Digital Arkansas News

Naturals Top RoughRiders Behind Pair Of Three-Run Frames https://digitalarkansasnews.com/naturals-top-roughriders-behind-pair-of-three-run-frames/ SPRINGDALE, AR – Three run third and sixth innings helped power the Northwest Arkansas Naturals to a 6-3 win over the Frisco RoughRiders at Arvest Ballpark Thursday. Luca Tresh opened the scoring with a three-run homer in the third inning, his fifth with the Naturals and 19th overall this year. After Frisco tied the game in the top of the sixth, Seuly Matias singled in the go-ahead run, then Matias and Jeison Guzmán crossed on a two-run single from Diego Hernández. Guzmán and Matias each collected two-hit games, while Hernández and Tresh finished with two-hit nights, combining to drive in five of the six runs. The Naturals collected 14 hits as a club, the most in a single game in nearly a month. Northwest Arkansas starting pitcher Jon Bowlan set the tone early for the Naturals, as he fired five shutout innings to open the night. Bowlan stranded the bases loaded in the second, threw a 1-2-3 third inning, then faced the minimum in the fourth and fifth thanks to a pair of double plays. Bowlan pitched into the sixth inning for the first time this season, but put the first two runners on, giving way to left-hander Christian Chamberlain out of the bullpen. Chamberlain allowed both inherited runners to score, plus one of his own as Frisco tied the game, but a third double play in as many innings got the southpaw out of a jam. Chamberlain threw a scoreless seventh, the handed the ball off to Emilio Márquez, who kept the RoughRiders off the board in the eighth and ninth innings, to earn his second save of the year. Alec Marsh takes the mound Friday for Northwest Arkansas, looking to keep the momentum going as the game begins at 7:05 p.m. CT from Arvest Ballpark. Rodriguez Doubles Twice, Flying Chanclas Lose to Amarillo – San Antonio Missions Rodriguez Doubles Twice, Flying Chanclas Lose to Amarillo – San Antonio Missions Naturals Top RoughRiders Behind Pair of Three-Run Frames – Northwest Arkansas Naturals Graceffo Nearly Perfect; Cards Blank Drillers, 8-0 – Springfield Cardinals Surge Make It Five in a Row – Wichita Wind Surge Vukovich Provides Game-Tying and Winning Runs in 6-2 Win – Amarillo Sod Poodles Hooks Falter Late, Travs Comeback for 3-0 Series Lead – Corpus Christi Hooks Travs Rally in Eighth, Win Third Straight – Arkansas Travelers Drillers Shut Out By Graceffo And Cardinals – Tulsa Drillers Drillers Announce 2023 Schedule – Tulsa Drillers Collin Wiles Makes MLB Debut with Athletics – Frisco RoughRiders Wichita Wind Surge to Host Two USD 259 High School Football Games – Wichita Wind Surge 2022 Riders Playoff Tickets on Sale – Frisco RoughRiders De Los Santos Launches Go-Ahead Homer in 9th – Amarillo Sod Poodles Bradford, Offense Shines in Win over Naturals – Frisco RoughRiders Naturals Fall Behind Early in 9-2 Defeat by Roughriders – Northwest Arkansas Naturals Ornelas Homers and Drives in Three as Missions Fall to Amarillo – San Antonio Missions DeLoach Delivers Walk-Off Win in 10th – Arkansas Travelers The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff. Read More Here

U.S. Expects Months Of Intense Fighting In Ukraine-Russia War https://digitalarkansasnews.com/u-s-expects-months-of-intense-fighting-in-ukraine-russia-war/ Despite Ukrainian forces’ startling gains in the war against Russia, the Biden administration anticipates months of intense fighting with wins and losses for each side, spurring U.S. plans for an open-ended campaign with no prospect for a negotiated end in sight. The surprise success by Ukrainian forces in areas of the country occupied by Russian troops during the weekend generated euphoria among Ukrainians sapped by months of fighting. It also fueled hopes among many of Kyiv’s foreign backers that its scrappy military might be able to expel Russia’s larger, better-armed force. President Volodymyr Zelensky, raising his country’s blue-and-yellow flag Wednesday over the liberated city of Izyum, promised it would be “definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people.” Officials in Kyiv said forces recaptured some 3,000 square kilometers in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry described its forces’ disorderly withdrawal as a tactical “regroup.” U.S. officials, providing a quiet check to Ukrainian exuberance, said that while Ukraine troops have performed better in offensive operations than even their American backers had anticipated, those forces will encounter a period of intense fighting in the lead-up to winter as part of what they expect to be a “nonlinear” trajectory for the war. A senior State Department official, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, said Thursday that while Ukrainian forces had proven they can reverse advances made by Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Russia retained a potent force. “They have significant equipment and arms and munitions positioned in the occupied territories, not to mention what they have in Russia,” the official said. “And so it is far from over, despite the momentum.” Those expectations undergird a U.S. strategy of attempting to hold together international support and gradually expanding American military aid without the immediate injection of heavier weaponry that might trigger a wider war. The advances in Izyum and other areas — which allowed shellshocked local residents to venture out of their homes, sharing stories of occupation and abuse — were all the more rousing following Ukrainian setbacks, including the withdrawal from the city of Lysychansk in July. After the weekend advances around Kherson, Russia hit electricity plants and other infrastructure, illustrating its willingness to strike civilian targets in an attempt to weaken Ukrainian resolve. U.S. officials expect intense fighting for the remainder of the fall, as both sides attempt to put themselves in the best possible position before the onset of winter makes transport and combat more difficult. Russian forces still control vast sections of Ukraine — including the cities of Kherson, Melitopol, Mariupol and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 — and U.S. officials anticipate Putin may use the coldest months to refit his spent, demoralized military before launching a renewed campaign in the spring. Putin has remained defiant, threatening to cut off gas supplies to Europe even as hints of public dissent raise questions about how long he can keep Russia behind what the Kremlin has dubbed its “special military operation.” Pentagon officials have said they are looking at ways to assist Ukraine’s evolving defense needs, focusing on areas including air defenses, surveillance and fighter capability. So far, the total of U.S. security aid to Ukraine amounts to some $15 billion since Russia’s invasion. Despite Ukraine’s ongoing calls for new, more sophisticated military hardware, U.S. officials don’t plan to immediately expand the array of weaponry they are providing, which has included High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems armed with midrange Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. So far, the officials have stopped short of authorizing systems with much longer ranges, including the Army Tactical Missile Systems. Russia’s Foreign Ministry illustrated the stakes of such decisions on Thursday when it warned that supplying longer-range missiles to Ukraine would cross a red line for Russia and make nations providing them a “party to the conflict,” reinforcing earlier suggestions that Russia could strike NATO nations if they authorized shipments of more potent arms. Russia’s setback in Kharkiv has prompted speculation about whether Putin would be forced to resort to a general mobilization to fuel his war — a possibility the Kremlin has dismissed for now — or even use a nuclear device as Russia seeks to compensate for its defeat. Samuel Charap, a Russia expert at at Rand Corp., said the counteroffensive success was shaping the dynamics around the conflict, in part by illustrating Ukraine’s ability to successfully conduct complete offensive operations. “We had no evidence of that before,” Charap said. “That very fact is likely to disincentivize them to seeking compromise because they think they can do more of that.” To date, the U.S. strategy has been informed partly by what U.S. officials see as the remoteness of any possible negotiations to halt the fighting. A flurry of attempts to kindle substantive talks early in the fighting fizzled out as each side embraced a harder line. “Right now the Ukrainians do not have a viable map from which to negotiate. Twenty percent of their territory has gone; something like 30 percent of their industrial and agricultural potential is gone,” a senior State Department official said last week. “That’s why we’re supporting this counteroffensive.” U.S. officials expect it would be difficult for Zelensky to negotiate a settlement even if he wanted to do so, after Russian abuses have hardened public opinion against possible concessions to Moscow’s war aims. Moreover, officials say, Russia remains an untrustworthy negotiating partner and Putin’s war aims have shifted repeatedly as the tactical situation has evolved. The U.S. goal remains helping Ukraine make battlefield advances that will strengthen its negotiating position should eventual negotiations with Russia occur. The current moment draws attention to a tension that underlies America’s strategy for the war, as officials channel massive military support to Ukraine, fueling a war with global consequences, while attempting to remain agnostic about when and how Kyiv might strike a deal to end it. President Biden has vowed to support Ukraine in asserting its independence and sovereignty, promising in an opinion piece this spring to do so without pressuring Kyiv to make territorial concessions. He did not however explicitly back the goal of recovering all territory occupied by Russia, including areas taken or contested since 2014. The first senior State Department official said another key part of the Biden administration’s plan for propelling the conflict toward a settlement was its efforts to weaken Russia’s economic and technological edge through sanctions and other means. “But telling a sovereign country what success looks like for them, or what a negotiated solution looks like, that just isn’t where we want to be,” the official said. So far, U.S. officials appear to have kept to that pledge, taking a hands-off approach that marks a sharp contrast to U.S. actions in places where officials have at times adopted a much more expansive approach in dealing with foreign leaders supported by U.S. aid. “For both political and strategic reasons, they’ve been uninterested in drawing lines on the map and I think they’re absolutely justified in that reluctance,” Daniel Fried, a veteran diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Poland, said this week. Biden will attempt to stiffen international support for Ukraine’s self-defense at the United Nations next week, seizing the annual General Assembly meetings as a chance to smooth over friction caused by global inflation and food insecurity linked to the war. The resolve of European nations in particular, which have been among Ukraine’s biggest backers, will be tested this winter by high energy prices. But experts including Alexander Vershbow, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia and deputy secretary general of NATO, say that tension may eventually come to a head, for example if Ukraine faces a choice between settling for territory it controlled before Feb. 24 and embracing a longer conflict with the goal of recapturing all areas under Russian control since 2014. “The Ukrainians are right now adamant that they would say we won’t concede one inch, but at some point difficult choices will be needed,” Vershbow said Thursday. Right now, however, “the administration doesn’t want to take a position.” Fried said the Biden administration was right to approach the months ahead with caution, but said Ukraine was different than other recent U.S. conflicts. “We’ve been so traumatized by our failures in Afghanistan and, partially, in Iraq. This is a situation where an actual success is possible — not inevitable — and it’s not a long shot,” Fried said. “Leaning into that prospect is in our national interest.” ​ Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton contributed to this report. War in Ukraine: What you need to know The latest: Grain shipments from Ukraine are gathering pace under the agreement hammered out by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports had sent food prices soaring and raised fears of more hunger in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including loads of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed. The fight: The conflict on the ground grinds on as Russia uses its advantage in heavy artillery to pummel Ukrainian forces, which have sometimes been able to put up stiff resistance. In the south, Ukrainian hopes rest o...

US Judge Appoints ‘special Master’ In Trump’s Document Case https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-judge-appoints-special-master-in-trumps-document-case/ A US judge on Thursday named an independent arbiter to sort through thousands of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Florida estate and determine if any of them are protected by executive privilege. This so-called special master will be Raymond Dearie, a federal judge in New York, Judge Aileen Cannon ruled. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The US Justice Department last week accepted this choice of candidate by Trump, who is behind the drive for a special master in the unprecedented case of the August 8 FBI raid on his seaside mansion. Cannon last week issued an injunction that barred the Justice Department from using any of the documents — including the ones marked classified — for its investigation while the special master conducted their review. The department argued that a smaller set of 100 or so classified documents that are part of the reams of papers taken from Mar-a-Lago should first be given to criminal prosecutors investigating Trump, before they go to the special master. The department filed suit to be able to resume looking at the classified papers right away. But in her ruling Thursday, Cannon refused to lift any part of her injunction. She rejected the Justice Department’s argument that her injunction freezing the probe harmed national security. Trump is facing mounting legal pressure, with the Justice Department saying top-secret documents were “likely concealed” to obstruct an FBI probe into his potential mishandling of classified materials. He has denied all wrongdoing, saying the raid was “one of the most egregious assaults on democracy in the history of our country.” Government attorneys previously opposed Trump’s special master request altogether, arguing that an independent screening for privileged material could harm national security, and was also unnecessary as a team had already completed a screening. In addition to the documents probe, Trump faces investigations in New York into his business practices, as well as legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn results of the 2020 election, and for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. Read more: US Justice Dept agrees to Trump ‘special master’ suggestion Read More Here

New York Judge Named As Special Master In Trump Mar-A-Lago Probe https://digitalarkansasnews.com/new-york-judge-named-as-special-master-in-trump-mar-a-lago-probe/ Raymond Dearie, a former federal prosecutor who served as the chief judge of the federal court based in Brooklyn, had approval from both DOJ and Trump lawyers. Author: wltx.com Published: 11:41 PM EDT September 15, 2022 Updated: 11:41 PM EDT September 15, 2022 Read More Here

Ahead Of November Mid-Term, Donald Trump Coins India-US Friendship Slogan In Hindi https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ahead-of-november-mid-term-donald-trump-coins-india-us-friendship-slogan-in-hindi/ “Bharat and America sabse achhe dost” Trump is seen rehearsing and saying in a video released by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC). The slogan in English means ”India and the United States are best friends”. PTI September 16, 2022 / 09:07 AM IST Donald Trump (Image Courtesy: Reuters) Former US president Donald Trump has coined an India-US friendship slogan in Hindi as part of his efforts to woo the influential Indian-American community before the mid-term elections in November. “Bharat and America sabse achhe dost” Trump is seen rehearsing and saying in a video released by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC). The slogan in English means ”India and the United States are best friends”. In the short 30-second video, Trump is seen seated with his supporter Chicago-based businessman Shalabh Kumar from the Republican Hindu Coalition. The new slogan is inspired by the phenomenal success of the 2016 slogan of Trump in Hindi “Abki Baar Trump Sarkar” which had caught the imagination of the Indian Americans then and had played a key part in his victories in some of the key swing states. Kumar who has been instrumental in both Trump’s slogans “Abki Baar Trump Sarkar” and “Bharat and America sabse achhe dost” told PTI in an interview this week that he and the RHC plan to run the former president’s latest slogan in the ethnic Indian media to gain Indian-American support and vote for the November 8 mid-term elections. Political observers and the latest polls indicate that Republicans are most likely to regain the majority in the House of Representatives. “The end goal is to heavily support five (GOP) candidates for Senate” where the margin of victory is going to be “less than 50,000 votes. Some might be even 10,000 votes or 5,000 votes,” Kumar said. These Senate races are in the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia, he said, adding that the small Hindu community in these States can make that difference. “The Hindu vote will make the difference. That’s the biggest block of independent voters,” Kumar said in response to a question. “We are going to have a (national) campaign (with focus on these states) which is going to be close to what the 2016 campaign was,” he said. Kumar and the RHC were an important part of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. However, the two fell apart in the 2020 presidential elections. Kumar says early this year he met Trump at the latter’s initiative at Mar-a-Lago on March 21. There have been a few meetings after that as well. Indian-Americans comprise slightly more than 1 per cent of the total US population-and less than 1 per cent of all registered voters. Read More Here

US Judge Appoints https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-judge-appoints/ In this aerial view, former US president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is seen on September 14, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump’s legal team is currently negotiating with the Justice Department regarding the selection of a Special Master to review documents, some marked Top Secret, seized when the FBI searched the compound. — Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP pic Follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our Telegram channel and browser alerts for the latest news you need to know. Friday, 16 Sep 2022 9:49 AM MYT WASHINGTON, Sept 16 — A US judge yesterday named an independent arbiter to sort through thousands of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Florida estate and determine if any of them are protected by executive privilege. This so-called special master will be Raymond Dearie, a federal judge in New York, Judge Aileen Cannon ruled. The US Justice Department last week accepted this choice of candidate by Trump, who is behind the drive for a special master in the unprecedented case of the August 8 FBI raid on his seaside mansion. Cannon last week issued an injunction that barred the Justice Department from using any of the documents — including the ones marked classified — for its investigation while the special master conducted their review. The department argued that a smaller set of 100 or so classified documents that are part of the reams of papers taken from Mar-a-Lago should first be given to criminal prosecutors investigating Trump, before they go to the special master. The department filed suit to be able to resume looking at the classified papers right away. But in her ruling yesterday, Cannon refused to lift any part of her injunction. She rejected the Justice Department’s argument that her injunction freezing the probe harmed national security. Trump is facing mounting legal pressure, with the Justice Department saying top-secret documents were “likely concealed” to obstruct an FBI probe into his potential mishandling of classified materials. He has denied all wrongdoing, saying the raid was “one of the most egregious assaults on democracy in the history of our country.” Government attorneys previously opposed Trump’s special master request altogether, arguing that an independent screening for privileged material could harm national security, and was also unnecessary as a team had already completed a screening. In addition to the documents probe, Trump faces investigations in New York into his business practices, as well as legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn results of the 2020 election, and for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. — AFP Read More Here

Rep. Maloney Introduces Bills To Curb Future Trump-Like Presidents https://digitalarkansasnews.com/rep-maloney-introduces-bills-to-curb-future-trump-like-presidents/ WASHINGTON — A package of bills that Democrats hope will curb any future Trump-like presidents passed the House Thursday, advancing measures that could stand as a legacy to departing Rep. Carolyn Maloney. The bills aim to shield the U.S. Census from White House manipulation, protect federal workers who blow the whistle on renegade administrations, and prevent presidents from easily removing career civil service in favor of political appointees. The Census bill in particular has been a focus for Maloney, whose office raised concerns early in Donald Trump’s presidency about how his administration was preparing for the decennial count of Americans. Among other things, Trump’s commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, attempted to add a citizenship question to the survey outside of the normal process. Career Census officials warned that step could cause problems, including causing an over-count of white Americans. The Supreme Court ultimately barred the question over improper process after lower courts ruled it had been sparked by “racial animus.” “The previous administration took steps that undermined the bipartisan nature of the Census,” Maloney said in a debate ahead of the votes, pointing to unprecedented numbers of political appointees Trump named to the Census, as well as the procedural irregularities. “Partisan manipulation of the census is simply wrong.” The whistleblower bill would plug a loophole in federal law after a judge ruled in 2020 that agencies are allowed to investigate employees who allege wrongdoing in certain circumstances, rather than the wrongdoing itself. A third bill, called the “Preventing a Patronage System Act,” would bar the White House from reclassifying whole classes federal civil servants as eligible to be removed at the whim of a president to be replaced by political appointees. “Blind loyalty and ideological purity tests must never determine who we trust with securing our nation’s borders, fortifying federal IT systems, caring for seniors and veterans, fighting public health threats, or responding to natural disasters,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “As one former federal human resource expert said, do we really think a government of political hacks and psychophants is in the best interest of the American people?” Although some Republicans supported the bills, most GOP lawmakers ripped the measures as an attempt to entrench federal bureaucrats and a reflection of Democrats’ obsession with Trump. “Our founding fathers never envisioned a massive unelected, unaccountable federal government with the power to create policies that impact Americans’ everyday lives, but that’s currently the state of today’s federal bureaucracy,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. “President Trump sought to take on this bureaucracy and restore power to the people by draining the swamp.” Connolly fired back that a lot had changed since the founders drafted the Constitution. “I remind my friend from Kentucky, neither did they ever envision the state of Kentucky. As a matter of fact, what is now Kentucky was claimed and owned by my home state, Virginia,” Connolly said. “There are a lot of things that weren’t envisioned back in the 1780s that we have to deal with in the 21st century, and that’s what we’re doing here today.” The bills’ fates are uncertain in the Senate. With time running out on this session of Congress, the Senate’s calendar is already crowded with bills. In order to pass, Maloney’s bills would likely have to be attached to a larger one, such as a government funding bill. ——- Read More Here

Biden Accuses Republican Border-State Governors Of Using Migrants ‘as Props’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-accuses-republican-border-state-governors-of-using-migrants-as-props/ President Biden accused Republicans on Thursday of “playing politics with human beings” after two busloads of immigrants sent by the governor of Texas arrived in front of the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Kamala Harris lives. In an address during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s gala kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, Mr. Biden said GOP border-state governors were using migrants “as props” by busing and flying them into blue states that pride themselves on being illegal-immigrant sanctuaries. “What they’re doing is simply wrong, it’s un-American, it’s reckless,” he said. “We have a process in place to manage migrants at the border. We’re working to make sure it’s safe and orderly and humane. Republican officials should not interfere with that process by waging these political stunts.” Earlier Thursday, 100 migrants showed up on Ms. Harris’s doorstep unannounced, courtesy of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The White House said administration officials were given no advanced warning that the buses would be arriving. The migrants on the buses said they were unaware that the final destination was the vice president’s residence. The governors in Arizona and Florida have also recently sent illegal immigrants into liberal metropolitan areas that have been declared “sanctuary cities.” Just on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron De Santis sent some to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. They say the move is in response to elected officials who refuse to acknowledge problems arising from a porous southern border. On Sunday Ms. Harris told NBC’s Chuck Todd that the southern border was “secure” but blamed the Trump administration. “We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration. But there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix given the deterioration that happened over the last four years,” she said. In his address Thursday, Mr. Biden chided Republicans for not negotiating on a measure to provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal and other immigrants. “It’s long overdue for Senate Republicans to come to the table to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farmworkers and essential workers,” he said. “We need to modernize our laws so businesses get workers they need and families don’t have to wait decades to be brought back together. It’s time to get it done.” • Kerry Picket contributed to this report. Read More Here

The Justice Dept.’s Jan. 6 Investigation Is Looking At … Everything https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-justice-dept-s-jan-6-investigation-is-looking-at-everything/ Dozens of subpoenas issued last week show that the Justice Department is seeking vast amounts of information, and communications with more than 100 people, as part of its sprawling inquiry into the origins, fundraising and motives of the effort to block Joe Biden from being certified as president in early 2021. The subpoenas, three of which were reviewed by The Washington Post, are far-reaching, covering 18 separate categories of information, including any communications the recipients had with scores of people in six states where supporters of then-President Donald Trump sought to promote “alternate” electors to replace electors in those states won by Biden. One request is for any communications “to, from, or including” specific people tied to such efforts in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Most of the names listed were proposed fake electors in those states, while a small number were Trump campaign officials who organized the slates. Taken together, the subpoenas show an investigation that began immediately after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has cast an ever-widening net, even as it gathers information about those in the former president’s inner circle. “It looks like a multipronged fraud and obstruction investigation,” said Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor. “It strikes me that they’re going after a very, very large group of people, and my guess is they are going to make all of the charging decisions toward the end.” After being told the various categories of information sought in the indictment, Walden noted the focus on wide categories of communications among the individuals. He said he suspected it was part of a prosecutorial strategy to try to blunt any claims that Trump activists were just following the advice of lawyers in seeking to block the certification of Biden’s victory. “It’s hard to say you were just relying on all these lawyers if there are text chains showing conspirator conversations, or consciousness of guilt,” Walden said. A subpoena is not proof or even evidence of wrongdoing, but rather a demand for information that could produce evidence of criminal conduct. The new batch of subpoenas point to three main areas of Justice Department interest, distinct but related: the effort to replace valid Biden electors with unearned, pro-Trump electors before the formal congressional tally of the 2020 election outcome on Jan. 6, 2021 the rally that preceded the riot that day the fundraising and spending of the Save America political action committee, an entity that raised more than $100 million in the wake of the 2020 election, largely based on appeals to mount pro-Trump legal challenges to election results. Even those three prongs don’t capture other, important parts of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation, in which more than 870 people have been arrested for alleged crimes of violence, trespass and — in the case of two extremist groups who prosecutors say played key roles in the chaos — seditious conspiracy. Hundreds more are still being sought for crimes related to the riot. The Justice Department inspector general is investigating a former senior Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, for possible conspiracy, false statements and obstruction, according to a new letter filed in his bar disciplinary case. According to emails and public testimony, Clark tried to get the Justice Department to publicly express doubts about the election results, even going so far as to be willing to take over the department from his then-boss, Jeffrey Rosen, to do so. He has denied wrongdoing. In another sign that the Justice Department’s own role in 2020 is also part of the ever-growing investigation, the recent subpoenas seek any communications with “any member, employee, or agent of the United States Department of Justice, or any component, branch, litigating unit, or office” of the agency. The subpoenas reviewed by The Post also seek broad categories of additional information from the recipients, who include former Trump aides and Republican activists. The subpoenas demand that recipients produce, within two weeks, all documents and communications “relating to Certification” of the election, as well as anything “relating to or constituting any evidence (a) tending to show that there was fraud of any kind relating to the 2020 Presidential Election, or (b) used or relied upon to support any claim of fraud in relation to the 2020 Presidential Election.” Also requested is any documentation “relating to any information conveyed to you or any other person challenging, rebutting, undercutting, tending to show, or claiming that there was not fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, or claiming or tending to show that any allegation of fraud was unfounded, baseless, or incorrect in whole or in part,” as well as anything sent to any local, state, or federal official about claims of election fraud, or efforts to persuade government officials to “change or affect” the election results, “or delay certification of the results.” Some of the people who have received subpoenas said there was no way to comply within the two-week time frame, because there were so many categories of information and so many things to review, and some of the recipients don’t even have lawyers yet. It is not uncommon for recipients of subpoenas to seek and receive more time to produce all the requested information. Two Trump advisers said more than 30 people received subpoenas in the probe, including some who were low-level administrative staff. Trump’s team is arranging lawyers for at least some of the aides under subpoena, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. Trump himself has not received a subpoena, according to a person close to him, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The burst of subpoenas comes about two months after a similar flurry in mid-June, which sought communications with dozens of individuals, including Trump lawyers and advocates such as Rudy Giuliani, Bernard Kerik and others. Kerik is among those who were hit with a subpoena this month, showing that the Justice Department, which was criticized by some lawyers earlier this year for not aggressively investigating those close to Trump, is now examining the conduct of many different categories of people — including some very close to the former president. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows received a subpoena earlier in the summer seeking documents he had already turned over the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, and has turned over responsive records, said a person familiar with the subpoena, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The subpoena did not seek Meadows’s testimony or documents he had withheld from the committee citing executive privilege, the person said. CNN reported late Wednesday that Meadows provided documents to a Justice Department subpoena. Another former senior Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, also received a subpoena. His subpoena was first reported by the New York Times. After turning over thousands of emails and text messages to the House committee in response to a congressional subpoena, Meadows ended his cooperation with that panel, citing executive privilege. He also sued the House, seeking to quash the congressional subpoena; that case remains pending in federal court. “Without confirming or denying any interaction with the Justice Department investigation, Mr. Meadows’ posture has been to meet his legal obligations as to both the production and privilege of documents or testimony,” George Terwilliger III, Meadows’s lawyer, said. Meadows is far from the only subpoena recipient who has been asked to provide the Justice Department with records they have already provided to the House committee. But the new batch of subpoenas ask others not only for whatever they have turned over to the committee but whatever documentation they have that would be responsive to the committee’s request — indicating that federal prosecutors are trying to make sure that if witnesses have come across new material, that they should provide that, too. The request for copies of what was already given to the Jan. 6 committee also points to a long-festering problem for the Justice Department — the House committee has been slow to provide the department access to the committee’s evidence, a potentially critical issue as prosecutors prepare to go to trial against members of the Oath Keepers group and others. The new subpoenas appear to be an attempt by the department, at least in part, to gather that evidence by other means. The subpoenas also seek all “documents and communications relating to the Save America PAC, including, but not limited to, documents related to the formation of the Save America PAC, the funding of the Save America PAC, and/or the use of money received by the Save America PAC.” By seeking information about the political action committee, the Justice Department appears to be looking for evidence of fraud. Prosecutors must meet a high legal threshold to bring criminal charges in such cases. “You have to prove they knew it was a lie, and fraudulently raised money off it anyways,” said a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. “I’m not sure any of the people [who donated to the PAC] would want action.” The Justice Department has added fraud and public corruption experts to its investigative team, this person said, and is “fully staffed for business,” though, as the subpoenas reflect, that work is still in the early stages. Read More Here

Russia-Ukraine War Latest: What We Know On Day 205 Of The Invasion https://digitalarkansasnews.com/russia-ukraine-war-latest-what-we-know-on-day-205-of-the-invasion/ Ukrainian authorities have found a mass burial site of more than 440 bodies in the eastern city of Izium that was recaptured from Russian forces, a regional police chief has said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy likened the discovery to what happened in Bucha outside Kyiv early in the war, Reuters reported. “Russia is leaving death behind it everywhere and must be held responsible,” he said. The European Union chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said she wanted the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to face the international criminal court over war crimes in Ukraine. “That Putin must lose this war and must face up to his actions, that is important to me,” she told the TV channel of German news outlet Bild on Thursday. Ukraine has lost nearly 15% of its grain storage capacity in the war, threatening its role as a key food supplier to the world, a report said. The US government-backed Conflict Observatory said Russians had seized 6.24m tonnes of food storage capacity, and another 2.25m tonnes of capacity in Ukrainian hands had been destroyed, Agence France-Presse reported. As a result, farmers were running out of room to store their output for shipment, which could discourage plantings for the next crop, especially winter wheat, the report said. Pope Francis said it was morally legitimate for countries to provide weapons to Ukraine to help it defend itself from Russian aggression. “This is a political decision which it can be moral, morally acceptable, if it is done under conditions of morality … Self-defence is not only licit but also an expression of love for the homeland,” he said. “Someone who does not defend oneself, who does not defend something, does not love it. Those who defend [something] love it.” Vladimir Putin thanked the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, for his “balanced” approach to the Ukraine crisis and blasted Washington’s “ugly” policies, at a meeting that followed a major setback for Moscow on the battlefield. Putin told his Chinese counterpart on Thursday: “We understand your questions and your concerns in this regard, and we certainly will offer a detailed explanation of our stand on this issue during today’s meeting, even though we already talked about it earlier.” Germany will supply Ukraine with additional armoured vehicles and rocket launch systems but will not provide the battle tanks that Kyiv has long asked for, says the German defence minister, Christine Lambrecht. She said on Thursday that Soviet-made BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles would also “very quickly” head to Ukraine from Greece. The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation board of governors passed a resolution demanding Russia end its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, Reuters reports. Thursday’s resolution is the second on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board. The US president, Joe Biden, announced a new $600m arms package for Ukraine, according to a White House memo sent to the state department on Thursday. Reuters reports the memo does not detail how the money will be used, but sources said it was expected to include munitions and more Himars rocket systems. The US has imposed new sanctions on 22 Russian individuals and two Russian entities. The people include Maria Alexeyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, who has led Russia’s efforts to deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia and forced the adoption of Ukrainian children into Russian families. The entities include Task Force Rusich, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group that has participated in combat alongside Russia’s military in Ukraine. A Ukrainian volunteer medic captured by Russian forces during their deadly siege of Mariupol delivered devastating testimony before US lawmakers on Thursday, recounting her experiences of torture, death and terror. Yuliia Paievska, who was detained in the port city in March and held by Russian and pro-Russia forces for three months, spoke before the Helsinki commission, a government agency created in part to promote compliance with human rights internationally. Read More Here

Tech 'capitulation': BofA Top Banker Rick Sherlund Predicts Breakout In Mergers Due To Troubled Economy https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tech-capitulation-bofa-top-banker-rick-sherlund-predicts-breakout-in-mergers-due-to-troubled-economy/ Mergers in software may be about to break out. Top investment banker Rick Sherlund of Bank of America sees a wave of struggling companies putting themselves up for sale at cheaper prices due to the economic downturn. “You do need to see greater capitulation,” the firm’s vice chair of technology investment banking told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Thursday. “Companies will have their valuation expectations soften, and that will combine with more fully functional financial markets. I think it will accelerate the pace of M&A [mergers and acquisitions].” His broad analysis comes on the heels of Adobe‘s $20 billion dollar deal Thursday for design platform Figma. Adobe failed to generate excitement on Wall Street. Its shares plunged 17% due to questions about the price tag. Sherlund, a former software analyst who hit No. 1 on Institutional Investor’s all-star analyst list 17 times in a row, worked at Goldman Sachs during the 2000 tech bubble. He believes the Street is now in the beginning stages of a difficult market cycle. “You need to get through third quarter earnings reports to feel confident that maybe the bad news is largely out into the market because companies will be reporting lengthening of sales cycles,” he said. “We need to reset expectations for 2023.” Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro Sherlund and his team are very active in the M&A market. “You have private equity with a boatload of cash, and they need functioning debt markets for leverage to do deals,” Sherlund noted. “They’re very eager and actively looking at this sector … It suggests that [for] M&A, in absence of an IPO market, we’re just going to see a lot more consolidation coming in the sector.” He notes the IPO has been hurt in connection with rising interest rate headwinds and inflation. “[The IPO market] is not open. But when the window does open back up, you are going to see a lot of companies going public,” he added. The long-term prospects for software are extremely attractive, according to Sherlund. “You’ve got to be very bullish on the long-term fundamentals of the sector,” Sherlund said. “Every company is becoming a digital enterprise.” Disclaimer Read More Here

Food Distribution For Central Arkansas Families In Need https://digitalarkansasnews.com/food-distribution-for-central-arkansas-families-in-need/ by: Claire Kreuz Posted: Sep 15, 2022 / 07:06 PM CDT Updated: Sep 15, 2022 / 07:06 PM CDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – As inflation continues to impact the price of food for families across the state, one group is hoping to provide some relief. On Thursday, the Central Arkansas Development Council gave out food to people in need across Pulaski County. The food is from the USDA and some of the items include juice, canned fruit, soups and more. Evelyn Reed with the CADC said that in the last year, more people are coming out to get a little bit of help to feed themselves and their families. The distribution of the food is based on income and household size. Participants are required to show I.D. to receive benefits. Read More…

Arkansans React To Biden’s Title IX Extension Plans https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansans-react-to-bidens-title-ix-extension-plans/ by: Rebecca Brown Posted: Sep 15, 2022 / 06:57 PM CDT Updated: Sep 15, 2022 / 07:19 PM CDT FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — President Joe Biden wants to revise Title IX, expanding it to cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Biden says as the nation progresses, so should the rules to create a more inclusive environment. “Progress in advancing equity and equality for all students, including by narrowing gender gaps in sports,” Biden said. The president would be emphasizing a student’s gender identity and allowing trans women to participate in women’s sports. Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he is not in favor of these changes and wants Biden to reconsider. “Girl sports would be undermined and the result is a violation of spirit and even the letter of Title IX itself, which was designed to enhance women’s sports,” Hutchinson said. However, Megan Tullock with the nonprofit group Northwest Arkansas Equality says she agrees with Biden and says Title IX speaks for itself. “Title IX is to make sure that schools and everything that tied to school, sports, all of that, is an equitable environment for people regardless of gender,” Tullock said. Trending Stories %D Days %H Hours %M Minutes “,”mode”:”one_time”,”sticky_bar_hide_timeout”:7,”timeToNextRecurrence”:0,”isRegular”:true,”endDate”:1663498800000}” href=”https://www.myarkansaslottery.com/games/LOTTO?utm_source=KNWA&utm_medium=CLOCK&utm_campaign=FY23ARSL&utm_content=LOTTOTEASER ” target=”_blank” September 18 2022 06:00 am Read More Here

Dearie Named Special Master To Review Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Documents https://digitalarkansasnews.com/dearie-named-special-master-to-review-trumps-mar-a-lago-documents/ A federal judge has appointed Raymond J. Dearie, a former chief federal judge in New York, to sort through the more than 11,000 documents — including classified materials — that FBI agents seized from former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence last month, to see if any should be shielded from criminal investigators because of attorney-client or executive privileges. Trump’s legal team had initially proposed Dearie to be the special master in the high-profile case and the Justice Department agreed with the selection last week. But the two groups still disagree on whether searching through the highly sensitive classified documents should be part of the special master’s responsibilities. Ultimately, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon ruled in Trump’s favor and said the special master should examine the classified documents, though she said Dearie should prioritize those materials. She denied a bid by prosecutors to allow them to use the seized material before the special master conducts the review. In her Thursday night ruling, Cannon rejected Justice Department arguments that her decision to prohibit investigators from using the seized information while the special master conducts his review will cause serious harm to the national security investigation. Even-handed application of legal rules “does not demand unquestioning trust in the determinations of the Department of Justice,” Cannon wrote in a decision that is almost certainly to be appealed by the government. Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed by the U.S. Senate just days after Trump lost his bid for reelection, added that she still “firmly” believes that the appointment of a special master, and a temporary injunction against the Justice Department using the documents, is in keeping “with the need to ensure at least the appearance of fairness and integrity under unprecedented circumstances.” Prosecutors had previously signaled that if Cannon did not amend her restrictions on the criminal investigation of Trump and his aides for possibly mishandling national defense information, or hiding or destroying government records, they would file an appeal. This is a developing story. It will be updated. Read More Here

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Trump News – Latest: Trump Nominee Appointed Special Master As He Threatens ‘big Problems’ If Charged IV News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-news-latest-trump-nominee-appointed-special-master-as-he-threatens-big-problems-if-charged-iv-news/ – Advertisement – Jen Psaki says Democrats ‘prefer to oppose’ Donald Trump before midterm A Florida judge has appointed Donald Trump’s nominee as Special Master in the FBI investigation into top secret papers seized by agents from the Mar-a-Lago estate. – Advertisement – Judge Raymond Deary will now review materials seized during a raid on the former president’s property in August, when Trump successfully sought the appointment of one. Earlier, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reportedly complied with a Justice Department subpoena related to an investigation into the events surrounding the January 6 Capitol riots. Which order is he the most senior member of the Trump administration to obey? – Advertisement – Meanwhile, Donald Trump once again claimed in an interview that he had “absolute authority” as president to declassify documents and made public the files found by the FBI in an August search at Mar-a-Lago. Had done it. The claim is misleading that there are standardized protocols that are generally followed when declassifying documents, and there is no evidence that Mr. Trump or his team did. More important to Mr Trump is that the classification status of the files he took with him in Florida is irrelevant to any crime the FBI calls for a warrant for a search in his affidavit. Still, he promised a “big problem” for America if he was convicted in the case. In another investigation into the former president, the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 has obtained “thousands” of communications between Secret Service employees at the time of the riots, according to Speaker Benny Thompson. Judge appoints Trump nominee as special master in Mar-a-Lago secret papers investigation A Florida judge has appointed Donald Trump’s nominee as Special Master in the FBI investigation into top secret papers seized by agents from the Mar-a-Lago estate. Judge Raymond Deary will now review materials seized during a raid on the former president’s property in August, when Trump successfully sought the appointment of one. Judge appoints Trump’s nominee as special master to oversee secret files Judge Raymond Deere was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and served as a federal judge in New York since the 1980s. Graeme Massey16 September 2022 00:34 Roger Stone denies filming video for ‘Queen of Canada’ The self-proclaimed “Queen of Canada”, a QAnon follower named Romana Didullo, is apparently trying to raise money for her conspiracy-fueled movement using a cameo video made by Roger Stone. However, Mr Stone says he has no idea what the group is talking about. Greg Graziosi’s story. Roger Stone denies filming video for ‘Queen of Canada’ Trump’s former adviser said he had no idea about the group and made no pledge to match their donations Oliver O’Connell16 September 2022 00:00 WATCH: How oath-takers responded to Trump’s January 6 tweet Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 23:15 White House expresses deep concern over GOP governors’ migrant flights The White House said Thursday that the use of migrants by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to punish the leaders of Democratic-led state and local governments is a “deeply dangerous” stunt that has earned innocent children political points. To put in danger. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that both governors were disrupting the federal process of handling migrants and using migrants as “political pawns.” “It’s embarrassing, it’s reckless, and just plain wrong,” she said. Andrew Feinberg reports on the administration’s response. White House calls GOP governors’ migrant flights ‘deeply dangerous’ ‘Kids … are better off being left on the streets of DC or left in Martha’s Vineyard’ Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 22:45 Trump talks about ‘bad’ McConnell, ‘Schumer’s favorite senator’ Former President Donald Trump has taken aim at Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in his latest diatribe on Truth Social. he began: Mitch McConnell is giving Democrats everything they want. He is his lapdog! He didn’t stop spending trillions of dollars by refusing to use the debt ceiling as a negotiating instrument. He left it without taking anything. Now he wants to give Manchin what he wanted to destroy America and even the people of West Virginia. Continuing he said: What about his tax on coal? The Republican Senate must do something about this absolute loser, Mitch McConnell, who folds up against the Democrats every time – and he’s only getting worse! Furthermore, the former president wrote: Finally, some Republicans with great courage! Rick Scott, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are working hard to stop Chuck Schumer and their favorite Senator Mitch McConnell through a disastrous perpetual resolution that does nothing to stop inflation, grow our economy, or restore the American dream. Won’t do—it will only put the big government first and give Munchkin his terrible deal. In conclusion, he suggested: Instead, we need a long-term sustainable resolve, so that we can deal with the real emergency, the radical left-wing destruction of America, and once again put America in the first place. McConnell is too bad! Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 22:27 Mark Meadows complies with DoJ’s January 6 subpoena Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has reportedly complied with a Justice Department subpoena related to an investigation into the events surrounding the January 6 Capitol riots. CNN broke down the story and cited “sources familiar with the matter.” According to unnamed sources, Mr Meadows provided the same material he had given to the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riots. Mr Meadows’ compliance makes him the highest-ranking member of former President Donald Trump’s administration to comply with Justice Department summons. Mark Meadows complies with DoJ’s January 6 summons, turns over texts and emails Former White House chief of staff is Trump administration’s highest-ranking member to comply with Justice Department investigation Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 22:20 Biden to talk economy, medium term, war in Ukraine on 60 Minutes Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 21:59 Despite widespread criticism, DeSantis calls Martha’s Vineyard stunt ‘innovative’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis boasts about his “innovative” strategy to send two planes full of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. “We are not a sanctuary state, and it is better to be able to move to a sanctuary jurisdiction,” Mr DeSantis said at an event. “And yes, we’ll help facilitate that transportation for you so you can move to greener pastures.” Eric Garcia reports on the governor’s comments. DeSantis boasts about Martha’s Vineyard flight of migrants despite criticism ‘We are not a sanctuary state,’ says Florida governor Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 21:50 Tucker Carlson segment may have inspired DeSantis immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard stunt A segment by Fox News host Tucker Carlson may have prompted Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida to send migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Mr DeSantis on Wednesday sent about 50 migrants to the island off the coast of Massachusetts. Maybe this move is inspired by a segment Tucker Carlson Tonight from the end of July. Tucker Carlson may have inspired DeSantis’ move to send migrants to Martha’s Vineyard When Republicans ‘Do Corrupt Stuff It’s Worth Looking For Fox Host Who Suggested It,’ Says Media Watchdog Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 21:20 Trump Plugs Melania’s Christmas Ornaments With Flirty Comment On Truth Social Donald Trump issued a rare flirtatious message on his own social media network Truth Social to followers who were raved about Melania Trump’s “beautiful” Christmas ornaments. The former First Lady got a ringing endorsement on Thursday after the former president “retruthed” a post by his wife, which this week announced a new range of celebratory jewelry in digital and genuine brass. “Really beautiful (jewelry, I mean!),” Trump wrote. Trump makes flirty remarks about Melania’s Christmas baubles Former First Lady Fest continues NFT hype with series Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 20:50 Read More Here

Special Master Appointed To Review Documents From Mar-A-Lago Search https://digitalarkansasnews.com/special-master-appointed-to-review-documents-from-mar-a-lago-search/ (CNN)A Brooklyn-based federal judge was selected on Thursday to serve as an independent arbiter to review the materials seized in the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home. The special master will be Senior Judge Raymond Dearie, who was put forward as a possible candidate for the special master role by Trump, who had sued in court to obtain the review. The Justice Department also endorsed Dearie’s appointment. US District Judge Aileen Cannon also rejected the Justice Department’s bid to revive its criminal investigation into classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago last month. The denial sets the stage for the department’s dispute with Trump over the search to move quickly to an appeals court and potentially the US Supreme Court. Cannon gave the special master a deadline of November 30 to finish his review of potentially privileged documents. The schedule puts the review ending after the midterm congressional elections — essentially guaranteeing the Mar-a-Lago investigation will move slowly for the next two months, unless a higher court steps in. Appointed by Reagan, Dearie takes center stage Dearie sits on the district court for the Eastern District of Brooklyn, where he has taken senior status — meaning his workload has been lightened significantly as he nears the end of his time on the federal bench. He was appointed as a judge by Ronald Reagan in 1986 and was for a time the chief judge of the Brooklyn-based district court. He also served a seven-year term, concluding in 2019, on the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In his role as a FISA judge, Dearie was one of the judges who approved one of the Justice Department’s request to surveil former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page, as part of the federal inquiry into Russia 2016 election interference. The department’s process for securing FISA warrants for Page was riddled with errors and sloppiness, a DOJ inspector general review later found. The IG’s review pointed to omissions and mistakes in the FBI’s court filings supporting the FISA applications, including in filings submitted to Dearie. Trump has railed against how the FISA warrants against Page were obtained, making his recommendation of Dearie to review the Mar-a-Lago search notable. Legal observers across the ideological spectrum, including vocal Trump critics, also backed the choice. More than 100 documents marked as classified seized Trump filed the lawsuit seeking the special master two weeks after the Justice Department executed the search on his Florida residence and resort. Prosecutors are investigating at least three potential crimes: violations of the Espionage Act, illegal handling of government records and obstruction of justice. During the search, according to court filings, investigators seized more than 100 documents marked as classified, which were obtained after Trump’s representatives were served a subpoena in May demanding they return to the government all such documents. When the FBI traveled to Mar-a-Lago in June to collect the documents, one of his lawyers signed a certification asserting the subpoena had been complied with. Trump, in his filings in the special master case, argued that his constitutional rights had teen trampled upon with the August 8 search, though Cannon herself had previously said she did not agree that the judicially authorized search amounted to a “callous disregard” of the former President’s rights. According to her order on September 5 initially granting Trump’s request for a special master review, Cannon decided it was necessary to bolster public trust in the search and because Trump, as a former president, faced increased risks of reputational harm if an indictment was wrongfully brought against him. Trump claimed on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Thursday that he declassified the government records that were taken to Mar-a-Lago, but that’s not an argument that he’s made in any legal setting. This story has been updated with additional details. Read More Here

What's The Buzz Around Bridges? https://digitalarkansasnews.com/whats-the-buzz-around-bridges/ New legislation could provide millions in federal grants for training and the purchase of drones for infrastructure inspections. FORT SMITH, Ark. — When driving your car over bridges, how often do you think about the last time the bridge was inspected? What if that inspection missed something? In May 2021, inspections of the Hernando de Soto bridge connecting Arkansas and Tennessee missed something. A fracture shut down the section of I-40 for months as repairs were made. Now ask yourself, how would the use of a drone help inspectors? Officials with the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) say, significantly. ARDOT teams were using drones to aid in inspections prior to the bridge closure last May, but Dave Parker with ARDOT says the failed inspection highlighted a need for change. “Following the I-40 bridge incident, we did step up our drone inspection program quite a bit,” said Parker. “We saw the value of it. We saw it was a smart investment at a relatively low cost, and it has helped us tremendously.” Since then, ARDOT has increased its drone inspection program to include 18 drones used state-wide, becoming one of the leading DOTs in the nation for drone usage according to Parker. Using drone technology has not only helped save ARDOT money, but drones are saving time. “The time to do the inspection will be better utilized,” says Parker. “We just will get more information, we’ll get more confirmed information, we’ll get more detailed information because those drones can take us places that we physically can’t get.” The increased use of drones for infrastructure inspection and maintenance has caught the attention of lawmakers. Arkansas senator John Boozman (R) recently helped introduce the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant (DIIG) Act with Democrat senators Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. If passed, the bill would give $100 million in grants for worker training and education, and another $100 million in grants for drones to conduct infrastructure inspection, construction and maintenance. In a statement, Senator Boozman says, “Using advanced technology for infrastructure safety inspections will improve and strengthen our bridges and railways. In Arkansas, we’ve invested in modernizing our capabilities, including utilizing drones and other emerging technologies. The DIIG Act continues to build on this momentum while also helping develop the workforce to operate these cutting-edge tools.” Parker with ARDOT believes continuing to use and increase the use of drones is a step toward a safer future of inspections for everyone. The use of drones is not expected to replace jobs. Instead, these once futuristic gizmos are now becoming items of necessity. “We still have to be able to inspect those bridges in the very best way, with our eyes, with our touching, with our experience – everything we know,” said Parker. “But to have that drone with us in that toolbelt is really the best thing of all.” So if you happen to see drones around bridges, look for an ARDOT team manning the controls as they inspect and help ensure our safety on the roads. Follow 5NEWS on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone: To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com. Read More Here

Stock Futures Fall As Wall Street Heads For Losing Week, Weighs FedEx Warning https://digitalarkansasnews.com/stock-futures-fall-as-wall-street-heads-for-losing-week-weighs-fedex-warning/ Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, August 8, 2022. Andrew Kelly | Reuters U.S. stock futures fell on Thursday night as Wall Street headed toward a losing week, and traders absorbed an ugly earnings warning from FedEx. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped by 142 points, or 0.46%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.56% and 0.64%, respectively. Shares of FedEx plunged 15% in extended trading after the shipments company withdrew its full-year guidance, and said it will implement cost-cutting initiatives to contend with soft global shipment volumes as “macroeconomic trends significantly worsened.” The three major averages were on pace to notch their fourth losing week in five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 3.70% this week, while the S&P 500 is 4.08% lower. The Nasdaq Composite is down 4.62%, headed toward its worst weekly loss since June. During the regular session Thursday, the Dow dropped 173 points, or 0.56%, for its lowest close since July 14. The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.43%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.13%. Traders are concerned that markets will retest June lows after a surprisingly hot reading in August’s consumer price index report indicated an increasingly difficult pathway to bring down inflation by the Federal Reserve. “They might have a hard choice to make,” iCapital’s Anastasia Amoroso said Thursday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “Before they were saying, we’re going to try to have a soft landing and bring down inflation. Now they may have to make a choice. It’s either a soft landing or bringing down inflation. In other words, they may have to engineer more of a crackdown on economic growth to bring down inflation,” she added. On the economic front, traders are expecting the latest consumer sentiment data on 10 a.m. ET Friday. Major averages on pace for fourth losing week in five All three major averages are on track to post their fourth losing week in five. Here are where markets stand through Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 3.7% The S&P 500 is down 4.08% The Nasdaq Composite is down 4.62%, heading toward its worst week since June 17 — Sarah Min FedEx shares plunge after withdrawing guidance Shares of FedEx tumbled 15.3% in after hours trading after the transport company withdrew its full-year guidance, and said it will implement cost-cutting initiatives to contend with a worsening macro. “Global volumes declined as macroeconomic trends significantly worsened later in the quarter, both internationally and in the U.S. We are swiftly addressing these headwinds, but given the speed at which conditions shifted, first quarter results are below our expectations,” FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said in a statement. The company said it is closing 90 office locations, shutting down five corporate office facilities and pausing hiring efforts, as part of those cost-cutting measures. — Sarah Min Stock futures open lower U.S. stock futures opened lower on Thursday night as Wall Street headed toward its fourth losing week in five. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped by 137 points, or 0.44%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.51% and 0.60%, respectively. — Sarah Min Read More Here

The Next Drew Sanders May Already Be Committed + Other Arkansas Recruiting Nuggets https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-next-drew-sanders-may-already-be-committed-other-arkansas-recruiting-nuggets/ photo credit: Arkansas Athletics / Twitter Thanks to the success of players like Grant Morgan, Hayden Henry and Bumper Pool, Arkansas football has become a destination of sorts for linebackers. For those who have followed the Razorbacks for several years, that is a shocking development considering their struggles to build depth beyond one or two players at the position. However, the cupboard is more full than it’s been in a while. Now in Year 3 of the Sam Pittman/Barry Odom era, Arkansas is starting two former blue-chip recruits — Pool was a four-star and Drew Sanders was a five-star — with highly regarded three-star prospects Chris Paul Jr. and Jordan Crook backing them up and rotating in. Pool will certainly be gone after this season because he’s a super senior and Sanders, if he continues to play like he has the first two games, could test the NFL Draft waters (Pro Football Network just put Sanders on its radar as a 2023 NFL Draft “sleeper”). Still, for the first time in recent memory, the future looks promising. On top of Paul, Crook and the other linebackers on campus, the Razorbacks have three more committed in their 2023 recruiting class. The group is headlined by Carson Dean, a four-star recruit on Rivals. Playing at Hebron High in Carrollton, Texas, Dean showed why he is so highly touted in a 54-40 win over Northwest Eaton last week. Despite the flurry of points hitting the scoreboard, he was all over the field defensively. In addition to racking up 12 tackles — including five TFLs and one sack — Dean had two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and blocked two kicks. Listed at 6-foot-3 and, depending on where you look, anywhere from 220-235 pounds, Dean appears to have all the makings of a standout, versatile linebacker at the next level. He’s classified as an outside linebacker on Rivals and ESPN, but an EDGE defender on 247Sports and On3. The Dallas Morning News, which has him at No. 28 on its list of the top 100 area recruits for 2023, has even speculated that he could end up on the defensive line in college. If all that sounds familiar, it’s because Dean’s story is lining up to be quite similar to that of Drew Sanders. Sanders was about the same size coming out of Denton’s Ryan High School, where he was once ranked as Texas’ No. 1 recruit, and then played an outside linebacker/edge rusher position at Alabama. He wanted to be more of a traditional, stand-up linebacker, so he came to Arkansas, but Odom still has a 3-3 package in which Sanders is the third linebacker and lines up as essentially a stand-up defensive end who gets after the passer. Sanders already has two college seasons under his belt to help him reach dominance through two games with the Razorbacks, so it’d be unfair to place those kind of expectations on Carson Dean — he’s ranked about 500 spots lower in the 247Sports Composite, after all — but it’s easy to imagine him growing into a similar role when he gets to Fayetteville, especially if he keeps having performances like the one he had last Friday. A week after a Herculean effort nearly led his team to a big win, Malachi Singleton had surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot and is expected to miss at least the rest of the regular season, according to 247Sports’ Rusty Mansell. There is hope that he’ll be able to return in time for the playoffs. The Hog is strong in ATL and I love how God works. Malachi’s orthopedic nurse is a big Arkansas Football fan. Of course he’s being treated like royalty!#WPS pic.twitter.com/gJw3CbkSgk — margaret whittemore singleton (@MargaretJ05) September 15, 2022 Singleton apparently knew he was dealing with an injury going into No. 3 North Cobb’s showdown with No. 1 Buford back on Sept. 2, but he played through the pain and nearly led the Warriors to a dramatic comeback. His numbers weren’t great, as he completed just 8 of 18 passes for 99 yards, one touchdowns and two interceptions, but he also had 87 yards and a score on 13 carries — remember, with a broken foot — and both of his touchdowns came in the second half, erasing a 14-0 halftime deficit to tie the game with 5:55 remaining. Unfortunately for North Cobb, that was plenty of time for Buford to answer. A field goal with 1:29 left actually broke the tie, but Buford opted to take the points off the board when North Cobb was flagged for roughing the kicker. The way Singleton was playing, Buford head coach Bryant Appling didn’t want to give him any more time than he had to. “I didn’t want to give them any time with the ball,” Appling told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They found an issue with our defense and I didn’t want to try adjustments. I wanted to give them the least amount of time on the clock as we could.” Sure enough, the gamble worked because Buford scored a touchdown with 42 seconds left. A last-ditch effort by North Cobb ended when Singleton was picked off in the closing seconds. It remains to be seen if that will be the final pass of his high school career or if he’ll get a chance at redemption in the playoffs. Updated Recruiting Rankings A couple of rankings updated in the past week, albeit in different sports, for different classes and on difference services. First, Prep Baseball Report (PBR) updated its 2023 ranking and several Arkansas baseball commitments benefited. Most notably, infielder Aidan Miller from Florida checked in at No. 3 overall. “Always a consummate performer, Miller hardly rested on his talents, but rather raised them to new heights,” wrote PBR’s Scooter Hunt. “Now, a sturdy 6-foot-2, 205-pound athlete, the right-handed hitter has emerged as an elite bat in the class with the ability to drive the ball to all fields with authority.” Miller was named the MVP of the High School All-Star Game and won the High School Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium during MLB’s All-Star Week and is currently tearing it up for Team USA at the WBSC U18 World Cup. The full top 500 is behind a paywall, but PBR did single out Arkansas baseball commits right-hander Barrett Kent (No. 26) and infielder Walker Martin (No. 33) as “mega risers” in their rankings. In hoops, 247Sports updated its list of the top players in the Class of 2024, expanding it to 150 players, and a pair of Arkansas natives saw a dip in their ranking. Little Rock Central’s Annor Boateng fell 18 spots to No. 54, while Little Rock Parkview’s Dallas Thomas fell 30 spots to No. 47. Click here for a full rundown from HawgSports’ Curtis Wilkerson of where Arkansas’ offers and targets are now ranked. Finally, Rivals unveiled its initial top 100 football prospects in the Class of 2025 — meaning the best sophomores in the country. That list featured one in-state recruit: Little Rock Parkview cornerback Omarion Robinson, who checks in at No. 75. Arkansas, which offered him back in January, hosted Robinson on an unofficial visit for the Cincinnati game. He also has offers from Baylor, Louisville, Ole Miss, TCU, Utah, Arkansas State and Memphis. Other Arkansas Recruiting Nuggets Despite the 11 a.m. kickoff, the Razorbacks were still able to host a couple of 2024 prospects on unofficial visits for the South Carolina game. Linebacker Brian Huff, an in-state product out of Valley View High in Jonesboro, had a much shorter trip than offensive lineman Fletcher Westphal, a four-star, top-200 prospect from Virginia. Arkansas continues to hand out offers, but one that caught our attention was offensive lineman Max Anderson. A top-150 prospect out of Reedy High in Frisco, Texas, he has an older sister who graduated from Arkansas. However, it’s worth noting that his older brother plays at Oklahoma, so he has family ties working for and against the Razorbacks. Here’s a look at what he brings to the table: Arkansas basketball 2023 commit Layden Blocker, who was recently elevated to five-star status in the 247Sports Composite, has been invited to participate in the Team USA Junior National Training Camp in October. He was also recently named the MVP of the inaugural NFT JAM, a 2-on-2 tournament in Atlanta. Blocker’s younger brother, Landren, is a touted prospect in the 2024 class and is still at Little Rock Christian. He has offers from UAPB, Creighton, Tulane, UCA, Ole Miss, Missouri, TCU and St. John’s and is coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged 14.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3 assists in conference play. Arkansas has its eye on him, as head coach Eric Musselman and assistant Gus Argenal made their way to Little Rock Christian on Wednesday. Not only were they checking out Blocker, but the Warriors also have a 2026 prospect worth watching: JaShawn “JJ” Andrews — the 6’5″, 180 pound son of former Arkansas offensive lineman Shawn Andrews. Considered by at least one outlet as a national Top 50 player in the freshman class, he already has offers from Ole Miss, Missouri and UAPB. Another hoops tidbit: Cousins and big men Baye Fall and Assane Diop are expected to be in Fayetteville for their official visits this weekend. Fall is a five-star prospect, while Diop is a four-star recruit in the top 100. Fall is coming off a visit to Rutgers and recently canceled plans for a Texas visit. According to The Knight Report, the Rutgers site in the Rivals network, Arkansas, Rutgers and Seton Hall are the three schools he’s talking to regularly and he’s planning to announce his decision the first week of November. *** More coverage of Arkansas recruiting from BoAS… Read More…

Mike Lindell's Phone Search Reveals New Details About Scope Of Federal Probe Into Efforts To Subvert 2020 Election Results https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mike-lindells-phone-search-reveals-new-details-about-scope-of-federal-probe-into-efforts-to-subvert-2020-election-results/ By Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department is seeking information about at least seven people in connection with a breach of a Colorado county’s voting system as part of efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, according to subpoena documents obtained by CNN that reveal new details about the breadth of the investigation. The subpoena issued to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell earlier this week lists the names of people considered “subjects” in the investigation — including people involved in efforts to seize voting machine data in several states as former President Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn his electoral loss. Lindell has not been charged with any crimes or wrongdoing. It’s unclear if federal investigators have opened probes into what happened in other states, but the subpoena shows they are gathering evidence related to three potential crimes in Mesa County, Colorado: identity theft, intentional damage to a protected computer and/or conspiracy to commit either. The subpoena covers “all records and information” on Lindell’s phone that constitutes as evidence against seven named individuals or any other unnamed co-conspirators. It details several areas of interest for investigators related to Dominion voting systems and any efforts to damage or access them. Lindell was involved in the broader effort to find evidence of voter fraud after the 2020 election, with the goal of backing-up former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the election had been stolen. Earlier this year, Mesa County clerk Tina Peters was indicted on 10 counts related to voting machine tampering allegations after an apparent security breach in Mesa County’s elections office in May 2021. Peters has pleaded not guilty. Peters appeared last year at Lindell’s “Cyber Symposium,” a gathering of election deniers at which a host of debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election were promoted. In addition to Peters, the subpoena issued to Lindell sought information about a half-dozen others who have been connected to the efforts in Colorado and other states to gain access to voting data. Most of the individuals are tied directly to the Mesa County scheme. Two of the individuals, Belinda Knisley and Sandra Brown, were Peters’ deputies in the Mesa County elections office and were charged in the Colorado state case earlier this year. Knisley reached a plea deal last month in exchange for her cooperation. According to the plea deal, Knisley told investigators that Peters created a scheme in which she helped an unauthorized individual gain entry to secure areas inside the clerk’s office and to the county’s election equipment. Knisley told investigators that individual was Conan Hayes, who was also listed on Lindell’s subpoena. (Hayes has not been charged.) Lindell told CNN last summer that he had paid Hayes and other so-called cyber experts “a lot of money” to review what he described as data from the 2020 election. Hayes, a surfer-turned-election denier, was part of the team of pro-Trump operatives who accessed voting systems in Antrim County, Michigan, in early December 2020. He worked with individuals like Cyber Ninja CEO Doug Logan to produce a since debunked-report about Antrim County’s Dominion voting machines that was used by the former President and his allies as evidence of widespread election fraud. Lindell told CNN last year that he paid Hayes and other “cyber forensic experts” to analyze data from the 2020 election. Hayes and Logan did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. In addition, the subpoena listed Sherronna Bishop, the former 2020 campaign manager for Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who is a close ally to Peters and has appeared with the embattled county clerk at various political rallies and numerous videos on social media. In November 2021, the FBI and local investigators executed a search warrant at Bishop’s house as part of the investigation looking into the Mesa County security breach. Bishop is an election denier and has posted several far-right conspiracy theories on a Facebook page she operates called “America’s Mom.” She has also posted photos with Lindell and Trump. Asked about her name appearing on the subpoena served to Lindell, Bishop told CNN in a text message that she continues “to stand with and fully support Clerk Tina Peters creation of forensic images.” She also has not been charged. The Lindell subpoena also listed Douglas Frank, who has gained prominence in Trump world with his theories about the 2020 election results. Frank previously told CNN he has trained teams in 30 states so far on how to examine their voting rolls to uncover potential fraud and more have asked for help. It’s part of his claim that state voter registration rolls have been inflated with fraudulent or “phantom” voters. Frank previously said he began focusing on building relationships with election officials in December 2020 and has recruited dozens, including clerks and other office workers, in counties across the country to support their effort. Frank claimed that Lindell has been providing financial backing for his work, paying for flights and other expenses. “I am working with dozens of election officials across the country. I keep their identities confidential unless they wish to go public,” Frank said in January. Frank told CNN on Thursday that the FBI agents confiscated his phone after presenting him with a warrant to do so. “It took about 20 minutes,” he said about the interaction with FBI agents. He has not been charged with any crimes. Lindell has emerged as one of the most vocal boosters still pushing false claims about the 2020 election. In a series of so-called documentaries, Lindell has advanced an increasingly outlandish theory that foreign hackers broke into the computer systems of election offices to switch votes — in what he has described as the “biggest cyber-crime in world history.” He is also one of just a handful of individuals still fighting to block the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection from obtaining their phone records and has been engaged in a months-long court battle with the panel. This story has been updated with additional details. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Opinion: Adam Kinzinger's Big Regret https://digitalarkansasnews.com/opinion-adam-kinzingers-big-regret/ David Axelrod, a senior CNN political commentator and host of “The Axe Files,” was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. View more opinion on CNN. (CNN)Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is a recovering politician. Gerrymandered out of his district by Democrats, excommunicated from his party by Republicans, the Air Force veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be leaving Washington, DC, in January 2023 after a dozen years in Congress. Still, it’s striking to hear anyone in public life candidly admit to a mistake — even “shame” — over a public act, as Kinzinger did during a conversation we had this week on my podcast, “The Axe Files.” Kinzinger’s political journey from stalwart party man to lonely critic offers a parable about the powerful pull of tribe that has seized the Republicans, with grave implications for the GOP and our democracy. The cause of Kinzinger’s contrition was not his vote in 2021 to impeach then-President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection — a vote that made him and nine other apostate Republicans pariahs within the party’s congressional ranks. Nor does he regret his decision to serve on the congressional committee formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to probe the January 6 uprising and Trump’s relentless effort to overturn the 2020 election. What causes Kinzinger particular anguish, he says, is that he didn’t vote to impeach the former President the first time he had the chance in 2020, when the House cited Trump for pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on Trump’s rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. “You can always look back at 12 years and say there’s different regrets, different votes. That’s my biggest,” he says. “It is tough to take on your party. It is tough to know you’re going to get kicked out of the tribe. And it’s tough to make a decision that you know will cost you your reelection. And so I was looking for a reason out.” The subject came up as Kinzinger catalogued the damning findings of the January 6 committee, including Trump’s pressure campaign to get the Department of Justice to allege evidence of massive voter fraud even though it had found none. Trump, he says, “was deeply involved in this. He knew what he was doing … He knew when he told the DOJ officials to ‘Just say the election was corrupt. Look, I don’t … need your DOJ to go out and prosecute this for me. I just need you to put the stamp of corruption on it, and then me and the Republican congressmen will do the rest to undermine democracy.'” I noted that this account was hauntingly reminiscent of Trump’s infamous conversation with Zelensky in the summer of 2019, when Trump tried to pressure Zelensky to launch a probe of Biden and his son over Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. At the time, Biden was emerging as a principal challenger to Trump in the 2020 election, but Zelensky did not grant Trump’s request. Yet Kinzinger voted no to impeachment then — and acknowledges voting to reelect Trump in 2020. “Looking back on it and seeing that pattern that exists…yeah if I could go back in time, I’d vote for it. And I probably would not have gotten reelected to this term.” So why did he balk at holding Trump accountable then? And why have so few of Kinzinger’s Republican colleagues joined him in renouncing Trump now, even after all the chilling revelations about his leading role before, during and after the January 6 insurrection and the latest scandal over the highly classified documents the former President had stowed at Mar-a-Lago? The answer is fear. But we often make the mistake of assuming that it is simply the fear of the loss of power. Kinzinger, who has spent a lot of time thinking about this since his rupture with the House Republican caucus over Trump, says it goes to more primal instincts over tribe and identity. “Tribalism is deeply ingrained,” he explains. “I think this is part of what goes to explain why some of the leaders out here … are so silent. I think people in many cases fear, more than they fear death, they fear being kicked out of their tribe … When all of a sudden the people that you love lose respect for you or basically divorce you over text messages or whatever that is, that’s a terrible feeling. I’ve lived it.” But when fearful leaders remain silent, or tacitly embrace conspiracy theories, it only reenforces them, creating an unwholesome feedback loop of misinformation. This is the reality of today’s Republican Party. “You know, if you watch Fox News and Fox News says the election was stolen, and all the people you trust in Republican politics say the election was stolen,” those who defy the narrative are the outliers. It’s one reason why a majority of Republicans still say they view Biden’s election as illegitimate, he says. Kinzinger will soon be out of office, but his “recovery” from politics may not hold. The Country First PAC he formed last year has been active this primary season, targeting election-denying Republicans in contests across the country. He promises to continue the fight this fall, even supporting Democrats in select races against Republicans who have denied the 2020 election results. Trump’s grip on the Republican Party is so great, Kinzinger says, that should the former President run, he will be the nominee in 2024 — “even if he’s indicted, for goodness sakes.” Some have urged Kinzinger to run for president as an independent but he says — correctly, I believe –that such a candidacy in 2024 would likely drain more votes from the Democrats. “I think it reelects Donald Trump.” But Kinzinger, who is just 44, hinted at his longer-term project: breaking the monopoly of the two major parties and creating a third that could meld center left and right voters. “I do think we’re in a so divided moment that another party would be beneficial,” he says. “If you look to ’28 or ’32 and you begin to actually do the process of how do we lower the barriers to entry? … Those are the kinds of things that people interested in working outside a two-party system should be working on now.” Read More Here

Ayala: Ken Starr Likely Wouldn’t Have Been As Generous To Monica Lewinsky https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ayala-ken-starr-likely-wouldnt-have-been-as-generous-to-monica-lewinsky/ One of the most compassionate reactions to the death of Ken Starr this week came from an unlikely source — a woman whose life he turned into a punching bag and a punchline in the infamous Whitewater investigation of the 1990s. Monica Lewinsky, now an anti-bullying activist, had no reason to be gracious about one of her tormentors. But she was. “As I’m sure many can understand,” she wrote on Twitter, “my thoughts about Ken Starr bring up complicated feelings…But of more importance, is that I imagine it’s a painful loss for those who love him.” Starr probably wouldn’t have been as generous in kind. Lewinsky was a White House intern when she had a consensual sexual relationship with former President Bill Clinton and became fodder for the politically charged inquiry. It started as an investigation into real-estate investments but like a cancer, it metastasized into several other areas, ending with tawdry conclusions in his infamous “Starr Report.” Portions of it read like a trashy novel, “Sex on the Potomac.” But the report helps encapsulate Starr’s legal career, which was also a political career defined by right-wing ideology. It didn’t end well. In part, he pursued such sex and politics case work as a defense attorney, special prosecutor, judge and self-appointed overseer of national impropriety. He reminded me of comedian Dana Carvey’s famous “Saturday Night Live” sketch character, the Church Lady, the pious Enid Strict with a talk show called “Church Chat.” As fans could say of Carvey’s Strict, critics could say of Starr, it always came back to sex. That was true of Starr’s Whitewater investigation, which grew to include Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky, and in Starr’s defense of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, accused of having sex with underage girls. Epstein’s case could have implicated prominent politicians and corporate leaders on both sides of the aisle, including Clinton and former president Donald Trump. Still, Starr orchestrated a deal that gave Epstein an 18-month sentence. Epstein’s death in prison was ultimately ruled a suicide. His accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell got a 20-year sentence this summer for her role in Epstein’s international sex trafficking operation. That wasn’t the only case in which Starr helped an alleged child molester. He wrote a letter of support for teacher Christopher Kloman at the Potomac School. Kloman received a 43-year sentence for the molestation of five girls at the school in McLean, Virginia. From Lewinsky to Baylor University, where he was president, Starr’s legacy was misogynistic and synonymous with investigations or charges involving sexual relationships, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape and sexual predators. Starr may have defended Trump in his 2020 impeachment case, but it was in support of a man accused by dozens of women of sexual harassment and sexual assault. That’s in addition to the multitude of cases against Trump’s activities before, during and after he left the White House, including inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection and the handling of top-secret files now under investigation. Starr also had the dubious honor of hiring and mentoring future Supreme Court Justice Brett Cavanaugh, whose nomination hearings included testimony from a classmate who said she was sexually assaulted by him decades earlier. She was entirely credible. At Baylor, Starr was removed as president for his failure to protect students who were raped and sexually assaulted by other students, notably members of its football team. Starr tried to retain his chancellor and teaching duties but that didn’t last. Baylor remains in denial, putting out a statement about Starr’s death, never mentioning his sins and crimes. It chose instead to focus on Starr’s prowess as a fundraiser and the infrastructure he helped build. Starr had a San Antonio connection. The Texas native graduated from Sam Houston High School, where he was voted most likely to succeed. According to a 1998 Washington Post story, “The roots of Ken Starr’s morality plays,” he attended Harding University for two years and sold Bibles door-to-door to help pay for college costs. His credentials were impressive. He earned degrees from George Washington, Brown and Duke universities and clerked for former Chief Justice Warren Burger. He served as a U.S. circuit judge for the District of Columbia and as solicitor general under President George H.W. Bush. Starr was briefly considered to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, but that seat went to David Souter instead. People may most remember him for the Starr Report, but his life is better suited for study as a powerful man who was always on the wrong side of history. That’s his legacy. Monica Lewinsky was just too nice to say it. eayala@express-news.net Read More Here

January 6 Committee Eyes Referrals To FEC https://digitalarkansasnews.com/january-6-committee-eyes-referrals-to-fec/ The chair of the Jan. 6 select committee on Thursday said the panel may make referrals to agencies other than the Justice Department, citing the Federal Election Commission as a potential recipient. Why it matters: In the panel’s second public hearing, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) highlighted Trump campaign fundraising emails that allegedly falsely claimed to be for an “election defense fund,” but instead went to Trump’s political groups. Lofgren said at the time Trump “intentionally misled his donors, asked them to donate to a fund that didn’t exist and used the money raised for something other than what he said,” but added “it’s for someone else to decide whether that’s criminal or not.” What they’re saying: “I think we will still make referrals [to the DOJ] if they warrant. But, you know, we could be making referrals to other agencies that are not criminal in nature,” Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Thursday. “FEC would be a good possibility, because obviously we looked seriously at some of the fundraising that went on around Jan. 6.” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the committee’s final report aims to “be comprehensive in setting forth both the kinds of violations we saw, and the kinds of things we think should be legal violations, but … are not.” Read More Here

The Letters Left Behind By Demoralized Russian Soldiers As They Fled https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-letters-left-behind-by-demoralized-russian-soldiers-as-they-fled/ September 15, 2022 at 4:24 p.m. EDT Destroyed Russian military equipment in the center of Izyum, Ukraine, which was liberated after months of occupation. (Wojciech Grzedzinski for The Washington Post) IZYUM, Ukraine — About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they drafted letters begging their superiors to dismiss them from their roles. The 10 handwritten letters, dated Aug. 30, were left behind in a two-story residential house where Russians were squatting and later found by Ukrainian soldiers who provided the letters to The Washington Post for review. They paint a portrait of dejected troops desperate for rest and concerned about their health and morale after months of fighting. “I refuse to complete my duty in the special operation on the territory of Ukraine due to lack of vacation days and moral exhaustion,” wrote a man who identified himself as the commander of an antiaircraft missile platoon from the Moscow region. Another soldier asked to be released citing “the worsening of my health and not receiving the necessary medical aid.” Still another said he was experiencing “physical and moral exhaustion.” Others wrote complaining that they were denied vacation time for family obligations, including to get married and to witness the birth of a child. The similar style in which the 10 letters were written suggests the troops, weary and disheartened, banded together to draft them. The letters caught the attention of Ukrainian soldiers when they first arrived in Izyum, which the Russians abandoned hastily in retreat, and some were shared on social media. The authenticity of the letters has not been confirmed by independent forensic experts, but the original documents provided to The Post for review were among the heaps of belongings — from boots and uniforms to colorful letters of support from Russian schoolchildren — that were abandoned as the Russians fled from a remarkably rapid Ukrainian advance that put nearly all of Kharkiv region back in Ukrainian control in a matter of days. An Aug. 23 report addressed to the commander of Russia’s 2nd Motorized Rifle Division labeled “TOP SECRET” and “extremely urgent” was also left in the same house, describing how four Russian troops were killed and one was wounded by Ukrainian artillery fire in the village of Kamyanka, about 75 miles north of Izyum near the Russian border. Altogether, the contents of the house help to reconstruct the remarkable turn of events that led to the swift Russian withdrawal from Kharkiv region, where in many cases troops fled barely putting up a fight. Once the Ukrainians began their push toward Izyum, the Russians who had been based here for months had just enough warning time to destroy what they could on their way out. They set fire to the city council building where they had installed a puppet government, ignited explosives on some of the military hardware they planned to abandon and blew up a strategic bridge. In the process, civilians said, they left some of their own forces stranded on the other side with no choice but to walk or run across the damaged bridge to leave. Shortly before the Ukrainians reclaimed the city, residents said, the Russian troops imposed a 24-hour curfew, then entered civilian homes and raided closets for mismatched clothing to avoid being seen in their uniforms. Some then fled on foot or by bike, the residents recounted. Before stealing locals’ clothes “they didn’t even pay attention to who was living there or if it was someone their age, they just opened their closets,” said Tanya Lukianinka, 32, who crossed the broken bridge and walked downtown with her daughter and friends on Wednesday carrying Ukrainian flags in an act of celebration. Lukianinka’s daughter, Henrietta, 14, said she learned about the curfew on Russian radio stations — but by tuning to Ukrainian channels began to understand why Russian forces were suddenly so worried. “We heard that somewhere on the outskirts of Izyum they’d raised a Ukrainian flag,” she said. “We were very happy.” Vasil Tuskaniuk, 23, who joined the group on their walk downtown, said it was his first time visiting the area since before the Russians took control of the city. Born in western Ukraine, he feared he would be detained and deemed a threat to Russian forces if they searched his documents. To avoid interacting with Russians, he did not leave his property for the entirety of the invasion. “It’s possible I wouldn’t have returned home,” Tuskaniuk said. Over the months of occupation, Henrietta said she heard stories of people being killed or detained in Russian basements and subjected to electrical shocks. Russian newspapers advertised camps for children in Russia, she said. One of her friend’s sisters, who was around 15 years old, left for such a camp and still has not returned, she said. The Russians intended to open schools in Izyum just before the Ukrainian advance thwarted their plans. “We didn’t put our kids on the enrollment list,” Lukianinka said. “They were just trying to spread propaganda.” Russian propaganda was omnipresent, Lukianinka said, but it did not change hearts or mind. Rather, she said, the messaging appealed mainly to the people who were already Russian sympathizers. Some of those people remain in the city, she said, adding that she hoped they would change their views now that Ukraine has retaken control. The letters describing the soldiers’ lack of will to fight stand in stark contrast to the pile of schoolchildren’s letters from a city near Moscow encouraging the troops — a clear example of how the Kremlin’s narrative over the war is being portrayed in Russian schools. Still, even children in Russia seemed aware that soldiers fighting in Ukraine were facing difficult circumstances. “Hello, I don’t know who will receive this letter but I know you’re having a really hard time right now,” a girl named Nastya wrote. “That’s why I want to support you. It’s possible you’re hungry, you’re cold, you want to go to home to your family or maybe you want to go back to your friends from your childhood.” A boy named Leonid wrote: “You’re protecting peaceful civilians, you’re fulfilling the main duty of every man. I think that war is something very bad and scary. There is death of innocent people, destruction, when you can’t live a normal life, when you’re left without a home, without work, and you lose your close ones. I hope you hang in there and manage to achieve complete victory! Good luck! I believe in you!” “I very much appreciate the hardship you’re going through,” a boy, Pasha, wrote, noting he is in the fourth grade in the city of Mytishchi just north of the Russian capital in the Moscow region. “I’m grateful to you that we live under a bright and clear sky.” Another boy, Geydar, wrote: “I see how you are battling in Ukraine. I wish for your family to be very proud of you. I hope you’ll end up winning and if you have kids you’ll be a hero in their eyes.” The child added, “I see everything that is happening there. Russian people are dying. Win the war, see you.” Beneath the words, he drew stick figures facing each other holding Russian and Ukrainian flags. At the entrance to the recently liberated city on Wednesday, under the sign for Izyum, a dirty Russian flag lay crumpled on the soggy ground. One elderly woman walking near the broken bridge on Wednesday said her husband had died in a rocket attack on June 9. She declined to elaborate on her experience, saying she had suffered too much already. The area around the city’s main square now looks apocalyptic. Nearly every building is damaged if not destroyed. Shops are completely looted. One shop owner painted “No beer or vodka” on the outside of his store. Someone else painted a “Z” on top of the message. Ukrainian troops were positioned throughout the city, some directing traffic away from roads blocked by abandoned equipment and others helping move traffic across a pontoon bridge hastily set up to allow traffic to move between two sides of town. On a surprise visit to Izyum on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flag would fly “in every Ukrainian city and village.” Hours after his visit, a woman in a red coat walking downtown appeared apprehensive about the jubilance over Ukraine’s rapid success. “Are you sure the Russians aren’t coming back?” she asked. The area around the city remains treacherous as Ukrainian forces work to clear the roads of mines and of the many damaged tanks and other equipment abandoned on the outskirts. Post reporters were turned away on one road leading into Izyum, where soldiers warned the roads were still heavily mined. An unexploded antitank mine could be seen on the side of that road, a field of yellow sunflowers growing just behind it. As civilians emerged cautiously from their basements and homes, there were some small moments of joy that had been denied over so many months of occupation. Neighbors greeted each other across their fences. Some rode their bicycles through the city’s central square. Lukianinka’s group gathered around an “I LOVE IZYUM” sign downtown, beaming as they held up their flags. A driver for The Post, who is from Izyum and had not seen his parents since before the invasion, knocked on their gate on Wednesday afternoon. Their house was damaged by shelling, and Russian troops had even tried to sleep there, until his mother told them off. When his 60-year-old father pulled the door open, the son scooped him up in a hug — his father beaming over his shoulder. Then his mother came running outside, weeping with joy as she threw herself into his arms. Wojciech Grzedzinski contributed to this report. War in ...

Trump's Lawyers Make Shocking Admission In Latest Filing https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trumps-lawyers-make-shocking-admission-in-latest-filing/ The filing from Donald Trump’s lawyers on the Mar-a-Lago documents scandal shows the level of desperation that his team is now exhibiting. In a number of spots in their legal filing, Trump’s attorneys put quotation marks around the word “classified.” They decried on multiple occasions the fact that the government labeled these documents as secret or in some cases top secret. This indicates a high level of desperation, showing Trump’s legal team really has no cogent argument. Of course, it’s the government’s place to determine which documents can be determined classified and it’s hard to imagine who else they think should be granted such power. The arguments being used to defend Trump ever since the search of his Florida home have been getting worse and worse and now his lawyers sound completely out of ideas and totally desperate. The David Pakman Show is a news and political talk program, known for its controversial interviews with political and religious extremists, liberal and conservative politicians, and other guests. Missed an episode?  Check out David Pakman on our Youtube Channel  anytime or visit the show page for the latest clips. #FreeSpeechTV is one of the last standing national, independent news networks committed to advancing progressive social change. #FSTV is available on Dish, DirectTV, AppleTV, Roku, Sling and online at freespeech.org  #davidpakmanshow classified documents Donald Trump government property Investigation Read More Here

Cruel Or Harmless? Pastors Mixed On GOP Migrant Transports https://digitalarkansasnews.com/cruel-or-harmless-pastors-mixed-on-gop-migrant-transports/ Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette 2022 A woman, who is part of a group of immigrants that had just arrived, holds a child as they are fed outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Wednesday Sept. 14, 2022, in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration’s failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via AP) As Republican governors ramp up their high-profile transports of migrants to Democratic-run jurisdictions, the practice is getting a mixed reaction from Christian faith leaders — many of whom, especially evangelicals, have supported GOP candidates by large numbers in recent elections. Some depict the actions as inhumanely exploiting vulnerable people for political ends, while others say it’s a harmless way of calling attention to the impact of immigration on states near the southern border. “Playing political games scores points — and the hypocrisy of the current immigration system is easy to point out,” Ed Stetzer, a professor, dean and executive director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center in Illinois, said in a statement. “However, it does not solve the actual problems. … Let’s fix the system,” he added, “and stop turning people into pawns of political one-upmanship.” But the Rev. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas and a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump, who imposed restrictive immigration policies during his term, backed the transports. “Government officials who refuse to fulfill their biblical responsibility to protect our borders should be made to feel the effects of their lawless policies,” Jeffress said via email. “Busing illegal migrants to Washington D.C. or Martha’s Vineyard is not exactly the same as sending them to Siberia,” he continued. “Most Americans would love the opportunity to visit either destination.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew immigrants on two planes to the upscale island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts on Wednesday, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also dispatched migrants to cities with Democratic mayors. Most recently, on Thursday, two busloads from his state disembarked near Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey also has adopted the policy. The Republican governors are trying to draw attention to what they contend is failed border policy under the Biden administration. Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy agency, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said such actions “seem to be more about public relations.” “We have called long for strengthened border protections and at the same time (for) folks who are coming into this country to be treated in a way that respects the imago dei (image of God),” he said. Most Americans, including Southern Baptists, “want a solution to our broken immigration system,” Leatherwood added. “Let’s cut down on some of these actions and instead come to the table and figure out a solution that actually respects human dignity.” Joshua Manning, pastor of the ethnically diverse Community Baptist Church in Noel, Missouri, a town of 1,800 with a large immigrant population, agreed that the transports are the wrong way to highlight a real problem. “You shouldn’t be loading people up and treating them as political props — that’s dehumanizing,” Manning said. He said, however, that immigration is a tricky subject. Places that have declared themselves in support of migrants and asylum seekers may not “see the difficulties of everything that’s associated with that,” he said. In the mostly Latino neighborhood of Corona, in New York City’s Queens borough, the large congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church held a special service Wednesday to pray for the immigrants. In an interview, their pastor, the Rev. Manuel Rodriguez, called the transports a “horrible crime.” “All of us are horrified about the steady violation of human rights by Gov. DeSantis and other governors who are so inhumane and unethical to keep sending human beings to places where they weren’t even informed that they’d be sent,” Rodriguez said. “You don’t use human beings who are fleeing their homelands in fear, because of violence, hunger, persecution, because of the threat of rape … as tools, as objects to make political points,” he said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Senate Punts On Same-Sex Marriage Vote Until After Midterms https://digitalarkansasnews.com/senate-punts-on-same-sex-marriage-vote-until-after-midterms/ The Senate will delay voting on a measure to protect same-sex marriage until after November’s midterm elections as Republican support for the measure remains uncertain, lawmakers announced Thursday. The decision to hold off on a vote came after weeks of bipartisan negotiations where a small group of senators had been working to alleviate the concerns of Republican senators in an attempt to persuade them to back the legislation. Still, negotiators were optimistic of the bill’s final passage. “I think we’re in very good shape and this bill is going to pass,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters. The Respect for Marriage Act would enshrine federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages and repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which recognizes marriages in the United States as between one man and one woman. But the prospect of a vote less than two months from the midterm elections, in which control of the Senate is at stake, left some Republicans skittish about taking a position on the legislation. “I presume that’s the reason for the delay,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Thursday. Collins and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) have been working alongside Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) to find 10 Republican votes necessary for it to pass. “My personal preference is to put everyone on the record before the November elections but I understand the decisions that are made about when the prospects are best for passing the measure,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. “I want a law, not just a bill.” Some Republicans said they were unwilling to support the bill unless it included more airtight protections for religious liberty and clarification that the law would not legalize polygamy. “We’ve asked Leader Schumer for additional time and we appreciate he has agreed,” the bipartisan group said in a joint statement. “We are confident that when our legislation comes to the Senate floor for a vote, we will have the bipartisan support to pass the bill.” Two Republican senators in tight reelection battles would have had to vote on the issue: Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.). Johnson had said in a statement earlier this summer that he saw no reason to oppose the measure but has since backtracked, saying this month that he is concerned about religious protections. “They shouldn’t rush it; it’s not ready,” Johnson said Thursday. The group of negotiators reached agreement on how to address Republican concerns and disseminated the new text Thursday afternoon to the GOP lawmakers considering voting for the legislation. But ultimately, the group decided that there wasn’t enough time in the waning days of the legislative session ahead of the midterms to push a vote. It would have had to take place next week to accommodate the other work the Senate must finish. “Until people could have a chance to vet the language, it was tough for them to give us a definitive answer,” Portman said. But Portman, who is retiring at the end of his term this year, acknowledged that the bill would probably get more Republican support in the lame duck session when Republicans wouldn’t have to face voters. “It takes a lot of the political sting out of it,” he said. Support for same-sex marriage continues to grow, with a record 70 percent of respondents in a recent Gallup survey saying they support it. But the conservative base is less supportive, and Republicans are wary of suppressing their motivation to vote. The push to codify same-sex marriage became more urgent to liberals after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, motivating Democrats to hold a vote on the issue and protect the right from future challenges. The House of Representatives passed the measure with the support of all Democrats and 47 Republicans in July. “We believe the Senate should find to find consensus just as the American people have,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday, without putting pressuring the Senate to act on a quicker timeline. Read More Here

Cindy Gillespie To Resign As Secretary Of Arkansas Department Of Human Services – SWARK Today https://digitalarkansasnews.com/cindy-gillespie-to-resign-as-secretary-of-arkansas-department-of-human-services-swark-today/ Secretary Cindy Gillespie has led DHS for six years. PRESS RELEASE LITTLE ROCK – Governor Asa Hutchinson today announced that Cindy Gillespie will resign as Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Human Services. “Cindy Gillespie has given the state of Arkansas her experience, management capabilities, and the right ideas that have led us in a great direction,” Governor Hutchinson said. “She is a great friend, and she is truly passionate about making a difference in the lives of Arkansans every day.”Secretary Gillespie issued this response reflecting on her time in public service for the State of Arkansas. “In 2016, when Governor Hutchinson offered me the role leading the Arkansas Department of Human Services, I could not have imagined all that would happen in the coming years, nor did I realize how quickly Arkansas would become my home and the employees at DHS become my family. The last six years have been the most challenging and rewarding of my career and I am extraordinarily proud of all the incredible DHS team has accomplished over these years. “We care, we act, we change lives” is more than a motto at DHS – it’s truly the mission my co-workers live each day as they go to work in our facilities, our offices, and in the homes of families and individuals in need. The continuing focus Governor and First Lady Hutchinson have had on the safety, health, and future of children has guided so much of my work here, and I have benefitted from the Governor’s steadfast support, leadership, and the model of servant leadership he set. It has been an honor to be part of his Cabinet. I am also grateful to the members of the Arkansas General Assembly for their guidance and support over the years. Many of them spent countless hours working with me on policy, legislation, and issues, and I have appreciated their dedication to the constituents they serve and to ensuring Arkansans thrive.Although it is bittersweet to leave, I appreciate the Governor understanding that family must always come first, so I will need to depart in October.” Before joining DHS in 2016, Gillespie served as a Principal in the Washington D.C. office of Dentons’ Public Policy and Regulation practice and a leader of the firm’s Health Policy and Health Insurance Exchange Teams. Earlier, Gillespie served as a senior advisor to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, where she led the Commonwealth of Massachusetts interactions with the federal government and oversaw the development and implementation of the Administration’s executive branch initiatives, including playing a leading role in the development of Massachusetts health reforms.  Prior to her government service in Massachusetts, Ms. Gillespie served as a senior executive for the not-for-profit Salt Lake Olympic Committee, responsible for hosting the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, and as a director at the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, the non-profit hosting the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She was recognized both nationally and internationally for her leadership in developing a unique public-private partnership between federal, state, and local government and the organizing committees for staging the Games in the U.S. She is a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville, TN, and has a master’s degree from Auburn University in Alabama. She is a native of Columbus, Georgia.Governor Hutchinson will announce a successor to Secretary Gillespie at a later date. Secretary Gillespie’s last day in the DHS office will be October 7, 2022. Read More…

Lady Chaps Open Conference Slate Hosting Lions – Lubbock Christian University Athletics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/lady-chaps-open-conference-slate-hosting-lions-lubbock-christian-university-athletics/ LUBBOCK, Texas (September 16, 2022) – The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals open Lone Star Conference play at home and in the same fashion as last season… hosting Arkansas Fort Smith and Oklahoma Christian. They will seek the same result, as LCU swept each team in straight sets last season to get off on the right foot in LSC play. The Lions of UAFS come to Rip Griffin Center Friday night (6 p.m.) and Oklahoma Christian follows Saturday at 1 p.m. to close out the opening weekend of conference play.   LSC Opener For LCU OPPONENT LOCATION DAY TIME (CT) WATCH STATS Arkansas-Ft.Smith Rip Griffin Center  Fri, Sept. 16 6 p.m.  Video Stats Oklahoma Christian Rip Griffin Center  Sat, Sept. 17 1 p.m.  Video Stats Game Notes (PDF) LOOKING AT UAFS – The Lady Chaps and UAFS will meet for the 16th all-time meeting, with LCU coming in with wins in three of the previous four meetings. Despite LCU’s series success over the prior four matches, the Lions are 12-3 all-time against LCU. UAFS is 4-2 all-time against LCU in Lubbock. The Lady Chaps won the previous meeting (at home Sept. 17, 2021, 3-0) and Friday’s meeting will mark the third consecutive meeting in Lubbock between the two programs. – UAFS finished in a three-way tie for sixth place in the LSC with a 10-7 conference mark last season. They finished 15-14 overall, and enter this season preseason picked eighth in the LSC Preseason Poll. – The Lady Lions are 6-5 this season after playing 11 matches at tournament locations. They recently went 1-2 in Dallas, Texas at their Lone Star Conference Crossover, with their lone win tallied over St. Mary’s (3-1). UAFS has two common opponents, and both opponents are from the Forty-Ninth State, as they faced Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks. The Lions lost to each team 3-1, playing both contests in Fairbanks, Alaska. UAFS has yet to play at home and will have their home opener Sept. 21. – UAFS ranks third in the LSC in aces per set, with a mark of 1.83. The source comes from a balance of servers, as Reagan Macha (15), Lauren Weber (15) and Hannah Holland (14) are the ace leaders for UAFS, who is coming off an 11-ace performance against StMU for their third 11-aces-or-better performance of the season. Holland has a combined nine aces over the prior four matches. – Chloe Price ranks 17th nationally and second in the LSC in assists (421) and is fourth in conference (41st nationally) in assists per set (10.02). She is coming off a career-high 49 assists against StMU.   LOOKING AT OC – LCU and the Eagles met twice last season, with LCU nabbing a pair of 3-0 wins to take a 4-0 lead in the all-time series. Prior to last season, LCU and OC had not faced each other in volleyball since October 16, 1980 (Lady Chaps claimed a 3-0 win in Oklahoma City at “The Barn,” which is now known as the Dave Smith Athletic Center). Three of the prior four meetings were played in Oklahoma City.   – OC is in their third season of having volleyball since their reinstatement of the program. Last season, OC went 12-18, which followed a 6-12 record in their 2020 season (their first season of play since fall 1983). – The Eagles are preseason picked No.11 in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll. They are 7-4 through the opening three weeks of play (opened the season 6-1). Eight of the 11 matches were played at home, and with their Friday night match at Eastern New Mexico (Portales, N.M.), LCU will mark their third consecutive road match. – OC has heavy numbers, ranking fourth nationally (second in the LSC) in digs per set (19.1), sixth in blocks per set (LSC-best 108.5) and eighth nationally in blocks per set (LSC-best 2.58). – Morgan Demuth leads the LSC and is 16th nationally in blocks with 50. She is 28th overall on the season with 1.2 per set (sixth in the LSC).   LADY CHAP NOTES – LCU is 4-7 on the season and seeking to end a three-match losing streak. They are coming off a 3-1 loss in San Angelo, Texas Friday to Angelo State. LCU returns home, where they are 3-1 on the season. Kayton Genenbacher is averaging 11.4 assists per set on the homecourt. Sage Chain and Kiana Fallaha each have 41 kills at home this season, with Chain also averaging 1.6 blocks per set.   – On Sept.17, 2022, LCU defeated UAFS in Lubbock during their LSC opener, which improved LCU to 24-3 all-time in program history in conference openers and 3-0 in Lone Star Conference openers (this is LCU’s third consecutive season to open conference play at home).   – Lubbock Christian is 4-1 when winning the opening set of matches this season and they are 0-6 when losing the opening set of matches this season. In the third set, LCU is 4-0 when they win the set and 0-7 when they lose the set. – Sophomore Kiana Fallaha has 43 kills over the prior four matches and heads into Friday’s match as the Lady Chaps team leader in kills (95). Lily Bickley leads LCU in kills per set (2.78) and Chain Sage is their leader in points per set (3.19).    – Setter Kayton Genenbacher completed her fourth career double-double (third of the season) Friday against West Texas A&M with 34 assists and 11 digs. On the season, she is averaging 10.22 assists per set (second in the LSC and 30th nationally), .38 aces per set and 2.18 digs per set. The sophomore is third in the LSC in total assists (409), which is 22nd nationally.   – Sophomore Libero Kendall Mahaney had 21 digs Friday against WT to reach 20 or more digs for a fifth time this season and she matched a career high with a third consecutive match with at least 20 digs. Mahaney leads the team with 188 digs (sixth in the LSC and 44th nationally) and is at a pace of 4.7 per set (sixth in the LSC and 52nd nationally).                                                        – LCU points leader Sage Chain also leads LCU ranking fifth in the LSC with a pace of 1.15 blocks per set (46 total on the season, ranking eighth in the LSC). She has at least seven blocks in a match four times this season, with a high of 8.0 on Sept. 3 vs. UCCS.   – Aaliyah Gray is LCU’s active career leader against UAFS in kills, as she had nine last against the Lions (3.0 per set.). She posted a .308 hitting percentage. Mady McCully actively leads LCU against UAFS with 3.33 digs per set.   -Gray is also LCU’s active career leader against OC, averaging 2.83 kills per set and has 17 in two career matches against the Lady Eagles. She joined Chain on Sept.3, 2021, as each had 10 kills in a match against OC. Zoe Parker averages 1.25 aces served per set against OC and has five through two matches played. Kendall Mahaney averages 5.3 digs per set (32 total in two matches) and Kaitlyn Mayo has seven blocks in five sets played (1.4 blocks per set) against OC.   Read More Here