AP News Summary At 5:49 P.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-549-p-m-edt/
‘Fighting fit’: Trial to show Oath Keepers’ road to Jan. 6
It’s been a long road to the upcoming Capitol riot trial of the the leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers. But the prosecution’s case against Stewart Rhodes covers a lot more than just the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes and four co-defendants are facing the difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors will try to show that for the Oath Keepers, the siege wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment protest but that it was part of a weekslong plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from election-denier Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Jury selection begins Tuesday in federal court in the nation’s capital. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Kremlin stages votes in Ukraine, sees protests in Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in occupied regions of Ukraine to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow. In Russia, hundreds were arrested on Saturday while trying to protest President Vladimir Putin’s order to mobilize more troops to fight in Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies say the votes underway in four regions of Ukraine are a sham with no legal force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents to undermine “this farce.” He also encouraged people called up to fight to desert or sabotage the Russian military. Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19.
West works to deepen sanctions after Putin heightens threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — How will American leaders and their allies respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of his bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields? Putin this week renewed threats of claiming more Ukrainian territory, and even using nuclear weapons. U.S. and European leaders have made clear they will try to double down on the same tactics that have helped put Russia in a corner in Ukraine. That means more financial penalties and international isolation for Russia, more arms and other backing for Ukraine. There’s no sign of the United States and NATO matching Putin’s intensified nuclear threats with the same bluster, which could raise the risks of escalating the conflict.
Dissident: ‘Iranian women are furious’ over headscarf death
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Authorities Arrest Russian Protesters And Send Them To War
Authorities Arrest Russian Protesters And Send Them To War https://digitalarkansasnews.com/authorities-arrest-russian-protesters-and-send-them-to-war/
As Americans prepare to head to the polls, Democrats and Republicans may be tied for control of Congress
The U.S. is preparing for the all-important midterm elections in a matter of months.
For President Joe Biden, it could be a stark warning that his leadership is on thin ice, or it could be the validation he needs ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
There will be 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate up for contention this November.
But as President Biden prepares to ride the campaign wave, it’s the so-called “MAGA Republicans”, which are drawing attention.
“We have to be stronger and more determined and more committed to saving American democracy, than the MAGA Republicans and that guy destroying democracy.”
U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
The majority of Americans believe political violence will increase across the country. According to the same polling from CBS, U.S. voters think the nation will become less democratic for future generations.
Kim Hoggard is a former U.S. government official, who served in the Bush and Reagan Administrations, she said the current political climate is proving a challenge for leaders to connect with voters.
“I wonder how it is that in this period in American political history where divisiveness is so wide and so dangerous, how it could be that a president can achieve high approval ratings anymore.”
In fact, around six in 10 Americans (57%) disapprove of Biden’s performance, according to recent Ipsos polling from Reuters.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the “soul of the nation” in a recent address.
The president’s dwindling ratings have been characterised by some factors out of his control—the pandemic, rising inflation, cost of living, and the war in Ukraine.
But there is one foreign policy outcome, which could be the reason for his falling support, according to Stephan Loosley from the U.S. Studies Centre.
“There’s no question that an enormous hole was punched in the Biden White House with the fiasco, the calamity of the Afghanistan withdrawal, which was badly mishandled.”
However, when it comes to the war in Ukraine, Loosley said Russian President Vladimir Putin misread the strength of U.S. intelligence, and Biden’s hold on his NATO allies.
“The President’s mobilisation of NATO in the face of the illegal Russia incursion of Ukraine has been extraordinary,” he said.
In light of this, President Biden has still managed a strong legislative agenda. This includes climate change action, healthcare reform, military aid for Ukraine, and infrastructure commitments.
Is this enough to sink Biden’s ship?
The U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for November, and with a general election on the cards for 2024, there is much discussion about the rise of former President Donald Trump.
On the other hand, Biden can’t seem to let the former president out of his mind. In fact, he recently spoke about the rise of Make America Great Again (MAGA) Republicans during a nationwide address.
“There’s no democracy where you can be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy,” he said.
The president’s approval ratings are also yet to reach the record low levels of President Trump, which sunk to 33 per cent at the end of 2017.
As it stands, the Democrats have 221 seats in the House of Representatives, and 48 members in the senate.
“The probability of the Democrats losing control of the house is very real. That’s been the history of American midterms since Harry Truman,” Loosley said.
“It’s just possible the Democrats may hold onto control of the Senate. A lot of that has to do with the ‘MAGA Republican’ candidates… those who are endorsed by the former president.”
STEPHEN LOOSLEY, U.S. STUDIES CENTRE
Of course, Trump hasn’t been without his own worries—the fallout from the Capitol riots, raids at his Mar-a-Lago estate, a lawsuit against his company, and a criminal investigation in Georgia.
Kim Hoggard, who is a former White House Assistant Press Secretary, said these events show Trump is unfit for office.
“The mishandling of sensitive information and top secret intelligence information show what a dangerous person he would be if he were to regain the presidency,” she said.
He may be considered dangerous but nearly one in five (19%) of Americans identify as ‘MAGA Republicans’. This is hardly going to be a blip on Joe Biden’s radar.
“There’s no question that Mitch McConnell is determined that Trump will bear any responsibility for Republican losses in the midterms,” Stephen Loosley from the U.S. Studies Centre said.
Mitch McConnell is the Minority Leader in the Senate and he believes the House of Representatives will flip this November.
“You have all these investigations, inquiries, and probes running simultaneously, it’s got to divert and distract the Republican Party and it’s got to damage some Republican candidates’ races,” Loosley said.
In terms of Trump’s 2024 possibilities, Kim Hoggard said the criminal investigations and lawsuits “are going to significantly affect his [Trump’s] ability to be a viable candidate”.
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Elijah McClain Died Of Ketamine Shot From Medics Amended Autopsy Says
Elijah McClain Died Of Ketamine Shot From Medics, Amended Autopsy Says https://digitalarkansasnews.com/elijah-mcclain-died-of-ketamine-shot-from-medics-amended-autopsy-says/
Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man whose death in 2019 after an encounter with police helped fuel calls for law enforcement accountability, died because paramedics injected him with a dose of ketamine that was too high for someone his size, according to an amended autopsy report publicly released Friday.
The conclusion is a drastic departure from the original autopsy report, released several months after the fatal confrontation in Aurora, Colo., which said there was not enough evidence to determine how McClain died. The new findings are based on evidence, including police body-camera footage and other records, that a pathologist for the county said he requested in 2019 but did not get.
Though it still lists the manner of death as “undetermined” — as opposed to a homicide or an accident — the report could bolster the prosecution of the police and first responders charged in McClain’s death and reignite calls for greater accountability from the city.
McClain, a massage therapist and self-taught musician, was walking home in August 2019 when he was detained by police responding to a 911 call that someone was acting “sketchy.” Officers tackled him and put him in a carotid chokehold, which restricts blood flow to the brain. Paramedics injected him with ketamine, a powerful sedative. He went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died several days later.
In the amended autopsy report, forensic pathologist Stephen Cina said the ketamine injection was excessive for McClain, who stood about 5-f00t-7 and weighed 140 pounds.
A review of body-camera footage that police did not provide during the initial autopsy showed that McClain was “extremely sedated” within minutes, according to Cina. He said he thought McClain was struggling to breathe as he lay on a stretcher and that respiratory arrest was “imminent.”
“Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose, even though his blood ketamine level was consistent with a ‘therapeutic’ blood concentration,” Cina wrote. “I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine.”
It was not clear whether the carotid hold contributed to his death, Cina said, noting that medical literature suggested it would not have. He said that he saw nothing on McClain’s neck that showed he died of asphyxiation and that McClain could speak after the officers let him up.
Cina also noted that McClain was “alive and responsive to painful stimuli” up to the point that he received the ketamine shot.
“It is my opinion that he likely would have recovered if he did not receive this injection,” he said.
Deaths related to ketamine toxicity are usually classified as accidents, according to the report, but Cina said the manner would remain “undetermined” because other factors could have played a role.
He added: “I acknowledge that other reasonable forensic pathologists who have trained in other places may have developed their own philosophy regarding deaths in custody and that they may consider the manner of death in this type of case to be either homicide or accident.”
In an emailed statement to The Washington Post, an Aurora police spokesman said the department “fully cooperated with the investigation.” A representative for Aurora emergency services did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Saturday morning.
Prosecutors initially declined to charge anyone in McClain’s death, citing the lack of evidence in the original autopsy.
Some officials, medical experts and criminal justice advocates criticized prosecutors for not seeking a second medical opinion to avoid an “undetermined” manner of death.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) appointed a special prosecutor to reopen the case, and a grand jury was empaneled to consider criminal charges.
During the proceedings, the investigation of McClain’s death came under greater scrutiny when Colorado Public Radio reported that the county coroner had met with police before the autopsy was released and that police investigators were present during the examination.
In September 2021, charges were announced against three Aurora police officers and two paramedics. The defendants are expected to enter pleas in November.
Evidence that emerged during the grand jury proceedings prompted the coroner to alter the original autopsy report, but the changes remained secret for more than a year.
The amended version released Friday was made public under a court order after Colorado Public Radio and several other media outlets sued to get access to it.
McClain’s case drew little interest outside Colorado until the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. McClain’s death became a rallying cry in the months of protests that followed. Friends and family remembered him as a gentle person who would use his lunch break to play violin for animals at a local shelter.
Aurora last year agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit by McClain’s family. The city also banned the chokehold used in his arrest and is considering a ban on ketamine.
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Elton John Plays White House Awarded National Humanities Medal
Elton John Plays White House, Awarded National Humanities Medal https://digitalarkansasnews.com/elton-john-plays-white-house-awarded-national-humanities-medal/
WASHINGTON – “God bless you, let’s have some music,” said Elton John.
Elton John performs on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Friday. Susan Walsh/Associated Press
With that, the White House South Lawn was transformed into a musical lovefest Friday night as John played a farewell gig to honor everyday “heroes” like teachers, nurses and AIDS activists. But as it turns out, the event was also to honor the 75-year-old British songwriter – President Biden surprised him with the National Humanities Medal for being a “tidal wave” who helped people rise up for justice.
John seemed almost overcome by the accolades, telling the audience of 2,000 people: “I don’t know what to say. … I don’t know how to take a compliment very well but it’s wonderful to be here amongst so many people who have helped my AIDS foundation and my heroes, that ones that work day to day on the front line.”
He said he’d played some beautiful venues before, but the stage in front of the White House, beneath a massive open-air tent on a perfect autumn night, was “probably the icing on the cake.”
He kicked off the show with “Your Song,” his first big international hit.
The intimate guest list included teachers, nurses, frontline workers and LGBTQ advocates, plus former first lady Laura Bush, civil rights advocate Ruby Bridges, education activist Malala Yousafzai and Jeanne White-Ginder, an AIDS activist and mother of Ryan White, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1990.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden talked about the British singer’s activism, the power of his music and his all-around goodness. The event was dreamed up and paid for by A+E and the History Channel.
“Seamus Heaney once wrote, and I quote, ‘Once in a lifetime, the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme,’ ” Biden said. “Throughout his incredible career, Sir Elton John has been that tidal wave, a tidal wave to help people rise up and make hope and history rhyme.”
The night, in fact, was called “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” a reference to the poem Biden quoted by Ireland’s Heaney.
Sir Elton – he was knighted in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II – has sold over 300 million records worldwide, played over 4,000 shows in 80 countries and recorded one of the best-selling singles of all time, his 1997 reworking of “Candle In The Wind” to eulogize Princess Diana, which sold 33 million copies.
John punctuated the hits Friday with emotional tidbits of his history, including a shoutout to Laura Bush and former president George W. Bush for his administration’s emergency plan for AIDS relief, and a story of how a dying Ryan White and his mother pushed him into advocacy in the first place, and helped him get sober.
“I wouldn’t be here talking tonight,” he said. “They saved my life.”
He then dedicated “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” to Ryan.
Despite the presence of plenty of lawmakers, the political speak was kept to a minimum, except for when John said, “I just wish America would be more bipartisan on everything.”
It was his first White House gig since he performed with Stevie Wonder at a state dinner in 1998 honoring British Prime Minister Tony Blair. John is on a farewell tour that began in July after performing for more than 50 years.
The show came together after A+E Networks and the History Channel asked the White House and John if they’d be up for a collaboration honoring “everyday history-makers” as well as John himself.
It’s not clear whether the show will be broadcast. John has worked with A+E in the past on his global HIV/AIDS charity, the Elton John Foundation, which has raised more than $525 million to combat the virus around the world.
John is sticking around to play a sold-out show at Nationals Park Saturday.
The president and first lady are big fans. Biden wrote in a 2017 memoir about singing “Crocodile Rock” to his two young boys as he drove them to school, and again later to son Beau before he died of cancer at age 46.
“I started singing the lyrics to Beau, quietly, so just the two of us could hear it,” Biden wrote. “Beau didn’t open his eyes, but I could see through my own tears that he was smiling.”
John played the song Friday, saying someone told him Biden used to sing it to his little boys. “I can’t imagine him singin’ it,” John quipped before suggesting the president come up on stage. He did not. But the whole crowd did do the “La-La-Las” from their seats.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, was also a fan of John. He tried to get John to perform at his 2017 inauguration but John declined, saying he didn’t think it was appropriate for a Brit to play at the swearing-in of an American president.
The White House insisted Friday’s show wasn’t an effort to troll Trump, who has praised John in his books and has often featured John’s music – including “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer” – in his pre-rally playlists over the years. Trump nicknamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “rocket man” for his record of test-firing missiles.
John played both Friday, to thunderous applause.
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Fiona Slams Canada's Atlantic Coast With Hurricane-Force Winds Heavy Rain
Fiona Slams Canada's Atlantic Coast With Hurricane-Force Winds, Heavy Rain https://digitalarkansasnews.com/fiona-slams-canadas-atlantic-coast-with-hurricane-force-winds-heavy-rain/
1 hr 31 min ago
We’ve wrapped up our live coverage. Read more on Fiona here, or you can scroll through the updates below.
2 hr 13 min ago
“This is unreal”: Residents stunned as Fiona washes homes away in Newfoundland
From CNN’s Sharif Paget
Hurricane Fiona damages homes in Port aux Basques. (Wreckhouse Press)
Rene Roy, the editor-in-chief at a community newspaper in Newfoundland, told CNN that Fiona is the worst storm he’s ever experienced.
“I’ve lived through Hurricane Juan, and that was a foggy day compared to this monster,” Roy, who is based in hard-hit Port aux Basques, said. “This is unreal.”
The 50-year-old, who leads the region’s Wreckhouse Press newspaper, said there are uprooted trees and homes washed away by the storm surge.
“I have seen wind that has pulled trees out of the ground, homes swept away by water, homes that have been lost to the ocean,” he said. Roy said he counted at least eight homes that washed away, and he believes there could be more.
“I’ve seen a boat in the middle of a playground. Cabins and swing sets floating by. It is surreal what is happening here,” he told CNN.
When Roy woke up at 6 a.m. ET and looked out his window, he expected to see Channel Head, an island off the southern tip of Port aux Basques. But it was nowhere to be seen, overtaken by the storm surge.
“Nobody in Newfoundland has seen that before. That woke me up in a heartbeat. That was terrifying,” he said.
Roy fled his house and is now staying with his cousin on higher ground. He doesn’t know if his home is still standing. Emergency personnel stopped him from driving back to check on the property, telling him it was unsafe.
1 hr 52 min ago
“Shocking” devastation from Fiona on Nova Scotia could lead to days-long power outages, officials say
From CNN’s Hannah Sarisohn
A worker clears fallen trees and downed power lines in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday. (Darren Calabrese /The Canadian Press/AP)
Crews are scrambling to restore power in Nova Scotia as nearly three-quarters of the province is without electricity due to post-tropical cyclone Fiona, Premier Tim Houston said this afternoon at a news conference.
“The situation right now is where none of us want us to be,” Houston said. “I dread to think of where we would be had Nova Scotians not taken every single possible precaution to protect themselves and their families.”
Houston described the damage across the province as “shocking,” with communities facing washed-out roads and downed trees and power lines.
Peter Gregg, CEO of Nova Scotia Power, said weather conditions are still too severe in many areas for workers to begin assessing and repairing damage.
According to Gregg, over 900 power technicians are on the way to Nova Scotia.
Gregg said there’s still an active storm in many parts of the province despite some weather and wind improvements, so some customers might see power outages for a couple of days.
“We’re working to restore power as quickly as we can, as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Gregg said.
Halifax Regional Municipality Mayor Mike Savage said communication has been a challenge during the power outage.
“The magnitude of this storm has been breathtaking,” Savage said. “It turned out to be everything predicted.”
Savage said an apartment roof collapse caused 100 people to evacuate, but he’s grateful there have not been too many injuries or any reported deaths.
Nearly 370,000 customers across Nova Scotia are without power, according to poweroutage.com.
2 hr 41 min ago
Fiona continues to hit Atlantic Canada with hurricane-force winds, storm surge and heavy rainfall
From CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar
Post-tropical cyclone Fiona’s sustained winds have dropped slightly to 75 mph (about 121 kph), which is still equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.
“Conditions across Nova Scotia should gradually improve over the next 3 to 6 hours,” the Canadian Hurricane Centre’s Bob Robichaud said in a press conference Saturday afternoon.
Despite the gradual weakening of the storm, the NHC warned that “significant impacts from high winds, storm surge, and heavy rainfall are still expected.”
Fiona is currently in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, roughly 105 miles (170 kilometers) west-northwest of Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland, and will move across Labrador this evening and over the Labrador Sea on Sunday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 km) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 405 miles (650 km).
The CHC has discontinued the tropical storm watch for Labrador and the tropical storm warnings for all of Nova Scotia.
3 hr 6 min ago
Nova Scotia utility workers are working to clear downed trees and fix damaged equipment
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
A downed tree smashed a truck in Nova Scotia. (Nova Scotia Power)
Utility crews in Nova Scotia are dealing with numerous downed trees after Fiona, now considered a post-tropical cyclone, slammed into the region this morning.
In a series of tweets, Nova Scotia Power said: “Hurricane Fiona has been fierce, making its mark across NS. While winds have slowed in parts of the province, it’s important to remember that this is still an active storm and areas like Cape Breton are still experiencing high wind.”
The utility company is asking residents to stay away from downed lines as crews enter affected neighborhoods to assess the damage and make repairs.
The company said it cannot enter some areas yet with bucket trucks because winds are still over 80 km/h (about 50 mph).
“We know this is hard on our customers. Please know that our crews will be out there as soon as they can,” it said.
According to PowerOutage.ca, over 370,000 customers in Nova Scotia remain without power as of Saturday afternoon.
Vehicles navigate around a downed tree on Saturday, Sept. 24, in East Bay, Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island in Canada. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
3 hr 26 min ago
How to stay safe in case of flooding or a power outage from Fiona
Public Safety Canada warned those affected by flooding from Fiona to take a few steps to keep themselves safe, including turning off furnaces, gas valves and electricity.
“If you’re in danger of imminent flooding, move any furniture and electrical appliances to ground level and *don’t* attempt to shut off electricity if any water is present,” it added.
If evacuation is needed, the agency advises people to take along safety kits and to never drive through floodwaters.
If you lose power, here are some tips to stay safe:
Stay home: Staying indoors is your best bet during a winter power outage, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Take stock of the essentials: In case the power outage lasts a few days, you should have the following on hand: A three- to seven-day supply of food and water, flashlight and extra batteries, a battery-powered radio, extra medicine and first-aid supplies.
Be careful of carbon monoxide: Generators can release poisonous carbon monoxide if you use them inside your home. If you’re using one this week, keep it outside, about 20 feet away from your home, the CDC advises.
Check on your loved ones: When safe to do so, check in with the people around you to make sure they’re OK. Those who have medical equipment that require power, like respirators, should be taken to locations with generators or a friend’s or neighbor’s home that hasn’t been impacted.
3 hr 37 min ago
How Fiona already wreaked havoc in areas of the Caribbean and Puerto Rico
From CNN’s Amanda Musa
A house lays in the mud after it was washed away by Hurricane Fiona at Villa Esperanza in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, Sept. 21. (Alejandro Granadillo/AP)
As it churned through the Atlantic Ocean, Fiona left devastation on Puerto Rico and some other Caribbean islands.
The first major hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season killed at least five people: one in Guadeloupe, two in Puerto Rico and two in the Dominican Republic.
Puerto Rico: Hitting almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria, Fiona delivered flooding rains and an islandwide blackout as it made landfall Sunday, with more than 450,000 people without water or with intermittent service, according to the government’s emergency portal system.
As of Saturday morning, about 785,000 customers were without power, according to poweroutage.us.
Across the island, more than 800 people were housed in dozens of shelters as of Wednesday, according to Puerto Rico’s housing secretary, William Rodriguez.
President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration Wednesday for the US territory, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. New York City’s mayor has deployed staff from city agencies to Puerto Rico to help officials surveying damage.
Dominican Republic: As of Friday morning, there were over 210,000 customers without power in the Dominican Republic, according to Maj. Gen. Juan Méndez García, director of the country’s emergency operations center.
Méndez García said more than 725,000 customers were without running water across the country as of Thursday morning.
A total of 8,708 households have been affected by Hurricane Fiona and 2,262 homes have been destroyed due to the storm, Méndez García said.
4 hr 29 min ago
Woman hurt when her house collapses into the sea during Fiona
From CNN’s Hannah Sarisohn
A woman was rescued from the water Saturday afternoon after her house in Newfoundland collapsed as Fiona, a post-tropical cyclone, swept through, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The Port aux Basques woman was taken to the hospital, but police said the extent of her injuries is unknown at this time.
Police are working to confirm reports of a second woman ...
Margo Price Announces New Album https://digitalarkansasnews.com/margo-price-announces-new-album/
Margo Price has announced a new album, Strays, which is due out on January 13 via Loma Vista. Price also shared a new single from the album, “Change of Heart.”
Strays will be Price’s fourth studio album and a follow-up to her 2020 album, That’s How Rumors Get Started.
Strays was co-produced by Price along with Jonathan Wilson. The record will feature appearances by Sharon Van Etten, Lucius, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell. The album includes recent single “Been to the Mountain.”
“I feel this urgency to keep moving, keep creating,” said Price. “You get stuck in the same patterns of thinking, the same loops of addiction. But there comes a point where you just have to say, ‘I’m going to be here, I’m going to enjoy it, and I’m not going to put so much stock into checking the boxes for everyone else.'”
She added, “I feel more mature in the way that I write now, I’m on more than just a search for large crowds and accolades. I’m trying to find what my soul needs.”
Meanwhile, Price is also set to embark on a North American tour from November through early March. The tour kicks off on November 29 at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, Arizona, and will conclude on March 9 at the iconic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Strays track list:
1. “Been to the Mountain”
2. “Light Me Up” (feat. Mike Campbell)
3. “Radio” (feat. Sharon Van Etten)
4. “Change of Heart”
5. “County Road”
6. “Time Machine”
7. “Hell in the Heartland”
8. “Anytime You Call” (feat. Lucius)
9. “Lydia”
10. “Landfill”
Margo Price tour dates:
Nov. 29 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge*
Nov. 30 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Chelsea’s Live*
Dec. 2 – Lake Wales, FL @ Orange Blossom Revue
Dec. 3 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm*
Dec. 5 – Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre*
Dec. 6 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall*
Jan. 30 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel%
Jan. 31 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse%
Feb. 2 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall&
Feb. 3 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn&
Feb. 4 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater&
Feb. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom$
Feb. 7 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park$
Feb. 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre$
Feb. 10 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore$
Feb. 11 – Arcata, CA @ Van Duzer Theatre$
Feb. 13 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom$
Feb. 14 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom$
Feb. 15 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox$
Feb. 17 – Bozeman, MT @ The Elm$
Feb. 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue$
Feb. 20 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre$
Feb. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre$
Feb. 22 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue$
Feb. 24 – Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre#
Feb. 25 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre#
Feb. 27 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom#
Feb. 28 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club#
March 2 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club#
March 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts#
March 4 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall#
March 9 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium!
* w/ Kam Franklin (of The Suffers)
% w/ The Deslondes
& w/ Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country
$ w/ Lola Kirke
# w/ Tre Burt
! w/ Jessi Colter
(Photo: Alysse Gafkjen)
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Entertainment News
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Is A Beer Shortage On Tap? Inflation And Supply Chain Pressures On Brewers Are Intensifying
Is A Beer Shortage On Tap? Inflation And Supply Chain Pressures On Brewers Are Intensifying https://digitalarkansasnews.com/is-a-beer-shortage-on-tap-inflation-and-supply-chain-pressures-on-brewers-are-intensifying/
We have endured no shortage of shortages recently. There was toilet paper and computer chips, followed by tampons and baby formula. Could the next shortage involve beer?
The potential arises as beer makers, big and small, are under pressure from a confluence of inflation and several supply chain issues. Some breweries have found it challenging to get carbon dioxide (CO2), which is used to clean tanks and carbonate beer. When they do get it, the price is often higher, sometimes twice what they used to pay.
Also rising: the price of other ingredients such as malted barley and the cost to ship that and other products.
All this could lead to higher beer prices. And, it could result in some of your favorite beers being out of stock or not on tap.
“I don’t know if I can think of a scenario where there’d be no beer from a brewery, but I can understand a scenario where there would be a limited or smaller offering, as beer has a short shelf life,” said Chuck Aaron, owner and founder of Jersey Girl Brewing in Hackettstown, N.J.
The environment is challenging enough that it could force some breweries to close. “This could certainly be a factor in closures,” Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, told USA TODAY.
In a mid-year survey of the association’s membership – about 5,600 U.S. small and independent breweries – some brewers’ sentiments amounted to, “we’re selling as much beer as we were pre-pandemic, but making far less on that beer, and we’re unsure how long that is sustainable,” Watson said.
Gas prices go up after declines: Here’s where gas is cheapest and most expensive
What’s it mean for you?: Fed hikes interest rate 0.75 percentage point to tame inflation
Why could there be a beer shortage?
Because breweries, which are accustomed to some supply chain struggles, face a growing list of headaches. The price and availability of aluminum cans became increasingly volatile as cans became critical to breweries’ survival. Many had pivoted to curbside pickup and offsite distribution during the national shutdown brought on by COVID-19.
Conor Provost of Bluejacket brewery in Washington, D.C., puts beer in a car in April 2020. The brewpub began offering curbside pickup and delivery of beer and food at the onset of the coronavirus shutdown.
Similarly, the supply of CO2 has “remained tight since the shortages in the Spring of 2020,” Watson said in a recent report. Breweries have often got less than they ordered – or worse, not had promised amounts delivered at all.
Now, inflation has driven up the entire cost of breweries’ shopping list, just as it has for all Americans. That means breweries are likely paying more for CO2, cans, paper goods, malt (grains needed for making beer), and hops.
“What’s unprecedented is the number of areas where we are seeing challenges,” Watson told USA TODAY.
Inflation: No more steak. Ordering out less. Here’s how inflation is squeezing American diets.
Settle Down Easy Brewing Co. in Falls Church, Virginia hasn’t been hit hard by CO2 price increases, but is paying an additional two cents per can for its canning line, purchased during the pandemic, said co-owner Frank Kuhns.
But other price increases have hit harder including $150-$300 “gas travel” fees for each delivery from suppliers, and labor and equipment costs of 30% to 40% more than originally budgeted, for the construction of a second Northern Virginia location a few miles away in Oakton, Virginia.
So far, “we have made the decision to hold and not pass these increases onto the customer and instead look for new suppliers or cutting costs without sacrificing quality,” Kuhns said.
Frank Kuhns, co-owner of Settle Down Easy Brewery Co., in Falls Church, VA.
Despite the dilemma, the nation’s beer taps won’t likely run dry. But they could be tempered, he said.
“I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say there will be shortages. Individual producers may have issues, but this isn’t so widespread that you’re going to see empty beer shelves,” Watson said. “I think the beer brand that consumers want occasionally being out of stock is closer to accurate. And brewers might make different or fewer beers.”
Why is carbon dioxide needed to make beer?
Most beer lovers know that brewers use CO2 to carbonate beer. But CO2 also is used to clean fermentation tanks and keep oxygen out before they are refilled. “Oxygen is the devil of beer and will kill a beer if you have oxygen in it,” Aaron said.
But many breweries have had a devil of a time getting the CO2 they need. A main contributor is that a natural source of CO2, the Jackson Dome, an extinct volcano in Mississippi, “is facing a contamination issue with the raw gas from the mine creating a significant decrease in available food grade CO,” Watson told brewers in a July report.
High demand and some shutdowns at ammonia plants, which create and capture CO2 to sell to other industries, has compounded the shortage. So have rail disputes, which have disrupted deliveries, wrote Forbes columnist Richard Howells, a supply chain executive.
“Yes, you heard right,” Howells wrote. “In this era, of trying to reduce emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere, we are actually going to have a shortage of the CO2 that provides the carbonation so loved by millions of concerned beer drinkers.”
How are breweries coping with the CO2 shortage?
Most have had to pay more for CO2, while many have had to find alternate suppliers. And if a brewer cannot get enough, that could lead to some beers not getting made, said Tomme Arthur, co-founder and chief operating owner of Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey in San Diego County, California.
“I don’t expect the grocery aisles to be missing 18 packs of lager,” he said. “But your local craft brewer is certainly at risk for having to adjust brewing schedules and deliverables based on this lack of CO2 and the need for it in so many of the brewing practices.”
At Jersey Girl Brewing, the cost has doubled over the the past year, from about 20 cents a pound to 44 cents.
Aaron said he has been “watching the invoice price creep up and up and up as we fill” the brewery’s bulk tanks capable of holding 1,500 pounds of the gas.
Aaron has also had to decide not to make some beers, such as a Helles lager, because the German grains needed were too costly with increased shipping prices. And some beers needing New Zealand International hops have not been produced.
“Hopefully once the prices come back in line, we’ll be able to reintroduce those into the market,” he said.
Chuck Aaron, owner and founder of Jersey Girl Brewing Co., of Hackettstown, N.J., at left, and Mike Bigger, partner and vice president.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that a “U.S. beer shortage looms with gap in carbon dioxide supply.” It also noted that some breweries have equipment to capture the CO2 emitted in the brewing process, but it is very expensive.
Also vying for CO2: Other industries including carbonated beverage makers and food manufacturers. “As we have learned, brewers are a relatively small user of CO2 in the grand scheme of things,” Watson said.
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Could beer become more expensive?
It already has. The makers of Miller Lite and Coors Light, and Bud Light – as well as Stella Artois – have all raised prices recently. But beer prices are up far less than the cost of production.
The price of beer purchased to drink at home had risen about 5% as of August 2022, compared to August 2021, according to the Consumer Price Index. That’s higher than whiskey (3%), wine (2.5%), and other spirits (1.2%).
Another barometer of pricing: The average cost to consumers for beer has risen 3.4%, over the past year for the equivalent of a 24-pack of 12 oz. cans, based on prices for the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, according to Nielsen IQ.
Beer price increases have also remained below that of other consumer goods – overall, prices increased 8.3% compared to a year ago, and food rose 11.4%. Price hikes have not “stopped consumers from trading up to” craft beers, imported beers or canned cocktails and seltzers, said Bump Williams, a beverage industry consultant.
Consumers have also been buying more 12-packs and single-serving cans as they have been “changing their purchase behavior with inflation going up, interest rates going up, gas prices going up, and a declining stock market turning 401k’s into 201k’s,” Williams said. “So folks are managing their affordable luxury expenditures a bit differently today.”
The flagship beers of Jersey Girl Brewing Co. in Hackettstown, N.J.
Could the price of cans also affect beer supply?
Probably indirectly, since aluminum prices are just one of several costs brewers see increasing. Costs of cans “are still much higher than they were and I believe once prices go up the way we’ve experienced them, you tend not to see them come back down,” Aaron said.
While there has been less volatility recently, some breweries had to find a new supplier when Ball Corp., one of the nation’s largest can manufacturers, earlier this year raised its minimum requirements for customers, citing unprecedented demand.
“We were sent scrambling to find an alternative supplier,” which charges 1.5 cents more per unit, Arthur said. “A truck load of cans is approximately 156,000 units so the pennies add up,” he said.
“I have never seen this level of inflationary pressures combined with outright shortages. It’s bonkers to put it mildly,” Arthur said. “I suspect that nearly every brewery in town is being jammed on the same fronts.”
Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Beer: Could there be a shortage? Inflation, supply chain issu...
Sunday Shows Preview: Putin Orders Partial Military Call-Up; Jan. 6 Panel To Hold First September Hearing
Sunday Shows Preview: Putin Orders Partial Military Call-Up; Jan. 6 Panel To Hold First September Hearing https://digitalarkansasnews.com/sunday-shows-preview-putin-orders-partial-military-call-up-jan-6-panel-to-hold-first-september-hearing/
In this image taken from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 21, 2022. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech announcing a partial military call-up in Russia’s war with Ukraine and the upcoming hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday shows circuit.
Putin announced on Wednesday that he would be drafting up to 300,000 Russian reservists into the military as the country falters in its now seven-month long conflict with Ukraine.
Many Russians scrambled to leave the country following the announcement, rapidly selling out flights to the countries still accepting planes from Russia. Anti-war demonstrations also swept the country, with Russian authorities detaining more than 1,300 protesters on the day of the announcement.
Amid the backlash, Russia on Friday announced exemptions to the call-up for citizens with higher education who work in banking, information technology and telecommunications.
The call-up of additional Russian soldiers comes after Ukrainian forces have made several major gains in eastern Ukraine. Russia pulled its forces out of the areas around Kharkiv earlier this month as Ukrainian forces advanced.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, called Putin’s move a “frank admission” that the Russian military is struggling.
“Russia’s decision on mobilization is a frank admission that their regular army, which has been prepared for decades to take over a foreign country, did not withstand and crumbled,” Zelensky said in an address on Thursday.
Putin also threatened to deploy Moscow’s nuclear arsenal in Wednesday’s address, raising concerns in the West.
“This is not a bluff,” Putin said. “And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Putin to end his “reckless nuclear threats” at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will appear on ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’ “Face the Nation” and NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
The House Jan. 6 Committee’s first fall hearing will also likely be a subject of discussion on Sunday’s shows. The committee announced this week that it plans to hold a hearing on Sept. 28, the first since its explosive series of hearings this summer.
Members of the committee recently said that they have made progress in their investigation into the Secret Service’s actions on the day of the Capitol attack, after it was revealed that the agency lost its communications from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 in a migration to a new software.
Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has also agreed to sit before the committee, her lawyer told The Hill on Wednesday. The committee asked Thomas, who has faced scrutiny following
revelations that she communicated with top Trump allies leading up to Jan. 6 and pressured state lawmakers to overturn election results, to testify in June.
Several members of the committee are set to make appearances on Sunday. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) will be on
CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Rep.
Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on
NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:
ABC’s “This Week” — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sullivan; Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.)
CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Sullivan; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.); Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
CNN’s “State of the Union” — British Prime Minister Liz Truss; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
“Fox News Sunday” — Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.); Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.); Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.); Kari Lake, Republican nominee for Arizona governor
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AP News Summary At 4:38 P.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-438-p-m-edt/
‘Fighting fit’: Trial to show Oath Keepers’ road to Jan. 6
It’s been a long road to the upcoming Capitol riot trial of the the leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers. But the prosecution’s case against Stewart Rhodes covers a lot more than just the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes and four co-defendants are facing the difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors will try to show that for the Oath Keepers, the siege wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment protest but that it was part of a weekslong plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from election-denier Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Jury selection begins Tuesday in federal court in the nation’s capital. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Kremlin stages votes in Ukraine, sees protests in Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in occupied regions of Ukraine to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow. In Russia, hundreds were arrested on Saturday while trying to protest President Vladimir Putin’s order to mobilize more troops to fight in Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies say the votes underway in four regions of Ukraine are a sham with no legal force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents to undermine “this farce.” He also encouraged people called up to fight to desert or sabotage the Russian military. Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19.
West works to deepen sanctions after Putin heightens threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — How will American leaders and their allies respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of his bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields? Putin this week renewed threats of claiming more Ukrainian territory, and even using nuclear weapons. U.S. and European leaders have made clear they will try to double down on the same tactics that have helped put Russia in a corner in Ukraine. That means more financial penalties and international isolation for Russia, more arms and other backing for Ukraine. There’s no sign of the United States and NATO matching Putin’s intensified nuclear threats with the same bluster, which could raise the risks of escalating the conflict.
Dissident: ‘Iranian women are furious’ over headscarf death
NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian activist Masih Alinejad says the videos and messages she’s been receiving in recent days from women in Iran are showing how angry they are following a young woman’s death in police custody over a violation of the country’s strict religious dress code. The spur for this latest explosion of outrage was the death earlier this month of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The young woman was detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of strictures demanding women wear the Islamic headscarves in public. She died in custody. Protests have been going on around the country for days. Alinejad would love to see more support from those in the West, as well.
Fiona washes houses away, knocks out power in Canada
TORONTO (AP) — Strong rain and winds are lashing the Atlantic Canada region as Fiona hits as a powerful post-tropical cyclone. Canadian forecasters are warning it could be one of the most severe storms in the country’s history. Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday after transforming from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters caution that despite the change, Fiona still has hurricane-strength winds and will bring drenching rains and huge waves. More than 500,000 customers in Atlantic Canada are affected by outages. Ocean waves pounded the town of Channel-Port Aux Basques on the southern coast of Newfoundland, where entire structures were washed into the sea.
DeSantis declares emergency as storm expected to hit Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in Florida as Tropical Storm Ian gathers strength over the Caribbean and is expected to bring heavy rains and intense hurricane winds to the state next week. DeSantis initially issued the emergency order for two dozen counties but on Saturday expanded the warning to the entire state. He is encouraging residents and local governments to prepare for a storm that could lash large swaths of Florida as forecasters track its path. The National Hurricane Center said Ian is forecast to rapidly strengthen in the coming days before moving over western Cuba and approach Florida in the middle of next week with major hurricane force.
Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale
ATLANTA (AP) — A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump. Since then, a series of revelations about what happened in Coffee County have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used throughout Georgia have been compromised. The tale involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to Trump and a cast of characters from an area that rarely draws notice from outsiders.
‘We got our miracle’: Freed Americans back home in Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Two U.S. military veterans who disappeared three months ago while fighting with Ukrainian forces have arrived in their home state of Alabama. The men were greeted Saturday by hugs and cheers at the airport in Birmingham, Alabama. Alex Drueke, and Andy Huynh had gone missing June 9 in northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The Alabama residents were released by Russian-backed separatists as part of a recent prisoner exchange mediated by Saudi Arabia. Also freed were five British nationals and three others — from Morocco, Sweden and Croatia. Smiling but looking tired, the two were pulled into long emotional hugs by family members before being taken to a waiting car.
As Ukraine worries UN, some leaders rue what’s pushed aside
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In speech after speech, world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly are spotlighting Russia’s war in Ukraine. A few are prodding the world not to forget everything else. While no one is dismissing the importance of the conflict, some comments quietly speak to some unease about the international community’s absorption in Ukraine. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, for one, says the ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult to tackle other longstanding issues including inequality, nuclear disarmament and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Soldier who went missing during Korean War accounted for
BOSTON (AP) — A soldier from Massachusetts who went missing during the Korean war and was later reported to have died in a prisoner of war camp has been accounted for. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says Army Cpl. Joseph J. Puopolo, of East Boston, was just 19 when he was reported missing in December 1950. It was later reported he had died in a prisoner of war camp. Military officials say remains disinterred in 2019 were identified as Puopolo through dental and anthropological analysis, mitochondrial DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence. Puopolo’s grandnephew says his family, including the soldier’s sister who is now 99 years old, has not forgotten him.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Nearly Three-Quarters Of Americans Don't Want President Biden To Run For Reelection
Nearly Three-Quarters Of Americans Don't Want President Biden To Run For Reelection https://digitalarkansasnews.com/nearly-three-quarters-of-americans-dont-want-president-biden-to-run-for-reelection/
President Joe Biden speaks to the members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., US, on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022.Yuri Gripas/CNP via ZUMA Press Wire
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In response to a question this summer, Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota said he didn’t want 79-year-old President Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024, at which point Biden would be 81.
“I think he’s a man of decency, of good principle, of compassion, of empathy, and of strength. But to answer your question directly, which I know is quite rare, uh no, I don’t,” Phillips said of a potential second presidential run for Biden.
Rep. Angie Craig, another Minnesota Democrat, shared a similar sentiment: “I would say we need new leaders in Washington up and down the ballot in the Democratic Party.”
Their public stances represent an uncommon split from the broader Democratic party, which has largely punted the question of another run to Biden himself. At least six US Senators and nine members of the House have dodged answering the question entirely, according to an August tally by Axios. Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, who said during a primary debate that she didn’t think Biden would run again, was pilloried by Republicans, who highlighted her opinion as an example of Democratic disarray. Within days, she issued a public apology. “Mr. President, I apologize. I want you to run. I happen to think you won’t be running, but when you run or if you run, I will be there 100 percent,” she said on CNN.
But now, there’s evidence that nearly three-quarters of Americans agree with Reps. Phillips and Craig: They don’t want the presidential incumbent to try for a second term. According to a national poll released Thursday by Marquette Law School, a whopping 72 percent of Americans don’t support Biden running for reelection.
An unsurprising 12 percent of Republicans who answered the poll want Biden to run again, while roughly half of Democrats do. Just 21 percent of independent voters, who tend to be more ideologically centrist than people who register as Democrats or Republicans, support Biden running for reelection—a figure that is staggering, considering Biden positioned himself as a moderate during the 2020 presidential primaries against more progressive candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The lack of fervor for the President is not because Democrats think Biden is doing a terrible job. In fact, the President’s overall approval rating across Americans of all political affiliations increased from 36 percent in July to 45 percent in September, according to the same Marquette survey. Among Democrats, a whopping 82 percent think his performance is satisfactory.
Thursday’s poll did not break down why the vast majority of respondents don’t want to see “Biden 2024” yard signs. But it might have something to do with voters from all ideologies wanting fresh faces to enter politics, having attributed some of the nation’s stagnation on major issues like worsening climate change and staggering student debt to career politicians’ tendency to maintain the status quo.
“My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board—Democrats, Republicans, I think it’s time for a generational move,” Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who is running for Senate in Ohio, said in September.
Age, though, isn’t deterring as many Republicans from hoping for a Donald Trump run at reelection in 2024. In fact, Marquette’s survey found that Republicans have more excitement for Trump to run again than Democratic voters feel for Biden: while 52 percent of Democratic respondents said they supported Biden vying for a second term, 66 percent of Republicans respondents said they want to see Trump try again, at which point the embattled former president would be 78.
The poll also envisioned a 2024 presidential election that turned into a repeat of the 2020 one. In a hypothetical match-up between the same two contenders, Biden would have the support of 40 percent of the poll respondents, while Trump would get 36 percent.
The remaining respondents said they would refuse to vote for either: A whopping 19 percent said they’d cast a ballot for somebody else in a Trump vs. Biden rematch. The remaining 6 percent wouldn’t cast a ballot at all.
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Michael Moore Talks Midterms On Real Time With Bill Maher
Michael Moore Talks Midterms On “Real Time With Bill Maher” https://digitalarkansasnews.com/michael-moore-talks-midterms-on-real-time-with-bill-maher/
On Friday’s episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” documentary filmmaker Michael Moore expressed his hopes in relation to the upcoming midterm elections in November.
“We’ve talked about the midterms many times here,” said Maher at the top of the segment. “I think there’s sort of a bright spot there in the fact that the country is on the brink of disaster which, for the first time I can remember, the midterms are sexy. This is the one we usually have trouble getting people to go out and vote for, but now there’s very high enthusiasm for a midterm election. What do you think is gonna happen?”
“Everybody needs to show up,” said Moore. “And you need to bring 5 to ten people with you. Bring beer, make it a fun thing, have a party afterwards, whatever.”
Being a self-proclaimed pessimist, Moore states emphatically that he’s “never felt this optimistic.”
“I was on your show six years ago when I said that Trump was gonna win, and the audience booed me . . . I think I had a pretty good sense of what was gonna happen. I think the opposite is gonna happen this time.”
“I think that there is going to be such a landslide against the traitors, especially the 147 Republicans who just, hours after the insurrection, voted to not certify the elected president of the United States, Joe Biden. I think there are going to be so many people coming out to vote. I wanna thank the Supreme Court for reminding women they are in fact second-class citizens, and taking their rights away like this . . . I think there’s gonna be such a massive turnout of women.”
“There are so many signs of this,” Moore continues, “I honestly think if we all do our work . . . we have a chance to do something.”
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Moore’s appearance on the show coincides with the 20-year anniversary of his documentary, “Bowling for Columbine,” which shed a light not only on the tragic shooting that took place at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, but on the inherent problems experienced in the country as a result of lax gun laws and regulations.
Watch here:
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AP News Summary At 3:29 P.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-329-p-m-edt/
‘Fighting fit’: Trial to show Oath Keepers’ road to Jan. 6
It’s been a long road to the upcoming Capitol riot trial of the the leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers. But the prosecution’s case against Stewart Rhodes covers a lot more than just the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes and four co-defendants are facing the difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors will try to show that for the Oath Keepers, the siege wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment protest but that it was part of a weekslong plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from election-denier Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Jury selection begins Tuesday in federal court in the nation’s capital. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Kremlin stages votes in Ukraine, sees protests in Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in occupied regions of Ukraine to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow. In Russia, hundreds were arrested on Saturday while trying to protest President Vladimir Putin’s order to mobilize more troops to fight in Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies say the votes underway in four regions of Ukraine are a sham with no legal force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents to undermine “this farce.” He also encouraged people called up to fight to desert or sabotage the Russian military. Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19.
West works to deepen sanctions after Putin heightens threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — How will American leaders and their allies respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of his bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields? Putin this week renewed threats of claiming more Ukrainian territory, and even using nuclear weapons. U.S. and European leaders have made clear they will try to double down on the same tactics that have helped put Russia in a corner in Ukraine. That means more financial penalties and international isolation for Russia, more arms and other backing for Ukraine. There’s no sign of the United States and NATO matching Putin’s intensified nuclear threats with the same bluster, which could raise the risks of escalating the conflict.
Dissident: ‘Iranian women are furious’ over headscarf death
NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian activist Masih Alinejad says the videos and messages she’s been receiving in recent days from women in Iran are showing how angry they are following a young woman’s death in police custody over a violation of the country’s strict religious dress code. The spur for this latest explosion of outrage was the death earlier this month of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The young woman was detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of strictures demanding women wear the Islamic headscarves in public. She died in custody. Protests have been going on around the country for days. Alinejad would love to see more support from those in the West, as well.
Fiona washes houses away, knocks out power in Canada
TORONTO (AP) — Strong rain and winds are lashing the Atlantic Canada region as Fiona hits as a powerful post-tropical cyclone. Canadian forecasters are warning it could be one of the most severe storms in the country’s history. Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday after transforming from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters caution that despite the change, Fiona still has hurricane-strength winds and will bring drenching rains and huge waves. More than 500,000 customers in Atlantic Canada are affected by outages. Ocean waves pounded the town of Channel-Port Aux Basques on the southern coast of Newfoundland, where entire structures were washed into the sea.
DeSantis declares emergency as storm expected to hit Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in Florida as Tropical Storm Ian gathers strength over the Caribbean and is expected to bring heavy rains and intense hurricane winds to the state next week. DeSantis initially issued the emergency order for two dozen counties but on Saturday expanded the warning to the entire state. He is encouraging residents and local governments to prepare for a storm that could lash large swaths of Florida as forecasters track its path. The National Hurricane Center said Ian is forecast to rapidly strengthen in the coming days before moving over western Cuba and approach Florida in the middle of next week with major hurricane force.
Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale
ATLANTA (AP) — A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump. Since then, a series of revelations about what happened in Coffee County have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used throughout Georgia have been compromised. The tale involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to Trump and a cast of characters from an area that rarely draws notice from outsiders.
Biden administration launches environmental justice office
WARRENTON, N.C. (AP) — Forty years after a predominantly Black community in Warren County, North Carolina, rallied against hosting a hazardous waste landfill, President Biden’s top environment official has returned to what is widely considered the birthplace of the environmental justice movement to unveil a national office that will distribute $3 billion in block grants to underserved communities burdened by pollution. Joined by civil rights leaders and participants from the 1982 protests, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced Saturday that he is dedicating a new senior level of leadership to the environmental justice movement they ignited. The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights will merge three existing EPA programs .
Sri Lankans describe abuse as Russian captives in Ukraine
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Seven Sri Lankans held captive by Russian forces in an agricultural factory in eastern Ukraine say they were beaten and tortured for months before escaping on foot as the Russians withdrew from the Kharkiv region. One said he was shot in the foot; another says he had his head slammed with the butt of a rifle. The Sri Lankans recounted their ordeal to reporters on Saturday. Four of the seven were medical students in the city of Kupiansk and three were working there when Russian forces poured across the border in late February. They said they were captured at a checkpoint and held in the factory near the Russian border with around 20 Ukrainians.
As Ukraine worries UN, some leaders rue what’s pushed aside
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In speech after speech, world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly are spotlighting Russia’s war in Ukraine. A few are prodding the world not to forget everything else. While no one is dismissing the importance of the conflict, some comments quietly speak to some unease about the international community’s absorption in Ukraine. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, for one, says the ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult to tackle other longstanding issues including inequality, nuclear disarmament and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Obituaries In Fort Smith, AR | Times Record https://digitalarkansasnews.com/obituaries-in-fort-smith-ar-times-record-44/
Nancy Jane Sickmann
Nancy Jane Sickmann, 67 of Fort Smith, AR passed away on September 22, 2022. Nancy was born on December 13, 1954 to Maynard Witter & Mary (King) Kline. She was raised in Fort Smith, AR with her three sisters. Growing up she worked at the family laundry mat until it was sold. She was a devote woman of God and enjoyed going to church and bible study. This led her to meet her husband Robert Sickmann whom she married on February 12, 2010. The two enjoyed church activities, going out to eat and watching football and baseball together.
Services for Nancy will be Wednesday October 5, 2022 at 2 pm at First Methodist church in the Roebuck Chapel. Services provided by Edwards Funeral Home.
Posted online on September 24, 2022
Published in Southwest Times Record
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Russia Expands Use Of Iranian Combat Drones In Ukraine
Russia Expands Use Of Iranian Combat Drones In Ukraine https://digitalarkansasnews.com/russia-expands-use-of-iranian-combat-drones-in-ukraine/
By
Stephen Kalin in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Evan Gershkovich in Moscow
Updated Sept. 24, 2022 3:02 pm ET
Ukraine shot down more than a dozen Iranian combat drones across the front lines this week as Russia expands the use of a foreign-weapons system that Ukrainian commanders say has inflicted serious damage on their forces.
In his nightly address on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s antiaircraft forces had shot down Iranian drones in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and the southern city of Odessa, including the nearby Pivdennyi port, used for exporting grain.
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Seven Arkansas Organizations Honored With Governors Quality Awards Talk Business & Politics
Seven Arkansas Organizations Honored With Governor’s Quality Awards – Talk Business & Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/seven-arkansas-organizations-honored-with-governors-quality-awards-talk-business-politics/
Seven Arkansas organizations were honored Thursday (Sept. 22) at the 27th Annual Governor’s Quality Awards ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock.
The seven organizations honored were:
Mainstream Technologies, Inc. of Little Rock received the third of four award levels—Achievement Level—which requires applicants to write a 50-page application responding to more than 200 questions and demonstrate mature processes and a commitment to continuous improvement. Achievement applicants also participate in a one and one-half day site visit.
Cromwell Architects Engineers of Little Rock received the second level—the Commitment Award. Applicants are required respond to a condensed set of questions and receive a feedback report to better understand their process and results strengths and opportunities.
Four organizations received the first award level, the Challenge Award which included Delta Dental of Arkansas, Sherwood; L’Oreal USA, North Little Rock; PotlatchDeltic Corporation, Waldo; and PotlatchDeltic Corporation, Warren. The Challenge Level is the starting point for any organization and requires organizations to define key characteristics such as mission, vision, values, customer groups, and strategic challenges and advantages.
Black River Technical College of Pocahontas took the highest level awarded — the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence — making the two-year college the second in the state to be recognized at this level. Black River Technical College earned the recognition by demonstrating effective processes and associated favorable results. Only 27 Arkansas organizations have ever received the highest-level the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence.
The Governor’s Quality Award program is coordinated by the Arkansas Institute for Performance Excellence, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.
The goal of the program is to encourage Arkansas organizations to engage in continuous quality improvement, which leads to performance excellence. Created as a not-for-profit organization, the program is dedicated to assist in building a strong infrastructure for Arkansas businesses. The award process aligns with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award and used the Baldrige Excellence Framework.
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Tropical Storm Ian Strengthens In The Caribbean And Tracks Toward Florida | CNN
Tropical Storm Ian Strengthens In The Caribbean And Tracks Toward Florida | CNN https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tropical-storm-ian-strengthens-in-the-caribbean-and-tracks-toward-florida-cnn/
CNN —
The ninth named tropical storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season has formed across the central Caribbean Sea, and is forecast to turn into a hurricane before hitting Florida next week. If it does, it will be the first major hurricane to impact the state since 2018.
Tropical Storm Ian was located about 270 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, as of 2 p.m. Saturday and moving west at 16 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. “Significant strengthening is forecast during the next few days,” the center said.
The forecast shows Ian “as a major hurricane over the eastern Gulf when it is approaching the west coast of Florida,” after briefly passing over Cuba at or near major hurricane strength, the center said Friday. Much of the Gulf Coast of Florida, including the eastern Panhandle, could be at risk.
Forecast models on Saturday afternoon vary on where Ian may make landfall on Florida’s coast. The European model shows landfall near Tampa on Thursday morning, while the American model shows landfall near Pensacola Friday morning.
The official hurricane center track splits the difference between the models, showing landfall north of Tampa on Thursday morning.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday expanded an emergency order from 24 counties to include the whole state, citing “foregoing conditions, which are projected to constitute a major disaster.”
“The Florida Division of Emergency Management, working together with the National Hurricane Center to evaluate weather predictions, has determined there is a continuing risk of dangerous storm surge, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, strong winds, hazardous seas, and isolated tornadic activity for Florida’s Peninsula and portions of the Florida Big Bend, North Florida, and Northeast Florida,” the order states.
Tropical storm-force winds could begin to affect southwest Florida early Tuesday, with landfall possible on Wednesday or Thursday.
After strengthening overnight, the storm – earlier known as Tropical Depression Nine – has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and is forecast to reach hurricane status within the next two days as it approaches the Cayman Islands by early Monday. Further strengthening is anticipated as the system approaches and crosses western Cuba by Monday evening.
“Ian is likely to be near major hurricane intensity when it approaches western Cuba,” the hurricane center said. “Since Ian is not expected to remain over Cuba long, little weakening is expected due to that land interaction.”
If it strengthens to a Category 3 or higher before reaching Florida, it would be the first major hurricane to make landfall there since Hurricane Michael in 2018, which was a monster Category 5 storm when it collided with the Florida panhandle. Michael also underwent rapid intensification before it made landfall, a phenomenon which has been made more likely as ocean temperatures warm due to the climate crisis.
A hurricane warning was issued for Grand Cayman, and a tropical storm watch is in effect for Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands and for Jamaica.
DeSantis on Friday requested federal emergency assistance in anticipation of the threat when he declared the state of emergency for two dozen counties. Under the state-level emergency order, members of the Florida National Guard will be activated and on standby awaiting orders.
The governor urged those in the potential path of the storm to prepare.
“This storm has the potential to strengthen into a major hurricane and we encourage all Floridians to make their preparations,” DeSantis said in a news release. “We are coordinating with all state and local government partners to track potential impacts of this storm.”
It has been a slow start to what was forecast to be an above-average hurricane season. Only one storm has made landfall in a US territory, and no hurricane has made landfall or threatened the contiguous states.
Now, a week past the peak of hurricane season, the tropics seem to have woken up, and forecasters are concerned people have let down their guard.
“After a slow start, the Atlantic hurricane season has ratcheted up quickly,” Phil Klotzbach, research scientist at Colorado State University, tweeted.
“People tend to lower their guard and think, oh, yeah, we’re out of the woods,” Maria Torres, hurricane center spokesperson, told CNN. “But in reality, the season continues. We are still in September; we still have October to go. Anything that forms over either the Atlantic or the Caribbean is something that we need to keep monitoring very closely.”
The Atlantic hurricane season ends November 30.
No matter what, if you live in the Caribbean, Florida and other states along the Gulf Coast, pay attention to the updated forecasts this weekend into early next week.
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Fighting Fit: Trial To Show Oath Keepers Road To Jan. 6
‘Fighting Fit’: Trial To Show Oath Keepers’ Road To Jan. 6 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/fighting-fit-trial-to-show-oath-keepers-road-to-jan-6/
Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, center, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, June 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
The voting was over and almost all ballots were counted. News outlets on Nov. 7, 2020, had called the presidential race for Joe Biden. But the leader of the Oath Keepers extremist group was just beginning to fight.
Convinced the White House had been stolen from Donald Trump, Stewart Rhodes exhorted his followers to action.
“We must now … refuse to accept it and march en-mass on the nation’s Capitol,” Rhodes declared.
Authorities allege Rhodes and his band of extremists would spend the next several weeks after Election Day, Nov. 3, amassing weapons, organizing paramilitary training and readying armed teams with a singular goal: stopping Biden from becoming president.
Their plot would come to a head on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors say, when Oath Keepers in battle gear were captured on camera shouldering their way through the crowd of Trump supporters and storming the Capitol in military-style stack formation.
Court documents in the case against Rhodes and four co-defendants — whose trial opens Tuesday with jury selection in Washington’s federal court — paint a picture of a group so determined to overturn Biden’s victory that some members were prepared to lose their lives to do so.
[Judge rules Wasilla lawmaker likely ineligible for office due to Oath Keepers membership, delaying election certification until trial concludes]
It’s the biggest test for the Justice Department’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the Capitol attack. Rioters temporarily halted the certification of Biden’s victory by sheer force, pummeling police officers in hand-to-hand fighting as they rammed their way into the building, forcing Congress to adjourn as lawmakers and staff hid from the mob.
Despite nearly 900 arrests and hundreds of convictions in the riot, Rhodes and four Oath Keeper associates — Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell — are the first to stand trial on the rare and difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy.
The Oath Keepers accuse prosecutors of twisting their words and insist there was never any plan to attack the Capitol. They say they were in Washington to provide security at events for figures such as Trump ally Roger Stone before Trump’s big outdoor rally near the White House on Jan. 6. Their preparations, training, gear and weapons were to protect themselves against potential violence from left-wing antifa activists or to be ready if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act to call up a militia.
Rhodes’ lawyers have signaled their defense will focus on his belief that Trump would take that action. But Trump never did, so Rhodes went home, his lawyers have said.
man wearing an Oath Keepers shirt stands outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, Nov. 19, 2021 in Kenosha, Wis. The trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy in the attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to begin next week. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Members of the Oath Keepers stand on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy in the attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to begin next week. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
On Nov. 9, 2020, less than a week after the election, Rhodes held a conference call and rallied the Oath Keepers to go to Washington and fight. He expressed hope that antifa (anti-fascist) activists would start clashes because that would give Trump the “reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.”
“You’ve got to go there and you’ve got to make sure that he knows that you are willing to die to fight for this country,” Rhodes told his people, according to a transcript filed in court.
By December, Rhodes and the Oath Keepers had set their sights on Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, prosecutors say.
On Dec. 23, he published an open letter on the Oath Keepers website declaring that “tens of thousands of patriot Americans, both veterans and nonveterans” would be in Washington. He warned they might have to “take to arms in defense of our God given liberty.”
As 2021 approached, Rhodes spent $7,000 on two night-vision devices and a weapon sight and sent them to someone outside Washington, authorities say. Over several days in early January, he would spend an additional $15,500 on guns, magazines, mounts, sights and other equipment, according to court documents.
• • •
Rhodes had instructed Oath Keepers to be ready, if asked, to secure the White House perimeter and “use lethal force if necessary” against anyone, including the National Guard, who might try to remove Trump from the White House, according to court documents.
On Jan. 5, Meggs and the Florida Oath Keepers brought gun boxes, rifle cases and suitcases filled with ammunition to the Virginia hotel where the “quick reaction force” teams would be on standby, according to prosecutors. A team from Arizona brought weapons, ammunition, and supplies to last 30 days, according to court papers. A team from North Carolina had rifles in a vehicle parked in the hotel lot, prosecutors have said.
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy in the attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to begin next week. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
At the Capitol, the Oath Keepers formed two teams, military “stacks,” prosecutors say.
Some members of the first stack headed toward the House in search of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., but couldn’t find her, according to court documents. Members of the second stack confronted officers inside the Capitol Rotunda, prosecutors allege.
Rhodes isn’t accused of going inside the Capitol but was seen huddled with members outside after the riot. Rhodes and others then walked to the nearby Phoenix Park Hotel, prosecutors say.
In a private suite there, Rhodes called someone on the phone with an urgent message for Trump, according to an Oath Keeper who says he witnessed it. Rhodes repeatedly urged the person on the phone to tell Trump to call upon militia groups to fight to keep the president in power, court papers say. The person denied Rhodes’ request to speak directly to Trump.
“I just want to fight,” Rhodes said after hanging up, according to court papers. Authorities have not disclosed the name of the person they believe Rhodes was speaking to on the call.
That night, Rhodes and other Oath Keepers went to dinner in Virginia. In messages over the course of the evening, they indicated their fight was far from over.
“Patriots entering their own Capitol to send a message to the traitors is NOTHING compared to what’s coming,” Rhodes wrote.
Rhodes returned to Texas after the Jan. 6 attack and remained free for a year before his arrest in January 2022.
In interviews before he was jailed, he sought to distance himself from Oath Keepers who went inside the Capitol, saying that was a mistake. He also continued to push the lie the election was stolen and said the Jan. 6 investigation was politically motivated.
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Inside Trump's Plot To Send Rapists And Killers To 'Destabilize' Liberal Cities
Inside Trump's Plot To Send Rapists And Killers To 'Destabilize' Liberal Cities https://digitalarkansasnews.com/inside-trumps-plot-to-send-rapists-and-killers-to-destabilize-liberal-cities/
Years before Ron DeSantis’ Martha’s Vineyard stunt, the then-president asked his team to take migrants suspected of violence and bus them to blue states and metropolitan areas
Donald Trump is privately fuming over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flying migrants from the Texas border to Martha’s Vineyard, telling confidants the potential 2024 rival stole “my idea” for weaponizing immigrants. Turns out, Trump was right — but his plans were more extreme than anything DeSantis has come up with to date.
In early 2019, three people familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone, the then-president workshopped a plan to bus migrants suspected of violent crime from the border to liberal metropolitan areas. The plan, two of the sources say Trump explicitly told staff, was to “punish” his political rivals in Democratic controlled areas.
“I was in the Oval Office for a meeting in March, 2019 in which [Trump] got more specific than just dump[ing] them in blue states,” says former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor.
“He said, ‘I want you to get the worst of the worst’ — criminals, actual ‘murderers,’ and actual ‘rapists’ — who cross the [southern] border, and round them up. He did not want to expel them, which is what you’re supposed to do in those situations,” Taylor says. “He specifically said that he wanted us to put them on buses … to, and I quote, ‘destabilize’ those sanctuary cities.”
Taylor recounts the then-president listing Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, and New York City among the metropolitan areas Trump wanted his administration to target.
A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Taylor is the former administration official who wrote the famous Trump-bashing “Anonymous” op-ed in The New York Times. His account of Trump’s plan elaborates on a comment he made on CNN this week. Taylor is a persistent Trump critic, but even people still in good standing in Trumpworld recall the president proposing plans to target his political enemies with suspected violent migrants.
A former top Trump aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in part to preserve their standing with the former president, recalls Trump raising the proposal at a dinner circa early 2019.
“I don’t remember the [former] president mentioning ‘rapists’ and ‘murderers,’ but I do remember him saying we should load buses up with ‘MS-13,’” the source says, referencing the violent gang with roots in Los Angeles and El Salavador. Trump, the source says, wanted to take MS-13 members “crossing the border and send them to cities like San Francisco [where Nancy Pelosi lives, and also to]…New York.”
These ideas largely went nowhere, because administration lawyers and other officials could not stomach, nor legally justify, such actions.
Trump’s aides also noted at the time that bringing in violent people was the exact opposite of Trump’s stated goal of keeping “immigrant crime” out of the country. Trump launched his first presidential campaign with a speech claiming, “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.” He, along officials such as policy adviser Stephen Miller and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, worked for four years to convert that xenophobia into government action.
On the plans to bus allegedly violent migrants, staff in the White House and DHS generally predicted (or hoped) that the mercurial president, with the extremely limited attention span, would forget about it and move on.
On that day in March 2019 when he first heard Trump talk about his horrifying plan to “destabilize” these American cities, Taylor says he remembers the mood in the room being one of “total exasperation” from officials who were mostly content to “let Trump cry it out.” The then-president would be “spitting, screaming, repeating himself, and you would let him go through all of that,” Taylor says.
Despite never enacting his plan to sicc “the worst” foreign and violent criminals on the people living in blue states, Trump did talking about his more general migrant bussing plans in public.
And in the post-Trump years, Republican governors took up his mantle. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has now spent more than $12 million bussing migrants from Texas to democratic enclaves like New York and Washington D.C., and DeSantis has set aside an equivalent amount within Florida’s budget to transport migrants out of the state.
The programs however, have drawn legal and ethical scrutiny, including following this month’s attempt by DeSantis to troll the residents of Martha’s Vineyard by unceremoniously dumping fifty asylum seekers on the island resulted in allegations that the migrants had been lied to about the destination of the transport they were offered, and what resources would be available to them if they accepted the flights.
The migrant transportation programs — and the more grotesque iteration of them imagined by Trump — represent one of the central pillars guiding the GOP’s attitude toward immigration. The officials portray migrants as an undesirable, destabilizing force, rather than as people seeking sanctuary or opportunity after leaving places that provided neither. Under the GOP vision of migrants as an inherent threat, those who welcome them should be punished.
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AP News Summary At 1:37 P.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-137-p-m-edt/
‘Fighting fit’: Trial to show Oath Keepers’ road to Jan. 6
It’s been a long road to the upcoming Capitol riot trial of the the leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers. But the prosecution’s case against Stewart Rhodes covers a lot more than just the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes and four co-defendants are facing the difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors will try to show that for the Oath Keepers, the siege wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment protest but that it was part of a weekslong plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from election-denier Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Jury selection begins Tuesday in federal court in the nation’s capital. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Kremlin stages votes in Ukraine, sees protests in Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in occupied regions of Ukraine to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow. In Russia, hundreds were arrested on Saturday while trying to protest President Vladimir Putin’s order to mobilize more troops to fight in Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies say the votes underway in four regions of Ukraine are a sham with no legal force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents to undermine “this farce.” He also encouraged people called up to fight to desert or sabotage the Russian military. Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19.
West: More sanctions, isolation if Putin carries out threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — How will American leaders and their allies respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of his bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields? Putin this week renewed threats of claiming more Ukrainian territory, and even using nuclear weapons. U.S. and European leaders have made clear they will try to double down on the same tactics that have helped put Russia in a corner in Ukraine. That means more financial penalties and international isolation for Russia, more arms and other backing for Ukraine. There’s no sign of the United States and NATO matching Putin’s intensified nuclear threats with the same bluster, which could raise the risks of escalating the conflict.
As Ukraine worries UN, some leaders rue what’s pushed aside
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In speech after speech, world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly are spotlighting Russia’s war in Ukraine. A few are prodding the world not to forget everything else. While no one is dismissing the importance of the conflict, some comments quietly speak to some unease about the international community’s absorption in Ukraine. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, for one, says the ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult to tackle other longstanding issues including inequality, nuclear disarmament and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale
ATLANTA (AP) — A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump. Since then, a series of revelations about what happened in Coffee County have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used throughout Georgia have been compromised. The tale involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to Trump and a cast of characters from an area that rarely draws notice from outsiders.
Fiona washes houses away, knocks out power in Canada
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Strong rain and winds are lashing the Atlantic Canada region as Fiona hits as a powerful post-tropical cyclone. Canadian forecasters are warning it could be one of the most severe storms in the country’s history. Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday after transforming from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters caution that despite the change, Fiona still could have hurricane-strength winds and will bring drenching rains and huge waves. More than 500,000 customers in Atlantic Canada are affected by outages. Ocean waves pounded the town of Channel-Port Aux Basques on the southern coast of Newfoundland, where entire structures were washed into the sea.
DeSantis declares emergency as storm expected to hit Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 24 counties as Tropical Storm Ian gathers strength over the Caribbean and is expected to bring heavy rain and hurricane-force winds to the state next week. DeSantis issued the order Friday encouraging residents and local governments to make preparations as the storm moves toward the state. He has also requested a federal pre-landfall emergency declaration. The National Hurricane Center said Ian is forecast to approach southern Florida early next week with major hurricane strength.
China on Taiwan: ‘External interference’ won’t be tolerated
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China has underscored its commitment to its claim to Taiwan. Its foreign minister told world leaders that anyone who gets in the way of its determination to reunify with the self-governing island would be “crushed by the wheels of history.” The language was forceful but well within the realm of normal for Chinese leadership. China vehemently defends its claim on Taiwan. The island separated from the mainland after a 1949 civil war and now functions with its own government. A recent visit to Taiwan by the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives markedly ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Dissident: ‘Iranian women are furious’ over headscarf death
NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian activist Masih Alinejad says the videos and messages she’s been receiving in recent days from women in Iran are showing how angry they are following a young woman’s death in police custody over a violation of the country’s strict religious dress code. The spur for this latest explosion of outrage was the death earlier this month of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The young woman was detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of strictures demanding women wear the Islamic headscarves in public. She died in custody. Protests have been going on around the country for days. Alinejad would love to see more support from those in the West, as well.
South Dakota investigation weighs Noem’s use of state plane
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is under investigation for using a state-owned airplane to fly to political events and bring family members with her on trips. But the decision on whether to prosecute the Republican governor likely hinges on how a county prosecutor interprets an untested law that was passed by voters in 2006. State law allows the aircraft only to be used “in the conduct of state business.” But Noem attended events hosted by political organizations. State plane logs also show that Noem often had family members join her on in-state flights in 2019. It blurred the lines between official travel and attending family events, including her son’s prom and her daughter’s wedding.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Tropical Storm Ian Forecast To https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tropical-storm-ian-forecast-to/
Tracking the Tropics: Tropical Storm Ian forms in the Caribbean
Tracking the Tropics: Tropical Storm Ian forms in the Caribbean 05:12
Tropical Storm Ian is expected to “rapidly strengthen” this weekend and could hit Florida early next week as a major hurricane, according to forecasters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Tropical Storm Ian is moving across the central Caribbean Sea Saturday. By late morning, it was located 270 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, moving west at 15 mph. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph — and is expected to become a hurricane on Sunday.
“Early next week, Ian is forecast to move near or over western Cuba as a strengthening hurricane and then approach the Florida peninsula at or near major hurricane strength, with the potential for significant impacts from storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and heavy rainfall,” the National Hurricane Center said.
“Significant strengthening is forecast during the next few days,” it said.
On Friday, DeSantis signed an executive order issuing a state of emergency for 24 Florida counties that could be in the storm’s path. On Saturday, the state of emergency was expanded to cover the entire state.
The storm, forecast to make landfall along Florida’s West coast, poses risk of “dangerous storm surge, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, strong winds, hazardous seas, and isolated tornadic activity for Florida’s Peninsula and portions of the Florida Big Bend, North Florida, and Northeast Florida,” DeSantis said in an executive order Saturday.
He encouraged all Floridians “to make their preparations.”
On Saturday, a hurricane watch was is in effect for the Cayman Islands and a tropical storm watch was in effect for Jamaica.
“On the forecast track, the center of Ian is forecast to move across the central Caribbean Sea today, pass southwest of Jamaica on Sunday, and pass near or over the Cayman Islands Sunday night and early Monday. Ian will then approach western Cuba late Monday and emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday,” said the National Hurricane Center.
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Pharoah Sanders Influential Jazz Saxophonist Dies At 81
Pharoah Sanders, Influential Jazz Saxophonist, Dies At 81 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/pharoah-sanders-influential-jazz-saxophonist-dies-at-81/
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pharoah Sanders, the influential tenor saxophonist revered in the jazz world for the spirituality of his work, has died, his record label announced. He was 81.
Sanders, also known for his extensive work alongside John Coltrane in the 1960s, died in Los Angeles early Saturday, said the tweet from Luaka Bop, the label that released his 2021 album, “Promises.” It did not specify a cause. A phone message to Luaka Bop in New York was not immediately returned.
“We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away. He died peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Always and forever the most beautiful human being, may he rest in peace,” said the label’s message on Twitter, accompanied by a heart emoji.
The saxophonist’s best-known work was his two-part “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” from the “Karma” album released in 1969. The combined track is nearly 33 minutes long.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1940, Sanders began playing jazz in Oakland, California. He moved to New York City in 1961, where a few years later he joined Coltrane’s band and began slowly establishing his solo career.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Storm Fiona Rips Into Canada's East Coast Destroying Homes And Roads
Storm Fiona Rips Into Canada's East Coast, Destroying Homes And Roads https://digitalarkansasnews.com/storm-fiona-rips-into-canadas-east-coast-destroying-homes-and-roads/
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Powerful storm Fiona slammed into eastern Canada on Saturday with hurricane-force winds, forcing evacuations, blowing over trees and powerlines, and reducing many homes to “just a pile of rubble.”
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the center of the storm, downgraded to Post-Tropical Cyclone Fiona, was now in the Gulf of St. Lawrence after racing through Nova Scotia.
After taking its toll on Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the storm battered Newfoundland, but is now likely to weaken, the NHC said.
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Port aux Basques, with a population of 4,067on the southwest tip of Newfoundland, declared a state of emergency and is evacuating parts of the town that suffered flooding and road washouts, according to police, Mayor Brian Button, and resident Rene Roy.
Several homes and an apartment building were dragged out to sea, Rene Roy, editor in chief if Wreckhouse Weekly in Port aux Basques, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
“This is hands down the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Roy said. Many homes are “just a pile of rubble in the ocean right now… There is an apartment building that’s literally gone. There are entire streets that are gone.”
Police are investigating whether a woman had been swept to sea, CBC reported.
“This is hitting us really, really hard right now,” Button said in a Saturday morning video posted on Facebook in which he urged residents to stay indoors or, if asked, to evacuate. “We have a fair bit of destruction in town… We do not need anyone else injured or hurt in during this.”
Fiona, which nearly a week ago battered Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean, killed at least eight and knocked out power for virtually all of Puerto Rico’s 3.3 million people during a sweltering heat wave. Fiona made landfall between Canso and Guysborough, Nova Scotia, where the Canadian Hurricane Centre said it recorded what may have been the lowest barometric pressure of any storm to hit land in the country’s history.
Ian Hubbard, meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre, told Reuters it appears Fiona lived up to expectations that it would be a “historical” storm.
“It did look like it had the potential to break the all-time record in Canada, and it looks like it did,” he said. “We’re still not out of this yet.”
Storms are not uncommon in the region and typically cross over rapidly, but Fiona is expected to impact a very large area.
Hubbard said Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island still have many hours of strong winds, rain and storm surge to go, and the west coast of Newfoundland would be pounded throughout the day.
While scientists have not yet determined whether climate change influenced Fiona’s strength or behavior, there is strong evidence that these devastating storms are getting worse.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER
Some 79% of customers, or 414,000, were without power in Nova Scotia, and 95%, or 82,000, had lost power on Prince Edward Island, utility companies said. Police across the region reported multiple road closures. The region was also experiencing spotty mobile phone service.
Mobile and Wifi provider Rogers Communications Inc said it was aware to outages caused by Fiona, and said crews would work to restore service “as quickly as possible”.
Prince Edward Island produces more than a fifth of Canada’s potatoes and the island’s potato farms, which are in harvest season, were likely to be impacted by the storm, Hubbard said.
“She was a wild ride last night, sounded like the whole roof was going to blow off,” said Gary Hatcher, a retiree who lives in Sydney, Nova Scotia, near where the storm made landfall. A maple tree was toppled in his back yard but did not damage his house.
Sydney recorded wind gusts of 141 kph (88 mph), Hubbard said. In Halifax, 11 boats sank at the Shearwater Yacht Club and four were grounded, said Elaine Keene who has a boat at the club that however escaped damage.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage told the CBC that no injuries had been reported so far. Quebec Premier Francois Legault said no injuries or fatalities had been reported.
The storm weakened somewhat as it traveled north. As of 11 a.m. (1500 GMT), it was over the Gulf of St. Lawrence about 100 miles (160 km) west-north-west of Port aux Basques, carrying maximum winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kph) and barreling north at around 25 mph (41 kph), the NHC said.
Fiona is expected to maintain hurricane-force winds until Saturday afternoon, the NHC said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delayed Saturday’s departure for Japan, where he was to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to receive briefings and support the government’s emergency response, Press Secretary Cecely Roy said on Twitter.
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Reporting Eric Martyn in Halifax and John Morris in Stephenville; Additional reporting by Ivelisse Rivera in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Writing by Steve Scherer; Editing by Frances Kerry, Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Democrats Face Tough Prospects In Battleground Pennsylvania Social News XYZ
Democrats Face Tough Prospects In Battleground Pennsylvania – Social News XYZ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/democrats-face-tough-prospects-in-battleground-pennsylvania-social-news-xyz/
By Ashe O
Washington, Sep 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Soaring inflation is high on the agenda for voters and that’s troubling for the Democrats in the midterms for the house of reps, just two months away in November, which promises to be a new defining moment in politics that could change the course of history of the country with both parties seem equally divided on the voter’s choice.
MAGA Republicans tearing the BBB initiatives of Joe Biden on inflation upsetting daily life of Americans with budgeting woes seems to be producing a disconnect between democrats string of legislative successes and voters concern of high cost of living in the battleground state of Pennsylvania where democrats have high stakes in the gubernatorial, mayoral and congressional candidates.
Though the Washington administration is touting the inflation reduction act, climate change and lowering prescription prices of drugs, waiver of college students’ debts and cheaper health care by insurance companies, a small-town Pennsylvania is not too taken in by the positive economic change.
That disconnect could spell trouble for Democrats, says BBC in an analysis of the election scenario for the midterms scheduled for November 8.
The Democratic Party has borne the brunt of Americans’ fury over the soaring inflation, and insiders have warned that voters must be convinced the economy is improving if Democrats hope to stave off major losses in the midterms, BBC said.
Though the president’s party scored policy wins in the final weeks of summer — passing long-sought climate legislation that, they claim, also addresses inflation, and announcing student loan debt relief for millions — Democrats are expected to lose the majority they hold in at least one chamber of Congress, the BBC predicts.
Those policy wins aren’t yet connecting with voters like Tina Jordan, who told BBC News that rising prices had cut into her profits. Tina Jordan, 55, was “totally against” Donald Trump for president in 2016.
A registered Democrat in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, she went for Hillary Clinton, though Trump ultimately won the state that year, delivering him the White House.
But in 2020, Jordan changed her mind and voted for Trump because his presidency, she confessed, coincided with “the best I’ve been in a long time, financially”.
She will “probably vote for Trump again” if he runs in 2024, she said – two years into Joe Biden’s presidency, Jordan didn’t think he was “in touch with small business owners” like herself.
Pennsylvania is the top prize in this year’s November mid-term elections, with Democrats fighting to gain a seat in the US Senate and keep a candidate away who backs Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen out of the governor’s mansion.
Biden, who has long touched on his middle-class Pennsylvania roots and made his ties to the state a part of his political identity, has been trumpeting his economic record there. At a speech in Philadelphia this month, he declared that “today, America’s economy is faster, stronger than any other advanced nation in the world”.
However, Jordan’s concerns about her financial stability were echoed by voters throughout Pennsylvania, with Biden and Trump supporters alike concerned about the continued high cost of everyday living and disillusioned with leaders in Washington.
“You got a lot of folks in Pennsylvania that are worried about what’s right in front of them,” said Mustafa Rashed, a Philadelphia-area Democratic strategist. “It’s harder to get people involved in the voting process. You’re competing for their attention with pocketbook issues.”
Washington’s victories aren’t felt on the ground, says BBC. Republicans have hammered Democrats in local races over inflation and the cost of basic necessities, trying to pin blame for a complex economic issue on the party in power.
Recent polling shows that Democrats’ midterm prospects have improved since the party’s late-summer policy spurt.
They have gotten a boost since the fall of Roe v Wade made abortion access a major election year issue. Surveys taken in Pennsylvania consistently show the Democratic candidate for US Senate, John Fetterman, and governor, Josh Shapiro, running slightly ahead of their respective Republican rivals, Dr. Oz and Doug Mastriano.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
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Georgia Voting Equipment Breach At Center Of Tangled Tale
Georgia Voting Equipment Breach At Center Of Tangled Tale https://digitalarkansasnews.com/georgia-voting-equipment-breach-at-center-of-tangled-tale-3/
KATE BRUMBACK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 24, 2022, 9:46AM
Updated 12 minutes ago
ATLANTA — The tale of breached voting equipment in one of the country’s most important political battleground states involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and a cast of characters from a rural county that rarely draws notice from outsiders.
How they all came together and what it could mean for the security of voting in the upcoming midterm elections are questions tangled up in a lawsuit and state investigations that have prompted calls to ditch the machines altogether.
Details of the unauthorized access of sensitive voting equipment in Coffee County, Georgia, became public last month when documents and emails revealed the involvement of high-profile Trump supporters. That’s also when it caught the attention of an Atlanta-based prosecutor who is leading a separate investigation of Trump’s efforts to undo his loss in the state.
Since then, revelations about what happened in the county of 43,000 people have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used in Georgia have been compromised.
The public disclosure of the breach began with a rambling phone call from an Atlanta-area bail bondsman to the head of an election security advocacy group involved in a long-running lawsuit targeting the state’s voting machines.
According to a recording filed in court earlier this year, the bail bondsman said he’d chartered a jet and was with a computer forensics team at the Coffee County elections office when they “imaged every hard drive of every piece of equipment.”
That happened on Jan. 7, 2021, a day after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and two days after a runoff election in which Democrats swept both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats.
The trip to Coffee County, about 200 miles south of Atlanta, to copy data and software from elections equipment was directed by attorney Sidney Powell and other Trump allies, according to deposition testimony and documents produced in response to subpoenas.
Later that month, security camera footage shows, two men who have participated in efforts to question the results of the 2020 election in several states spent days going in and out of the Coffee County elections office.
The footage also shows local election and Republican Party officials welcoming the visitors and allowing them access to the election equipment. The video seems to contradict statements some of the officials made about their apparent involvement.
The new information has made Coffee County, where Trump won nearly 70% of the vote two years ago, a focal point of concerns over the security of voting machines. While there is no evidence of widespread problems with voting equipment in 2020, some Trump supporters have spread false information about machines and the election outcome.
Election security experts and activists fear state election officials haven’t acted fast enough in the face of what they see as a real threat.
The copying of the software and its availability for download means potential bad actors could build exact copies of the Dominion system to test different types of attacks, said University of California, Berkeley computer scientist Philip Stark, an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the voting machines lawsuit.
“This is like bank robbers having an exact replica of the vault that they’re trying to break into,” he said.
Stark said the risks could be minimized by using hand-marked paper ballots and rigorous audits. Dominion says its equipment remains secure.
Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, the group that sued over the state’s voting machines, said the state has been slow to investigate. She was on the receiving end of the phone call from the bail bondsman.
The state, she said, has been “repeatedly looking the other way when faced with flashing red lights of serious voting system security problems.”
State officials say they’re confident the election system is safe. All Coffee County election equipment that wasn’t already replaced will be swapped out before early voting begins next month, the secretary of state’s office said Friday.
State officials also noted they were deluged by false claims after the 2020 election.
“In retrospect, you can say, well what about this, this and this,” said Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the Georgia secretary of state’s office. “In real time, no, there was no reason to think that.”
In late January 2021, a few weeks after the computer forensics team visited, security video shows a secretary of state’s office investigator arriving at the Coffee County elections office. He and the elections supervisor walk into the room that houses the election management system server. Seconds later, Jeff Lenberg, who has been identified by Michigan authorities as being part of an effort to gain access to voting machines there, is seen walking out of that room.
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'Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Actor Sentenced To Life In Prison For Killing Mother Plus More Celeb News This Week ICYMI
'Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’ Actor Sentenced To Life In Prison For Killing Mother, Plus More Celeb News This Week ICYMI https://digitalarkansasnews.com/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-actor-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-killing-mother-plus-more-celeb-news-this-week-icymi/
By Mark Gray 9:31am PDT, Sep 24, 2022
Dark crime
On Sept. 21, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” star Ryan Grantham was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of his mother. Prosecutors said the former actor, 24, confessed to the killing on a GoPro camera after the 2020 incident, indicating he shot her while she played piano. “I shot her in the back of the head. In the moments after, she would have known it was me,” he said, according to TMZ. After murdering his mom — he pleaded guilty — prosecutors claimed that Ryan, who’s also appeared on shows including “Riverdale,” “iZombie” and “Supernatural,” had aspirations of assassinating Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In fact, one day after his mother’s death, Ryan loaded his car with guns, ammunition, Molotov cocktails and directions to the political leader’s home. CBC.ca reported that Ryan thought about carrying out a mass shooting while driving there. However, he aborted his plans and turned himself into Vancouver police.
RELATED: Celebrity mug shots
Who’s at fault?
Jonathan Goodwin, the daredevil who nearly died last year in a stunt he performed during rehearsals for “America’s Got Talent: Extreme,” is convinced that he’s not to blame for the horrible accident that left him paralyzed. During an Instagram Q&A on Sept. 18, a fan specifically asked the stuntman if the tragedy occurred due to an “improper setup” or a mistake on his end. Jonathan, 42, replied, “I didn’t do anything wrong.” Whether he blames the setup isn’t known, but he clearly believes that he executed his stunt as intended. Last year, Jonathan was practicing the dangerous act he planned to perform on the reality TV show in which he hung upside down between two swinging cars while escaping from a strait jacket. Video shows Jonathan escaping but being sandwiched between the two suspended swinging vehicles. At the time of the incident, many people thought he was dead, and the outlook certainly appeared bleak. Jonathan survived but was paralyzed. He is now confined to a wheelchair.
RELATED: Celeb’s near-death experiences
Cheating scandal
Adam Levine has some explaining to do. On Sept. 19, social media model Sumner Stroh alleged that she and the Maroon 5 singer had a year-long affair, and she shared several risqué messages that they exchanged. Afterward, multiple other women came forward claiming Adam, 43, sent them flirty messages as well. Following Sumner’s further claims that she and Adam had a “physical” relationship, the singer released a statement claiming he didn’t have an “affair” but did admit he “crossed the line.” According to Adam, “I want to clear the air. I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life. In certain instances it became inappropriate; I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family. My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it. And we will get through it together.”
RELATED: Notorious cheating scandals
Farewell
Her Majesty has been buried. On Sept. 19, the world said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II in what was Britain’s first state funeral since Winston Churchill’s in 1965. After days of lying in state in London, QEII’s coffin was carried from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, drawn by 142 sailors. The service was attended by 2,000 people including the royal family and numerous heads of state. The queen’s coffin was then driven from London to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets to view the procession and pay their respects. Following the pomp and circumstance, the queen was lowered into the royal vault and later that day, in a private interment attended by her family, was laid to rest next to her husband, Prince Philip, her parents and her sister inside the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside the church.
Mom-shamed
Some people just aren’t cool with Ice-T’s wife. On Sept. 22, the “Ice Loves Coco” alum got a mixed reaction from her Instagram followers after sharing an image of 6-year-old daughter Chanel bathing in a kitchen sink. “The sink is easiest when you have to be fast,” Coco captioned an Instagram video of her child using her iPad in the makeshift bathtub. Several of Coco’s followers weren’t loving Chanel’s bathing situation. “Yall [sic] still treating her like an Infant,” one Instagram user wrote. Another said, “She’s to [sic] old to be in the sink..that was really Awkward to see.” A third added, “Not the sink.” Others, however, were far more interested in how deep the sink was! “I need a kitchen upgrade,” one fan said.
Polygamy lawsuit
“Escaping Polygamy” star Amanda Rae Grant was one of 10 women who filed a lawsuit accusing a Utah-based sect of fraud, sex abuse and forcing women into marriage. According to the suit, which was obtained by Salt Lake City’s KUTV, it is a “common and intentional practice” within the Kingston polygamist family — also known as “The Order” — to require girls and women to “submit sexually to their husbands even if the sexual submission is against their will because having children results in workers for the benefit of the Order. It is also a common and intentional practice in the Order for girls to be impregnated and have children when they are young so they cannot leave, which also benefits the Order.” In Amanda’s case, she claims she was abused for 10 years by John Paul Johnson, a son of one of her father’s wives. She was 8 when the alleged abuse began and John was 13. Amanda, who left the religion and the Kingston clan nine years ago, claims she was eventually forced to marry her first cousin. “Despite telling her parents, Amanda was not protected by those in the Order who knew of it, and the abuse continued,” her complaint, obtained by Radar Online, said. “Amanda eventually told two outsiders.”
Bombshell lawsuit
On Sept. 21, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, some of his children and other Trump Organization associates, claiming they inflated the value of Trump properties to get bank loans or deflated them for tax relief. The AG, a Democrat, called it the “art of the steal.” NBC News reported that the 220-page lawsuit alleges more than 200 instances of fraud over 10 years. James’s office is seeking approximately $250 million in penalties. Following the lawsuit filing, Trump denied any wrongdoing and dubbed it “another witch hunt.” The announcement prompted a slew of celebrities to chime in. John Cusack tweeted, “Trump is going to call for a terrorists strikes against law enforcement judges feds DA’s rather then him living within the rule of law Doj / indite him – arrest him.” Billy Baldwin said, “Am I alone, or should Donald Trump be CRIMINALLY charged as well?” Donald Trump Jr. said it was “ALL politics.”
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Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire / WPA Pool/Shutterstock
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/SIPA/Shutterstock
Amanda Rae Grant / Instagram
Al Drago/UPI/Shutterstock
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Trump On Trial: The Billionaires Crumbling Empire Dealt A Fresh Blow By New Legal Challenges
Trump On Trial: The Billionaire’s Crumbling Empire Dealt A Fresh Blow By New Legal Challenges https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-on-trial-the-billionaires-crumbling-empire-dealt-a-fresh-blow-by-new-legal-challenges/
United States
The subject of more than 4,000 state and federal cases, hundreds of personal injury, contract, fraud and tax dispute settlements, criminal probes, claims of sexual misconduct, bankruptcies and two impeachments, will Trump finally meet his moment of reckoning?
For the Trump family, the past week has unfolded with all the drama of a season finale of Succession, the acclaimed HBO series about a corrupt, narcissistic tycoon and his adult children’s increasingly desperate attempts to gain his approval, and with it, control of their crumbling family empire.
Fifty shades of Trump, from the arriviste vulgarity to the shady deals to the steely stepmother.
The 2022 Trump Inc cliffhanger is taking place in civil and …
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Foes Of Arizona School Vouchers File To Block Huge Expansion
Foes Of Arizona School Vouchers File To Block Huge Expansion https://digitalarkansasnews.com/foes-of-arizona-school-vouchers-file-to-block-huge-expansion/
PHOENIX (AP) — Public school advocates who oppose a massive expansion of Arizona’s private school voucher system enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in July filed enough signatures Friday to block it from taking effect.
The law, which extends the program to every child in the state, will be on hold instead of taking effect Saturday. If a review finds that Save Our Schools Arizona has met the requirement for nearly 119,000 valid signatures — and if those signatures survive any court challenges filed by voucher backers — it will remain blocked until the November 2024 election.
Beth Lewis, executive director of the grassroots group formed when a similar expansion passed in 2017 and was successfully challenged at the polls, said Friday that the group turned in 141,714 signatures. That’s fewer than they hoped, since groups trying to refer laws to the voters or get initiatives on the ballot usually aim for at least a 25% cushion.
Voters rejected the earlier expansion by a 2/3 majority in the 2018 election.
Lewis put part of the blame on Ducey, who held onto the bill for 10 days after the Legislature adjourned, a move that cut the amount of time opponents had to collect signatures from 90 to 80 days.
“We definitely wish we would have had those 10 days that Ducey stole from the voters to build our cushion,” Lewis said. “But we have enough that we feel confident that with the validity of our signatures we can turn in and get through the processing and get it on the ballot.”
Voucher opponents say the program siphons money away from the state’s public schools, which have been underfunded for decades and educate the vast majority of the state’s students, although Ducey and the Legislature have pumped cash into the system over the past several years. Backers of the voucher program say it allows parents to choose the best school for their children. Ducey is a major “school choice” backer and touted the expansion at a ceremonial bill signing in August.
Supporters of the expansion of the state’s voucher program, technically called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, organized to try to persuade voters not to sign the petitions. They showed up at signing events with “Decline to Sign” signs and called businesses to tell them petition circulators were in their parking lots.
Among those who back the expansion are national “school choice” groups like the American Federation for Children, founded and once led by Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education in the Trump Administration.
Scott Smith, a Republican former state senator who is now the state director for the AFC, said he expects “any and all” efforts to defeat the voter referendum, either in the courts or at the ballot box.
“Rest assured, whatever happens, I’m sure it’s safe to say myself and others and the parents will do whatever we can to protect their rights to educate their kids how they see best,” Smith said.
Under the state constitution, voters can block most laws passed by the Legislature by collecting signatures. To allow that, most new laws take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, which is the deadline for a referral.
Although about a third of Arizona students qualify for the existing voucher program — mainly those living in low-income areas — only about 12,000 students statewide currently use the system.
The expansion Ducey signed will let every parent in Arizona take public money now sent to the K-12 public school system and use it to pay for their children’s private school tuition, homeschool materials or other education costs.
Arizona already has the most expansive education options in the nation and will have the most comprehensive voucher system if the law takes effect.
An estimated 60,000 currently-enrolled private school students and about 38,000 homeschooled students would immediately be eligible for up to $7,000 per year, although a small number already get vouchers. All 1.1 million students who attend traditional district and charter schools would also qualify to leave their public schools and receive money to attend private schools.
Since the state education department opened a new portal for parents to apply under the universal eligibility law, more than 10,000 applications have been received.
Many parents of private school students currently get tuition money through one of several tax credit programs. That pays less, however, so many are likely to switch to a voucher.
Lewis and other opponents of the program say they worry that as much as $1 billion could be lost from the public school system funding. K-12 schools currently get about $8 billion a year in state funding.
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AP News Summary At 10:45 A.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1045-a-m-edt/
‘Fighting fit’: Trial to show Oath Keepers’ road to Jan. 6
It’s been a long road to the upcoming Capitol riot trial of the the leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers. But the prosecution’s case against Stewart Rhodes covers a lot more than just the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes and four co-defendants are facing the difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors will try to show that for the Oath Keepers, the siege wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment protest but that it was part of a weekslong plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from election-denier Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Jury selection begins Tuesday in federal court in the nation’s capital. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Russia shells Ukrainian cities amid Kremlin-staged votes
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces have launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes continue to pave the way for Moscow to annex occupied regions of Ukraine. Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19. Kyiv and its Western allies say the votes underway in four regions of Ukraine are a sham with no legal force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents to undermine “this farce.” He also encouraged people called up to fight to desert or sabotage the Russian military. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a hastily approved bill that toughens the punishment for soldiers who disobey officers’ orders, desert or surrender to the enemy.
West: More sanctions, isolation if Putin carries out threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — How will American leaders and their allies respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of his bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields? Putin this week renewed threats of claiming more Ukrainian territory, and even using nuclear weapons. U.S. and European leaders have made clear they will try to double down on the same tactics that have helped put Russia in a corner in Ukraine. That means more financial penalties and international isolation for Russia, more arms and other backing for Ukraine. There’s no sign of the United States and NATO matching Putin’s intensified nuclear threats with the same bluster, which could raise the risks of escalating the conflict.
As Ukraine worries UN, some leaders rue what’s pushed aside
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In speech after speech, world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly are spotlighting Russia’s war in Ukraine. A few are prodding the world not to forget everything else. While no one is dismissing the importance of the conflict, some comments quietly speak to some unease about the international community’s absorption in Ukraine. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, for one, says the ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult to tackle other longstanding issues including inequality, nuclear disarmament and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale
ATLANTA (AP) — A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump. Since then, a series of revelations about what happened in Coffee County have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used throughout Georgia have been compromised. The tale involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to Trump and a cast of characters from an area that rarely draws notice from outsiders.
Dissident: ‘Iranian women are furious’ over headscarf death
NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian activist Masih Alinejad says the videos and messages she’s been receiving in recent days from women in Iran are showing how angry they are following a young woman’s death in police custody over a violation of the country’s strict religious dress code. The spur for this latest explosion of outrage was the death earlier this month of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The young woman was detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of strictures demanding women wear the Islamic headscarves in public. She died in custody. Protests have been going on around the country for days. Alinejad would love to see more support from those in the West, as well.
Abortion is a matter of ‘freedom’ for Biden and Democrats
WASHINGTON (AP) — The way President Joe Biden sees it, the overturning of Roe vs. Wade by the Supreme Court wasn’t just about whether a woman has the right to obtain an abortion. “It’s about freedom,” Biden said this past week while in New York. Vice President Kamala Harris tells voters that “extremist, so-called leaders trumpet the rhetoric of freedom while they take away freedoms.” That deliberate echo of “freedom” from Biden, Harris and other top White House officials shows how Democrats at the highest ranks are increasingly co-opting traditionally conservative rhetoric in a blunt appeal to a broad swath of the electorate this fall.
In GOP legislatures, a gender divide emerges over abortion
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A stark gender divide has emerged in debates unfolding in Republican-led states including West Virginia, Indiana and South Carolina following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision to end constitutional protections for abortion. As male-dominated legislatures worked to advance bans, protesters were more likely to be women. That happened even as legislators often had support of the few Republican women holding office. In all three states, lawmakers fighting against abortion bans have pointed to the gender divide. They’ve insisted that male counterparts shouldn’t get to dictate medical decisions for women. Ban supporters maintain that abortion affects not only women, but also children, and all of society.
South Dakota investigation weighs Noem’s use of state plane
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is under investigation for using a state-owned airplane to fly to political events and bring family members with her on trips. But the decision on whether to prosecute the Republican governor likely hinges on how a county prosecutor interprets an untested law that was passed by voters in 2006. State law allows the aircraft only to be used “in the conduct of state business.” But Noem attended events hosted by political organizations. State plane logs also show that Noem often had family members join her on in-state flights in 2019. It blurred the lines between official travel and attending family events, including her son’s prom and her daughter’s wedding.
Fiona knocks out power with strong winds in Atlantic Canada
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Strong rain and winds are lashing the Atlantic Canada region as Fiona hits as a powerful post-tropical cyclone. Canadian forecasters are warning it could be one of the most severe storms in the country’s history. Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday after transforming from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters caution that despite the change, Fiona still could have hurricane-strength winds and will bring drenching rains and huge waves. More than 500,000 customers in Atlantic Canada are affected by outages.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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