Digital Arkansas News

Women’s Golf: Lincoln Fall Season Opener https://digitalarkansasnews.com/womens-golf-lincoln-fall-season-opener/ CATOOSA, Okla. — The Lincoln Blue Tigers took 13th place out of 15 teams at the Northeastern State Golf Classic, which was held Monday and Tuesday at Cherokee Hills Golf Club. Lincoln posted a team score of 709 in the 36-hole event. Arkansas-Fort Smith won the team title with a 591. Nyah Singh tied for 65th place to lead the Blue Tigers with a 173. Smith opened with an 86 and shot an 87 in the second round. Elliott Hull (Blair Oaks High School) tied for 70th with a 177. Hull carded an 88 in the first round and an 89 in Round 2. Marsya Nazri tied for 73rd with a 179 (90-89) and Maria Villamil tied for 75th with a 180 (92-88) for the Blue Tigers. Lincoln returns to action Sept. 26-27 in the Lady Tiger Classic at Fort Hays State. Read More Here

Hines, Verkamp And Sister Cecilia Take New Diocesan Roles – Arkansas Catholic – September 15, 2022 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hines-verkamp-and-sister-cecilia-take-new-diocesan-roles-arkansas-catholic-september-15-2022/ Summer sees leadership change for faith and diaconate formation, minister to religious Published: September 15, 2022    By Chris Price Arkansas Catholic Staff Arkansas Catholic File Photo Jeff Hines was promoted to director of faith formation, Deacon Mark Verkamp became director of permanent diaconate formation, and Sister Cecilia Nguyen, OSB, of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, was appointed minister to religious for the diocese. New diocesan leaders were hired for the offices of faith and diaconate formation as well as minister to religious. Former associate director Jeff Hines was promoted to director of faith formation and former associate director Deacon Mark Verkamp became director of permanent diaconate formation. Sister Cecilia Nguyen, OSB, of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, was appointed minister to religious for the diocese. The positions opened when Father Erik Pohlmeier, who previously served as pastor of Christ the King Church in Little Rock, gave up his roles as diocesan director of faith formation and deacon formation. Shortly after the job changes were announced in April, he was appointed by Pope Francis as bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Sister Cecilia replaced Sister Mary Clare Bezner, who was elected prioress of Holy Angels Convent in January. Faith formation “One thing I think is important for the diocese is a clear vision,” Hines said. “We want people to encounter Christ, be disciples and make disciples. We need to do all three of those every day. That describes our vision.” Hines said the Faith Formation Office is being deliberate in setting goals for the coming year and planning special formation days, approved by Bishop Taylor and the Presbyteral Council, to guide parish leaders on the best way to evangelize, bring new members into the Church and fortify the faith of the state’s roughly 150,000 Catholics. He has set four goals for the office: Helping people encounter Christ in the Eucharist, Providing faith formation for parish leaders and catechists, Providing English and Spanish language faith formation, and Creating a culture of evangelization.  “One thing I think is important for the diocese is a clear vision,” Hines said. “We want people to encounter Christ, be disciples and make disciples. We need to do all three of those every day. That describes our vision.” The faith formation team is focused on helping parish leaders and catechists better understand the faith so that they can properly teach it. The office has established an eight-week educational program to prepare parish leaders for success. It has also organized three formation days for parish leaders to be taught by priests, deacons and qualified catechists at parishes throughout the state, an online learning portal and separate diocese-issued certifications for catechists and parish leaders who complete the training.  “We’re not going directly to the people in the pews from the Faith Formation Office, he said. “We work through the parish leaders. The parish is the fundamental organizational unit. That’s where people encounter Christ through the sacraments. We do not want to have separate, parallel programs at the diocesan level and the parish level. “The main point is to make sure that we are proclaiming the Gospel in our teaching and training our parish leaders to accompany a person along the pathway,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure the people that we have in serving the leadership positions have a foundational relationship with Christ and a life of discipleship.” Diaconate formation Bishop Taylor ordained 46 men to the permanent diaconate in 2022, and the faithful across Arkansas are hoping for similar results with the new diaconate formation class that is being formed now. Verkamp said roughly 90 men — about 60 English speakers and 30 Spanish speakers — are currently in formal discernment to join the formation program for the Class of 2028. They will formally apply to the diaconate formation program at the end of this month and begin classes in the fall of 2023. “We’ll have a very, very large class,” Verkamp said. “It may not end up being as large as this year’s class, but it will be our third large class in a row.” After hosting English-speaking classes at St. John Center in Little Rock and Spanish-speaking classes at Subiaco Abbey in the last formation period, Verkamp said instruction for this class will be entirely in Little Rock.  “In the last class, we had a lot of candidates from northwest and western Arkansas. This time, the majority are in central Arkansas,” he said. “We will be having English and Spanish-based classes at the same time in separate rooms. This change will give us an opportunity for the men to interact more at Mass, meals and breaktimes, so they’ll get to know each other better as they go through formation.”  While 90 potential new deacons is eye-popping, Verkamp said the class could have been even bigger. “We had about 30 men who tried to get into the class after the deadline,” he said. “We extended it several times but had to get discernment underway. Hopefully they will join the next class in six years.” Minister to religious Sister Cecilia said she was happily teaching at St. Michael School in West Memphis when Sister Mary Clare called her into her office to let her know the bishop requested her to serve as minister to religious, a liaison between the religious women and men in the diocese and the bishop and sponsor the women’s discernment retreat, the jubilarian Mass and workshops for religious. “I was shocked, really shocked. I thought I can’t do this; the bishop asked the wrong person,” Sister Cecilia said.  While she was initially overwhelmed, she said a conversation about the role with Bishop Taylor assuaged her fears. He explained the role saying she would help any religious with solving problems they have.  “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t solve all of my problems,’” she said. “How can I help all of our priests, sisters and brothers with their problems?’ But the bishop and the staff at the diocese has been wonderful. He said he would help, and the people I’ve met in Little Rock have been so helpful. I have a lot of support. I am capable of doing it and still nervous, but our bishop is good, and I have the support I need.” Sister Cecilia also serves as her community’s vocations director. Please read our Comments Policy before posting. Article comments powered by Read More…

The Founder Of Patagonia Is Giving His Company Away To Help Fight Climate Change https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-founder-of-patagonia-is-giving-his-company-away-to-help-fight-climate-change/ Patagonia founder Yvon Chiounard announced Wednesday he is giving his entire company away to a trust and a nonprofit. Patagonia hide caption toggle caption Patagonia Patagonia founder Yvon Chiounard announced Wednesday he is giving his entire company away to a trust and a nonprofit. Patagonia Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who has previously expressed his reluctance at amassing wealth, is giving away his company. The outdoor apparel company will now be in the hands of a trust and a nonprofit organization. All future profits will be donated to help fight climate change, the company announced Wednesday. “It’s been a half-century since we began our experiment in responsible business,” Chouinard, 84, said. “If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have. As the business leader I never wanted to be, I am doing my part.” He added, “Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source. We’re making Earth our only shareholder. I am dead serious about saving this planet.” The Patagonia Purpose Trust will control all voting stock of the company (2%), while the Holdfast Collective, a climate change nonprofit, will own all nonvoting stock (98%). Chouinard, who is currently a board member, said in a statement that while trying to fight climate change, he realized his company was contributing to it. So he had been thinking about what to do with the business. One option was to sell it and donate the money, but Chouinard said he was concerned new owners might not hold the same values or keep the same employees. The other option was to become a publicly traded entity. “What a disaster that would have been,” he said. “Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility.” The company will continue to give 1% of its earnings to grassroots environmental groups, and the leadership will not change. Read More Here

Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of A Fresh Batch Of Economic Data https://digitalarkansasnews.com/stock-futures-flat-ahead-of-a-fresh-batch-of-economic-data/ U.S. equity futures were little changed on Thursday morning as investors looked ahead to several economic reports scheduled to come out in the morning. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher by 26 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures added 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 futures ticked 0.06% higher. Earlier in the day, the major averages ended a choppy session on a modestly higher note. The Dow closed slightly higher, by 30 points, after falling more than 200 points at one point. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%. Stocks sought stability after a hotter-than-expected inflation report on Tuesday sent them tumbling to post their worst day since 2020. August’s consumer price index report showed headline inflation rose 0.1% on a monthly basis, despite a drop in gas prices. “One-day events are tough to extrapolate,” said Jeff deGraaf, founder and chairman of Renaissance Macro Research, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “It is one of those extreme events that doesn’t have follow-through and that tends to be good news, not bad.” “Inflation is really a dark cloud over equities, but I think it’s really important that people keep in mind that it’s not about good and bad in the markets, it’s about better and worse,” he added, “and it does appear that inflation is getting better.” Wednesday’s producer price index report showed an decrease in wholesale prices of 0.1% in August, which deGraaf said provided him some comfort. Investors are looking ahead to a raft of economic updates on Thursday morning, including retail sales, import prices and jobless claims, as well as the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey and the Empire State manufacturing survey – all at 8:30 a.m. ET. CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley says the S&P 500 is set for a comeback by year-end. These are its top stock picks U.S. markets had a meltdown on Tuesday — the worst since June 2020 — following yet another hot inflation report. But that may not last for long, according to Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, who says the S&P 500 could enjoy upside by year-end. He predicts the level that the S&P 500 will rise to by the year end, and also picks stocks to buy into the “fear.” CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan U.S. 2-year Treasury yields hits 3.8% again Inflation isn’t as bad as the data makes it seem, says Commonwealth’s McMillan This week’s CPI data was “terrible,” but there are signs some key components may improve shortly, according to Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. One of them is Wednesday’s producer price index report. “The headline number held steady at 0.2 percent, but the annual number dropped by much more, from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent (a much bigger drop than the CPI),” he said. “Similarly, for the core PPI, while there was a gain from 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent, the annual number was down as well, from 7.6 percent to 7.3 percent. That’s still too high, but even if that monthly 0.4 percent figure held, there would be a decline in inflation going forward.” “As always, markets have reacted to a headline—although not about the headline number. But when you look at the details, things are not so bad,” he added. “The CPI and the market reaction suggest inflation will keep rising at an accelerating rate, but not all of the data agree. Even using much of the data as it stands, it still looks likely inflation will end the year lower than it is now.” — Tanaya Macheel Danaher shares rise after hours Danaher was one of the top stock movers in extended trading Wednesday evening after the medical company announced plans to spin off its environmental and applied solutions business to create an independent, publicly traded company. Its shares rose about 4%. Danaher also raised its third-quarter revenue guidance, according to FactSet. — Tanaya Macheel Stock futures open slightly higher Dow Jones Industrial Average futures opened 33 points, or 0.11%, higher Wednesday night. S&P 500 futures added 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.14%. The moves came after all of the major averages ended a choppy trading day modestly higher. — Tanaya Macheel Read More Here

Exclusive: Mark Meadows Complied With DOJ Subpoena In January 6 Probe https://digitalarkansasnews.com/exclusive-mark-meadows-complied-with-doj-subpoena-in-january-6-probe/ (CNN)Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department’s investigation into events surrounding January 6, 2021, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, making him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation. Meadows turned over the same materials he provided to the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack, one source said, meeting the obligations of the Justice Department subpoena, which has not been previously reported. Last year, Meadows turned over thousands of text messages and emails to the House committee, before he stopped cooperating. The texts he handed over between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s inauguration, which CNN previously obtained, provided a window into his dealings at the White House, though he withheld hundreds of messages, citing executive privilege. In addition to Trump’s former chief of staff, one of Meadows’ top deputies in the White House, Ben Williamson, also recently received a grand jury subpoena, another source familiar with the matter tells CNN. That subpoena was similar to what others in Trump’s orbit received. It asked for testimony and records relating to January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Williamson previously cooperated with the January 6 committee. He declined to comment to CNN. Meadows’ compliance with the subpoena comes as the Justice Department has ramped up its investigation related to January 6, which now touches nearly every aspect of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss — including the fraudulent electors plot, efforts to push baseless election fraud claims and how money flowed to support these various efforts, CNN reported this week. An attorney for Meadows declined comment. The Justice Department did not respond to CNN requests for comment. Federal investigators have issued at least 30 subpoenas to individuals with connections to Trump, including top officials from his fundraising and former campaign operation. As White House chief of staff, Meadows was in the middle of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election in the two months between Election Day and Biden’s inauguration. Meadows communicated with numerous officials who tried to find election fraud and pushed various schemes to try to overturn the election, according to text messages obtained by CNN that Meadows turned over to the House select committee. Meadows also shared baseless conspiracy theories with Justice Department leaders as Trump tried to enlist DOJ’s help in his push to claim the election was stolen from him. After Meadows stopped cooperating with the House committee, Congress referred him to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress. DOJ declined to prosecute him for contempt earlier this year. It’s not yet clear whether the Justice Department will seek more materials from Meadows as part of the ongoing criminal investigation, which could lead to a legal fight over executive privilege. Following last month’s FBI search of Trump’s Florida residence and resort, Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, CNN previously reported. Last year, Meadows spoke with Trump about the documents he brought to Mar-a-Lago that the National Archives wanted returned. Trump has been counseled to cut contact with Meadows, and some of Trump’s attorneys believe Meadows could also be in investigators’ crosshairs and are concerned he could become a fact witness if he’s pushed to cooperate, CNN reported last month. Still, Trump and Meadows have spoken a number of times, according to a source familiar with their relationship. Another source described their relationship as “not the same as it once was” while in the White House, but said they still have maintained a relationship, even as Trump has complained about Meadows to others. Read More Here

U.S. Senate Panel Advances Bill To Boost Support For Taiwan https://digitalarkansasnews.com/u-s-senate-panel-advances-bill-to-boost-support-for-taiwan/ FILE PHOTO – Taiwan flags flutter during a welcome ceremony for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves (not pictured) outside the presidential palace in Taipei, Taiwan August 8, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would significantly enhance U.S. military support for Taiwan, including provisions for billions of dollars in additional security assistance, as China increases military pressure on the democratically governed island. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 by 17-5, despite concerns about the bill in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and anger about the measure from Beijing. The strong bipartisan vote was a clear indication of support from both Republicans and Biden’s fellow Democrats for changes in U.S. policy toward Taiwan, such as treating it as a major non-NATO ally. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Sponsors said the bill would be the most comprehensive restructuring of U.S. policy toward the island since the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 – the bedrock of U.S. engagement with what China views as one of its provinces since Washington opened up relations with Beijing that year. “We need to be clear-eyed about what we are facing,” said Senator Bob Menendez, the committee’s Democratic chairman, while stressing that the United States does not seek war or heightened tensions with Beijing. “If we want to ensure Taiwan has a fighting chance, we must act now,” said Senator Jim Risch, the committee’s top Republican, arguing that any change in the status quo for Taiwan would have “disastrous effects” for the U.S. economy and national security. Taiwan’s presidential office thanked the Senate for its latest show of support, saying the bill will “help promote the Taiwan-U.S. partnership in many ways”, including security and economic cooperation. The bill would allocate $4.5 billion in security assistance for Taiwan over four years, and supports its participation in international organizations. The act also includes extensive language on sanctions toward China in the event of hostilities across the strait separating the mainland from Taiwan. BEIJING’S OPPOSITION When the bill was introduced in June, China responded by saying it would be “compelled to take resolute countermeasures” if Washington took actions that harmed China’s interests. read more “We haven’t discussed any specifics,” Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington, told reporters at an event at the Capitol when asked if she has had discussions with the White House over specific sanctions. “We talked about integrated deterrence in a broader sense of the need to explore different tools to ensure that the status quo in the Taiwan Strait can be maintained,” Hsiao said. She said she had expressed “gratitude” to Congress for the legislation. “Given the complication of different views here in the United States too, we’re hoping that we can reach some consensus on security, which is our top priority,” she said. The committee’s approval paved the way for a vote in the full Senate, but there has been no word on when that might take place. To become law, it must also pass the House of Representatives and be signed by Biden or win enough support to override a veto. The White House said on Tuesday it was in talks with members of Congress on how to change the act to ensure that it does not change long-standing U.S. policy toward Taiwan that it considers effective. The Taiwan bill is likely to be folded into a larger piece of legislation expected to pass late this year, such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual bill setting policy for the Department of Defense. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang and Kim Coghill Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

CALIFORNIA, NEW JERSEY AND ILLINOIS AGAIN DOMINATE LIST OF VULNERABLE HOUSING MARKETS https://digitalarkansasnews.com/california-new-jersey-and-illinois-again-dominate-list-of-vulnerable-housing-markets/ Chicago and New York City Areas Remain Most Exposed to Potential Downturns in Second Quarter of 2022; Other More-At-Risk Markets Scattered Around Nation; South Region Continues to be Less Vulnerable , /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released a Special Housing Risk Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the United States that are more or less vulnerable to declines, based on home affordability, unemployment and other measures in the second quarter of 2022. The report shows that New Jersey, Illinois and inland California continued to have the highest concentrations of the most-at-risk markets in the second quarter – with the biggest clusters in the New York City and Chicago areas. Southern and midwestern states remained less exposed. The second-quarter patterns – based on gaps in home affordability, underwater mortgages, foreclosures and unemployment – revealed that New Jersey, Illinois and California had 33 of the 50 counties most vulnerable to potential declines. The 50 most at-risk included nine in and around New York City, six in the Chicago metropolitan area, and 13 spread through northern, central and southern California. The rest of the top 50 counties were scattered across the U.S., including three in the Philadelphia, PA, metro area. At the other end of the risk spectrum, the South and Midwest had the highest concentration of markets considered least vulnerable to falling housing markets. “The Federal Reserve has promised to be as aggressive as it needs to be in order to get inflation under control, even if its actions lead to a recession,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “Given how little progress has been made reducing inflation so far, the Fed’s actions seem more and more likely to drive the economy into a recession, and some housing markets are going to be more vulnerable than others if that happens.” Counties were considered more or less at risk based on the percentage of homes facing possible foreclosure, the portion with mortgage balances that exceeded estimated property values, the percentage of average local wages required to pay for major home ownership expenses on median-priced single-family homes, and local unemployment rates. The conclusions were drawn from an analysis of the most recent home affordability, equity and foreclosure reports prepared by ATTOM. Unemployment rates came from federal government data. Rankings were based on a combination of those four categories in 575 counties around the United States with sufficient data to analyze in the second quarter of 2022. Counties were ranked in each category, from lowest to highest, with the overall conclusion based on a combination of the four ranks. See below for the full methodology. The ongoing wide disparities in risks throughout the country comes during a time when the U.S. housing market faces headwinds that threaten to slow down or end an 11-year surge in home prices. Sales of both existing and new homes have declined as mortgage rates have almost doubled to 6 percent over the past year, and inflation remains near a 40-year high. However the most recent risk gaps do not suggest an imminent fall in housing markets anywhere in the nation. Home prices have risen more than 10 percent in most of the country over the past year, with new highs hit in the vast majority of metropolitan-area markets. That has kept homeowner equity and home-seller profits rising. Those numbers have continued to improve as demand, buoyed by increasing household formation by young adults and rising wages has continued to outpace an historically tight supply of properties for sale. Amid that mixed scenario, home affordability is worsening, lender foreclosures on delinquent mortgages are up and the number of home sales is slowing, with local housing markets heading into that uncertain future facing significant differences in risk measures. Most-vulnerable counties clustered in the Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia areas, along with sections of California Thirty-one of the 50 U.S. counties considered most vulnerable in the second quarter of 2022 to housing market troubles (from among 575 counties with enough data to be included in the report) were in the metropolitan areas around Chicago, IL; New York, NY; and Philadelphia, PA, as well as in California. California markets on the list were mostly inland, away from the coast. The top 50 counties included two in New York City (Kings and Richmond counties, which cover Brooklyn and Staten Island), seven in the New York City suburbs (Bergen, Essex, Ocean, Passaic, Sussex and Union counties in New Jersey and Rockland County in New York) and six in the Chicago metropolitan area (Cook, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois and Lake County, IN). The three in the Philadelphia, PA, metro area that were among the top 50 most at-risk in the second quarter were Philadelphia County, along with Camden and Gloucester counties in New Jersey. Elsewhere, California had 13 counties in the top 50 list: Butte County (Chico), Humboldt County (Eureka), Shasta County (Redding) and Solano County (outside Sacramento) in the northern part of the state; Fresno County, Kings County (outside Fresno), Madera County (outside Fresno), Merced County (outside Modesto), San Joaquin County (Stockton) and Tulare County (outside Fresno) in central California, and Kern County (Bakersfield), Riverside County and San Bernardino County in the southern part of the state. Counties most at-risk continue to have higher levels of unaffordable housing, underwater mortgages, foreclosures and unemployment Major home ownership costs (mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance) on median-priced single-family homes consumed more than one-third of average local wages in 35 of the 50 counties that were most vulnerable to market problems in the second quarter of 2022. The highest percentages in those markets were in Kings County (Brooklyn), NY (102.9 percent of average local wages needed for major ownership costs); Riverside County, CA (67.6 percent); Rockland County, NY (outside New York City) (66.2 percent); Richmond County (Staten Island), NY (61.8 percent) and San Joaquin County (Stockton), CA (58.7 percent). Nationwide, major expenses on typical homes sold in the second quarter required 31.5 percent of average local wages. At least 7 percent of residential mortgages were underwater in the second quarter of 2022 in 23 of the 50 most at-risk counties. Nationwide, 5.9 percent of mortgages fell into that category. Those with the highest underwater rates among the 50 most at-risk counties were Rockland County, NY (outside New York City) (19.2 percent of mortgages were underwater); Lake County, IN (outside Chicago, IL) (18.9 percent); Peoria County, IL (17.6 percent); Philadelphia County, PA (16.1 percent) and Saint Clair County, IL (outside St. Louis, MO) (16.1 percent). More than one in 1,000 residential properties faced a foreclosure action in the second quarter of 2022 in 40 of the 50 most at-risk counties. Nationwide, one in 1,559 homes were in that position. Foreclosure actions have risen since the expiration last July of a federal moratorium on lenders taking back properties from homeowners who fell behind on their mortgages during the early part of the Coronavirus pandemic that hit in 2020. They are expected to continue increasing over the coming year. The highest rates in the top 50 counties were in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (one in 365 residential properties facing possible foreclosure; Cumberland County, NJ (outside Philadelphia, PA) (one in 373); Warren County, NJ (outside Allentown, PA) (one in 455); Camden County, NJ (outside Philadelphia, PA) (one in 462) and Saint Clair County, IL (outside St. Louis, MO) (one in 470). The June 2022 unemployment rate was at least 7 percent in 35 of the 50 most at-risk counties, while the nationwide figure stood at 3.5 percent. The highest levels among the top 50 counties were in Tulare County, CA (outside Fresno) (11.7 percent); Merced County, CA (outside Modesto) (11.5 percent); Kern County (Bakersfield), CA (11.3 percent); Kings County, CA (outside Fresno) (10.9 percent) and Kings County (Brooklyn), NY (10.8 percent). Counties less at-risk concentrated in South and Midwest Twenty-five of the 50 counties least vulnerable to housing-market problems from among the 575 included in the second-quarter report were in the South, while another 14 were in the Midwest. Just five were in the West and six in the Northeast. Tennessee had six of the 50 least at-risk counties, including three in the Nashville metropolitan area (Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties), while Wisconsin had five – Brown County (Green Bay), Dane County (Madison), Eau Claire County, La Crosse County and Winnebago County (Oshkosh). Another four were in Arkansas: Benton County (Rogers), Craighead County (Jonesboro), Sebastian County (Fort Smith) and Washington County (Fayetteville). Counties with a population of at least 500,000 that were among the 50 least at-risk included King County (Seattle), WA; Travis County (Austin), TX; Salt Lake County (Salt Lake City), UT; Wake County (Raleigh), NC, and Cobb County (Marietta), GA. Least-vulnerable counties have more-affordable homes along with lower levels of underwater mortgages, foreclosure activity and unemployment Major home ownership costs (mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance) on median-priced single-family homes consumed more than one-third of average local wages in just 24 of the 50 counties that were least vulnerable to market problems in the second quarter of 2022. The lowest percentages in those markets we...

Campaign Notes: DeFranco Joins N.H. Gov. Sununu Tonight, Ramos Seeks 14th Essex Rep. Seat https://digitalarkansasnews.com/campaign-notes-defranco-joins-n-h-gov-sununu-tonight-ramos-seeks-14th-essex-rep-seat/ To submit election-related announcements, click on image or email [email protected] These are the only acceptable methods of sending campaign news. Candidates, uncontested in their own recent party primaries, are taking time to introduce themselves in advance of November’s final elections. Tonight, Haverhill Republican Salvatore P. DeFranco, who is vying against Democratic incumbent Andover Sen. Barry R. Finegold, will be joined by New Hampshire Republican Gov. Christopher T. Sununu for a fundraiser, from 6-8 p.m., at Gametime Lanes & Entertainment, 84 Haverhill Road, Amesbury. DeFranco and Finegold face off Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the vastly reconfigured 2nd Essex and Middlesex District which now includes a piece of Haverhill. Sununu broke with other northeastern governors and endorsed former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. In 2021, however, he dismissed claims of any massive election fraud. According to press reports, the governor has taken both “pro-choice” and “pro-life” positions, depending on the audience, since the U.S. Supreme Court said it would strike down abortion rights. Meanwhile, Democrat Adrianne Pusateri Ramos is seeking to succeed Rep. Christina A. Minicucci in the job of state representative in the 14th Essex District. She is opposed by Republican Joseph G. Finn. Both reside in North Andover. Minicucci chose not to run following redistricting. Ramos, a family law partner at Prince Lobel Tye in Boston, said in a statement her priorities include expanding access to early education and higher education, greater funding for mental health services and youth wraparound services, infrastructure improvements, protecting reproductive rights and addressing the climate crisis. “I have spent countless hours speaking to constituents in the 14th Essex. It’s clear to me that there is work to be done.” The district, altered following the 2020 census, now includes Amesbury, Boxford, Groveland, North Andover and West Newbury.” Ramos lives with her husband, Adam, and their three children who attend North Andover Public Schools. Her husband was raised in the Bradford area of Haverhill, where he and his family have owned a small business providing essential childcare services for more than 20 years. Read More Here

DeSantis Sends Migrants To Martha https://digitalarkansasnews.com/desantis-sends-migrants-to-martha/ John Kennedy  |  Capital Bureau | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two planes full of migrants to the Massachusetts moneyed enclave of Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday, part of his continued badgering of President Biden and Democrats over illegal immigration.  A spokeswoman late Wednesday confirmed the move, part of a $12 million program the state authorized to remove undocumented immigrants. “States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies,” said Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ communications director.  While DeSantis ordered the transportation of the foreign nationals, initial reports from the island were less clear about the reasons for them being sent to Massachusetts and where they came from. The island’s newspaper, The Vineyard Gazette reported that a single plane carrying about 48 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia landed unexpectedly at Martha’s Vineyard Airport Wednesday afternoon.  More: Controversy continues over DeSantis’ $12 million plan to transport undocumented migrants out of Florida More: Gov. DeSantis discusses immigration at news conference The Cape Cod Times reported that the migrants had been put on a plane with nothing more than a brochure from the island’s community services center — about two miles from the airport.   The arrivals then walked from the airport to the center, officials said.  State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat from nearby Falmouth, tweeted that the migrants were dropped off on Martha’s Vineyard by chartered flights from Texas. “Many don’t know where they are,” he said. “They say they were told they would be given housing and jobs.” “Islanders were given no notice but are coming together as a community to support them,” he said. Currently immigrants are being dropped off on Martha’s Vineyard by chartered flights from Texas. Many don’t know where they are. They say they were told they would be given housing and jobs. Islanders we’re given no notice but are coming together as a community to support them. — Dylan Fernandes (@RepDylan) September 14, 2022 DeSantis, who attended a $50,000-a-seat dinner fundraiser on nearby Nantucket last month, has railed about President Biden’s southern border policies, blaming it for an increase in the illegal drug fentanyl in the state, along with crime and other woes.  He recently talked of sending migrants from Florida to Biden’s home state of Delaware. And he has mentioned Martha’s Vineyard as a target for migrants that had come to Florida.  ‘Shell-shocked and afraid’ On the island, the influx caused some level of chaos, which was obviously sought by the Florida governor.  With none of migrants speaking English, Spanish translators from the local high school  were called to help social service workers communicate with them. Water and snacks were provided in a parking lot.  “We COVID-tested them all. Everyone was negative. A little girl had a temperature, so we separated her with her family,” Janet Constantino, a therapist and nurse practitioner, told the Cape Cod Times.  “A lot of them were shell-shocked and afraid,” she said.  The migrants were going to be housed overnight Wednesday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown, the newspaper reported.  County officials also announced that they opened emergency shelters across the island and were asking for volunteers to help with what they called “an unexpected, ongoing, urgent humanitarian situation.”  DeSantis, who is running for re-election in November against Democrat Charlie Crist and is seen as a likely Republican presidential contender in 2024, has blamed the Biden administration for ending the federal “remain in Mexico” policy that had begun under his one-time political mentor, former President Donald Trump.  The Crist campaign slammed DeSantis for shipping the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.  “Everything Ron DeSantis does is to score political points with his hard right base in a thinly veiled attempt to run for President — but it’s Floridians who pay the price,” he said in a campaign statement. “Florida is spending $12 million to fly innocent migrant children out of our state when that money could be spent on fighting to help Floridians and lower costs.” U.S. Rep. William Keating, a Democrat whose district includes Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, said he was “disgusted by Governor DeSantis’s decision to prioritize cruelty and chaos over human dignity in today’s taxpayer-funded stunt.” “History does not look kindly on leaders who treat human beings like cargo, loading them up and sending them a thousand miles away without telling them their destination,” he said in a statement. “Still, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made that choice today. Instead of working to find assistance for a group of refugees, he chose to turn them into political pawns.” “The people of Martha’s Vineyard, its vibrant immigrant community, and the Commonwealth as a whole are already calling Governor DeSantis’s bluff and rising to meet the challenge because that’s what Americans do — we help those in need,” he said. Outraged Venezuelans in Florida Late Wednesday, Venezuelan-American leaders in Florida denounced the “flights of asylum seekers” to Martha’s Vineyard, blasting DeSantis.  “Venezuelan leaders are rightfully outraged,” five Venezuelan-American groups said in a joint statement. They planned a news conference for Thursday morning in South Florida.  The group called the governor’s move a “blatant disregard for human life,” and accused him of lying to Cuban and Venezuelan communities earlier this month, when they said he pledged not to sent migrants from either country out of state.  DeSantis went to the Texas-Mexico border last year to talk tough on border policy with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. DeSantis also dispatched more than 250 state law enforcement officers with the stated mission of helping Texas stem the influx of migrants and drugs.  The Florida taxpayer-financed force stayed for several weeks and reported more than 9,000 contacts with migrants at the border.  John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport Read More Here

Division Exists If We Allow It https://digitalarkansasnews.com/division-exists-if-we-allow-it/ To the editor: President Biden and his entire administration have caused chaos, misery and crime, in my opinion. They have destroyed our economy, energy independence, the school system, national security at our southern border and our military with wokeness and vaccine mandates. If you refuse to live under these conditions, you are labeled an extremist. During his speech in Philadelphia, President Biden stated that former President Trump and the MAGA Republicans are a threat to democracy. No, they are a threat to the corrupt Biden family, the politicians who are getting rich by investing in the Green New Deal at the expense and hardship of the hard working taxpayers and the politicized DOJ and FBI agents who are catering to the left-wing Democrats who will do anything to keep in power. Read More Here

Arkansas Hospitals Possibly Facing Closure As They Struggle Financially https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-hospitals-possibly-facing-closure-as-they-struggle-financially/ An Arkansas Hospital Association survey done this summer found that 52% of hospitals that responded are operating at a loss. LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — The economy has been struggling, and like many businesses, people are facing the hard reality of inflation and staffing shortages. This includes our hospitals, and the Arkansas Hospital Association said that some hospitals could face closure if something doesn’t change. It’s mostly the smaller hospitals that don’t have the same resources as our major healthcare systems that could be in danger. “Mostly they are independent. They don’t have reserves that they’ve built up over the years,” said Bo Ryall, President and CDO of Arkansas Hospital Association. Expenses have increased as shortages and inflation continue, and AHA said that revenue can’t keep up with the high costs. Ryall added that labor, supplies, and pharmaceuticals have all increased by over 20%. In a report from our news partners, Arkansas Business, an Arkansas Hospital Association survey done this summer found that 52% of hospitals that responded are operating at a loss. The Department of Human Services has now stepped in. They are asking the American Rescue Plan Act steering committee to dole out $60 million in federal funding to the hospitals in “immediate jeopardy.” That refers to those in danger of running out of cash within the next three months and without the money to cover liabilities. Hospitals could use the funding for retaining and recruiting healthcare staff. “Hospitals are still having to recruit very heavily for nurses and other healthcare workers. There is an extreme shortage out there, which makes labor costs go up a lot,” explained Ryall. The steering committee has advanced this proposal, and the Arkansas Legislative Council will review it on Friday, September 16. Read More…

FBI Seizure Of Lindell's Phone Has Mankato Hardee’s Location In National Spotlight https://digitalarkansasnews.com/fbi-seizure-of-lindells-phone-has-mankato-hardees-location-in-national-spotlight/ MANKATO — The FBI’s execution of a search warrant on MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell at a Mankato fast-food drive-thru brought a wave of attention to the Mankato Hardee’s. Lindell, who became an enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, has said he was forced to hand his phone to FBI agents who surrounded him at a Mankato Hardee’s drive-thru on Tuesday. The execution of a warrant was part of an FBI investigation centered on a Colorado official accused of allowing an unauthorized person to break into the county’s election system to search for evidence that would validate Trump’s election conspiracy theories. Lindell, born in Mankato and raised in Chaska, said he was returning from a hunting trip in Iowa when the incident happened. Reports say that the incident happened at the Hardee’s on Highway 169 north. Adam Mahowald, manager of the Madison Avenue Hardee’s, said he isn’t sure the incident happened at all. “I was here all of (Tuesday) and my girlfriend works at the (Hardee’s off Highway 169 north), and neither of us saw any FBI raid,” he said. But an FBI spokesperson, who was contacted by several national media outlets, confirmed agents were “at that location executing a search warrant authorized by a federal judge” but would not give other details. Mahowald was spending Wednesday in the glare of the spotlight. “I’ve had reporters and camera crews up here. We got a whole lot of attention,” he said, noting that relatives have called from as far away as New York about the incident. Twitter and other social media were filled with comments about the Hardee’s incident. “I visited both Hardees in Mankato today. Still have my phone, but now need a nap. Where’s my pillow?” wrote A.J. Lagoe on Twitter. “Do not — I repeat: DO NOT EVER — carry your cell phone to a Hardee’s in Mankato!,” quipped Leigh Pomeroy. “In my city, we crash cars into the Walmart, we accidentally spill truck loads of live pigs onto the highway, and we get the My Pillow Guy being raided by the FBI at Hardee’s. I truly love my weird little goober town,” tweeted Kat Baumann. Hardee’s also capitalized on the publicity, sending this tweet out on Wednesday: “You should really try our pillowy biscuits.” Staff Writer Robb Murray contributed to this article. (c)2022 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Read More Here

Dominion Voting Systems Wants To Question Several Tucker Carlson And Lou Dobbs Producers In Their Sprawling Election Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Fox News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/dominion-voting-systems-wants-to-question-several-tucker-carlson-and-lou-dobbs-producers-in-their-sprawling-election-conspiracy-lawsuit-against-fox-news/ Dominion Voting Systems wants Tucker Carlson producers to share critical insight. In new filings, the voting company has asked Fox News producers to be deposed by the end of the month. Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News in March 2021 seeking $1.6 billion over election lies. Loading Something is loading. Lawyers representing Dominion Voting Systems is now asking producers for Tucker Carlson to sit for depositions in their sprawling $1.6 billion election defamation lawsuit against Fox News. According to a series of filings this week, Dominion has asked Justin Wells, Eldad Yaron, Alex Pfieffer, producers for Tucker Carlson, as well as John Fawcett, a former associate producer for former Fox host Lou Dobbs to sit for depositions by the end of September. On March 26, 2021, Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News seeking $1.6 billion in damages, claiming that the network gave prominence to the election-fraud claims as a tactic to revive viewership as ratings dropped after President Donald Trump’s loss. Dominion manufactures and sells electronic voting hardware, software, and voting machines, and was repeatedly targeted with conspiracies in the wake of the 2020 election. And in the company’s lawsuit, Dominion claimed that Fox News “sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process.” Two months later, Fox News filed to dismiss the motion, and by December 2021, a judge had rejected Fox’s motion. “We are confident we will prevail as freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs,” a spokesperson for Fox News told Insider in a statement.  Attorneys for Fox News did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.  The case is set to go to trial in April 2023, and the voting company will aim to use key testimonies from the producers to build its case.  In June, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis ruled that Dominion’s lawsuit could move forward including claims against Fox Corporation, Fox News’s parent company run by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. Davis argued that Fox News’s parent company Fox Corporation could also be found to be liable for pushing and directing the campaign of election lies, particularly after Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden and as the network sought to regain lost viewers from right-wing channels like Newsmax and One America News Network. In February 2021, another voting systems company, Smartmatic, filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and current and former hosts, which is moving forward in New York. Read More Here

Kari Lake ‘not A Fan’ Of Ron DeSantis Sending Undocumented Immigrants To Martha’s Vineyard https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kari-lake-not-a-fan-of-ron-desantis-sending-undocumented-immigrants-to-marthas-vineyard/ “We’re just taking people here illegally who shouldn’t be here, moving them further inland.” Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is speaking out against Gov. Ron DeSantis sending planes of undocumented immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Lake, appearing on Tucker Carlson Tonight on the Fox News Channel Wednesday, broke with the Florida Governor’s decision. “I’m not a fan of it, Tucker. I mean, we’re just taking people here illegally who shouldn’t be here, moving them further inland,” Lake said. It wasn’t all criticism. “I actually get a kick out of it, watching these liberal mayors just throw their hands up and say we can’t handle it, because it’s life every day for us in these border states,” Lake told Carlson. The criticism from Lake comes just weeks after DeSantis went to Arizona to campaign with her after she won her Primary with Donald Trump’s endorsement. Lake, a former newscaster, extolled DeSantis as a chip off the Donald Trump block, while saying being called “DeSantis of the West” was a major compliment. “He’s got BDE. I call it Big DeSantis Energy. He’s got the same kind of BDE President Trump has,” Lake said, introducing DeSantis as a Governor who brought “Trump strength” to Florida. By the end of the evening, DeSantis was promising to send National Guard members to stand guard at the Mexican border in cooperation with Lake, if she were elected Governor. Lake said on Fox News Wednesday that if elected she would send National Guard troops to the border, but did not reference DeSantis’ kind offer. Fox News Digital obtained the photo of the arrivals to Martha’s Vineyard, with Gov. DeSantis’ communications director confirming its veracity and saying it was a move of them to “sanctuary” jurisdictions. “As you may know, in this past legislative session the Florida Legislature appropriated $12 million to implement a program to facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants from this state consistent with federal law,” Fenske told Fox News. As far back as last year, DeSantis floated the idea of moving undocumented immigrants to other areas. “If you sent (them) to Delaware or Martha’s Vineyard, that border would be secured the next day,” he said in Jacksonville in December. Post Views: 0 Read More Here

Listen To Episode 46 Of Arkansas Prep X-Tra Podcast https://digitalarkansasnews.com/listen-to-episode-46-of-arkansas-prep-x-tra-podcast/ Listen to Episode 46 of Arkansas Prep X-tra here. By Kyle Sutherland | Photo by Sadie Rucker   After affecting games last week, Mother Nature once again caused delays and cancellations in the eastern part of the state. A number of teams are off this week, but with conference play beginning to heat up, there is still plenty to follow.  7A -Week 1 scores (2:08)  -Who has separated themselves early on? (2:57) -Games to watch this week (7:29) 6A -Week 1 scores (8:06) -Lake Hamilton takes down Little Rock Christian. (8:56) -Benton wins big over Sylvan Hills with a highlight-filled night. (14:41) -Top games this week (20:07) 5A -Week 1 scores (20:29) -Shiloh Christian rebounds to defeat Victory Christian by a lopsided 72-33 score in Oklahoma, where a sportsmanship rule does not exist … we discuss. (23:23) -Wynne is coming off a 72-44 cross-state trip victory over Fort Smith Southside and has another long haul down to South Arkansas against Magnolia. (26:40) -Top games this week (31:00) 4A -Week 1 scores (31:28) -Most teams who were expected to shine are, but Star City has gone from dark horse to contender. (32:42) -Top games this week (37:41) 3A -Week 1 scores (38:10) -Who are teams stepping up so far besides the known contenders? -Top games this week (43:33) 2A -Week 1 scores (44:08) -Is 2A the most wide open class? (45:18)  Read More Here

Arkansas Museum Of Fine Arts Announces Grand Reopening https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-museum-of-fine-arts-announces-grand-reopening/ After being closed for the past several years, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts has announced that they will be reopening their doors after a historic renovation. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts announced that it will have its grand reopening on April 22, 2023. The museum is known as the oldest and largest cultural institution of its kind in the Natural State and has been undergoing a historic renovation project—with hopes to transform the museum’s building and its grounds in Little Rock’s MacArthur Park. Though the museum has been closed for the past few years, the staff is hopeful that it will return better than before. “For six years, a dedicated team has been working to create an inclusive cultural space that inspires and builds community. Not only will the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts offer an array of visual arts, performing arts, and educational opportunities, it will provide a beautiful venue for people to connect with each other,” said Dr. Victoria Ramirez AMFA’s Executive Director. The building was designed by Jeanne Gang, a world-renowned architect, alongside her architecture and urban design practice. The project will include a brand new 133,00-square-foot building that will house various areas including the Windgate Art School, Governor Winthrop Rockefeller Lecture Hall, a performing arts theater, a modern restaurant, and many others. Once the museum reopens, they will unveil 11 acres of landscaping in MacArthur Park that were designed by award-winning architect Kate Orff. Harriet Stephens, AMFA Capital Campaign Co-Chair, and Building Committee Chair explained that over the last few years they have had the privilege of collaborating with an exceptionally talented group of architects, artisans, contractors and many skilled tradespeople to all help re-envision the museum inside and out. The historic renovation is being made possible through a public-private partnership that will begin with a $31 million commitment from the City of Little Rock that is being generated by a hotel tax revenue bond. Various contributions from private donors have quadrupled the public commitment and fundraising for the project is ongoing. AMFA Capital Campaign Co-Chair, Warren Stephens, explained that it’s an extraordinary project. “My family’s roots, like so many others in Arkansas, run deep. So, the excitement is thoroughly shared across the state and beyond, as evidenced by the success of the capital campaign, which has now raised $150.4 million, far exceeding our original goal. In fact, today we are announcing a new goal of $155 million,” he added. Harriett Stephens commented that it truly is a public-private partnership and that it has been made possible through generosity, commitment, and passion for fine arts and culture. Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. explained that the reimagined museum will be a beacon, not only for downtown or the city of Little Rock but for the entire region. “Not only is the building’s design a welcoming one, but the programming will emphasize the belief shared by the museum and my administration that equity in access to the arts is important for all. The city is proud of its role in making this dream a reality,” he said. Read More…

Local Group To Host Event Promoting Democracy To Counter Trump Rally At Covelli Centre https://digitalarkansasnews.com/local-group-to-host-event-promoting-democracy-to-counter-trump-rally-at-covelli-centre/ News Talking points that will be discussed at the event will include free and fair elections, equality under the law, accessible voting and much more. A local group will be hosting an event promoting democracy in order to counter a rally featuring former President Donald Trump and other Ohio Republicans on Saturday. The event, known as “Valley United for Fair Democracy” will be hosted by the Youngstown Solidarity Network, as well as Mahoning Valley Queer Action, Youngstown Peace Vigil, Our Revolution Mahoning Valley and Mahoning Valley DSA. The event will take place at the corner of Market and Front Street near the entrance to the Covelli Centre, where Trump’s rally is being held. Talking points that will be discussed at the event will include free and fair elections, equality under the law, accessible voting, accountable elected officials, fair and equal treatment for all and exercising our robust set of freedoms. The event will last from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. with a press conference and rally taking place at 3:00 p.m. Read More Here

Dems Decrying 'dangerous' MAGA Republicans Aren't Acting Like It, As Another Trumpian Wins Primary: 'The Five' https://digitalarkansasnews.com/dems-decrying-dangerous-maga-republicans-arent-acting-like-it-as-another-trumpian-wins-primary-the-five/ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! While President Biden warns Trumpism is purportedly “semi-fascist” and dangerous to democracy, yet another Trump-aligned Republican candidate boosted by Democrats won his primary race. On Tuesday, retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc bested moderate State Senate President Chuck Morse – and had been the beneficiary of more than $3 million in paid advertising from the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC. Bolduc’s razor-thin victory over Morse helps depict how key Democratic funding could’ve been in that race, former Bush White House press secretary Dana Perino said on “The Five.” “It was like 36.8% to 36.1%. So the Democrats’ effort helped him get over the finish line,” she said. SCHUMER-ALIGNED PAC SLAMMED AS DEMOCRATS THROW MONEY IN ANOTHER GOP PRIMARY RACE New Hampshire Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Bolduc smiles during a primary night campaign gathering. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha) “[Bolduc] was outspent by a lot. He only had like $70,000 in his account – but mark my words, he could still win [because Sen.] Maggie Hassan’s record in the Senate is horrendous.” Perino pointed to Bolduc’s substantive ground game, which included dozens of town hall meetings, quipping that Democrats “are probably going to get what they asked for,” in Bolduc unseating Hassan in November. Host Greg Gutfeld added that Democrats might “not really mean it” when they claim Trump-aligned “MAGA” Republicans are “the greatest existential threat since the Civil War.” He added that – borrowing a phrase oft utilized by Democrats – that such expenditures could be seen as “election meddling.” “Why is this election meddling somehow less worse than the Russians spending, what was it, $100,000 on Facebook ads?” Gutfeld asked. KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHO COULD BECOME YOUNGEST CONGRESSWOMAN, CALLS OUT ‘EXTREME’ DEMOCRATS Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano waves with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (REUTERS/Hannah Beier) Bolduc’s race is only the latest high-profile midterm contest in which Democrats or Democrat-aligned political action committees have thrown money at candidates they see as right-wing or closely tied to Trump. In Illinois, incumbent Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s campaign reportedly invested $9.5 million on top of $25 million from the Democratic Governors Association to help State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Louisville, win the Republican nomination earlier this year. Government transparency advocate OpenSecrets reported Democrats’ spending on Bailey’s behalf accounted for triple the candidate’s own spending. That figure was similar to a higher-profile case in Pennsylvania, where Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro – the incumbent attorney general – spent about $850,000 in advertising to boost his now-opponent, retired Army colonel Doug Mastriano. BIDEN ‘LOOKED LIKE HE WAS IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL’ DEMONIZING HALF THE COUNTRY: HALEY Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox talks to reporters in Annapolis. (AP Photo/Brian Witte) (AP Photo/Brian Witte) Mastriano, a state senator from Gettysburg, was seen as the more Trump-aligned candidate than the slew of other Republicans in the primary.  The lawmaker had drawn the attention of Democrats over his plan to implementing election security measures and his opposition to Gov. Tom Wolf’s and current Biden Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine’s statewide emergency coronavirus restrictions. And in Maryland, Democrats boosted now-Republican gubernatorial nominee State Del. Dan Cox, R-Frederick, over former Hogan administration official Kelly Schulz. CLICK TO GET FOX NEWS APP Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally to support local candidates on Sept. 3, 2022 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump called into a rally for Cox at a farm near Westminster, Md., earlier this summer where he offered his explicit endorsement – and more recently campaigned in person at a large event for Mastriano and Senate candidate Mehmet Oz in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pa. On “The Five,” host Jessica Tarlov cited Mastriano as the example of a popular GOP candidate with the potential to upset the Democrat, Shapiro because of the left’s primary-expenditure habits. “If even one of these people wins their election, it obviously invalidates the entire strategy,” she said. Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.  Read More Here

GOP Resolution Would Back Gray https://digitalarkansasnews.com/gop-resolution-would-back-gray/ CASPER — A faction of the GOP is aiming to reaffirm its support for Trump-endorsed Republican Secretary of State nominee Chuck Gray amid an attempt by some lawmakers to strip the position of some powers ahead of his likely victory in the November election.  The Park County GOP put its stamp of approval on a resolution earlier this month stating that the group “wholeheartedly supports” Gray and “condemns” the effort to take away elections administration duties from the secretary of state position.  The resolution, signed by Park County GOP Chairman Martin Kimmet and dated Sept. 1, will go before the Wyoming GOP State Central Committee in its upcoming public meeting on Saturday.  The resolution doesn’t have legal weight and is symbolic more than anything; Kimmet told the Star-Tribune on Monday that it’s meant to “support the voters of Wyoming, pure and simple.”  Rep. Gray, R-Casper, beat out his closest Republican challenger, attorney Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, by roughly 9 points, or 13,000 votes, in the August primary. He doesn’t have a challenger from another party for the upcoming general election, which means that he is almost certain to succeed Secretary of State Ed Buchanan.  Gray focused his primary campaign on getting rid of ballot boxes and rooting out voter fraud, even though cases of voter fraud in Wyoming are extremely rare.  Those who back Gray say he is a champion of “honest and fair elections,” per the words of Kimmet.  But critics see Gray as a serious threat to fair elections because of the narratives of widespread voter fraud that he’s pushed. That narrative has pervaded American politics since former president Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, even though there isn’t evidence that voter fraud was prevalent enough to have changed that outcome.  “I think the state of American politics that we’ve seen in other states has finally arrived in Wyoming,” Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, said.  Gray’s likely ascendance to the secretary of state position galvanized a group of traditional and more moderate-leaning Republicans, as well as some Democrats, to search for an independent candidate to challenge Gray in the November election.  That effort ultimately failed.  But at a Joint Corporations Committee meeting last month, Zwonitzer proposed drafting a bill that would curtail some of the secretary of state’s powers.  “I do have some concerns that the most likely person who will be our next chief elections officer, our secretary of state, has alleged that there may be nefarious activities at the ballot box in Wyoming, which I don’t agree exist,” Zwonitzer, who chairs the House Corporations Committee, said at the meeting. “I think our elections are safe and secure, probably more than any other state in this country.”  Zwonitzer told the Star-Tribune on Monday that, having worked alongside Gray in the Legislature for the past six years, he sees “concern in the back of everyone’s mind” about how Gray’s potential tenure as secretary of state could go.  “I think it’s fair to have some options on the table should it not go well,” he said.  But during the committee meeting, Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said those who voted for Gray would “rightfully feel insulted” if the committee tried to take away “a major portion” of the secretary of state’s responsibilities “before the guy’s even had a chance.”  “Republicans correctly see this for what it is,” Gray texted the Star-Tribune, “big-government politicians are shamelessly ignoring the will of voters and our right to have our elected officials represent us.”  The committee ultimately voted in favor of drafting a bill that would take away elections administration duties from the secretary of state position. A separate agency with an appointed director would take up these duties instead.  Lawmakers will look at a draft version of the bill at the committee’s October meeting.  The GOP quickly came out against that move, framing it as an attempt to “silence the conservative Republican voice in Wyoming,” per the words of a Sept. 2 email notice from the GOP.  By Friday, the GOP had the resolution attached to the State Central Committee’s meeting agenda. (Wyoming GOP Executive Director Kathy Russell confirmed on Monday that the Friday version of the resolution is the most current draft).  But Zwonitzer said the potential bill is meant to address the very concerns around elections that Gray — and other candidates — have emphasized.  “If people believe there’s clearly fraud in our elections, then we probably should, for the future, ensure that there are adequate safeguards over that (secretary of state) position,” he said.  “It’s the Legislature’s duty to at least discuss if it’s good or bad to have all of our elections under one individual, or is it better to spread it out between four of our statewide constitutional officers on the canvassing board,” he said.  When asked if he had any comment in response to Zwonitzer’s explanation for the bill, Gray texted a similar message to his first statement: “Republicans across Wyoming correctly see Zwonitzer’s and (Sen. Cale Case’s) effort for what it is — a couple of big-government insiders who are shamelessly ignoring the will of voters and our right to have our elected officials represent us.” (Case, R-Lander, was involved in the attempt to find an independent challenger to face Gray in the November election).  Gray added in another text that he believes Zwonitzer is “lying to hide his true motivation of stripping power away from elected officials who the people have already chosen.”  He said that if Zwonitzer cared about secure elections, he would support the measures that Gray has pushed during his campaign.  The GOP State Central Committee will also vote Saturday on a resolution to censure Case for his efforts to find a challenger to face Gray, among other grievances.  The resolution also states that the party will deny Case “any financial or physical support” in “any political endeavors…” and requests that he change his party affiliation. Read More Here

Trump Told Jordan’s King He Would Give Him The West Bank, Shocking Abdullah II, Book Says https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-told-jordans-king-he-would-give-him-the-west-bank-shocking-abdullah-ii-book-says/ President Trump once offered what he considered “a great deal” to Jordan’s King Abdullah II: control of the West Bank, whose Palestinian population long sought to topple the monarchy. “I thought I was having a heart attack,” Abdullah II recalled to an American friend in 2018, according to a new book on the Trump presidency being published next week. “I couldn’t breathe. I was bent doubled-over.” The unreported offer to Abdullah is among the startling new details about Trump’s chaotic presidency in the book “The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021” by Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, and Susan Glasser, staff writer for the New Yorker. The book, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the latest in a long-running series of deeply reported behind-the-scenes accounts featuring, or written by, Trump administration insiders, with some claiming that they tried to curb the 45th president’s worst instincts. Baker and Glasser write that their book is based on reporting they did for their respective outlets, “as well as about 300 original interviews conducted exclusively for this book.” They added: “We obtained private diaries, memos, contemporaneous notes, emails, text messages, and other documents that shed new light on Trump’s time in office.” The husband-and-wife journalists also conducted two interviews with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. One theme that emerges in the book is the growth of Trump’s fixation with attacking his perceived enemies and an increasing concern among top officials in his administration that they must prevent Trump’s lawlessness and erratic demands. Several top officials “were on the verge of quitting en masse,” according to the book, citing an October 2018 message Kirstjen Nielsen, then the homeland security secretary, wrote to a top aide over the encrypted app Signal. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly; Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke “all” wanted to quit, Nielsen wrote, according to the book. At the time, Trump was fearful of losing control of Congress and eager to appeal to his base of supporters. Fox News was focusing attention on a caravan of migrants moving through Central America toward the southern border — referring to it as an “invasion,” the book notes. Trump, in response, urged Nielsen to “harden the border even to the point of pushing her to take action she had no authority to take,” according to the book. Nielsen and Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, even agreed that they would both resign in protest if Trump resumed family separations at the southern border. In fall 2018, she wrote to an aide, “The insanity has been loosed.” Those officials ultimately left the administration, but not in unison over one single issue. “The people who were most fearful of his reign were those in the room with him,” Baker and Glasser write. In November 2018, Democrats swept to power in the House, winning the majority. While he was in the White House, Trump also tried to use his office to punish — demands his own aides saw as illegal and tried to stop, according to the book. Trump not only tried to block a merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, and the telecommunication giant AT&T, driven by his anger over the network’s coverage of him, but also tried to prevent a government contract from going to a company owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. (Bezos owns The Washington Post). “He’d do anything to get Bezos,” a senior Trump official told the book’s authors. Trump also targeted former intelligence officials James R. Clapper Jr. and John Brennan, demanding more than 50 times that they be stripped of security clearances. And when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit blocked one of his policies, Trump told Nielsen he wanted to eliminate the court altogether. “Let’s just cancel it,” he told her, according to the book, adding that they should “get rid” of the judges and using a profanity. Trump ordered that legislation be drafted and sent to Congress as soon as possible, the authors write. Nielsen, according to the book, “did what she and so many other administration officials did when Trump issued nonsensical demands — ignored it and hoped it would go away.” Trump, who is eyeing another presidential run, also ruled out picking his former vice president Mike Pence as his running mate, telling Baker and Glasser, “It would be totally inappropriate.” Pence’s refusal to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, despite Trump’s false claims that the election was rigged, opened a fissure between the two men. Trump, seething over what he considered a betrayal by Pence, told the authors, “Mike committed political suicide by not taking votes that he knew were wrong.” On Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes for Biden, several of the president’s supporters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.” The book also quotes Trump’s wife, Melania, expressing deep concerns over her husband’s handling of the coronavirus. She spoke directly to Trump in the early days of the pandemic and, according to the book, recounted that conversation later to Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.), from whom the president had routinely sought advice. “You’re blowing this,” she recalled telling her husband, according to the book. “This is serious. It’s going to be really bad, and you need to take it more seriously than you’re taking it,” she said, according to Baker and Glasser. Trump “just dismissed her,” they write. “You worry too much,” Melania recalled Trump telling her, according to the book. The offer to Abdullah of the West Bank — which is bordered by Israel and Jordan, and which Trump had no control over — came in January 2018. Trump thought he would be doing the Jordanian king a favor, not realizing that it would destabilize his country, according to the book. A previous excerpt of the book published in August in the New Yorker described how Trump once told a top adviser that he wanted “totally loyal” generals like the ones who had served Adolf Hitler — unaware that some of Hitler’s generals had tried to assassinate the Nazi leader several times. Trump complained to Kelly, then his chief of staff and a retired Marine Corps general, “why can’t you be like the German generals?” When Kelly asked which generals he meant, Trump replied: “The German generals in World War II.” “You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly said, according to the book. Trump didn’t believe him, the book says. “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,” Trump insisted. Read More Here

Queen Elizabeth II Moved To Westminster Hall To Lie In State https://digitalarkansasnews.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-moved-to-westminster-hall-to-lie-in-state/ Queen Elizabeth II‘s coffin was processed through central London on Wednesday from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the late monarch will lie in state for four days until her funeral on Monday. Members of the public will be able to visit the queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall to pay their respects. Crowds had already gathered early Wednesday morning to view the procession, and a line had begun to form of people waiting to file past the queen’s coffin. The doors of the ancient hall on the bank of the River Thames were to open to the public from 5 p.m. local time. Special Report: Procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin to Westminster to lie in state 01:27:07 On person in the crowd, Sharon Stapleton, told CBS News she had “met lots of interesting different people you wouldn’t meet normally — all brought together and united in their grief for the queen, and excited about being able to go through and see her lying in state.”  “It’s been a long night. It’s been raining, very wet, a bit cold,” added Stapleton, who said she started waiting in the line at 9 p.m. Tuesday night. “But it’s worth every minute of it.”  Britain’s King Charles III, at left, William, Prince of Wales, background left, and Prince Harry, at right, walk behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II during a procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall in London, September 14, 2022. Daniel Leal/AP The most senior members of the royal family took part in the procession — a roughly 40-minute walk — from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, including the new monarch King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew. William, Prince of Wales and Harry, Duke of Sussex marched in a row behind the queen’s children. Princes William and Harry walk side by side behind Queen Elizabeth’s coffin — like they did at Diana’s funeral 02:02 The procession included the tolling of the bells of Big Ben, the iconic clock tower in Parliament Square, and a gun salute at Hyde Park nearby. As the procession passed, the gathered crowd broke out into applause at various points along the route. A short service began after the coffin reached Westminster Hall, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, which the royal family — including the Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — attended. The coffin rests on a raised platform that will be guarded around the clock for the full four-day lying in state period by members of various British military regiments assigned to royal protection duty. Queen Elizabeth II through the years 76 photos Read More Here

Wall St Staggers To Higher Close As Fed Rate Hike Looms https://digitalarkansasnews.com/wall-st-staggers-to-higher-close-as-fed-rate-hike-looms/ Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Market sees 22% likelihood of a 100 bps rate hike from Fed -CME Railroad stocks drop amid negotiations to avoid strike Indexes up: Dow 0.10%, S&P 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.74% NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Wall Street ended a directionless session higher on Wednesday as an on-target inflation report largely stanched the flow of Tuesday’s sell-off and investors pressed the “pause” button. All three indexes wavered throughout the day, but ultimately ended in positive territory. They all failed to meaningfully recover ground lost in Tuesday’s carnage, which wrought their largest percentage plunges in more than two years. “Today is a lick-your-wounds day, after taking body blows yesterday,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha, Nebraska. “It’s a day of rest and that’s somewhat of a welcome sign.” Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com The Labor Department’s producer prices (PPI) data landed close to consensus estimates and provided some relief in the aftermath of Tuesday’s market-rattling CPI print, which came in hotter than expected. read more “The inflation debate continues and yesterday was a harsh reminder that this a tough battle and the Fed needs to remain aggressive to put a lid on the widespread inflationary prices we’re seeing,” Detrick added. The PPI report offered reassurance that inflation is indeed on a slow, downward trajectory. Inflation But it still has a long way to go before it approaches the Federal Reserve’s average annual 2% inflation target, and while financial markets have fully priced in an interest rate hike of at least 75 basis points at the conclusion of the FOMC’s policy meeting next week, they see a 22% likelihood of a super-sized, 100 basis-point increase, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. Two-year U.S. Treasury yields, which reflect interest rate expectations, extended Tuesday’s rise. The size and duration of further interest rate hikes going forward have many market observers concerned over the lagging effects of the Fed’s tightening phase, with some viewing recession as unavoidable. A trader works on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly The transportation sector (.DJT), seen as a barometer of economic health and which provides a glimpse into the supply side of the inflation picture, was weighed down by rail stocks in the face of a potential strike. “Does the White House really want rails to shut down and impact supply chains even more, less than two months before midterm elections?” Detrick asked. “We’re optimistic they can keep rails open.” Railroad operators Union Pacific (UNP.N), Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) and CSX Corp (CSX.O) lost 3.7%, 2.2% and 1.0% respectively, even as Labor Secretary Marty Walsh met with union representatives in Washington in talks aimed at preventing a rail shutdown. read more The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 30.12 points, or 0.1%, to 31,135.09, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 13.32 points, or 0.34%, to 3,946.01 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 86.10 points, or 0.74%, to 11,719.68. Six of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 advanced, with energy stocks (.SPNY) leading the gainers with an assist from rising crude prices due to supply concerns. Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) shares jumped 5.5% after the company upped its three-year profit and sales outlook. read more Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) bounced back from Tuesday’s drop, advancing 3.6% on the same day President Joe Biden announced $900 million in funding for electric vehicle charging stations. read more Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.05-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and 30 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 26 new highs and 219 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.90 billion shares, compared with the 10.33 billion average over the last 20 trading days. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Stephen Culp in New York Additonal reporting by Ankika Biswas, Devik Jain and Sruthi Shankar in Bangalore Editing by Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

MyPillow Exec Says FBI Agents Seized His Cellphone – The Paper. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mypillow-exec-says-fbi-agents-seized-his-cellphone-the-paper/ Published September 14th, 2022 at 4:56 pm By MICHAEL BALSAMO and CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell said Tuesday that federal agents seized his cellphone and questioned him about a Colorado clerk who has been charged in what prosecutors say was a “deceptive scheme” to breach voting system technology used across the country. Lindell was approached in the drive-thru of a Hardee’s fast-food restaurant in Mankato, Minnesota, by several FBI agents, he said on his podcast, “The Lindell Report.” The agents questioned him about Dominion Voting Systems, Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and his connection to Doug Frank, an Ohio educator who claims voting machines have been manipulated, he said. The agents then told Lindell they had a warrant to seize his cellphone and ordered him to turn it over, he said. On a video version of his podcast, Lindell displayed a letter signed by an assistant U.S. attorney in Colorado that said prosecutors were conducting an “official criminal investigation of a suspected felony” and noted the use of a federal grand jury. The circumstances of the investigation were unclear. The Justice Department did not immediately respond Tuesday night to a request for comment about the seizure or investigation. “Without commenting on this specific matter, I can confirm that the FBI was at that location executing a search warrant authorized by a federal judge,” FBI spokeswoman Vikki Migoya said in an email. Federal prosecutors have been conducting a parallel investigation alongside local prosecutors in Colorado who have charged Peters with several offenses, including attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation and official misconduct. The Republican was elected in 2018 to oversee elections in Colorado’s Mesa County. A deputy clerk, Belinda Knisley, was also charged in the case, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years of probation. For more than a year, Peters has appeared onstage with supporters of former President Donald Trump who made false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. The charges against Peters and Knisley allege the two were involved in a “deceptive scheme which was designed to influence public servants, breach security protocols, exceed permissible access to voting equipment, and set in motion the eventual distribution of confidential information to unauthorized people.” State election officials first became aware of a security breach in Mesa County in 2021 when a photo and video of confidential voting system passwords were posted on social media and a conservative website. Because each Colorado county has unique passwords maintained by the state, officials identified them as belonging to Mesa County, a largely rural area on the border with Utah. Peters appeared onstage in August 2021 at a “cybersymposium” hosted by Lindell, who has sought to prove that voting machines have been manipulated and promised to reveal proof of that during the event. While no evidence was provided, a copy of Mesa County’s voting system hard drive was distributed and posted online, according to attendees and state officials. The copy included proprietary software developed by Dominion Voting Systems that is used by election offices around the country. Experts have described the unauthorized release as serious, saying it provided a potential “practice environment” that would allow anyone to probe for vulnerabilities that could be exploited during a future election. Nearly two years after the 2020 election, no evidence has emerged to suggest widespread fraud or manipulation, while reviews in state after state have upheld the results showing President Joe Biden won. The Mesa County breach is just one of several around the country that have concerned election security experts. Authorities are investigating whether unauthorized people were allowed to access voting systems in Georgia and Michigan. Lindell said the federal agents had also questioned him about when he first met Frank, an Ohio math and science educator, who is among a group of people who have been traveling across the U.S. meeting with community groups claiming to have evidence that voting machines were rigged in the 2020 election. In court records, prosecutors say Frank met with Peters and members of her staff in April 2021 in her office. During the meeting, Frank told Peters that the county’s election management system was vulnerable to outside interference and the group discussed concerns the state was going to “wipe” the machines, according to the court records. __ Read More Here

The One, BIG Lesson Of The 2022 Primary Season https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-one-big-lesson-of-the-2022-primary-season/ Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large The 2022 primary season officially ended Tuesday night, with voters in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware casting their final ballots. There are a lot of good takeaways from the primary season that was, but in raw political terms, there’s really only one lesson that matters as we contemplate where we are as a country at this moment: Donald Trump still has a vice grip on the Republican Party. In contested primary after contested primary, the Trumpiest candidate — and usually the one who the former President explicitly endorsed — won. And in many of those races, the Trump-ified candidate defeated an opponent who had backing from the more establishment wing of the party. Tuesday’s results in New Hampshire are a good microcosm of this trend. Don Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general, won the Senate primary over a field of candidates that included state Senate President Chuck Morse. Bolduc did not receive Trump’s endorsement, but he is an outspoken supporter of the former President’s election denialism and even floated the possibility of disbanding the FBI in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago search last month. Morse was considered a more pragmatic candidate who had the endorsement of New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. (Sununu had also said that Bolduc was “not a serious candidate.”) In GOP Senate primaries in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina, a similar scenario played out. Candidates clambered — at times desperately — for Trump’s approval and voting coalition, often by adopting his false claims about the 2020 election. In each of those cases, Trump’s chosen candidate won the nomination. (Sidebar: CNN’s Daniel Dale found that more than half of the 35 Republican Senate nominees this year have expressed at least some skepticism about the 2020 election results.) Governor’s races weren’t much different. In Arizona, Kari Lake, a high-profile election denier, rode a Trump endorsement — and an adoption of Trumpism writ large — to the GOP nomination. Ditto Doug Mastriano, who rose to prominence for his unswerving belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, in Pennsylvania. In Wisconsin, Tim Michels won the Republican primary with Trump’s backing, as did Tudor Dixon in Michigan. (Georgia was a notable exception here, with Gov. Brian Kemp fending off a Trump-backed primary challenger.) Which is a remarkable thing. Why? Because Trump is a former president of the United States, someone who lost his bid for a second term. And not just that, but someone who was in office when Republicans lost their House and Senate majorities. The story of Trump’s political life is marked by more defeats than victories. And yet, there is a credible case to be made that he is at least as powerful today — in terms of his influence over the GOP — as he was when he was in the White House. What does that mean going forward? That Trump would start a 2024 Republican presidential nomination fight as a very clear favorite — even as it remains a very open question as to whether he can appeal to voters outside of the GOP base. The Point: The Republican Party is Donald Trump’s party. Any doubt of that fact was erased by the 2022 primary season. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Senators Slam Social Media Companies For Failure To Keep Disinformation From Going Viral https://digitalarkansasnews.com/senators-slam-social-media-companies-for-failure-to-keep-disinformation-from-going-viral/ Written by Suzanne Smalley Sep 14, 2022 | CYBERSCOOP Six current and former social media executives appeared at Senate hearings Wednesday focused on disinformation, with some facing blistering attacks from lawmakers and former colleagues who alleged that their companies allow the spread of untrue, divisive and extremist content because it is profitable. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told executives from Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter that by pushing “the most engaging posts to more users, they end up amplifying extremist, dangerous, and radicalizing content. This includes QAnon, Stop the Steal, and other conspiracy theories, as well as white supremacist and Anti-Semitic rhetoric.” The daylong grilling and critique of the platforms took place over two Senate Homeland Security Committee hearings and also included ex-social media executives turned critics. The hearings come at a pivotal moment for the companies, whose content dissemination practices have come under increasing fire in the wake of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s blockbuster revelations last September about how the company often chose to let disinformation spread — including around Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud — rather than rein it in and sacrifice growth. On Tuesday, Twitter’s former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about a whistleblower complaint he filed last month alleging the company deceived regulators, consumers and board members about its security practices. Former insiders reveal why disinformation flourishes The former Twitter and Facebook executives appearing Wednesday offered an unvarnished picture of how the companies’ engineers are incentivized to disseminate content that will engage users even if it could be dangerous. “Regulators must understand these companies’ incentives, culture, and internal processes to fully appreciate how resistant they will be to changing the status quo that has been so lucrative for them,” said Alex Roetter, the former head of engineering at Twitter, who argued that more government regulation is urgently needed. Roetter said Twitter engineering teams use an experimental system to test ways to get the most engagement from users. “This system logs a slew of data for every live experiment,” he testified. “Teams use this data to show per-experiment effects on various user and revenue metrics. Noticeably absent were any values tracking impacts on trust and safety metrics.” The same unyielding drive for user engagement is pervasive at Facebook, according to Brian Boland, who left the company as a vice president for product engineering, marketing, strategic operations and analytics after 11 years in 2020. “What finally convinced me that it was time to leave was that despite growing evidence that the newsfeed may be causing harm globally, the focus on and investments in safety remained small and siloed.” brian boland, former facebook executive Boland said that after acquiring CrowdTangle, a company that provides what he called “industry leading transparency” into Facebook’s public newsfeed content, parent company Meta “attempted to delegitimize the CrowdTangle-generated data” after it showed the platform was fueling political and racial divisions in the summer of 2020. “What finally convinced me that it was time to leave was that despite growing evidence that the newsfeed may be causing harm globally, the focus on and investments in safety remained small and siloed,” Boland said. “Rather than address the serious issues raised by its own research, Meta leadership chooses growing the company over keeping more people safe.” He also pointed out that Facebook disbanded its so-called Responsible Innovation team last week. Boland offered a bleak vision of the future if legislation isn’t enacted, saying that as machine learning technology advances, algorithms will only get better at targeting users who are vulnerable to disinformation and extremist content. Platforms say they are fighting disinformation Current social media company executives told the senators they are doing what they can. Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said the company employs 80 fact checkers in 60 countries. “We employ tens of thousands of people and we use industry leading technology,” to root out disinformation and hate speech, Cox testified. “I’m proud that we’ve invested around $5 billion last year alone and have over 40,000 people working on safety and security.” Twitter executive Jay Sullivan asserted that Twitter prioritizes safety throughout product development. Current TikTok and YouTube executives also testified at the hearing. Several senators focused on reporting from BuzzFeed News revealing that TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has reportedly allowed China-based engineers to access American users’ data. Senator Mitt Romney, R. Utah, suggested he would like to see TikTok banned from operating in the U.S. Despite the strong language from the senators, however, longtime critics aren’t optimistic that legislation will be forthcoming. Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told CyberScoop that social media companies have been under fire from the White House and Congress for years and remain virtually unregulated. Even without stronger enforcement, Beirich said the government must find a way to force the companies to release data so that outsiders can better understand how their algorithms fuel disinformation and hate speech. Beirich said it is very clear to her that social media is fueling violence, pointing to the fact that platforms have promoted the white supremacist conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement” which posits that white people are being replaced by immigrants, Muslims, and other people of color in the countries where they live. The theory has been embraced by several mass shooters — many of whom have streamed their killings on social media platforms — over the past few years. She said her organization has been asking YouTube to remove content promoting this theory for more than two years but nothing has been done. “It is expensive to content moderate — that eats into your profit,” she said. “The only way that tech companies have ever changed their practices, including banning white supremacist material, for example, is after PR disasters … They are not going to self-regulate.” Read More Here

Arkansas Postcard Past https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-postcard-past/ Texarkana, 1908: The Post Pipe Co. was pictured along with the train on a rail spur that would have shipped the finished products around the nation. Texarkana, 1908: The Post Pipe Co. was pictured along with the train on a rail spur that would have shipped the finished products around the nation. “This is a factory that is about 200 yards from our place. … Mother is sick, she is up around the house now but has not been out. We have little chicks & more hens sitting.” So said cousin Charlie to his cousin in Minnesota. Arkansas Postcard Past, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203 Read More…

Charges Filed Against Man Accused Of Firebombing Sheriff’s Home https://digitalarkansasnews.com/charges-filed-against-man-accused-of-firebombing-sheriffs-home/ RANDOLPH COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) – A Randolph County man accused of firebombing the sheriff’s home now faces multiple felony charges. Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Cooper said 41-year-old Bryan Keith Rogers of Biggers has been charged with the following: 3 counts of attempted capital murder 1 count of arson 1 count of fleeing in a vehicle causing danger 5 counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer According to online court documents, the charges were filed on Thursday, Sept. 8. Investigators said Rogers went to Sheriff Kevin Bell’s home around 1:30 on the morning of July 11 and attempted to firebomb it while Bell and his family were sleeping. Bell said he heard the explosion near his son’s bedroom, then he saw his house was on fire. Deputies responding to the scene found Rogers traveling west on U.S. Highway 62 toward Pocahontas and attempted to stop him. Following a brief chase, Bell said Rogers then opened fire on the deputies with an AR-15. A deputy performed a PIT maneuver, ending the chase, but the sheriff said that Rogers got out of his vehicle and began shooting at the deputies. When deputies returned fire, Rogers surrendered and was arrested soon after. Copyright 2022 KAIT. All rights reserved. Read More Here

House GOP Convinced Biden Remains An Anchor That Will Drag Down Democrats In November https://digitalarkansasnews.com/house-gop-convinced-biden-remains-an-anchor-that-will-drag-down-democrats-in-november/ House Republicans are still betting President Biden is a liability for Democratic candidates, even as the president’s party says his legislative wins shifted the momentum in their favor for the midterm elections. The House GOP’s campaign arm is planning to spend millions of dollars on TV ads tying Democratic incumbents to Mr. Biden by highlighting their party-line voting record. The National Republican Congressional Committee has unveiled new ads against Reps. Cindy Axne of Iowa and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, while Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, has put out similar content against a host of other Democrats. “We are working hard to make sure every vulnerable Democrat has Joe Biden as a running mate,” said NRCC spokesman Mike Berg. The CLF echoed that sentiment, pointing to their efforts to highlight swing district Democrats’ votes for higher spending, which they tied to high gas prices and inflation. “Joe Biden and his toxic agenda will be an anchor on every Democrat in Congress,” said the super PAC’s Cally Perkins. SEE ALSO: Tight race between Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, GOP rival Adam Laxalt in Nevada Meanwhile, Democrats are banking on a shift in the nation’s sour mood after Mr. Biden, who has long struggled with low approval ratings, scored a series of legislative victories. His wins include a sweeping law to combat climate change, lower prescription drug prices and hike taxes on corporations. That, coupled with outrage over the Supreme Court ending nationwide abortion rights, helped energize the Democratic base. But even though Mr. Biden’s approval score ticked up in recent weeks, his job-approval rating remains underwater.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday she felt the momentum was turning around for her party. “Democrats can hold the House, despite some of the so-called conventional wisdom,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “We are in a different reality now, in terms of our own democracy being on the ballot, the planet being on the ballot, the future of our country being on the ballot, and also we always believed we would win.” Still, TV screens across America are filled with unflattering images of Democratic lawmakers next to Mr. Biden. Rep. Mike Levin, California Democrat who is a frontline member, dismissed GOP attacks tying Democrats to Mr. Biden as a distortion of the president’s record.  “They’re going to do and say whatever they think is going to be effective to try and distort the record of Congress and the administration,” Mr. Levin said. The NRCC has put out numerous statements attacking Mr. Levin for supporting Mr. Biden and tying him to inflation and high consumer prices. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is a rare member of his party to win a district won twice by former President Donald Trump, said he doesn’t see Mr. Biden as a liability, but it’s important to distinguish his record from the president’s and his colleagues. “I’ve been friends with Joe Biden for over 30 years, and I’ve said what kind of person abandons his friends just because he’s behind a couple of ticks in the polls? I haven’t,” Mr. Cartwright said. “But, people know I’m not running for president. I’m running for the 8th district of Pennsylvania and to do my best to represent them. I think the people at home understand that.” Read More Here

Recapping The 2022 Primaries: The Environment Got Better For Dems — But Voters Still Have Concerns – Everett Post https://digitalarkansasnews.com/recapping-the-2022-primaries-the-environment-got-better-for-dems-but-voters-still-have-concerns-everett-post/ (WASHINGTON) — After Tuesday’s elections in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, the six-month-long 2022 primary season has finally come to a close — and the party nominees now turn their attention to the eight weeks before November’s midterms. A lot can change in the close of the campaign — just as a lot has changed throughout this year’s primaries. Democrats braced at the beginning of the cycle for an expected wave of Republican success, given historical trends, President Joe Biden’s unpopularity and the drag of economic news, including gas prices and inflation. At the beginning of June, FiveThirtyEight projected Democrats would lose an average of 20 House seats — more than enough to flip the chamber to the GOP. Now, according to FiveThirtyEight’s forecast, Democrats are projected to lose an average of 13 seats. And FiveThirtyEight assesses that they are favorites to hold the Senate — albeit narrowly — in another reversal since June. What shifted? Here’s a breakdown of key dynamics during the 2022 primary season and what it may mean ahead of the midterms. The overturning Roe v. Wade in June gave a new focus for Democrats on the trail as they increasingly campaigned on abortion rights, which the Supreme Court had ruled should be left up to individual states. The first major litmus test of how Americans felt about abortion after the dismantling of Roe came in the historically red state of Kansas, where in August voters rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that said there was no right to an abortion. More than 900,000 Kansans went to the polls to vote, the biggest turnout for a primary election in the state’s history. An ABC News/Ipsos poll released in August asked voters which candidate they would support if one favored keeping abortion legal and available and the other candidate supported limiting abortion except to protect the mother’s life. About half of Americans (49%) said they would be more likely to support the candidate who would keep access to abortion legal compared to the 27% of Americans who would be more likely to support the candidate who favored limiting abortion. While anti-abortion voters are a core part of the Republican base, leading conservatives remain divided on the issue — some push for stricter restrictions nationwide while others argue for a more moderate position. On Tuesday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced legislation that would impose a federal ban on most abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell downplayed prospects for such legislation if his party retakes power, saying, “I think most of the members of my conference prefer this be dealt with at the state level.” And some Republican candidates in tight races in swing states distanced themselves from a national ban. In Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz’s campaign released a statement suggesting he would not support Graham’s legislation. “Dr. Oz is pro-life with three exceptions: life of the mother, rape and incest. And as a senator, he’d want to make sure that the federal government is not involved in interfering with the state’s decisions on the topic,” spokeswoman Brittany Yanick told ABC News. Former President Donald Trump continues to be an influential figure for Republican voters, even as others in his party suggested his endorsements were sometimes jeopardizing their general election prospects. While Trump received mixed results with his endorsed candidates this primary cycle, one fact sticks out: In nearly every battleground Senate race, a candidate he endorsed or with whom he aligns won their primary, sometimes beating more moderate options. Some exceptions prove that rule: In the Colorado Senate primary, where Trump did not make an endorsement, the candidate who won the primary, Joe O’Dea, has cast himself as a moderate Republican hoping to garner more voters in the purple state. In August, McConnell predicted the House had a greater likelihood of flipping than the Senate, citing “candidate quality” in the Senate races — a veiled remark that many, including Trump himself, took to be about some of the GOP nominees backed by the former president. Heading into primary season, the party had also failed to recruit some popular names like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to target vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Instead, Blake Masters in Arizona, Herschel Walker in Georgia and Oz in Pennsylvania are some of the first-time Senate candidates running in races that are either rated lean Democrat or toss-up by FiveThirtyEight. (McConnell has since publicly fundraised for Oz and Walker.) In Maryland and New Hampshire, meanwhile, the Trump-aligned nominees Dan Cox and Don Bolduc triumphed over candidates backed by Hogan and Sununu, who won their blue states with more moderate coalitions. Cox and Bolduc energized their supporters in part by campaigning in Trump’s style, which included baseless attacks on the 2020 race. President Biden’s approval rating consistently fell for much of the primary season, according to FiveThirtyEight — until gas prices began to fall in the summer and he notched a series of wins in Congress, which Democratic lawmakers have been happy to campaign on while on the trail. Among the bills that were passed and signed — most of them by bipartisan majorities in Congress — were gun-safety reforms, veterans’ health care and domestic computer chip funding and, along party lines, the climate, health and tax package known as the Inflation Reduction Act. In August, over Republican objections, Biden also announced he was fulfilling a campaign promise and would be forgiving up to $10,000 of federal student debt and an additional $10,000 in debt for those who received Pell grants. His approval rating has rallied since a nadir in late July, according to FiveThirtyEight. As one example, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released in August, 40% of Americans approved of the job Biden has been doing compared to 52% who did not approve. This is up 9% from the last month. The former president made clear that he would use his endorsements during the primaries to try and oust the House Republicans who voted to impeach him after Jan. 6 — and he largely succeeded. Of the 10 Republicans who voted for impeachment, four retired, four lost their primaries to Trump-backed challengers and only two will move onto the general election. The two Republicans who survived their primarys are Reps. David Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington state. Trump’s biggest target was Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, his biggest Republican critic and one of the lawmakers who has led the charge to prevent Trump from, in her words, ever holding office again. Cheney was handily defeated last month by Trump’s pick, attorney Harriet Hageman. Even though Biden has seen notable improvement in his approval ratings, some Democratic candidates in battleground states still hesitated to campaign with the president. In Ohio, Rep. Tim Ryan’s campaign told ABC News that they had not asked Biden or anyone from the White House to campaign with them. In Wisconsin over the Labor Day weekend, Democratic Senate nominee and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was absent as President Biden touted the power of union workers at a “Laborfest” in Milwaukee. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democrat running for governor, did not join Biden when he visited Pittsburgh during his Labor Day stop after appearing with Biden at an official White House event in Wilkes-Barre the previous week. In May, Shapiro told CNN that he would “welcome” Biden in Pennsylvania to campaign for him, adding that he was “focused on running a race here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, listening to the people of Washington County, not Washington, D.C.” Trouble continued to brew for Biden with the latest inflation report, which showed prices were 8.3% higher in August compared to a year ago — higher than expected. Food, shelter, medical care and education were among the categories that increased over the month. But the price of gasoline did fall, alleviating what voters have said is a major concern. Republicans seized on the persistently high inflation as Biden released a statement that responded to the report, contending that “it will take more time and resolve to bring inflation down.” The same day, Senate Republicans blasted the White House for celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act while inflation rates kept rising over last year. “So they may be taking a victory lap at the White House but I can tell you one thing: The American people are not, because they are feeling the direct impact of this every single day,” Republican Whip John Thune said. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll showed that only 29% of Americans said they approved of the way Biden has been handling inflation — while 69% disapproved. Heading into the general election, some firebrand Republicans who ran on Trump’s endorsement in swing states have started switching their tune on hot-button issues such as abortion. In Pennsylvania, for example, state Sen. Doug Mastriano initially campaigned for the GOP nominee to be governor in part on a near-total ban on abortions — a portion of his platform he virtually stopped mentioning since winning the nomination. Other Republican hopefuls downplayed their previous attacks on the 2020 race that Trump lost to Biden. “If they want to be successful, they have to broaden their message,” Mike DuHaime, who helped former Republican Gov. Chris Christie twice get elected in New Jersey, previously told ABC News. “Yeah, you need the Republican base to be fire...

Alabama Cop Claims Qualified Immunity For Handcuffing Disabled 13-Year-Old https://digitalarkansasnews.com/alabama-cop-claims-qualified-immunity-for-handcuffing-disabled-13-year-old/ A three-judge panel heard arguments over whether a school resource officer was justified in executing a takedown maneuver on a seventh-grader that broke his arm. ATLANTA (CN) — An Alabama police officer who broke a seventh-grader’s arm while handcuffing him at school asked the 11th Circuit on Wednesday to toss out a federal judge’s refusal to block an excessive force lawsuit filed against him. An attorney for school resource officer Blake Dorminey told a three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based appeals court that his client had no choice but to forcibly subdue a student identified in court documents as J.I.W. The panel appeared divided on whether the 13-year-old had committed any crime which would have justified the officer’s actions. J.I.W. was having a bad day in October 2018 when he crossed paths with Dorminey. He had grown agitated in class at Slocomb Middle School and was asked to go out into the hallway by his teacher. Once outside the classroom, J.I.W. yelled and punched a metal locker. The student had a history of outbursts and had been diagnosed with a host of psychiatric disorders including bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and ADHD. When the school’s principal approached him, the teen allegedly walked toward him aggressively with his fists clenched and chest out. J.I.W. did not hit the principal or anyone else. Dorminey intervened, explaining later that he had reasonable suspicion to believe that J.I.W. had committed crimes including disorderly conduct, attempted harassment and attempt to commit second-degree assault. The officer put the student in a wristlock, pulling his arm behind his back three times. Dorminey said in a post-incident report that he heard J.I.W.’s arm “pop” as he slammed the student to the ground. The lawsuit filed by the student’s mother alleges that Dorminey put her son in handcuffs while he writhed on the floor and screamed that he was in pain. J.I.W.’s arm turned out to be broken and required two surgeries to heal. An Alabama federal judge ruled last year that the officer’s use of force was unreasonable and rejected his request for qualified immunity. Dorminey’s motion to dismiss the assault and battery claims against him was also denied. Arguing on behalf of Dorminey on Wednesday, attorney James Pike of Shealy Pike told the panel that at least two witnesses who described the moments leading up to J.I.W.’s arrest said the teen looked like he was going to hit the principal. A third witness alleged that J.I.W. lunged in the principal’s direction, the attorney said. Pike described J.I.W. as combative and said Dorminey acted appropriately to “stop a crime in process.” He told the panel that the officer warned J.I.W. four times that he would be handcuffed if he did not calm down. But an attorney for J.I.W. said that his client did not pose a threat to anyone. “When you consider the severity of the crime, the lack of threats to anyone and the lack of attempts to evade… You have a 13-year-old disabled child on the ground. I don’t understand why that student needs to be handcuffed,” attorney William Tipton “Bo” Johnson III argued. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks wrote in her ruling rejecting Dorminey’s argument for qualified immunity that a video of the incident showed the principal standing near the student “without displaying fear.” During Wednesday’s hearing, Trump-appointed U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Luck and Clinton-appointed Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Frank Hull appeared to disagree over whether a reasonable officer would believe that the student posed a risk of harm to people in the school. While Hull pointed out that no one has alleged J.I.W. ever actually hit the principal, Luck questioned why the student could not be arrested for acting in a threatening manner toward the man. “[J.I.W.] lunged at someone with a closed fist. That’s not against the law in Alabama?” Luck asked. Luck also seemed to agree with Pike’s claim that the arrest could be justified because the teen allegedly “hip-checked” the officer. Johnson insisted that the student never caused anyone any physical injury and that the alleged attempted assault on the officer was disputed. Although Johnson conceded that the principal may have perceived that the student was going to lunge at or hit him, he said there is “no evidence [the student] took a swing.” The panel also focused its inquiry on the moment after Dorminey said he heard the student’s arm “pop.” Luck indicated that Dorminey’s actions after the student was audibly injured could determine whether his use of force was excessive. Pike said that the officer relaxed his pressure on J.I.W.’s arm but kept him in handcuffs for three minutes until a nurse arrived because the student continued to kick his feet and resist arrest. “Just because something popped, doesn’t mean a person is disabled,” Pike said. U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher tried to put the incident into perspective, reminding the parties that the altercation happened in just seconds. “One reason we have qualified immunity is these things happen really quickly,” Brasher, a Trump appointee, said. But Johnson argued that Dorminey should have had the training and ability to make good decisions. “I think you have to put some responsibility on Dorminey. J.I.W. doesn’t have a weapon, he’s not verbally threatened anyone in the area,” the attorney said. “Dorminey could have stopped right there. He was aware enough to hear a pop.” The panel did not indicate when it will reach a decision in the case. Read the Top 8 Sign up for the Top 8, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your inbox Monday through Friday. Read More Here