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McConnell, Schumer Back Bill To Prevent Efforts To Subvert Presidential Election Results https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mcconnell-schumer-back-bill-to-prevent-efforts-to-subvert-presidential-election-results/ Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have endorsed a bipartisan electoral count reform bill in the Senate, all but cementing its passage and giving the legislation a boost as Congress seeks to prevent future efforts to subvert presidential election results. The endorsements followed House passage of a similar bill last week. Both measures aim to stop future presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress and were driven by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s win. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes, as well as raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors. Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, McConnell said there was a need to make “modest” updates to the Electoral Count Act. “Congress’s process for counting their presidential electors’ votes was written 135 years ago. The chaos that came to a head on January 6th of last year certainly underscored the need for an update,” McConnell said. “The Electoral Count Act ultimately produced the right conclusion … but it’s clear the country needs a more predictable path.” In a statement, Schumer said, “Make no mistake: as our country continues to face the threat of the anti-democracy MAGA Republican movement — propelled by many GOP leaders who either refused to take a stand or actively stoked the flames of division in our country — reforming the Electoral Count Act ought to be the bare minimum of action the Congress takes.” The Senate Rules Committee, of which Schumer and McConnell are both members, later voted to advance the bill. Schumer voted yes by proxy, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) was the lone no vote. Speaking minutes after McConnell had expressed his support for the legislation in committee, Cruz went against his party leader and blasted the bill as “bad policy and … bad for democracy.” “I understand why Democrats are supporting this bill,” Cruz said. “What I don’t understand is why Republicans are.” The bill already enjoyed strong bipartisan support, with 11 Democratic and 11 Republican senators signing on to co-sponsor it before Tuesday. “We are pleased that bipartisan support continues to grow for these sensible and much-needed reforms to the Electoral Count Act of 1887,” Collins and Manchin said in a joint statement last week. “Our bill is backed by election law experts and organizations across the ideological spectrum. We will keep working to increase bipartisan support for our legislation that would correct the flaws in this archaic and ambiguous law.” Later Tuesday evening in the Capitol, Collins passed Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the ranking member of Rules, in the hallway. She stopped, put her hand on his shoulder and said: “Thank you. Good job. Thank you. Thank you.” After the 2020 election, Trump had falsely told his supporters that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to reject electoral votes already certified by the states. Pence did not do so — and has repeatedly emphasized that the Constitution provides the vice president with no such authority. But on Jan. 6, many in the mob that overran the Capitol began chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” on the mistaken belief that the vice president could have stopped Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. The House last week passed the similar Presidential Election Reform Act, written by Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), on a 229-203 vote. Cheney and Lofgren argued that the risk of another effort to steal a presidential election remains high, as Trump continues to spread baseless claims of widespread election fraud, and as pro-Trump candidates in state and local elections around the country have embraced those falsehoods. The Senate and House bills differ chiefly in how much they would change the threshold necessary for members of both chambers to object to a state’s results. Currently, only one member each from the House and Senate are required to object to a state’s electors. The House electoral reform bill would raise that threshold to at least one-third of the members of both the House and Senate, while the Senate version would raise that threshold to at least one-fifth of the members of both the House and Senate. Schumer had withheld his support because he preferred Democrats’ sweeping voting bill that also addressed access to the polls. But after that bill failed in the Senate because of a lack of Republican support this year, the bipartisan working group forged ahead on a narrower bill that would implement guardrails and clarifications regarding how presidential electors are appointed, submitted and approved. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Rules panel who had worked on his own electoral bill, said Monday that it was “critical” they pass legislation as soon as possible. “This isn’t comprehensive voting rights reforms, but it is important because of the danger that we experienced on January 6th,” King told The Washington Post. “It’s critical we do this before next year when we are in the throes of the presidential election.” Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill saw little support from GOP lawmakers. Only nine Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure, and none of those nine will be members of Congress next year — either because they lost their primaries or chose to retire. Several of the Republicans who opposed the bill, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), criticized it as unconstitutional. On Tuesday, McConnell called the House bill a “non-starter” because of its lack of support from GOP lawmakers. “It’s clear that only a bipartisan compromise originating in the Senate can actually become law,” he said. “One party going it alone would be a non-starter. In my view, the House bill is a non-starter. We have one shot to get this right.” The Biden administration issued a statement last week in support of the House bill, calling it another step in “critically needed reform of the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act.” “Americans deserve greater clarity in the process by which their votes will result in the election of a President and Vice President,” the Office of Management and Budget said. “As [the Presidential Election Reform Act] proceeds through the legislative process, the Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to ensure lasting reform consistent with Congress’ constitutional authority to protect voting rights, tally electoral votes, and strengthen our democracy.” The Senate is widely expected to vote on the measure in a lame-duck session in December. Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report. Read More Here

AP News Summary At 8:46 P.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-846-p-m-edt/ Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, Florida braces for winds, floods HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday and left 1 million people without electricity. Now it’s on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters and forecasters say it may strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm. Ian made landfall early Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people and took steps to protect crops in the nation’s main tobacco-growing region. Ian was expected to get even stronger over the warm Gulf of Mexico. In Florida, 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate. Kremlin announces vote, paves way to annex part of Ukraine KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Moscow officials say that residents in all four occupied areas of Ukraine voted to join Russia. The Kremlin-orchestrated votes have been dismissed by the U.S. and its Western allies as illegitimate. According to Russia-installed election officials, 93% of the ballots case in the Zaporizhzhia region were in support of annexation, as were 87% of ballots in the southern Kherson region and 98% in Luhansk. The preordained outcome sets the stage for a dangerous new phase in Russia’s seven-month war in Ukraine because it is expected to serve as a pretext for Moscow to annex the four areas. That could happen within days. Blasts precede Baltic pipeline leaks, sabotage seen likely WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Denmark says it believes “deliberate actions” by unknown perpetrators were behind big leaks, which seismologists said followed powerful explosions, in two natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. European leaders and experts pointed to possible sabotage amid the energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. Although filled with gas, neither pipeline is currently supplying it to Europe. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that “it is the authorities’ clear assessment that these are deliberate actions -– not accidents.” The incident overshadowed the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster the continent’s energy independence from Moscow. Millions of Americans will save on Medicare fees next year WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in a decade, Americans will pay less next year on monthly premiums for Medicare’s Part B plan, which covers routine doctors’ visits and other outpatient care. The rare 3% decrease in monthly premiums — a savings of $5.20 for most — comes after millions of Medicare beneficiaries endured a tough year of high inflation and a dramatic increase in those premiums this year. Most people on Medicare will pay $164.90 monthly for Part B coverage starting next year. The decrease in Medicare fees comes as many older people await news about big increases next year to their Social Security checks, which are often used to pay for Medicare premiums. California murder suspect, teen daughter killed in shootout LOS ANGELES (AP) — California authorities say an abducted 15-year-old girl and her father — a fugitive wanted in the death of the teen’s mother — were killed in a shootout with law enforcement. San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus says the teenager, Savannah Graziano, was wearing tactical gear as she ran toward sheriff’s deputies during the firefight on a highway in the high desert. She was shot and was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly before noon. Her father, 45-year-old Anthony John Graziano, was pronounced dead at the scene in Hesperia. He allegedly killed his estranged wife in a domestic violence incident on Monday in the city of Fontana. Biden keeps US target for refugee admissions at 125,000 SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden is formally keeping the nation’s cap on refugee admissions at 125,000 for the 2023 budget year, despite pressure from advocates to raise it even higher to meet the need after falling far short of that target this year. Refugees advocates had been pushing the Biden administration to do more to restore the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The program suffered deep cuts under the Trump administration, which slashed admissions to a record low of 15,000. Biden has raised the cap to four times that amount this year, but so far fewer than 20,000 refugees have been admitted. Jan. 6 panel delays hearing as Hurricane Ian aims at Florida WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday as a hurricane hurtles toward the Florida coast. The committee had planned to hold what was likely to be its final investigative hearing Wednesday afternoon. But lawmakers decided at the last minute to delay it as it became clear that Hurricane Ian was churning on a collision course toward Florida, where it is expected to strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm. The committee had not yet provided a specific agenda for the Wednesday hearing, but Rep. Adam Schiff said over the weekend it would “tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the election.” Families testify of confrontations with Sandy Hook deniers WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Nicole Hockley lost one son in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. She testified Tuesday that her biggest fear is that people who believe the shooting never happened will harm her other son, who survived the attack at his school. Hockle, her former husband, Ian Hockley, and the sister of another victim were the latest family members of the 26 victims of the school shooting to testify at the defamation trial of Alex Jones, where a jury is deciding how much the conspiracy theorist must pay for spreading the lie that the shooting was a hoax. Defense attorney Norm Pattis is arguing that any damages should be limited and accused the victims’ relatives of exaggerating the harm the lies caused them. Senators push to reform police’s cellphone tracking tools NEW YORK (AP) — Civil rights lawyers and Democratic senators are pushing for legislation that would limit U.S. law enforcement agencies’ ability to buy cellphone tracking tools to follow people’s whereabouts, including back years in time, and sometimes without a search warrant. Concerns about police use of the tool known as “Fog Reveal” raised in an investigation by The Associated Press published earlier this month also surfaced in a Federal Trade Commission hearing three weeks ago. Police agencies have been using the platform to search hundreds of billions of records gathered from 250 million mobile devices, and hoover up people’s geolocation data to assemble so-called “patterns of life,” according to thousands of pages of records about the company. Hurricane Ian gets nasty quickly, turbocharged by warm water Hurricane Ian is quickly gaining monstrous strength as it moves over oceans partly heated up by climate change, just like 30 other Atlantic tropical storms since 2017 that became much more powerful in less than a day. This turbocharging of storms is likely to become even more frequent as the world gets warmer, scientists say. After getting 67% stronger in less than 22 hours from Monday to Tuesday, Ian is bearing down as a likely Category 4 hurricane that threatens to deliver a potential nightmare storm-surge to the Tampa Bay and southwest Florida regions. Ian’s so-called rapid intensification occurred after it traveled over Caribbean waters that are about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) warmer than normal. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

Mike Pompeo Launches New Campaign To Combat What He Says Is ‘wokeness In The Military’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mike-pompeo-launches-new-campaign-to-combat-what-he-says-is-wokeness-in-the-military/ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! EXCLUSIVE: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he has a new mission – to battle what he terms is “a woke military.” Taking aim at political correctness in the nation’s armed forces, the West Point graduate and Army officer who served in Germany during the Cold War is launching a campaign to target what he calls “woke polices” by President Biden’s administration that are directed towards the military.  The campaign, which includes a new website and two ads released by CAVPAC, a political action committee set up last year by Pompeo, was shared first with Fox News on Tuesday. “American security, and the safety of our families, rests on the shoulders of our men and women in uniform. Their training must never be corrupted to advance left-wing political goals. This matters. A woke military is a weak military,” Pompeo, who was elected to Congress before serving as CIA director and America’s top diplomat during former President Trump’s administration, argued in a statement.  AIR FORCE ACADEMY DIVERSITY TRAINING GRABS NATIONAL HEADLINES Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo address the ‘Politics and Eggs’ speaking series at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, on Sept. 20, 2022 in Goffstown, N.H.  (Fox News ) And he charged that “unfortunately, woke and weak are exactly the policies that President Biden is pushing on our troops. That’s why we must do everything we can to stop the spread of wokeness throughout our armed forces.” The website – which can be found at TroopsSpeakOut.com – allows veterans and active duty service members “to shine a light on Biden’s woke polices” POMPEO SAYS HE’S PREPARING FOR A POSSIBLE 2024 WHITE HOUSE RUN Conservative politicians and pundits and opinion leaders on the right have railed since the start of the Biden administration at what they consider overzealous political correctness by U.S. military leaders. Top Pentagon officers have pushed back on such criticism that the military was becoming too “woke,” calling such accusations “offensive.” Pompeo, in his ad, argues that “our military today is under assault from the radical left” and stresses that “If you’re a young kid sitting in a foxhole, you don’t give a darn about political correctness. If we focus on the wrong priorities, then Americans will be a lot less safe. We’ll use the right pronouns but what we won’t have is the capacity to keep our country safe.” “I can assure you that there’s no Russian general, no Iranian leader, no Chinese Communist Party admiral, who’s spending one second thinking about gender or woke ideology, or climate change,” Pompeo argues. “They’re thinking about how to kill Americans and the fight is on. We have to walk away from this radical left ideology. We cannot let it penetrate our military.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The new ads by Pompeo, a Fox News contributor who’s preparing for a potential campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, will run in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina – the first three states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar – as well as in Washington D.C., according to a Pompeo adviser. Earlier this month during a high profile stop in New Hampshire, Pompeo told Fox News “whether we’ll decide to get in the race and run for president, I can’t answer. But we are doing the things that one would do to be ready to make such an announcement and then to engage with the American people on the ideas that we believe matter.” Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.  Read More Here

Hurricane Ian Live Updates: DeSantis Suspends Tolls For Central Florida https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hurricane-ian-live-updates-desantis-suspends-tolls-for-central-florida/ Live updates will be posted here regarding the impacts of Hurricane Ian on our region. Check here for our hurricane preparedness stories to get ready for the storm. Get the latest updates on Hurricane Ian here. At least two tornadoes caused by Hurricane Ian touched down in Broward County on Tuesday night, the National Weather Service Miami said. The first tornado moved over Weston, Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise and Davie about 7:30 p.m., the weather service said. “The environment will be favorable for tornado development over the next couple of hours,” the weather service said in a Tweet. The second tornado moved over a similar path through Pembroke Pines, Davie and Cooper City. The area is under a tornado warning until 8:15 p.m., the weather service said. Orange County Fire Rescue crews are visiting mobile home parks throughout the county Wednesday to encourage residents to evacuate during the storm, according to a press release. Peak winds are expected to be as high as 74-80 mph and with 12-18 inches of rain possible. Officials also announced the closure of Reams Road, from Bay Court to the Disney Parking Lot at 9 a.m. Wednesday until further notice. Other areas that are prone to flooding, include: Lakes of Windermere at Peachtree-Reams Road Oasis-Reams Road Orla Vista/Westside Manor Bonny Brooke-Oakridge/John Young Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended tolls on Central Florida toll roads until further notice in preparation for Hurricane Ian, the Central Florida Expressway Authority announced Friday evening. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, drivers will not have to pay tolls throughout the 125-mile expressway system that stretches across Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. The system includes 865 lane miles, 73 interchanges, 14 mainline toll plazas, five mainline gantries, 74 ramp toll plazas and 343 bridges and eight named expressways. The CFX headquarters in Orlando will be closed effective Wednesday and will resume regular hours on Monday. The E-PASS Customer Service Walk-In Center will also be closed and the E-PASS Call Center will remain open with limited staffing, according to the announcement. UCF football’s home game vs. SMU, originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, has been moved to Sunday, the American Athletic Conference announced on Tuesday. Kickoff inside FBC Mortage Stadium between the Knights and the Mustangs is set for 1 p.m. the conference said. The broadcast designation, on the ESPN Family of Networks, will be announced at a later date according to the conference. The last sandbag distribution center in Osceola County at the St. Cloud civic center will continue to fill sandbags until 7 p.m. Tuesday. The St. Cloud Civic Center has distributed an estimated 15,000 sandbags so far today, according to St. Cloud spokesperson Maryemma Bachelder. The civic center opened Tuesday at noon and will close at 7 p.m. Another Osceola County sandbag distribution center at the Osceola County Heritage Center will close at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Osceola Heritage Center has filled over 216,000 sandbags over the last three days, according to a news release. Two new shelters opened in Osceola County at Narcossee Middle School and a pet-friendly shelter at Liberty High School. Publix stores across the Orlando area will close Wednesday as Hurricane Ian approaches Florida, the Lakeland-based grocer’s website shows. Customers can check details on their specific store at publix.com, but a check by the Orlando Sentinel Tuesday evening of many stores in the Orlando area show they are listed to close at 6 p.m. Wednesday and reopen on Friday. Publix updated when exactly stores will close throughout the day Tuesday. As of Tuesday evening, 448 of Publix’s 1,312 stores were expected to have modified hours. As Hurricane Ian strengthens over the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Department of Corrections announced Tuesday it will be canceling visitation hours statewide throughout the weekend. Effective through Oct. 2, no visitors will be permitted at any of the major institutions, work camps, work release centers or annex facilities. FDC said it will resume normal visitation “as soon as possible” and encourages loved ones of prisoners who want to receive updates on visitations and closures to text “FDCVISIT” to 888-777. Walt Disney World theme and water parks will be closed Wednesday and Thursday. Additional information will be shared soon on DisneyWorld.com/weather. Central Florida hospitals are gathering supplies to ensure they can continue to provide service as Hurricane Ian inches closer to the region. AdventHealth Central Florida has stockpiled thousands of gallons of water and has generators ready to power its hospitals in the event power is lost, said spokesperson Jeff Grainger. “We do not anticipate any service interruptions,” he said. “Family members of patients can rest assured that the hospital will be a safe place for their loved ones during the storm. We will be fully staffed and continue to deliver our excellent standard of care.” Orlando Health is also making preparations to ensure sufficient staffing and medical supplies, said spokesperson Sabrina Childress. “Orlando Health takes each hurricane event seriously and prepares accordingly. Preparedness measures are underway and will continue to evolve in response to weather changes,” Childress said. “During inclement weather events, our priority remains the safety and care of all patients.” HCA Florida Healthcare, too, will have adequate staffing, medications, medical supplies, food and water during the storm for its five Central Florida hospitals, as well as backup generator power, said Richard Hammett, president of the HCA Healthcare North Florida Division. “We continue to monitor Hurricane Ian as it progresses and will be ready for any changes that may take place in the next 24-48 hours. With the support of HCA Healthcare’s National Command Center, HCA Florida Healthcare hospitals have access to information, resources, and support from a network of experts and care sites across the state and nation,” Hammett said in a statement. Florida residents should only come to hospitals if they need medical attention. They are not equipped to serve as emergency shelters. Seminole County opening emergency shelters Wednesday | 3:36 p.m. Tuesday Seminole County will open eight emergency shelters at 8 a.m. on Wednesday at area public schools for residents looking for refuge from Hurricane Ian. The county will then announce an evacuation order for residents who live in flood-prone areas, mobile homes and persons with disabilities. At the 3 p.m. press conference, however, county emergency officials held off naming the shelters and locations until they have them fully prepared for the influx of residents. But residents should first try to find shelter in other areas — such as at a family member’s home or friend’s house — before deciding on a county emergency shelter, officials said. “Shelters are places of last resort,” said Alan Harris, Seminole director of the county’s office for emergency services. Residents with special needs should call the county’s hurricane hotline at 407-665-0000 if they need to stay at a shelter. “Seminole County is planning for extremely high winds, heavy rains and possible tornadoes,” Harris said. Sheriff Dennis Lemma urged residents to stay off the roads during the storm because of the danger of flying debris and flooded roads. Lemma noted that his office has increased the number of deputies, along with city police officers, who will be patrolling the county. “Any person committing a crime during a state of emergency will be dealt with appropriately,” Lemma said. Shoppers looking for last-minute supplies and groceries from Publix in south Lake County as well as west of Kissimmee still have some time, but face a deadline as Hurricane Ian approaches. While the Lakeland-based grocer hasn’t revealed changed hours for many of its Orlando area stores yet, at least nine stores in Clermont, Groveland, Minneola, and Kissimmee are expected to close at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the grocer’s website as of Tuesday afternoon. They are currently set to reopen Friday. The stores were earlier listed as closing on Tuesday, and Publix has since updated its site with them closing Wednesday. Customers can check for updates on their stores at publix.com. Even more stores west and southwest of Kissimmee, including in Davenport, are also expected to temporarily shutter. Universal Orlando Resort, including CityWalk, will close on Wednesday and Thursday, with tentative plans to reopen on Friday as conditions permit. Universal Orlando said its hotels are currently at full capacity and will remain operational. The park planned two of its Halloween Horror Nights events on Wednesday and Thursday, both of which will be canceled. For more information and FAQs, visit https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/weather-updates/severe-weather.html. Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated Hurricane Ian’s minimum pressure has decreased to 952 MB. It is now located about 255 south of Sarasota.’ The next full update will be at 5 p.m. Residents fill sandbags in Osceola County ahead of Hurricane Ian. At Osceola County Heritage Park sandbag distribution, the line snakes around the entire park. Osceola County maintenance worker, Thomas Compton, hands out bundles of 25 bags to cars stopping at his pickup truck with a large blue tarp set up just behind. “It’s been a steady stream of cars the whole time we’ve been open,” Compton said. “It’s been crazy since Monday because I think that’s when people started to see the storm was coming.” Compton has worked since Sunday for ten-hour shifts handing out empty sandbag bun...

Watch: Hogs https://digitalarkansasnews.com/watch-hogs/ FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors has never had as much length as this team and it’s changed a lot of the way they will play this year with the ability to do things they’ve never been able to do. Watch his complete press conference Tuesday afternoon after they started practices Monday. The Razorbacks will open exhibition play Nov. 2 against Arkansas-Fort Smith in Bud Walton Arena. This article first appeared on FanNation All Hogs and was syndicated with permission. Read More Here

Alzheimer’s Treatment Slowed Cognitive Decline In Closely Watched Clinical Trial https://digitalarkansasnews.com/alzheimers-treatment-slowed-cognitive-decline-in-closely-watched-clinical-trial/ An investigational Alzheimer’s disease treatment from Biogen and Eisai slowed the rate of cognitive decline by 27% in a clinical trial, the companies said Tuesday, meeting the goals of a closely tracked study and strengthening the drug’s case for approval as early as January. The positive result is welcome news for the millions of people living with Alzheimer’s and a big win for Eisai and Biogen, giving the companies a potential blockbuster product in the intravenous medicine, called lecanemab. For Biogen, which presided over the disastrous rollout of the Alzheimer’s treatment Aduhelm, the potential approval of lecanemab presents a rare second chance at a multibillion-dollar market. The lecanemab study is an “important milestone for Eisai in fulfilling our mission to meet the expectations of the Alzheimer’s disease community,” said Eisai CEO Haruo Naito, in a statement. advertisement In the study, which enrolled roughly 1,800 patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s, lecanemab outperformed placebo. The treatment also met its secondary goals of reducing toxic plaques in the brain and slowing patients’ decline on three other measures of memory and function. About 21% of patients treated with lecanemab experienced brain swelling visible on PET scans, a side effect associated with drugs of its type. Less than 3% of those patients had symptomatic cases of swelling, the companies said. advertisement The study, called CLARITY-AD, was the largest conducted to date to test the long-debated theory that clearing toxic brain plaques, called amyloid, might slow the pace of Alzheimer’s by slowing the pace of memory loss or delaying the onset of dementia. Lecanemab is the first treatment of its kind to affirm the so-called amyloid hypothesis in a large, Phase 3 clinical trial after two decades of consistent failure and murkier outcomes from similar, experimental drugs. “This is a statistically robust and positive study but the treatment effect is small,” said Lon Schneider, ​​a physician and Alzheimer’s expert at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Schneider cautioned that experts will need to take a much closer look at the lecanemab data when presented in more detail, but based on the results described in Eisai’s press release, he believes lecanemab is likely to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Schneider was not involved in the study. The FDA is already considering lecanemab for a conditional approval, promising to make a decision by Jan. 6 based on preliminary evidence from a smaller study showing the drug’s effect on amyloid in patients’ brains. Eisai now plans to add the more definitive results from the CLARITY-AD study to its application, aiming to win full approval and persuade Medicare to walk back a restrictive reimbursement policy set in the aftermath of Aduhelm. CLARITY-AD might be sufficient to win over the FDA, but lecanemab’s future depends on whether physicians, payers, and patients find the supporting data convincing. The study used a metric called the Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes, or CDR-SB, which measures six cognitive domains including memory, problem solving, and personal care, and produces scores ranging from 0 to 18, with higher numbers indicating more severe dementia. In the 18-month trial, patients who received lecanemab did .45 points better on the test than those receiving placebo, a result that hit the threshold of statistical significance, meaning it’s unlikely to be the result of random chance. Aduhelm, in a comparable clinical trial, slowed decline by 22%, outperforming placebo by .39 points on the same measure. A second, identical study failed. Lecanemab was administered as an intravenous infusion given twice per month. Approximately 25% of the 1,800 participants in the CLARITY-AD study were Hispanic and African-Americans, making it one of the more diverse populations ever enrolled in an Alzheimer’s clinical trial. For lecanemab, statistical significance does not necessarily make for a life-changing medicine. Alzheimer’s researchers have spent years debating just what small changes in CDR-SB scores mean for patients with the disease. A fractional improvement on an 18-point scale could be imperceptible in real life. On the other hand, the metric is not an interval scale, meaning its numerical differences aren’t proportionate to one another. Going from a 1 to a 1.5 on the CDR-SB could mean no longer being able to drive on one’s own, while going from a 14 to a 14.5 would likely make little difference for a patient already in the throes of dementia. To Michael Greicius, a neurologist at Stanford University who studies and treats Alzheimer’s, the rate of brain swelling in the lecanemab study could be confounding. Once patients present with the common side effect, called ARIA, everyone involved in the trial can be fairly certain they are receiving the drug and not placebo, exposing the study to bias. A true test of lecanemab’s benefits would be looking only at whether it helped the patients who didn’t test positive for ARIA, Greicius said. “I think if anything this is going to be on the cusp of what’s considered minimally clinically significant, and it may be below that,” said Greicius, who was not involved in the study. “That’s where we need to see more data.” Experts said any definitive ruling on lecanemab’s value would require more detailed results from CLARITY-AD, which Eisai has promised to present at a medical conference in November. Wall Street had only moderate expectations for CLARITY-AD, with analysts setting a low probability of success and declaring that even a marginal benefit would count as a positive for Biogen and Eisai. Biogen’s share price has fallen by nearly 50% since Aduhelm’s 2021 approval, and Eisai has lost about 60% of its value. “Today’s announcement gives patients and their families hope that lecanemab, if approved, can potentially slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, and provide a clinically meaningful impact on cognition and function,” said Michel Vounatsos, Biogen’s CEO, in a statement. The results kick off what will be a transformational nine months for Alzheimer’s research. By the end of this year, Roche will have data from a pair of two-year studies on gantenerumab, another antibody that reduces brain plaques. And in the first half of 2023, Eli Lilly expects to have results from a Phase 3 trial on donanemab, a similar treatment that met its goals in a small study last year. Read More Here

Northeast Arkansas Organization Preparing As Hurricane Ian Approaches https://digitalarkansasnews.com/northeast-arkansas-organization-preparing-as-hurricane-ian-approaches/ JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – The Red Cross of Northeast Arkansas is getting ready to help once Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida. The organization had already sent people down to the state as the storm moves closer. Executive Director Lori Arnold said Florida is a spot many in the Natural State have connections to. “Florida is not that far away, we have a lot of people who head down there of course and as Arkansans Florida is special,” she said. “We have a real close relationship with Florida, and the people of Arkansas have always been extremely generous and ready to help whenever it is needed.” Arnold said considering the storm has not even made landfall yet, the support they have already seen is unbelievable. “From the Missouri-Arkansas region, we have already sent 26 people down with those eight here on standby,” she said. Arnold explained the best way to help while at home is to think about volunteering and contacting your local chapter. You can also donate to the Red Cross through their website by clicking here. Copyright 2022 KAIT. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Justice Department Wants Psychological Examinations Of Parents Suing After Being Separated From Children At US-Mexico Border – ABC17NEWS https://digitalarkansasnews.com/justice-department-wants-psychological-examinations-of-parents-suing-after-being-separated-from-children-at-us-mexico-border-abc17news/ By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN The Justice Department wants a federal judge to require psychological examinations of some families separated at the US-Mexico border under the Trump administration as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the US government. The request comes after the Biden administration walked away from settlement talks late last year and has raised concerns among attorneys about re-traumatizing parents whose kids were torn away from them under the controversial policy. “This is where the government was headed as soon as the announcement came down,” said Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, which is representing separated families in similar cases. “They were headed toward re-traumatizing these families.” In 2018, the Trump administration announced a so-called zero tolerance policy, in which the Justice Department initiated criminal prosecutions of every adult illegally crossing the border. The policy, which was ended after widespread opposition, resulted in the separation of thousands of families, including those with infants, some only a few months old, because children can’t be kept in federal jail with their parents. The Physicians for Human Rights likened it to “torture,” and the American Academy of Pediatrics told CNN the Trump administration’s practice of separating families at the border was “child abuse.” Some families have since filed lawsuits seeking damages for the toll the separations took on them. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit in 2019 and attorneys representing families have filed separate claims as well. President Joe Biden, who’s condemned the Trump administration’s family separation policy, previously endorsed the idea of the US government compensating migrant families separated at the border, saying the previous administration’s “outrageous behavior” warrants cash payments — but he didn’t go into detail about specific amounts. Last December, the administration broke off settlement talks and went back to court. Now, in a case concerning five asylum-seeking mothers and their children, DOJ submitted its request for psychological examinations, calling it “standard practice” in its filing and citing a similar case pending in Florida where a parent and child were examined. In the filing, DOJ recognizes the anxiety, trauma and emotional distress separation caused on the parents, but says its selected expert should also examine them. “Plaintiffs intend to support their claims of injury through expert testimony and have each submitted to multiple mental health evaluations by their own expert. It is standard practice for plaintiffs alleging severe emotional injury to be examined by the opposing party’s expert; indeed, in a similar family-separation case pending in the Southern District of Florida, the adult plaintiff consented to an examination by the United States’ expert under the same terms that the United States proposes here,” the filing reads. The exam would consist of a clinical interview and a testing portion that includes a personality and emotional function test and a trauma-specific test, according to DOJ. The Justice Department’s response in the case may be a blueprint for similar cases from migrant families against the US government. “It’s bad enough that the Biden administration has not provided a meaningful settlement to the families separated under the Trump administration for the brutal treatment they received, but now the Biden administration is using taxpayer dollars to hire doctors to try and diminish the harm,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. “That is hardly consistent with President Biden’s statement that the separations were criminal and an historic moral blemish on the nation,” he added. The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project is representing six families who were separated at the border in similar cases and assisted hundreds of other lawyers who are filing monetary damages lawsuits. Attorneys have warned families who are part of these lawsuits that they may face depositions and potential examinations but viewed it as a worst-case scenario. “This is very aggressive. This is the thing that the Trump administration would’ve done and did do,” Cruz said, citing a case litigated under the Trump administration where a mother was deposed in a similar case. The trauma experienced by families has been extensively documented in studies by outside groups as well as by the federal government. Outside groups and a government watchdog have found over the years that children separated from their families under the “zero tolerance” policy experienced trauma. A 2019 Health and Human Services inspector general report included accounts of facility staff detailing the inconsolable crying of children when they were separated, confused and believing they had been abandoned by their parents. The Biden administration has committed to helping reunite families as part of a family reunification task force and providing services to help those affected by the policy. Since the creation of the task force, 487 children have been reunified with their parents in the United States, according to a September court filing. Attorneys are still searching for the parents of 151 children, the filing says. As part of the effort, the Department of Homeland Security has established a process for accepting parole requests, the Department of Health and Human Services is working on facilitating services to support families and the State Department is developing a streamlined system for processing in-country travel document requests. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Mar A Lago: FBI Raid Of Donald Trump’s Florida Home Sparks Controversy https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mar-a-lago-fbi-raid-of-donald-trumps-florida-home-sparks-controversy/ Talk of political polarization has consumed headlines in recent months. The most notable event of late has, undoubtedly, been the reaction to the FBI’s seizure of allegedly classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago (a club and resort owned by former president Donald Trump). Within hours of the search, which was authorized by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Republican outrage was palpable. Tucker Carlson, an anchor at Fox News and host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, claimed that the raid gave clear indication that “these were acts of aggression and hostility aimed at Americans … no American president has ever declared war on their own population.” Ben Shapiro, host at “The Daily Wire”, predicted that “if this raid turns out to be nothing … there will be hell to pay … things will get really, really ugly.”  These sentiments are shared among a sizable majority of Republicans. According to a recent poll by the Wall Street Journal, “41 percent [of Americans] said they viewed the FBI search as part of an ‘endless witch hunt’ against the former president” while 64% of Republicans said that the raid made them more likely vote in the 2022 midterm elections. Whether a surge in support for the former president will materialize remains to be seen, but the reaction from many Republicans is yet another indication that the American people are losing faith in our governing institutions.  While President Joe Biden has largely abstained from commenting on the raid, he recently traveled to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA to deliver a fiery speech about the threat posed by ‘MAGA’ Republicans. The President claimed that “too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.” Biden would go on to discuss, without much detail, Republican support for election-deniers, their rejection of bodily autonomy, privacy and LGBTQ+ rights; and their willingness to embrace political violence and authoritarian leaders.  What Biden seems to have forgotten, though, is that, in politics, image is everything. Against the backdrop of crimson red lighting and United States Marines, the speech was constructed as if it were a campaign speech — it was far from a direct or factual examination of the philosophies supporting ‘MAGA’ Republicans. The danger in delivering such a speech is that it can easily be perceived as an attack, if not a threat, to Biden’s political opposition (regardless of whether they are so-called ‘MAGA’ Republicans). Indeed, the talking point widely shared among Republican commentators the following day was that “this was the most dangerous Presidential speech in modern history” and that the president “had declared half the country as the enemy.” The natural question, then, is whether these and other statements made on the left and right are merely rhetorical or symptomatic of a larger decay in American political discourse. I am strongly inclined to believe the latter. It has become increasingly clear that faith in the American government is dwindling. The Pew Research Center, which has tracked American faith in the government since 1958, found that from April to May only nine percent of those who identify as conservatives trusted the federal government. In that same period, support among liberals was higher (averaging out at about 32%) but can be expected to oscillate if the Republicans were to regain power in either the executive or legislative branch. Concerning still is that faith in government has never surpassed 37% among either party since 2008.  More to the point, though, a loss of faith in the federal government has corresponded with a greater willingness to embrace subnational political identities (chiefly, party affiliations). Political discourse has moved away from “macro spaces” (the nation) and into micro spaces (the party). Parties have created insular spaces that cement any ideas that run contrary to what we might consider to be a more nuanced reality. The events of this summer highlight how the embrace of ‘post-truth’ politics tends to undermine the durability of the social contract — the idea that legitimate governance relies on the consent of the governed. “Truth,” in an open and pluralistic society, invites and makes possible the expression of different viewpoints. Post-truth politics detaches political discourse from this factual infrastructure. Possibilities for open debate and careful scrutiny of policies are denied. In its stead, post-truth politics seeks to normalize the outrageous, the absurd, and the obscene. By normalizing ad hominem politics, parties can claim a monopoly on political discourse. Those who oppose or otherwise question the beliefs of a party are deemed malicious and immoral. Post-truth politics breaks apart the common bonds of a nation by fueling mistrust and prejudice. The social contract cannot last long under these conditions.  Gustave Le Bon, author of “The Crowd”, predicted that political parties would capture the worst impulses of the crowd and convert them into a political force. Le Bon wrote in 1895 that as “our ancient beliefs are tottering and disappearing, while the old pillars of society are giving way one by one, the power of the crowd is the only force that nothing menaces, and of which the prestige is continually on the increase.”  He continues: “[the] psychological law of the mental unity of crowds” is that crowds of like-minded people are more likely to disregard careful examination of their beliefs” and that “the masses have never thirsted after truth. Parties — like crowds — turn away from evidence that is not to their taste, “preferring to deify error, if error [seduces] them.” As Le Bon put it, “whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master. Whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” Le Bon’s prediction was correct. Post-truth politics — as embraced by both political parties — pose a serious threat to liberal, democratic governance. Liberal societies must, by necessity, operate pluralistically and with due regard for their factual infrastructure. The health of political discourse will decline in proportion to our disregard for these basic norms. We must refuse the embrace of post-truth political behaviors – they are strongly anti-pluralistic. This sort of behavior dramatically flattens the political landscape in its presentation of political reality. Classical liberals and free speech advocates seem to believe that the antidote to anti-pluralistic behavior can be found in the expansion of spaces for free expression. Yet, the existence of a free space does not guarantee the embrace of pluralism — much less a surrender of post-truth political identities. The antidote to post-truth politics is not purely political – it is also sociological. In other words, we should not presuppose that the political nature of man is rational. As we have seen this summer, post-truth politics undermines this assumption. If we ignore the sociological behavior of parties, post-truth politics will subsume the fabric of the Republic and ordinary Americans will reap the consequences.  Read More Here

'It Bothered Me': Michigan House Race Tests Whether Democrats' Meddling In GOP Primaries Will Pay Off Or Backfire – Local News 8 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/it-bothered-me-michigan-house-race-tests-whether-democrats-meddling-in-gop-primaries-will-pay-off-or-backfire-local-news-8/ By Eric Bradner, Omar Jimenez and Donald Judd, CNN In the battleground Michigan congressional district that might be the most controversial example of Democrats’ meddling in Republican primaries, Democratic-leaning voters are fretting that the strategy could leave them with an election-denying Republican in Congress. “Politics sucks,” said Erick Davis, 31, who runs a coffee business in Grand Rapids and said he is an independent who typically votes for Democrats. Michigan’s 3rd District is among the congressional contests that will decide which party controls the House in 2023. It could also be the clearest test of whether national Democrats’ decision to pump money into ads in GOP primaries elevating candidates the party views as unelectable — including John Gibbs, an official in Donald Trump‘s administration who has backed the former President’s lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, in this district — will backfire. Democrats, whose narrow House majority is on the line, are already facing historic headwinds and economic factors that could tilt competitive races in the GOP’s favor. Freshman Rep. Peter Meijer, one of the 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump in the wake of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, was seeking a second term in the Grand Rapids-based district. But Trump, who has spent much of 2022 seeking political retribution against those Republicans, endorsed Gibbs. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — expecting that Gibbs would be easier to defeat in what, after last year’s redistricting process, now looks like a battleground district — spent $450,000 on television advertising labeling him “too conservative.” It might have been the difference: Gibbs defeated Meijer by 3.6 percentage points, less than 4,000 votes. He is now taking on Democrat Hillary Scholten, an attorney, in the general election. “I understand the strategy,” Davis said. “I think Gibbs is a much weaker candidate, and … Pete Meijer is someone that’s in the community, he’s someone that you see around — like, his family has done like a lot for this community. So, like, the strategy is not something I would have spent money on. But like, tactically, I guess I get it.” There is no evidence in the district of backlash against Scholten over her national party’s tactics in the race. But some Democratic-leaning voters’ discomfort with the DCCC’s approach underscores why Meijer was broadly seen as poised to win re-election if he survived the GOP primary. “It bothered me, and I know it bothered others,” said Ruth Kelly, a retired teacher and former Grand Rapids city commissioner. “I just think, you know, Peter Meijer had a lot to offer here. However, I’m still really excited about Hillary.” “They had to make some choices, some very difficult choices, and I disagree with that,” Janice Lanting, a retired teacher from Grand Rapids, said of national Democrats’ involvement in the race. “But I guess I’m not the one to make decisions, and we just want Hillary to do well in the polls.” ‘Risky and unethical’ Michigan’s 3rd District offered a window into a strategy Democratic political groups employed across the map. Democrats also pumped money into similar ads temporarily boosting what would become winning candidates in gubernatorial primaries in Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as House and Senate primaries in New Hampshire. The practice helped elevate a series of election deniers in key races in November’s midterm elections. Democratic officials have defended the practice, arguing that it is the most effective way of defeating GOP candidates. But some in the party have warned that helping Republicans who have attempted to erode Americans’ faith in its election system — particularly at the cost of helping the GOP purge figures such as Meijer, who sided with Democrats on Trump’s impeachment — could have serious consequences. “These destructive primary tactics aim to elevate Republican candidates who Democrats hope they can more easily beat in November,” former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer wrote in an August letter signed by 35 former Democratic lawmakers criticizing the party’s strategy. “But it is risky and unethical to promote any candidate whose campaign is based on eroding trust in our elections. We must stop this practice, and stop today.” Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the largely Democratic House panel investigating the insurrection, said the DCCC’s actions in Michigan were “terrible.” “All of us, again, across party lines, have got to make sure that we are supporting people who believe fundamentally in our democratic system,” she said. “And so I think that it’s inexplicable and wrong for the Democrats to be funding election deniers, particularly against one of the 10 Republicans who so bravely stood up and did the right thing.” Meijer said on CNN in the days after the election that that Democrats’ tactic in the Michigan 3rd District primary showed that “there is no incentive to try to be a productive member” of Congress while working in Washington, and that “it all will come down to partisan benefit no matter what the consequence.” “Any party that pretends to have a set of principles, any party that pretends to have a set of values and that comes in and boosts exactly the same type of candidate that they claim is … a threat to democracy, don’t expect to be able to hold on to that sense of self-righteousness and sanctimony,” Meijer said. ‘A much better opponent’ In Michigan, Scholten said she does not see Gibbs as necessarily being easier to defeat than Meijer would have been. “At the end of the day, Republicans decided who their standard bearer was going to be in this race, and they chose Mr. Gibbs. The voters came out, and they elected Mr. Gibbs, and national Republicans wanted him too,” she said in an interview with CNN. “You know, they didn’t spend a dime to try to support Peter Meijer or to keep Mr. Gibbs out of this race.” Gibbs, meanwhile, has tapped into a Republican base that remains energized by Trump and the former President’s lies about election fraud. He campaigned in recent days alongside GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon, the former President’s son Donald Trump Jr. and former top Trump White House aide Kellyanne Conway. “My opponent’s name happens to be Hillary. And no matter what, not another Hillary,” Gibbs said recently at an event held by the Muskegon County GOP, to cheers from the crowd. “I’m losing the country I grew up in. It’s crazy to see what’s happening, but we got to take it back,” he said. He called the race a “civilizational fight.” “This is a big deal, we got to let them know that they’re not going to take us down a path of China, North Korea, Iran, whatever it might be, whatever it might be. We are a free country, we have to remain that way,” Gibbs said. On the Democratic side, Scholten believes the stakes are similar. “This election is a referendum on our democratic ideals as a state and as a nation,” she told CNN. “There is nothing easy about this race, let me tell you, this is going to be a fight to the finish.” Gibbs, who worked in Trump’s administration, has wrongly called the results of the 2020 election “mathematically impossible.” He is also under fire after CNN reported that he wrote as a college student in the early 2000s that the United States has “suffered as a result of women’s suffrage.” He’s insisted the writings were satirical. While Democratic voters fretted about the consequences of helping elevate Gibbs in the primary, some Republican voters said they saw him as the better candidate for November’s general election. Vicki Ware, a Republican from Norton Shores, said she believes Gibbs is a stronger candidate than Meijer was. She said Meijer had betrayed the GOP by voting to impeach Trump, and that she wants to see Trump run for president again. “Everyone knew, obviously, that Peter Meijer was a RINO,” Ware said, using an acronym that refers to the phrase “Republican in name only.” “He got into office promising one thing and then completely flipped and so everybody wanted him out, and John Gibbs is the person that beat him and can win.” Diana Blais, a retiree from Muskegon, said Meijer “was not a good fit for Michigan” and that Gibbs is, in her view, “going to be a much better opponent” against Scholten. “I think just because his values line up with what we’re looking to gain back again — that we’ve, you know, been under attack by this administration in a lot of different ways; our freedoms are being taken away, kind of slowly but surely, they have been,” Blais said. “And he’s going to help get us lined back up again.” The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Trump Fan Who Assaulted Officer Fanone On Jan. 6 Sentenced To More Than 7 Years In Prison https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-fan-who-assaulted-officer-fanone-on-jan-6-sentenced-to-more-than-7-years-in-prison/ WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump fan who brought his teenage son along as he assaulted then-D.C. police officer Mike Fanone and another officer at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Tuesday. Kyle Young, a 38-year-old HVAC worker from Iowa whose lawyer said he was “injected” with lies about the 2020 election and who had asked his Facebook followers to join him at the “Stop the Steal” rally, pleaded guilty in May to a felony count of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. Young ” target=”_blank”admitted that he used a strobe light to disorient police, helped throw a large audio speaker at police, grabbed Fanone’s wrist when the D.C. officer was abducted by the mob and made contact with another officer abducted by the mob. Kyle Young at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. District Court for D.C. Young’s 86-month sentence matched what federal prosecutors sought in the case. They argued that Young took part in the assault at the lower west tunnel of the Capitol where “some of the most barbaric violence” took place on Jan. 6. As discovered by online sleuths, the government argued that Young handed a Taser to Danny Rodriguez, a MAGA fanatic who used it to electroshock Fanone in the neck on Jan. 6. Young, trailed by his 16-year-old son, was right nearby as Rodriguez electroshocked Fanone, extensive video evidence shows. Rodriguez, who has been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot, admitted those actions to the FBI but his case is still pending. U.S. Capitol Police Officer Morris Moore, who was dragged into the mob, gave a victim impact statement in court Tuesday, saying the actions of rioters reminded him of the film “300,” or a zombie movie. He said he’s had nightmares about facing down the mob. “It’s almost like a war,” he said. “It was crazy.” Moore, a former college football player, said he was reminded of the words of a coach who told him the to leave it all on the field. He said wanted to get back in the fight after he was removed from the riot. “I wanted to leave it out there on the west front,” he said. “We did out best. We did our best.” Fanone, who gave his own victim statement and recounted how officers fought to defend the Capitol on Jan. 6, told the judge this “isn’t my first rodeo” in federal court, noting that he had been to the courthouse numerous times as an officer. He referenced Young’s criminal history in describing how Young had prevented him from finishing his career in law enforcement. Fanone said that while he was “serving my community and my country with distinction,” Young was “racking up felony criminal convictions.” Fanone added that he believed Young should have received a sentence of 10 years in prison. “I hope you suffer,” he told Young. After Fanone’s statement, a supporter of the Jan. 6 defendants who was in the courtroom called Fanone a “piece of s—.” There was a brief stare down between them before Marshals escorted out the supporter and banned him from the courthouse for the rest of the day. Young turned directly to Fanone before his sentencing and apologized, saying he hoped that Fanone would one day forgive him. “If I could take it back, I would,” Young said, adding that he was not proud of what he did that day and that it eats at him every day. “Whatever you give me as a punishment I accept, and I probably deserve it,” he told the judge. Prosecutors laid out in a sentencing memo how Young’s actions impacted Fanone that day. “When Young spotted Officer Fanone being pulled into the crowd, he purposefully moved toward the attack, and joined at a pivotal moment — restraining Officer Fanone’s wrist by pulling it away from his body seconds after the officer was repeatedly tased and amid shouts of ‘kill him with his own gun,'” federal prosecutors said. “Young’s restraint of Officer Fanone prevented the officer from protecting his service weapon at a time when the officer’s life was in danger and gave Young’s co-defendant Thomas Sibick an opening to forcibly remove Officer Fanone’s badge from his chest and his police radio from a pocket on the front of his vest,” prosecutors added. Fanone’s badge was later buried in the woods behind Sibick’s backyard, the government has previously said. Former Metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone during a House select committee hearing on July 12.Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / Sipa USA via AP file Young had written in a letter to Judge Amy Berman Jackson that he was sorry for his actions on Jan. 6. “I still can’t believe I let myself and my son get swept up into such terrible events,” Young wrote in a letter to the judge, adding he was “highly ashamed” and that he’ll “never do anything like that again.” More than 850 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack and more than 350 have pleaded guilty. The longest sentence of 10 years in federal prison went to an ex-NYPD officer who assaulted a D.C. cop with a flagpole and tackled him to the ground, and then lied on the stand about his conduct. There are hundreds more arrests still to come. Read More Here

US Forecast https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-forecast-14/ City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index Albany, NY;66;48;64;47;A shower in spots;NW;6;68%;60%;2 Albuquerque, NM;82;58;82;56;Mostly sunny;S;8;36%;0%;6 Anchorage, AK;52;41;51;43;A touch of rain;NE;7;70%;99%;1 Asheville, NC;67;40;65;41;Partly sunny;NNW;9;47%;3%;6 Atlanta, GA;75;49;75;51;Clouds and sun, nice;NE;8;36%;0%;6 Atlantic City, NJ;75;52;70;53;Some sun, pleasant;NNW;9;52%;12%;5 Austin, TX;91;59;91;59;Plenty of sunshine;SSE;5;30%;2%;7 Baltimore, MD;73;52;70;53;Clouds and sun;NNW;8;48%;6%;4 Baton Rouge, LA;85;57;83;52;Sunny and nice;NNE;9;43%;3%;7 Billings, MT;85;55;90;58;Very warm;SSW;9;29%;4%;4 Birmingham, AL;77;51;75;50;Sunny and nice;NNE;10;35%;0%;6 Bismarck, ND;68;42;77;50;Partly sunny, breezy;SE;14;45%;2%;4 Boise, ID;93;63;90;56;Partly sunny, warm;ESE;8;21%;3%;4 Boston, MA;73;55;72;53;Some sun;NW;9;50%;30%;4 Bridgeport, CT;71;51;70;50;Clouds and sun;NNW;8;53%;7%;4 Buffalo, NY;62;51;57;45;A morning shower;NNW;9;79%;62%;1 Burlington, VT;60;52;60;47;A shower or two;NW;7;79%;78%;2 Caribou, ME;66;48;61;44;A shower or two;WNW;7;74%;83%;1 Casper, WY;82;46;84;51;Breezy in the a.m.;SW;13;24%;5%;5 Charleston, SC;83;59;74;59;Not as warm;NNE;10;43%;27%;5 Charleston, WV;66;43;63;45;Partly sunny, cool;N;5;68%;4%;5 Charlotte, NC;78;47;71;49;Partly sunny;NNE;8;39%;0%;5 Cheyenne, WY;75;48;79;52;Partly sunny, warm;SSW;10;31%;3%;5 Chicago, IL;59;47;58;49;A cool breeze;NNE;15;64%;4%;2 Cleveland, OH;59;53;59;52;A couple of showers;NNE;13;70%;85%;1 Columbia, SC;83;52;75;53;Partly sunny, nice;NNE;7;34%;2%;6 Columbus, OH;61;44;62;46;Clouds and sun, cool;N;8;63%;25%;2 Concord, NH;72;46;67;46;Clouds and sun;NW;8;64%;36%;3 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;89;64;90;63;Plenty of sunshine;SE;9;32%;2%;6 Denver, CO;78;52;84;57;Partly sunny;S;5;32%;4%;5 Des Moines, IA;69;39;64;41;Plenty of sunshine;SE;7;47%;4%;4 Detroit, MI;63;48;60;45;Clouds and sunshine;N;10;68%;27%;2 Dodge City, KS;86;49;78;51;Partly sunny;ESE;13;36%;55%;5 Duluth, MN;54;35;57;42;Mostly sunny;SSW;6;65%;1%;4 El Paso, TX;86;61;86;59;Mostly sunny;ESE;9;28%;0%;7 Fairbanks, AK;45;31;53;33;Partly sunny;NE;7;62%;11%;1 Fargo, ND;60;35;66;49;Partly sunny, breezy;SSE;14;40%;17%;4 Grand Junction, CO;83;57;81;56;A stray t-shower;SE;9;33%;43%;5 Grand Rapids, MI;56;45;58;39;Rather cloudy, cool;N;9;73%;27%;1 Hartford, CT;73;50;71;50;Some sun;NW;7;56%;8%;4 Helena, MT;83;46;86;52;Very warm;SSE;5;34%;10%;4 Honolulu, HI;88;75;88;75;A morning shower;NE;12;56%;44%;9 Houston, TX;89;62;88;63;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;7;39%;4%;7 Indianapolis, IN;65;45;65;45;Partly sunny;NE;8;59%;2%;2 Jackson, MS;81;54;80;50;Sunny and nice;NNE;9;40%;3%;6 Jacksonville, FL;85;70;77;70;Rain and wind;NE;14;71%;100%;2 Juneau, AK;54;43;54;52;Rain and drizzle;ESE;9;87%;99%;1 Kansas City, MO;81;47;71;46;Sunny, not as warm;E;8;38%;6%;5 Knoxville, TN;72;43;69;45;Sunny and pleasant;NNE;7;49%;2%;5 Las Vegas, NV;96;73;96;73;Partly sunny;NNE;7;31%;8%;5 Lexington, KY;67;40;65;45;Partly sunny, cool;NNE;8;59%;3%;4 Little Rock, AR;84;53;80;48;Sunny and pleasant;NE;9;42%;3%;6 Long Beach, CA;89;68;88;66;Mostly sunny, warm;S;7;56%;0%;6 Los Angeles, CA;91;68;96;66;Sunny and hot;SSE;7;48%;0%;6 Louisville, KY;70;42;67;46;Partly sunny;NNE;7;55%;1%;4 Madison, WI;56;36;58;36;Sunny and breezy;ESE;15;60%;2%;4 Memphis, TN;80;55;76;50;Sunny and pleasant;NE;11;35%;1%;5 Miami, FL;81;79;86;79;Some wind and rain;SSW;23;80%;99%;2 Milwaukee, WI;58;44;56;43;Breezy;NNE;15;66%;5%;3 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;59;38;62;43;Partly sunny;SSE;7;44%;2%;4 Mobile, AL;83;58;83;54;Sunny, breezy, nice;N;14;34%;1%;7 Montgomery, AL;80;53;78;51;Mostly sunny;NNE;9;36%;0%;6 Mt. Washington, NH;41;32;39;30;Windy with a shower;NW;28;97%;85%;1 Nashville, TN;76;44;70;47;Sunny and pleasant;NNE;9;42%;0%;5 New Orleans, LA;83;66;82;61;Sunny, breezy, nice;NNE;15;40%;2%;7 New York, NY;70;55;70;53;Clouds and sun;NNW;9;45%;6%;5 Newark, NJ;71;51;70;51;Partly sunny;NNW;8;50%;8%;4 Norfolk, VA;80;56;70;59;Not as warm;N;9;45%;15%;5 Oklahoma City, OK;90;60;88;58;Plenty of sun;SE;10;36%;3%;5 Olympia, WA;75;52;66;55;A shower or two;SSE;6;80%;91%;1 Omaha, NE;78;40;68;44;Sunny, not as warm;SE;8;42%;3%;5 Orlando, FL;84;74;79;75;Rain and wind;E;17;92%;100%;2 Philadelphia, PA;73;54;70;54;Partly sunny;NNW;9;47%;10%;5 Phoenix, AZ;102;82;101;79;Clouds and sun, warm;ESE;8;25%;16%;5 Pittsburgh, PA;62;46;61;47;A passing shower;NNW;7;70%;81%;1 Portland, ME;71;51;67;49;Some sun;NW;7;65%;31%;4 Portland, OR;79;56;69;58;A shower or two;S;7;71%;88%;1 Providence, RI;74;50;71;49;Partly sunny;NW;7;54%;8%;4 Raleigh, NC;79;48;72;50;High clouds and nice;NNE;7;42%;3%;5 Reno, NV;88;53;84;49;Breezy in the p.m.;W;12;23%;0%;5 Richmond, VA;75;47;71;51;Some sun;NNW;7;48%;10%;5 Roswell, NM;88;56;87;55;Plenty of sun;SSW;8;35%;3%;6 Sacramento, CA;84;56;84;58;Sunshine;S;7;49%;3%;5 Salt Lake City, UT;87;62;85;60;A stray t-shower;SSE;15;32%;64%;5 San Antonio, TX;91;59;91;60;Plenty of sunshine;SSE;8;32%;3%;7 San Diego, CA;82;67;81;68;Partly sunny, humid;SW;7;73%;0%;6 San Francisco, CA;68;58;71;58;Clouds, then sun;W;13;67%;3%;5 Savannah, GA;83;61;75;60;Breezy and cooler;NNE;14;47%;56%;6 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;75;56;67;56;A shower or two;SSW;7;74%;86%;1 Sioux Falls, SD;72;35;67;46;Mostly sunny;SSE;9;39%;0%;4 Spokane, WA;90;53;82;55;Periods of sun, warm;SW;7;38%;26%;4 Springfield, IL;69;37;65;42;Mostly sunny, cool;ENE;6;55%;1%;5 St. Louis, MO;73;42;67;44;Sunny, but cool;NE;7;48%;2%;5 Tampa, FL;84;73;80;73;Rain and wind;ENE;39;91%;100%;1 Toledo, OH;60;46;60;44;Mostly cloudy, cool;N;8;70%;26%;1 Tucson, AZ;96;72;95;68;Partly sunny;E;10;32%;26%;6 Tulsa, OK;89;56;86;54;Sunshine;E;8;40%;5%;5 Vero Beach, FL;79;76;85;79;Rain and wind;SSE;21;85%;99%;2 Washington, DC;73;51;70;52;Clouds and sunshine;NNW;8;49%;4%;4 Wichita, KS;88;55;80;52;Mostly sunny, breezy;E;15;38%;3%;5 Wilmington, DE;72;50;70;51;Partly sunny;NNW;9;52%;8%;5 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More…

Jury Selection Begins In Oath Keepers' Jan. 6 Conspiracy Trial https://digitalarkansasnews.com/jury-selection-begins-in-oath-keepers-jan-6-conspiracy-trial/ (WASHINGTON) — Jury selection is underway Tuesday in one of the most complex and crucial cases being brought by the Justice Department in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as five members of the Oath Keepers anti-government group — including its founder Stewart Rhodes — stand trial on charges that they conspired together to oppose by force the lawful transition of presidential power. The trial, which is expected to last over a month, could prove to be the toughest test yet for prosecutors in the DOJ’s sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6 attack, which has so far resulted in federal charges against nearly 900 defendants. Failing to secure convictions against Rhodes or others in the case with the rarely-brought seditious conspiracy statute, experts say, could prove to be a significant setback to the department’s ongoing efforts to target alleged domestic extremist groups driven to carry out acts of violence against the government. Rhodes, Thomas Caldwell, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins are among the first group of Oath Keepers to go to trial for seditious conspiracy and multiple other felony charges connected to their alleged actions surrounding the Capitol attack. Four other members of the group are scheduled to go to trial in late November. The government has already secured three guilty pleas for seditious conspiracy from Oath Keepers Joshua James, William Todd Wilson and Brian Ulrich, all of whom admitting they joined the group with the goal of using force to stop the peaceful transfer of power from then-outgoing President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden. The group is alleged to have stashed firearms and ammunition at hotels surrounding Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and used encrypted communications to coordinate their actions breaching the Capitol and seeking out lawmakers involved in the certification of Biden’s election win. Prosecutors say images they have submitted in court filings filings show members of the group, clad in tactical gear, moving through the pro-Trump mob up the Capitol steps in a military-style “stack” formation to enter the building. Prosecutors allege that multiple members of the group remained back at a Ballston, Virginia, hotel during the attack as part of a “Quick Reaction Force” that was tasked with rapidly transporting weapons to D.C., possibly by ferrying them up the Potomac River, if they were called up by Rhodes. While Rhodes is not alleged to have entered the Capitol building itself, prosecutors have singled him out as a lead coordinator in calling on various chapters of the group around the country to come to Washington, and calling on members to ready themselves for a potential “civil war” to keep Trump in office. The trial, in D.C. district court, is expected to feature testimony from dozens of witnesses, with prosecutors planning to introduce thousands of private messages sent between members of the group leading up to and following the Jan. 6 attack that detail their alleged plans to keep Biden from taking office. The federal judge overseeing the case, Amit Mehta, recently rejected a last-minute effort from Rhodes to delay the trial and replace the legal team that had represented him since his arrest in January of this year. Mehta has similarly rejected requests from other members of the group to delay the trial, as they argued that potential public hearings or the release of an interim report by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack would serve to taint any jury impaneled in the case. Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Adam Schiff And Jerry Nadler Clashed Over Trump's First Impeachment With Nadler Saying Democrats' Plans Were 'unfair' And 'unconstitutional' https://digitalarkansasnews.com/adam-schiff-and-jerry-nadler-clashed-over-trumps-first-impeachment-with-nadler-saying-democrats-plans-were-unfair-and-unconstitutional/ Two powerful House Democrats disagreed on how to handle Trump’s first impeachment. At issue was which of their committees would take the lead in the investigation. Rep. Jerry Nadler also reportedly pushed Democrats to have Trump’s lawyers more involved.  Loading Something is loading. A pair of powerful House Democrats clashed repeatedly behind the scenes over the handling of President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, according to a forthcoming book. Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Adam Schiff of California reportedly disagree over how much power to give Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee and how to address potential due process concerns with the proceedings.  “It’s unfair, and it’s unprecedented, and it’s unconstitutional,” Nadler reportedly told Schiff, according to an excerpt from “Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump.” The book, written by Politico Playbook co-author Rachael Bade and Washington Post reporter Karoun Demirjian, will be published on October 18. Fox News published the latest excerpt from the book on Tuesday afternoon. Nadler, according to the book, felt that if the Judiciary Committee did not cross-examine witnesses, Trump and his attorneys would raise concerns about whether his due process rights had been violated. Nadler reportedly wanted Democrats to handle charges Trump abused his power by freezing aid to Ukraine like the Judiciary panel handled President Richard Nixon’s impeachment before he resigned. “If we’re going to impeach, we need to show the country that we gave the president ample opportunity to defend himself,” Nadler warned Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, per the book. In the end, Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee took the lead role in handling Trump’s impeachment, a break from the historic tradition of the Judiciary Committee handling such proceedings. According to the authors, this was because Pelosi did not trust Nadler. “She didn’t want the Judiciary panel to interview witnesses at all,” they wrote. “Pelosi simply didn’t trust the panel — which was stacked with liberal crusaders and hotheaded conservatives — to handle the rollout of the complex Ukraine narrative with the careful, compelling treatment it required. She couldn’t afford another Nadler screwup.” Nadler’s repeated pleas to Schiff were also reportedly unsuccessful. “I write the rules of my committee, not you,” Nadler reportedly told his colleague once. “I resent you telling me how to run my committee.” Schiff, according to the book, retorted, “I don’t really care about your resentment. Neither the Speaker nor I agree.” The Intelligence panel later had some witnesses reappear before the full committee. Republican lawmakers grilled the likes of then Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, but Trump’s lawyers were not present. The White House declined to appear at a Judiciary hearing that featured four constitutional scholars. Trump’s lawyers would later make these due process complaints the center of their defense during the Senate trial, though fact checkers found they repeatedly stretched the truth. Trump was later acquitted with only one Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney, voting to convict him on the charge of abusing his power. Romney was the first senator in US history to vote to convict an impeached president of their own party. Representatives for Schiff and Nadler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  Read More Here

Trump Advisor Seeks To Clarify Fulton County Grand Jury Subpoena https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-advisor-seeks-to-clarify-fulton-county-grand-jury-subpoena/ Published September 27, 2022 4:43PM article Boris Epshteyn, advisor to President Donald Trump, arrives for a news conference at the Republican National Committee on lawsuits regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election on Thursday, November 19, 2020. Trump attorneys Rudolph Giuliani FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – An advisor to former President Donald Trump is asking a Fulton County Superior Court judge to clarify the reason he has been subpoenaed to appear before the special purpose grand jury investigating potential criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. Boris Epshteyn, an attorney for the 2020 Trump-Pence campaign and current legal counsel to President Donald Trump, filed an emergency motion Tuesday asking for a court order clarifying the types of questions he will be asked when he appears before the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury.  Epshteyn is currently scheduled to testify before the panel investigating attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia on Thursday. In the filing, Epshteyn’s attorney says he will likely need to invoke attorney-client privilege during his testimony. But a New York rule requiring him to protect “client confidence” is not as clear. Epshteyn wants a judge to order the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to give him more information about the topics they will cover before he appears. Read More Here

Leaks In Undersea Gas Pipelines After Explosions Point To Sabotage, Officials Say https://digitalarkansasnews.com/leaks-in-undersea-gas-pipelines-after-explosions-point-to-sabotage-officials-say/ Image The land portion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, last week.Credit…Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters Explosions under the Baltic Sea and the rupture of major natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany appeared to be a deliberate attack, officials across Europe said on Tuesday, deepening uncertainty about European energy security amid soaring prices and fears of running short of fuel over the winter. Three separate leaks erupted from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were already caught up in the conflict over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sending swirling streams of methane to the surface of waters off Denmark and Sweden. Top Polish and Ukrainian leaders blamed Moscow, while Russian state media suggested U.S. or Ukrainian involvement. “It’s hard to imagine that it’s accidental,” Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told reporters while on a trip to Poland to open a new undersea pipeline to carry Norwegian gas — a judgment echoed by officials in several countries. Swedish seismologists reported detecting the underwater explosions on Monday, and pipeline monitors in Germany registered a swift drop in the conduits’ pressure. Later, patches of sea surface in the same areas as the explosions began roiling with dangerously combustible gas, forcing shipping to steer clear. Several countries said they were investigating the cause. The apparent attack had no immediate effect on European energy supplies; Nord Stream 2 has never gone into service, and Nord Stream 1 has been shut down since August. But it raises the stakes — and European jitters — in a simmering energy war between Russia and the West prompted by the war in Ukraine. Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister, blamed Russia for the leaks, saying they were an attempt to further destabilize Europe’s energy security. He spoke at the launch of a new undersea pipeline that connects Poland to Norway through Denmark. “We do not know the details of what happened yet, but we can clearly see that it is an act of sabotage,” Mr. Morawiecki said. “An act that probably marks the next stage in the escalation of this situation in Ukraine.” Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said that sabotage could not be ruled out. “It is too early to conclude yet, but it is an extraordinary situation,” she said during a visit to Poland to inaugurate the pipeline from Norway. “There is talk of three leaks, and therefore it is difficult to imagine that it could be accidental,” she said. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, said on Twitter that the leaks were “a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards E.U.” Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Tuesday, “There are initial reports indicating that this may be the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage, but these are initial reports and we haven’t confirmed that yet.” “My understanding is the leaks will not have a significant impact on Europe’s energy resilience,” he added. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said of the leaks that “no possibility can be ruled out,” but the Russian state media sought to blame the United States and Ukraine. The state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported that Washington “is an active opponent of Russian gas supplies to Europe,” and said that Ukraine opposed Nord Stream 2 because it “was afraid of losing revenues from the transit of Russian gas.” Image A satellite image showing a leak at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline 13 nautical miles southeast of Bornholm Island, Denmark, on Tuesday.Credit…Planet Labs It was not immediately clear who would benefit from ruptures in the pipelines, which were not in operation. The pipelines have been a focal point of the broader confrontation between Russia and Europe. After the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia to penalize it for invading Ukraine in February, Russia began withholding the natural gas that for decades it had sent to Europe, threatening the continent’s energy supply as winter looms. Monika Pronczuk, Oleg Matsnev, Torben Brooks and Richard Pérez-Peña contributed reporting. Image This handout picture released on Tuesday by the Danish Defense Command showed the leak at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline off the island of Bornholm, Denmark.Credit…Danish Defense Command, via Getty Images As investigators from several countries look into gas leaks at Nord Stream 1 and 2, Sweden’s public broadcaster said on Tuesday that monitoring stations in Sweden and Denmark had recorded heavy underwater explosions in the same area as the gas leaks on Monday. “There is no doubt that there were blasts,” said Björn Lund, an associate professor of seismology at the Swedish National Seismic Network. The Swedish National Seismic Network said it had detected two distinct blasts in the area on Monday. One had a magnitude of 2.3 and was recorded at as many as 30 monitoring stations in southern Sweden. The first explosion was recorded at 2:03 a.m. on Monday, and the second at 7:04 p.m. The warnings about the gas leaks came from the Swedish Maritime Administration on Monday afternoon and evening after ships detected bubbles on the surface. — Christina Anderson Image The pro-Russian proxy mayor of Mariupol visited a polling station on Tuesday.Credit…Agence France-Presse — Getty Images KYIV, Ukraine — The four days of stage-managed referendums on joining Russia in occupied parts of Ukraine wrapped up on Tuesday, as pro-Moscow officials used raw intimidation tactics, including armed men in ski masks at polling stations, Orwellian messaging and thinly attended festivities to influence the vote. The referendums were intended to be a show of democracy by Russia, and even though most Western leaders dismissed them as a sham, they are likely to have chilling consequences. The purported results claimed the great majority of residents had voted to join Russia, giving the Kremlin a rationale to formally announce annexation as soon as this week. The Russian state news media was reporting what it described as results showing enormous levels of support for joining Russia in four occupied territories. Tass, the Russian news agency, reported 92.68 percent in favor in Zaporizhzhia, 86 percent in Kherson in the south, and 93.95 percent in Donetsk and 98.53 in Luhansk in the east. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, told the U.N. Security Council that Russia was staging “sham” referendums that were an effort to “erase the norms of international law.” “This is an attempt to steal the territory of another state,” he said in a remote address to the Council on Tuesday. The staged votes earned broad international condemnation, and world leaders vowed not to recognize the announced results. At a news conference in Washington on Tuesday, Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken said the United States would never recognize territories annexed through the referendums. He denounced Russia for what he called a “diabolical scheme” to move local Ukrainian residents out of captured areas and bus in Russians for the purpose of having them vote. Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol, said in an interview the results of the voting were meaningless because of intimidation tactics. “They bang loudly, they ring the doorbell, they give people a ballot and point with their rifles where to put the mark,” he said. Mr. Orlov said the aim of Moscow was clear: to claim the land in four provinces partly occupied by the Russian Army as Russian and assert that Ukraine is now attacking Russia, not the other way around. President Vladimir V. Putin has said Russia will defend the territories with any means. The country has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal. Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia who now serves as deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, reiterated on Telegram on Tuesday that Moscow had the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons and that was “definitely not a bluff.” Formal annexation would require a vote in the Russian Parliament. Mr. Putin is scheduled to address both houses on Friday, suggesting that a possible vote on annexation could take place then, British military intelligence reported. Ukrainians have expressed fears that one immediate consequence of annexation would be conscription of their citizens into the Russian military, forcing them to take up arms against their own country. In parts of Luhansk and Donetsk, which have been occupied by Russia since 2014, that is already the case. Maria Varenikova, Carly Olson and Michael Crowley contributed reporting. Image President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addressing members of the U.N. Security Council by video on Tuesday.Credit…UNTV, via YouTube With Russia appearing poised to annex parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine lashed out at the Kremlin on Tuesday, telling the U.N. Security Council that Russia was staging “sham” referendums at gunpoint as a prelude to stealing part of his country. “This is an attempt to steal the territory of another state,” he said, speaking remotely by video and wearing his signature olive green shirt. He called the referendums a reckless breach of international norms and called for the international community to impose sanctions on Russia. “This is an attempt to erase the norms of international law,” he said. Mr. Zelensky also repeated his castigations of Russia for using what he has called “nuclear blackmail” to destabilize the world and highlighted reports that Russia is disproportionately targeting Crimean Tatars and other Indigenous people in its draft. Mr. Zelensky addressed the Council as Russian-backed administrators in...

Exclusive: Fannie Mae To Announce Plan To Bolster Renters https://digitalarkansasnews.com/exclusive-fannie-mae-to-announce-plan-to-bolster-renters/ Only positive payments of renters will be reported (those who fall behind will be unenrolled) and renters can chose to opt out at any time. One in ten adults in the U.S., or about 26 million people, are “credit invisible,” meaning they do not have a credit history with one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. Renters are seven times more likely than homeowners to lack a credit score, according to a study the Urban Institute When it comes to credit scores, renters are at a distinct disadvantage compared to homeowners. While mortgage payments are reported by lenders to credit bureaus, landlords typically don’t report rental payments  – and that can hamper renters’ ability to build a credit history. Fannie Mae plans to subsidize the cost for landlords of multifamily properties it finances to help renters build their credit starting Tuesday , the mortgage giant shared exclusively with USA TODAY. Fannie Mae will partner with three firms that serve as intermediaries between landlords and credit bureaus to report on-time rental payments.  “Given the reach that we have across the country, we’re trying to be a catalyst to accelerate this adoption,” says MicheleEvans, executive vice president and head of Multifamily, at Fannie Mae. “We’re incentivizing borrowers (landlords) so it benefits historically underserved groups who just disproportionately have no credit scores or lower credit scores.” Credit scores: How this single mom raised her credit score despite losing her job Housing: Home prices decline at rates seen close to a decade ago While mortgage payments are considered for credit scores – which can determine one’s ability to obtain a loan for a house, a car, or college –  of the roughly 80 million U.S. adults who live in rental housing, just 1.8 million (2.3%) have rental payments reported in their traditional credit file, according to FICO, which calculates credit scores based on information collected by credit reporting agencies. How will Fannie Mae’s plan work? Only positive payments of renters will be reported (those who fall behind will be unenrolled) and renters can choose to opt out at any time. Eligible multifamily property owners (those with at least five years worth of outstanding loans) can share timely rent payment data through vendors to the three major credit bureaus for incorporation in the renter’s credit profile. The vendors who have been tapped to work with Fannie Mae are three New York-City-based companies Esusu Financial Inc., Jetty Credit and Rent Dynamics. In the last five years, Fannie Mae has financed over 3.7 million units of multifamily housing. Last year, it provided financing for approximately 694,000 units of multifamily housing in 2021, with nearly 95% of those units affordable to families earning at or below 120% of the area median income, providing support for both affordable and workforce housing. ‘Credit invisibles’ and credit scores One in 10 adults in the U.S., or about 26 million people, are “credit invisible,” meaning they do not have a credit history with one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies, according to a 2015 study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. An additional 19 million consumers have “unscorable” credit files, which means that their file is thin and has an insufficient credit history. In total, 20% of the U.S. adult population, or some 45 million consumers, may be denied access to credit because they don’t have scorable credit records. Renters are seven times more likely than homeowners to lack a credit score, according to a study by the Urban Institute. These gaps disproportionately affect Black and Latino households, who, compared with white households, are about twice as likely to rent and to lack a credit score. And these factors contribute, in turn, to the nation’s persistent racial disparities, the study found. “I think this is an enormous positive because for most renters, their rental payments are the single largest payment they make each month and not getting credit for rental payments in their credit prevents them from building a credit history as quickly as they could,” says Laurie Goodman, founder of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Positive rental payments Last September, Fannie Mae began considering positive rental payment history in their automated mortgage underwriting process for single-family homes through applicants’ bank statement data. However, that program had no bearing on the renter’s credit scores.  Since its launch, more than 2,800 first-time homebuyer loan applications have become eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae that otherwise would not have been, it says.  Esusu co-founder and co-CEO Wemimo Abbey knows a thing or two about being “credit invisible.” “I grew up in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria,” he says. When he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of Minnesota, his mother and Abbey were turned away by many banks as they had no credit history. “We had to get a loan from a payday lender at 400% interest,” he says. About five years ago, he co-founded Esusu with Samir Goel, a first-generation Indian American, whose parents struggled with the financial burdens of immigrating to a new country. “We have a system that treats you like you’re guilty until proven innocent,” says Abbey. “Because we didn’t have this three-digit number that’s called a credit score.” Today, Esusu has close to 3 million rental units on their platform owned by companies such as Related, Camden and Goldman Sachs’ real estate division. Of the 53,000 affordable apartments that are owned by Related Companies nationwide, 16,000 are financed by Fannie Mae, said Jeffrey Brodsky, vice chairman at Related. The company has worked with Esusu before and expects to roll out the program for all eligible renters. “Their program allows for tremendous measurable impact at scale, which is an unusual opportunity for us to serve the needs of our residents at the same time and measure the results of the benefits to them,” he says. After enrolling on the Esusu platform, 10,000 of the 53,000 residents who previously did not have credit scores now have them, says Brodsky. About 71% of the residents have seen their credit scores go up and the average resident credit score has improved by 28 points, he says. “Two-thirds of the residents in these apartments are people of color and they have very modest incomes. And so we see a tremendous benefit at scale.” Improving the credit score August Ortega, a renter in Long Beach, California, has been struggling with his credit score after a series of financial setbacks including his mother’s cancer diagnosis and a job loss. While his credit card bills piled up, one thing he didn’t fall behind on was his rental payment. But the fact that it didn’t count toward his credit score was frustrating, he says. “It was always silly to me that it wasn’t being reported because this is like a major bill,” says Ortega, a fashion designer and an instructor at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in LA. Last year, when Ortega’s landlord offered the Esusu service, he signed up. His credit score, which had plummeted to 520 is slowly on its way up now that his rental payments are being taken into consideration. “I think it’s up to about 540,” he says. “I hope to be a homeowner someday.” Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a housing and economy correspondent for USA TODAY.  You can follow her on Twitter @SwapnaVenugopal and sign up for our Daily Money newsletter here. Read More Here

Trump Bid To Dodge Suit From Rape Accuser Heads To DC Court – KESQ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-bid-to-dodge-suit-from-rape-accuser-heads-to-dc-court-kesq/ By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court in Washington D.C. has been asked to help decide whether Donald Trump was doing his job as president when he denied raping a woman and dismissed his accuser as “not my type.” The columnist, E. Jean Carroll, sued Trump in 2019, claiming the Republican raped her in the mid-1990s inside a dressing room at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan, then lied about it and besmirched her character when she decided to tell her story publicly. Since then, the case has gotten bogged down in a technical legal dispute over whether Trump should have to defend the lawsuit as a private citizen, or whether the U.S. government should step in as the defendant because Trump was performing his duties as president at the time he issued his denials. Because the alleged attack happened so long ago, Carroll was originally barred for suing over sexual battery, so she sued for defamation, making the suit largely about disparaging comments Trump made about the rape allegation. In a 2-to-1 decision Tuesday, a panel of judges on the New York based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked The D.C. Court of Appeals, the highest court in the District of Columbia, to decide whether Trump’s public statements denying Carroll’s rape claims occurred within the scope of his employment. If so, he would be entitled to immunity from the lawsuit, the 2nd Circuit judges ruled. But the United States could potentially be held liable for any defamatory statements Trump made as a federal employee. The 2nd Circuit said courts have been inconsistent in previous rulings and that the D.C. Court of Appeals might be in the best position to answer the question. Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, treated the 2nd Circuit ruling as a complete victory, saying it “will protect the ability of all future Presidents to effectively govern without hindrance.” She added: “We are confident that the D.C. Court of Appeals will find that our client was acting within the scope of his employment when properly repudiating Ms. Carroll’s allegations.” In a majority opinion written by Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi, two members of the 2nd Circuit’s three-judge panel said they were not expressing any view on whether Trump’s public statements were defamatory or whether a sexual assault had occurred. In a dissent, though, Circuit Judge Denny Chin said the other members of the panel were wrong in concluding Trump was an employee of the government according to a law known as the Westfall Act. He said the law was intended to protect low-level, rank-and-file government employees rather than the president. And he said he would also conclude that at least some of the statements Trump made about Carroll were not made within the scope of his duties as president. He pointed in particular to Trump’s comment that Carroll was not his type. “In the context of an accusation of rape, the comment ‘she’s not my type’ surely is not something one would expect the President of the United States to say in the course of his duties,” Chin wrote. “Carroll’s allegations plausibly paint a picture of a man pursuing a personal vendetta against an accuser, not the United States’ ‘chief constitutional officer’ engaging in ‘supervisory and policy responsibilities of utmost discretion and sensitivity.’” Chin also attacked the government’s position — which began when Trump was president and continued under the administration of President Joe Biden — that a president acts within the scope of his employment whenever he responds to the media and to public critics. “If that were so, then the mere presence of others would neutralize whatever a President did or said, for no President could be held accountable for damage done in front of a microphone or in an official meeting — whether defaming a citizen, exposing classified national security information, or inciting a riot. This is not, and should not be, the law,” Chin wrote. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, responded to a request for comment by citing Chin’s dissent, calling it a “powerful opinion.” She added: “We are confident that the D.C. Court of Appeals, where this case is now headed on certification, will agree.” There’s a chance the legal fight over whether Trump or the U.S. government should be the defendant in the case could become moot. Carroll’s lawyer recently alerted a Manhattan federal court judge in August that she plans to file a new lawsuit against Trump in November when New York’s Adult Survivor’s Act take effect. That new law offers a one-year “look back” to enable adult survivors of sexual attacks to bring civil claims when they otherwise would be barred by time requirements. That would mean Carroll could sue Trump over the original rape allegation, which happened long before he became president. Read More Here

House Jan. 6 Panel Postpones Hearing Set For Wednesday Due To Hurricane Ian https://digitalarkansasnews.com/house-jan-6-panel-postpones-hearing-set-for-wednesday-due-to-hurricane-ian/ US Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot speaks during a House Select Committee hearing to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 13, 2022. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is postponing its next public hearing due to a major hurricane, the leaders of the panel announced Tuesday. The hearing, which was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, will now be held at a later date to be announced, Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a joint statement. “In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings,” Thompson and Cheney said. “We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path. The Select Committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings,” they said. The delay came after Hurricane Ian, a Category 3 storm expected to wallop Florida with high winds and heavy rainfall, made landfall in Cuba. Forecasters predict Ian could strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane by Tuesday evening. The panel’s next hearing will be its ninth, and the first since late July. The committee is investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, when a violent mob of then-President Donald Trump‘s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection forced lawmakers to flee their chambers and temporarily stopped them from confirming President Joe Biden‘s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. In the now-postponed hearing, the panel was expected to show clips of Roger Stone, a longtime political operative and confidant of Trump’s, talking about challenging the 2020 election results, NBC News reported. This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Committee Postpones Planned Hearing As Hurricane Ian Advances https://digitalarkansasnews.com/jan-6-committee-postpones-planned-hearing-as-hurricane-ian-advances/ The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is postponing its highly anticipated hearing because of Hurricane Ian, which is expected to barrel into the western coast of Florida on Wednesday, committee leaders announced Tuesday. “In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings,” chairman Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and vice-chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) wrote in a joint statement. “We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path.” It’s unclear when the daytime hearing, which seeks to recapture the nation’s attention with what is likely to be the panel’s final public hearing before the release of a final report, will be rescheduled. Thompson and Cheney’s statement noted, “The Select Committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings.” The hearing follows eight highly produced, news-making hearings that aired over June and July, featuring blockbuster testimony from former White House officials, poll workers and law enforcement officers. During the committee’s August hiatus, staff doubled back to their investigative work to follow new leads and answer unresolved questions. The final hearing is expected in part to focus on how associates of former president Donald Trump planned to declare victory regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election, according to people familiar with hearing planning. The Washington Post reported Monday that the committee intends to show video of Roger Stone recorded by Danish filmmakers during the weeks before the violence in which Stone predicted violent clashes with left-wing activists and forecast months before Election Day that Trump would use armed guards and loyal judges to stay in power. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Panel Delays Hearing As Hurricane Ian Aims At Florida https://digitalarkansasnews.com/jan-6-panel-delays-hearing-as-hurricane-ian-aims-at-florida/ FILE – The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) (J. Scott Applewhite, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) WASHINGTON – The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol announced Tuesday that it had postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday as a hurricane hurtled toward the Florida coast. The committee had planned to hold what was likely to be its final investigative hearing Wednesday afternoon, but members decided at the last minute to delay it as it became clear that Hurricane Ian was churning on a collision course toward Florida, where it was expected to strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm. “We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and vice chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The Select Committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings.” The committee had not yet provided a specific agenda for the Wednesday hearing, but Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said over the weekend it would “tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the election.” This week’s hearing was intended to close the series of public hearings the nine-member panel embarked on in early June. Throughout eight hearings, the committee — comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans — sought to show the American public in great detail how former President Trump ignored many of his closest advisers and amplified his false claims of election fraud after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Some of the more than 1,000 witnesses interviewed by the panel — a number of them Trump’s closest allies — recounted in videotaped testimony how the former president declined to act when hundreds of his supporters violently attacked the Capitol as Congress certified Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021. But the committee has said its work isn’t done. During the August recess, congressional investigators continued to interview witnesses, including several of Trump’s cabinet members, some of whom had discussed invoking the constitutional process in the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after the insurrection. Cheney had previously said the committee “has far more evidence to share with the American people and more to gather.” There are also many questions surrounding the effort to overturn the election that remain unanswered as the committee goes into its final three months of work. The committee wants to get to the bottom of missing Secret Service texts from Jan. 5-6, 2021, which could shed further light on Trump’s actions during the insurrection, particularly after earlier testimony about his confrontation with security as he tried to join supporters at the Capitol. Thompson said earlier this month that the committee has recently obtained “thousands” of documents from the Secret Service. The committee has also secured an interview with conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, who’s married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Lawmakers want to know more about her role in trying to help Trump overturn the election. She contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin as part of that effort. The committee is expected to turn over a comprehensive report by the end of the year that will include legislative reforms to help prevent a future attempt to subvert democracy. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

In Boost To Trump, Appeals Court Opens Door To DOJ Shielding Him In Defamation Lawsuit https://digitalarkansasnews.com/in-boost-to-trump-appeals-court-opens-door-to-doj-shielding-him-in-defamation-lawsuit/  (CNN) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday opened the door to allowing the Justice Department to shield former President Donald Trump for his conduct while president in a defamation lawsuit brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll. That question — if Trump can be held personally responsible in Carroll’s defamation case — will now be sent to an appeals court in Washington, DC. The Justice Department, under both the Trump and Biden administrations, is siding with Trump in arguing that the US government should be substituted for Trump as a defendant, a move that would have the effect of forcing the defamation case’s dismissal. “Under the circumstances, we cannot say what the District would do in this case,” the appeals court wrote on Tuesday. “Under the laws of the District, were the allegedly libelous public statements made, during his term in office, by the President of the United States, denying allegations of misconduct, with regards to events prior to that term of office, within the scope of his employment as President of the United States?” The 2-1 decision from the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a trial-court finding that Trump couldn’t be shielded by the Justice Department in the defamation case. Trump attorney Alina Habba praised the ruling in a statement: “We are extremely pleased with the Second Circuit’s decision today in reversing and vacating the District Court’s finding in this matter. This decision will protect the ability of all future Presidents to effectively govern without hindrance. We are confident that the D.C. Court of Appeals will find that our client was acting within the scope of his employment when properly repudiating Ms. Carroll’s allegations.” Carroll sued Trump in 2019 alleging he defamed her when he denied her allegations that Trump raped her in a New York department store dressing room in the mid 1990s and went on to say “she’s not my type” and accused her of making the allegation to boost sales of her book. Trump denies all allegations. The Justice Department first indicated it wanted to defend Trump in the case in September 2020, when he was still occupying the White House. The department has argued that it must take over because Trump’s comments spurring the defamation lawsuit came while he was in office. Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan pointed to the dissenting opinion written by Judge Denny Chin, in which Chin said that Trump should not be deemed immune from the lawsuit and that his conduct fell outside the scope of his duties as president. “We are confident that the D.C. Court of Appeals, where this case is now headed on certification, will agree,” Kaplan said in statement. In the dissent, Chin wrote: “Carroll’s allegations plausibly paint a picture of a man pursuing a personal vendetta against an accuser.” Carroll plans to sue Trump under a new New York statute that allows victims of sexual assault to sue years after the encounter, her attorneys said in a court filing last week. The New York Adult Survivors Act allows adult survivors to bring claims that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations. Carroll will allege battery and intentional infliction of emotion distress in the suit, her lawyers told the judge. Meanwhile, Trump continues to argue he should have immunity for the time when he was President. The federal court of appeals in DC, the D.C. Circuit, now has in front of it a separate major case testing the absolute immunity of Trump while he was president. The other case, a lawsuit seeking to hold Trump liable for conspiracy around January 6, will test whether the presidency shields him. It is not yet scheduled for oral arguments. © 2022 Circle City Broadcasting I, LLC. | All Rights Reserved. Read More Here

Trump-Backed Candidate Advocated Charging Women Who Get Abortions With Murder: Unearthed Interview https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-backed-candidate-advocated-charging-women-who-get-abortions-with-murder-unearthed-interview/ Read More Here

Trump Mocked For ‘sidelining’ His New $3 Million Attorney: ‘Must Have Given Him Actual Legal Advice’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-mocked-for-sidelining-his-new-3-million-attorney-must-have-given-him-actual-legal-advice/ US President Donald Trump – US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Not Pictured), on the sidelines of the NATO leaders summit. Trump warned Iran over repeated rocket attacks on the country’s embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, saying he would not tolerate any deaths of US personnel. – Michael Kappeler/dpa It’s no secret Donald Trump has been virtually unable to hire highly-respected attorneys to defend him in the many legal and civil cases he is facing for a variety of alleged crimes and misdeeds, including his actions surrounding fraudulent efforts to overturn a free and fair election and the January 6 insurrection, his retention and refusal to return hundreds of classified documents, and his alleged real estate and tax fraud cases, and more. One of the rumored reasons Trump, a former President, has been unable to retain quality legal representation is he “has a long history of allegedly not paying his bills,” as Vanity Fair has noted. Trump did manage to hire what many consider a qualified and respected attorney for his legal issues surrounding his classified documents case. Chris Kise, the former solicitor general for Florida, agreed to work for Trump but only if he was paid up front. Thanks to Trump’s massive fundraising operation Kise is being paid millions, effectively by Trump supporters. Kise is also no longer leading the case. CNN reports Kise “has been sidelined from the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation less than a month after he was brought on to represent Trump in the matter, two sources familiar with the move tell CNN.” “Kise’s hiring came with an unusual price tag of $3 million, paid for by Trump’s outside spending arm. The retainer fee, paid upfront, raised eyebrows among other lawyers on Trump’s team, given the former President has a developed a reputation for not paying his legal fees.” Legal experts are mocking Trump for sidelining his top attorney. “Obviously this means the lawyer must have given Trump actual legal advice,” teased George Conway. “Which is just RUDE,” replied attorney Ken White. MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst and anchor Katie Phang asked, “So Kise is a $3 million dollar benchwarmer?” “Trump is already throwing over Chris Kise after signing a $3M retainer and convincing him to leave Foley & Lardner? That seems … not smart,” says Liz Dye, who writes about law and politics. “Chaos monkey gonna chaos monkey, I guess.” Dan Berman, CNN Politics managing editor for legal, immigration, and the Supreme Court serves up the perfect headline: “Trump’s 3 Million Dollar Man is sidelined already.” LA Times columnist Harry Litman, a frequent guest on MSNBC and a former U.S. Attorney offered perhaps the most amusing response: “The one credible lawyer that Trump has hired in years, Chris Kise, paying $3M up front, now has been demoted and is no longer leading the MAL defense. Must be Trump’s payback for the fix he’s now in w/ Judge Dearie. He thinks he’s Goldfinger/Dr.No but he’s really Austin Powers.” Read More Here

S&P 500 Falls To New Low For 2022, Dow Loses 200 Points https://digitalarkansasnews.com/sp-500-falls-to-new-low-for-2022-dow-loses-200-points/ Here are the stocks making the biggest moves midday These companies are among those making the biggest moves midday: Ford Motor — Shares of Ford shed about 2% after the automaker said it is spending $700 million on a new investment and creating 500 additional jobs in Kentucky to support a new F-Series Super Duty pickup truck. FLEETCOR Technologies — The global business payment company’s stock dropped 3%, a day after announcing its CFO was leaving the company after 22 years. Hertz — Shares of Hertz rallied more than 1% after the rental car company announced a partnership with BP’s electric vehicle charging unit that will put thousands of charging stations at Hertz locations. Check out more midday movers here. — Michelle Fox U.S. 10-year yield closes in on key 4% level The 10-year Treasury yield is edging close to 4%, a level it has not touched since 2010. The U.S. 10-year is the benchmark yield that sets the course for home mortgage rates and other consumer and business loans. It has bounded higher this week, as U.K. gilt yields race higher and on expectations of an aggressive Federal Reserve. The yield was at 3.96% in afternoon trading. The 10-year yield reversed an earlier decline and gained about basis points. (A basis point equals 0.01 of a percentage point) “It’s definitely been impressive, and I just think no one is yet willing to step in and catch the falling knife,” said Ben Jeffery of BMO. He added a lack of liquidity has also been pushing up yields, which move opposite price. Jeffery said the yield was also moving higher ahead of the 1 p.m. auction of 5-year notes. He said the 10-year tested the 4% level in 2010. “The last time we were sustainably above 4% was 2008. There’s another technical level at 4.10% and then there’s not much of note until 4.25%,” he said. — Patti Domm Ned Davis Research moves to underweight on stocks, considers ‘secular bear market’ Investors should not bet on a near-term bounce for stocks, and a medium-term bounce is not assured either, according to Ned Davis Research. Chief global investment strategist Tim Hayes said in a note to clients on Monday that Ned Davis was switching to underweight in equities and raising more cash. While the S&P 500 breaking through its previous low for the year could signal more short-term pain for stocks, Hayes said that investors should start considering a more long-term issue in the market. “With the market’s failure to form a bottom top of mind, an increasingly common client question we’ve been getting is whether equities have entered a secular bear market, comparable to the 1929-1942, 1966-1982 and 2000-2009 periods of negative real returns in equities,” Hayes wrote. The high interest rate environment and growing length of this bear market could signal that stocks are moving into a structurally different environment, according to Hayes. “It’s too soon to answer the secular question definitively, but the secular bear possibility warrants close attention given the changing investment environment this year,” he added. — Jesse Pound Dow reverses a 398-point gain as Tuesday’s bounce attempt fails The three major indexes wiped out earlier gains around noon ET and turned negative. At its highest level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up just over 398 points. The 30-stock index shed those gains and slipped more than 200 points by 12:23 p.m. Similarly, the S&P 500, which was up as much as 1.7% earlier in the session, slumped nearly 0.7%. The decline dragged the broad market index to a fresh intraday low for 2022: 3,626.16 The Nasdaq Composite also slid by 0.5%, after rising more than 2% earlier in the day. -­Darla Mercado S&P 500 falls to new low for 2022 The S&P 500 notched a new low this year after breaking below the June intraday low of 3,636.87. It was last down at 3,626.24. The broader market index was up as much as 62 points earlier in the day, or up 1.71%, before giving back all its gains. — Sarah Min Cruise lines outperform Cruise line stocks were the leading outperformers on the S&P 500 following news that Canada would drop Covid-19 travel restrictions starting next month. Royal Caribbean Group was the best performing stock on the broader market index, up 7.4%. Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings jumped 6.9%, and Carnival rose 6.7%. Those moves boosted the consumer discretionary sector, which advanced 1.7% and was among the leading sectors in the S&P 500. — Sarah Min Stocks come off opening highs after 2-year Treasury yield pares back losses Stocks came off their opening highs after the 2-year Treasury yield pared back losses from earlier Tuesday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 156 points, despite climbing more than 300 points shortly after the open, as bond yields came off their lows. The policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield was down about 1 basis point, after easing sharply earlier, to top 4.29% at around 10:15 a.m. ET. Bond yields surged this week as traders digested the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes and weighed economic commentary. — Sarah Min Cryptocurrencies climb as dollar pulls back Crypto prices rose Tuesday morning, helped by a slight pullback in the dollar, after the dollar index climbed to its highest level in about 20 years the day before. Bitcoin climbed about 5%, according to Coin Metrics, topping $20,000 level and hitting its highest level in more than a week. Ether was last higher by about 4%. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, is up more than 18% this year. Bitcoin moves inversely to the dollar, so a strong greenback is negative for bitcoin. The stock market bounced on Tuesday too after five straight days of losses. Cryptocurrencies are still highly correlated with stocks, especially tech stocks. Bitcoin is still struggling to break out of its tight trading range, however. It has been floating between $18,000 and $25,000 since mid-June. — Tanaya Macheel, Arjun Kharpal Lucid jumps after Cantor Fitzgerald rates automaker at overweight Shares of electric vehicle company Lucid popped more than 5% in early trading after Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of the stock with an overweight rating. Cantor analyst Andres Sheppard wrote that Lucid’s cars exhibit longer range and faster charging than its competitors, giving it a key advantage. Lucid was a hot stock in 2021, surging above $55 per share last November around the launch of its first vehicle, the Lucid Air. However, the stock has underperformed dramatically since then and closed at just $14.06 per share on Monday, as investors have largely turned their backs on early stage companies. — Jesse Pound Stocks open higher Stocks rose Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 bounced back from their lowest closing levels in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 328 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 gained 1.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2%. — Sarah Min Home prices in July cooled at the fastest rate in the history of S&P Case-Shiller Index Home prices continued to cool at a fast pace in July, though they’re still higher than they were a year ago. Prices nationally rose 15.8% over July 2021, and while that is a wide gain, it was well below the 18.1% gain in the previous month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The 10-City composite rose 14.9% year over year, down from 17.4% in June. The 20-City composite gained 16.1%, down from 18.7% in the previous month. July’s year-over-year gains were lower compared with June in each of the cities covered by the index. “July’s report reflects a forceful deceleration,” wrote Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI in a release, noting the difference in the annual gains in June and July. “The -2.3% difference between those two monthly rates of gain is the largest deceleration in the history of the index.” — Diana Olick Bank of America says clients are shifting into defensives Bank of America said clients snapped up health care and other defensive stocks as markets stumbled in recent weeks. Health care stocks saw the fifth largest inflow in Bank of America’s weekly history going back to 2008, according to a Tuesday note. The sector reported the biggest inflows of the past six weeks after posting outflows for the majority of this year. “Defensive sectors in aggregate have seen inflows the last six weeks vs. cyclical sector outflows in five of the last six weeks (a reversal vs. most of this year),” Jill Carey Hall, equity and quant strategist at Bank of America, wrote in a Tuesday note. Investors piled into communication services, technology and utilities in addition to health care. They sold stocks in seven sectors led by consumer discretionary, energy and financials. — Sarah Min Fed’s Evans is getting nervous about central bank raising rates too fast Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said he’s worried the central bank is raising rates too far, too fast. Evans, who is set to retire next year, said there is not much time to look at monthly releases to see the impacts of each current rate hike before the future one comes. The Fed has set three consecutive, 75 basis point rate hike increases, while indicating plans for future rate hikes, as it tries to cool inflation running near four-decade highs. “There are lags in monetary policy and we have moved expeditiously,” he told “Squawk Box Europe.” “We have done three 75 basis point increases in a row and there is a talk of more to get to that 4.25% to 4.5% by the end of the year, you’re not leaving much time to sort of look at each monthly release.” Watch the interview here. — Alex Harring Tech stocks outperform in premarket trading Markets got a boost from technology stocks in Tuesday premarket trading as rate spikes eased. Mega-cap...

Annexation Of Ukraine Regions Will Be Quick; Nearly 100K Russians Flee To Kazakhstan: Live Updates https://digitalarkansasnews.com/annexation-of-ukraine-regions-will-be-quick-nearly-100k-russians-flee-to-kazakhstan-live-updates/ The Russian Federation will quickly annex the Kherson region now that voting on the referendum to join Russia – dismissed as bogus by the West – is wrapping up, the head of the military-civilian administration of the region said Tuesday. Voting began last week and ends Tuesday in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Russia is expected to claim victory in all four. “The faster the institution of power begins to work, the easier it will be for people to live,” said Vladimir Saldo, who leads the Kherson ruling body. “There will be a transition period, of course, until we teach our officials … the laws of the Russian Federation. “There will be this period, but I expect that it will not last long,” he said. Saldo said region residents who are receiving Russian passports will not be subject to conscription for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s controversial “partial” military mobilization. The Kremlin plan to call up 300,000 additional soldiers has fueled protests in Russia and prompted long lines at the Russian-Georgia border as people try to flee. Other developments: ►More than 60 police officers raided a luxury yacht in northern Germany linked to  Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. Prosecutors said they are investigating possible breaches of sanctions and money-laundering rules. ►The discovery of unusual leaks on two natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany has led some European leaders and experts to point to possible sabotage during an energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. ►A mission of French specialists has arrived in Ukraine to help document Russian war crimes near Izium. Nearly 100,000 Russians escape to Kazakhstan Nearly 100,000 Russians have fled to neighboring Kazakhstan since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization of 300,000 civilians last week as men of fighting age try to avoid being sent to the war in Ukraine. Kazakhstan Interior Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov said the approximately 98,000 Russians who have arrived in the past week will not be sent back home unless they’re on a list of fugitives wanted for criminal charges. “We must take care of them and ensure their safety,” Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said. “It is a political and a humanitarian issue.”  Kazakhstan, which has a large northern border abutting Russia, and fellow former Soviet republic Georgia seem to be the two most popular destinations for those crossing by car, bicycle or on foot from Russia. Planes tickets abroad sold out quickly despite steep prices. Some European countries have closed their doors to Russians seeking asylum to escape conscription; others have expressed a willingness to take them in. Russian Orthodox leader: Death in war ‘washes away all sins’ Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, told his followers that dying while carrying out military duty “washes away all sins.” Kirill preached support for mobilization in Russia, saying it will help “reconcile” Ukraine and Russia. Kirill is a Putin supporter who has stood behind the war. In May, Pope Francis urged Kirill not to justify the invasion. “The patriarch cannot transform himself into Putin’s altar boy,” Francis said. Contributing: The Associated Press Read More Here

UAMS College Of Nursing’s BSN Program Ranked 67th In Nation By U.S. News & World Report – UAMS News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uams-college-of-nursings-bsn-program-ranked-67th-in-nation-by-u-s-news-world-report-uams-news/ View Larger Image Students receive hands-on training in the UAMS College of Nursing. Image by Bryan Clifton Sept. 27, 2022 | LITTLE ROCK — U.S. News & World Report recognized the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing as one of the nation’s top 100 undergraduate nursing programs for the 2022-23 academic year. UAMS’ Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program tied for No. 67 out of 681 programs evaluated by U.S. News & World Report, placing the College of Nursing in the top 10% nationwide. UAMS was the only school in Arkansas ranked in the top 100. Patricia Cowan, Ph.D., RN, dean of the UAMS College of Nursing, said the recognition reflects the faculty’s dedication and passion for excellence in education, scholarship and service. “It’s an honor to be on this list of top BSN programs with our incredible peers,” Cowan said. “We have outstanding nursing students who are committed, and well-prepared, to advance the health of people not only in Arkansas but around the nation and world.” The U.S. News & World Report rankings were decided by top nursing school officials and academics who rated the quality of BSN programs on a scale of 1 to 5. All schools in the rankings were required to have a bachelor’s-level accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, and they needed to have recently awarded at least 40 BSN degrees. UAMS saw 125 students graduate from the BSN program in May, and 5,540 students have earned their undergraduate degrees since the program’s inception. The College of Nursing, established in 1953, also offers a Master of Nursing Science degree, a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing. UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,047 students, 873 medical residents and fellows, and six dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram. ### Read More…

House Jan. 6 Panel Faces Key Decisions As It Wraps Up Work https://digitalarkansasnews.com/house-jan-6-panel-faces-key-decisions-as-it-wraps-up-work/ WASHINGTON — A day before resuming its televised hearings and with only months remaining before it closes up shop, the House Jan. 6 committee is wrangling over how best to complete its work, with key decisions yet to be made on issues that could help shape its legacy. The panel, whose public hearings this summer exposed substantial new details about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election, must still decide whether to issue subpoenas to Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. It has yet to settle on whether to enforce subpoenas issued to Republican members of Congress who have refused to cooperate with the inquiry, or what legislative recommendations to make. It must still grapple with when to turn its files over to the Justice Department, how to finish what it hopes will be a comprehensive written report and whether to make criminal referrals. It cannot even agree on whether Wednesday’s hearing will be its last. The panel has not disclosed the topics it intends to cover in the 1 p.m. hearing, its first since July. But it is still working to break new ground with its investigation. It recently had a breakthrough when Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, agreed to a voluntary interview about her role in seeking to keep Trump in office. That interview is expected to take place within weeks. The committee also issued a subpoena to Robin Vos, the Republican House speaker in Wisconsin whom Trump tried to pressure as recently as July to overturn the 2020 election, suggesting that the panel tracked Trump’s activities long after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his departure from office two weeks later. (Vos has sued to try to block the committee’s subpoena.) “Our hearings have demonstrated the essential culpability of Donald Trump, and we will complete that story,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the committee. But the committee has debated whether and how to highlight certain information related to the Jan. 6 attack. For instance, some members and staff have wanted to hold a hearing to highlight the panel’s extensive work investigating the law enforcement failures related to the assault, but others have argued that doing so would take attention off Trump. And it has struggled in recent weeks with staff departures and is facing public criticism from a former aide, Denver Riggleman, who says it has not been aggressive enough in pursuing connections between the White House and the rioters. The final stages of its planned 18 months of work are playing out against a shifting political climate. Polls suggest that Democrats could lose control of the House in November’s midterm elections. Trump is showing every intention of seeking the presidency again, and the committee’s Republican vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who lost her primary in August, appears to be positioning herself as the party’s anti-Trump White House candidate for 2024, with the panel’s conclusions as part of her platform. Cheney seemed to contradict other committee members on Saturday by describing this week’s hearing as unlikely to be the last. Other members, including the committee’s chair, have said it would likely be their final presentation. With that backdrop, Wednesday’s hearing could be seen as the first step in the closing stages of the committee’s work. “What they have to do is strategic,” said Norman L. Eisen, who was special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2020, including for the first impeachment and trial of Trump. “The first part of the end game is to close the deal with the American people.” The panel set high expectations for itself by revolutionizing what a congressional hearing could look like. Preparing for the hearing Wednesday has consumed the committee’s focus in recent weeks. “They’ve pretty uniformly met and exceeded expectations,” Eisen said. “And when you’ve done that eight times, that suggests that you know what you’re doing. I suspect part of the reason that they took a lengthy hiatus — and by all reports worked very hard over the summer — was to be able to come back in September with a bang.” To some degree, the committee is now competing for attention with other investigations into Trump and his allies. The New York attorney general has filed a sweeping fraud suit against Trump and his family. Prosecutors in Georgia are conducting grand jury interviews about efforts to overturn Trump’s loss there. And the Justice Department is now conducting criminal inquiries into both the events that led to the Jan. 6 attack and Trump’s handling of classified documents he took with him upon leaving the White House. To help with its end game, the panel has quietly rehired John Wood, a former federal prosecutor who is close to Cheney. Before he left the panel for a brief, unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in Missouri, Wood led the committee’s “Gold Team,” which investigated Trump and his inner circle. It has also expanded its number of staff members from about 50 up to 57, according to Congress’ latest financial data, and has spent about $5.3 million over its first year in existence. But at the same time, the committee has had five staff members put in resignation notices in recent weeks. Among them is Amanda Wick, a former federal prosecutor who was featured in a committee hearing and led the panel’s “Green Team,” which investigated the money trail connected to Jan. 6, including political donations and the funding of the rallies that preceded the violence. The hearing Wednesday is expected to feature new video of the Jan. 6 attack and also new clips of some of the committee’s hundreds of interviews with witnesses. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the panel would focus some of its energy on ongoing threats to democracy, such as 2020 election deniers gaining power over election systems. “We have found additional information,” Lofgren said. “We worked throughout the summer.” The panel’s investigators pursued a number of topics this summer, traveling to Copenhagen, for example, to review footage shot by a documentary film crew of political operative and Trump confidant Roger Stone. Committee members have hinted that some of that material could turn up in Wednesday’s hearing. They held closed-door interviews with senior Trump administration officials in an effort to uncover more about the period between Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump’s supporters attacked Congress, and Jan. 20, when President Joe Biden was sworn in, including talks about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. The panel at one point considered inviting generals who worked for Trump to deliver firsthand accounts of his behavior. (The idea has not moved forward.) Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chair of the committee, said the panel recently received a trove of documents from the Secret Service in response to a subpoena it issued after the news that agents’ text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, had been lost. A spokesperson for the agency said the Secret Service provided a “significant level of detail from emails, radio transmissions, Microsoft Teams chat messages and exhibits that address aspects of planning, operations and communications surrounding January 6th.” But the spokesperson said the documents did not include any additional text messages, such as those sought by the committee that were erased during an upgrade of phones. Members of the committee had originally seen their investigation, and the possibility of a criminal referral, as a way of putting pressure on the Justice Department to pursue a criminal case. But with federal prosecutors now investigating elements of Trump’s efforts to retain power despite losing at the ballot box, the House committee is considering a new suggestion for the information it uncovered about Trump and his allies raising money by promoting baseless assertions about election fraud: making a referral to the Federal Election Commission, a largely toothless body that can weigh abuses of campaign finance laws. “FEC would be a good possibility,” Thompson said. “Obviously we looked seriously at some of the fundraising that went on around Jan. 6.” Members have also been discussing what legislative recommendations they should make. Last week, to close off the possibility of another president trying to have a vice president block the certification by Congress of the Electoral College results, Cheney and Lofgren introduced an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act, which quickly passed the House. (A somewhat different version is awaiting action in the Senate.) Members are also discussing reforms to the Insurrection Act, legislation related to the 14th and 25th amendments and regulation of militia groups. Members also are likely to recommend improvements to Capitol security. Not all the panel’s recommendations have found agreement. Raskin, for instance, has pushed for recommending the Electoral College be eliminated, but that idea has been met with resistance from Cheney and others and is unlikely to be included in the final recommendations. c.2022 The New York Times Company Read More Here

A Beginners Guide To Following Cyclocross Racing This Season https://digitalarkansasnews.com/a-beginners-guide-to-following-cyclocross-racing-this-season/ The 2022-2023 UCI Cyclocross race calendar features fourteen World Cup events, with the U.S. hosting two in Waterloo, WI, and Fayetteville, AR The USCX Series returns to North America with eight races over four weekends Catch all the action on GCN Race TV and FloBikes With the UCI Road Cycling Championships wrapped up in Wollongong, Australia, the road season comes to a close, fall weather settles in, and we hear a rustle in the leaves that says “cross is coming.” That’s why we’ve traded the picturesque roads and organized breakaways of road racing for the muddy grass courses and the exciting chaos of cyclocross. With the continued dominance of multi-discipline riders like Marianne Vos, Lucinda Brand, Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock, and Mathieu van der Poel, it is worth paying attention to the discipline where many got their start and will return to for at least a few races each. While the whole premise of cyclocross may be hard to get a grasp for fans of road racing—with its taped courses, barrier hopping, sand pits, and lots of running next to your bike —its action-packed, hour-long format is perfect for fans who want a break from the slow burn of a road race. The Races The 2022-2023 professional cyclocross season is composed of 145 UCI-sanctioned races across the globe. The star events of the season are the UCI World Cups—with fourteen race days, and the United States hosting two of them in Waterloo, WI, and Fayetteville, AR—and the UCI World Championships that will outfit its winners in the coveted rainbow-striped jersey. With over a hundred races on the international calendar, it may be hard to choose which race days are worth your time on the couch (or indoor trainer), so here are our top picks: October 1-2, 2022 – Charm City Cross – Baltimore, MD November 5-6, 2022 – Really Rad Festival – Falmouth, MA Oct 9, 2022, through Jan 29, 2022 – UCI CX World Cups – various countries February 4-5, 2023 – UCI CX World Championships Hoogerheide – Hoogerheide, Netherlands Check out the full 2022-2023 UCI calendars below and continue reading for how to watch and for our editors’ picks on who to keep an eye on this season. UCI Cyclocross Calendar 2022-2023 USA UCI Cyclocross Calendar 2022-2023 Where to Watch While cyclocross—or cx for short—is not a mainstream sport yet and you won’t always find it on tv, you can still catch it on online platforms with excellent commentary from the likes of former racers Ellen Noble and Jeremy Powers, and seasoned commentators like José Been and Marty McCrossan. Watch the races live or via replay on the following platforms. GCN Race TV (now available on Apple TV) FloBikes Making Sense of Cyclocross Racing Cyclocross events usually take place in closed courses located in city parks, beaches, or mtb parks, and are carefully designed to provide riders with obstacles and challenges of varying nature—such as wooden barriers, sandpits, off-cambers, muddy uphills, and more. Racers line up at the start line in a grid that is decided by their UCI rankings. Starting from the back rows and making your way to the front can be a race of its own for many riders as the courses are tight and technical, making passing very difficult. Each race lasts between forty-five minutes to an hour and a lap counter by the start/finish line lets the riders and viewers know how much racing is left. What happens if a rider gets a mechanical? Each course will also have one or two pits—designated areas wheres in which the riders can exchange their dirty bikes for clean ones from their team mechanics. If a rider gets a mechanical during the race, they must continue racing (bike or foot) to the next pit to swap bikes or try and fix the issue. Riding or running backward on the course is not allowed. Is cyclocross a team sport? Cyclocross is typically raced as an individual sport, but at the professional level, teamwork can be observed with riders often disrupting chase groups or letting gaps open for the benefit of their teammates on course. But because cyclocross is so often seen as an individual effort, you’ll occasionally see some inter-team drama when the number two and three riders on a team decided to try for their own results. Most professionals will race with their trade teams (Alpecin-Fenix, Jumbo Visma, etc.) except for the World Championships where just like on the road, riders will represent their respective nations. Can I just watch the last few laps of a cx race? Yes, but, in cyclocross, one of the most exciting parts of the race happens as soon as the lights turn green: the holeshot—a term used to describe the race to get through the first turn or obstacle in the course. Being among the first riders through means less energy wasted trying to move through the field and a higher chance of success. Why is there running in cyclocross? Yes, there is some running in cyclocross. Sometimes, a lot. One of the quirks of cx is that some obstacles and features are actually faster if you run them. Steep uphills, treacherous off-cambers, and deep sand pits can sometimes prove too challenging for riders to ride, and a different kind of leg speed may come into play. How fast do they go? The speeds riders carry in this discipline vary widely depending on the course design, course surface, and weather conditions. Over the period of forty-five minutes, the course can change enough that it will force riders to improvise new lines to ride and how they approach certain features. There can be plenty of nuances to watch for in cyclocross, but at the end of the day, you don’t need to be an expert to enjoy it as it is meant to be, a sheer spectacle of bike handling, athleticism, and occasionally, the only running competition worth watching as a cycling fan. Riders to Watch In today’s cycling world, women’s elite cyclocross is about the best bike racing there is. With great characters, up-and-comers, the old guard, and multiple nations showing face, you won’t want to miss these highly entertaining races. Here are our picks for riders to watch. ➥ Lucinda Brand – The European Champion and Baloise – Trek Lions rider returns to cyclocross following two seasons of dominance between the tape. Can she reclaim the Rainbow Jersey after losing it to Marianne Vos in Fayetteville? Maybe. However, we are more interested in the duel with her younger compatriot Fem van Empel. ➥ Fem van Empel – “Another young rider who has really developed over the last few seasons is Fem Van Empel (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal). Van Empel is my pick for the rider who can put Lucinda Brand under the most pressure. She seems incredibly confident going into this season and already has two wins to her name.”—Trevor Raab, Bicycling photographer ➥ Clara Honsinger – “If Honsinger (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) can get some good starts I wouldn’t bet against her. America would love to have a champion again, and Clara has what it takes. She races with a never-say-die attitude, even when the races seem to get hard she keeps her cool. Many of her rides remind me of watching Sven Nys stay calm and wind it up as the race progresses ultimately finishing stronger than the rest.”—Trevor Raab, Bicycling photographer ➥ Puck Pieterse – “Pieterse (Alpecin – Deceuninck) only had one win last cyclocross season, the Under 23 World Championships in Fayetteville, AR. But that stat doesn’t fully capture what a breakout season the 20-year-old had; she was on the podium in six World Cup races (where U23 women race against the Elites) and was second place three times to three different riders. To me, that says two things: First, the depth of the women’s cyclocross field is incredible, and two, a big win is just around the corner for Puck Pieterse.”—Dan Chabanov, gear editor ➥ Zoe Bäckstedt – “Fresh off dominant wins at Junior Worlds Bäckstedt (EF Education-TIBCO) is returning to cyclocross on some phenomenal form. We’ll see if she can continue her run of dominance through the ranks of the cyclocross circuit. She’s one of the toughest and best bike handlers in the women’s field and we can’t forget the Junior Cyclocross world championship she won in Fayetteville. She might not be the outright favorite this year, but she’ll surely factor when she’s racing.”—Trevor Raab, Bicycling photographer Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel may be your go-to picks, but with their time being split between disciplines, we highly recommend you pay attention to these other talented riders racing in the elite men’s field. ➥ Michael Vanthourenhout – “Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) is in the difficult position of having teammate Eli Iserbyt as his chief rival. So far this season, they are one and one for wins, with Vanthourenhout taking the first muddy race of 2022 in Kruibeke with Iserbyt in second. A week later, they would trade places in Beringen. In the past, the Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal team would use Vanthourenhout as the early attacker in favor of Iserbyt winning from a later race attack, once his rivals were tired from chasing his teammate. I’m hopeful that, with the absence of Toon Aerts due to a doping investigation, the team will allow Vanthourenhout to take more chances. Look for him especially when the race is muddy and hilly—terrain where Vanthourenhout bested his rivals when he won arguably the hardest race of last year’s season at Namur.”—Dan Chabanov, gear editor ➥ Eli Iserbyt – “Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) has been the most dominant rider outside of MvdP, Pidcock, and WvA. If he can stay healthy, look to him to rack up most of the wins when the big three aren’t around. He has a strong team and seems to be off to a good start in 2022. It’s hard to bet against Iserbyt as the big favorites probably won’t be around for a full season.”—Trevor Raab, Bicycling photographer ➥ Laurens Sweeck – “Sweec...

Campaigns Assess Whether Biden, Trump Are Assets Or Liabilities https://digitalarkansasnews.com/campaigns-assess-whether-biden-trump-are-assets-or-liabilities/ While campaign teams have been contemplating the impact of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on the midterm election for months, the final stretch toward election day draws new intensity and significance to the question. Almost two years have passed since the contentious 2020 presidential election between Biden and Trump that resulted in claims of voter fraud and a breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress gathered to certify Biden as the new president. Biden and Trump remain front and center as midterm elections near, Democrats strive to stay in control, and Republicans try to regain a majority in the House and the Senate. President Joe Biden speaks about the soul of the nation, outside of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pa., on Sept. 1, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) All 435 House seats are up for grabs. Nationwide, 14 Senate seats held by Democrats and 21 filled by Republicans are on the ballot. There are also pivotal gubernatorial races across the country—including Michigan, where incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is facing a challenge from Trump-endorsed Tudor Dixon; Wisconsin, which has incumbent Democrat Tony Evers opposed by Trump-endorsed Tim Michels. Historically, the party that occupies the White House loses House and Senate seats in midterm elections. Though an Emerson College poll released on Sept. 23 showed that Biden saw his approval rating increase to 45 percent, a 3-percentage point rise over the previous month, 49 percent disapprove of his performance. Gas prices are on the rise again, and inflation remains high. Because of those factors, many Democratic candidates appeared reluctant to join Biden when he visited their states over the summer. The hesitancy increased for some after Biden’s prime-time speech on Sept. 1. At Independence Hall in Philadelphia with American military members in uniform standing him, the president he accused Republicans aligned with Trump of participating in “semi-fascism” and said that “MAGA Republicans” have made the GOP increasingly “extreme.” “MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards—backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love,” Biden said, adding that they “embrace anger, they thrive on chaos, they live not in light of truth, but in the shadow of lies.” “Too much in our country is not normal,” Biden said. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is the official campaign arm of Senate Democrats. He thinks that Biden’s aggressive stance benefits Democratic candidates running in midterm elections. “It’s a particularly strong issue for our base,” Peters said told the Associated Press. “Folks want us, want people to show that there is a clear contrast in the election between where Democrats are and Republicans have been.” Biden’s Impact  Several Republicans believe that Biden’s presence will have a negative impact on Democratic candidates’ campaigns. “I hope Biden keeps going around the country,” Sen. Rick Scott, (R-Fla.) told Fox News. “I hope he goes to every swing state and gives his raving lunatic speech everywhere around the country.” An online poll of 1,277 voters conducted by I&I/TIPPaccording from Sept. 7 to Sept. 9 showed that 62 percent of Americans believed Biden’s comments about Trump and his supporters increased division in the country. When comparing parties, 73 percent of Democrats said that the comments increased division while 50 percent of Republicans shared that opinion. According to the poll, 70 percent of blacks and Hispanics thought that the comments were divisive compared to 58 percent of white respondents. Perhaps surprisingly, Democrats—at 73 percent—were more likely to say that Biden’s MAGA comments increased division than either Republicans (50 percent) or independents (57 percent). Blacks and Hispanics (70 percent) exceeded white respondents (58 percent) in seeing the comments as divisive. An ABC News-Washington Post poll published on Sept. 25 indicated that only 35 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents want Biden to seek a second term in 2024. Produced by Langer Research Associates, the survey determined that 56 percent of Democrats want the party to find a different presidential nominee. “If this were a couple of months ago, I think most Democratic candidates in a lot of these swing states would have been loath to be seen with him,” David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron, told reporters earlier this month. “Now, he’s not necessarily a huge asset for a lot of these campaigns, but he’s also not a drag on the ticket. “I don’t think any of these candidates are going to be seen really openly embracing Biden, but I think they will absolutely be at some of these joint events,” Cohen added. Biden was scheduled to appear in Florida on Sept. 27 to pitch his proposals to lower health care costs and protect Medicare and Social Security at a Fort Lauderdale gathering before heading to Orlando for a Democratic National Committee on behalf of Democratic candidates. With Hurricane Ian churning north through the Gulf of Mexico, the White House postponed Biden’s trip. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), the former GOP governor running against incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, was set to attend the Orlando rally, but several other candidates announced plans to be elsewhere. Biden’s approval rating among Florida voters was 43 percent, according to a Sept. 8 Insider Advantage FOX 35 Orlando poll. Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), the former Orlando police chief who is seeking to unseat two-term U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (D-Fla.) in the Nov. 8 general election, did not plan to attend. Last week, her campaign cited “commitments in Congress” that require her to be in Washington as the reason for her absence. The House is in a two-day recess until Sept. 28 to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Reluctant Candidates Labor Day is generally viewed as the time when November elections escalate in attention. A few days after his Sept. 1 national address, Biden visited Milwaukee to rally for Democratic candidates. Gov. Evers was there, but Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was absent. Barnes is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. The same day, Biden traveled to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he heaped praise on Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman, telling the audience that he is a “hell of a guy” and “a powerful voice for working people.” Fetterman, who is running against Trump-endorsed Mehmet Oz to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, did not attend. A previously scheduled fundraiser was the reason for his absence, his campaign said. A day later, on Labor Day, Fetterman joined Biden for an event in the Pittsburgh area and talked to the president about decriminalizing marijuana. In Ohio, 10-term US Rep. Tim Ryan is campaigning as a centrist Democrat in his race against Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Earlier this year, Ryan did not join Biden during two of the president’s visits to Ohio. The congressman did appear at the Intel semiconductor manufacturing plant groundbreaking ceremony in early September when Biden delivered remarks. A day before he joined Biden at the Intel groundbreaking, Ryan suggested that Biden should not run for reelection in 2024, saying it is time for “generational change” in leadership for both parties. “The environment politically across the country is poisonous, and people I think want some change,” Ryan told WFMJ in Youngstown. “It’s important for us, in both parties, these leaders who have been around for a while, I think it’s time for some generational change.” Ryan challenged Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for the position of minority leader in 2016. When he ran for president in 2020, Ryan said Biden was “declining” and that the party needed a candidate who could be aggressive against Trump. In TV commercials and campaign stops, Ryan is touting a centrist platform as he tries to get support from moderate Republicans and independents in a state that Trump won by 8 points in 2016 and 2020. Congressional voting records show that Ryan has voted with Biden and Pelosi 100 percent of the time, a point that Vance emphasizes. David Carlucci, a former New York state senator who’s a Democratic political strategist, thinks that Biden’s passage of recent legislation and his increasing approval rating will help Democratic candidates. Republican candidates, Carlucci added, have reasons for concern because of Trump’s continued influence on the party. “Republicans have strayed so far to the right in their primaries that they now face a long journey to make it back to the center, and that is a challenge because Trump continues to be front and center in headlines for controversial reasons,” Carlucci told The Epoch Times. “Far-right beliefs—like denying the 2020 presidential election was legitimate and not condemning Jan. 6—are causing problems for Republicans,” Carlucci added. “They want to run solely on the economy, and Democrats are doing what they can to right the economy.” Trump’s Impact Trump’s positive impact on candidates he endorsed in primaries was evident. Of the 176 candidates that the former president endorsed in primaries, 159 won and 17 lost. Sixty of those candidates were unopposed. Eight of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January 2021 lost, including Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney. Trump waited until the final days before the primary to endorse some candidates, like Dix...