McCarthy: No 'blank Check' For Ukraine If GOP Wins Majority https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mccarthy-no-blank-check-for-ukraine-if-gop-wins-majority/ House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy warned Tuesday that Republicans will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine if they win back the House majority, reflecting his party’s growing skepticism about financial support for Kyiv as it battles Russia’s invasion. What You Need To Know House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is warning that Republicans will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine if they win back the House majority The comments made in an interview with Punchbowl News reflect his party’s growing skepticism about financial support for Kyiv as it battles Russia’s invasion They also raise fresh questions about the resiliency of America’s support for Ukraine as a growing number of Republicans, particularly those aligned with Donald Trump’s “America First” approach, question the need for federal spending abroad at a time of record-high inflation at home Congress has approved tens of billions in emergency security and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine since February “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News. “They just won’t do it. … It’s not a free blank check.” The comments from McCarthy, who is in line to become speaker if Republicans win the House, raised fresh questions about the resiliency of America’s support for Ukraine as a growing number of Republicans, particularly those aligned with Donald Trump’s “America First” approach, question the need for federal spending abroad at a time of record-high inflation at home. Since Russia launched its invasion in February, Congress has approved tens of billions in emergency security and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, while the Biden administration has shipped billions worth of weapons and equipment from military inventories. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sidestepped Tuesday afternoon when asked about McCarthy’s comments. She instead thanked congressional leaders for bipartisan work to “support Ukraine to defend itself from Russia’s war crimes and atrocities.” “We will continue to work with Congress and continue to monitor those conversations on these efforts and support Ukraine as long as it takes,” she said. “We are going to keep that promise that we’re making to the brave Ukrainians who are fighting every day, to fight for their freedom and their democracy.” In private, GOP lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine say there could be an opportunity to pass one more tranche in an end-of-year spending package, before Republicans potentially take control in the next Congress. Last month, lawmakers approved about $12.3 billion in Ukraine-related aid as part of a bill that finances the federal government through Dec. 16. The money included aid for the Ukrainian military as well as money to help the country’s government provide basic services to its citizens. That comes on top of more than $50 billion provided in two previous bills. Financial support for Ukraine garnered strong bipartisan support in the Senate and the House after Russia’s invasion in the spring. In the Senate, GOP leader Mitch McConnell and Richard Shelby, the lead Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, were early and consistent voices for Ukraine aid. But conservative opposition was present from the start. Republicans accounted for the only votes against a $40 billion aid package in the spring. Nearly 60 House members and 11 senators opposed the legislation, citing the need for more oversight of how the money is spent and what weapons and equipment the U.S. is sending overseas. Rep. Michael McCaul, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he will be leading that effort to provide more oversight of how the Ukraine money is spent if the GOP does win the majority next month. “I do think you have broad bipartisan support for what’s happening in Ukraine, but I think you’ll see, if we get the majority, more oversight and accountability in terms of the funding and where the money’s going, and I think the American taxpayers deserve that,” the Texas Republican told Bloomberg Business on Tuesday. International allies are also watching the debate on Capitol Hill closely. Estonian Ambassador to the U.S. Kristjan Prikk said he’d received assurances from members of both parties that there is “strong core support” for Ukraine assistance to continue, no matter which party wins the election. “Certainly both parties have members who have doubted if the assistance is proportional, whether it’s been necessary, but they did not constitute the majority or core,” Prikk said Tuesday. “I do not see this changing.” Read More Here

Prep VB: Lady Purple’Dog Seniors Seeing Time Tick Away https://digitalarkansasnews.com/prep-vb-lady-purpledog-seniors-seeing-time-tick-away/ FayettevilleÕs Brooke Rockwell (20) sends the ball over the net Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, as Springdale Har-BerÕs Ridglee Thompson (22) defends during play in Bulldog Arena in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/221019Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. .(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe) FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville might not have been at its best Tuesday night but the Lady Purple Bulldogs was good enough to wrap up a 6A-West Conference title with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-19 win over Springdale Har-Ber at Bulldog Arena. The Lady Bulldogs, ranked fifth nationally by Max Preps never trailed Har-Ber was tied only once. Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said this group of seniors did something even last year’s group failed to accomplish despite winning a state title. And that’s win a conference title. Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan wants these seniors especially to focus on next week’s final match for them in Bulldog Arena. “We have one more game in Bulldog Arena,” Phelan said. “You have to cherish those moments. I think they can feel it ticking down. “I think we had areas we did better at than others. We’ve had nights where we’ve passed the ball better, served the ball better, but a lotta that Har-Ber was sending some tough serves over. I thought we did good in other areas. “Happy for the kids. Conference champions was a goal they had. For all of their accomplishments last year, they weren’t conference champions.” Brook Rockwell led the attack with 13 kills, while Maddie LaFata added nine for Fayetteville (23-2, 15-0). Kennedy Phelan dished out 28 assists and added eight digs. Ashley Ruff added a team-high eights and chipped in three aces. Galatia Andrew finished with a match-high 23 digs for Har-Ber (16-15, 10-5), while Brooklyn Ware led the attack with seven kills with just one error. Har-Ber coach Cassie Loyd wasn’t particularly pleased with her group overall despite playing without two starters and a role player because of illness, injury and suspension. “We were in a sticky situation missing two starters and we had one role play who was out,” Loyd said. “But that’s not an excuse for us not to perform and play hard,” Loyd said. “And that’s one goal that we set was to play consistently hard and be better teammates throughout the match. We feel like we fell short of that tonight. Obviously, Fayetteville’s a great volleyball team but I do feel like on our side of the net, we could have had a little bit more passion and been better teammates.” Bentonville 3, Rogers Heritage 0 Maddie Lee and Reagan Tunnell finished with eight kills each to lead the Lady Tigers to a 25-12, 25-18, 25-10 win over the Lady War Eagles. Glorida Cranney dished out 16 assists, while Reagan Jacobs served up five aces. Tori Ottter chipped in seven kills and four aces for Bentonville. Bentonville West 3, Fort Smith Northside 2 Ana Bastos registered a double-double with 15 kills and 26 digs to go with two aces to help the Lady Wolverines claimed a tough 21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-9 win over the Lady Bears. Trinity Luckett finished with a team-high 21 and Riley Richardson added 13. Setter Nandhini Praveen registered a double-double with 57 assists and 18 digs to go with 2 aces. Fort Smith Southside 3, Springdale 0 Lydia Pitts and Gabi DuPree finished with nine kills each to help the Lady Mavericks to 25-6, 25-17, 25-12 win. Pitts added two blocks, while Tinsley Freeman contributed nine digs. Van Buren 3, Siloam Springs 0 Van Buren enjoyed a balanced offense in a 25-14, 25-15, 25-19 sweep at Siloam Springs. Freshman Aubrie McGhee led the Lady Pointers (14-7, 10-3 5A-West) with 12 kills, while senior Brianna Ball had 10 kills, sophomore Avary Smith eight kills and sophomore Danielle McKown six kills. Lillian Wilkie and Jetta Broquard each had four kills for the Lady Panthers (7-18, 1-12), while Trinity Collette had 14 digs and Cressa Soucie 11 assists. — Graham Thomas Read More Here

Mortgage Demand Drops To A 25-Year Low, As Interest Rates Climb https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mortgage-demand-drops-to-a-25-year-low-as-interest-rates-climb/ A sign is posted in front of a home for sale on July 14, 2022 in San Francisco, California. The number of homes for sale in the U.S. increased by 2 percent in June for the first time since 2019. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Mortgage demand, which has suffered four straight months of declines, fell last week to the lowest level since 1997, as interest rates continued to rise. Homebuyers’ demand for mortgages dropped 4% for the week and was 38% lower than the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to refinance a home loan fell 7% compared with the previous week, in seasonally adjusted terms. Demand was 86% lower than the same week one year ago. The number of borrowers who can benefit from refinancing is at a record low. Interest rates were so low during the first two years of the Covid pandemic that the vast majority of borrowers with higher rates already refinanced. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 6.94% from 6.81%, with points decreasing to 0.95 from 0.97 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That is the highest rate since 2002 on the MBA’s index. “The speed and level to which rates have climbed this year have greatly reduced refinance activity and exacerbated existing affordability challenges in the purchase market,” Joel Kan, an MBA economist, said in a release Wednesday. “Residential housing activity ranging from new housing starts to home sales have been on downward trends coinciding with the rise in rates.” As potential homebuyers struggle to afford a house, given higher interest rates and still high home prices, more are now turning to adjustable-rate loans, which offer lower rates. The ARM share last week rose to 12.8% of all applications, which was the highest share since March 2008. Mortgage rates moved even higher this week, with another reading from Mortgage News Daily putting the 30-year fixed at 7.15% on Tuesday. Higher rates and falling buyer demand caused homebuilder sentiment to drop again on the National Association of Home Builders index. Builder sentiment, now well into the negative range, is half of what it was just six months ago. Read More Here

Japan's Oldest Toilet Accidentally Damaged By Reversing Driver | CNN https://digitalarkansasnews.com/japans-oldest-toilet-accidentally-damaged-by-reversing-driver-cnn/ Tokyo CNN  —  A building believed to house the oldest toilet in Japan faced its biggest threat in centuries on Monday when a conservation worker accidentally reversed his car into it, according to local officials. Koudou Uno, a spokesman for the Tofukuji Temple in Kyoto, said the doors of the approximately 600-year-old wooden communal toilet were damaged in the incident. A photo of the aftermath showed splintered pieces of wood strewn across the floor of the building in the former ancient capital, where the toilet was built at the temple in the first half of the Muromachi period (1336-1573), according to Uno. “The toilet is a historical artifact, so naturally, we were very sad when it was damaged,” he said. The “hyakusecchin” – or “hundred-person toilet” – got its nickname because more than 100 trainee monks used it up until the start of the Meiji era around 1868, Uno added. But it could actually only be used by up to 40 people at a time – each side of the privy is lined with around 20 holes. The toilet, which has been closed to the public for over a century, was named an important cultural property by the Japanese government in 1902. According to Uno, it’s the oldest latrine left standing at a Zen Buddhist temple in Japan. Uno said temple management were discussing the best way to restore the damaged doors, which measured 2.4 meters tall and 2.8 meters wide. “We were thankful that nobody was injured and that we can repair the doors of the toilet – there is some happiness in this misfortune,” Uno said. Read More Here

Florida Police Cameras Show August Arrests For Alleged Voter Fraud | CNN Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/florida-police-cameras-show-august-arrests-for-alleged-voter-fraud-cnn-politics/ CNN  —  Newly obtained police body camera video shows Tampa Police officers arresting confused and stunned convicted felons for allegedly voting illegally in the 2020 election. “I voted, but I ain’t commit no fraud,” Romona Oliver can be heard saying on police body cam video obtained from the Tampa Police Department. “I got out. The guy told me that I was free and clear to go vote or whatever because I had done my time,” she said. Oliver’s attorney says she received a voter registration card and thought she was eligible to vote. The videos, first reported by The Tampa Bay Times, provide a fresh glimpse into a far-reaching state operation earlier this summer to crack down on supposed voter fraud. On August 18, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested 20 individuals accused of illegally voting in the 2020 election. He unveiled the charges at a celebratory news conference at the Broward County Courthouse, where he was flanked by police officers and state Attorney General Ashley Moody. “As convicted murderers and felony sex offenders, none of the individuals were eligible to vote,” DeSantis said. “They did not get their rights restored, and yet they went ahead and voted anyway,” DeSantis said at the time. “That is against the law, and now they’re going to pay the price for it.” Mark Rankin, a Tampa-based attorney, who is representing Oliver pro-bono, told CNN that Oliver served almost 20 years in state prison for a conviction for second degree murder. “She served her time and got out. And she got out around the time that Amendment 4 was passed, which affected the rights of felons to vote. Her understanding was that felons had their rights restored.” Rankin says Oliver was approached at the bus stop one day on the way to work by someone registering voters, and she told them she was a felon. The person then told Oliver that she could fill out the form and if she was eligible, she would get a voter registration card and if she wasn’t eligible, she wouldn’t get the card. Oliver received a voter registration card in the mail. She went to the Department of Motor Vehicles office later to get a new driver’s license and was sent an updated voter registration card with her new address, according to Rankin. “She was twice told by the State of Florida and the local Supervisor of Elections, ‘Here’s your voter registration card. You are, as far as we’re concerned, legally eligible to vote.’ And so she voted and she was shocked when she was arrested.” “She was shocked and upset because she thought her rights had been restored by the amendment. She didn’t know any different. And the State of Florida, she believed, was telling her that she was eligible to vote. And now she’s had the rug pulled out from under her. She never would have voted if she knew that she was ineligible,” Rankin said. Oliver pleaded not guilty to the illegal voting charge and has a trial set for December in Hillsborough County. County records show she was released on her own recognizance the same day she was arrested. The Tampa Police Department conducted arrests on behalf of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the originating agency for the investigation, a police department spokesperson told CNN. CNN also reached out to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which was involved in some of the arrests. The arrests marked the first public demonstration of the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security, a controversial new investigative agency created this year and championed by DeSantis to probe voting irregularities. Created under a sweeping bill passed this year to overhaul voting in Florida, the office was given a staff of 15 to initiate probes and allowed DeSantis to assign 10 state law enforcement officers to help investigate election crimes. But almost immediately after the state announced the charges, questions began to surface about the arrests and whether the individuals knew they were violating the law when they cast a ballot. According to state law, it is the job of the Florida Department of State to “identify those registered voters who have been convicted of a felony” and “notify the supervisor and provide a copy of the supporting documentation indicating the potential ineligibility of the voter to be registered.” In the five counties where there were arrests, the local supervisor of elections office told CNN that the state did not inform the arrested individuals that they were ineligible to vote. DeSantis continued to defend the arrests and in a later news conference blamed some local election offices who, he said, “just don’t care about the election laws.” But the Office of Election Crimes and Security wrote a letter to an elections supervisor that the individuals voted illegally “through no fault of your own.” The letter, obtained by CNN, was sent on August 18 by Pete Antonacci, who served as the first director of the Office of Election Crimes and Security until he died September 23 after a medical episode at the Florida state Capitol. The arrests captured in police body cam footage also are illustrative of the confusion that still surrounds a successful 2018 constitutional amendment in Florida to restore the voting rights of some felons that had completed their sentences. The constitutional amendment, approved overwhelmingly by voters in a statewide referendum, said people convicted of murder and certain sex crimes were not eligible to have their rights restored. But the law that implemented the constitutional amendment specified that an ineligible felon who erroneously votes is in violation of the law if they “willfully submit any false voter registration information.” State Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican and the sponsor of that legislation, has said on social media that most convicted felons have no intent to break the law. After the Tampa Bay Times published the body cam video, Brandes tweeted from his verified account, “Looks like the opposite of ‘willingly,’” and he suggested that state will struggle to prove its case in court. “I hope they have the courage to drop charges or go to trial and produce evidence of willful intent,” Brandes wrote. Read More Here

5 Things To Know For October 19: Midterms, Trump, Ukraine, Gas Prices, US Currency – KRDO https://digitalarkansasnews.com/5-things-to-know-for-october-19-midterms-trump-ukraine-gas-prices-us-currency-krdo/ By Alexandra Meeks, CNN It’s that time of the year when fall enthusiasts embrace “sweater weather.” But if you live in the eastern US, you may already be sporting your winter coats. This week has been — by far — the coldest of the season in several states. In fact, more than 100 million Americans remain under freeze warnings, frost advisories and other cold weather alerts today. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. Midterm elections It’s just under three weeks from Election Day and nearly 2.5 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the midterm elections, according to data from election officials. While it’s too early to predict if 2022 will eventually reach the exceptionally high turnout levels of 2018 — and it’s likely voting patterns have changed as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed more people to vote early — the numbers show preelection voting is keeping pace with the same point four years ago. Voters already are starting to cast ballots in some of 2022’s most critical swing states: More than 370,000 ballots have been cast in Michigan, nearly 237,000 in Pennsylvania and nearly 160,000 in Wisconsin. And in Georgia, long lines and a record turnout of more than 131,000 people marked the first day of early voting in the state this week. 2. Trump The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol will issue a subpoena to former President Donald Trump “shortly” to seek his testimony under oath as well as documents, according to GOP Rep. Liz Cheney. On Tuesday, the committee’s vice chair did not commit to what the panel will do if Trump does not comply with the subpoena but said “we’ll take the steps we need to take.” Separately, Trump is scheduled to answer questions under oath today in the defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist who accused Trump of raping her in a department store in the mid-1990s. Trump has denied the allegations. 3. Ukraine Large portions of Ukrainian territory have been hit with electricity and water outages as Russia ramps up its strikes on energy facilities in the country. Ukraine’s military said it shot down 13 Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones over the Mykolaiv region overnight, and many residents are bracing for more attacks. The US, France and the UK plan to discuss Iran’s drone transfers to Russia during a UN Security Council meeting today, a US official told CNN. The three countries have said that the transfers are a violation of a UN security resolution, which restricts certain arms transfers to or from Iran. It is unclear whether they will raise this specific point in the meeting or move to snap back sanctions on Iran for the arms transfers. 4. Gas prices In a move to balance global markets and help drive gas prices down, President Joe Biden today will announce additional oil reserve sales, a senior administration official said. The White House will specifically announce the sale of an additional 15 million barrels to curb market pressures created by the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production. Earlier this month, OPEC+, the group of major oil producers that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, said it would slash oil production by 2 million barrels per day — the biggest cut since the start of the pandemic. The move triggered an intensive effort inside the the Biden administration to come up with options to counter the likelihood of gas prices increasing. 5. US currency A groundbreaking movie star will be the first Asian American to appear on US currency. Anna May Wong, an actress who broke through during the silent film era, will soon be featured on the back of new US quarters. Considered the movie industry’s first Chinese American star, Wong overcame widespread discrimination to carve out a four-decade career in film, theater and radio. The new design is the fifth to emerge from the US’ American Women Quarters Program, which highlights pioneering women in their respective fields. The other four quarters, all put into production this year, feature poet and activist Maya Angelou; the first American woman in space, Sally Ride; Cherokee Nation leader Wilma Mankiller; and suffragist Nina Otero-Warren. BREAKFAST BROWSE Girl Scouts of America receive largest ever donation from single donor MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated more than $80 million to the Girl Scouts of America. Some McDonald’s will now sell Krispy Kreme donuts So, the kings of breakfast are joining forces? Here’s why McDonald’s is adding a new menu item from one of its rivals at some locations. After a nightmare year of losing subscribers, Netflix is back to growing Wildly popular shows like “Stranger Things” and “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” helped Netflix get back on track — in a big way. Lin-Manuel Miranda responds to ‘Little Mermaid’ backlash Award-winning composer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda talked about writing the music for the live-action movie and had this to say about backlash to the casting of “Ariel.” Newark airport authorities remove snake from a plane Unlike the infamous 2006 film “Snakes on a Plane,” the incident didn’t impact airport operations… but it did make passengers squirm in their seats. TODAY’S NUMBER 8 p.m. That’s the new time residents in New York City can put trash out on the curb — instead of 4 p.m. — as officials try to combat mounting complaints of rat sightings on sidewalks. Some parts of the city have become an “all-night, all-you-can-eat rat buffet,” NYC Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, adding rats are “absolutely going to hate” the new rule change. Additionally, Tisch emphasized more collections will occur overnight to reduce the number of hours that garbage sits curbside from about 14 hours to four hours. TODAY’S QUOTE “Without Kristin, there is no joy or happiness in this verdict.” — Stan Smart, sharing a family statement after a California jury on Tuesday found Paul Flores guilty of the 1996 murder of his daughter, Kristin Smart. Prosecutors alleged Flores, now 45, killed Smart in his dorm room while he and the victim were students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and that his father helped move her body to his home nearby. Flores could face 25 years to life in prison for the conviction, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office. The Smart family also thanked Chris Lambert, who launched the true crime podcast “Your Own Backyard” in 2019 which drew public interest in the case. TODAY’S WEATHER Check your local forecast here AND FINALLY Dolphins: How smart are they actually? Watch what these dolphins do when they see their reflections in a mirror. (Click here to view) The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Analyst Acquitted At Trial Over Discredited Trump Dossier https://digitalarkansasnews.com/analyst-acquitted-at-trial-over-discredited-trump-dossier-2/ ALEXANDRIA, Va. — (AP) — A jury on Tuesday acquitted a think tank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about former President Donald Trump. The case against Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by Special Counsel John Durham as part of his probe into how the FBI conducted its own investigation into allegations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The first two cases ended in an acquittal and a guilty plea with a sentence of probation. Danchenko betrayed no emotion as the verdict was read. His wife wiped away tears after the clerk read the final “not guilty” to the four counts he faced. Danchenko didn’t comment after the hearing, but his lawyer, Stuart Sears, spoke briefly to reporters, saying, “We’ve known all along that Mr. Danchenko is innocent. We’re happy now that the American public knows that as well.” The jury reached its verdict after roughly nine hours of deliberations over two days. One juror, Joel Greene of Vienna, Virginia, said there were no real disputes among the jury and that jurors just wanted to be thorough in reviewing the four counts. The acquittal marked a significant setback for Durham. Despite hopes by Trump supporters that the prosecutor would uncover a sweeping conspiracy within the FBI and other agencies to derail his candidacy, the three-year investigation failed to produce evidence that met those expectations. The sole conviction — an FBI lawyer admitted altering an email related to the surveillance of a former Trump aide — was for conduct uncovered not by Durham but by the Justice Department’s inspector general, and the two cases that Durham took to trials ended in full acquittals. Durham declined comment after the hearing, but he said in a statement issued through the Justice Department: “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service. I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.” He issued an identical statement after the first trial ended in acquittal. The Danchenko case was the first of the three to delve deeply into the origins of the “Steele dossier,” a compendium of allegations that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was colluding with the Kremlin. Most famously, it alleged that the Russians could have blackmail material on Trump for his supposed interactions with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. Trump derided the dossier as fake news and a political witch hunt when it became public in 2017. Danchenko, by his own admission, was responsible for 80% of the raw intelligence in the dossier and half of the accompanying analysis, though trial testimony indicated that Danchenko was shocked and dismayed about how Steele presented the material and portrayed it as factual when Danchenko considered it more to be rumor and speculation. Prosecutors said that if Danchenko had been more honest about his sources, the FBI might not have treated the dossier so credulously. As it turned out, the FBI used material from the dossier to support applications for warrantless surveillance of a Trump campaign official, Carter Page, even though the FBI never was able to corroborate a single allegation in the dossier. Prosecutors said Danchenko lied about the identity of his own sources for the material he gave to Steele. The specific charges against Danchenko allege that he essentially fabricated one of his sources when the FBI interviewed him to determine how he derived the material he provided for the dossier. Danchenko told the FBI that some of the material came when he received an anonymous call from a man he believed to be Sergei Millian, a former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. Prosecutors said Danchenko’s story made no sense. They said that phone records show no evidence of a call, and that Danchenko had no reason to believe Millian, a Trump supporter he’d never met, was suddenly going to be willing to provide disparaging information about Trump to a stranger. Danchenko’s lawyers, as a starting point, maintain that Danchenko never said he talked with Millian. He only guessed that Millian might have been the caller when the FBI asked him to speculate. And they said he shouldn’t be convicted of a crime for making a guess at the FBI’s invitation. That said, Danchenko’s lawyers say, he had good reason to believe the caller may well have been Millian. The call came just a few days after Danchenko had reached out to Millian over email after a mutual acquaintance brokered a connection over email. And Danchenko’s lawyers say it’s irrelevant that his phone records don’t show a call because Danchenko told the FBI from the start that the call might have taken place over a secure mobile app for which he had no records. The jury began deliberations Monday afternoon after hearing closing arguments on four counts. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga threw out a fifth count, saying prosecutors had failed to prove it as a matter of law. Trenga nearly threw out all of the charges before the trial began, citing the legal strength of Danchenko’s defense, but allowed the case to proceed in what he described as “an extremely close call.” ___ Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report. ©2022 Cox Media Group Read More Here

Trump Aides Interfered With CDC's Communications With American Public To Downplay COVID Risks, Report Finds https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-aides-interfered-with-cdcs-communications-with-american-public-to-downplay-covid-risks-report-finds/ By Ciara Linnane Aides ‘overruled scientists to weaken multiple CDC guidance documents and to exploit and counteract CDC’s public health authorities to achieve political goals,’ says report Aides from the administration of former President Donald Trump interfered with communications from a leading public health agency to downplay the risks of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a damning new report published Monday. Aides “usurped control of CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) communications and blocked public health officials from providing accurate information about the coronavirus to the American people,” the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, led by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, said in the 91-page report. It was the third such investigational report by the subcommittee on the previous administration’s handling of the pandemic. The first report found that Trump sought to prevent health experts from speaking publicly on the crisis and the second alleged that he engaged in a “knife fight” with the Food and Drug Administration. Officials interviewed senior leaders at the CDC including Dr. Robert Redfield, its former head, and heard that Trump officials blocked the agency from offering information to the American public early on in the pandemic. See also: Trump properties charged excessive rates to government, House Democrats say Other findings in the report include that aides: “installed political operatives who sought to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic and retaliated against career officials who contradicted Trump administration talking points; overruled scientists to weaken multiple CDC guidance documents and to exploit and counteract CDC’s public health authorities to achieve political goals; attempted to manipulate the content and block the publication of CDC’s scientific reports and destroy evidence of such political interference; and diverted taxpayer money away from CDC to inject overtly pro-Trump slogans into public service announcements about vaccines.” Redfield said the process for developing guidance “got complicated” during the pandemic and that it gave him “PTSD.” He also said in a transcribed interview for the report that White House officials in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) effectively had veto power over CDC’s coronavirus guidance, explaining: “We didn’t get the approval usually to issue the guidance until OMB gave it a thumb’s up.” Read also: COVID-era ‘baby boom’ marks the first major reversal in declining fertility rates since 2007 Clyburn told MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” on Monday that CDC scientists were “not prepared to have to deal with political interference. “Their job is to simply do the research, do the science, inform the public, and then hopefully the leadership will be there by the politicians to do what’s necessary to protect the public. Instead, they had their information supplanted and deleted and in many instances they were insulted and embarrassed.” The report comes as U.S. known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where the data are not being collected. The daily average for new cases stood at 37,655 on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 17% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was down 4% at 26,413, while the daily average for deaths is down 7% to 357. Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began Other COVID-19 news you should know about: — California’s coronavirus emergency will officially end in February, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday, nearly three years after the state’s first confirmed death from the disease prompted a raft of restrictions that upended public life, the Associated Press reported. “The State of Emergency was an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state, and we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without it,” Newsom said in a news release, adding that the declaration will formally end on Feb. 28. Newsom declared a state of emergency for the coronavirus on March 4, 2020, shortly after an elderly patient was the first confirmed death from the disease in California. — Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing cold-like symptoms on Monday, according to her office, the AP reported separately. Crouch said in a Twitter post that she had “mild symptoms and will continue to work for Hoosiers from home while following all of Indiana’s COVID guidelines.” Crouch was at her home in Evansville after testing positive with the COVID-19 virus for the first time, said her office spokesman, Ron Green. — China reported 951 new COVID infections for Monday, of which 250 were symptomatic and 701 were asymptomatic, Reuters reported, citing data from the National Health Commission. That compares with 921 new cases a day earlier–245 symptomatic and 676 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately. There were no new deaths, same as a day earlier, keeping fatalities at 5,226. As of Oct. 17, mainland China had confirmed 256,268 cases with symptoms. — Researchers seeking treatments for long COVID are eager to see whether low doses of naltrexone, a generic drug typically used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction, can help, Reuters reported separately. The treatment has helped Lauren Nichols, a 34-year-old logistics expert for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Boston, who has been suffering from impaired thinking and focus, fatigue, seizures, headache and pain since her COVID-19 infection in the spring of 2020. The drug has been used with some success to treat a similar complex, post-infectious syndrome marked by cognitive deficits and overwhelming fatigue called myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Here’s what the numbers say: The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 625.3 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.56 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. leads the world with 96.9 million cases and 1,065,441 fatalities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.2 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.1% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 110.8 million have had a booster, equal to 49% of the vaccinated population, and 25.6 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 39% of those who received a first booster. Some 14.8 million people have had a shot of the new bivalent booster that targets the new omicron subvariants. -Ciara Linnane (END) Dow Jones Newswires 10-19-22 0635ET Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Read More Here

Trump Acknowledges That Letters To North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Were ‘Top Secret’ – Other Media News – Tasnim News Agency https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-acknowledges-that-letters-to-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-were-top-secret-other-media-news-tasnim-news-agency/ “Don’t say I gave them to you,” Trump said in December 2019, according to a copy of Woodward’s audiobook obtained by CNN, adding that “nobody else” had the letters and imploring the journalist to “treat them with respect”. The Washington Post reported that a month later, in January 2020, Woodward also asked to see letters that Trump had written to the North Korean leader. Trump replied, “Oh, those are so top secret,” The New York Times reported. The original letters between Kim and Trump were among the voluminous number of presidential records that the National Archives tried to recover from Trump after he left office. He resisted returning the boxes of documents he took to his Florida estate, describing them to several advisers as “mine”. The recordings appear to contradict Trump’s claims that none of the material he took with him from the White House was sensitive, or that the documents were personal records. Trump has also asserted that as president, he could have declassified any sensitive documents without a formal process “just by saying ‘it’s declassified’ – even by thinking about it”. In September 2021, Trump appeared at first to indicate to Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, in an interview during research for her book Confidence Man that he had the letters from Kim, then backtracked and said they were with the archives. In reality, they were not returned to the government for four more months, when the archives retrieved 15 boxes of material that Trump was keeping at his private club and residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. Questions about Trump’s handling of the thousands of pages of government material he took with him when he left the White House – including hundreds of classified files – are at the heart of a Justice Department investigation into whether Trump violated laws governing the handling of sensitive documents or engaged in obstruction as the government sought to recover them. Trump has long been fixated on his personal relationship with Kim. While in office, he brandished letters from the dictator to reporters and other visitors to the White House. The rapport that he claimed he had developed with Kim did little to significantly improve relations with the totalitarian regime, as Kim continued his policy of nuclear proliferation and aggressive displays of military power. Trump also described in his interviews with Woodward how he would taunt the North Korean leader with a euphemistic warning about their respective nuclear arsenals. “I said: ‘My button’s bigger than yours, and my button works. Yours doesn’t’,” he said. “You know, stuff like that.” Read More Here

California Jury Convicts Paul Flores Of 1996 Murder Of Kristin Smart https://digitalarkansasnews.com/california-jury-convicts-paul-flores-of-1996-murder-of-kristin-smart/ Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old student at California Polytechnic University, was last seen with fellow freshman Paul Flores in the early hours of a Saturday in May 1996, walking to her dorm after leaving an off-campus party. On Tuesday, more than a quarter-century later, a California jury found Flores guilty in her murder. Flores’s father, Ruben Flores, who had been accused of helping his son conceal Smart’s remains, was found not guilty of being an accessory to the murder. Smart’s body has not been found. “Without Kristin, there’s no joy or happiness,” Stan Smart, her father, told reporters after the verdict. “This has been an agonizingly long journey, with more downs than ups,” he said, before thanking prosecutors for securing the guilty verdict for the younger Flores. But he said that with the senior Flores acquitted, the Smarts’ “quest for justice will continue.” Paul Flores, 45, faces 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9 at the Monterey County Superior Court in California. His attorney, Robert Sanger, declined to comment, saying “the matter is still pending.” Ruben Flores, 81, told reporters Tuesday after the verdict that the evidence against him and his son had “too much made-up stuff,” and that the ruling was based on “feelings instead of facts.” He expressed sorrow for the Smarts, saying he believed they didn’t get answers about what had happened to their daughter. His attorney did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday night. After Smart’s disappearance, Paul Flores was initially designated a person of interest by authorities. He had a black eye at the time that he told investigators he had gotten during a basketball game with friends, who later contradicted his statement, the Associated Press reported. He then changed his story, saying he had bumped his head while working on his car. Detectives interviewed a new witness in 2019, which led to search warrants for the homes of Flores and his family, officials said. In March 2021, investigators searched the home of Ruben Flores in Arroyo Grande, Calif., where authorities said they found “additional evidence related to the murder of Kristin Smart.” In April last year, authorities arrested the younger Flores and his father, calling the former a “prime suspect.” Prosecutors later told the jury that investigators had found a “clandestine grave” beneath the deck of the home of Ruben Flores, “believed to have previously held Kristin’s body.” Archaeologists working for police found a soil disturbance about the size of a casket and the presence of human blood, though the blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample, the AP reported. Prosecutors have previously said that they believe Flores raped, or at least tried to rape, Smart before killing her. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney’s office could not be reached on Tuesday night. In a statement after the verdict Tuesday, Sheriff Ian Parkison thanked Smart’s family for their “patience and support” during the long investigation. “I made a vow to them many years ago, that we would not let Kristin’s memory be forgotten. Nor would we let her killer go unpunished … But there is no true justice until Kristin is reunited with her family. This investigation will not be closed until we find Kristin.” Read More Here

Hub Of Vacationland https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hub-of-vacationland/ We would laugh at the sign in downtown Prescott when I was a boy growing up in Arkadelphia. It declared Prescott, a town we passed through on the way down U.S. 67 to Texas, to be the “Hub of Vacationland.” I’ve never known anyone who spent an entire vacation in the Nevada County seat, but I did spend the morning recently at the Nevada County Depot and Museum. The museum is in the city’s 1912 depot, which became vacant when passenger train service to Prescott ended in 1968. The city purchased the building and adjoining parking lots from Missouri Pacific in 1970 for $1. The depot was used for meetings, but the noise of passing trains proved too much. It later was used only for storage until several exhibits were set up inside during the city’s 1972 centennial celebration. A group of area residents formed an organization whose goal was to create a state park at the Prairie D’Ane battlefield, where there was a skirmish during the Civil War. The depot served as the Nevada County State Park Association headquarters. The Prescott Chamber of Commerce moved into the building in 1976. Additional history exhibits were installed with John Teeter as curator. In 1977, the Nevada County Historical Society nominated the depot for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was successful. Meanwhile, the Nevada County State Park Association became a nonprofit organization with a goal of keeping the museum open to the public in addition to bringing a state park to Prairie D’Ane. No state park ever came to Prescott, but the depot received a grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program for renovations. Another grant came in 2000 from the Arkansas Highway Commission, and the association’s name was changed to Nevada County Depot and Museum. Though we didn’t vacation in Prescott, I knew people who went there to view the body of Old Mike, a traveling salesman who died in 1911. The body was embalmed and open for public viewing for more than 60 years. “Mike visited Prescott about once a month to sell pens, paper and thread to homes and businesses near the railroad tracks in the center of town,” writes historian David Sesser. “He would arrive on the southbound 3 p.m. train and stay overnight. The next day, he would board the 3 p.m. train and continue his journey. On April 11, 1911, Mike probably attended an outdoor revival in the city park. The next day, his body was found underneath a tree in the park, where he had apparently died of a heart attack or stroke. “The body was taken to Cornish Funeral Home, where it was embalmed. A search of Mike’s belongings didn’t turn up any identification. What was known about Mike was that he was 40 to 45 years old, spoke English with little accent, was probably Italian, had suffered some type of injury to his right arm and leg (possibly the effects of a stroke) and had had elaborate dental work done. The body was placed on display at the funeral home in hopes of someone identifying it. No one came forward to identify or claim the body.” As crass as it sounds, the body turned into a tourist attraction. Finally, the state attorney general’s office in 1975 asked funeral home officials to bury Old Mike. He was buried on May 12, 1975. Like so many towns in rural Arkansas, Prescott has struggled economically in recent decades. Its population declined from 4,103 in the 1980 census to 3,101 in the 2020 census. Prairie D’Ane battlefield is within sight of Interstate 30. Fighting took place there during what was known as the Camden Expedition. After capturing Little Rock and Fort Smith in September 1863, Union forces controlled much of Arkansas. In March 1864, an attack on northwest Louisiana and eastern Texas was launched from Arkansas and New Orleans. Union Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele left Little Rock on March 23, 1864. The main body of the Confederate Army in Arkansas, led by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, operated out of Camden. The Confederate state government had moved its operations to Washington in Hempstead County. “Price’s main objective was to protect Washington,” Sesser writes. “On April 7, the Confederate forces from Camden further reinforced the units in the field. When the units from Camden arrived, Price took control of the entire army. Federal troops were also receiving long-awaited reinforcements. … On April 9, Union Brig. Gen. John Thayer’s Frontier Division from Fort Smith finally reached Steele, and the combined armies continued their march. “Thayer’s men were short of food, and Steele had to request that rations be sent immediately from Little Rock. On April 10, Steele’s men reached Prairie D’Ane. The Confederates had been building earthworks for six days, and Union troops began building their own defensive positions about a mile away. Prairie D’Ane consists of open, rolling land surrounded by forests. For the next two days, the Union and Confederate armies exchanged an occasional artillery shell and engaged in limited skirmishing. Neither side wished to force a major engagement.” For the most part, soldiers were able to relax and do everything from hunting rabbits to writing letters. There were several small attacks. The last fighting occurred about midnight on April 11. The battlefield at Prairie D’Ane still looks much as it did at the time of the Civil War. On Feb. 23, 2018, an acquisition ceremony was held to present the deed for 808 acres of the battlefield to the Nevada County Depot and Museum. Senior Editor Rex Nelson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He’s also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com. Read More Here

Mallikarjun Kharge: Can A Non-Gandhi Congress Chief Take On Modi? https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mallikarjun-kharge-can-a-non-gandhi-congress-chief-take-on-modi/ Image source, Getty Images By Imran Qureshi BBC Hindi Veteran politician Mallikarjun Kharge has won the internal election to become the president of India’s main opposition Congress party. Mr Kharge was competing against charismatic MP Shashi Tharoor, but swept the election, securing eight times more votes than his opponent. As he congratulated Mr Kharge on Wednesday, Mr Tharoor said, “I believe the revival of our party has truly begun today.” This is the first time in more than 20 years that the party will have a non-Gandhi at the helm – the last such chief Sitaram Kesri was unceremoniously removed in 1998 just after two years into his five-year term. He was replaced by Sonia Gandhi – widow of the late PM Rajiv Gandhi – who then served as the party president for 19 years. Her son Rahul Gandhi was elected unopposed in 2017, but he stepped down two years later owning responsibility for the party’s rout in the 2019 general elections. Since then, Mrs Gandhi has been heading the party as the interim chief. The election of Mr Kharge, a loyalist of the Gandhi family, was widely expected. A former federal minister, Mr Kharge had announced plans to implement the organisational reforms in the party, including 50% representation for those below 50 years at all levels. In his new role, the 80-year-old veteran will be expected to hit the ground running – the next general elections are due in just a little over 18 months and experts say the Congress party needs reforms to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And it will be his job to provide leadership to the party as it faces its worst crisis “structurally, organisationally, and even in terms of ideological leadership”. Who is Mr Kharge? A member of the Dalit (formerly untouchable) community from the southern state of Karnataka, Mr Kharge has had a long stint in public life. Born in 1942 in Bidar district, he grew up in the neighbouring district of Gulbarga after his family moved there. He studied law and represented labour unions in his early days. He took an active interest in politics from his students days and joined the Congress party in 1969. Devaraj Urs, who was then the party chief in the state, convinced him to contest from Gurmitkal, an upper caste-dominated constituency in 1972. The leap of faith paid off – Mr Kharge won from that constituency nine consecutive times. He also contested – and won – from Chitapur. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Mr Kharge is a loyalist of the Gandhi family “He has emerged as a Dalit leader, but he has been very fair-minded with all other communities as well,” political analyst Indudhara Honnapura told BBC Hindi. An astute administrator, Mr Kharge served as minister in several state governments. “He was always polite with officials but had a mind of his own and would make clear his preferences,” a retired bureaucrat said. In 2009, he moved to the political centre-stage in Delhi when he was elected from Gulbarga constituency for the first time to the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the parliament. He won a second term in 2014 but lost to the BJP candidate in 2019. In 2021, he was elected to the upper house. The veteran politician has done stints as the leader of the opposition in both houses of parliament and served as a cabinet minister in the federal government looking after the railways and labour and employment ministries. But the current assignment is expected to be the toughest of his career – the rise in the fortunes of the BJP under the leadership of Mr Modi and party president Amit Shah since 2014 has coincided with the downslide of the Congress party. In the 2019 elections, the Congress won only 53 seats as the BJP swept the elections with 303 seats in the 545-member house. The party has also lost power in the majority of the states it once ran and is now restricted to two states. Can he challenge the BJP? Analysts say he will have to overcome several challenges to take on the BJP. To begin with, he will have to prove that he’s not just a proxy for the Gandhi family and is actually in control of the party. In the run up to Monday’s vote, he told the Indian Express newspaper that he may not consult the Nehru-Gandhi family on every decision, but would seek their “guidance” and “suggestions” since the Gandhis had experience helming the party. Then, he will have to deal with dissensions within the Congress – in recent years, several senior leaders have either deserted the party or expressed their unhappiness with the way it’s run. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The only other candidate in the fray was the charismatic Shashi Tharoor, a diplomat-turned-politician Political commentator Kay Benedict says Mr Kharge “is quite efficient in soothing ruffled feathers and reducing tensions between different factions. He is not someone who will fight with others”. But some are wondering whether a politician from southern India will have much appeal in northern states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – which together elect 120 MPs and where the party is in a shambles. Journalist Poornima Joshi says “he does not have the dynamism” to give a fresh edge to the party nationally. “He is a decent man and a rooted politician. No-one can call him a lightweight. But in terms of reinvention of the Congress, Mr Kharge does not exactly fill the vacuum that exists in the party.” Ms Joshi also says it’s unlikely that he will be able to challenge the Modi-Shah combine. “The Congress needs someone who can speak their lingo, someone wily, someone who can beat the BJP at their own game.” But, Ms Joshi says, perhaps the new Congress president “can fight the BJP ideologically”. “And people may respond to him positively once they compare the two sides. This is a factor that is yet to be seen.” Read more India stories from the BBC: Read More Here

GOP Hopefuls Stump For Election Deniers Despite Distancing From Trump Lies https://digitalarkansasnews.com/gop-hopefuls-stump-for-election-deniers-despite-distancing-from-trump-lies/ In an interview on the “Today” show earlier this month, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley swore off campaigning for Republicans who repeat ex-president Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen. “Everybody that I’m helping acknowledges the fact that the elections, you know, were real,” Haley said. In fact, both before and after that interview, she has endorsed and campaigned with a slate of Senate candidates who reject or question the 2020 election results as she positions herself as a potential 2024 presidential candidate. Haley appeared at a rally Tuesday with Don Bolduc of New Hampshire, who insisted Trump won the election and President Biden was illegitimate, though he has attempted to backtrack since the primary. She also campaigned with Adam Laxalt of Nevada, who led the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the results in that state. And she endorsed Ted Budd of North Carolina, who as a congressman voted against certifying the electoral college results on Jan. 6, 2021. Haley is not the only 2024 GOP hopeful who is trying to offer a contrast to Trump but still stumping for election deniers. Former vice president Mike Pence, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan have all criticized Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and have given signals about running against him in 2024. Still, in this year’s midterm elections, they’re all campaigning with Republicans who have thoroughly embraced Trump’s lies about 2020. The contradiction reflects how thoroughly election deniers dominate this cycle’s Republican nominees, with a majority of Republicans on the ballot having denied or questioned the 2020 results. It also illustrates the challenge of presenting an alternative to Trump in a presidential primary when he continues to command overwhelming support with the party’s base. Six in 10 Republicans and 29 percent of Americans overall say they believe Biden won only because of voter fraud, according to a Sept. 27 Monmouth University poll. The level has remained steady since the 2020 election, according to Monmouth surveys. The array of Republican leaders who are hitting the campaign trail to help the party’s nominees while also bolstering their own profiles stands in stark contrast to a dearth of national surrogates on the Democratic side. Biden and former president Barack Obama have scheduled only a handful of campaign events, and other prominent Democrats in the Senate and Cabinet have been absent. Trump, as the GOP’s presumptive front-runner, has himself been active in the midterms, with rallies around the country promoting what he has called the “Trump ticket.” On Monday, he lashed out in a social media post against Joe O’Dea, the Republican candidate in Colorado who has distanced himself from Trump. Even Republicans who have sought to pivot to the middle since the primary, such as Nevada gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo and Senate candidate Blake Masters in Arizona, have enthusiastically welcomed Trump’s support at recent rallies. His next rally is Saturday in Texas. In addition to Bolduc, Laxalt and Budd, Haley has also endorsed Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who worked to keep Trump in office after the election, according to text messages obtained by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Lee voted to accept the results on Jan. 6. Haley appeared at a rally with Herschel Walker, the Senate candidate in Georgia who expressed support for overturning the 2020 result there. (Walker said in a debate last week that Biden won.) She has also endorsed six House Republicans who voted to object to the electoral college results, another House candidate who said he would have, and Wisconsin congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden, who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. “The liberal media is obsessed with the 2020 election,” Haley said in a statement. “As we travel the country, that’s not what people are talking about. The candidates we’re supporting are rightly focused on Joe Biden’s dismal leadership on the economy, the border, and crime.” Pence has said Trump was “wrong” to pressure him to reject the electoral college votes, something he had no power to do. Public hearings by the House Jan. 6 committee have repeatedly styled him as a hero for standing up for democracy. And he repeatedly went head to head with Trump in primary proxy battles such as the gubernatorial races in Georgia, where Pence’s candidate won, and Arizona, where Trump’s did. But as Pence has begun laying the groundwork to run in 2024, he isn’t seeking to make opposing Trump core to his political brand. Last week, Pence appeared in Phoenix to endorse Senate candidate Blake Masters of Arizona, who denied the 2020 election results during the primary and has since reversed himself. Pence also led a fundraiser for Burt Jones, the Republican nominee for Georgia’s lieutenant governor who was part of the effort, now under local and federal investigation, to submit phony electors claiming Trump won the state in 2020. In a recent local news interview, Jones said he stood by signing the false certificate, explaining that he understood it as a procedural measure in case the Trump campaign succeeded in court, and he wouldn’t acknowledge Biden as the legitimate winner. Pence has campaigned with Bolduc and Budd, and endorsed Lee. He also helped raise money for Lee Zeldin, the Republican running for governor of New York who in Congress voted against certifying the electoral college results. A Pence adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the former vice president wants to be a team player to help Republicans win Congress and more governor’s offices. Referring to Republicans’ reversals on the 2020 election, the adviser said, “If candidates are now accepting of the events around Jan. 6, that should be viewed as a positive and rewarded. And as candidates look to coalesce the party behind them in the closing days of the election, Pence can be helpful.” Hogan, a blue-state Republican governor and one of the party’s most vocal critics of Trump, is openly exploring a presidential bid. A recent trip to New Hampshire, home to the first presidential primary, included a fundraiser for Rich Girard, a state Senate candidate who has tweeted that the 2020 election was stolen. Hogan’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Cotton, who has given presentations to donors about how he would run a successful presidential campaign and visited the early primary-calendar states Iowa and New Hampshire, opposed objecting to the electoral college votes on Jan. 6, saying that doing so “would essentially end presidential elections and place that power in the hands of whichever party controls Congress.” After the Capitol riot, Cotton called on Trump to “accept the results of the election, quit misleading the American people and repudiate mob violence.” Now, though, Cotton is campaigning for other candidates who didn’t take that advice. In addition to Laxalt, Bolduc and Van Orden, Cotton is campaigning this week with J.D. Vance, the Senate candidate in Ohio who has falsely claimed “massive fraud” in 2020. Cotton has also helped raise money for Mike Garcia, a California congressman who voted to object to the electoral college vote, and endorsed Katie Britt, the Senate candidate in Alabama who said she would have done so were she there in 2020. Cotton’s political operation did not respond to requests for comment. During his own campaign for governor last year, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) tiptoed around claims about the 2020 election. He avoided acknowledging Biden’s legitimacy until after winning the primary, and avoided saying whether he would have voted to certify the electoral college vote if he were in Congress, ultimately saying he would have. His campaign emphasized “election integrity” and expressed support for voting machine audits, but he also tried to present himself as a moderate business leader. Now, as Youngkin has met with donors considering a presidential bid, he’s campaigning with gubernatorial candidates who have unabashedly run on Trump’s election lies, such as Kari Lake in Arizona and Tudor Dixon in Michigan. An adviser to Youngkin, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the Virginia governor is not positioning himself for 2024 but rather is focused on helping other Republican gubernatorial candidates this year, like national Republicans helped him in 2021. The adviser said Youngkin is bringing the same message on elections that he used in his own campaign, encouraging people to get involved in the process as poll watchers, but the campaign stops focus mostly on other issues, especially education, crime and the cost of living. Youngkin appeared at a rally on Tuesday in Oregon, where Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan is attempting another blue-state upset. Amy Gardner contributed to this report. Read More Here

Democracy Balances On The Brink In Kansas And U.S. Too Many Of Us Choose Not To Notice. – Kansas Reflector https://digitalarkansasnews.com/democracy-balances-on-the-brink-in-kansas-and-u-s-too-many-of-us-choose-not-to-notice-kansas-reflector/ Kansas and all of the United States teeter on the edge of a treacherous canyon. If we drop into that vast gulf, climbing out again will take years if not decades. Yet nearly half of us, if not more, prefer to ignore the yawning abyss. As evidence, I present two separate yet interconnected stories. The first appeared in Kansas Reflector over the weekend. It outlined the potential consequences of a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Called Moore v. Harper, the case involves a bizarre concept called the independent state legislature theory. As Minnesota Reformer reporter Michelle Griffith explained, if the nation’s high court backs this theory, the consequences could be cataclysmic. State lawmakers could “enact laws to make it harder to vote in federal elections without review from state courts. Legislatures could shorten the early voting period, restrict mail-in balloting to certain counties and require voter ID, among other measures.” Legislatures — including the supermajority GOP one foisted upon Kansas — could have their way with election law. State courts couldn’t stop them. Griffith writes further that “administration of the presidential election is under a different clause, so at stake is solely the administration of congressional elections.” Given the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent track record, however, that hardly reassures. Now, keep that scary scenario in mind while I pivot to the second story. The New York Times noted last week that more than 370 Republican candidates running this year have voiced doubts about the 2020 election. That’s a majority of those running from the party. Kansas has eight GOP candidates for U.S. Congress, governor, secretary of state and state attorney general. Five of them have expressed such doubts about election integrity. (Let’s not forget the role of current attorney general and gubernatorial hopeful Derek Schmidt in challenging President Biden’s election.) A view of the front portico of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Phil Roeder/Getty Images) The outer limits Consider all of this for a moment. An entire party has fallen in thrall to the Big Lie of a stolen election. Simultaneously, the U.S. Supreme Court may hand the keys to statewide elections to Republican-dominated legislatures. What could possibly go wrong? If past is prologue, you can expect a bunch of conspiracy theories and terrible laws. Just this last session, GOP Secretary of State Scott Schwab has had to press back repeatedly against out-0f-state hucksters. Lawmakers showed themselves as all to willing to play along. Current attorney general candidate Kris Kobach’s fought an epic five-year battle against the ACLU, defending unconstitutional voter registration limits. Meanwhile, public trust in our institutions continues to erode. With a background like that, we can expect the Kansas Legislature to press the outer boundaries of the independent state legislature theory if given the go-ahead. The mind boggles at the misshapen districts they might draw or the towering obstacles they might erect to dissuade voters. They might decide that only land-owning men who sign patriot pledges and carry firearms can cast ballots. The canyon we face in Kansas appears particularly treacherous to me because of Republican dominance. Even if the U.S. Supreme Court clears the way for troubling doctrine, purple and blue states will surely see stiff resistance to bad policy. But the number of Kansas Republicans who would vote against the leaders of their party on election matters could well be vanishingly small. And once the laws are passed, without court review, Democrats could be shut out of winning congressional elections in the Sunflower State ever again. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But I would feel more comfortable if I saw more in the party standing up for our system of shared governance. They could start by denouncing former President Donald Trump’s continued barrage of acidulous lies. Instead, those who oppose the man have largely become Democrats or independents. Those who remain maintain either an uncomfortable silence or full-contact embrace for the would-be Potomac potentate. A video of former President Donald Trump is played during a hearing Oct. 13, 2022, by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) On the horizon I don’t write this column because I expect to change anyone’s mind right away. I write because we all must understand what’s coming. I write because I believe it’s the responsibility of all of us in the news media — reporters and editors and opinion columnists alike — to warn about what we see on the horizon. Former Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan recently weighed in journalists’ responsibility in the age of Trump. In an excerpt from her new book, she admitted that the news media hadn’t sufficiently communicated the former president’s danger to our country. Too often, reporters found themselves distracted by spectacle or constrained by norms that no longer applied. We can all learn lessons from that experience and apply them to the future. “Those who deny the outcome of the 2020 election certainly don’t deserve a media megaphone for that enduring lie, one that is likely to reemerge in the presidential campaign ahead,” she recommends. “But the media should go one step further: When covering such a politician in other contexts — for example, about abortion rights or gun control — journalists should remind audiences that this public figure is an election denier.” She adds: “Unfortunately, many media organizations — increasingly owned these days by huge corporations or hedge funds — seem more interested in ratings and profits than in serving the public interest. So, they are extremely hesitant to offend groups of viewers or voters, including the many Republicans who have signed on to the lie about the 2020 election being stolen.” Kansans have turned out to support abortion rights and moderate politicians. Some 570,000 Kansans voted for Joe Biden, more than 41% of those who turned out in 2020. But voting was never sufficient — for Republicans or Democrats. We all must engage. We all must watch. “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell wrote. We can still avoid the canyon. But only if we see it first. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Read More Here

Bryant Gets Firm Test From Cabot https://digitalarkansasnews.com/bryant-gets-firm-test-from-cabot/ With playoff pictures starting to take shape in classifications across the state, this is shaping up to be one of the most consequential weeks of the entire season. That all starts in the state’s largest class, with the state’s top two teams. Overall No. 2 Cabot (6-1, 4-0 7A-Central) has been one of the surprises of the season thus far. Coach Scott Reed has led his squad to wins over ranked Fayetteville, Bentonville West and Conway. But Reed and Cabot’s toughest test yet awaits Friday with overall No. 1 and four-time defending Class 7A state champion Bryant. Following tough nonconference tests against Benton and Little Rock Parkview, Bryant (6-0, 4-0) has rolled through conference play, outscoring its four opponents 161-32. Following a slow start to his season, Bryant sophomore quarterback Jordan Walker has come into his own behind center, throwing for 1,019 yards and 10 touchdowns. This will be the toughest test Bryant has faced since the 2021 state title game against Fayetteville, and a good gauge of just how good this Hornets squad is compared to its peers. Bryant 34, Cabot 21 ROGERS (6-1, 3-1 7A-WEST) AT BENTONVILLE (6-1, 4-0) The Tigers have won the past 15 meetings between these teams. … Rogers’ last win over Bentonville came in 2006. … Bentonville is scoring 41 points per game. … Rogers is scoring 38.9 per game. … This matchup will feature two of the state’s top gunslingers in Bentonville’s Carter Nye and Rogers’ Dane Williams. Bentonville 42, Rogers 31 NORTH LITTLE ROCK (4-3, 3-1 7A-CENTRAL) AT FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE (3-4, 2-2) In all likelihood this game will decide who will be the fourth playoff team from the 7A-Central. … Fort Smith Northside has scored the second-most points in the 7A-Central conference with 243. … NLR cornerback Deimere Manuel had three interceptions last week against Jonesboro. Fort Smith Northside 28, North Little Rock 27 JOE T. ROBINSON (6-1, 5-0 5A-CENTRAL) AT MILLS (7-0, 5-0) Joe T. Robinson has won three of the four matchups between these teams, including playoff games in 2020 and 2021. … The Senators will have to win this game without running back Noah Freeman, whose injury will keep him sidelined until the playoffs. … Mills junior quarterback Achillies Ringo has passed for 1,959 yardsand 16 touchdowns. Mills 34, Joe T. Robinson 30 MORRILTON (5-2, 3-3 5A-CENTRAL) AT PINE BLUFF (5-2, 4-2) With Robinson and Mills likely to take the top two spots in the conference, this game could go a long way in deciding who joins them in the postseason. … Morrilton has won two of its last three conference games. … Pine Bluff’s defense is holding opponents to 15.3 points per game. Pine Bluff 35, Morrilton 17 SOUTHSIDE BATESVILLE (4-3, 2-2 5A-EAST) AT VALLEY VIEW (6-1, 4-0) This is the first meeting between these schools this century. … Southside Batesville is holding opposing offenses to 13.1 points per game. … Valley View quarterback has thrown for 1,031 yards, rushed for 616 yards and accounted for 19 touchdowns. Valley View 28, Southside Batesville 17 FARMINGTON (5-2, 3-1 5A-WEST) AT SHILOH CHRISTIAN (6-1, 4-0) Shiloh Christian has won four of its six meetings with Farmington but lost last season’s matchup. … The Saints have one of the top offenses in the state, averaging 49.6 points per game. .. Farmington isn’t far behind at 44.4 points. Shiloh Christian 50, Farmington 37 PRAIRIE GROVE (6-1, 4-0 5A-WEST) AT ALMA (5-2, 2-2) This is the first meeting between these teams this century. … Prairie Grove sits tied at the top of the 5A-West with Shiloh Christian. … The Tigers rushed for 369 yards and five touchdowns in their last game. … Alma has lost two of its past three games. Prairie Grove 45, Alma 24 OZARK (5-2, 4-0 4A-1) AT ELKINS (6-1, 4-0) There are plenty of potential conference deciders and this is just that in the 4A-1. … Ozark has won all four meetings this century. … Elkins is holding opposing offenses to 13.9 points per game. … Both teams are scoring over 42 points per game. Ozark 40, Elkins 35 RIVERCREST (4-3, 3-1 4A-3) AT GOSNELL (6-1, 3-1) This matchup will break a three-way tie for second-place in the 4A-3. … Gosnell leads the overall series since 2000 10-9-1. … Gosnell’s familial duo of Camron and Floyd Williams III have combined for 1,409 yards at running back and wide receiver respectively. … Rivercrest running back Koby Turner has rushed for 759 yards and 14 touchdowns. Rivercrest 31, Gosnell 27 CHARLESTON (6-1, 4-0 3A-1) AT BOONEVILLE (6-1, 4-0) These two are tied atop the 3A-1 at 4-0. … Booneville has won the past three meetings. … Charleston is holding opponents to 12.6 points per game. … Booneville’s star running back Dax Goff has rushed for 1,348 yards and 17 touchdowns. Booneville 41, Charleston 35 NEWPORT (5-2, 3-0 3A-2) AT MELBOURNE (7-0, 3-0) Melbourne has been one of the biggest surprises in the state with its undefeated start. … Newport has won the two previous meetings between the two. … Melbourne quarterback Trey Wren accounted for 445 yards an seven touchdowns last week. … Newport wide receiver Isiah Kendall is the No. 3 senior in Arkansas, according to 247Sports. Melbourne 28, Newport 27 CAMDEN HARMONY GROVE (4-3, 2-1 3A-6) AT FORDYCE (5-3, 3-1) Fordyce holds the series lead 6-4 in the last 10 meetings. … This is the first meeting as conference foes since 2015. … Both teams are coming off losses to first-place Rison. … Fordyce is averaging 37 points per game. Fordyce 27, Camden Harmony Grove 21 CLARENDON (5-2, 3-1 2A-2) AT MARKED TREE (6-1, 3-1) There’s a four-way tie at the top of the 2A-2 following East Poinsett County’s loss last week and it includes these two. … Marked Tree has won the six most recent meetings between these two with the latest coming in 2017. … Marked Tree is scoring 38.1 points per game and holding opponents to 14.6. Marked Tree 34, Clarendon 24 EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE (5-2, 2-1 2A-4) AT HAZEN (6-0, 3-0) This is the first meeting between these two since 2004. … Hazen posts one of the toughest defenses in the state, allowing 4.7 points per game. … Hazen is also scoring 47.7 points per game. … Episcopal Collegiate running back Kollin Robinson has rushed for 745 yards and nine touchdowns. Hazen 42, Episcopal Collegiate 24 Read More…

OnlyFans Model Courtney Clenney Pleading With Miami Police For Help Days Before Boyfriend's Murder https://digitalarkansasnews.com/onlyfans-model-courtney-clenney-pleading-with-miami-police-for-help-days-before-boyfriends-murder/ Bloomberg Trump Special Master Has ‘No Patience’ for Records Spats (Bloomberg) — The special master reviewing documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate warned the former president’s lawyers that their initial efforts to claim certain records were personal and not presidential might be lacking enough detail.Most Read from BloombergA Tense Pay Dispute Overshadows Nintendo’s Upcoming Bayonetta 3$200 Diesel Puts Biden in an Ugly CornerTrump Special Master Has ‘No Patience’ for Records SpatsPutin’s War Escalation Is Hastening Demographic Crash for Russ The Hill Budd widens lead over Beasley in North Carolina Senate race: poll Rep. Ted Budd (R) has widened his lead to 6 points over Democratic candidate Cheri Beasley in the race for North Carolina’s Senate seat, according to a new East Carolina University (ECU) poll. Budd is leading Beasley 50 to 44 percent among likely voters. In early September, he was leading Beasley by just 3 points… The Hill Trump attack leaves GOP wondering if he cares about Senate majority Former President Trump’s Monday assault against Joe O’Dea, the GOP’s Senate nominee in Colorado, is angering Republicans while leaving them wondering if he cares about the party winning back the majority in the upper chamber. O’Dea, a pro-abortion rights moderate whom Democrats spent $4 million against in the primary, was already in an uphill fight… NextShark Cosplayer, boyfriend accused of ‘tricking’ Asian women into sex under pretext of collab opportunities Multiple Asian women have reportedly come forward to accuse a Chinese American cosplayer and her boyfriend of luring them into sexual relations through supposed opportunities for collaborative work. Cosplayer and influencer Kat Wong, who describes herself as “just an Asian girl making silly content,” came under fire on Twitter last week after actor, director and host Gina Darling revealed that “multiple women” have reached out to her with such allegations. “Multiple women in the Asian community have reached out to me about @katkwo4tweets and her BF allegedly trying to trick them into having sexual relations with them under the guise of collaborating on cosplays, OF (OnlyFans) and modeling,” Darling tweeted. Read More Here

New Audiobook Reveals Donald Trump Showed Classified Kim Jong-Un Letter To A Journalist https://digitalarkansasnews.com/new-audiobook-reveals-donald-trump-showed-classified-kim-jong-un-letter-to-a-journalist/ A recording from Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward’s new audiobook stated that former US President Donald Trump had given him copies of letters which were from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In the recording, Trump can be heard saying, “Nobody else has them, but I want you to treat them with respect,” Independent reported. He further added, “And don’t say I gave them to you, okay?” The book, titled “The Trump Tapes,” includes 20 of Woodward’s interviews with Trump from the year 2016 to 2020.   On October 25, Woodward, the renowned journalist who assisted in breaking the Watergate story in the 1970s and has since covered the White House and significant events in Washington, will release the audiobook that includes eight hours of his conversations with Trump.  Furthermore, an advance copy of the audiobook has been obtained by CNN which even has Woodward’s comments. The discussions between the former President and Woodward that are included in the audiobook cover a variety of subjects, including Trump’s connection with the leader of North Korea.  The interviews comprise the most extensive recordings of Trump According to the CNN report, the interviews comprise the most extensive recordings of Trump discussing his presidency and provide unfiltered insights into the former president’s worldview. During the interview, Trump have discussed his meeting with Kim Jong-Un, his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his specific opinions on the US nuclear arsenal. The recording also reveals how Trump came to the decision to tell Woodward about the letters Kim had written to him; these letters were the impetus for the DOJ probe into the secret papers Trump brought to Mar-a-Lago.  In addition, the journalist stated in the book’s preface that he is publishing the tapes in part because “hearing Trump speak is a completely different experience to reading the transcripts or listening to snatches of interviews on television or the internet.” Trump is described by him as “raw, profane, divisive, and deceptive. His language is often retaliatory.”  The majority of the interviews were done for Woodward’s second Trump book, “Rage,” which made public the fact that on February 7, 2020, Trump informed Woodward that COVID-19 was “deadly stuff,” despite downplaying it in public, CNN reported.  Trump has even expressed his opinions in interviews about the strongmen he admires, such as Kim Jong-Un, Putin, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also displays his underlying conviction that he is the smartest person in the room.  Apart from this, the audiobook by Woodward also has previously unreleased interviews with Trump’s former national security advisor Robert O’Brien, his deputy Matthew Pottinger, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In a conversation with Woodward in February 2020, Trump gave Kushner the phone so that he could schedule interviews with more Trump advisers.  As per the CNN report, a cast of Trump aides, allies as well as family members, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, Hope Hicks, Donald Trump Jr., and Melania Trump, can be heard in the background throughout the tapes. The tape provides an inside look at Trump’s inner circle, including a conversation from 2016 in which Trump’s son interrupted when Trump was asked if he expected federal workers to sign non-disclosure agreements.  Meanwhile, Trump is allegedly considering running for president again in 2024 despite being under federal investigation for his handling of confidential materials and being compelled to go before a committee over the January 6 violence at the Capitol.  (Image: AP) Read More Here

US Midterms: Pennsylvania The Key Battleground State https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-midterms-pennsylvania-the-key-battleground-state/ The US midterm elections take place on 8 November – so called because they fall in the middle of a four-year presidential term and are widely seen as a test of a president’s popularity. Of course, the president is not on the ballot, as the elections in question are for the US Congress and for various state offices, but their outcome determines how much or how little Joe Biden will be able to accomplish in terms of his legislative agenda over the remaining two years of his term. All 435 states in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, but because most seats are in safe Republican or Democrat districts, only about 30 of the seats are highly contested. Opinion polls now are suggesting the Republicans will take back control of the lower house. In which case, Nancy Pelosi, a key Biden ally, will cease to be Speaker of the House, with Republican Kevin McCarthy most likely to succeed her in the role. US Senators, members of the more powerful upper house, serve a six-year term, with one third of the Senate facing the people at every congressional election. This year, there are 34 senators facing election (with one other in a sort of “by-election” to fill the remaining four years of a retiring Senator’s term). The Senate races are also pretty much locked in, as just six are rated really contested, meaning they could flip from one party to another. Those races are in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan. (North Carolina may also be becoming a contested seat). Of the six in play, only Nevada did not flip to Biden in 2020. The outgoing Senate arithmetic stands at 48 Democrats, 50 Republicans and two independents, who vote with the Democrats. The 50-50 tie is broken by the casting vote of the Senate Chair, US Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden would like to pick up two extra seats to ease his legislative path. The Republicans obviously want to stop him. So, the Senate is the key to what happens over the next two years for this administration. One of the best chances the Democrats have of gaining a seat in this election comes in Pennsylvania. A retirement by the sitting Republican led to a scramble for the nomination. It was won by celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz, with the late backing of Donald Trump. Mehmet Oz (R) has the backing of Donald Trump It’s a two-edged sword: celebrity is always useful in elections where candidates have to struggle for name recognition. Backing from the former president also locks in a solid base, but does require some adjustment to retain their loyalty. It is needed because of suspicion about a well-heeled out of state TV star sweeping into the state. (Oz’s wife, Lisa and other members of her family have invested in Dunbrody House Hotel in Wexford, according to campaign filings on his financial interests). The Democratic Party thought it had a shot at convincing enough moderate Republicans to switch parties, especially suburban women voters who are concerned about abortion and the policy stance of some leading Republicans, in the wake of the Dobbs ruling by the Supreme Court. The Democrats chose John Fetterman, a strongly performing local politician, for the task. Fetterman, a former mayor and current lieutenant governor of the state, had abandoned his family insurance business in favour of social work in deprived communities. His trademark black hoodies and shorts, bald head and goatee beard, and prominent tattoos marked him out in the political field, for he looks nothing like the typical US Senator. At 2.2 metres tall and weighing 180kg, he cuts an imposing figure. But then he suffered a stroke, causing damage to his hearing and faces a slow path to recovery, full of the difficult adjustments recovering stroke patients must endure. He was in hospital as the results of his primary election win came through. His first public appearance on the campaign trail was not until August. His first TV interview came last week, in a sitdown with NBC, in which Fetterman used a closed captioning device, reading the reporter’s questions from a screen as she spoke them, before answering. John Fetterman Predictably, his health becoming a campaign issue: was he fit enough to continue the campaign? Was he fit for office? Had he hidden any health issues from the electorate? Oz himself said little, but his campaign staff raised the questions. He posted adverts of himself out jogging – nothing to be said. As Fetterman’s health became a more prominent issue in the campaign, his poll lead, which had been in double digits in August, fell to less than six points. Oz is making ground. The race is tightening. But what about after that? What about the next administration? Unusually, the state level elections are attracting much more attention this time around, because of their potential impact on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. That’s because key officials such as governors and secretaries of state, who are responsible for organising, supervising and certifying the elections in their states, are up for election in a number of key battleground states that were crucial to delivering Joe Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump in 2020. Of course, that election outcome was not accepted by Donald Trump, who contested it through the courts, and through an effort to overturn election outcomes in a few key states. This included an effort to change the electoral college votes in some states prior to the counting of those votes on 6 January last year –the day a mob smashed its way into the US Congress to try to stop the final phase in the election. The election outcome has also been disputed by a coterie of so-called “election deniers” – people who either deny flat out that Joe Biden won the presidency, or question the integrity of the electoral system in their own state, or of the electoral machines used in many US states. The Capitol riot of January 2021 Many of them question the legitimacy of postal ballots, which have tended to be more heavily used by Democrat voters, and which helped tip a few key states Joe Biden’s way in 2020. The January 6 committee has heard evidence from a number of Trump administration officials, placed in office by Donald Trump himself, who investigated claims of electoral fraud or irregularity. Notable among them was former attorney general Bill Barr, who headed a US Justice Department investigation of electoral system claim, and found no significant irregularities that called the overall result into question. But still the issue haunts these elections, both in the House and the Senate elections, but more particularly in the battles for state level offices. And because each state is in charge of their own electoral process – there is no federal voting and counting system – whoever ends up in charge of those state voting systems is a vital issue in this year’s mid-terms. In Pennsylvania, an election denier is the Republican candidate for governor. Doug Mastriano – a retired army colonel – was also present at the rally that culminated with the storming of the US Capitol. There is no evidence that Mastriano himself entered the building. He had used campaign funds to charter buses to bring Trump supporters to Washington that day. Previously, he had become well-known in Pennsylvania for his opposition to measures introduced to control the Covid-19 pandemic, notably mask-wearing, social distancing and mandatory vaccination policies. He had organised the first anti-Covid laws rally on the steps of the State Capitol in Harrisburg in April 2020, just weeks after the first restrictions were brought in. Large signs for Republican candidates in Danville, Pennsylvania Mastriano won through an eight-strong Republican primary race relatively easily. The base liked what he was telling them. But since then his campaign has baffled observers – rarely holding public events, not admitting news media, not speaking to reporters. He has a war chest of $5m, but his Democrat challenger has ten times that sum, and is spending heavily on TV advertising that Mastriano has no chance of matching. Josh Shapiro, the Democrat who is currently the state’s attorney general, describes himself as a progressive, and is active in promoting and defending trade unions. Yet he has been backed by well over $50m, half it from donors outside the state, mostly in California and New York. That is the biggest indication of how concerned the Democratic Party is over key state appointments falling into the hands of election deniers. Again, the polls give Shapiro a healthy lead over Mastriano. But the polling companies admit they have a persistent problem with Trump supporters not engaging with polling, or not revealing their real allegiances. They are not capturing the true extent of support for the so-called MAGA republicans, and this may be skewing current polling estimates in favour of the Democrats. So tight contests may be tighter than they appear. Josh Shapiro Worth bearing in mind also is the power of the Governor of Pennsylvania to effectively appoint a secretary of state of their own choosing. The next secretary of State will be in charge of organising the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania. And deciding the rules for admitting and counting votes. And of certifying the result, and allocating the electoral college votes, and sending them to Washington for formal counting. The very process that was under way on Capitol Hill on 6 January, when a mob seized control of the building. According to a New York Times analysis of candidates, about 65% of Republican candidates for state governors have expressed misgivings about the result of the 2020 Presidential election. The newspaper claims almost half of all the Republican candidates running for congress or state level posts in this election have expre...

AP-NORC Poll: Many Remain Critical Of State Of US Democracy – ABC17NEWS https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-norc-poll-many-remain-critical-of-state-of-us-democracy-abc17news/ By GARY FIELDS and CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of U.S. democracy and the way elected officials are chosen — nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Only about half of Americans have high confidence that votes in the upcoming midterm elections will be counted accurately, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, though that’s an improvement from about 4 in 10 saying that just before the 2020 presidential election. Just 9% of U.S. adults think democracy is working “extremely” or “very well,” while 52% say it’s not working well. In a reversal from two years ago, Republicans are now more likely than Democrats to say democracy is not working well. This year, 68% of Republicans feel this way compared to 32% two years ago. The share of Democrats with a sour outlook on how democracy is functioning in the U.S. dropped from 63% to 40%. Ronald McGraw Sr., 67, of Indianapolis, is a retired construction worker who recently registered to vote and intends to cast a ballot for the first time this year. “I thought I’d let everybody else put their vote in and just go with the flow, but this whole thing is at stake now,” he said, referring to democracy, the economy, ”everything, how the whole country runs.” McGraw, who is Black and considers himself a moderate, said a big concern is the political turmoil in the country and the fact that he sees too many self-serving politicians concerned with power, especially those who work against the interest of minorities. He said he registered as a Republican, but did not give any thought to party platforms or stances at the time. “I am paying attention now,” he said. After every presidential election, members of the losing candidate’s party can experience a letdown. The fallout from the 2020 election has been deeper, fueled by the lies from former President Donald Trump and his allies that Democrats stole the election. There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Exhaustive reviews in key states upheld Democrat Joe Biden’s win, while judges — including some appointed by Trump — dismissed numerous lawsuits challenging the outcome. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the claims bogus. The general despair over democracy comes after decades of increasing polarization nationwide, from the presidential and congressional races down to local contests such as races for school boards. Overall, just a quarter of U.S. adults — including similar percentages of Republicans and Democrats — say they are optimistic about the way leaders are chosen, while 43% say they are pessimistic. An additional 31% feel neither. Adam Coykendall, a 31-year-old social studies teacher from Ashland, Wisconsin, said he sees party loyalties driving lawmakers more than the good of the country. “I feel like everything is becoming a little more divisive, a little more polarized, more focused on party loyalty … rather than working for your constituency, having things that work for people rather than working for the party,” said Coykendall, who described himself as an independent who leans toward the Democratic Party. The AP-NORC poll also found a large segment of Republicans — 58% — still believe Biden’s election wasn’t legitimate. That’s down slightly from 66% in July 2021. Gary Phelps, a 70-year-old retired truck driver in Clearwater, Minnesota, accepts Biden is president but doesn’t think he was legitimately elected. Phelps said he was concerned about voter fraud, mail ballots being received and counted after Election Day, and irregularities with some voting machines, although he acknowledged it’s based on his feeling rather than evidence. Phelps remains concerned about the voting process and whether the tallies will be accurate. “I would hope so, but I don’t think so,” the Republican-leaning independent said. The poll shows 47% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that the votes in the 2022 midterm elections will be counted accurately. Confidence is highest among Democrats, 74% of whom say they’re highly confident. On the Republican side, confidence in elections is decidedly mixed: 25% have high confidence, 30% have moderate confidence and 45% have little to no confidence. That erosion of trust comes after two years of Trump and his allies promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election and peddling conspiracy theories about voting machines. Narratives about mailed ballots mysteriously changing vote totals have been one persistent source of misinformation. To be clear, results announced on election night are unofficial and often incomplete. It’s normal for counting to continue several days after Election Day, as mailed ballots received by their deadline are processed and added to the tally. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge of mailed balloting as voters opted to avoid crowded polling stations. A large number of those ballots slowed down the results as local election offices worked through the steps to verify the ballots and ensure they matched registered voters. Julie Duggan, a 31-year-old police officer from Chicago, is among the Republicans who does not believe Biden’s win was legitimate. She said watching his gaffes and missteps, it was impossible to believe he garnered enough support to win. She is concerned about the country’s direction, citing inflation, illegal immigration, crime rates and a lack of respect for law enforcement. “If we don’t get the right people in, we will be at the point of no return,” she said, adding she hopes elections will be run fairly but has her doubts. “My confidence has definitely been shaken.” ___ The poll of 1,121 adults was conducted Oct. 6-10 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. ___ Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Nuha Dolby in New York contributed to this report. Read More Here

Registration Error Affects Up To 6,000 Arizona Voters – ABC17NEWS https://digitalarkansasnews.com/registration-error-affects-up-to-6000-arizona-voters-abc17news/ PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs says a voter registration error has caused up to 6,000 voters to get a mail ballot with only federal races. Hobbs said in a statement Tuesday that affected voters will receive the correct ballot shortly. Hobbs is the Democratic candidate for governor and has staked her campaign largely on her staunch defense of the 2020 election in the face of criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Her Republican rival, Kari Lake, has spread Trump’s unsupported claims of fraud two years ago and has called on Hobbs to step aside from overseeing the midterms while she’s on the ballot. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION ABC 17 News is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here. Read More Here

Everything At Stake During The Upcoming US Midterm Elections https://digitalarkansasnews.com/everything-at-stake-during-the-upcoming-us-midterm-elections/ Midterm elections in the United States elect the House of Representatives, a third of the Senate, and thousands of state legislative and executive offices. For all their magnitude and importance, these elections attract far less attention than presidential elections and have much lower turnout.  But the November 8 2022 midterms, taking place in one of the most closely divided Congresses in history, could have far-reaching consequences. What could happen in the elections? Democrats currently hold the House of Representatives by a margin of just 10 seats out of 435. This is the narrowest House majority since 1955. They have no majority at all in the Senate, which is split 50-50, relying on the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.  This makes it historically unlikely that the Democrats will hold on to the House. Since the Civil War, the president’s party has lost seats at every midterm election except for 1934 (the Great Depression), 1998 (Bill Clinton’s impeachment) and 2002 (the first election after the September 11 terrorist attacks).  Republicans only need to gain five seats to take the House. This outcome is widely expected but far from certain, and Democrats can take some comfort from some encouraging results in special elections earlier in the year. The Senate could be more favourable to Democrats, despite Republicans needing just one seat to flip it. Because only a third of Senate seats are contested at each election, one party often needs to defend far more of its seats than the other. This year Republicans are defending 20 seats compared to the Democrats’ 14, and a lot of these races are extremely close.  Under these circumstances, some forecasts slightly favour Democrats to retain control of the Senate. But given the tightness of key races, it could well come down to contingenciesthat are hard to predict. What are the main issues for voters? Each party wants voters to focus on different sets of issues. For Republicans, the job is straightforward. Voters often treat midterm elections as a referendum on the president, even though the president is not on the ballot. While Biden’s approval ratings have recovered somewhat this year, they are still in the low 40s, a historically bad sign for the president’s party. Inflation has dominated economic news for the last year and now there is talk of a recession. Republicans have harnessed increasing disquiet over crime, asylum seekers at the southern border and pandemic school closures. With such advantageous conditions for Republicans, commentators as recently as June were predicting a “red wave” election that would wipe out Democrats in both houses. But developments over the American summer shifted the focus away from these problems. In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the almost 50-year-old ruling protecting abortion rights across the United States. Republican legislators in some states quickly enacted new laws restricting or banning abortion, while Democrats initiated legislation in other states to protect rights that many had taken for granted.  The fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade may play a role in the midterm results. Photo: Unsplash There was little doubt that politically, the abortion issue helped Democrats as Republicans staked out increasingly extremepositions. A ballot initiative in Kansas, usually seen as a reliably “red” state, saw 59% of the population vote to keep the state’s constitutional protection for abortion. The Supreme Court’s decision reflected the conservative super-majority installed by former President Donald Trump, and brightened the spotlight Democrats were already shining on the former president. The House Select Committee’s hearings into the January 6 riots, which are continuing, had a peak of just over 20 million TV viewers in June. They were presented with graphic and moving evidence of Trump’s culpability in the violence. In August, an NBC News poll found 21% of Americans rated “threats to democracy” as the most important issue in the midterm elections, compared to 16% saying cost of living issues and 14% saying jobs and the economy. It is hard to maintain the kind of attention these issues got over the summer. More recent polling suggests that economic issues have once again become the central focus of attention, which will hurt Democrats. Republican candidates have quietly toned down their opposition to abortion and removed endorsements from Trump from their campaign websites.  The impact of midterm elections Biden has found it hard enough to advance a legislative agenda even with unified Democratic control of Congress. If Democrats lose either house, it will make almost any further major legislation essentially impossible because of the veto power of both houses and the president. If Republicans win the House of Representatives, they will quickly put an end to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot. As Democrats move to subpoena Trump himself as part of that investigation, Republicans are planning retaliatory investigations and subpoenas. Kevin McCarthy, the likely speaker of a Republican controlled House, has already threatened that the House would investigate Attorney-General Merrick Garland over the August FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence. Numerous Republicans have said they should impeach Biden. The president will also be concerned that a majority Republican House might reduce military aid to Ukraine. If Republicans win the Senate, Biden will face a lot of problems making appointments that need to be confirmed by the Senate. In particular, he will probably lose any chance of making another appointment to the Supreme Court. The last time a Republican-majority Senate confirmed a Democratic President’s Supreme Court nominee was in 1895. But the most significant consequences could be for the next presidential election in 2024. Trump has continued to claim that the 2020 election was fraudulently “stolen” from him, and hundreds of Republican candidates across the 2022 midterms have echoed these claims. This was how many of them secured Trump’s endorsement, and their nominations. Some of these candidates are seeking statewide positions that could give them immense influence over the 2024 elections, especially the offices of governor and secretary of state, which have ultimate responsibility for certifying election results in most states. Much to Trump’s chagrin, no governor or secretary of state refused to certify the 2020 election results, despite the pressure he applied to them. But this year’s Republican candidates in key swing states include Pennsylvania’s Doug Mastriano, who attended Trump’s January 6 rally and supported efforts to overturn the state’s election results in 2020, Arizona’s Kari Lake, who has said she would not have certified her state’s 2020 result, and Nevada’s Jim Marchant, who plans to lead a coalition of “America first secretary of state candidates” to get Trump elected in 2024. Even state legislative races in the 2022 midterms could have huge implications for the 2024 elections. The Supreme Court will soon hear a case that could dramatically expand the power of state legislatures in elections. It could remove the ability of state courts to review electoral boundaries and electoral rules set by legislatures, even if those conflict with state constitutions. Republicans currently have unified legislative control over states that account for 307 out of 538 electoral college votes, a number which could expand or shrink this election. These mid-terms show that no election in America is a discrete contest. State elections shape national elections. The institutional power that this year’s elections confer has major consequences for future elections. Although neither Biden nor Trump are on the ballot this year, they will be in voters’ minds as they go to the polls. This article was first published in The Conversation as The United States is gearing up for midterm elections. What are they and what’s at stake?  Associate Professor David Smith from the United States Studies Centre and Government and International Relations in the Faculty of Art and Social Sciences is an expert in American politics and foreign policy. Top image: Adobe Stock Images Read More Here

UK Inflation Moves Back Up To 40-Year High As Brits Battle Cost-Of-Living Crisis https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uk-inflation-moves-back-up-to-40-year-high-as-brits-battle-cost-of-living-crisis/ The Office for National Statistics announced inflation figures Wednesday as the U.K. undergoes a historic cost-of-living crisis and political turmoil. Westend61 / Getty Images LONDON — The consumer price index rose 10.1% in September, according to estimates published Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics, just exceeding a consensus forecast among economists polled by Reuters. Reuters estimated an increase of 10% for September. The figure for September matches the 40-year high British inflation reached in July. The rate rose in the year to September 2022 as the country’s cost-of-living crisis continues to hammer households and businesses ahead of a tough winter. Inflation unexpectedly dipped to 9.9% in August, down from 10.1% in July, on the back of a fuel price decline. Increasing food, transport and energy prices were the biggest contributing factors to inflation, the ONS said. Food was up 14.6% year-on-year, transport was up 10.9% compared to last year, while the price of furniture and household goods rose 10.8%. Sterling fell against the dollar following the news, trading at $1.1289, down from $1.1330. The inflation data will also impact the Bank of England’s approach for the near term, just as the Bank plans to sell off some of its government bonds, known as gilts, from Nov. 1. Britain’s Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said in a statement that “help for the most vulnerable” will be a priority as the U.K. weathers high inflation rates, along with “delivering wider economic stability and driving long-term growth that will help everyone.” September’s inflation rate highlights the severity of the U.K.’s inflation crisis, and comes as the country weathers a period of economic volatility. On Monday the new British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt reversed the majority of the tax cuts introduced by his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, on Sept. 23, and Prime Minister Liz Truss apologized for “mistakes” that had caused severe market turbulence. Questions are now being raised over how long Truss will remain in office. Read More Here

Newly Single Olivia Molly Rogers Flaunts Toned Figure In Activewear https://digitalarkansasnews.com/newly-single-olivia-molly-rogers-flaunts-toned-figure-in-activewear/ A newly single Olivia Molly Rogers put her heartbreak to one side on Wednesday as she posed in stylish activewear for a photo shoot in Melbourne. Load Error The former Miss Universe Australia leaned against a Honda hybrid SUV in skintight gym gear that appeared to be almost painted onto her toned body. The 30-year-old model teamed a long-sleeved crop top and leggings with box-fresh white sneakers and a Prada handbag worth about $3,650. Olivia, whose marriage to accountant Justin McKeone recently imploded just eight months after they tied the knot, concealed her gaze behind a pair of round-rimmed sunglasses and styled her shoulder-length brunette hair sleek and straight. When the influencer was finished posing for pictures, she took a look at them on the photographer’s camera and seemed happy with the results. The sighting comes after her estranged husband Justin rubbed salt in her wounds after gaining full custody of their dog Ziggy.  After Olivia told fans she was ‘devastated’ about losing ownership of her beloved Chow Chow, Justin appeared to gloat about the outcome on Sunday by uploading a photo of himself and Ziggy on Instagram. The photo showed Justin beaming as he posed with the dog on his lap at an outdoor café in Melbourne, as he wrote in the caption, ‘The notorious duo.’ Olivia subsequently alluded to her heartbreak on Tuesday by re-sharing a viral video of Alaskan Malamute puppies playing on a staircase.  Pop culture podcast Outspoken slammed Justin’s post, calling it ‘unnecessary and disappointing’. ‘It would be incredibly heartbreaking deciding who takes custody of a pet after divorce. I know my dog is like a son to me,’ one of the hosts said. They continued: ‘I was a bit disappointed by the post.  © Provided by Daily Mail After Olivia told fans she was ‘devastated’ about losing ownership of her beloved Chow Chow, Justin appeared to gloat about the outcome on Sunday by uploading this photo of himself and Ziggy on Instagram ‘The caption was unnecessary and did seem to be rubbing it in. It would be so tough to see this post. My heart broke for her.’ Olivia confirmed she’d lost custody of Ziggy earlier this month, just days after she announced her split from husband-of-eight-months Justin. ‘As I know you all adore Ziggy and I keep on getting asked about him. He does not live with me anymore,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘Justin has taken him. I am devastated and don’t want to talk about it further.’ © Provided by Daily Mail Outspoken the Podcast slammed Justin’s post, calling it ‘unnecessary and disappointing’  Rumours about Olivia and Justin’s marriage began swirling last month after fans noticed she’d reverted to her maiden name on Instagram and unpinned all the photos from her February wedding. The former couple, who met in 2018, were last pictured together in August in a series of loved-up holiday snaps from their trip to New York City.  Olivia finally addressed her break-up in an Instagram post on October 3.  © Provided by Daily Mail Rumours about Olivia and Justin’s marriage began swirling last month after fans noticed she’d reverted to her maiden name on Instagram and unpinned photos from her February wedding  ‘After 4.5 years together, Justin and I have come to the difficult decision to separate as a couple,’ read her break-up post on Instagram. ‘I do not wish to make any further statements about this in the near future,’ she added.   ‘Please respect our decision and privacy at this time. Thank you for all your private DMs, kindness and support.’  © Provided by Daily Mail ‘After 4.5 years together, Justin and I have come to the difficult decision to separate as a couple,’ Olivia wrote on Instagram on October 3 Read more Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. Read More Here

Ali Goforth Empowers Springdale High School Students To Reach New Heights https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ali-goforth-empowers-springdale-high-school-students-to-reach-new-heights/ Photo Submitted Springdale High School students are mentored by M.B.A.’23 students to assist them with their post-graduation plans. Ali Goforth, a second year, full-time Walton M.B.A. student and rotational intern at Mars Inc., graduated from the University of California San Diego in 2019. She received college and departmental honors with highest distinction for her studies in biological anthropology and global health. After relocating to Northwest Arkansas, Goforth served as the assistant director of marketing and communications for the M.B.A. Programs Office. “I saw first-hand the incredible value and opportunities the program offered,” she said. “I was excited to learn something new and relevant to the community, but the experience has been so much more than that.” This year, Goforth directed the Walton M.B.A. Mentor Program, which is positioned to have a huge impact on the lives of this year’s 37 Springdale High School students and beyond. She sat down to answer questions about her experiences and the program itself. What is the Walton M.B.A. Mentor Program? This year the Walton M.B.A. Mentor Program is working with 37 Springdale High School Business & IT Academy seniors. We have 20 M.B.A. mentors, including seven team leads: Abby Roberts, Lizzy Lankford, Madelyn Scott, Nathen Couch, Veronica Garcia, Laurel Schley and Justice Jackson. We welcomed the students to campus in September and have monthly mentor sessions at Springdale High School planned through the 2022-23 academic year. The sessions include general mentorship, professional development, guest speakers and a community-based learning project. More than half of these students said they didn’t have someone they could count on to provide advice or guidance on plans leading up to or after graduation. More than half of the students would be the first in their families to go to college. We hope to help remove barriers to a college education by providing mentorship, guidance and resources. For students who want to go straight into the workforce, we’re giving them the technical skills they need to be successful. We’re working on communication skills, building strong resumes, participating in mock interviews, presenting with confidence and so much more. I hope this year is only the beginning. My goal is to create a sustainable diverse talent pipeline with a model that can be easily adopted in other cities. I think the benefit of programs like these is two-fold: it not only benefits the students and mentors, but also the community and local businesses. What inspired you to start this program? Manny Mejia, Walton M.B.A. alumnus, first started a mentor program with Springdale High School in 2019. When COVID-19 hit, the program moved to a virtual format and discontinued when Manny graduated. I knew I wanted to bring the program back when I joined the Walton M.B.A. program. During my first year, I volunteered as a judge in Scott Fitzgerald’s “Bikes Mean Business” class at the Thaden School (in Bentonville). Fitzgerald used social innovation concepts from a curriculum designed by Rogelio Contreras, a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation. I was so impressed with how much the students grew over the course of their projects. It wasn’t just technical skills. Students learned to define the problem, find creative solutions and learned how to tell a compelling story with confidence. I wanted to bring that experience to the Springdale High School students. When I spoke to professor Contreras, he gave me a ton of resources and encouraged me to make the curriculum my own. Manny graduated from Springdale High School and had connections there. When I wanted to re-start the program, I wasn’t sure if they would be interested. But when I reached out, they were just as excited as I was to bring the program back. I feel super lucky to work with Josefina Perez and Cathy Johnson, the teachers who lead the Business & IT Academy. They do so much for their students. The community-based learning project this year will focus on healthcare innovation and health equity. These are topics I’m personally passionate about, but topics that are also hyper-relevant to the Springdale community. It’s been exciting to find a way to bridge my undergraduate studies with the work I’m doing in the M.B.A. program. It has been a ton of work, and I couldn’t do it without support from my peers. They have stepped up in really big ways from leading campus tours, helping plan events, searching for fundraising and so much more. They’re donating their time and energy when we already have so much going on. I’m excited to spend my last year in the Walton M.B.A. program working with my peers and Julie Storing, associate M.B.A. director, to bring this program back to life. What are the plans for the program’s future? The program will culminate in a pitch showcase at the University of Arkansas in May. We will invite students, families, judges, industry experts and community leaders to join us. Next year, the program will span two years. First-year M.B.A. students will work with SHS juniors and roll up with them into their senior year. We are also exploring options for implementing this program in Little Rock. I hope to create a curriculum and program model that is not only sustainable in our community but can replicated in other cities and schools. How has the Walton M.B.A. program helped expand your impact?  The Walton M.B.A. has a really interesting curriculum, from corporate finance and supply chain management to innovation and creativity and leadership and ethics. I’m using everything I learned in my undergraduate studies in the M.B.A. program and our professional development classes to help me build this program. The Springdale High School students are getting a high-level overview of a lot of the topics we learned in class. The professional development and networking sessions have opened a ton of doors and opportunities. I wouldn’t be in the position I am to bring this program back in a big way without the knowledge and connections I’ve gained over the last year and a half. The Walton M.B.A. has been a transformational experience, and I can’t wait to see what happens in May. The Walton M.B.A. Mentor Program is sponsored by the Walton M.B.A. Diversity Committee. Want to get involved? Email agoforth@uark.edu.  Read More…

'Anguish And Sorrow': Parents Of Raleigh Mass Shooting Suspect And Victim Issue Statement https://digitalarkansasnews.com/anguish-and-sorrow-parents-of-raleigh-mass-shooting-suspect-and-victim-issue-statement/ RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The parents of the 15-year-old suspect — and one of the victims — in the Raleigh mass shooting that left five people dead and two injured released a statement Tuesday through their attorneys. “Words cannot begin to describe our anguish and sorrow,” the statement from Alan and Elise Thompson began. Our son Austin inflicted immeasurable pain on the Raleigh community, and we are overcome with grief for the innocent lives lost. We pray for the families and loved ones of Nicole Conners, Susan Karnatz, Mary Marshall, and Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres. We mourn for their loss and for the loss of our son, James. “We pray that Marcille “Lynn” Gardner and Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark fully recover from their injuries, and we pray for everyone who was traumatized by these senseless acts of violence. “We have so many unanswered questions. There were never any indications or warning signs that Austin was capable of doing anything like this. Our family will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do whatever we can to help them understand why and how this happened.” The juvenile suspect remains in critical condition in the hospital. He was severely injured when police found him and took him into custody hours after the shooting, but details of how he received those injuries have not been released. In the Hedingham community, neighbors reacted Tuesday evening to the statement issued by the parents. “I know that their hearts are broken because of what happened. They’re really hurting, too,” said one neighbor, who was out walking her dog on Castle Pines Drive. The neighbor, who wanted to be identified only as Sheila, said she remembered seeing the Thompson sons when they were younger. She also said their father did handy work for a few of her friends. She said she understands the parent’s grief. “I sympathize with them and what they said in a statement,” Sheila said. “They had no clue of him doing anything like that. You can’t just blame them. I just want to know where he got the gun.” Earlier Tuesday, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson briefed Raleigh City Council on the investigation into the shooting that happened Thursday in the Hedingham neighborhood. Patterson said further details would be released in the department’s 5-day report, which is expected to be released Thursday. The report will include a detailed outline of events during the shooting, including the suspect’s injuries and what type of weapon was used. She also said one of the shooting victims is showing improvement and a second has been released from the hospital. WATCH | ‘Unforgivable act’: Husband of Raleigh mass shooting victim struggles with losing life partner The chief said the homicide unit has been working around the clock these past five days to “better understand the sequence of events that occurred and the possible motives behind the suspect’s actions.” City officials also announced that a public vigil will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday outside the Memorial Auditorium. SEE ALSO | What we know about those killed in the Hedingham mass shooting “The light that normally shines on Raleigh does not shine as bright,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said at the council meeting. The city also announced that it is creating a website that will offer support resources to the families and the greater Raleigh community. Copyright © 2022 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved. Read More Here

Rep. Liz Cheney Says Jan. 6 Committee Will ‘Shortly' Issue Trump Subpoena, Blasts Minority Leader McCarthy At Harvard IOP Forum | News | The Harvard Crimson https://digitalarkansasnews.com/rep-liz-cheney-says-jan-6-committee-will-shortly-issue-trump-subpoena-blasts-minority-leader-mccarthy-at-harvard-iop-forum-news-the-harvard-crimson/ United States Representative Elizabeth L. “Liz” Cheney (R-Wyo.) said the House’s January 6 Select Committee will issue a subpoena to former President Donald J. Trump “shortly,” during remarks at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum Tuesday evening. The Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony under oath during its final public hearing on Thursday. “There was no disagreement on the committee,” Cheney said during the IOP forum. “We all felt that our obligation is to seek his testimony, that the American people deserve to hear directly from him, that it has to be under oath, that he has to be held accountable.” Cheney said she is operating under the assumption that Trump will “fulfill his legal obligation and honor the subpoena.” “If that doesn’t happen, then we will take the steps we need to take after that,” she added. “But I don’t want to go too far down that path at this point.” The event, which was moderated by former Wyoming Governor Matthew H. Mead and Hannah A. Bottarel ’24, also covered the future of the Republican Party and the United States’ responsibility to continue supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Cheney said the current internal conflicts among members of the Republican Party are “not about policy disagreements,” but about values. “The reason that I’m a Republican is because of what the party stands for,” Cheney said. “I happen to believe the most conservative of conservative principles is fidelity to the Constitution.” “We have to get back to recognizing we all have an obligation to defend the foundations, the Republic,” she added. “That’s what provides the basis for the disagreements about policy.” With the 2024 presidential election just over two years away, Cheney warned against voters electing Trump to a second term as president. “I think it’s very important for the survival of the country that Donald Trump not be anywhere close to power again,” Cheney said. “That’s something we need to keep in the forefront as we go forward.” Cheney drew on examples from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to argue that individual citizens can play a crucial role in protecting democracy. “One of the things that I hope the committee has been able to do is make clear that our institutions don’t defend themselves,” she said. “January 6 could have been far worse if people in positions of authority hadn’t stood up.” Cheney advocated for the American government to continue providing support for Ukraine as it fights against the full-scale invasion Russia launched in February. She also criticized House Minority Leader Kevin O. McCarthy for telling Punchbowl News that American aid for Ukraine might not be approved in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. “I don’t know that I can say I was surprised, but I think it’s really disgraceful that today, Minority Leader McCarthy suggested that if the Republicans get the majority back that we will not continue to provide support for the Ukrainians,” Cheney said. “Ukraine is the frontline in the battle for freedom, and the world — not just America, but the world — has an obligation to make sure that Ukraine prevails,” she added. —Staff writer Miles J. Herszenhorn can be reached at miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MHerszenhorn. Read More Here

Walz, Jensen Face Off In Sole Televised Debate Of 2022 Gubernatorial Campaign https://digitalarkansasnews.com/walz-jensen-face-off-in-sole-televised-debate-of-2022-gubernatorial-campaign/ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his Republican challenger Dr. Scott Jensen debated Tuesday night on television, but residents in the Twin Cities were only able to watch through online streams. The panel of four journalists asked questions on a bevy of issues, including abortion, the state’s response to riots after George Floyd’s murder and the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation. Walz and allied groups have used the abortion issue as their main area of attack on Jensen, claiming he will seek to ban abortion in Minnesota if he’s elected governor. In campaign videos and media interviews, Jensen said he would ban abortion, but he has walked back that rhetoric in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion laws in the hands of state legislatures. “Because in Minnesota abortion is a legally protected right it is not on the ballot in November,” Jensen said Tuesday night. “What is on the ballot in November is without question skyrocketing inflation, crime out of control and our kids are not getting the education that they need. As governor, I won’t ban abortion, I can’t.” Republican candidate for governor Dr. Scott Jensen, left, and DFL Gov. Tim Walz, right, debate on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, at KTTC-TV in Rochester. (Courtesy of KTTC-TV) In his response to Jensen’s answer, Walz criticized Jensen for changing his stance mid-campaign. “Scott was very clear in May. He mocked me and said, ‘No kidding, Sherlock, I’m running for governor to get things done. We’re going to ban abortion, that’s not news,” Walz said. “That changed after Roe versus Wade. I think what most of us know again you heard this through many different places, this is not about trusting women. This not about clear convictions. It’s about changing your positions as the winds blow.” The moderators also asked the candidates about the state’s response to riots that erupted in the Twin Cities following George Floyd’s murder. Walz and Jensen were asked what they would do differently if something similar happened again, but they mostly talked what happened in 2020. “Nothing like this had been seen before — the level of violence after the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said. “I think, again, there will be stories written and this will be written about for quite some time. I’m proud of Minnesota’s response. I’m proud of Minnesota’s first responders who were out there from firefighters to police to National Guard to citizens that were out there.” Jensen took the question as an opportunity to put Walz’s support of first responders in doubt. “You heard it here: Governor Walz just told you, ‘I am proud of Minnesota’s response,’ referring to the riots of May and June of 2020. Wow,” Jensen said. “This isn’t a one-off situation. There’s a reason the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association has endorsed me unanimously.” The candidates also addressed the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud investigation. Jensen claimed Walz could have stopped the scheme much sooner. “Governor Walz and his team could have stopped this anywhere along the line,” Jensen said. “But when it was getting warm in the kitchen for Governor Walz because basically, it appears there’s a cover-up. Two questions are huge on all of our minds. What did Governor Walz know and when did he know it?” For his part, Walz said state and federal agencies alike needed to do better to enforce the rules for how public funds are disbursed. “During COVID the federal government relaxed some of their rules and they sent out as they should have aid to states in terms of uprecedented numbers,” the governor said. “Now, making sure those safeguards are in place? Absolute priortiy. Once the Minnesota Department of Education found this, they alerted the FBI. Now it’s an ongoing investigation. I guess we’ll get more clarity once they start to come to that.” When given a chance to respond, Jensen doubled down, laying the blame squarely on the Walz administration. “You just heard a smokescreen. This is not about the federal government, this is about the state of Minnesota, and the Office of the Legislative Auditor should have been notified,” Jensen said. The two also tangled over the budget bill that stalled in the Legislature in May. Walz said Jensen urged Republican senators to block the bill that would have delivered tax cuts and rebates, but Jensen said it also would have increased state spending by billions of dollars. Lack of debates under scrutiny The one-hour debate between the 2022 candidates for Minnesota governor was hosted in Rochester and was only broadcast on Greater Minnesota TV stations. It was the second of three scheduled debates between Walz and Jensen but the only one to be televised. Walz rejected offers to debate on at least three Twin Cities television stations, including KSTP-TV. “Tim Walz is ahead, but he’s not a prohibitive favorite,” says Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier. “He’s probably ahead in the single digits, probably the high single digits but that is not safe territory three weeks out.” Schier says although minimizing the number of debates is clearly strategy of the Walz campaign, it doesn’t mean it will work. Although he says Jensen needs the debates more than Walz. “The two of them need to meet face-to-face in order for Jensen to try and close that gap because the further away Walz is from Jensen personally in this race the better it is for Walz.” The only other time Walz and Jensen debated was eleven weeks ago at Farmfest near Redwood Falls on August 3. That was only seen by a few hundred people who attended the debate and people who saw highlights on television or online. This will be the first time in at least 40 years the candidates for Minnesota governor will not debate in prime time on Twin Cities television. The only other debate currently scheduled is at noon, Friday, Oct. 28 on Minnesota Public Radio. KSTP-TV will host a “Debate Night in Minnesota” that will air statewide in prime time on Sunday, Oct. 23. Walz declined to participate, so Jensen will face questions from a panel of reporters by himself. The major party candidates for attorney general and secretary of state have all agreed to participate. We’ll have highlights of Tuesday’s debate on “Nightcast” on 5 Eyewitness News at 10. For Related Stories: 2022 Elections  Gubernatorial Race  Scott Jensen  Tim Walz  Tom Hauser Read More Here

AP-NORC Poll: Many Remain Critical Of State Of US Democracy https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-norc-poll-many-remain-critical-of-state-of-us-democracy/ WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of U.S. democracy and the way elected officials are chosen — nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Only about half of Americans have high confidence that votes in the upcoming midterm elections will be counted accurately, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, though that’s an improvement from about 4 in 10 saying that just before the 2020 presidential election. Just 9% of U.S. adults think democracy is working “extremely” or “very well,” while 52% say it’s not working well. In a reversal from two years ago, Republicans are now more likely than Democrats to say democracy is not working well. This year, 68% of Republicans feel this way compared to 32% two years ago. The share of Democrats with a sour outlook on how democracy is functioning in the U.S. dropped from 63% to 40%. Ronald McGraw Sr., 67, of Indianapolis, is a retired construction worker who recently registered to vote and intends to cast a ballot for the first time this year. “I thought I’d let everybody else put their vote in and just go with the flow, but this whole thing is at stake now,” he said, referring to democracy, the economy, ”everything, how the whole country runs.” FILE – Supporters of then-President Donald Trump gather for a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jose Luis Magana FILE – A poll worker stamps a vote-by-mail ballot at a ballot drop-off location at the Miami-Dade Elections Department during the primary election, Aug. 23, 2022, in Doral, Fla. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Lynne Sladky FILE – Voters wait in line outside the Richland County election office on the first day of in-person absentee voting in South Carolina on Oct. 5, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Meg Kinnard PreviousNext McGraw, who is Black and considers himself a moderate, said a big concern is the political turmoil in the country and the fact that he sees too many self-serving politicians concerned with power, especially those who work against the interest of minorities. He said he registered as a Republican, but did not give any thought to party platforms or stances at the time. “I am paying attention now,” he said. After every presidential election, members of the losing candidate’s party can experience a letdown. The fallout from the 2020 election has been deeper, fueled by the lies from former President Donald Trump and his allies that Democrats stole the election. There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Exhaustive reviews in key states upheld Democrat Joe Biden’s win, while judges — including some appointed by Trump — dismissed numerous lawsuits challenging the outcome. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the claims bogus. The general despair over democracy comes after decades of increasing polarization nationwide, from the presidential and congressional races down to local contests such as races for school boards. Overall, just a quarter of U.S. adults — including similar percentages of Republicans and Democrats — say they are optimistic about the way leaders are chosen, while 43% say they are pessimistic. An additional 31% feel neither. Adam Coykendall, a 31-year-old social studies teacher from Ashland, Wisconsin, said he sees party loyalties driving lawmakers more than the good of the country. “I feel like everything is becoming a little more divisive, a little more polarized, more focused on party loyalty … rather than working for your constituency, having things that work for people rather than working for the party,” said Coykendall, who described himself as an independent who leans toward the Democratic Party. The AP-NORC poll also found a large segment of Republicans — 58% — still believe Biden’s election wasn’t legitimate. That’s down slightly from 66% in July 2021. Gary Phelps, a 70-year-old retired truck driver in Clearwater, Minnesota, accepts Biden is president but doesn’t think he was legitimately elected. Phelps said he was concerned about voter fraud, mail ballots being received and counted after Election Day, and irregularities with some voting machines, although he acknowledged it’s based on his feeling rather than evidence. Phelps remains concerned about the voting process and whether the tallies will be accurate. “I would hope so, but I don’t think so,” the Republican-leaning independent said. The poll shows 47% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that the votes in the 2022 midterm elections will be counted accurately. Confidence is highest among Democrats, 74% of whom say they’re highly confident. On the Republican side, confidence in elections is decidedly mixed: 25% have high confidence, 30% have moderate confidence and 45% have little to no confidence. That erosion of trust comes after two years of Trump and his allies promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election and peddling conspiracy theories about voting machines. Narratives about mailed ballots mysteriously changing vote totals have been one persistent source of misinformation. To be clear, results announced on election night are unofficial and often incomplete. It’s normal for counting to continue several days after Election Day, as mailed ballots received by their deadline are processed and added to the tally. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge of mailed balloting as voters opted to avoid crowded polling stations. A large number of those ballots slowed down the results as local election offices worked through the steps to verify the ballots and ensure they matched registered voters. Julie Duggan, a 31-year-old police officer from Chicago, is among the Republicans who does not believe Biden’s win was legitimate. She said watching his gaffes and missteps, it was impossible to believe he garnered enough support to win. She is concerned about the country’s direction, citing inflation, illegal immigration, crime rates and a lack of respect for law enforcement. “If we don’t get the right people in, we will be at the point of no return,” she said, adding she hopes elections will be run fairly but has her doubts. “My confidence has definitely been shaken.” ___ The poll of 1,121 adults was conducted Oct. 6-10 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. ___ Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Nuha Dolby in New York contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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Registration Error Affects Up To 6,000 Arizona Voters https://digitalarkansasnews.com/registration-error-affects-up-to-6000-arizona-voters/ FILE – Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs speaks to the media before dropping off her primary election ballot July 21, 2022, in Scottsdale, Ariz. A voter registration error caused up to 6,000 Arizona voters to get a mail ballot with only federal races, Hobbs said Tuesday, Oct. 18. Hobbs, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement that affected voters will receive the correct ballot shortly. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ross D. Franklin] PHOENIX (AP) — A voter registration error caused up to 6,000 Arizona voters to get a mail ballot with only federal races, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said Tuesday. Hobbs, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement that affected voters will receive the correct ballot shortly. Hobbs has staked her gubernatorial campaign largely on her staunch defense of the 2020 election in the face of criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Her Republican rival, former television news anchor Kari Lake, has spread Trump’s unsupported claims of fraud two years ago and has called on Hobbs to step aside from overseeing the midterms while she’s on the ballot. When people register to vote in Arizona or update their registration, an election system queries driver’s license records to verify whether the person has proven their citizenship. Those who don’t have citizenship documentation on file are not eligible to vote in state elections and are registered as “federal only” voters. Sophia Solis, a spokeswoman for Hobbs, said the driver’s license query failed to properly verify the citizenship for some people, leading them to to be improperly registered as federal only voters. She did not provide a breakdown of their party affiliation or describe the characteristics that led to problems. Federal only voters have been a subject of political wrangling since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Arizona cannot require documentary proof of citizenship for people to vote in national elections. The state responded by creating two classes of voters — those who can vote in all races and those who can vote only in federal elections. Hobbs said in her statement that the problem affected less than a quarter of 1 percent of voters. She said the database problem has been corrected. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Tontitown Resolution Aimed At Stopping Landfill Expansion Moves Forward https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tontitown-resolution-aimed-at-stopping-landfill-expansion-moves-forward/ by: Alex Angle Posted: Oct 18, 2022 / 11:07 PM CDT Updated: Oct 18, 2022 / 11:07 PM CDT TONTITOWN, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – Tontitown Committee of the Whole passed a resolution Tuesday aimed at stopping or delaying the expansion of the Eco-Vista landfill. The resolution will now be voted on at the City Council’s next regular meeting. Mayor Angela Russell said the resolution is all about getting more information about the expansion as well as its consequences. “I want a resolution for the city of Tontitown, I want to know that the citizens are going to be safe,” Russell said. The Tontitown Planning Commission approved the development for the expansion last year. However, Russell said the City Council did not get to vote on the expansion at the time. Several residents who live near the landfill voiced their support of the resolution Tuesday. Mark Calcagni said he and others have continuously voiced their concerns over the landfill expansion. “We’ve experienced odors, and gasses and debris,” Calcagni said. Waste Management sent the following statement in regard to the city’s efforts on the landfill expansion. WM is proud of its efforts to improve the sustainability of Northwest Arkansas. Our Eco Vista landfill is an essential piece of infrastructure in Northwest Arkansas, providing the only Class I and Class IV landfill in the growing region. We look forward to continuing the expansion process.“ The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) still has to give the final approval for the expansion. A public hearing with the ADEQ about the landfill expansion will be held on Nov. 2 from 5-7 p.m. at the Springdale Senior Center. Trending Stories Read More Here