pop-star-alla-pugacheva-speaks-out-against-war-in-ukraine/ The Russian singer Alla Pugacheva has spoken out against the war in Ukraine and the “death of our boys for illusory goals”. The remarks are the first time that the pop star, an icon in Russia, has publicly criticised the conflict. Her husband, Maxim Galkin, joined journalists, human rights activists and Kremlin opponents in being labelled a “foreign agent” last week for opposing the war. Addressing the Russian justice ministry, Pugacheva told her 3.4 million Instagram followers: “I am asking you to include me on the foreign agents list of my beloved country. “Because I stand in solidarity with my husband, who is an honest and ethical person, a true and incorruptible Russian patriot, who only wishes for prosperity, peace and freedom of expression in his motherland.” She said her husband wanted “the end of the deaths of our boys for illusory goals that make our country a pariah and weigh heavily on the lives of its citizens”. Pugacheva, 73, who has sold more than 250m records, became hugely popular during the Soviet era and has remained so over a career spanning more than 55 years. Galkin, a TV presenter who now lives abroad, has often criticised the war in Ukraine. Russian media said Pugacheva left the country after the invasion began in February. She was seen in Moscow at the funeral of the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on 3 September. Russian authorities have clamped down on any criticism of the war in Ukraine, handing out fines and prison sentences to dissenters. Many Russian artists who denounced the conflict had their shows cancelled. Pugacheva has met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, several times, but she has never publicly supported him. Read More Here

ASU’s Herm Edwards Is Out As Head Football Coach https://digitalarizonanews.com/asus-herm-edwards-is-out-as-head-football-coach/ TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – After an embarrassing loss at home Saturday night to Eastern Michigan, Herm Edwards has announced that he is “relinquishing his role” as Arizona State University’s head football coach. Running backs coach Shaun Aguano will take over on an interim basis, having been with the program since 2019. He spent 10 years as the head coach at Chandler High School, building the program into a national powerhouse. ASU staff members were told this morning that Edwards will be leaving the university, and the football team will be notified of the decision Sunday afternoon. ASU Vice President of Athletics released the following statement on the decision: Edwards was in his 5th season and leaves ASU with a 26-20 record, including a 30-21 loss to Eastern Michigan Saturday night. The school is under NCAA investigation and many of the program’s top players transferred. The Sun Devils host the 14th-ranked Utah this Saturday night. Ray Anderson, ASU Vice President for University Athletics, will be leading a news conference at 3:30 p.m. To learn more, tune in to Arizona’s Family after the Cardinals game. This is a developing story. Check back with AZFamily.com for updates. Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Maine Rematch Could Be A Bellwether For Control Of Congress https://digitalarizonanews.com/maine-rematch-could-be-a-bellwether-for-control-of-congress-2/ PATRICK WHITTLE ASSOCIATED PRESS September 18, 2022, 1:42PM Updated 7 minutes ago AUBURN, Maine — Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District this year, but his brand of politics is. In a race that will help decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden will defend his seat against Republican former Rep. Bruce Poliquin and independent candidate Tiffany Bond. The race is a rematch for Golden and Poliquin, who ran for the same seat in 2018, when Golden emerged victorious by a razor-thin margin. The appeal of Trump-style politics has grown in the district since then despite the fact it is represented by Golden, a moderate Democrat. Poliquin, who represented the 2nd District as a moderate Republican from 2014 to 2018, has shifted his own messaging rightward to try to take advantage of those headwinds. The result is a race that could be an indicator of Trump’s continued influence on swing districts and rural politics. Voters in the district are taking notice. Mary Hunter, a Democrat and retired academic who lives in the city of Lewiston, thinks Golden is still the right candidate for the district. She said she’s voting for him in part because she’s concerned about Democrats losing control of Congress. And she’s aware Trump is still a big influence on a lot of voters in her district. “Most people are kind of red team or blue team. I think Jared is doing his best to move to the middle. He’s very centrist,” Hunter said. “Whether that will serve him, I don’t know.” But in Auburn, a nearby city of about 23,000 in the 2nd District, Coastal Defense Firearms owner Rick LaChapelle said he’s planning to vote for Poliquin. LaChapelle, a Republican city councilor in Lewiston, said he respects Golden but feels the Democratic Party has become too extreme. “His party is too radical. He cannot overcome the strength of his party, so you have to change the party,” LaChapelle said. The district, one of two in Maine, includes the state’s second- and third-largest cities — Lewiston and Bangor — but is mostly made up of vast rural areas in northern and western Maine. It also includes the state’s Down East coastline and is home to Maine’s traditional industries such as lobster fishing, logging and potato and blueberry farming. The district is also geographically the largest in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River, and it is far more politically mixed than the heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District in southern Maine. Trump won the 2nd District in 2016 and performed even better in the district in 2020, though he lost the statewide vote both times because of overwhelming margins in the 1st District, centered in liberal Portland. Poliquin has focused his campaign on issues such as curtailing immigration and protecting gun rights. It’s a shift from his earlier campaigns, which focused more closely on controlling taxes and protecting rural jobs, though he continues to tout those issues. His website has warned of liberals who want to defund law enforcement and push critical race theory in schools, and boasted of his work with Trump when he served in Congress. “I came out again from semi-retirement because our country and our state are in deep trouble,” said Poliquin, who was once an investment manager and served two years as Maine’s state treasurer. Golden, a Marine Corps veteran, has long positioned himself as a moderate who supports the 2nd Amendment and works to safeguard industries such as commercial fishing and papermaking. He’s continuing that approach this time around. Golden has shown a willingness to buck his own party over the years, including coming out against President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan in August. His positions have sometimes won him crossover endorsements from groups that often back Republicans, such as when he received the backing of the state’s largest police union in July. The union also endorsed Republican former Gov. Paul LePage, who is running for his old job. Golden said he expects voters to reward him for standing up to the Democratic Party leadership on issues such as the nearly $2 trillion climate and health care bill the House passed in 2021. He voted against the bill. He subsequently voted for the slimmed-down $740 billion measure that passed Congress last month. “In the last two years, I don’t know of anyone who has been more independent, and more willing to stand up to their own party, than I have been,” Golden said. “I’m not trying to strategize ‘How do I hold on to the Democratic voters or to the Trump voters?’” The race will include the use of ranked-choice voting, which Golden needed to win the seat in 2018. Bond, who came in third in 2018, said independent voters in the race will be the ones who decide it. She said she’s focusing her campaign on issues such as improving health care access and addressing climate change. Bond said she expects ranked voting will play a role again this time around. “I was the candidate who got all the votes that neither party could,” she said. The race is likely to be much closer than Golden’s 2020 reelection victory, said Mark Brewer, a political scientist at University of Maine. Golden won that election handily over Republican Dale Crafts. It’ll be closer this time in part because of national backlash against Democrats over issues such as inflation, Brewer said. But it’ll also be closer simply because the 2nd District is unpredictable, he said. “It’s the kind of district that has a lot of the people Trump made his appeal to in 2016. Relatively rural, largely white working class voters who have a sense of grievance, economic grievance,” Brewer said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that this race is going to be closer than Golden’s last race.” ____ The story has been corrected to show that Golden voted for the $740 billion climate and health care bill passed last month. He voted against a previous, more expansive bill in 2021 labeled the Build Back Better Act. Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics. Read More Here

US Forecast https://digitalarizonanews.com/us-forecast-16/ City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index Albany, NY;81;63;75;60;A shower and t-storm;S;7;81%;99%;1 Albuquerque, NM;87;64;82;64;Mainly cloudy;NE;6;46%;44%;3 Anchorage, AK;56;49;55;46;Rain and drizzle;S;14;85%;98%;1 Asheville, NC;79;55;82;60;Mostly sunny;N;6;66%;5%;6 Atlanta, GA;84;63;87;65;Sunny and warm;NNE;6;60%;0%;7 Atlantic City, NJ;80;70;84;69;Breezy and humid;SW;14;62%;35%;5 Austin, TX;97;74;96;75;Mostly sunny and hot;SSE;3;60%;5%;8 Baltimore, MD;87;69;88;70;Some sun, very warm;WNW;7;51%;30%;5 Baton Rouge, LA;93;73;92;70;Abundant sunshine;ENE;6;62%;1%;7 Billings, MT;79;55;85;52;Mostly sunny;N;11;34%;9%;5 Birmingham, AL;86;64;88;67;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;6;55%;0%;7 Bismarck, ND;79;57;87;56;Breezy and very warm;WNW;13;53%;48%;4 Boise, ID;80;54;82;56;Mostly sunny, nice;NE;7;40%;1%;5 Boston, MA;83;62;68;60;Couple of t-storms;NE;9;79%;94%;1 Bridgeport, CT;83;68;84;63;A p.m. shower or two;WSW;9;64%;77%;5 Buffalo, NY;78;67;73;59;A gusty thunderstorm;W;15;83%;85%;2 Burlington, VT;73;58;67;58;Periods of rain;S;7;90%;99%;1 Caribou, ME;63;36;64;42;Mostly sunny;ENE;3;51%;70%;4 Casper, WY;79;47;83;45;Sunny and windy;SSW;16;27%;6%;5 Charleston, SC;83;72;84;71;Humid;E;7;70%;27%;5 Charleston, WV;83;62;82;65;A p.m. t-storm;SSW;6;70%;66%;4 Charlotte, NC;84;62;88;66;Sunny and warm;SSW;5;60%;1%;6 Cheyenne, WY;81;52;85;57;Partly sunny;W;10;22%;6%;5 Chicago, IL;85;68;75;64;Humid in the morning;E;9;73%;43%;5 Cleveland, OH;82;69;76;64;A gusty thunderstorm;WNW;13;80%;80%;3 Columbia, SC;87;65;89;67;Mostly sunny;SSE;5;59%;2%;7 Columbus, OH;83;66;79;59;Clearing, a t-storm;NNE;7;79%;82%;2 Concord, NH;81;57;62;53;Cooler with rain;NE;6;93%;99%;1 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;95;76;95;77;Sunny and very warm;SSE;8;53%;5%;7 Denver, CO;87;58;88;59;Mostly sunny;SW;6;22%;6%;6 Des Moines, IA;82;62;82;70;Partly sunny, humid;SE;9;76%;4%;5 Detroit, MI;87;67;82;58;A stray a.m. shower;NE;9;65%;41%;5 Dodge City, KS;99;69;101;71;Hot;S;16;38%;7%;6 Duluth, MN;69;55;76;60;Partly sunny, warmer;SSW;8;65%;27%;4 El Paso, TX;91;69;91;70;Rather cloudy;SE;8;49%;50%;6 Fairbanks, AK;56;39;55;40;A little p.m. rain;WSW;6;69%;97%;1 Fargo, ND;78;52;78;57;A t-storm around;SSE;12;69%;45%;3 Grand Junction, CO;85;58;85;59;Sunny intervals;E;9;31%;9%;6 Grand Rapids, MI;83;65;78;55;Partly sunny, warm;N;8;71%;2%;5 Hartford, CT;83;65;82;62;A shower and t-storm;SW;6;69%;89%;3 Helena, MT;75;49;77;48;Partly sunny;NW;5;55%;26%;5 Honolulu, HI;88;76;88;76;Breezy;ENE;16;59%;33%;10 Houston, TX;91;76;92;75;Humid, a p.m. shower;SSE;7;69%;42%;7 Indianapolis, IN;84;69;83;65;A t-storm around;NNE;9;70%;41%;4 Jackson, MS;92;70;92;68;Plenty of sun;ESE;4;58%;0%;7 Jacksonville, FL;84;73;83;74;A t-storm in spots;ENE;8;82%;60%;3 Juneau, AK;58;43;58;47;Sun and some clouds;ENE;5;66%;26%;3 Kansas City, MO;93;76;97;77;Hot;S;8;50%;3%;5 Knoxville, TN;85;59;87;67;Partly sunny, warm;SSW;5;62%;26%;6 Las Vegas, NV;93;67;95;70;Mostly sunny;S;8;16%;0%;6 Lexington, KY;84;66;86;66;A thunderstorm;SW;9;65%;80%;6 Little Rock, AR;94;71;96;71;Sunshine, very hot;SW;6;51%;2%;6 Long Beach, CA;76;64;81;66;Some sun;W;7;52%;5%;6 Los Angeles, CA;76;62;80;64;Partly sunny;SW;7;53%;5%;6 Louisville, KY;86;68;88;69;A thunderstorm;NNE;8;63%;80%;5 Madison, WI;81;59;75;61;Sunny and nice;SSE;5;67%;69%;5 Memphis, TN;95;72;97;74;Near-record heat;S;5;50%;0%;6 Miami, FL;85;78;87;78;A morning t-storm;E;7;75%;77%;8 Milwaukee, WI;84;64;78;63;Mostly sunny, humid;SSW;7;64%;49%;5 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;71;58;81;66;Partly sunny, nice;SSE;6;60%;27%;5 Mobile, AL;92;71;93;70;Mostly sunny;N;8;54%;0%;7 Montgomery, AL;89;64;87;65;Sunny and pleasant;NE;6;61%;0%;7 Mt. Washington, NH;50;43;47;40;Periods of rain;SE;20;98%;98%;1 Nashville, TN;87;64;92;69;Partly sunny and hot;SSW;7;55%;3%;6 New Orleans, LA;91;76;90;75;Sunshine and humid;NNE;8;58%;1%;8 New York, NY;85;70;86;68;An afternoon shower;SW;9;61%;73%;5 Newark, NJ;84;68;86;66;Very warm and humid;WSW;8;57%;68%;4 Norfolk, VA;86;66;90;70;Sunny and hot;SSW;8;58%;3%;6 Oklahoma City, OK;95;73;96;72;Hot;S;11;50%;5%;6 Olympia, WA;75;44;79;47;Mostly sunny, nice;NNE;5;49%;3%;4 Omaha, NE;85;62;89;72;Very warm and humid;S;11;72%;11%;5 Orlando, FL;88;74;89;75;A p.m. t-storm;ENE;5;72%;69%;8 Philadelphia, PA;85;68;89;69;Very warm and humid;WSW;9;52%;37%;5 Phoenix, AZ;102;80;102;82;Mostly sunny, warm;WNW;6;24%;14%;7 Pittsburgh, PA;82;65;75;61;A shower and t-storm;WSW;8;79%;89%;2 Portland, ME;80;52;57;53;Afternoon rain;NE;10;89%;99%;1 Portland, OR;78;55;84;56;Mostly sunny;W;6;44%;3%;4 Providence, RI;83;65;76;62;Brief p.m. showers;S;6;74%;91%;1 Raleigh, NC;85;62;87;66;Mostly sunny, warm;SSW;5;61%;3%;6 Reno, NV;69;46;63;44;A couple of showers;WNW;6;67%;97%;2 Richmond, VA;86;62;90;66;Hot with sunshine;SSW;8;56%;5%;6 Roswell, NM;93;68;91;67;Mostly sunny;SSE;10;52%;8%;7 Sacramento, CA;69;62;73;62;Cool with rain;N;7;76%;98%;2 Salt Lake City, UT;87;61;88;64;Breezy in the p.m.;SSE;12;22%;0%;5 San Antonio, TX;97;75;95;75;Mostly sunny, warm;SE;7;59%;6%;8 San Diego, CA;73;64;76;66;Partly sunny, nice;NNW;9;60%;0%;6 San Francisco, CA;66;62;70;61;A couple of showers;W;9;72%;90%;3 Savannah, GA;84;71;85;70;A t-storm in spots;NE;9;75%;44%;3 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;72;52;76;54;Mostly sunny, nice;NNE;7;50%;3%;4 Sioux Falls, SD;76;55;85;64;Sunny and very warm;SSE;10;62%;33%;5 Spokane, WA;78;50;79;46;Clouds and sun, nice;N;4;44%;0%;4 Springfield, IL;87;69;85;68;Mostly sunny, warm;ESE;4;72%;27%;5 St. Louis, MO;91;72;94;70;Near-record heat;E;8;56%;20%;5 Tampa, FL;89;73;88;74;A stray p.m. t-storm;NE;5;78%;58%;8 Toledo, OH;83;65;80;54;A morning shower;WNW;6;72%;42%;5 Tucson, AZ;100;72;97;74;Inc. clouds;SE;7;39%;33%;7 Tulsa, OK;97;74;98;75;Hot;S;8;47%;6%;6 Vero Beach, FL;87;72;88;73;A stray a.m. t-storm;SSE;7;79%;89%;5 Washington, DC;85;65;88;67;Very warm;W;7;54%;29%;5 Wichita, KS;99;72;99;73;Sunshine and hot;S;13;43%;7%;6 Wilmington, DE;84;67;87;67;Clouds and sun, warm;WSW;10;55%;21%;5 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More Here

US Forecast https://digitalarizonanews.com/us-forecast-15/ City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index Albany, NY;81;63;75;60;A shower and t-storm;S;7;81%;99%;1 Albuquerque, NM;87;64;82;64;Mainly cloudy;NE;6;46%;44%;3 Anchorage, AK;56;49;55;46;Rain and drizzle;S;14;85%;98%;1 Asheville, NC;79;55;82;60;Mostly sunny;N;6;66%;5%;6 Atlanta, GA;84;63;87;65;Sunny and warm;NNE;6;60%;0%;7 Atlantic City, NJ;80;70;84;69;Breezy and humid;SW;14;62%;35%;5 Austin, TX;97;74;96;75;Mostly sunny and hot;SSE;3;60%;5%;8 Baltimore, MD;87;69;88;70;Some sun, very warm;WNW;7;51%;30%;5 Baton Rouge, LA;93;73;92;70;Abundant sunshine;ENE;6;62%;1%;7 Billings, MT;79;55;85;52;Mostly sunny;N;11;34%;9%;5 Birmingham, AL;86;64;88;67;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;6;55%;0%;7 Bismarck, ND;79;57;87;56;Breezy and very warm;WNW;13;53%;48%;4 Boise, ID;80;54;82;56;Mostly sunny, nice;NE;7;40%;1%;5 Boston, MA;83;62;68;60;Couple of t-storms;NE;9;79%;94%;1 Bridgeport, CT;83;68;84;63;A p.m. shower or two;WSW;9;64%;77%;5 Buffalo, NY;78;67;73;59;A gusty thunderstorm;W;15;83%;85%;2 Burlington, VT;73;58;67;58;Periods of rain;S;7;90%;99%;1 Caribou, ME;63;36;64;42;Mostly sunny;ENE;3;51%;70%;4 Casper, WY;79;47;83;45;Sunny and windy;SSW;16;27%;6%;5 Charleston, SC;83;72;84;71;Humid;E;7;70%;27%;5 Charleston, WV;83;62;82;65;A p.m. t-storm;SSW;6;70%;66%;4 Charlotte, NC;84;62;88;66;Sunny and warm;SSW;5;60%;1%;6 Cheyenne, WY;81;52;85;57;Partly sunny;W;10;22%;6%;5 Chicago, IL;85;68;75;64;Humid in the morning;E;9;73%;43%;5 Cleveland, OH;82;69;76;64;A gusty thunderstorm;WNW;13;80%;80%;3 Columbia, SC;87;65;89;67;Mostly sunny;SSE;5;59%;2%;7 Columbus, OH;83;66;79;59;Clearing, a t-storm;NNE;7;79%;82%;2 Concord, NH;81;57;62;53;Cooler with rain;NE;6;93%;99%;1 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;95;76;95;77;Sunny and very warm;SSE;8;53%;5%;7 Denver, CO;87;58;88;59;Mostly sunny;SW;6;22%;6%;6 Des Moines, IA;82;62;82;70;Partly sunny, humid;SE;9;76%;4%;5 Detroit, MI;87;67;82;58;A stray a.m. shower;NE;9;65%;41%;5 Dodge City, KS;99;69;101;71;Hot;S;16;38%;7%;6 Duluth, MN;69;55;76;60;Partly sunny, warmer;SSW;8;65%;27%;4 El Paso, TX;91;69;91;70;Rather cloudy;SE;8;49%;50%;6 Fairbanks, AK;56;39;55;40;A little p.m. rain;WSW;6;69%;97%;1 Fargo, ND;78;52;78;57;A t-storm around;SSE;12;69%;45%;3 Grand Junction, CO;85;58;85;59;Sunny intervals;E;9;31%;9%;6 Grand Rapids, MI;83;65;78;55;Partly sunny, warm;N;8;71%;2%;5 Hartford, CT;83;65;82;62;A shower and t-storm;SW;6;69%;89%;3 Helena, MT;75;49;77;48;Partly sunny;NW;5;55%;26%;5 Honolulu, HI;88;76;88;76;Breezy;ENE;16;59%;33%;10 Houston, TX;91;76;92;75;Humid, a p.m. shower;SSE;7;69%;42%;7 Indianapolis, IN;84;69;83;65;A t-storm around;NNE;9;70%;41%;4 Jackson, MS;92;70;92;68;Plenty of sun;ESE;4;58%;0%;7 Jacksonville, FL;84;73;83;74;A t-storm in spots;ENE;8;82%;60%;3 Juneau, AK;58;43;58;47;Sun and some clouds;ENE;5;66%;26%;3 Kansas City, MO;93;76;97;77;Hot;S;8;50%;3%;5 Knoxville, TN;85;59;87;67;Partly sunny, warm;SSW;5;62%;26%;6 Las Vegas, NV;93;67;95;70;Mostly sunny;S;8;16%;0%;6 Lexington, KY;84;66;86;66;A thunderstorm;SW;9;65%;80%;6 Little Rock, AR;94;71;96;71;Sunshine, very hot;SW;6;51%;2%;6 Long Beach, CA;76;64;81;66;Some sun;W;7;52%;5%;6 Los Angeles, CA;76;62;80;64;Partly sunny;SW;7;53%;5%;6 Louisville, KY;86;68;88;69;A thunderstorm;NNE;8;63%;80%;5 Madison, WI;81;59;75;61;Sunny and nice;SSE;5;67%;69%;5 Memphis, TN;95;72;97;74;Near-record heat;S;5;50%;0%;6 Miami, FL;85;78;87;78;A morning t-storm;E;7;75%;77%;8 Milwaukee, WI;84;64;78;63;Mostly sunny, humid;SSW;7;64%;49%;5 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;71;58;81;66;Partly sunny, nice;SSE;6;60%;27%;5 Mobile, AL;92;71;93;70;Mostly sunny;N;8;54%;0%;7 Montgomery, AL;89;64;87;65;Sunny and pleasant;NE;6;61%;0%;7 Mt. Washington, NH;50;43;47;40;Periods of rain;SE;20;98%;98%;1 Nashville, TN;87;64;92;69;Partly sunny and hot;SSW;7;55%;3%;6 New Orleans, LA;91;76;90;75;Sunshine and humid;NNE;8;58%;1%;8 New York, NY;85;70;86;68;An afternoon shower;SW;9;61%;73%;5 Newark, NJ;84;68;86;66;Very warm and humid;WSW;8;57%;68%;4 Norfolk, VA;86;66;90;70;Sunny and hot;SSW;8;58%;3%;6 Oklahoma City, OK;95;73;96;72;Hot;S;11;50%;5%;6 Olympia, WA;75;44;79;47;Mostly sunny, nice;NNE;5;49%;3%;4 Omaha, NE;85;62;89;72;Very warm and humid;S;11;72%;11%;5 Orlando, FL;88;74;89;75;A p.m. t-storm;ENE;5;72%;69%;8 Philadelphia, PA;85;68;89;69;Very warm and humid;WSW;9;52%;37%;5 Phoenix, AZ;102;80;102;82;Mostly sunny, warm;WNW;6;24%;14%;7 Pittsburgh, PA;82;65;75;61;A shower and t-storm;WSW;8;79%;89%;2 Portland, ME;80;52;57;53;Afternoon rain;NE;10;89%;99%;1 Portland, OR;78;55;84;56;Mostly sunny;W;6;44%;3%;4 Providence, RI;83;65;76;62;Brief p.m. showers;S;6;74%;91%;1 Raleigh, NC;85;62;87;66;Mostly sunny, warm;SSW;5;61%;3%;6 Reno, NV;69;46;63;44;A couple of showers;WNW;6;67%;97%;2 Richmond, VA;86;62;90;66;Hot with sunshine;SSW;8;56%;5%;6 Roswell, NM;93;68;91;67;Mostly sunny;SSE;10;52%;8%;7 Sacramento, CA;69;62;73;62;Cool with rain;N;7;76%;98%;2 Salt Lake City, UT;87;61;88;64;Breezy in the p.m.;SSE;12;22%;0%;5 San Antonio, TX;97;75;95;75;Mostly sunny, warm;SE;7;59%;6%;8 San Diego, CA;73;64;76;66;Partly sunny, nice;NNW;9;60%;0%;6 San Francisco, CA;66;62;70;61;A couple of showers;W;9;72%;90%;3 Savannah, GA;84;71;85;70;A t-storm in spots;NE;9;75%;44%;3 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;72;52;76;54;Mostly sunny, nice;NNE;7;50%;3%;4 Sioux Falls, SD;76;55;85;64;Sunny and very warm;SSE;10;62%;33%;5 Spokane, WA;78;50;79;46;Clouds and sun, nice;N;4;44%;0%;4 Springfield, IL;87;69;85;68;Mostly sunny, warm;ESE;4;72%;27%;5 St. Louis, MO;91;72;94;70;Near-record heat;E;8;56%;20%;5 Tampa, FL;89;73;88;74;A stray p.m. t-storm;NE;5;78%;58%;8 Toledo, OH;83;65;80;54;A morning shower;WNW;6;72%;42%;5 Tucson, AZ;100;72;97;74;Inc. clouds;SE;7;39%;33%;7 Tulsa, OK;97;74;98;75;Hot;S;8;47%;6%;6 Vero Beach, FL;87;72;88;73;A stray a.m. t-storm;SSE;7;79%;89%;5 Washington, DC;85;65;88;67;Very warm;W;7;54%;29%;5 Wichita, KS;99;72;99;73;Sunshine and hot;S;13;43%;7%;6 Wilmington, DE;84;67;87;67;Clouds and sun, warm;WSW;10;55%;21%;5 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More…

Once McCain's Party, Arizona GOP Returns To Far-Right Roots https://digitalarizonanews.com/once-mccains-party-arizona-gop-returns-to-far-right-roots-2/ PHOENIX (AP) — Simmering discontent among a segment of Arizona Republicans over John McCain’s famous penchant for bucking his party boiled over in the winter of 2014 with the censure of the longtime U.S. senator. McCain’s allies responded with an all-out push to reassert control over the Arizona Republican Party. Censure proponents were ousted or diminished, and McCain went on to defeat his far-right challenger in a blowout during the 2016 primary. Less than a decade later, the right wing forces that McCain marginalized within the Arizona GOP are now in full control, with profound implications for one of the nation’s most closely matched battlegrounds. Arizona Republicans have traded McCain for Donald Trump. “We drove a stake in the heart of the McCain machine,” Kari Lake, making a dramatic stabbing gesture, said in a speech days after she won the Republican primary for governor in early August. Lake, a well-known former television news anchor, has delighted segments of the state’s GOP base that have long been at odds with their party’s establishment and want their leaders to confront Democrats, not compromise with them. She draws large, enthusiastic crowds that are unusually energized for a midterm election. Her fans erupt in rapturous applause when she takes a shot at the media or pledges to repel the “invasion” at the southern border. “She’s for border control. She’s a MAGA person. She is fighting the establishment. And that, to me, is enough,” said Bob Hunt, a Republican in Tucson who attended a Lake rally this summer. McCain, who died in 2018, never lost a race in his home state. But his maverick brand of Republicanism is in retreat after election-denying allies of the former president swept GOP primaries this month from governor and U.S. Senate down to the state Legislature. Kelli Ward, the primary challenger McCain trounced in his last re-election campaign, was elected state GOP chair in 2019. She broke with precedent for party leaders and campaigned openly for Trump’s slate of candidates ahead of the primary this year. It is in some ways a return to roots for Republicans in Arizona, a state with a long history as a crucible for emerging strands of conservatism. Barry Goldwater, an Arizona senator from the 1950s through the 1980s, pushed the GOP in a new direction, laying the groundwork for conservative and libertarian movements. He gave voice to anti-elite grievances and racial anxieties that have contributed to Trump’s appeal. McCain replaced Goldwater in the Senate, representing an Arizona reshaped by decades of migration. Young families flocked to affordable neighborhoods in and around Phoenix, and retirees escaping the snow settled in new golf communities attracting seniors. McCain eventually built a national profile as a fiscal conservative unafraid — even eager — to buck GOP leadership. He helped pass campaign finance reform legislation and worked on unsuccessful immigration reform and climate change legislation. In one of his last defiant decisions, he gave a dramatic thumbs down vote to kill legislation that would have repealed former President Barack Obama’s health care law. McCain won over independents and some Democrats to overwhelmingly win reelection. But the apostasies that appealed to more moderate voters made him a pariah to many within his own party. Democrats think this year’s slate of Trump-backed nominees gives them a fighting chance to win some of the top offices on the ballot. If the Republicans win, officials who refuse to accept Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election will hold the levers of power with the ability to set election laws and certify results in a state that plays an important role in determining control of Congress and the presidency. Ideological factions are always at tension within political parties, and Arizona Republicans have long hosted a particularly raucous tug-of-war. Pro-business, limited government conservatives — such as McCain, former Sen. Jeff Flake and termed-out Gov. Doug Ducey — are derided as “Republicans in name only” by a base eager to fight culture war battles. Still, a large chunk of Republican voters like the establishment brand. Lake had a tough primary race against Karrin Taylor Robson, a conservative businesswoman and longtime donor to mainstream candidates from both parties. Lake, Finchem and the other successful Trump allies all won their primaries with less than 50% of the vote in multi-candidate fields. “The people we put up are not conservative,” said Kathy Petsas, a Republican activist who backed mainstream Republicans in the primary. “There’s nothing conservative about lying about the results of the 2020 election. When we undermine our democratic institutions, there’s nothing conservative about that.” But rarely have the insurgents been as dominant as they are now in Arizona. The GOP nominees for nearly all statewide offices push lies about the 2020 election. Lake incessantly went after Ducey, McCain, Flake and others she labeled “Republicans in name only” on her way to winning the GOP nomination for governor. She joined with Mark Finchem, who won the primary for secretary of state, in a lawsuit seeking to require hand-counting of ballots; they lost, but filed an appeal this week. U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar was censured by the House and lost his committee assignments for posting a video depicting violence against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The primary winners represent those who control the Arizona Republican Party today and are fiercely loyal to Trump, who was just the second Republican since the 1940s to lose Arizona. Last year, the party censured McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, for endorsing Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, along with Flake and Ducey. Flake decided not to run for re-election in 2018 after his criticism of Trump infuriated the base and promised a fierce primary battle. “Unfortunately, all these election deniers were successful here in Arizona, in a swing state,” said Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which has faced vitriolic backlash for defending the 2020 election against Trump’s false claims of fraud. “So we’ll see if those folks are able to win in the general election. I think that will give us a feel on where this party is headed in the future.” Gates was censured by Legislative District 3 Republicans last month for saying election-denying GOP candidates may have to lose for the party to find its way. Rusty Bowers, the staunchly conservative speaker of the state House, also has found himself ostracized by his party for taking a stand against Trump’s lies. He lost the primary in his bid to move to the state Senate. Bowers last month said Trump has “thrashed our party” and that the Arizona GOP faces a “hard reckoning” if it continues to bully those who don’t fall in line with the former president’s demands. For now, the far-right wing of the party is ascendant and sees no need to moderate. Days after Lake won the primary for governor, her campaign shared a video of Goldwater’s speech accepting the 1964 Republican nomination for president. “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” he said. “And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” The crowd erupted. Goldwater went on to win just six states in the second most lopsided defeat in a presidential race in U.S. history, but he remained a hero to many in his home state. Lake’s official campaign Twitter account said a united party would bring “a Conservative revival” to the state in the general election: “The Party of Goldwater has risen like a Phoenix.” ___ Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Report: Some Census Takers Who Fudged Data Didn't Get Fired https://digitalarizonanews.com/report-some-census-takers-who-fudged-data-didnt-get-fired/ Some census takers who falsified information during the 2020 count didn’t have their work redone fully, weren’t fired in a timely manner and in some cases even received bonuses, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s watchdog group. The findings released Friday by the Office of Inspector General raise concerns about possible damage to the quality of the once-a-decade head count that determines political power and federal funding, Off-campus students at colleges and universities were likely undercounted since the census started around the same time students were sent home to stop the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, the review found. During the 2020 census, The Associated Press documented cases of census takers who were pressured by their supervisors to enter false information into a computer system about homes they had not visited so they could close cases during the waning days of the census. Supervisors were able to track their census takers’ work in real time through mobile devices that the census takers used to record information about households’ numbers, demographic characteristics and members’ relationships to one another. As a result, supervisors would get alerts when actions raised red flags about accuracy, such as a census taker recording data on a home while far away from the address or a census taker conducting an interview in just a few minutes. As a quality control check, others census takers were sent back to homes to re-interview residents. The Inspector General’s probe concluded that some alerts weren’t being properly resolved, some re-interviews weren’t properly conducted and that the work of some census takers whose work had been flagged for falsifying data had not been reworked to fix its accuracy. In fact, some census takers whose work was flagged for falsifications were given more cases, weren’t fired and were reassigned to other operations, the report said. Of the 1,400 census takers who were designated “hard fails” because questions about the accuracy of their work, only 300 were fired for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. Of the 1,400 “hard fail” census takers, 1,300 of them received bonuses ranging from $50 to $1,600 each, the report said. The census is the largest nonmilitary mobilization in the U.S. Data gathered during the census determines how many congressional seats each state gets. The numbers also are used for redrawing political districts and distributing $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. Because of that, undercounts can cost communities funding. The 2020 census faced unprecedented challenges including the pandemic, natural disasters and political interference from the Trump administration. In response to the Inspector General’s report, the Census Bureau said it appreciated the concerns that were raised but disagreed with the conclusions that data quality may have been damaged since the report cited only a small number of cases out of the overall workload. “As a result, we asserted that the findings could not and should not be presented as a conclusive assessment of overall census quality,” Census Bureau Director Robert Santos said in the written response. Under Census Bureau rules, college and university students should have been counted where they spent the most time, either at on-campus housing or off-campus apartments, even if they were sent home because of the pandemic. Most schools didn’t provide the Census Bureau with off-campus student data, and the bureau had to use a last-resort, less-accurate statistical tool to fill in the information gaps on more than 10% of the off-campus student population when they were given the information, the Inspector General’s report said. Schools often didn’t provide the data because they didn’t have information on off-campus students or because of privacy concerns. The Inspector General recommends passage of legislation that would require schools to provide needed information in future head counts. “Although difficult to quantify, the fiscal implication of specifically undercounting off-campus students at the correct location for states and localities is potentially far-reaching,” the report said. The city of Boston, which is home to Northeastern University, Boston University and several other schools, said in a challenge to its census figures that the count missed 6,000 students. ___ Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. For Related Stories: Census  Data  Inspector General Read More Here

Police: Man Dead After Hit And Run Crash In Germantown https://digitalarizonanews.com/police-man-dead-after-hit-and-run-crash-in-germantown/ Police say a tow truck ran a red light and crashed into the 51-year-old victim’s car, killing him. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia police say a man is dead after a hit-and-run crash in Germantown on Sunday morning. The crash happened just after 2 a.m. Sunday at East Chelten Avenue and Ardleigh Street. Police say a tow truck ran a red light and crashed into the 51-year-old victim’s car, killing him. The impact was so powerful that it damaged three more cars parked along the road. Witnesses tell Action News they saw the tow truck driver running away from the scene. This is an ongoing investigation. Copyright © 2022 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved. Read More Here

Rare ‘special Warning’ Issued As Violent Typhoon Makes Landfall In Japan https://digitalarizonanews.com/rare-special-warning-issued-as-violent-typhoon-makes-landfall-in-japan/ Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in south-western Japan on Sunday night, with authorities urging millions of people to take shelter from the powerful storm’s high winds and torrential rain. The storm officially made landfall at about 7pm local time (11am BST) as its eyewall – the region just outside the eye – arrived near Kagoshima, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. It was packing gusts of up to almost 150mph and had already dumped up to 500mm of rain in less than 24 hours on parts of the south-western Kyushu region. At least 20,000 people spent the night in shelters in Kyushu’s Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, where the JMA has issued a rare “special warning” – an alert that is issued only when it forecasts conditions seen once in several decades. The national broadcaster NHK, which collates information from local authorities, said more than 7 million people had been told to move to shelters or take refuge in sturdy buildings to ride out the storm. The evacuation warnings are not mandatory, and authorities have at times struggled to persuade people to move to shelters before extreme weather. They sought to drive home their concerns about the weather system throughout the weekend. “Please stay away from dangerous places, and please evacuate if you feel even the slightest hint of danger,” the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, tweeted after convening a government meeting on the storm. “It will be dangerous to evacuate at night. Please move to safety while it’s still light outside.” The JMA has warned the region could face unprecedented danger from high winds, storm surges and torrential rain and called the storm “very dangerous”. “Areas affected by the storm are seeing the sort of rain that has never been experienced before,” Hiro Kato, the head of the Weather Monitoring and Warning Centre, told reporters Sunday. “Especially in areas under landslide warnings, it is extremely probable that some kinds of landslides are already happening.” He urged “maximum caution even in areas where disasters do not usually happen”. By Sunday evening, utility companies said nearly 200,000 homes across the region were without power. Trains, flights and ferries were cancelled until the passage of the storm, and even some convenience stores – generally open all hours and considered a lifeline in disasters – shut their doors. “The southern part of the Kyushu region may see the sort of violent wind, high waves and high tides that have never been experienced before,” the JMA said on Sunday, urging people to exercise “the highest caution possible”. On the ground, an official in Kagoshima’s Izumi city said conditions were deteriorating rapidly by Sunday afternoon. “The wind has become extremely strong. Rain is falling hard, too,” he told AFP. “It’s a total white-out outside. Visibility is almost zero.” The storm, which weakened slightly as it approached land, is expected to turn north-east and sweep up across Japan’s main island on Wednesday morning. Japan is now in typhoon season and faces 20 such storms a year, routinely seeing heavy rains that cause landslides or flash floods. In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis smashed into Japan as it hosted the Rugby World Cup, claiming the lives of more than 100 people. A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai airport in Osaka, killing 14 people. And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the country’s annual rainy season. Scientists say the climate crisis is increasing the severity of storms and causing extreme weather such as heatwaves, droughts and flash floods to become more frequent and intense. Read More Here

Google Mistakenly Sent An Engineer Almost $250,000 | CNN Business https://digitalarizonanews.com/google-mistakenly-sent-an-engineer-almost-250000-cnn-business/ CNN  —  A man mistakenly received a payment of almost $250,000 from Google – even though he hadn’t done any work for the company. Sam Curry, a staff security engineer at cryptocurrency company Yuga Labs, described the baffling payment on his verified Twitter account on Tuesday. “It’s been a little over 3 weeks since Google randomly sent me $249,999 and I still haven’t heard anything on the support ticket,” wrote Curry. “Is there any way we could get in touch @Google?” “It’s OK if you don’t want it back,” he added. Unfortunately for Curry, it seems Google is working to get the money back. Google told CNN in a statement that the mistaken payment was a result of “human error.” “Our team recently made a payment to the wrong party as the result of human error,” wrote a Google spokesperson in an email to CNN. “We appreciate that it was quickly communicated to us by the impacted partner, and we are working to correct it.” Read More Here

Trump Appears To Endorse QAnon With Music Choice At Campaign Rally https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-appears-to-endorse-qanon-with-music-choice-at-campaign-rally/ Conspiracy theory movement is seen as a ‘growing domestic terrorist threat’ by the FBI Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Youngstown, Ohio Credit: DAVID MAXWELL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Donald Trump appeared to endorse the “QAnon” conspiracy theory over the weekend after playing a piece of music associated with the movement at a campaign rally in Ohio. During the same speech, members of the audience in Youngstown also raised their index fingers, a gesture closely associated with the conspiracy movement, which dates back to 2016. The hand gestures at the rally and the choice of music intensified fears that Mr Trump was indicating his support for the conspiracy theory movement described by the FBI in August 2019 as a growing domestic terrorist threat. “QAnon figures are claiming the use of the song brings some kind of legitimacy for them,” Alex Kaplan, a senior researcher for the US media watchdog Media Matters wrote on Twitter. “Trump Sending a Clear Message Patriots,” a QAnon-linked account on the pro-Trump social media network Truth Social wrote. “He Re-Truthed This for a Reason.” According to analysts at Media Matters, the piece played at the rally and on the videos was “Wwg1wga” – an acronym for the QAnon slogan “Where we go one, we go all.” A spokesman for Mr Trump insisted the music was a Mirrors, composed by Will Van De Crommert, whose credits include writing music for the 2018 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, analysis by the website, using audio editing software found the two pieces were virtually identical. Audience members raise their index fingers in Youngstown, Ohio, a gesture closely associated with QAnon Credit: Getty Images North America /Jeff Swensen QAnon centres on the belief that America is controlled by a secret elite cabal of Satan-worshipping child abductors headed by, among others, Hillary Clinton and George Soros. It is based on theories floated by an alleged senior anonymous official, known as Q, who has “exposed” the workings of the “deep state” in postings on far-right websites. The country, QAnon believes, can only be saved by a true patriot, like Donald Trump. It is not the first time Mr Trump has flirted with imagery or music associated with QAnon. He has sent similar signals on his social media network Truth Social, using the same music in campaign videos as well as promoting a raft of conspiracy theories himself. For instance, postings by the former president included a claim that a report would show the 2020 election was fraudulent and that he should be reinstalled in the White House. There are now more than 300 QAnon-linked followers on Truth Social, where they have been welcomed after being banned by Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. During the rally in Ohio, Mr Trump doubled down on accusations that he was persecuted by the FBI and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was rigged. In his speech in Youngstown, Ohio, Donald Trump doubled down on claims he was being persecuted by the FBI Credit: Jeff Swensen /Getty Images North America “We are a nation that has weaponised its law enforcement against the opposing political party like never ever before,” the former president said as his audience expressed approval. “We have got a Federal Bureau of Investigation that won’t allow bad election changing facts to be presented to the public,” he added. America also had “a Department of Justice that refuses to investigate egregious acts of voting irregularities and fraud,” he continued. “We have a president who is cognitively impaired and in no condition to lead our country which may end up in World War Three. According to one estimate, eight per cent of Americans – around 22 million people – believe in QAnon. Read More Here

Republicans In Key Battleground Races Refuse To Say They Will Accept Results https://digitalarizonanews.com/republicans-in-key-battleground-races-refuse-to-say-they-will-accept-results/ Of the 19 GOP candidates questioned by The Washington Post, a dozen declined to answer or refused to commit. Democrats overwhelmingly said they would respect the results. September 18, 2022 at 11:59 a.m. EDT Supporters wait for Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial nominee Tim Michels at a primary night event on Aug. 9 in Waukesha. Michels did not respond when asked by The Washington Post if he would accept the results of the race. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post) A dozen Republican candidates in competitive races for governor and Senate have declined to say whether they would accept the results of their contests, raising the prospect of fresh post-election chaos two years after Donald Trump refused to concede the presidency. In a survey by The Washington Post of 19 of the most closely watched statewide races in the country, the contrast between Republican and Democratic candidates was stark. While seven GOP nominees committed to accepting the outcomes in their contests, 12 either refused to commit or declined to respond. On the Democratic side, 17 said they would accept the outcome and two did not respond to The Post’s survey. The reluctance of many GOP candidates to embrace a long-standing tenet of American democracy shows how Trump’s assault on the integrity of U.S. elections has spread far beyond the 2020 presidential race. This year, multiple losing candidates could refuse to accept their defeats. Trump, who continues to claim without evidence that his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 was rigged, has attacked fellow Republicans who do not agree — making election denialism the price of admission in many GOP primaries. More than half of all Republican nominees for federal and statewide office with powers over election administration have embraced unproven claims that fraud tainted Biden’s win, according to a Washington Post tally. Acceptance of an electoral outcome — win or lose — was once a virtual certainty in American politics, although there have been exceptions. In 2018, Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams cited voter suppression as a reason for refusing to concede defeat to Republican opponent Brian Kemp. But unlike Trump, Abrams never sought to overturn the certified result or foment an insurrection. In competitive races for governor or Senate in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas, GOP candidates declined to say that they would accept this year’s result. All but two — incumbent senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Marco Rubio of Florida — have publicly embraced Trump’s false claims about 2020, according to a Post analysis. The Post asked candidates if they would “accept the result” of their contest this year as well as what circumstances might cause them not to. Several used the opportunity of The Post’s survey to raise further doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections. Michigan GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon answered the question of whether she would be willing to accept the result in November’s race by renewing her unfounded attacks on the Democratic secretary of state for her handling of the last election. “In 2020, Jocelyn Benson knowingly and willfully broke laws designed to secure our elections, which directly correlates to people’s lack of faith in the integrity of our process,” said Sara Broadwater, a spokeswoman for Dixon, who is challenging Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and has said repeatedly that the 2020 election was stolen. No evidence has emerged that Benson, the Michigan secretary of state, broke any laws in 2020. Dixon’s campaign added that if authorities “follow the letter of the law” this year, then “we can all have a reasonable amount of faith in the process.” She pointedly did not say whether she will accept the results. Whitmer, for her part, responded to The Post’s survey by pledging to accept the outcome and accusing her opponents of “trying to weaken our democracy, undermine trust in American institutions and silence the voice of Michiganders.” The question of whether elections can be trusted has been central to campaigns from both parties this season, though the substance of their messages has been marked by vivid contrast. Many Republicans have sought voters’ support — and Trump’s — by repeating his false statements about a stolen election. Democrats have warned that such claims put democracy in peril. Candidates willing to deny the results of a legitimate election, they argue, can’t be trusted to oversee future votes. Biden, in a speech earlier this month railing against “MAGA Republicans” for their refusal to accept the 2020 result, said: “Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: either they win or they were cheated.” In nonpartisan circles, too, democracy advocates and election-law scholars agree that growing mistrust in U.S. elections presents a grave threat to the nation. “Faith in election integrity is a huge piece of what makes democracy work,” said Paige Alexander, who leads the Atlanta-based Carter Center, a nonpartisan group founded by former president Jimmy Carter that promotes freedom and human rights around the globe. The organization has monitored elections in foreign nations for many years, often asking candidates to sign pledges that they will accept the certified result of a free and fair contest. With the proliferation of false claims about the 2020 election, Alexander said, the center’s leadership agreed that it was time to circulate a similar pledge among candidates in the United States as well. The center is focusing on five battleground states this year — Arizona, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan — but its pledge welcomes any candidate, former elected official or organization to sign. “When the integrity of U.S. elections began to be questioned via lawsuits, via media, via misinformation, we realized that one way to gather all the candidates and people who really do respect the election process was around these principles,” she said. She said the center has just begun sending the pledge out to candidates, obtaining commitments so far from Republican and Democratic nominees for Georgia governor and secretary of state. Dixon was the only candidate who responded to the survey with an explanation of why she would not necessarily commit to accepting the result. The campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) responded that he would have nothing to say. Ten other Republicans did not respond to the survey despite repeated inquiries. And seven pledged to accept the results, including Colorado Senate contender Joe O’Dea. O’Dea, who is behind in the polls as he attempts to unseat incumbent Colorado Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D), did not reference Trump by name, but used his response to offer notably sharp criticism of candidates who refuse to concede when they lose. “There’s no polite way to put it. We have become a nation of poor sports and cry babies,” said O’Dea. “We’ll keep a close eye on things, but after the process is done and the votes are counted, I’ll absolutely accept the outcome. If the Senator is up for it, we can certify it over a beer. It’s time for America’s leaders to start acting like adults again. Loser buys.” Bennet also responded to The Post’s survey by pledging to accept the results of a certified election. Others who have questioned the 2020 result told The Post that they would nonetheless accept the result in their own races this year. “Ohio is blessed to have a fantastic Secretary of State who has made election security a top priority — we have no doubt Ohio’s election in 2022 will be run with integrity,” a spokesperson for Ohio Senate contender J.D. Vance wrote in an email. “J.D. encourages other states across the country to follow Ohio’s lead by implementing common-sense measures like voter ID and signature verification.” A spokeswoman for Abrams, who is challenging Kemp again this year, said she “will acknowledge the victor of the 2022 election” and noted that she “has never failed to do that” — a reference to Abrams’s refusal to concede when Kemp defeated her in 2018. Republicans have accused Abrams of being an election denier much like Trump and his supporters, but the candidate has rejected that comparison, given Trump’s fantastical claims of fraud and the violence that ensued. “I have never denied that I lost,” Abrams said on a recent appearance on the ABC television show “The View.” “I don’t live in the governor’s mansion. I would have noticed.” When Abrams ended her campaign in 2018, she acknowledged that Kemp had secured enough votes to claim victory, but she never conceded and she maintained that voter suppression had played a role in denying her victory. She said on a 2018 appearance on “The View” that she “absolutely” stood by that decision because “the election was not fair.” Exactly what would happen if multiple candidates refused to accept their defeats after Nov. 8 is not clear — and depends on the state. Certainly a flurry of litigation, much like 2020, would be likely. But absent hard evidence of irregularities, such legal efforts are likely to meet the same fate as the dozens of lawsuits filed two years ago, all of which went nowhere. In many of the battleground states, election officials who have not embraced Trump’s false claims about widespread election fraud continue to have the power to certify election results — or the power to ask a judge to order a state or local election board to do so. In other places, the potential for chaos is hard to predict because election deniers now hold positions such as county clerk or electoral board member. If Dixon questioned the result in Michigan, for instance, it is possible that the Board of State Canvassers, a four-p...