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5 Things To Know For October 18: Student Loans, Russia, Trump, Grocery Stores, SpaceX | News Channel 3-12 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/5-things-to-know-for-october-18-student-loans-russia-trump-grocery-stores-spacex-news-channel-3-12/ CNN By Alexandra Meeks, CNN One of the two winning lottery tickets in the latest Mega Millions jackpot of almost half a billion dollars was sold in an area of Florida battered by Hurricane Ian less than a month ago. Florida’s lottery secretary called the win “slightly more meaningful than others” as many residents in the region are undergoing expensive restoration efforts in the wake of the storm. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. Students loans President Joe Biden on Monday announced that federal student loan borrowers can now apply online for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness. “This is a game changer for millions of Americans… and it took an incredible amount of effort to get this website done in such a short time,” Biden said. People seeking to apply for student debt relief can fill out the form at StudentAid.gov. Borrowers have until December 31, 2023, to submit an application. In August, Biden announced his decision to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year or as much as $20,000 for eligible borrowers who were also Pell Grant recipients. The latest phase of his plan is expected to provide debt relief to as many as 43 million borrowers. 2. Russia At least 13 people, including three children, were killed after a Russian military jet crashed into apartments in the country’s western city of Yeysk on Monday, state media and authorities said. The crash occurred during a training flight in which one of the plane’s engines caught on fire, Russia’s Defense Ministry told a state-run news agency. Images and videos of the crash’s aftermath showed smoke billowing and fire blazing in the residential area. A building, believed to house hundreds of people, was later engulfed in flames, officials said. Russian President Vladimir Putin told authorities to provide all necessary assistance to the victims of the crash, the Kremlin said in a statement. 3. Trump New documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday revealed that the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service “exorbitant rates” — upwards of $1.4 million over four years — to protect then-President Donald Trump and his family at properties they owned. The rates were as high as $1,185 per night despite claims by Trump’s company that federal employees traveling with him would stay at those properties “for free” or “at cost.” Charging his protective detail for lodging at his properties was a controversial practice when Trump was in office, and it has continued in his post-presidency because it appears to have been taxpayer-funded, the panel’s chairwoman, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney said. Separately, a House report released Monday also alleges Trump aides blocked public health officials from providing accurate Covid-19 information during the pandemic. 4. Grocery stores A major supermarket merger could result in significant changes to grocery shopping in America, industry analysts say. The proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, which the companies expect to complete in 2024, would combine the fifth and tenth largest retailers in the country. If approved by federal regulators, the nearly $25 billion deal would be one of the biggest in US retail history. With grocery prices already a concern for many shoppers, the companies said that they would be able to use $500 million in cost savings from the deal to reduce prices for shoppers and tailor promotions and savings. They also said they will invest $1.3 billion in Albertsons, which would include lowering prices. However, some critics and antitrust advocates say the merger would force out competition and concentrate power among the largest chains — resulting in higher prices. 5. SpaceX SpaceX founder Elon Musk has announced his company has withdrawn its request for the Pentagon to fund its Starlink satellite internet services for Ukraine. Musk’s announcement followed an exclusive CNN report that SpaceX made the request in September, saying it was no longer able to donate the Starlink terminals or support the service that has provided critical cell and internet services to Ukraine during its war with Russia. SpaceX previously asked the Pentagon to start paying for the service for the current terminals operated by the Ukrainian government as well as fund almost 8,000 new terminals and service for Ukraine’s military and intelligence services. The announcement comes after the CNN report also showed in greater detail that SpaceX is not solely responsible for Starlink access in Ukraine. HAPPENING LATER President Biden to speak on abortion rights Three weeks from the midterm elections, President Biden will zero in on abortion rights in remarks today at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, DC, a Democratic official told CNN. Biden has argued that voters need to elect more Democrats in order to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into law. He’s also pledged to veto any bill that would ban abortions on the federal level if Republicans take control of Congress. BREAKFAST BROWSE Is another ‘Top Gun’ movie in the works? We’re keeping our fingers crossed… but one of the stars of the latest movie isn’t sure that will happen. Kanye West to acquire conservative social media platform Parler West, who legally changed his name to Ye, is acquiring the controversial social media platform after being removed from Twitter this month over an antisemitic tweet. Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka wins 2022 Booker Prize Looking for a good read? This novel just received one of the most prestigious literary awards. Best Chinese food: 32 must-try dishes This photo gallery offers a sampling of China’s many different regions. Actress Selma Blair departs ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Selma Blair, one of the show’s fan favorites, announced she is leaving the competition due to health concerns. IN MEMORIAM Astronaut James McDivitt, who led Apollo and Gemini missions, has died, NASA said in a statement. He was 93. McDivitt’s work during the Apollo 9 mission played a critical role in eventually helping land the first humans on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. His work on Gemini IV also helped extend astronauts’ time in space, nearly doubling the duration at that point in early space history, NASA said. TODAY’S NUMBER 30% That’s the percentage of Ukraine’s power stations that have been destroyed since October 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky said today. Zelensky’s announcement comes in the wake of Russia’s recent strikes on critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine that have caused widespread blackouts. TODAY’S QUOTE “I would remind you that Stacey Abrams campaigned to be Joe Biden’s running mate.” — Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, speaking at the Georgia governor’s debate on Monday about his challenger, Democrat Stacey Abrams. Kemp repeatedly sought to connect Abrams to President Biden, who, despite winning the state in 2020, is a deeply unpopular figure there now. Abrams, unlike many other Democrats running this year, has not sought to distance herself from the President and recently said publicly that she would welcome him in Georgia. TODAY’S WEATHER Check your local forecast here AND FINALLY How a $250,000 diamond ring is made Watch this short video to see how much precision is required to create a stunning 7-carat diamond ring. (Click here to view) The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Trump And Pelosi Cause A Heated Debate Between J.D. Vance And Tim Ryan https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-and-pelosi-cause-a-heated-debate-between-j-d-vance-and-tim-ryan/ Skip to main content Read More Here

Mike Lee Tries To Distance Himself From Trump In Utah Debate https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mike-lee-tries-to-distance-himself-from-trump-in-utah-debate-3/ OREM, Utah (AP) — Fending off attacks from his independent challenger, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah worked to distinguish himself from former President Donald Trump in a contentious debate Monday evening. “I stood against my party time and time again to oppose reckless spending. I will do it again and again and again. We need people who say no,” the second-term Republican said. Lee repeatedly pointed to his voting record and twice told the audience at Utah Valley University that he voted less in line with Trump than all but two Republican senators — Rand Paul and Susan Collins. “To suggest that I’m beholden to either party, that I’ve been a bootlicker for either party is folly. And it’s contradicted by the plain facts,” Lee said. Lee faces a challenge from Evan McMullin, a former Republican known most for his long-shot bid for president six years ago, when as an independent he won 21.5% of voters in Utah, including Lee. McMullin has remained a pillar of the anti-Trump movement, attacking the former president as an authoritarian who poses a threat to democracy. Lee’s attempts to draw a distinction with Trump reflect the peculiar dynamics emerging in Utah this election cycle. In the red state’s marquee race, one candidate is running as an independent and the other is attempting to emphasize his independent streak. The race has taken shape as one of the nation’s many referendums on the direction Trump has taken the GOP. McMullin is attempting to harness anti-Trump sentiment that has distinguished Utah from other Republican strongholds. Lee’s last minute efforts to put space between his voting record and Trump’s stances depart from his past messaging as Election Day nears. “I don’t think he’s trying to distance himself from Trump. What I think he’s trying to do is draw that contrast,’” Utah Republican Party Chair Carson Jorgensen said. “No, he’s stood up for what he believed every time, even when it came to Trump,” he added. Utah is a reliably Republican state, however its religion-infused politics are idiosyncratic. The majority of residents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which places a high value on manners and eschews alcohol and foul language. Members of the faith lean Republican, yet polling has shown Trump commands less robust support among them than other prominent GOP politicians. Trump failed to win support from a majority of Utah voters in 2016 and Joe Biden performed better with Utah voters in 2020 than any Democrat since 1964. Lee’s emphasis on his willingness to stray from Trump comes as McMullin attempts to paint him as one of the former president’s most loyal disciples. McMullin recently released an attack ad based on Lee’s 2020 remarks comparing Trump to Captain Moroni, a scriptural hero in the Book of Mormon. Monday’s debate was McMullin’s first chance to directly confront Lee about the text messages he sent to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he’s made a centerpiece of his campaign. The texts show Lee asking for advice on how to contribute to efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. Lee has defended his actions by saying he merely intended to look into the legal arguments and rumors about swing states putting forth slates of fake electors, noting that he ultimately voted to certify the results. On Monday, Lee demanded an apology from McMullin and said his version of events exhibited a “cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth.” Though the messages suggest Lee researched the legality of alternate elector slates in the lead-up to Jan. 6, Lee said they showed no evidence that he would have supported such a scheme. He said he wouldn’t have and noted that he voted to certify the election results. A raucous crowd made up mostly of Lee supporters jeered and booed when McMullin called Lee’s actions “a travesty.” “Senator Lee, that was the most egregious betrayal of our nation’s Constitution in its history by a U.S. Senator. I believe it will be your legacy,” McMullin said, wagging his finger at Lee. Read More Here

Prison, Fine Wanted For Bannon https://digitalarkansasnews.com/prison-fine-wanted-for-bannon/ Former White House strategist Steve Bannon leaves court, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) WASHINGTON — The Justice Department declared Monday that Steve Bannon should serve six months behind bars and pay a $200,000 fine for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Convicted last summer, the longtime ally of former President Donald Trump should get a hefty sentence because he “pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt” and he publicly disparaged the committee itself, undermining the effort to get to the bottom of the riot and keep anything like it from happening again, federal attorneys wrote. He has not yet provided any documents or answered any questions, they said. “The rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6 did not just attack a building — they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built and through which it endures,” federal attorneys wrote in court documents. “By flouting the Select Committee’s subpoena and its authority, the Defendant exacerbated that assault.” The Justice Department statement comes after the committee took the extraordinary step last week to subpoena Trump himself, something panel members said was necessary to get the full story of what happened during and before last year’s attack. It’s unclear how Trump will respond to the summons. Refusal to comply could open up a similar path in court — though holding a former president in contempt would be an unprecedented and fraught process. Bannon’s lawyers, meanwhile, deny he was acting in bad faith. They’re asking for probation, even though each contempt conviction carries a mandatory minimum of one month behind bars. They’re also asking for the sentence to be paused while an appeal plays out. “Imposing a sentence of incarceration under the circumstances of Mr. Bannon’s case would run contrary to the fundamental constitutional principles of individualized sentencing and sentencing proportionality,” defense attorneys wrote. Bannon is to be sentenced Friday on the two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents. The committee had sought Bannon’s testimony over his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former Trump adviser was convicted after a four-day jury trial in July. Outside the courthouse, he compared the trial to a battle and said “we’re not going to lose this war,” then referred to members of the committee as “gutless.” His lawyers acknowledged Monday he has “strong political views.” Bannon, 68, initially argued that his testimony was protected by Trump’s claim of executive privilege, but the House committee was skeptical because the adviser had been fired from the White House in 2017 and was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president before the riot. Trump’s own lawyer told Bannon’s lawyer in October 2021 that he didn’t believe there was immunity for him and the former president was not telling him to defy the subpoena, according to Monday’s sentencing memo. Bannon, though, argues that Trump had raised executive-privilege objections for himself, so his onetime adviser wanted a lawyer for the ex-president to be there for any deposition. The committee wouldn’t allow that, so Bannon’s lawyer argued that the subpoena was invalid. Many other former White House aides have testified with only their own counsel. Bannon’s attorneys argued during his trial that he actually didn’t refuse to cooperate, that the deadline dates “were in flux.” They pointed to the fact that Bannon had reversed course shortly before the trial kicked off — after Trump waived his objection — and had offered to testify before the committee. But that offer came with strings attached, federal attorneys wrote, including the dismissal of the criminal case against him. When it became clear that wasn’t in the cards, the possibility of cooperation faded, court records state. Federal attorneys are also asking for the maximum fine, saying Bannon refused to cooperate with routine questions about his finances and said he could pay whatever the court imposed. He also disparaged the committee in “exaggerated and sometimes violent” language in news conferences and on his “War Room” podcast, prosecutors wrote. Information for this article was contributed by Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press. Read More Here

Australia Reverses Previous Government https://digitalarkansasnews.com/australia-reverses-previous-government/ Australia has reversed a previous government’s recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the foreign minister said Tuesday, prompting consternation from Israel. The center-left Labor Party government agreed to again recognize Tel Aviv as the capital. The Cabinet also reaffirmed that Jerusalem’s status must be resolved in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. Australia remained committed to a two-party solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and “we will not support an approach that undermines this prospect,” Wong said. In this image taken from video, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, in Canberra, Australia. / AP Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed disappointment in Australia’s changed position. “Jerusalem is the eternal undivided capital of Israel and nothing will change that,” Lapid said in a statement. Wong said her department made an error by updating its website on Australia’s revised policy on Israel’s capital before Cabinet had confirmed the change. This led to conflicting media reports on Australia’s position before Wong’s announcement. Lapid appeared to blame this media confusion for Australia changing its policy. “In light of the way the decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to a mistaken report in the media, one can only hope in other issues the government of Australia behaves more seriously and professionally,” Lapid said. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it will summon the Australian ambassador to express “deep disappointment” over a decision that was “based on short-sighted political considerations.” Senior Palestinian official Hussein Al-Sheikh said he welcomed Australia’s decision “and its affirmation that the future of sovereignty over Jerusalem depends on the permanent solution based on international legitimacy.” Former conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison formally recognized west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2018, although the Australian Embassy remained in Tel Aviv. The change followed then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. President Joe Biden has kept the embassy in Jerusalem as the U.S. steps back from its once-intense mediation between the Israelis and Palestinians, who have not held substantive peace talks in more than a decade. Wong described Morrison’s move as out of step internationally and a “cynical play” to win a byelection in a Sydney locale with a large Jewish population. Morrison’s Liberal Party ran Jewish candidate Dave Sharma who was defeated in the byelection but won the seat in the next general election. Morrison’s government was elected out of office in May after nine years in power. Nasser Mashni, vice president of the human rights group Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, thanked the government for “differentiating itself from the dangerous political posturing of the previous government.” “This reversal brings Australia back into the international consensus – Australia must not pre-empt the final status of Jerusalem,” Mashni said in a statement. “Israel asserts that the entire city is exclusively theirs, denying Palestinian connection to their ancient spiritual, cultural and economic capital,” Mashni added. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which represents Australia’s Jewish community, branded the reversal a “gratuitous insult to a key economic and strategic ally.” “This decision panders to the most extreme elements of the Labor Party and will also serve as a disincentive for the Palestinians to return to negotiations,” the council said in a statement. Morrison, who remains an opposition lawmaker, said the government’s decision was disappointing. The decision “represents a further diminution in Australia’s support for the state of Israel by the Labor government from the high water mark established by the Morrison government,” his office said in a statement. But opposition leader Peter Dutton left the door open to the conservatives abandoning Morrison’s policy. “We’ll make an announcement about our policy in the run-up to the next election,” Dutton told reporters. The next election is due in 2025 . Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham described the change as a “completely unnecessary decision” that followed a “shambolic process.” In the 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to holy sites of three faiths, along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. The status of Jerusalem remains one of the thorniest issues in the decadeslong conflict and has precipitated numerous rounds of violence. Only a handful of countries, including Kosovo and Guatemala, have joined the U.S. in recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In: Israel Australia Read More Here

A Trump Aide Seen Moving Boxes Around Mar-A-Lago Before The FBI Raid Is A Former White House Staffer, Reports Say https://digitalarkansasnews.com/a-trump-aide-seen-moving-boxes-around-mar-a-lago-before-the-fbi-raid-is-a-former-white-house-staffer-reports-say/ Reports identified a Trump aide who was seen moving boxes around Mar-a-Lago before the FBI raid.  The FBI believes Trump may have tried to conceal government records they had requested he return.  The footage helped to prompt the FBI’s August 8 Mar-a-Lago raid.  Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you’re on the go. The aide to former President Donald Trump who moved boxes of government records from a storage room in Mar-a-Lago in surveillance footage that prompted the FBI’s raid on the resort was identified in multiple reports.  Citing a source familiar with the investigation, CBS News on Monday confirmed reports in the The New York Times and The Washington Post that identified Walt Nauta, a former White House staffer turned Trump aide, as the staffer who moved the records.  The reports say that Nauta is cooperating with the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s retention of thousands of government records after leaving office. They say he has told investigators that Trump directed him to move the boxes.  The surveillance footage of Nauta moving the records, which was obtained by the FBI via subpoena, played a key role in its decision to raid Mar-a-Lago on August 8, where agents retrieved thousands of government records, including highly classified records.  Nauta was a Navy veteran who worked as a culinary employee at the White House from White House from 2012 to 2021, CBS News reported. The Post reported that Nauta was also a White House valet, and that he moved to work as a personal aide to Trump at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office. The Times said that Nauta is a former military aide who worked at the White House, and then left to work for Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Insider has contacted an attorney for Nauta for comment. Investigators believe Trump may have violated several laws in retaining the records, including the Espionage Act, and that he and his aides may have attempted to obstruct the FBI’s investigation.  Before the raid, the FBI has subpoenaed all of the government records Trump was holding at Mar-a-lago, and in June Trump’s aides had handed over several boxes of them.  But the surveillance footage and other evidence led them to believe that a sworn statement from a Trump lawyer saying all records had been returned was false, and they obtained a warrant to raid the resort.  Before the this, the National Archives had made several attempts to obtain all the records from Trump,  Trump has denied wrongdoing in relation to the investigation, claiming at various times that the records were declassified, that he had the right to keep them, and that they were planted by the FBI in a plot to incriminate him.  Read More Here

Arkansas Storm Team Forecast: A Very Cold Start To A Chilly Day; Even Colder Tonight, Then It Will Start To Warm Up https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-storm-team-forecast-a-very-cold-start-to-a-chilly-day-even-colder-tonight-then-it-will-start-to-warm-up/ A very cold start to Tuesday with some at or below freezing. Little Rock is not starting out that cold, but it is cold enough and will stay pretty chilly all day with a high temperature of just 55°. Arkansas Storm Team Forecast: A Very Cold Start To A Chilly Day; Even Colder Tonight, Then It Will Start To Warm Up 22 Tuesday night/Wednesday morning will be colder in Little Rock and statewide. All of Arkansas has a Freeze Warning for tonight and tomorrow morning. Arkansas Storm Team Forecast: A Very Cold Start To A Chilly Day; Even Colder Tonight, Then It Will Start To Warm Up 23 Be alerted as soon as severe weather coverage begins by downloading the Arkansas Storm Team app from the App Store or on Google Play. Read More…

Trains, Schools Affected As French Unions Call Strike Amid Soaring Inflation https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trains-schools-affected-as-french-unions-call-strike-amid-soaring-inflation/ PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Regional train traffic in France was cut by about half on Tuesday as several unions called a nationwide strike, seeking to capitalise on anger with decades-high inflation to expand a weeks-long industrial action at oil refineries to other sectors. There were also some disruption to schools, as the strike primarily affected the public sector. Trade union leaders were hoping workers would be energised by the government’s decision to force some of them to go back to work at petrol depots to try and get fuel flowing again, a decision some say put in jeopardy the right to strike. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com But a survey by Elabe pollsters for BFM TV showed only 39% of the public backed Tuesday’s call for a nationwide strike, while 49% opposed it, and growing numbers opposed the strike by oil refinery workers. The refinery workers’ strike has become one of President Emmanuel Macron’s stiffest challenges since his re-election in May. Government spokesperson Olivier Veran said the requisition of more staff for refineries could occur during the day, as queues of motorists worried about supply disruption grow at petrol stations. “There will be as many requisitions as deemed necessary … Blocking refineries, when we have reached an agreement on wages, this is not a normal situation,” Veran told France 2 TV. French students block the entrance of the Lycee Montaigne high school to protest as part of a nationwide day of strike in Paris, France, October 18, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes Just under 10% of high school teachers were on strike on Tuesday, with numbers even lower in primary schools, education ministry data showed. The call for strike was most observed in vocational schools, where teachers oppose planned reforms. On the transport front, Eurostar said it was cancelling some trains between London and Paris because of the strike. French public railway operator SNCF said that traffic on regional connections was down 50% but that there were no major disruptions to national lines. As tensions rise in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, strikes have spilled over into other parts of the energy sector, including nuclear giant EDF (EDF.PA), where maintenance work crucial for Europe’s power supply will be delayed. A representative of the FNME-CGT union on Tuesday said strikes were affecting work at nuclear power plants, including at the Penly plant. The strikes are happening as the government is set to pass the 2023 budget using special constitutional powers that would allow it to bypass a vote in parliament, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday. Demonstrations are scheduled all over the country, with one in Paris from 1200 GMT. Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against soaring prices. The leader of hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, marched alongside this year’s Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Annie Ernaux. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander, Forrest Crellin and Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Gerry Doyle Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

EDITORIAL: Frontier Justice https://digitalarkansasnews.com/editorial-frontier-justice/ If justice has anything to do with it, Fort Smith finally will get its complete and open-to-the-public U.S. Marshals Museum by next summer. The beautiful building, completed since 2020, awaits only the exhibits to fill it. And there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel in the city’s 15-year quest to see the national museum open on the Fort Smith riverfront. The museum’s new CEO says everything could be in place in mid-2023. Final buildout of exhibit space is underway, and exhibits–designed and built by Los Angeles-based Thinkwell–should be ready to welcome visitors by then. The museum will honor the stories and service of those real-life Rooster Cogburns (John Wayne) and Samuel Gerards (Tommy Lee Jones), and also capitalize on Fort Smith’s colorful history as a frontier outpost from where marshals set out to track outlaws and dispense frontier justice. Museum and state officials expect the museum to become a national attraction. That new CEO, Ben Johnson, told the River Valley Democrat-Gazette the museum will tell the story of U.S. marshals–good, bad and ugly. Once open to the public, visitors are “going to be wowed by what they see,” he promises. After so long, anything less might be considered a letdown. But we’re confident in Mr. Johnson’s vision; a visit to Fort Smith next summer is already penciled in. Read More Here

European Markets Higher After UK Fiscal U-Turns; EU Energy Announcement Expected https://digitalarkansasnews.com/european-markets-higher-after-uk-fiscal-u-turns-eu-energy-announcement-expected/ The U.K.’s new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt made big fiscal announcements Monday. House of Commons – PA Images / Contributor / Getty Images LONDON — European markets are higher as the region feels the impact of the U.K.’s fiscal U-turns on Monday and anticipates new EU measures to tackle energy prices. The Stoxx 600 index is up 0.4%. Most sectors and major bourses have made gains at 11.00 a.m. London time, with autos leading increases up 2.2%, followed by technology and financial services both at 1.4%. Basic resources, health care and oil and gas have dipped into the red, with losses below 1%. The British pound rose and bond yields fell after new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt scrapped most of Prime Minister Liz Truss’ fiscal policies in an announcement Monday. Sterling is down 0.7% to $1.1353 at 11.00 a.m. Truss apologized for the “mistakes” she made in her first six weeks in the position. U.S. stock futures rose Tuesday morning after the Nasdaq Composite posted its best daily performance since July. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 373 points, or 1.23%. S&P 500 futures jumped 1.46% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.7%. Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded higher on Tuesday after Wall Street’s rally overnight. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.68% to lead gains in the region, the Nikkei 225 was 1.38% up, while the Topix added 1.11%. London stocks hit one-week high following UK policy reversals The FTSE 100 is up 0.6% to 6,920.24 points mid-morning following policy U-turns by the new British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday. The index hit a one-week high earlier in the day, peaking at 7,012.58 points at 8.30 a.m. London time. — Hannah Ward-Glenton EU to propose extra energy measures but avoid gas price cap The European Commission is expected to propose extra emergency energy measures today to combat high prices, but an immediate cap on gas prices will not be included, Reuters reported. The Commission will propose that as a “last resort” it could set a temporary “maximum dynamic price.” — Hannah Ward-Glenton Inflation stickiness could be the Bank of England’s biggest issue, portfolio manager says The Bank of England’s biggest issue is how sticky inflation might be, said Jon Day, global bond portfolio manager at Newton Investment Management. Day also said the Bank is in a “very, very difficult place” while discussing the U.K.’s gilt market. Avanza Bank tops Stoxx 600 with 15% rise after earnings release Sweden’s largest stockbroker Avanza Bank tops the Stoxx 600 index at the start of trade with gains of 15% at 8.20 a.m. London time. Shares are up after the bank reported third quarter operating profits of 502 million Swedish krona ($45.1 million), beating estimates by almost 18%. The company’s revenue was more than 9% above consensus at 740 million Swedish krona. — Hannah Ward-Glenton European markets open marginally higher: Stoxx 600 up 0.45% The Stoxx 600 index opened in the green this morning, up 0.45% at 8.10 a.m. London time. — Hannah Ward-Glenton Opening calls: European markets set to open higher The FTSE 100 is expected to open 55.7 points higher, France’s CAC index around 68.8 points higher, Germany’s DAX index up about 153 points, and Italy’s MIB 290.9 points higher. — Hannah Ward-Glenton Bank of England will further delay quantitative tightening, FT reports The Bank of England is set to further delay quantitative tightening — the sale of billions of pounds of government bonds, known as gilts — until the market settles, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The move should encourage more stability in gilt markets, according to the report. A spokesperson from the Bank of England said later Tuesday: “This morning’s FT report that the BoE has decided to delay MPC gilt sales (‘QT’) is inaccurate.” — Hannah Ward-Glenton CNBC Pro: Strategist predicts when the S&P 500 could bottom — and names 3 stocks he likes right now Rob Luna, chief investment strategist at Surevest, says his firm has “started to witness individual stocks outperforming and showing signs of already bottoming.” He predicts when the S&P 500‘s long-term move downward could turn, and names the stocks he thinks look attractive right now. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan CNBC Pro: Top Goldman Sachs strategist picks the global small-cap stocks he says look cheap Smaller companies have had a difficult year. In fact, according to Peter Oppenheimer, Goldman Sachs’ chief global equity strategist, they’ve had the worst year-to-date since the turn of the century. However, he argued that the segment is starting to look “inexpensive,” and named several global stocks with stable growth and good profitability. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong Monday’s rally saw all sectors close more than 10% from 52-week highs During Monday’s rally, all three major indices climbed and the Nasdaq posted its best day since July. It also closed more than 34% from its 52-week high, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 23% and 18% from their 52-week highs, respectively. All sectors also closed more than 10% from their 52-week highs, led by communication services that was up more than 40% from the key level. Tech, consumer discretionary and real estate were all more than 32% from 52-week highs, while financials and materials were more than 22% from 52-week highs. —Carmen Reinicke Read More Here

‘He’s Constantly Going To Live In Fear.’ Spared Execution, Cruz Faces Hellish Life In Prison https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hes-constantly-going-to-live-in-fear-spared-execution-cruz-faces-hellish-life-in-prison/ Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is escorted into the courtroom for a hearing regarding possible jury misconduct during deliberations in his sentencing trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. Amy Beth Bennett South Florida Sun Sentinel Had Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz been sent to Florida’s Death Row, his daily life while awaiting execution would not have been easy. But he would have enjoyed certain comforts: his own cell, meals delivered three times a day, clean clothes and towels brought to him, and no requirement to work. But after he’s sentenced to life in state prison next month, his existence behind bars looms as dreadful and possibly violent. When he’s eventually assigned to live among a prison’s population, corrections experts say, Cruz will likely have a cellmate, be ordered to perform a prison job and be forced to interact with other inmates at meal times and in a recreation yard. He’ll have to navigate the alien and often-violent social hierarchy of prison life — complicated by his notoriety as a mass murderer and history of mental-health disorders. “I have never in my career encountered anybody like him in terms of his incredible lack of social skills and his incredible lack of how to read a social situation. Those are the skills that someone needs to navigate the very difficult social world, and day-to-day life in the Florida Department of Corrections,” said Heather Holmes, a South Florida forensic psychologist who interviewed Cruz 12 times as part of her work with his defense team. “He’s going to be taken advantage of. He’s going to have things taken from him — his food, his socks, his shoes. And he’s 125 pounds. He might know how to pull a trigger but he does not know how to fight.” Cruz, 24, won’t be remanded to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections until after he is officially sentenced Nov. 1 for fatally shooting 14 students and three educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland. The stunning rampage was Florida’s deadliest school shooting. Last year, he pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, setting up the “penalty phase” trial in which 12 jurors considered only two options: the death penalty, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. READ MORE: After Parkland shooter gets life verdict, what’s next for the death penalty in Florida? During the nearly three-month trial, Broward prosecutors painted Cruz as a calculated killer who longed for the notoriety of becoming a school shooter, planned his attack carefully and methodically gunned down his victims, at times returning to finish off wounded students inside the freshman building. The Broward Public Defender’s Office argued Cruz should be spared because, among many reasons, he was mentally ill and suffered brain damage in the womb of a hard-drinking biological mother. Cruz will be sentenced after relatives of the dead are given a chance to speak to the judge on Nov. 1. His prison term is a done deal. Legally, Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer cannot reverse the jury’s decision, and prosecutors have said they are not seeking to overturn the verdict. During closing arguments, Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill suggested that Cruz’s life behind bars would end by natural causes or “whatever else could possibly happen to him in prison.” After last Thursday’s verdict, many frustrated family members said they hoped as much. “He’s going to have to look over his shoulder every second for the rest of his life,” said Linda Schulman, the mother of slain teacher Scott Beigel. “He should live in fear.” Ilan and Lori Alhadeff react as they hear that their daughter’s murderer will not receive the death penalty as the verdicts are announced in the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. The Alhadeffs’ daughter, Alyssa, was killed in the 2018 shootings. Cruz, who pleaded guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder in the 2018 shootings, is the most lethal mass shooter to stand trial in the U.S. He was previously sentenced to 17 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for 17 additional counts of attempted murder for the students he injured that day. Amy Beth Bennett South Florida Sun Sentinel Protective custody? After he’s sentenced, Cruz will be sent to the South Florida Reception Center, a facility where inmates are held briefly while prison officials determine his particular needs — like mental-health treatment and educational needs — and the availability of beds at facilities across the state. While there, Cruz will likely be placed in administrative confinement for his own safety. DOC declined to comment on Cruz’s future behind bars, pointing a Miami Herald reporter to an inmate “orientation” handbook published online. Whatever prison he winds up in, experts say, Cruz likely won’t go into the general population right away, given the high-profile nature of his crimes. Instead, he’ll probably be placed in what’s known as “protective management” along with other at-risk inmates such as child molesters, prisoners who have been threatened over debts, or even ex-police officers. In “P.M.” as it’s known, inmates are expected to work — maybe in the library, cleaning bathrooms or as an orderly in a medical department. They would share a cell with another inmate. The cell would be connected to a common area watched over by a corrections officer. If Cruz ends up in protective management, it may only last a few months, maybe up to a year. “Whatever it takes to let things cool down, and he would then be eased into the general population,” said Ron McAndrew, a former Florida prison warden who now serves as an expert witness on the corrections system. Ron McAndrew Even in protective management, Cruz would still interact with other inmates who might target him. That’s what happened in 2017, with convicted child molester Ryan Mason, whose father said he was in protective custody at the Wakulla Correctional Institute Annex. Another inmate, Scottie Dean Allen, found out why he was behind bars and strangled him. Allen is now on Florida’s Death Row. “Sometimes those in protective custody prey on others in protective custody,” said Raul S. Banasco, another corrections expert and former Florida prison warden. Violence is not uncommon in most prisons in the United States. And Florida’s prison system has long been plagued by shoddy and violent conditions for inmates as well as abusive behavior by corrections officers — issues officials have long vowed to fix. READ MORE: ‘It was torture’: Florida inmate left to starve and die after officers broke his neck General Population In general population, Cruz would likewise have a cellmate and be made to work up to 60 hours a week. He may go to the recreation yard, where inmates walk, play basketball or just get sun. He might spend time in the “day room,” where inmates watch television — usually sports, nothing controversial — on benches with no seat backs. His reputation will proceed him. Secrets are hard to keep in prison. Inmates watch TV and can get emails, watch movies and get information from individual tablets they can pay to use. Officers themselves won’t hesitate to tell inmates what other inmates are in for. Abraham Rosado, 40, who served 12 years in Florida prison, recalled an officer putting a newspaper article about a new inmate — who’d been convicted of child molestation — on an employee bulletin board, one that could be seen by prisoners. The new inmate was beaten mercilessly by other inmates. “They are going to want to f–k him up,” Rosado said of Cruz. “If he’s in general population, he’ll have a really hard time with the other inmates and the officers will turn a blind eye to it.” He added: “He’s constantly going to live in fear.” In a society where inmates often stick to their own ethnic or racial groups, Cruz — who is white and was fixated on swastikas before his arrest — could find some friendly protection from white supremacist gang members. But most friendships come with strings because Cruz has inheritance money and a brother who might fill his commissary account with funds. “There’s going to be a guy, 6-foot-3 and muscular, who is gonna say, ‘I’ll put you under my wing,’ ” said McAndew. “He’ll have a daddy. It can’t be avoided.” Said Rosado: “Without a doubt, they’ll try to get him to use his money to buy drugs. If he’s providing drugs and cellphones, cigarettes, he might be OK.” There’s another, grimmer place that could end up hosting Cruz. If he refuses to work, gets caught smuggling in contraband or lashes out — like he did when he attacked a Broward Sheriff’s deputy six months after his arrest — Cruz could be assigned to a “close management” wing at facilities such as Santa Rosa, Charlotte or Union. That’s where the worst of the worst are housed, sometimes for years on end. There, inmates are housed in single cells, with no access to tablets and few books and no visitation from outside visitors, said McAndrew. Exercise is limited to an hour in an outside cage where inmates can bounce a ball and get natural sunlight. There are three levels of close management restrictions, with the least restrictive allowing for some work and access to a day room. “It’s very punitive,” McAndrew said. “In my experience, it’s very effective and that helps the Department of Corrections.” Even in a close management facility, violence can befall inmates. In 2019, William Edward Wells III, known as the “Mayport Monster,” was at Florida State Prison and serving life in prison for six murd...

Ohio Senate Contest Features Two Candidates Who Profess Love For Natural Gas – Inside Climate News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ohio-senate-contest-features-two-candidates-who-profess-love-for-natural-gas-inside-climate-news/ COLUMBUS, Ohio—In the race for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat, Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, fought off a debate attack by talking about his fondness for natural gas. “In the Inflation Reduction Act, we’re going all in on natural gas,” Ryan said in an Oct. 11 debate in Cleveland. “I’ve been a natural gas proponent since I’ve been in Congress and we have to get this right. We need to increase our production of natural gas.” He is running against J.D. Vance, the investor and author, who also wants to see an increase in production of gas, a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change.  It’s not difficult to see why some environmental advocates are leery of some of Ryan’s views. But Ryan’s voting record shows him to be firmly within his party’s mainstream, despite his emphasis on positions that appeal to the political center. Keep Environmental Journalism Alive ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Donate Now Meanwhile, Vance casts himself as an outsider in the tradition of former President Donald Trump and has adopted much of Trump’s approach to energy and the environment, downplaying the risks of climate change and criticizing the transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles. The race shows how energy gets discussed in a state that ranks sixth in the country in natural gas production and where Democrats, with the exception of Sen. Sherrod Brown and Ohio Supreme Court justices, are on an extended losing streak in statewide races. With polls showing a dead heat, the race is surprisingly close, considering that Trump easily won Ohio’s electoral votes in 2016 and 2020. If Ryan were to win, it would be an upset that would help to tilt the Senate, now divided 50-50 between the parties, in Democrats’ favor. “I don’t think Democratic enthusiasm is functionally going to be a problem for Ryan,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and an Ohio native. Inside Climate News contacted both candidates’ campaign offices and neither responded. In the Cleveland debate, Vance sought to tie Ryan to President Joe Biden and national Democrats. Part of this attack was to blame Democrats for the rise in inflation, including the rising energy costs. “Tim Ryan just told a big fib,” Vance said. “He said he supported Ohio’s natural gas industry and he’s always done so. And yet Tim Ryan, when he ran for president two years ago, (he) supported banning fracking, both on public lands and generally speaking. That crushes the Ohio energy sector. And that’s one of the reasons why manufacturers are going to China.” Ryan’s support for natural gas helps him appeal to independent and moderate Republican voters, but it doesn’t endear him to voters who want to see a rapid transition to renewable energy. And yet, those concerns pale in comparison to the disdain that Democrats and many others feel for Trump and, by extension, Vance. Despite Playing to the Center, Ryan Retains Support From Progressives  On Saturday at my local farmers market in Columbus’ Clintonville neighborhood, some customers picked up yard signs for Ryan along with fresh fruits, vegetables and honey. “This neighborhood is pretty blue,” said Elise Porter, a retired attorney, who carried a Ryan sign. If there were cracks in Ryan’s support from the Democratic Party base, they would show up at a place like this. “He’s running a pro-worker campaign,” she said. “If you want to run as a Democrat in Ohio, that’s what you’ve got to do.” Chris Heldman hands out signs to support Tim Ryan for Senate at the farmers market in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. Credit: Dan Gearino But what about Ryan’s support for expanding natural gas drilling? “There is a bit of a cringe factor,” said Chris Heldman, who works in healthcare administration. He was volunteering at a table for Clintonville Area Progressives, handing out signs for Ryan and other Democratic candidates. But any reservations Heldman has are small, especially in comparison to how much he dislikes Vance. Bruce McComb, a retired consultant to nonprofits and businesses who also was staffing the sign table, summed up this sentiment: “When you consider the alternative, J.D. Vance, there’s just no question,” he said. He’s describing the dynamic that has allowed Ryan to tack to the political center without needing to worry much about losing support on the left. In contrast, Vance is trying to reconstruct the winning formula of the Trump coalition by talking about “America first” foreign policy, limits on immigration and a 15-week ban on abortion.  Vance, Once Ambivalent About Trump, Now Echoes Him   Vance became a public figure because of his bestselling 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. He spent much of his youth in Middletown, Ohio, an industrial city in the southwest part of the state. He wrote in his book about the struggles of his family and community, and how he overcame many challenges to make it to Yale Law School and a career in venture capital. The book has a strong undercurrent of judgment of the people of Middletown, and a message of the need for self-reliance. The book’s message resonated with many readers, but Vance also faced criticism from writers and scholars familiar with the area who said he had engaged in an unfair stereotyping of the working class. In the wake of Trump’s election in 2016, many people said Hillbilly Elegy helped to explain why some white working class voters had turned away from Democrats and supported Trump. At the same time, Vance shied away from supporting Trump and cast himself as a political moderate who would use his newfound fame to help Ohio. He moved back to the state and started a nonprofit to help find solutions to opioid addiction. (The nonprofit didn’t do much, which has been an issue in the campaign.) Around the same time, some Republicans began to view Vance as a potential candidate for statewide office. He announced his run for the Senate last year, aiming to fill the seat being vacated by the retirement of the Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Vance joined a crowded primary race in which he and several of his rivals cast themselves as leaders in Trump’s mold. Rather than try to appeal to Ohio’s Republican establishment, like Portman or Gov. Mike DeWine, Vance crafted a message that would appeal to Trump and his supporters. He also had the advantages of free exposure from frequent appearances on Fox News and a big infusion of cash from his former boss, the PayPal cofounder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Trump endorsed Vance about two weeks before the primary election, giving Vance the momentum he needed to narrowly win his party’s nomination. Vance’s views on energy are in line with Trump’s. “Even if there was a climate crisis, I don’t know how the way to solve it is to buy more Chinese manufactured electric vehicles,” Vance said in an interview with conservative radio personality Buck Sexton, criticizing incentives for EVs in the Inflation Reduction Act. “The whole EV thing is a scam, right?” While this kind of talk is appealing to many Republican voters, Vance is viewed by others in the party as an opportunist who is willing to shift his stances to whatever is needed for short-term gain. “If you don’t know who J.D. Vance is, you’re not alone. Neither does J.D. Vance,” said Joan Lawrence, a Republican who was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1983 to 1999, in an opinion column in The Columbus Dispatch. She pointed out that Vance went from criticizing Trump’s rhetoric in 2016 to imitating it soon after. “He’s a chameleon who will do anything to get elected,” she wrote. “That’s why we shouldn’t elect him.” Run Like a Moderate, Vote Like a Typical Democrat  In contrast to Vance’s sudden rise, Ryan has been a public figure for decades, elected to the U.S. House for the first time in 2002. His political base is in Youngstown, an industrial city whose industry has mostly gone away, that’s known for rough and tumble politics. He has a history of challenging his party’s liberal wing, including an unsuccessful run in 2016 for House minority leader against Nancy Pelosi. He had a brief presidential campaign in 2019. But his voting record, especially in recent years, is that of a mainstream Democrat. His lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters is 91 percent, which means he has voted in line with the environmental group’s positions nearly all of the time. He talks about the need to take action to address climate change and the economic opportunities for Ohio to build the equipment used in renewable energy and electric vehicles. Ohio is already a hub for clean energy manufacturing, and is becoming more so with announcements like the one from Honda this month that it would spend $3.5 billion to build a battery factory in the state that would employ about 2,200 workers. “Ryan is not that much different from the national Democrats,” said Kondik, of the University of Virginia. “He’s not Joe Manchin. He’s not Kyrsten Sinema,” Kondik said, naming the two Senate Democrats who have most frequently disagreed with their leadership. A better model for what kind of senator Ryan might be is Sherrod Brown, Kondik said. Brown has won statewide elections in Ohio by appealing to working-class voters and union members, but has rarely gone against his party leadership on major issues. Brown’s lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters is 94 percent. The upshot is that Vance’s criticism—that Ryan is running like a moderate but will vote like a typical Democrat—is probably a fair one, and that is comforting to environmental a...

Elwood Watson: Will No Republican Criticize Racism Within Their Party? https://digitalarkansasnews.com/elwood-watson-will-no-republican-criticize-racism-within-their-party/ This past weekend, Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville suggested in comments railing against reparations that Black Americans were “the people that do the crime.” Speaking at a Donald Trump rally for Republican candidates in Nevada, Tuberville described Democrats as engaged in a battle to take from white people and give to Black people, whom he stereotyped as criminals. “No, they’re not soft on crime,” Tuberville said, “They’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that. Bulls—!” he finished. The audience erupted with cheers. Of course, we all know what he means by “they.” Reaction was swift. CNN analyst Bakari Sellers commented: “Tommy Tuberville can go to hell. I’ll tell you what, the fact is, he made tens of millions of dollars off unpaid black men as a football coach. He literally has the stature he has because people went out there and assumed the risk and incurred the risk of concussions, playing hard and everything. And for him to give these racist tropes? I mean, that infuriates me. But this is a large swath of the Republican Party.” “Senator Tuberville’s comments are flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “His words promote a centuries-old lie about Black people that throughout history has resulted in the most dangerous policies and violent attacks on our community. “We’ve seen this before from the far-right, and we’ve seen what they can do when they take power.” It does seem that Tuberville was intentionally incorporating the rhetoric of Alabama politicians from the decades of yesteryear, which includes the sinister and staunchly segregationist Governor George Wallace and the sadistic Birmingham Sheriff Eugene “Bull” Connor. Any astute observer of recent American history undoubtedly harbors indelible memories of Wallace espousing polarizing commentary such as: “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever” to the delight of his many bigoted followers. Connor horrified millions of Americans throughout the nation when he ordered police officers to turn water hoses and unleash German shepherds on civil rights protestors, many of them young children and elderly people. Tuberville’s remarks were so obscenely racist that not long ago, senior Republican politicians would’ve likely taken take to the airwaves to condemn them. Times have obviously changed. So far, all we have witnessed is a deafening level of silence from the GOP. Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska actually defended Tuberville, claiming the comments were not meant to be racist and that the rise in crime across the country cannot be ignored. Truth be told, it should not be all that surprising that the junior senator from Alabama felt comfortable making such abhorrent comments. Over the past several years, the Republican Party under the tutelage of Donald Trump has become more confident in expressing and promoting racism. Its supporters spread the nonsensical and disingenuous perception to the nation that racism is a relic of the past and that now, in 2022, the true victims of racism are white people. It gets even more obscene when you remember that, prior to his political career, Tuberville made millions in an industry that a number of critics have aptly compared to a plantation: college football. Back then, Tuberville was earning more than $2 million a year at the University of Cincinnati. This was money earned on the backs of student athletes who aren’t afforded any financial benefits and who are disproportionately Black (43% at college football’s top level in 2020). Tuberville is a person of mediocre ability, and has ridden his whiteness from the business world to the athletic field to the U.S. Senate. He is the poster child for white privilege and preferential treatment, and his arrogance and bigotry are nothing short of abominable. Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. He is also an author and public speaker. Read More Here

Sen. Marco Rubio And Rep. Val Demings, Vying For Florida Senate Seat, Set To Face Off In Debate Tuesday https://digitalarkansasnews.com/sen-marco-rubio-and-rep-val-demings-vying-for-florida-senate-seat-set-to-face-off-in-debate-tuesday/ Florida Senate candidates Marco Rubio and Val Demings are set to face off this week in their first and only debate before the Nov. 8 election as thousands of Floridians are already casting their ballots. The candidates will take to the stage Tuesday at 7 p.m. E.T. at Palm Beach State College’s Lake Worth campus. Over 600,000 have already voted in Florida, contributing to the more than 2 million early voters across the country, according to an analysis by the University of Florida’s US Election’s Project. Who’s debating? Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is running for his third term in the Senate as the GOP nominee after first being elected in 2010. The incumbent previously ran for president in the 2016 election but dropped out of the presidential race after coming in second to Donald Trump in the Florida Republican primary. What are the midterm elections?: Here’s what to know about them and why they’re important Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is seeking to replace Rubio after serving in the United States House of Representatives for three terms, representing Florida’s 10th district. Demings served as one of the seven impeachment managers in Trump’s 2020 Senate impeachment trial. What’s at stake? Issues including abortion rights, healthcare costs, inflation and the economy are at stake in November. Nov. 8 election: In 2022 midterms, Trump and possible GOP rivals test the waters for 2024 presidential race The Senate is currently split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote for Democrats . How to watch? The debate between the two Florida politicians will be streamed by the Palm Beach Post, a part of the USA TODAY Network, at www.PalmBeachPost.com. Read More Here

Shares Of News Corporation Jumps, Fox Stock Declines Amid News Of Possible Merger https://digitalarkansasnews.com/shares-of-news-corporation-jumps-fox-stock-declines-amid-news-of-possible-merger/ While News Corporation is worth about $9.45 billion, Fox Corporation has a $14.76 billion market capitalization. A possible merger between media companies News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) and Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA) has gotten investors to consider what the outcome could be like. On Friday, news about Rupert Murdoch exploring whether to unify the two companies came to light. News Corp confirmed the formation of a Special Committee to start weighing the options of a potential merger with Fox Corporation. Further, into the announcement, the company added that it is not certain it would engage in such a transaction. Following the Friday announcement, News Corporation stock popped while Fox Corporation declined. News Corp stock closed up 3.40%, while Fox Corp shed 9.41%. The companies saw the changes in their shares during the trading session on Monday, 17th October. Notably, Murdoch is the chairman of Fox and the executive chairman of News Corp., And his son, Lachlan Murdoch, is the CEO of Fox and co-executive chairman of News Corp. The media proprietor split Fox and News Corp in 2013 and is now considering bringing them back together after almost a decade. If the plan becomes successful, Murdoch will have a unified leadership over Fox’s news, business, and sports channels and News Corp. Meanwhile, News Corp’s properties include the New York Post, HarperCollins, Barron’s, and The Wall Street Journal. While News Corporation is worth about $9.45 billion, Fox Corporation has a $14.76 billion market capitalization. Is a Merge Between News Corporation and Fox Corporation Possible? News Corp does not believe in a potential integration, but the merger could help Murdoch cut costs in his media empire. Notably, both companies have been seeing lesser audiences. As fewer readers patronize print media, cable television accounts for fewer viewers. Majorly, people have resorted to online news, streaming services, and social media for their news and entertainment, especially as they can find their preferred content on the go. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has assured employees that there is no finite agreement yet. He added, “there can be no certainty that any transaction will result from this evaluation.” Furthermore, Fox Corporation and Fox News are currently dealing with a defamation suit. Dominion Voting Systems is suing the companies under the argument that they made false claims against its voting machines. The electronic voting company argues that Fox News and Fox Business falsely claimed that its machines rigged the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. With the ongoing legal matter, Fox Corp and Fox News are facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit. Citing an anonymous source, CNBC said that a merger would put the corporation in a better position. According to the source, a merged company would put its acquisitions. It could also place it in a better spot to compete with the likes of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Business News, Market News, News, Stocks, Wall Street Ibukun is a crypto/finance writer interested in passing relevant information, using non-complex words to reach all kinds of audience. Apart from writing, she likes to see movies, cook, and explore restaurants in the city of Lagos, where she resides. Read More Here

Trump Aides Blocked Accurate Covid Information, Says Report https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-aides-blocked-accurate-covid-information-says-report/ Senior staff at the US CDC told investigators Trump aides bullied staff and tried to rewrite their reports in a bid to align guidance with the president’s public downplaying of the crisis.— Reuters pic Follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our Telegram channel and browser alerts for the latest news you need to know. Tuesday, 18 Oct 2022 7:40 AM MYT WASHINGTON, Oct 18 — Former US president Donald Trump’s administration prevented health officials from providing accurate information about Covid-19 in a bid to back up his overly optimistic view of the outbreak, according to a congressional report released yesterday. Senior staff at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told investigators Trump aides bullied staff and tried to rewrite their reports in a bid to align guidance with the president’s public downplaying of the crisis. Officials took “unprecedented steps to insert political appointees into the publication process and rebut CDC’s scientific reports, including drafting op-eds and other public messaging designed to directly counteract CDC’s findings,” the report said. Investigators interviewed a dozen current and former CDC officials as well as senior administration figures for the 91-page document released by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis. The panel describes how Trump appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tried to take over the CDC’s weekly scientific journal, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), editing or blocking articles they believed might prove harmful to Trump. Trump appointees had sought to “alter the contents, rebut, or delay the release” of 18 MMWRs and a health alert, succeeding on at least five occasions. The report quoted a CDC communications officer who complained that a Trump ally in HHS had used “bully-ish behaviour” that made CDC officials “feel threatened.” Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases, said he was “not really asked back to do telebriefings” after his statements were deemed “too alarming.” “The Select Subcommittee’s investigation has shown that the previous administration engaged in an unprecedented campaign of political interference in the federal government’s pandemic response, which undermined public health to benefit the former president’s political goals,” panel chairman Jim Clyburn, a Democrat, said in a statement. “As today’s report shows, President Trump and his top aides repeatedly attacked CDC scientists, compromised the agency’s public health guidance, and suppressed scientific reports in an effort to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus.” A previous report outlined the Trump administration’s bid to block government health officials from speaking publicly about the pandemic. And another described its pressure on the US Food and Drug Administration to reissue emergency authorisation for hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug Trump was promoting despite its ineffectiveness in treating Covid-19. Republicans dismissed the latest report as partisan and have vowed to conduct their own inquiry if they win back the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections. — AFP Read More Here

Love Him Or Hate Him, Ron DeSantis Is Republican Party https://digitalarkansasnews.com/love-him-or-hate-him-ron-desantis-is-republican-party/ opinion Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of columns exploring the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement.  Ron DeSantis created a firestorm in September when he sent two plane loads of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, the wealthy island playground for many celebrity Democrats, including the Obamas and Clintons.  Yet that’s not all Florida’s Republican governor succeeded in doing. He got the nation talking about the immigration crisis (the country in August surpassed a record 2 million undocumented migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border for fiscal year 2022).  DeSantis also got the country talking about him. He knows how to push liberals’ buttons, and his ability to dominate a news cycle and start debates is rivaled only by former President Donald Trump, who set a new standard for combative politics. DeSantis has even been described as “out-Trumping” Trump.  When DeSantis speaks, ‘that becomes the conversation’ “All those people in D.C. and New York were beating their chests when Trump was president, saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions, saying how bad it was to have a secure border,” DeSantis said during a September news conference. “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset that this is happening.” Republican border state governors have bused thousands of migrants to northern cities, in protest of the Biden administration’s failure to address securing the border. When DeSantis flew 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, however, he got outsize attention.  “What’s pretty notable about him is when he speaks, that becomes the conversation,” says Cassie Smedile, executive director of America Rising, which produces opposition research on Democrats. “He’s doing that job better than virtually anyone else.”  The rise of DeSantis also helps answer the question many Americans have pondered: If not Trump as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, then who?  What kind of conservative are you? Take our quiz DeSantis vs. Trump Trump has succeeded in staying in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. His legal troubles are serious and never-ending, and his obsession with the 2020 election has many conservatives searching for a new leader. While Trump’s popularity among the Republican base shouldn’t be underestimated, there seems to be an opening for someone new. Enter DeSantis. The 44-year-old first-term governor, former congressman and Harvard Law grad has keenly picked up Trump’s traits that resonated with voters (Trump has noticed, by the way). Read the series from USA TODAY: ►Can Republicans move past Trump? For the sake of America, they must. ►Do traditional conservatives still have a home in the Republican Party? ►‘We’re not going away’: Is the rise of conservative media good for democracy? He has taken on the fighter persona. His staff constantly pushes back against the news media, something Trump’s supporters loved about him. DeSantis has also freely criticized the press, yet it’s unlikely you’ll hear him say the media is the “enemy of the people,” as Trump did. DeSantis avoids the bombastic rhetoric and name-calling that Trump revels in.  Many Republicans liked Trump’s policies, but weren’t thrilled with the never-ending drama of his antics on Twitter or bluster at rallies.  “Ron DeSantis comes across as a palatable version,” Smedile says. “He’s willing to go to the line, he’s a fighter, he’s willing to get in on the issues that we want people out there talking about from the conservative perspective – without the tweets.”  And he has raised his profile without Trump by his side.  As much as he’s vilified in the mainstream media and by Democrats, DeSantis remains fairly popular in his home state. As he has advanced his national image, he has done so while focusing on Florida. Whether parental rights in education or allowing businesses and schools to reopen during COVID-19, these are issues important to his state that also resonate across the country. A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll from Florida (which is also Trump’s home state) shows DeSantis is solidly up over Trump in a hypothetical presidential contest, an 8-point swing in the governor’s favor since January.  Even though DeSantis has his eye on 2024, he is still running for reelection as governor in November, and Real Clear Politics’ poll average shows him leading that contest against Democrat Charlie Crist by almost 8 percentage points. Republican base demands a fighter  One strategist I spoke with described DeSantis as custom made for this political moment, combining smart policy and conservative ideology with the swagger and style that attracted voters to Trump.   Winning in 2024 will require firing up the base and voters want a fighter, says Saul Anuzis, a Republican consultant who served as a senior adviser to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz during his 2016 presidential campaign.  “They still are very anti-swamp, anti-D.C. and anti-establishment,” Anuzis says. More on the Future of Conservatism: ►Do we live in two Americas? Red and blue states increasingly dividing over politics. ►GOP is no longer the party of old, white men. Meet the conservative women on the rise. ►Back to the future: Republicans can find a path forward by recapturing Reagan’s optimism Until Trump makes a decision on a 2024 run, GOP presidential hopefuls are in a difficult position. All they can do is make a name for themselves and build a following.  “I think that the DeSantises of the world, the Youngkins of the world and the Nikki Haleys of the world are doing exactly what they should be doing,” Anuzis says. “Which is find venues to support other Republicans, engage in policy debates where possible, cause controversy that appeals to the base and gives them an opportunity to tell their story and exhibit their abilities both with regard to political savviness, as well as reaching out to potential supporters who would say, if not Trump, then who?” Governors make good presidential candidates  DeSantis has risen in notoriety this year for his culture war fights, but his record as governor extends far beyond that.  During his tenure, he has cut taxes, expanded school choice and ensured some of the least intrusive COVID-19 lockdowns in the country. He has even championed the preservation of the Everglades, a fact that earned him the endorsement of the Everglades Trust. Hurricane Ian response: DeSantis’ ‘go-go boots’ were made for walking. All the left can do is trail behind him. There are good reasons Florida is one of the fastest growing states, even as other states lose residents, and DeSantis can hold that up as a success. “I  think the advantage governors have when they get into these presidential races is that they’ve got, for better or worse, records that they can point to,” says John Engler, former three-term Republican governor of Michigan.  “A Reagan, a Bush, a Clinton, they all had things they could point to plus they had a well of experience to draw from. They knew the problems with the welfare system and they knew there were challenges in the education system and they knew that often Washington was overreaching in terms of its regulatory reach, and they had a pretty firm grasp on public safety.” Too anti-woke?  There is much that DeSantis has done right. Yet, in his desire to raise his profile, he should be careful not to push culture war issues too far.  For instance, the Stop WOKE Act he signed this year is designed to fight political correctness and an obsession with race at schools and private companies. The law has already faced a partial injunction and a lawsuit from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which stands for free speech and free thought. Conservatives have long been defenders of the First Amendment, so it’s uncomfortable to see a Republican involve the government in such a broad, heavy-handed way. Despite these concerns, the consensus among the GOP operatives I spoke with is that DeSantis is doing what he must in this moment. “If you go through the most newly elected members of Congress, the Senate or governors across the states, many of them are kind of in a MAGA-lite perspective of coming in as fighters, people willing to take on the establishment, challenge the status quo, do something different,” Anuzis says. As conservatives mull whom to support if Trump doesn’t run – or even if he does – the  choice is increasingly the Florida governor.  Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques  More from Ingrid Jacques: $31 trillion may seem a fanciful number, but U.S. debt will soon hit your wallet hard Biden’s big student loan cancellation announcement: Applications still aren’t ready! Dumping Roe may backfire on opponents. Republicans should have been ready. Read More Here

ARKANSAS SIGHTSEEING: State Offers Several Farms For Jack-O’-Lantern Hunting And Other Seasonal Events https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-sightseeing-state-offers-several-farms-for-jack-o-lantern-hunting-and-other-seasonal-events/ A happy boy displays the pumpkins he just picked at Roseberry Farms. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Jack Schnedler) Pumpkin farms turn into theme parks every October. This is when families across Arkansas head out to buy the raw material for their Halloween jack-o’-lanterns, while also enjoying hayrides, corn mazes, piglet races, face painting and a mix of other fun. Fifteen Arkansas sites, a half-dozen of them less than an hour’s drive from downtown Little Rock, are listed on the national website pumpkinpatches.com. Most are owned and operated by families, and a couple have been in business for decades. They figure to be jam-packed this weekend and next, but less crowded on the pre-Halloween weekdays they’re open. An online visit to pumpkinpatches.com/arkansas provides detailed information on all the farms. That includes their location with maps, days and times of operation, admission and activity fees as well as price ranges for the pumpkins. Future jack-o’-lanterns can be picked straight from the vine or bought from tented displays. Snacks and beverages are available for sale. Pets are generally barred from the attraction grounds. One of the busiest spots in Central Arkansas is Motley’s Pumpkin Patch, 13724 Sandy Ann Drive on the southern fringe of Little Rock, east of Geyer Springs Road. Tractor-drawn wagon rides take visitors into the fields for picking. A popular new attraction is the Super Mega Slide, which propels riders sitting on inner tubes down an inflatable ramp. The farm’s pig races feature cute piglets not that much larger than a house cat. Adults visiting BoBrook Farms Pumpkin Patch, 13810 Combee Lane, Roland, can relax with a glass of wine after tracking down the ideal jack-o’-lantern. The site’s River Bottom Winery, with a balcony patio overlooking the pumpkin field, offers dry, semi-sweet and sweet wines by the glass. A distinctive sweet choice is chocolate raspberry. Beer is also available. The pumpkin patch offers pig races, mazes and hayrides. A favorite photo spot at Roseberry Farms, 12223 Arkansas 9, northwest of Benton, is a silhouette of a tractor pulling a cart of pumpkins. Youngsters (and young-at-heart adults) can stick their faces in the drawing’s four cutouts and have their mugs whimsically snapped via smartphone. Along with a hayride and a mini-train, both pulled by tractors, they can enjoy a trip into the pumpkin fields in a carriage pulled by a black horse.     Two boys check out pumpkins at Roseberry Farms northwest of Benton. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Jack Schnedler)   On weekends, youngsters at Schaefers Pumpkin Patch, 864 Lollie Road, Mayflower, can ride a pony. Every day of the week, they can crawl through hay tunnels, jump around on hay bales, and play in a jumbo-size sandbox. There’s also a learning center for youngsters and adults, with explanations of different grain and vegetable seed along with equipment used on the farm. Hicks Family Farms, 184 Lasiter Road, between Cabot and Lonoke, sets a folksy tone on its website with this message: “We’ve got more going on out here than a chicken has feathers!” The action includes both a challenging seven-acre corn maze and a compact maze of straw bales for young visitors. Pony rides and hay rides are among the other possibilities on a farm that has been in the Hicks family since 1913. Most of the pumpkins bought this month in Arkansas, at seasonal farm setups and elsewhere, will be bought for the carving. Once upon a time, they had wider uses. Some people believed they could be used to remove freckles and heal snake bites. It was also thought their pulp could cure digestive problems in cats and dogs. Their starring role these days still extends beyond Halloween decor. Next month, they’ll take a Thanksgiving Day curtain call as pumpkin pie. Read More…

Four Friends Missing In Oklahoma Found Dismembered, Police Say https://digitalarkansasnews.com/four-friends-missing-in-oklahoma-found-dismembered-police-say/ U.S.|Four Friends Missing in Oklahoma Found Dismembered, Police Say https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/17/us/oklahoma-bodies-river.html A witness had been invited to join the men to “hit a lick big enough for all of them,” or to engage in some kind of criminal behavior, a police chief said on Monday. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Joe Prentice, the police chief in Okmulgee, Okla., said investigators believe the missing men had planned to “commit some type of criminal act.”Credit…KJRH 2 News Oklahoma Published Oct. 17, 2022Updated Oct. 18, 2022, 3:16 a.m. ET The mysterious disappearance of four friends in Oklahoma took a grim turn on Monday after the police confirmed that their remains had been found in a river after they had been fatally shot and then dismembered. Joe Prentice, the police chief in Okmulgee, a city of about 11,000 people about 40 miles south of Tulsa, said at a news conference on Monday that the remains had been identified as those of Mark Chastain, 32; Billy Chastain, 30; Mike Sparks, 32; and Alex Stevens, 29, all of Okmulgee. The chief said the Chastains were brothers. Chief Prentice said that investigators believed the men had planned to “commit some type of criminal act” after they left Billy Chastain’s home on Okmulgee’s west side around 8 p.m. on Oct. 9. All four were reportedly riding bicycles, the police said. Their plan to engage in criminal activity was based on information from a witness who had been invited to join the men to “hit a lick big enough for all of them,” the chief said, quoting the witness. “That is common terminology for engaging in some type of criminal behavior, but we do not know what they were planning or where they planned to do it,” he added. The men had been reported missing last week after they left Billy Chastain’s home, the police said. Mark Chastain’s wife, Jessica, told 2 News Oklahoma last week that her husband had parked his car at a house owned by the Chastain family on Sunday. The four men often spent time there, she said. “They don’t go far — never,” Ms. Chastain told the news station. On Friday, a passer-by noticed something suspicious in the Deep Fork River, leading investigators to find what appeared to be human remains protruding from the water. Image Clockwise from top left: Billy Chastain, Mark Chastain, Mike Sparks and Alex Stevens.Credit…Okmulgee Police Department But it wasn’t until Monday that the police confirmed the identities of the remains. Chief Prentice said it took some time to make the identification because all four had gunshot wounds and had apparently been dumped in the river after they were dismembered. Chief Prentice said that the police were looking for the owner of a local salvage yard, Joe Kennedy, whom he described as a “person of interest” in the investigation. Mr. Kennedy’s salvage yard is next to a property where investigators discovered “evidence of a violent event,” the chief said, without elaborating. He said that a signal from Mark Chastain’s cellphone had pinged at and around the salvage yard. No charges have been filed and the cause and manner of the deaths have yet to be determined, the chief said. When Mr. Kennedy spoke to investigators on Friday, he denied knowing the men, Chief Prentice said, adding that he had no reason to believe the men had any relationship with Mr. Kennedy. On Saturday, Mr. Kennedy was reported missing and he may be suicidal, the chief said. There was no immediate response on Monday afternoon to a text message sent to a number listed for a salvage yard under Mr. Kennedy’s name. Later Monday, the chief said that Mr. Kennedy’s car had been found “abandoned” behind a business in Morris, Okla., about six miles east of Okmulgee. Investigators have not recovered the gun used in the killings, Chief Prentice said. They also have not yet found the bicycles that the men had reportedly been riding. “Unfortunately, I have no description of the bicycles,” Chief Prentice said. “At least one, and we believe all, of the boys had multiple bicycles, and there’s no way to know which ones they were on.” Chief Prentice said that the investigation was continuing and that the police were waiting for cellphone records and had requested video surveillance from businesses in the area. He said his best guess was that the men’s remains were dumped in the river on the night of Oct. 9 or the morning of Oct. 10. / Read More Here

Australia Reverses Trump-Era Recognition Of West Jerusalem As Capital Of Israel | CNN https://digitalarkansasnews.com/australia-reverses-trump-era-recognition-of-west-jerusalem-as-capital-of-israel-cnn/ CNN  —  The Australian government has reversed a decision by its predecessor to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, prompting a rebuke from the Israeli government. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong reaffirmed Canberra’s “previous and long-standing position” on Israel in a briefing on Tuesday, emphasizing the new Labor government’s unwavering support both for Israel and the Palestinian people. “Australia is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders,” Wong said. “We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect.” The previous government, led by former Coalition Prime Minister Scott Morrison, recognized West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in 2018, following an announcement made by former US President Donald Trump. in 2017, Trump upended seven decades of US foreign policy by declaring the United States considered Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel. The following year, the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Australia’s decision to revert to its previous position on Tuesday was a “hasty response to an incorrect report in the media.” “In light of the way in which this decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to an incorrect report in the media, we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally,” Lapid said in a statement, without elaborating on the “incorrect report.” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also summoned Australia’s ambassador to Israel. Before Trump’s announcement, successive US leaders had resisted making any proclamation on the issue before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved. Trump’s decision drew condemnation from world leaders and sent shock waves through the Muslim world. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the holy city as their capital. Morrison’s decision to follow Trump’s lead also prompted outrage, and on Tuesday Wong apologized for any distress caused. “I regret that Mr. Morrison’s decision to play politics resulted in Australia’s shifting position, and the distress these shifts have caused to many people in the Australian community who care deeply about this issue,” Wong said. The division of Jerusalem into East and West dates from the 1949 armistice agreement that brought fighting between Israel and Arab powers to an end, and left the city divided. West Jerusalem was in the hands of Israel and East Jerusalem controlled by Jordan. A 1947 United Nations plan to divide Palestine in two, creating a Jewish state and an Arab state, had envisaged Jerusalem as an internationally run “corpus separatum,” apart from the two states. In 1967 Israel captured East Jerusalem in the Six Day War. It expanded the municipal boundaries of the city and declared all of it to be the unified capital of Israel. Until Trump’s announcement, the international community was largely united in not formally recognizing Israel’s position, stating instead that only a negotiated agreement between the two sides could determine the city’s final status. The city is home to deeply holy sites for Jews, Muslims and Christians. The issue has been so thorny that negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians had left the question of Jerusalem to the final stages of any peace deal. Read More Here

Morning Coffee: Goldman Sachs Restructuring Could Hit Traders' Bonuses. Deutsche Bank MD Sacrificed Her Salary And Was Cut All The Same https://digitalarkansasnews.com/morning-coffee-goldman-sachs-restructuring-could-hit-traders-bonuses-deutsche-bank-md-sacrificed-her-salary-and-was-cut-all-the-same/ Goldman Sachs deserves full plaudits for secrecy. Everyone knows that Credit Suisse is planning a major restructuring announcement at the end of this month, but who knew that Goldman Sachs was concocting a restructuring of its own? No one, until the Wall Street Journal broke the news late last night. Admittedly, Goldman’s is less dramatic. While Credit Suisse is planning changes that may result in 6,000 job cuts and the sale of its securitisation business and some Swiss assets, Goldman’s intentions are more moderate. It simply intends to streamline its organization into three divisions: investment banking and trading, asset and wealth management, and transaction banking. This compares to the four “segments” that the firm currently has: investment banking, global markets, asset management, and consumer and wealth management.  Unlike Credit Suisse, Goldman’s reorganization isn’t explicitly linked to job cuts, and might simply be considered a change in internal nomenclature. And yet it’s conceivable that cuts will come as a result: merging divisions is a well trodden route to “efficiencies” and can reduce the need for two sets of staff in some support functions. It can also result in changes at the top: heads of smaller divisions who aren’t appointed heads of larger divisions are prone to sudden retirement. Mostly, though, Goldman’s changes look like bad news for anyone at the Marcus consumer banking segment, which has suddenly been subsumed by the far larger asset and wealth management division after racking up cumulative $4bn losses. Conversely, they look like good news for anyone in the transaction banking business, TxB, which has been given a whole division of its own. In investment banking and global markets, Goldman’s changes look superficially less significant, but could have a real impact. They will emphasize the extent to which – for all its attempts at diversification – Goldman remains an investment bank: the banking and global markets businesses generated 78% of revenues at the firm in the second quarter. Goldman’s combination of its global markets and investment banking business could weaken the internal influence of the smaller investment banking business at a time when revenues there are plummeting and bonus pools for 2022 are being finalized. Right now, the investment banking business is co-headed by Jim Esposito and Dan Dees, while global markets has is headed by Ashok Varadhan and Marc Nachmann. Nachmann is already moving to the new asset and wealth management division, and one of either Dees or Esposito is likely to go too. Goldman Sachs will announce its third quarter results tomorrow, and in line with other banks, revenues in its investment banking division are likely to have plummeted. The changes could conceivably leave the investment bank more exposed to cuts and heavy bonus pruning. Equally, though, it might be argued that the fixed income traders who’ve done well this year will now be more obliged to cross-subsidize their investment banking colleagues with whom they’re lumped in a single division. Fixed income traders who thought they’d get big bonuses as part of a standalone global markets business could find their bonuses much reduced now that they’re in bed with investment bankers whose performance has been dire. Separately, if a bank is cutting costs and really wants to get rid of you, the sorry story of Elisabeth Maugars at Deutsche Bank suggests that foregoing some pay won’t make much difference. Maugars, who was an MD, is suing Deutsche Bank for gender and age discrimination. Bloomberg reports that DB let her go during a cost-cutting round in early 2020 even though she had just given up a month’s pay in an attempt to help the bank save costs. She was 57 at the time. Maugars claims that colleagues at Deutsche also called her Christine Lagarde in reference to her French nationality and white hair. Meanwhile… James Gorman at Morgan Stanley says the bank is looking at headcount. “We’re obviously looking at headcount…You’ve got to take into account the rate of growth we’ve had in the last few years and we’ve learned some things during Covid about how we can operate more efficiently. That’s something the management team is working on between now and the end of the year.” (Financial News)  Citi is still hiring bankers. “We continue to invest in building out our teams for long-term growth opportunities, including health care, technology and energy,” said Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser. “And I’m really pleased with the high-caliber bankers who are attracted to both our platform and our culture.” (Reuters)  Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan won’t wait until next year to hire and that the bank is still spending in line with its commitments at investor day. (Business Insider)  KPMG promoted 108 new partners but they won’t get to share in the profits. (The Times)  The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wants 15 people to work in its wholesale crypto policy unit, including senior people and junior data analysts in digital assets. (Financial News)  Click here to create a profile on eFinancialCareers. Make yourself visible to recruiters hiring for jobs where your bonus will be big even when your colleagues performed terribly.  Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available (Telegram: @SarahButcher) Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.) Photo by Clark Tai on Unsplash Read More Here

Vance, Ryan Spar In Second – And Final – Fiery Debate In Ohio Senate Race https://digitalarkansasnews.com/vance-ryan-spar-in-second-and-final-fiery-debate-in-ohio-senate-race/ Youngstown, Ohio  – Senate candidates Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance faced off Monday night in their second fiery debate, clashing over the blockbuster issues of this election –  the economy, abortion, the border and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 – as well as who would best serve the state. Former President Donald Trump won Ohio by eight points in 2020 but the race to fill the seat being vacated by retiring moderate Republican Sen. Rob Portman this year has proven to be competitive with just over three weeks to go before Election Day.  At the debate hosted by WFJM in Youngstown, the candidates spoke over each other and accused one another of putting their party first. It comes exactly one week after the candidates appeared alongside each other for their testy first debate, where they clashed over the economy, abortion rights and extremism.  Ryan, who is currently serving his tenth term in the House representing Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Youngstown, has focused his campaign on the economy and manufacturing – while also taking aim at China. He has attempted to distance himself from Democrats in control in Washington as they face headwinds heading into the midterms amid soaring inflation and with President Joe’s Biden’s approval rating being underwater in the state. He instead has painted his Republican opponent as an extremist who left Ohio for California and is only in the race for himself.  Vance, a venture capitalist and author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” grew up in Middletown, Ohio. He soared to victory in the May primary after being backed by Trump and billionaire Peter Thiel. On the campaign trail, Vance links Ryan to Mr. Biden, and has questioned what Ryan has to show for his 20 years in Congress.  This combination of photos shows Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, on March 28, 2022, in Wilberforce, Ohio, left, and Republican candidate JD Vance on Aug. 5, 2022, in Dallas.  AP Photo “If you want to run against Nancy Pelosi, move back to San Francisco and run against Nancy Pelosi. You’re running against me,” Ryan shot back in response to Vance tying him to House Democratic party leadership. Ryan pointed out that he challenged Pelosi’s leadership in 2016. The pair also clashed on abortion rights. In the previous debate, Vance said the 10-year-old Ohio girl who had to go to another state to get an abortion – a story that made national headlines – should have been able to get an abortion. On Monday, he was asked what other exceptions he would support, having previously rejected exceptions for rape and incest.  “My basic view is we need to protect life in this country,” Vance said, and he noted that it would likely be dangerous for a 10-year-old to carry a pregnancy to term. He also reiterated his that an undocumented immigrant was arrested for raping the 10-year-old girl, accusing Ryan and Democrats of not acting on border security.   When asked about Sen. Lindsey Graham’s 15-week federal abortion ban, Vance responded “if you can’t support legislation like that, you are making the United States the most barbaric pro-aboriton regime anywhere in the entire world.” Last week, the House Jan. 6 committee voted to subpoena Trump.  Ryan said Trump should respond to the subpoena. Vance said he would not pretend to give the former president legal advice. “The Jan. 6 committee has shown from the very beginning that it’s not interested in the truth, that it’s interested in a political hit job that goes back to four years ago,” Vance said. He went on to accuse Democrats of being obsessed with  the idea that Trump somehow had the election stolen by the Russians. “There’s been a nonstop political effort to not honor the election of 2016 but I think that’s just as much of a threat to democracy as the violence on Jan. 6 January 6th,” Vance said. The candidates also clashed over immigration. Vance accused Democratic leadership of wanting more immigrants, claiming it would mean Republicans are never able to win another election. Ryan responded accusing Vance of running around with those talking about replacement theory.  “You can believe in a border without being a racist, you can believe in the country without being a racist and this just shows how desperate this guy is for political power,” Vance responded – invoking his three biracial children.  “I think I struck a nerve with this guy,” Ryan countered. With the economy being the most pressing issue for voters across the country, the debate began with a question about inflation. Ryan defended voting for the Inflation Reduction Act – pointing to investments coming back to Ohio, and he said he also advocated for tax cuts for working people. Vance argued the U.S. needed to stop spending money and for the U.S. to “really open up America’s energy sector.” Ohio is often considered a battleground state, with  former President Obama having won it twice and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown was reelected in 2018. But Ohio has been trending more red in recent years, and Trump won it by eight points in both 2016 and 2020. Despite the political climate, the Senate race has proven to be competitive according to the latest polls. The Real Clear Politics average has Vance up by just two percentage points. While Republicans are still positioned to retake the majority in the House in November according to the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker, the Senate remains a toss up. Several other Senate races are often considered more competitive by strategists as Democrats look to expand their majority in the 50-50 split Senate, but tens of millions are being spent in the Ohio Senate race in the final stretch of the election season. And as candidates make their final pitches to voters, early voting is already underway in Ohio both by mail and in-person. At least 812,000 Ohioans requested absentee ballots. Those ballots started going out Sept. 23.  Read More Here

House Panel: Trump https://digitalarkansasnews.com/house-panel-trump/ NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times during his presidency, including two charges for more than $1,100 per night, according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee. The Secret Service was charged room rates of more than $800 per night at least 11 times when agents stayed at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., and other properties, the Democratic-led House Oversight Committee said. It noted that Trump made over 500 trips to his properties while president. The “exorbitant” rates point to a possible “taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney of New York wrote in a letter Monday to the Secret Service requesting more information. The Secret Service said it had received the letter and was reviewing it. The Trump Organization denied that the Secret Service charges were a problem and said it provided rooms and other services at cost, at big discounts or for free. “The Trump Family is likely the first family in American history to have not profited off of the United States government,” said Eric Trump in a statement. He added, “President Trump funded the vast majority of his campaign with hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money and turned away billions of dollars in real estate deals worldwide.” In total, the Trump Organization charged the agency responsible for protecting the president and his family at least $1.4 million, according to Secret Service records released by the committee. The committee said the total bill was likely higher because the panel only got records through September 2021 and payments for trips abroad were not included. The former president has been repeatedly criticized by Democrats and government watchdogs for what they say were brazen attempts make money from taxpayer funds during his presidency. In addition to money from the Secret Service when he and his family visited his clubs and hotels, Trump played host to foreign officials at his properties, also requiring lodging for accompanying agents. The president tried to arrange for his Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida to be chosen as the venue for a Group of Seven meeting of global leaders, only to pull back after an outcry of about self dealing. Among the documents released Monday was a bill tied to 2017 trip by Trump’s oldest son, Don Jr., to the Trump International Hotel down the street from the White House. That resulted in a Secret Service room charge of $1,185 per night, more than five times the government-approved per diem rate, the committee said, though the agency is allowed to make exceptions. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

GoLocalProv | Politics | Control Of The US Senate Still Up For Grabs – Rob Horowitz https://digitalarkansasnews.com/golocalprov-politics-control-of-the-us-senate-still-up-for-grabs-rob-horowitz/ Tuesday, October 18, 2022 Rob Horowitz, MINDSETTER View Larger + Dr. Oz PHOTO: Campaign With the mid-term elections now only three weeks away, the contest for control of the US Senate remains very much undetermined. It is certainly the case that the fundamentals that usually drive mid-term election outcomes continue to favor the Republicans.  While President Biden’s job approval has improved somewhat, at 42.9 % in FiveThirtyEight’s weighted average of recent polls, it remains low. In fact, it’s at a level that tends to produce significant gains for the opposition party.  Similarly, only about 3-in-10 Americans think our nation is “headed in the right direction,” as compared to about 7-in-10 who think we are “pretty seriously off on the wrong track,” according to the Real Clear Politics (RCP) average of recent polls.  GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE — SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST In short, if these are typical mid-term elections–which history tells us are usually referendums on perceptions of the performance of the incumbent president and the related question of how people feel things are going in the national generally–one would expect Republicans to easily regain control of the House of Representatives and to win the Senate back as well.  This is especially the case when one party controls not only the presidency, but both houses of Congress, so there is no place to deflect blame. There are a number of signs, however, that this may not end up being a typical mid-term. First, the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade is providing a political boost to Democratic candidates.  Taken together, the decision’s motivation of more Democrats to vote and its impact in persuading a slice of independent and Republican women who otherwise could have been counted on to vote Republican to cast their ballot for a Democratic candidate is the potential winning difference in some close races. By nearly 2 to 1(63% to 34%), Americans oppose the overturning of Roe v. Wade and a similar percentage say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey.   Since the Dobbs decision, the percentage of Americans who believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases who say they will only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion has more than doubled. Additionally, former President Donald Trump, who remains unpopular, has stayed front and center in our politics., This has enabled the Democrats to turn this election into a bit less of a pure referendum. In at least some voters’ minds, the election has become more of a choice with some voters likely to vote Democratic as the lesser of two perceived evils.  The combination of the former president continues to insist in the face of all evidence to the contrary that he won the 2020 election, his well-publicized mounting legal difficulties, the work of the January 6 select committee, his successful backing of extreme, election-denying candidates in Republican primaries around the nation and his fierce desire to stay in the news all contribute to a feeling among a key sub-set of swing voters that Trump is in some sense still on the ballot.  This redounds heavily to the Democrats’ advantage, creating a somewhat less daunting political environment upon which to fight out individual House and Senate races. These countervailing factors are unlikely to prevent Republicans from taking control of the House.  This requires the GOP to only pick up 6 seats.   When likely voters are asked the generic ballot question in polls—do they plan to vote for a Democrat or Republican for US House of Representatives—it is roughly even, according to an average of recent polls. Given that Democrats are disproportionately concentrated in cities and inner-ring suburbs, they would need to be at least several points ahead in the generic ballot on election day to hold the House.  The indications, however, are that they are losing a bit of ground in this measure as inflation picks up even more salience with the electorate and if present trends continue, the Republicans could be ahead by a few percentage points by election day.  On the other hand, there is still a better than even money chance that the outcome in the US Senate will be different.  This is in part because the states where the battleground races are being held are relatively friendly territory for Democrats.  But the most important factor is that in Senate races, where voters learn a lot more about individual candidates than in House races, the quality of the candidate, as Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell noted over the summer, is a larger component of a voter’s decision.   Simply put, Mr. Trump’s success in putting a number of his endorsed candidates over the top in Senate primaries has given the Democratic party a lifeline. In nearly every case, these Trump-backed candidates who were selected primarily because they were willing to embrace his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen are far weaker general election candidates than their primary opponents would have been:  Trump’s actions saddled the GOP with problematic candidates in nearly all the key states that will determine control of the US Senate:  Dr Oz in Pennsylvania, Blake Masters in Arizona, Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, Herschel Walker in Georgia and JD Vance in Ohio(even if Vance wins, his weakness has forced the Republicans to spend millions of dollars that could have gone elsewhere). While control of the US Senate is still in the balance, my bet is that the political winds at the Republicans’ backs has been sufficiently tempered by countervailing factors and as a result are not strong enough to overcome the weakness of too many of their key Senate candidates. The bottom line is the Democrats are positioned to narrowly hold their Senate majority. If this turns out to be the case, they should send a thank you note to Donald Trump—the gift that keeps giving to the Democratic Party. Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island. Related Articles A College Education Continues to Pay Major Dividends – Horowitz Looming Roe v. 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AP News Summary At 1:48 A.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-148-a-m-edt/ Suicide drones strike fear in Ukraine’s capital, killing 4 KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Waves of explosives-laden suicide drones have struck Ukraine’s capital, setting buildings ablaze and tearing a hole in one of them. The attack sent people scurrying for shelter and came a week after Russia unleashed its most widespread strikes against the country in months. Authorities said four people died. One drone struck a residential building. Energy facilities were also hit by the drones, which appeared to include Iranian-made Shaheds. Separately, Moscow authorities said a Russian Su-34 warplane crashed in a residential area in the Russian port of Yeysk on the Sea of Azov, after an engine failure during takeoff, killing four people on the ground, injuring 25 and setting an apartment building ablaze. Officials said both crewmembers bailed out safely. Democrats who flipped Congress in 2018 face hurdles in 2022 WASHINGTON (AP) — Election Day in 2018 saw Democrats flip more than 40 seats to regain the House majority. Anxiety over Donald Trump’s presidency was a major reason for the strong Democratic showing. But those Democrats elected four years ago are campaigning in a much different political environment this year, with Trump out of office and voters concerned about the economy and crime. Plus, many districts that were once competitive have been redrawn by Republican-dominated state legislatures to become more friendly to the GOP. Those changes are leaving several Democrats in the Class of 2018 facing tough reelections. Small town in southern Mexico hosts thousands of migrants MEXICO CITY (AP) — As migrants, especially Venezuelans, struggle to come to terms with a new U.S. policy discouraging border crossings, one small town in southern Mexico is unexpectedly playing host to thousands of migrants camped far from the U.S. border. San Pedro Tapanatepec had 7,000 migrants, about 75% Venezuelans, when The Associated Press visited at the beginning of October. By Monday, Mayor Humberto Parrazales estimated the number had grown to 14,000. While many Venezuelans had planned to make their way to the U.S. border, the new U.S. policy says border crossers will simply be expelled. That leaves many camped out in the temporary tent shelters wondering what they’ll do next. Report: Taliban killed captives in restive Afghan province Read More Here

Democrats Who Flipped Congress In 2018 Face Hurdles In 2022 | News Channel 3-12 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/democrats-who-flipped-congress-in-2018-face-hurdles-in-2022-news-channel-3-12/ By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Moments after she flipped a longtime Republican congressional seat in 2018, Iowa Democrat Cindy Axne declared that “Washington doesn’t have our back and we deserve a heck of a lot better.” Now seeking a third term in one of the most competitive House races, Axne is sounding a similar tone, telling voters she’s delivered for Iowans “while Washington politicians bicker.” But Axne and other Democrats from the class of 2018 are campaigning in a much different political environment this year. The anxiety over Donald Trump’s presidency that their party harnessed to flip more than 40 seats and regain the House majority has eased. In its place is frustration about the economy under President Joe Biden. And many districts that were once competitive have been redrawn by Republican-dominated state legislatures to become more friendly to the GOP. “It was a very different world,” pollster John Zogby said of 2018. “Inflation’s now where we haven’t seen in 40 years and it affects everybody. And this is the party in power. With campaigns, you don’t get to say, ‘But it could have been’ or ’But look at what the other guy did.’” Many swing-district Democrats elected four years ago were buoyed by college-educated, suburban voters, women and young people shunning Trump. That means many defeats for second-term House Democrats could be read as opposition to Trump no longer motivating voters in the same way — even though the former president could seek the White House again in 2024. Trump continues to shape politics in a far more present sense, too. He’s dominated the national Republican Party despite spreading lies about 2020’s free and fair presidential election and now facing a House subpoena for helping incite the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol last year. Tom Perez, who headed the Democratic National Committee from 2017 until 2021, noted that midterm cycles are historically tough for the president’s party and that — plus grim U.S. economic news — would normally raise the question “are Democrats going to get shellacked?” Instead, Perez thinks many of the toughest congressional races remain close because of the strength of Democrats elected four years ago. “All these folks from the Class of ’18, what they have in common is they’re really incredibly competent, accomplished and they’ve earned the trust of voters in their districts across the ideological spectrum,” said Perez, co-chair of the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century. “That, to me, is why we have a chance here, not withstanding the headwinds of the moment, is that incredible combination of candidate quality contrasted with the extreme views of the people who are running against them.” In all, 66 new Democrats won House races in 2018, flipping 41 Republican seats. Their party gave back many of those gains in 2020, with Republicans taking 14 new seats. Those GOP victories included defeating a dozen Democrats elected to the House for the first time the previous cycle. The Democratic House losses were overshadowed by Biden beating Trump. But this time, the ranks of the 2018 Democratic House class further dwindling may draw more attention — especially if it helps the GOP gain the net five seats it needs to reclaim the chamber’s majority. In addition to Axne, Democrats who may be vulnerable include Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Tom Malinowski of New Jersey and Elaine Luria of Virginia. Another Virginia Democrat, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, as well as Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Angie Craig of Minnesota and Sharice Davids of Kansas all also may face tough reelections. “The question is, is it going to have similarities to ’18 or not in the sense of democracy being on the ballot and a reaction to Trump,” former California Democratic Rep. Harley Rouda, who was elected in 2018 but narrowly lost his reelection bid, said of next month’s election. “Based on polling and the primaries, it doesn’t seem like the voting public is holding Republicans responsible for the Big Lie.” Perez is more sanguine: “The midterm election is supposed to be a referendum on the president, but Donald Trump continues to inject himself” into the nation’s politics. House turnover is common among both parties. By early 2018, almost half of the 87 House Republicans newly elected when their party took control of the chamber during the 2010 tea party surge were gone. More lost that November. Still, the 2018 class was notable as the largest influx of first-year House Democrats in four-plus decades, and the chamber’s youngest and most diverse ever. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said 2018 was also the largest class of new women elected to the House since 1992, with 35 Democrats and one Republican. But 2020 also saw 28 new women elected to Congress, and some were Republicans who defeated Democrats who’d won for the first time the last cycle. “We had a couple of very strong years in a row, one for Democrats and one for Republicans,” Walsh said of women in the House. She said that means that even if the 2018 House Democratic class gets smaller this year, ”I would not look at one election cycle and say the face of Congress is going back to old, white men.” Republicans, meanwhile, have 32 Hispanic nominees and 23 Black nominees running for the House this cycle — both party records. They say their chances of winning the chamber’s majority are built more on high inflation and crime rates rising in some places than Trump or last year’s insurrection. “We have a choice between commonsense and crazy,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “And Americans will vote for Republicans up and down the ballot as a result.” The Democrats’ 2018 House class won’t dissolve completely. Some incumbents are seeking reelection in safely blue districts, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Lucy McBath of Georgia and Colin Allred of Texas, who was the class’ co-president. Democratic Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, the other co-president, beat fellow 2018 Democratic House class member Andy Levin when the two incumbents squared off in this year’s Democratic primary based on their state’s new map. One Democratic 2018 House class member ousted in 2020, former New York Rep. Max Rose, is now running to get back to Congress. Another member, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, has since become a Republican. Former Virginia Rep. Denver Riggleman was a Republican elected in 2018 but lost his 2020 GOP primary. Riggleman is now appearing in a TV ad praising Spanberger. “She’s trying to change Congress and make it work,” Riggleman says in the ad. “She puts country first.” Read More Here

Mike Lee Tries To Distance Himself From Trump In Utah Debate https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mike-lee-tries-to-distance-himself-from-trump-in-utah-debate-2/ By SAM METZ Associated Press OREM, Utah (AP) — Fending off attacks from his independent challenger, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah worked to distinguish himself from former President Donald Trump in a contentious debate Monday evening. “I stood against my party time and time again to oppose reckless spending. I will do it again and again and again. We need people who say no,” the second-term Republican said. Lee repeatedly pointed to his voting record and twice told the audience at Utah Valley University that he voted less in line with Trump than all but two Republican senators — Rand Paul and Susan Collins. “To suggest that I’m beholden to either party, that I’ve been a bootlicker for either party is folly. And it’s contradicted by the plain facts,” Lee said. Lee faces a challenge from Evan McMullin, a former Republican known most for his long-shot bid for president six years ago, when as an independent he won 21.5% of voters in Utah, including Lee. McMullin has remained a pillar of the anti-Trump movement, attacking the former president as an authoritarian who poses a threat to democracy. Lee’s attempts to draw a distinction with Trump reflect the peculiar dynamics emerging in Utah this election cycle. In the red state’s marquee race, one candidate is running as an independent and the other is attempting to emphasize his independent streak. The race has taken shape as one of the nation’s many referendums on the direction Trump has taken the GOP. McMullin is attempting to harness anti-Trump sentiment that has distinguished Utah from other Republican strongholds. Lee’s last minute efforts to put space between his voting record and Trump’s stances depart from his past messaging as Election Day nears. “I don’t think he’s trying to distance himself from Trump. What I think he’s trying to do is draw that contrast,’” Utah Republican Party Chair Carson Jorgensen said. “No, he’s stood up for what he believed every time, even when it came to Trump,” he added. Utah is a reliably Republican state, however its religion-infused politics are idiosyncratic. The majority of residents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which places a high value on manners and eschews alcohol and foul language. Members of the faith lean Republican, yet polling has shown Trump commands less robust support among them than other prominent GOP politicians. Trump failed to win support from a majority of Utah voters in 2016 and Joe Biden performed better with Utah voters in 2020 than any Democrat since 1964. Lee’s emphasis on his willingness to stray from Trump comes as McMullin attempts to paint him as one of the former president’s most loyal disciples. McMullin recently released an attack ad based on Lee’s 2020 remarks comparing Trump to Captain Moroni, a scriptural hero in the Book of Mormon. Monday’s debate was McMullin’s first chance to directly confront Lee about the text messages he sent to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he’s made a centerpiece of his campaign. The texts show Lee asking for advice on how to contribute to efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. Lee has defended his actions by saying he merely intended to look into the legal arguments and rumors about swing states putting forth slates of fake electors, noting that he ultimately voted to certify the results. On Monday, Lee demanded an apology from McMullin and said his version of events exhibited a “cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth.” Though the messages suggest Lee researched the legality of alternate elector slates in the lead-up to Jan. 6, Lee said they showed no evidence that he would have supported such a scheme. He said he wouldn’t have and noted that he voted to certify the election results. A raucous crowd made up mostly of Lee supporters jeered and booed when McMullin called Lee’s actions “a travesty.” “Senator Lee, that was the most egregious betrayal of our nation’s Constitution in its history by a U.S. Senator. I believe it will be your legacy,” McMullin said, wagging his finger at Lee. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Red Mass Honors Dc. Bud Bryant, Prosecutor Larry Jegley – Arkansas Catholic – October 18, 2022 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/red-mass-honors-dc-bud-bryant-prosecutor-larry-jegley-arkansas-catholic-october-18-2022/ Judges, lawyers, officials gather at the Cathedral of St. Andrew for 28th annual event Published: October 18, 2022       By Chris Price Arkansas Catholic Staff Chris Price Bishop Anthony B. Taylor presented the 2022 St. Thomas More Award to co-winners Deacon Noel “Bud” Baldwin and Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Judicial District of Arkansas, which serves Pulaski and Perry Counties. The St. Thomas More Society of Arkansas chose to honor not one, but two Arkansas attorneys during the 28th annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock Oct. 7. Deacon Noel “Bud” Bryant, a family law attorney and member of St. Joseph Church in Pine Bluff, and Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Judicial District of Arkansas, which serves Pulaski and Perry counties and a member of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, were recognized at the Mass. Judges, lawyers, law school professors, law students and government officials of all faiths gathered to pray for the Holy Spirit’s divine enlightenment on judicial deliberations, guidance in the administration of government and justice and for the intercession of St. Thomas More. The event gets its name from the symbolic color of the tongues of fire the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles at Pentecost and the corresponding vestments worn by the celebrants. The Red Mass traditionally marks the beginning of the legal year each October. “It brings to mind the Gospel from this past weekend, in which Jesus spoke about faith, but emphasized doing our duty. I don’t feel like I’ve done any more than what I am called to do. It’s humbling.” Bryant, who has been a member of the St. Thomas More Society of Arkansas for more than 23 years, said he was “simply humbled” by the recognition.  “It brings to mind the Gospel from this past weekend, in which Jesus spoke about faith, but emphasized doing our duty. I don’t feel like I’ve done any more than what I am called to do. It’s humbling.”  Jegley was elected prosecuting attorney in 1996 and has handed thousands of criminal prosecutions every year. “Being a prosecuting attorney is sometimes a thankless and lonely job,” Jegley said. “This represents some affirmation of a lot of the hard decisions that we’ve made over the years in the prosecuting attorney’s office and things that we have done trying to make the community better, but also being fair and just with people who are accused of crime.” Bishop Anthony B. Taylor concelebrated the Red Mass with Father Andrew Hart, adjutant judicial vicar and judge for the Diocese of Little Rock Tribunal and theological advisor to Arkansas Catholic; Father Stephen Elser, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Engelberg, St. Joseph the Worker Church in Corning and St. Paul the Apostle Church in Pocahontas; Father Greg Luyet, judicial vicar and St. Thomas More Society chaplain; and Father Joseph de Orbegozo, rector of the Cathedral of St. Andrew. Assisting on the altar were Bryant and Deacon Matt Glover, a civil lawyer and diocesan chancellor for canonical affairs. Fathers Hart and Luyet and Glover are canon lawyers.  In his homily, Bishop Taylor drew laughs for a story about throwing overripe tomatoes at his brother when they were children but, he said, whatever initial fun it produced was soon replaced by the negative feelings of his actions and the cleanup his brother had to endure. He then equated his tomato-throwing to political mudslinging and encouraged the congregation to think about the repercussions of their actions, how they permeate society at large, and if they are a contributing reason to the rampant division the nation is experiencing. Please read our Comments Policy before posting. Article comments powered by Read More…

More Than 600 Killed In Nigeria's Worst Flooding In A Decade | CNN https://digitalarkansasnews.com/more-than-600-killed-in-nigerias-worst-flooding-in-a-decade-cnn/ CNN  —  The death toll from the worst flooding Nigeria has seen in a decade has passed 600 people, the country’s humanitarian affairs ministry tweeted on Sunday. According to the ministry, more than 2 million people have been affected by flooding that has spread across parts of the country’s south after a particularly wet rainy season. More than 200,000 homes have been completely or partially damaged, the ministry added. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency warned of catastrophic flooding for states located along the courses of the Niger and Benue rivers, noting that three of Nigeria’s overfilled reservoirs were expected to overflow. NEMA said the release of excess water from a dam in neighboring Cameroon had contributed to the flooding. While many parts of Nigeria are prone to yearly floods, flooding in certain areas has been more severe than the last major floods in 2012, a Red Cross official in Kogi told CNN last week. NASA images show decimating reach of worst flood this region has seen in a decade 02:19 – Source: CNN Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Sadiya Umar Farouq warned Sunday that more flooding was likely and urged regional governments to prepare accordingly. “We are calling on the respective State Governments, Local Government Councils and Communities to prepare for more flooding by evacuating people living on flood plains to high grounds, provide tents and relief materials, fresh water as well as medical supplies for a possible outbreak of water-borne diseases,” the ministry of humanitarian affairs said on Twitter Sunday. The country will soon implement its National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, aimed at improving coordination of the flood response efforts. According to the ministry, “relief has gone to every state of the federation,” and “many state governments did not prepare for the floods.” A delegation organized by the ministry will be visiting state governors across the country to suggest strengthening states’ flood response mechanisms. Read More Here

Neighbors Called Police In Past On Mom Melissa Towne, Who's Accused Of Killing Daughter In Tomball https://digitalarkansasnews.com/neighbors-called-police-in-past-on-mom-melissa-towne-whos-accused-of-killing-daughter-in-tomball/ TOMBALL, Texas (KTRK) — The 5-year-old girl known as Nichole is seen in pictures always smiling, but the horror she endured is unimaginable. Her mother, Melissa Towne, is accused of taking her into the woods at Spring Creek Park on Sunday, cutting her neck with a knife, and suffocating her. In court, it was revealed that when she realized the knife didn’t kill Nichole, she strangled her for more than a half hour. Nichole put up a fight, and at one point, even pleaded with her mom, saying, “I’ve been good.” The mother replied, “Stop fighting it,” according to records. Towne then said she sat on top of her daughter, covered her mouth with her hand, and placed a trash bag over her head. Deputies say she took her to the hospital because she wanted to dispose of her. According to records, Towne confessed to killing her daughter because she was “evil and didn’t want to deal with her anymore.” According to family members, Nichole’s father had custody of her. PREVIOUS STORY: $15M bond set for mom charged in 5-year-old daughter’s stabbing They sent a statement to Eyewitness News: “We ask for privacy and respect for Nichole’s father, James, and our family as we all figure out how to grieve her horrible loss and try to figure out how to go on from here. Nichole has grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and a father that all loved her dearly and never thought such a tragic event would happen to such an innocent child. She will always hold a special place in all of our hearts. We will always remember her as the sweetest little girl who never met a stranger. She was so full of love and giggles and her bright blue eyes shined so full of curiosity. We are hoping and praying justice will be served and the heartless monster who took our sweet girl away from us pay for the innocent life she took.” Child Protective Services confirmed it is investigating, adding that Towne has a prior history with CPS. A spokesperson said they could not give further details, because CPS investigations are confidential, according to law. One of Towne’s old neighbors said he had to call the police on her several times. “We always knew she had mental issues,” Alan Pffar said. “She would have arguments with my mailbox for no reason.” Pffar added that he even had to put up security cameras because of Towne. “One time, she was beating up on a car,” Pffar said. “I didn’t realize it was hers. She was hitting it with a baseball bat.” ONLY ON 13: 5-year-old girl’s aunt wants to know why mom committed alleged killing Those close to the family tell ABC13 that Nichole and her father lived with his father and stepmother in Magnolia for a period of time. Neighbors who live on the quiet street said they all took turns taking care of Nichole. “He was asking for help, and anytime we could, we would all help,” a neighbor, who wants to stay anonymous, said. “He loved her. He was the best daddy he could be. We all knew something was wrong, and she wanted good for her baby. We kept her away, and we didn’t want anything to happen to her, so we tried to do the best we could. But I can’t imagine anyone doing that to a child at all, and when you find out it’s someone you know, and especially a sweet little baby, it breaks your heart.” According to CPS, Towne has three other children between 2 and 18 years old. They are safe and living with other family members. Nihcole, however, was her father’s only child. Relatives said he had custody of her since birth. Amber Bradshaw is Nicole’s aunt and was also her nanny for over a year. “He lived and breathed for her. When it happened, it broke my heart just as much as his, just completely floored me,” Bradshaw told ABC13. “She didn’t deserve this.” Bradshaw ultimately directed anger at her niece’s mother. “How dare you? What gives you the right to decide when somebody gets to live and when they don’t? Why is the ultimate thing. I’d just want to ask her why,” she said. Towne is charged with capital murder and behind bars on a $15 million bond. Copyright © 2022 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved. Read More Here