Rogers Police Investigate Shooting That Left Two Young Boys Injured
Rogers Police Investigate Shooting That Left Two Young Boys Injured https://digitalarkansasnews.com/rogers-police-investigate-shooting-that-left-two-young-boys-injured/
Four young boys and one adult have been arrested in connection to a shooting in Rogers. Police say more arrests are expected.
ROGERS, Ark. — Two boys have been injured after a shooting in Rogers Thursday evening.
According to the Rogers Police Department (RPD), officers responded to a shooting call in the 900 block of North B St. just before 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 6.
When officers arrived, they found a boy with a head injury. As the investigation continued, a second boy was found in the 300 block of North 35th Street with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police.
Detectives were able to determine through their investigation that the incidents were linked and that both were injured at the first address.
According to police, both of the boys were taken to a hospital in Springfield, Missouri.
As a result of this investigation, four young boys and one man have been arrested. The identities of those involved have not been released.
Police say this is an ongoing investigation and they expect more arrests. No further details have been released.
Stay with 5NEWS for updates on this developing story.
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Second Round Of Layoffs Hit Bay Area Food Company https://digitalarkansasnews.com/second-round-of-layoffs-hit-bay-area-food-company/
Oct. 7, 2022Updated: Oct. 7, 2022 3:47 p.m.
Impossible Foods said it will eliminate 6% of its staff in the company’s second round of layoffs so far this year.
Courtesy of Impossible Foods
Bay Area-based food company Impossible Foods announced another round of layoffs this week.
A pioneer in the plant-based meat space, it will eliminate 6% of its staff, amounting to approximately 50 employees, as it seeks to eliminate redundancies and positions “that are no longer aligned with our core business priorities,” CEO Peter McGuinness wrote to employees in a memo, according to Food Navigator.
Headquartered in Redwood City, this is the food tech company’s second round of layoffs this year after 15 people exited in January.
Impossible Foods did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment as of publication.
Pat Brown founded Impossible Foods in 2011, but the former CEO stepped down from his position in April and announced plans to head up a new research arm of the company just last month. Financial experts speculated the company might go public this year, but any possible plans appear to have been halted given the economic downturn. McGuinness told Food Navigator that the product was “consistently rated as best in the category, but awareness remained low.”
In late 2021, Impossible Foods opened a ghost kitchen in Oakland dubbed “The Impossible Shop,” offering a variety of prepared faux meat products for delivery. There’s now another fulfillment center in SoMa, though the experience didn’t impress SFGATE’s Madeline Wells.
Impossible Foods has 870 employees, according to LinkedIn, 538 of whom are in the Bay Area.
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Gainesville Community Reacts To Ben Sasse Being Secretly Tapped To Be UF
Gainesville Community Reacts To Ben Sasse Being Secretly Tapped To Be UF https://digitalarkansasnews.com/gainesville-community-reacts-to-ben-sasse-being-secretly-tapped-to-be-uf/
The University of Florida’s surprising announcement of a single finalist for UF president has drawn criticism from some faculty and students, due to secrecy in the process and the selection of a conservative politician.
But participants in the search defend the process, lauding U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., as a “transformational leader” for UF.
UF kept candidates for its presidency secret from the public under new state law, before announcing Thursday that a search committee had named Sasse as the only finalist for the job.
Sasse, 50, is in his second term in the Senate and, if approved by UF’s board of trustees, would become the 13th president in the university’s history.
Sasse at UF: From halls of US Senate to Gainesville, Sasse gets dueling advice for UF president job
UF history professor Paul Ortiz said the optics of Sasse’s selection are going to complicate his presidency because he is going to be seen as a “quasi-political” choice.
“If they had said, ‘Hey we have three finalists, Ben Sasse is one of them’ and he won that competition, we’d be having a different conversation right now,” Ortiz said. “But because of the fact that they essentially say they reached out to about 700 people and come back with one person … it creates a perception of unfairness and that’s what Sen. Sasse is going to have to address.”
Sasse is scheduled to meet with faculty, students and staff on Monday, while UF’s board of trustees is scheduled to formally consider his candidacy at its Nov. 1 meeting. He said in a written statement released Thursday that UF “is the most interesting university in America right now” and that he is “thrilled about the opportunity to work alongside one of the nation’s most outstanding faculties.
“The caliber of teaching and research at UF is unmistakable, carried out through the core principles of shared governance and academic freedom,” Sasse said.
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Rising in rank: ‘We’re doing sustained good work.’ UF remains a top five public university
New law allows secrecy
UF reported that a national search of more than 700 candidates was conducted, but its search committee focused attention on a dozen candidates that included nine sitting presidents at major research universities.
Sasse was the committee’s unanimous choice, according to UF.
A new state law blocks the public from knowing exactly who else was considered and other details about the process. SB 520 allowed UF to conduct much of the presidential search outside of the requirements of Florida’s open meetings and public records laws.
Under the measure, the university was allowed to keep the names of candidates secret and only publicly announce the names of any finalists.
State Rep. Chuck Clemons, a Newberry Republican who voted in support of the measure, said the law is meant to shield earlier applicants in the process from public disclosure that might hurt their standings at their current jobs.
Clemons said he didn’t expect that just one finalist would be named and was open to tweaking the law to require more finalists to be announced before a final choice was made. Ultimately, he said, UF’s search committee is responsible for making a final recommendation.
“The only people that had a vote are the ones on the selection committee,” he said.
Ortiz, who is president of the UF chapter of the United Faculty of Florida union, said that there was more transparency when current President Kent Fuchs was hired. Fuchs met with many members of the UF community and worked to build trust, Ortiz said.
Bryn Taylor, co-president of the Graduate Assistants United union, said UF promised students and faculty there would be a transparent process and that hasn’t been the case.
“Nobody understands this choice at all. It is an extremely political pick at a time when UF is making extremely political rules,” Taylor said. “I don’t understand why they would do something like this. His track record in office is awful. He is vehemently anti-abortion, ant-LGBTQ rights and anti-student loan forgiveness.”
Sasse’s controversial positions
Sasse’s votes and political positions taken as U.S. senator also have other students questioning his selection. A petition has been started on Change.org to protest the choice of Sasse, which had garnered more than 300 signatures as of Friday afternoon.
“This decision is met with indignation from the student body as Ben Sasse has political views that do not align with the values that the students at the University of Florida hold,” the petition reads. “They are discriminatory and non-representative of our student population.”
Sasse has opposed abortion, same-sex marriage and the forgiveness of student debt during his time as a senator. After Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, he issued a statement that the ruling was “a disappointment to Nebraskans who understand that marriage brings a wife and husband together so their children can have a mom and dad.”
Sasse spent five years as the president of Midland University in Nebraska, and previously was a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin. before being elected to the Senate. In August, he spoke out against President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive $10,000 in student loans.
“This deeply regressive action — which fails even to acknowledge that most debt is held by folks with graduate degrees — will do nothing to jumpstart the reform higher education desperately needs,” he said.
Allan Frasheri, co-president of Young Democratic Socialists of America, said his group is among those organizing protests against Sasse’s hiring outside public meetings with him Monday at Emerson Hall. UF College Democrats, Planned Parenthood Generation Action and the Alachua County Labor Coalition are also part of the effort.
Frasheri said if Sasse is chosen for the role, he’s going to have to establish trust among the UF community.
“The only way he can do that is by showing that he is committed to academic freedom and show that he cares about LGBTQ students, the bodily autonomy of our students, our tuition and the burden that students have to go through,” Frasheri said.
Sasse also faces skepticism from the other side of the political aisle, due to his criticism of former president Donald Trump. Sasse was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial.
Trump posted Thursday on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Sasse’s expected resignation from the Senate was “great news” but that the “University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President.”
Nate Monroe: Nate Monroe: The plundering of the University of Florida
A ‘transformational leader’
But other Republicans praised the selection. Rep. Clemons said he was “surprised” but “pleased” with the choice of Sasse, saying that the senator’s political experience would benefit the university
UF needs a president “who can navigate the political waters” in the state and nationally, Clemons said.
Clemons has experience in politics and higher education himself, working as vice president of Santa Fe College’s Office for Advancement and as executive director of the Santa Fe Foundation. He said Sasse’s academic background — which includes five degrees, four from Ivy League institutions — should allow him to go toe-to-toe intellectually with university professors.
Clemons said he met Sasse six years ago in Washington, D.C., at a conference for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s education foundation. Clemons said he came away “impressed with (Sasse’s) understanding of higher education in America.”
But Sasse would come into a university that has been dogged with questions of political interference since it was revealed last fall that faculty were barred from testifying in court against policies backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature. UF also fast-tracked the hiring of COVID-19 skeptic Joseph Ladapo as a professor, paving the way for DeSantis to appoint him as Florida’s surgeon general.
Rahul Patel, a UF trustee and chair of the UF Presidential Search Committee told The Sun there was no political influence when it came to the committee unanimously choosing Sasse as the sole finalist. Patel said when the committee held listening sessions with faculty, staff, alumni and students, they expressed the desire for someone who would take the university to new heights.
“We would need as our next leader a visionary, an innovator, a big thinker and someone who will differentiate us from others, a leader who is truly transformational. Ben Sasse is our transformational leader,” Patel said.
Laura Rosenbury, dean of UF’s Levin College of Law and a search committee member, said in a prepared statement that Sasse “embodies academic freedom” due to his commitment to engaging with different people. Sasse told the Tampa Bay Times that he is “an academic freedom and free speech guy” and that it was “incredibly important that speech and dissent and debate flourish at an institution of higher learning.”
Ortiz said UF has “been under siege in terms of academic freedom” and faculty members “have made it clear we’re not retreating one inch” no matter who is the next president.
“We’re going to defend the integrity of the University of Florida regardless of who’s on the board of trustees, who’s the president and who’s the governor,” he said.
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The Biden Administration Flub: Proposition 12 Maneuver May Damage State-Based Clean Energy Initiatives
The Biden Administration Flub: Proposition 12 Maneuver May Damage State-Based Clean Energy Initiatives https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-biden-administration-flub-proposition-12-maneuver-may-damage-state-based-clean-energy-initiatives/
SCOTUS | Photo by Animal Wellness Action
It is these state-level acts that a turbocharged dormant Commerce Clause could strike down in future proceedings should judges find that Prop 12 cannot stand…”
— Scott Edwards and Kate Schultz
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES , October 7, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — By: Scott Edwards and Kate Schultz
From President Biden’s first day in office, a core ambition of his administration has been to push the United States towards clean, renewable energy. Policies, plans, and laws abound: from the Build Back Better plan, to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to authorizing the Defense Production Act to accelerate clean energy production, his administration seems – at least on the surface – to be charging forward towards a future of renewable, efficient, and emission-free energy.
But what the Biden Administration doesn’t appear to realize is that it may have undercut its ability to execute on that strategy by working with its Solicitor General to file an amicus brief on the side of the pork industry in the upcoming Supreme Court case National Pork Producers Council v. Ross.
NPPC v. Ross is a challenge from the pork industry over the constitutionality of Proposition 12, a voter-backed California state law that bans the in-state sale of pork from cruelly confined sows regardless of where the animals are raised. The measure, which also provides more space for veal calves and laying hens, has taken effect in stages, with all provisions set to go into effect as of January 2022. Voters approved the measure in November 2018 with nearly 63 percent of voters —more than 7.5 million Californians, and the majority of both Republican and Democrat voters—choosing the humane treatment of animals and safer food in the state.
The pork industry’s theory is that a legal doctrine called the dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) does not allow states to enact laws that have a disproportionate economic impact on other states. Past Supreme Court cases have articulated a balancing test – the Pike test – by which judges attempt to weigh the “putative local benefits” of the state law in question versus the potential financial harms visited on other states when such laws are enacted. Another angle of the theory is that the DCC’s “extraterritoriality” doctrine prohibits state laws that effectively control out-of-state business practices.
In an earlier stage of the litigation, the Trump Administration submitted a brief on the side of the pork producers. But it was a shocker not only animal welfare advocates, but also environmental protection champions and clean energy backers, when the Biden Administration refused to reverse Trump’s course and continued its support of the corporate pork industry – stubbornly going against the litany of voices from local family farmers and farming businesses, public health organizations, 15 states, worker safety organizations, veterinarians and animal welfare scientists, economists, top-tier legal scholars, state farmer associations, and even ethicists who believe Prop 12 was a proper exercise of state authority.
If a conservative Supreme Court strikes down Prop 12 as a sop to the pork industry – an industry dominated by only four major companies, including a Chinese-controlled entity, that control 70 percent of the very profitable pork production in the United States – it will represent a dramatic expanding the DCC beyond any other past application and significantly threaten the ability of states to protect their own residents.
As numerous law professors and legal academics from top law schools explained in a recent article, such an expansion of the DCC may very well endanger many of the clean energy programs and plans that the Biden Administration has spent the past couple years advancing, because they rely on state-level laws and policies. It is these state-level acts that a turbocharged dormant Commerce Clause could strike down in future proceedings should judges find that Prop 12 cannot stand because of its negligible impact on other state producers.
Neil Gorsuch, who has grappled with the very underpinnings of the DCC, has questioned whether judges should have a role in determining the rights of states to enact laws in areas where Congress has not chosen to regulate, like on farm animal welfare issues. In a recent case before the Supreme Court that struck down a Tennessee law related to alcohol sales because of its out-of-state impact, Gorsuch authored a dissent stating, “[t]he regulation of alcohol wasn’t left to the imagination of a committee of nine sitting in Washington, but to the judgment of the people themselves and their local elected representatives.”
For some of the justices, the Prop 12 case will undoubtedly hinge on the exaggerated doomsday economic forecast that the $26-billion-a-year pork industry has described if the law were properly implemented in California. In a brief filed with the Court, the pork industry claims, without any concise economic support or independent expert backing, that the “burdens on interstate commerce clearly exceed any putative local benefits of Proposition 12.” The Heritage Foundation, despite its longstanding position of the 10th Amendment as a vital source of power for the states, responded to Prop 12 with claims that “the law generates drastic shockwaves through the pork production and sales markets that force pig farmers across America to comply with California’s requirements.”
But agricultural and resource economists have done the economic analysis that the pork industry and the Heritage Foundation have seemingly sidestepped. In their own brief filed with the Court, these experts cite actual research and data—some of which was funded by the pork industry itself—that shows that “those producers that choose not to supply the California market will suffer at most only marginal economic harm” and that the “quantity of live hogs produced in North America will not significantly change.”
The economists’ findings are borne out by recent reports from pork suppliers across the country who are already preparing and, in many cases, already able to meet the demands of Prop 12-complaint pork for California consumers. A veterinarian with the Animal Care Program at the California Department of Food and Agriculture — who spent the past year visiting an array of hog producers across the country, including some who contract with Hormel, Smithfield, JBS and Premium Iowa Pork – found that many producers are excited about the market opportunities created by Prop 12. In her July 2022 report she visited farms with crate-free and open-pen housing systems. Farmers and processors told her “that tracing pigs throughout the pig production cycle is relatively straightforward because farmers and processors have already been tracing product from sow farm to end-product for years” for economic reasons, like market advantages for premium pork. This means that these same mechanisms are easily implemented for Prop 12’s needs, along with more than 60 major food retailers that have publicly condemned gestation crates as inhumane.
If the six conservatives on the bench hold true to the states’ rights and judicial ‘restraint’ rhetoric that’s long been a core principle for them, they will ignore the Biden Administration’s counterproductive position and unanimously vote to uphold Proposition 12. The remaining liberal justices on the bench should easily see what this case is really about even if Biden did not: a handful of politically powerful pork producers—with the leading U.S. producer based in China and the second one based in Brazil—who simply don’t like the choice that the voters of California have made when it comes to the humane treatment of animals raised for food and are looking to subvert the democratic process for their own petty financial gain.
_________________
Amicus Brief the Center for a Humane Economy, et al in support of Prop 12 located here.
Amicus Brief of Farm Animal Veterinarians in support of Prop 12 located here.
A list summarizing all amici briefs submitted in support of Prop 12 will be furnished upon request.
Scott Edwards is the general counsel for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. Kate Schultz is senior attorney at Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.
WAYNE PACELLE
ANIMAL WELLNESS ACTION
+1 202-420-0446
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California Proposition 12, bigger cages for farm animals, explained in less than 1 minute
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UAFS NWACC Announce New seamless Pathway For Transfer Students
UAFS, NWACC Announce New ‘seamless Pathway’ For Transfer Students https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uafs-nwacc-announce-new-seamless-pathway-for-transfer-students/
by: C.C. McCandless
Posted: Oct 7, 2022 / 03:00 PM CDT
Updated: Oct 7, 2022 / 03:00 PM CDT
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Leaders from the University of Arkansas—Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas Community College signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on October 5 that will create a seamless pathway for NWACC students who hope to transfer to UAFS.
UAFS Chancellor Dr. Terisa Riley and members of the university’s leadership team sat down with newly appointed NWACC president Dr. Dennis C. Rittle and his staff to officially sign the agreement in the Windgate Conference room on the UAFS Campus. According to a press release, both Riley and Rittle are first-generation college graduates who “deeply understand the need for a higher education system that is accessible to all.”
The two institutions share a commitment to increasing student access to and success in higher education. As active educational partners, the creation of these partnerships enables each institution to “further its mission of making high-quality education both accessible and affordable for all Arkansans.”
“UAFS is committed to providing high-quality academic programs at a relatively low cost to all students in our region and our work with community college partners is an important part of that mission,” said Dr. Margaret Tanner, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. “Education has the power to change lives and shape communities, and a seamless transfer process is an important mechanism in making it more accessible to all.”
The MOU forges clear pathways for students who have earned their associates degrees at NWACC to obtain bachelor’s degrees in parallel programs at UAFS including Business Administration, Elementary Education, Organizational Leadership, Criminal Justice, and Dental Hygiene at UAFS.
“NWACC does an excellent job of preparing their students for the next step in their academic journey and we are proud to be able to partner with them to assist their students in achieving their personal academic goals,” Tanner continued.
“ The mission of NWACC is to prepare students for their successful transition into the workforce and for their successful transition onto our university partners,” said Rittle. “UAFS is an outstanding university partner because of their commitment to forging seamless pathways that reduce the cost and time to completion. In short, students win. And when students win, we all win.”
UAFS currently offers similar transfer agreements with 25 community colleges in the state, spanning more than 60 degree programs.
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Hog Hoopster Talks NIL At U Of A https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hog-hoopster-talks-nil-at-u-of-a/
Jordan Walsh was a key part of the highest-ranked recruiting class in Arkansas basketball history.And after back-to-back Elite 8 runs, he’s now part of a team that is drawing more than just a little national attention.So, when it comes to Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL, it’s only natural that businesses are getting on board too.Now imagine all this and you’re just 18 years old.”It’s a big thing when you come to college just learning how to manage your time wisely,” Walsh said. “You have a lot of stuff going on, from school to workouts, to extra workouts, to film, to coaches talking to you, so you just have learn how to manage all that into one day, so it gets a little taxing.”Walsh has signed NIL deals with the Athlete Advocate Consortium, a nonprofit that helped him team up with the Jones Center.He’s also inked deals with a pair of local clothing and apparel companies.”It’s been great. Everybody who I’ve surrounded myself with has helped me through this process and made it easier. It all happened because somebody stood up and decided to make things better for college athletes, so of course, I thank them, and now we’re just here taking advantage,” Walsh said.He said success is about sacrifice, and in sports, it all starts with love.”I feel like to be able to get to D1 point you have to love the sport that you’re playing and that love will take you through all the hard times and all the struggles and stuff like that,” Walsh said.He said his NIL experience has also been a crash course of sorts on the business world.”It’s definitely been challenging and rewarding. Now at this stage in life, it’s definitely a business off the court and on the court with NIL. It’s a war that you have to be ready for …for sure. It’s something that you can’t really prepare for because you really didn’t know it was coming, so it’s something where you just kind of like stepped in and now you have to take advantage of it and do all the right things possible, like you have to manage yourself the right way, you have to talk to the right people, so it’s definitely a grind and something that I’m still learning about, but I’m with the right people and they’re helping me,” Walsh said.For him, the endgame is one day signing with an NBA team, and he feels NIL now helps get ready for that as well.”It’s a great feeling to, you know, have that early because it gives you a little taste of being a professional before you become a professional, and I feel like that’s kind of the goal of college – to prepare you for the next step in your life,” Walsh said.Still, Walsh said NIL takes a backseat to what’s most important for him as a razorback basketball player.And that is winning.”We’re not really thinking about NIL that much when it comes to basketball, because if you’re not producing in basketball, then NIL is not going to be there for you, so it’s kind of like, everybody is like ‘OK, let’s all work together and win a national championship and then we’re all going to get deals,'” Walsh said.You’ve now heard from four athletes from three different sports, and we’re not done.Stay tuned for Saturdays this fall as we bring you more behind-the-scenes looks at how NIL is impacting college athletes.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —
Jordan Walsh was a key part of the highest-ranked recruiting class in Arkansas basketball history.
And after back-to-back Elite 8 runs, he’s now part of a team that is drawing more than just a little national attention.
So, when it comes to Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL, it’s only natural that businesses are getting on board too.
Now imagine all this and you’re just 18 years old.
“It’s a big thing when you come to college just learning how to manage your time wisely,” Walsh said. “You have a lot of stuff going on, from school to workouts, to extra workouts, to film, to coaches talking to you, so you just have learn how to manage all that into one day, so it gets a little taxing.”
Walsh has signed NIL deals with the Athlete Advocate Consortium, a nonprofit that helped him team up with the Jones Center.
He’s also inked deals with a pair of local clothing and apparel companies.
“It’s been great. Everybody who I’ve surrounded myself with has helped me through this process and made it easier. It all happened because somebody stood up and decided to make things better for college athletes, so of course, I thank them, and now we’re just here taking advantage,” Walsh said.
He said success is about sacrifice, and in sports, it all starts with love.
“I feel like to be able to get to D1 point you have to love the sport that you’re playing and that love will take you through all the hard times and all the struggles and stuff like that,” Walsh said.
He said his NIL experience has also been a crash course of sorts on the business world.
“It’s definitely been challenging and rewarding. Now at this stage in life, it’s definitely a business off the court and on the court with NIL. It’s a war that you have to be ready for …for sure. It’s something that you can’t really prepare for because you really didn’t know it was coming, so it’s something where you just kind of like stepped in and now you have to take advantage of it and do all the right things possible, like you have to manage yourself the right way, you have to talk to the right people, so it’s definitely a grind and something that I’m still learning about, but I’m with the right people and they’re helping me,” Walsh said.
For him, the endgame is one day signing with an NBA team, and he feels NIL now helps get ready for that as well.
“It’s a great feeling to, you know, have that early because it gives you a little taste of being a professional before you become a professional, and I feel like that’s kind of the goal of college – to prepare you for the next step in your life,” Walsh said.
Still, Walsh said NIL takes a backseat to what’s most important for him as a razorback basketball player.
And that is winning.
“We’re not really thinking about NIL that much when it comes to basketball, because if you’re not producing in basketball, then NIL is not going to be there for you, so it’s kind of like, everybody is like ‘OK, let’s all work together and win a national championship and then we’re all going to get deals,'” Walsh said.
You’ve now heard from four athletes from three different sports, and we’re not done.
Stay tuned for Saturdays this fall as we bring you more behind-the-scenes looks at how NIL is impacting college athletes.
Read More Here
San Antonio Officer Fired After Shooting At Teen Sitting In McDonald's Parking Lot Eating A Burger
San Antonio Officer Fired After Shooting At Teen Sitting In McDonald's Parking Lot Eating A Burger https://digitalarkansasnews.com/san-antonio-officer-fired-after-shooting-at-teen-sitting-in-mcdonalds-parking-lot-eating-a-burger/
A San Antonio police officer still in his probationary period was fired after he shot at and injured a 17-year-old boy in the parking lot of McDonald’s, the department said Wednesday.
The teenager, Erik Cantu, is hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. His condition was not known Friday morning.
The officer, identified as James Brennand, responded to the fast-food eatery on Blanco Road around 10:45 p.m. Sunday for an unrelated disturbance call, according to police.
“As the officer attempted to gather information from witnesses, he noticed a vehicle that had evaded him the day before as the officer attempted a stop because the registered license plate did not match the actual vehicle,” Capt. Alyssa Campos, the department’s training commander, said in a video statement.
The car, driven by Cantu, was not the subject of the disturbance call at the McDonald’s, according to Campos.
The officer, believing the car was stolen, called “for cover” but approached the vehicle before other officers arrived, she said. Campos said the officer “abruptly” opened the driver’s door and ordered Cantu to get out.
Police body-camera footage released by the department shows Cantu sitting in the driver’s seat eating a McDonald’s hamburger. A 17-year-old girl is in the passenger’s seat.
“Get out of the car,” the officer says to Cantu, the video shows.
Cantu put the car in reverse with the driver’s door still open and backed up, Campos said, adding the officer was hit by the open door.
“The officer then stepped back and opened fire on the vehicle as the driver reversed away from him,” she said.
Multiple gunshots can be heard in the video as the maroon car backs away and the driver’s door closes. More shots are fired as the car flees the parking lot, the video shows.
Cantu and his passenger were found about a block away. The passenger was not injured.
Police charged Cantu with evading detention with a vehicle and assault on a peace officer. It’s not clear if he has obtained an attorney who can speak on his behalf. Police have not said if the car was, in fact, stolen.
Brennand had been on the force for seven months and was still on probation, a standard practice for San Antonio officers who graduated from the police academy less than a year ago.
“The former Officer’s actions are indefensible and do not align with our training, tactics and procedures,” Chief William McManus said. “As such, I terminated him. I will withhold further comment as this incident is still under investigation.”
All police shootings are sent to the district attorney’s office for review. Brennand has not been charged with a crime.
Danny Diaz, president of the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association, said he will refrain from commenting until an investigation is completed.
Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News.
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Oath Keepers Founder Spoke Of 'Bloody' War Ahead Of US Capitol Attack
Oath Keepers Founder Spoke Of 'Bloody' War Ahead Of US Capitol Attack https://digitalarkansasnews.com/oath-keepers-founder-spoke-of-bloody-war-ahead-of-us-capitol-attack/
washington —
Prosecutors in the trial of five Oath Keepers members on Friday showed a jury fresh evidence that the right-wing militia group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, told his followers ahead of last year’s U.S. Capitol attack there would be a “bloody” war if then-President Donald Trump failed to reverse his 2020 election loss.
In numerous text messages, online postings and speeches shown as evidence, Rhodes promoted the use of force and implored Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th-century U.S. law that empowers presidents to deploy troops to quell civil unrest.
Trump never invoked the Insurrection Act, even as Rhodes wrote to him in open letters posted online about the idea and bragged to fellow Oath Keeper leaders in a December 2020 text that he was “on back-channel working groups trying to advise the president.”
Rhodes and his four co-defendants are on trial on felony charges including seditious conspiracy. A second set of Oath Keeper defendants accused of being part of the same conspiracy are slated to go to trial in November.
“Show the world who the traitors are, and then use the … Insurrection Act to drop the hammer on them,” Rhodes was seen saying in a December 2020 speech at a pro-Trump political rally in video presented to the jury. “If he does not do it now, while he is commander in chief, we are going to have to do it ourselves later, in a much more desperate, much more bloody war.”
FILE – Protesters loyal to then-President Donald Trump storm the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021.
Rhodes and his four co-defendants – Thomas Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson, Kelly Meggs and Jessica Watkins – are on trial on charges accusing them of conspiring to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory on January 6, 2021, in a bid to keep the Republican incumbent in power. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on that day and attacked police but failed to prevent the election certification.
Seditious conspiracy is a rarely prosecuted crime under a statute dating to the 19th-century Civil War era, defined as attempting “to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States.” It carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years.
A member of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, on Thursday pleaded guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Capitol attack. Three Oath Keepers members this year pleaded guilty of seditious conspiracy and may be called as witnesses in the current trial.
Testifying on Friday were Capitol Police Special Agent Ryan McCanley and FBI Special Agent Byron Cody, both answering questions about the material that the government introduced as evidence. Friday marked the fourth day of testimony from prosecution witnesses, with the trial set to resume on Tuesday with Cody returning to the witness stand.
Prosecutors have said some of the Oath Keepers were among the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol after he gave a speech to supporters repeating his false claims that the election had been stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.
Five people died during and shortly after the riot and about 140 police officers were injured.
‘Quick reaction force’
In addition, prosecutors have said the Oath Keepers organized a “quick reaction force” of armed members who were kept on standby across the Potomac River in Virginia in case they were called upon to bring firearms into Washington.
Attorneys for the defendants have said the evidence will show they did nothing illegal and that the Oath Keepers are a peacekeeping group that has done security work at events around the country to protect speakers at political rallies.
Various text messages, Facebook direct messages and audio recordings used as evidence in the trial have shown the defendants vowing to reject Biden’s election victory, planning to go to Washington and discussing what weapons they could bring, with Rhodes talking of possible “civil war.”
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected next week to address a dispute over whether the government can introduce potentially incriminating communications between Rhodes and Kellye SoRelle, the Oath Keepers’ general counsel, who is facing related criminal charges in a different case.
In one text, briefly posted before the defense objected, Rhodes told SoRelle: “They won’t fear us till we come with rifles in hand.”
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Opinion | A Georgia Republicans Takedown Of Trump And Herschel Walker Nails It
Opinion | A Georgia Republican’s Takedown Of Trump And Herschel Walker Nails It https://digitalarkansasnews.com/opinion-a-georgia-republicans-takedown-of-trump-and-herschel-walker-nails-it/
The crisis that has engulfed Herschel Walker’s Senate candidacy in Georgia raises a question: After this is all over, what sort of space will be left in the GOP for people like Geoff Duncan?
Duncan, the lieutenant governor of Georgia, has been all over the national media offering withering criticism of Walker. But Duncan has gone even further: He’s exposed the truly corrupt nature of the bargain with Trump that fellow Republicans made in nominating Walker.
“Unfortunately, Republicans looked around to see who Trump supported,” Duncan told CNN Thursday night, adding: “Now we’re paying the price.”
Duncan: We didn’t ask who was the best leader. We didn’t ask who had the best resume. Unfortunately, Republicans looked around to see who Trump supported and he was a famous football player and so he became our nominee and now we’re paying the price pic.twitter.com/ddaISLpyZ1
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 7, 2022
Duncan may endorse Walker in the end, as Republicans in his position often do. But for now, what makes Duncan’s criticism noteworthy is not just that he’s blaming Trump for the Walker disaster, now that Walker is reeling from allegations that he paid for an abortion in 2009 (which he denies). It’s also that Duncan locates the problem in the GOP’s ongoing and active embrace of Trump.
“I think every Republican knew that there was baggage out there,”Duncan said Wednesday, noting this baggage has become “unbearable.” Walker won the nomination, Duncan added, because “he was Donald Trump’s friend.”
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Republicans have insisted all these revelations about Walker — which include his son Christian Walker’s scalding attacks on him as an absentee father and serial philanderer — are all a big nothingburger. Or they’ve blamed Democrats or the Fake News. Some have leaked word that they felt opposing Walker was futile once Trump backed him.
But in Duncan’s diagnosis, the problem is more fundamental: Republicans saw picking the candidate backed by Trump as an opportunity. Walker won because he was “Trump’s friend” and because Republicans “looked around” for Trump’s cues before deciding on their nomination.
The Post’s detailed reconstruction of this backstory confirms the point. When Walker approached Republicans last year about running, they knew of spousal abuse allegations in his past. When they raised such things, he accused them of being Democratic stooges in a way that raised concerns about his stability.
There was even a rumor of an abortion, one GOP opposition researcher told The Post, adding: “Republicans in the state knew about it and decided they didn’t care.” Despite initial concerns, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) backed Walker for the nomination, believing he could command media attention, raise big bucks and unite the party, specifically because of Trump’s backing.
In short, Republicans endorsed him not just because they had no choice but because Trump’s backing carried affirmative attributes that could harness the energy Trump has unleashed. They did this despite being well aware of his obvious unfitness. This is what Duncan is calling out.
It’s no accident that Duncan announced his retirement last year. What many Republicans who are disappearing into private life have in common is exactly this: They’ve stood for the proposition that the GOP must purge itself of Trump and Trumpism, unambiguously and with finality.
They have either voted to impeach Trump or demanded complete and unequivocal renunciation of Trump’s insurrectionism from the party. Or they’ve insisted Republicans must stop making corrupt bargains with him and his chosen candidates, as Duncan has now done.
“The fact that he’s not running for reelection tells you all you need to know about Trump’s influence on the Republican Party,” longtime GOP pollster Whit Ayres told me, noting that Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) is expected to resign.
“The kinds of people I’ve worked for my entire career are bailing,” Ayres continued, singling out long-gone Republican senators such as Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, both of Tennessee. “They’re saying they don’t want to be involved anymore.”
Of course, Trump doesn’t really represent an aberration from some sort of noble, vanished normalcy within GOP and conservative politics once represented by those figures. Trump was more an exacerbation of ongoing pathologies, as conservatives like Bill Kristol have admitted.
But it’s also true that in some sense, figures like those no longer have a place in the party precisely because Trump is dictating that Republicans must nominate people who are slavishly loyal to him or deeply in thrall to his insurrectionism or (like Walker) simply have his blessing, because he said so.
This doesn’t always work out: Trump couldn’t block Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp from the nomination. But in a way this confirms the point: As Jonathan V. Last notes, when you think about the future of the Republican Party, you absolutely do not think of Kemp, despite his formidable political success, because Kemp does not “belong to Trump.”
By contrast, an empty vessel like Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters is widely regarded as someone who will represent the future of the GOP, should he win. His chief qualification, as Amanda Carpenter explains, is that he’s “wholly and only conversant in the tongue of Trump.”
In coming days, Trump will do a rally for Walker. Rather than put the revelations aside, Trump will likely dwell on them at great length as proof of the persecution Walker has endured and compare it to his own supposed persecution.
Walker is taking on the liberal Fake News and winning, just like I did, Trump will say. This is already working: As one GOP operative argued without irony, Walker is simply following in the footsteps of Trump, who after all survived the “Access Hollywood” scandal, didn’t he?
He did indeed. As figures like Duncan are relegated to private life, before long in GOP politics such revelations will become a badge of honor.
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Elon Musk Slams Trump https://digitalarkansasnews.com/elon-musk-slams-trump/
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dropped a ‘Truth’ bomb on Friday, calling former President Donald Trump’s social media platform a “right-wing echo chamber.”
Musk, who is in the process of purchasing the rival social media platform Twitter, made his statement in an interview with the Financial Times.
“[Truth Social] is essentially a right-wing echo chamber,” Musk said. “It might as well be called Trumpet.”
LIBERALS FEAR BEING TREATED LIKE CONSERVATIVES IF ELON MUSK CONTROLS TWITTER
The multibillionaire shared his thoughts on Truth Social when discussing his purchase of Twitter, claiming that he was not making the purchase for the money. Musk stated that people need to have “a maximally trusted and inclusive means” to share their thoughts and conversations and that such a platform “should be as trusted and transparent as possible.”
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has experienced a high amount of turbulence since he initiated his attempt to buy the platform in April. On Thursday, Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick, the judge overseeing the acquisition deal, ruled that the trial is on hold until Oct. 28 after Musk’s legal team requested a stay to finalize funding.
The two parties have until that date at 5 p.m. to complete a deal. If they fail, they will have to appear in court in November.
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In May, Musk expressed interest in reinstating Trump’s Twitter account if he successfully purchases the social media platform. The former president had his account suspended following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Original Location: Elon Musk slams Trump’s Truth Social as ‘right-wing echo chamber’
Washington Examiner Videos
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Kanye West Turns On Jared Kushner In New Interview
Kanye West Turns On Jared Kushner In New Interview https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kanye-west-turns-on-jared-kushner-in-new-interview/
While Kanye West and former presidential adviser Jared Kushner were once friendly — meeting both privately and in the White House during the Donald Trump presidency — there now appears to be bad blood between the two.
In an interview that aired Thursday on Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Tonight, West touched on his seemingly tarnished relationship with Jared — husband to Ivanka Trump — and Jared’s brother, Josh Kushner, an investor and the husband of supermodel Karlie Kloss.
Much of the comments centered on a since-deleted Instagram post in which West wrote, “F— JOSH KUSHNER,” slamming the younger Kushner for investing in his ex-wife Kim Kardashian‘s underwear line SKIMS (an investment that was made by Kushner’s company Thrive Capital before the two announced their public breakup).
West added a message about Josh’s older brother, writing: “JARED WAS HOLDING TRUMP BACK.”
Ivanka, however, still seems to be in West’s good graces. “IVANKA IS FIRE,” he added in his post.
West elaborated on the Instagram post in his interview with Tucker Carlson, telling the right-wing personality: “You know, I had a dinner with Ivanka, Jared and Josh. And a couple days later, I found out that Josh Kushner had 10% of SKIMS, which is a line that I developed with Kim.”
West continued: “And I had a lot of issues with the imagery of SKIMS. I felt like there’s a lot of imagery that was overly sexualized and things that I wouldn’t want to see my wife and definitely not my daughters doing in the future in order to sell product.”
West added that Kushner’s investment was more sizable than his own, telling Carlson, “So, I found out after this dinner that Josh Kushner had 10% of SKIMS and I had 5% of SKIMS. And regardless if Josh Kushner figured out how to put $150 million — I’m sure it wasn’t out of his own account, but $150 million, and I’m sure Jared still has a piece of that fund.”
The Kushners, West said, “could just write it off that I’m crazy” based on his Instagram post, “until they see my disposition in this interview, and then it’s going to get scary.”
In both his Instagram post and in the interview with Carlson, West questioned what Josh’s reaction would be if West had 10% ownership in a company owned by Kloss.
“I said, hey, Josh, what if I had 10% of Karlie Kloss’ lingerie shapewear swimsuit line, and you have 5% of it and you didn’t know? How would that make you feel?” West proposed.
Elsewhere in the interview with Carlson, West compared himself to Trump, dismissing Jared as a “handler.”
“After talking to them and really sitting with Jared and sitting with Josh and finding out other pieces of information, I was like, wow, these guys might’ve really been holding Trump back and being very much a handler [during the administration],” West said. “They love to just look at me or look at Trump like we’re so crazy and that they’re the businessmen.”
West added that the Kushners “weren’t serving my boy Trump the way we could have, because, you know, Trump wanted nothing but the best for this country.”
“A lot of times, the most fake people, their job is talking and making people feel comfortable,” West added.
West also criticized Jared’s previous work in Israel — a well-reported passion project that led to a peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates.
“I just think it was to make money,” West claimed of Kushner’s work on the peace deal. “I don’t know … I just think that that’s what they’re about is making money. I don’t think that they have the ability to make anything on their own. I think they were born into money.”
A source previously told PEOPLE that Jared was first connected to West and Kardashian through Ivanka. Kardashian subsequently worked with the White House on various criminal justice reform issues, which was a rare bipartisan priority for the Trump administration, while West made headlines when he wore a “Make America Great Again” hat on Saturday Night Live and in the Oval Office during Trump’s tenure.
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West’s relationship with Jared previously extended outside the walls of the White House and in August 2020, reports surfaced that they had “met privately” in the lead-up to the rapper and designer’s failed presidential campaign, though West said it didn’t have to do with his run for office.
“I’m willing to do a live interview with the New York Time about my meeting with Jared where we discussed Dr Claude Anderson’s book Powernomics,” West tweeted at the time. (Anderson’s book, published in 2001, details “The National Plan to Empower Black America.”)
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Analysis | Did Trump Not Return All Documents? Here Are The Reasons Thats Plausible.
Analysis | Did Trump Not Return All Documents? Here Are The Reasons That’s Plausible. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/analysis-did-trump-not-return-all-documents-here-are-the-reasons-thats-plausible/
It’s a question that has lingered since the historic search of Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago two months ago: Is it possible he still hasn’t returned all of the government documents, even after the search?
Multiple developments since then suggest that the Justice Department is quite preoccupied with precisely that.
The New York Times on Thursday night reported that the Justice Department has told Trump’s legal team that it believes he hasn’t returned all the documents he took when he left the White House. The report says the top Justice Department official pursuing the matter, Jay I. Bratt, said as much during a recent phone call.
As the story acknowledges, it’s not like this concern came out of nowhere. There has been myriad evidence not only that Trump sought to obscure the documents for more than a year, but that the Justice Department suspected that there might be more even shortly after the search.
It’s worth consulting the excellent timeline my colleague Rosalind S. Helderman has constructed.
The first thing to note is that Trump has clearly resisted turning over all the documents. The back and forth with the National Archives dates back to spring of last year, and Trump spent the next several months resisting its demands. Trump then turned over 15 boxes in January, and he handed over another set in June after a subpoena. The August search of Mar-a-Lago allowed agents to review the documents Trump had, but only in parts of the property the search warrant allowed them to venture.
The second is that, through it all, there’s plenty of evidence that Trump and his advisers have falsely claimed — and that Trump himself sought to have his lawyers falsely claim — that all such documents had been turned over:
The most prominent example is a sworn statement signed by Trump lawyer Christina Bobb in June, when Trump’s legal team handed over some documents. It said that a “diligent search was conducted” and that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.”
Dawsey and Alemany also reported this week that Trump in early 2022 asked his lawyer Alex Cannon to tell the Archives that all materials sought by the agency had been returned. But Cannon refused. Trump later released a public statement that didn’t include the assertion that everything had been returned.
The Post’s Jacqueline Alemany, Josh Dawsey and Helderman reported last month that former Trump deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin had provided a similar assurance to the Archives as far back as September 2021. Philbin said that former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows had told him none of the material Trump took was sensitive or classified, and that Trump only had 12 boxes of news clippings.
Philbin’s language — i.e. citing Meadows — and Cannon’s refusal both point to the prospect that Trump’s own lawyers don’t fully trust the people they are dealing with. And part of that could be that Trump hasn’t been terribly forthcoming. For example, The Post reported in recent weeks that, when some documents were turned over in January, Trump personally oversaw the packing of the boxes himself “and did so with great secrecy, declining to show some items even to top aides.”
Thirdly is something else that the Times reported in its story Thursday night: that one of Trump’s more recently installed lawyers, Christopher Kise, advised him to hire a forensics team to conduct a voluntary search for any additional documents. Trump was reportedly initially on board at first, but was later talked out of it.
A fourth is that Trump’s document-retention habits were notoriously bad, including ripping up documents and reportedly putting them in the toilet — and that haphazard treatment extended, The Post reported this week, to classified documents. We already know the classified records found at Mar-a-Lago were mixed together with all kinds of other documents. And even if you don’t believe Trump deliberately continues to retain additional documents from the White House, there’s the prospect that some might have been destroyed or lost.
The final key point is that the Justice Department has been pointing in this direction for a while now.
Questions about potential other documents first cropped up in earnest after a district court unsealed an inventory list of documents seized in the August search. The most conspicuous inclusion: the presence of 48 folders that were described as “empty folders with ‘CLASSIFIED’ banners.”
While it wasn’t clear whether those folders had contained documents seized in the search or handed over elsewhere, it raised the prospect of whether the documents could be traced to specific folders and help determine if everything had been handed over. (Archives officials had previously described “unfoldered” classified documents as being among things that were “of most significant concern.”)
Shortly thereafter, the Justice Department made clear the prospect of unreturned documents was a priority. A week after the inventory list was released, the Justice Department said in a court filing that it needed access to the seized materials to determine whether materials stored in the folders “may have been lost or compromised.” It also cited “efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not being properly stored.”
In another filing to an appeals court, it reiterated the need for the documents, saying reviewing them “could lead to identification of other records still missing.”
That could’ve been interpreted as a ploy to get access to the documents, by floating a worst-case scenario and daring judges to deprive them of the records needed to investigate. But the Justice Department reportedly raising the issue with Trump’s own lawyers — and stating it so directly as that it believed Trump hadn’t returned everything — takes things to another level.
And one that wouldn’t seem like a huge stretch, if past is precedent.
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Canada To Ban Iran's IRGC Leaders From Entry Expand Sanctions
Canada To Ban Iran's IRGC Leaders From Entry, Expand Sanctions https://digitalarkansasnews.com/canada-to-ban-irans-irgc-leaders-from-entry-expand-sanctions/
The Daily Beast
Putin’s Own Allies Turn On Him as Ukraine Unleashes Hell in Stolen Russian Tanks
Sergei Karpukhin/ReutersHot on the heels of embarrassing reports of Russian recruits fighting each other and Moscow loyalists calling for Kremlin ministers to kill themselves, it seems the rage against Vladimir Putin’s handling of his invasion of Ukraine is now openly being conveyed to the man himself by members of his own inner circle.A report Friday—which is Putin’s 70th birthday—said that one of the despot’s closest allies had openly challenged the disastrous way the war was being conducted.
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The Daily Beast
Court Screwup Reveals Mar-a-Lago Judge’s Latest Legal Absurdity in Trump Case
Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily BeastFirst, she stopped FBI special agents from even glancing at the classified documents they recovered from Mar-a-Lago. Then she appointed a special court referee that former President Donald Trump wanted to slow down the investigation over his mishandling of classified documents.But now, it’s clear District Court Judge Aileen Cannon already knew the Department of Justice was ready to hand Trump back a ton of personal records six days before she cla
AdA Regular Mistake For Cars Used Under 50 Miles/Day
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Bloomberg
Judge to Trump Lawyers Over Deposition: ‘Stop Wasting Time’
(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers were told by a federal judge to “stop wasting time” after they tried halting the deposition of former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham in a defamation lawsuit minutes after it began, citing her painkiller medication. Most Read from BloombergBiden Says Putin Threats Real, Could Spark Nuclear ‘Armageddon’Kremlin Lets State Media Tell Some Truths About Putin’s Stalling WarBiden Should Hit Saudi Arabia Where It Really HurtsMusk’s Tw
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The Daily Beast
New York’s Sneaky New Tactic to Stifle Greg Abbott’s Migrant Bus Stunts
The Daily BeastNew York City deployed a new tactic Friday morning in an effort to counter Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s increasing flow of migrant buses: drowning the bus companies and their drivers in traffic violations.Two more buses arrived at the city’s Port Authority Bus Terminal just after 6 a.m. Friday, adding to the more than 17,000 migrants Abbott has bused to New York in a sick political stunt.This time, however, a half-dozen uniformed members of the NYPD Highway Patrol’s Motor Carrier Safe
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Biden Warns Of Growing Nuclear Risk As Ukraine Slams Russia For Drone Use
Biden Warns Of Growing Nuclear Risk As Ukraine Slams Russia For Drone Use https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-warns-of-growing-nuclear-risk-as-ukraine-slams-russia-for-drone-use/
By
Matthew Luxmoore and Tarini Parti
Updated Oct. 7, 2022 2:42 pm ET
The U.S. has received no fresh intelligence indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing to act on his threat to use nuclear weapons, U.S. officials said Friday, following unusually sharp comments from President Biden that warned of the “prospect of Armageddon.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, warned about the threat of Iranian drones against civilian infrastructure by Russian forces as Kyiv continued a push to recapture territory with the help of weapons stockpiles seized from retreating Russian troops.
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Uvalde School District Suspends Entire Police Force Superintendent To Retire Amid Fallout From Shooting
Uvalde School District Suspends Entire Police Force, Superintendent To Retire Amid Fallout From Shooting https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uvalde-school-district-suspends-entire-police-force-superintendent-to-retire-amid-fallout-from-shooting/
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
The Uvalde, Texas, school district — still facing withering criticism over its police department’s failings both during the May 24 elementary school massacre and since — announced the suspension of the entire district police force on Friday.
Hours later, Uvalde school district Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he would be retiring. There was no timeframe given for Harrell’s retirement, but the transition will be discussed in a closed session of the school board on Monday.
The district said it’s requested more Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be stationed on campuses and at extracurricular activities amid the police department suspension, adding, “We are confident that staff and student safety will not be compromised during this transition.”
The length of the school district police suspension is not clear.
An officer walks outside of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2022.
Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images
Lt. Miguel Hernandez, who was tasked with leading the department in the fallout from the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, and Ken Mueller, the UCISD’s director of student services, were placed on administrative leave.
Hernandez acknowledged in a law enforcement communication in August that he’d received formal notification from DPS that an officer applying to Uvalde’s school police force was under investigation for her response at Robb Elementary.
Mueller has elected to retire, according to the school district.
“Officers currently employed will fill other roles in the district,” the school district said. According to the district’s website, that includes four officers and one security guard.
Victims’ families, led by Brett Cross, guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, had been holding a round-the-clock vigil outside the school district headquarters calling for change. The families are now commending Friday’s police department announcement.
Family members of Robb Elementary School victims and their supporters demonstrate at the Uvalde school district offices, Sept. 29, 2022.
Kate Holland/ABC News
“They don’t know how to hire people, they don’t know how to vet officers,” Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter, Lexi, was killed at Robb Elementary, told ABC News. “They haven’t provided proper training.”
Friday’s news was “what we’ve been asking for — it’s more than we’ve been asking for,” she said.
Kimberly Rubio, mother of Robb Elementary slain student Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, is comforted after speaking as Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke and some of the family members of the children who lost their lives at Robb Elementary in Uvalde hold a press conference at Fountain Park on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Edinburg, Texas.
Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP
Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, was killed, called the department suspension “bittersweet.”
“It’s a win — a small win,” she told ABC News. “We’re not done.”
The department suspension comes one day after the firing of Crimson Elizondo, the officer who was hired by Uvalde’s school district despite being under investigation for her conduct as a DPS trooper during the massacre.
Crimson Elizondo, a former Uvalde School District Police Officer and former Texas State Trooper, is pictured in an undated official portrait.
Uvalde CISD Police Department
Elizondo was the first DPS member to enter the hallway at Robb after the shooter gained entry. The trooper did not bring her rifle or vest into the school, according to the results of an internal review by DPS that was detailed to ABC News.
As a result of potential failure to follow standard procedures, the trooper was among seven DPS personnel whose conduct is now being investigated by the agency’s inspector general. The seven were suspended, however, by Elizondo resigning from DPS to work for the Uvalde schools she was no longer subject to any internal discipline or penalties. Her conduct — if found to be in violation of law or policy — would still be included in the final report from the DPS inspector general.
The school district said in Friday’s statement that “decisions concerning” the school district police department have been pending results of investigations from the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the private investigative firm JPPI Investigations, but “recent developments have uncovered additional concerns with department operations.”
Results of the JPPI investigation “will inform future personnel decisions” and the Texas Police Chiefs Association’s review “will guide the rebuilding of the department and the hiring of a new Chief of Police,” the statement said.
The school district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August.
ABC News’ Patrick Linehan and Olivia Osteen contributed to this report.
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Uvalde Schools Fire Ex-Texas Trooper Who Was At Shooting
Uvalde Schools Fire Ex-Texas Trooper Who Was At Shooting https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uvalde-schools-fire-ex-texas-trooper-who-was-at-shooting/
A school police officer hired after the massacre was not only on campus during the May attack as a Texas state trooper, but under investigation over her actions
By Paul J. Weber and Jake Bleiberg
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — New outrage ripped through Uvalde on Thursday over revelations that a school police officer hired after the Robb Elementary massacre was not only on campus during the May attack as a Texas state trooper but under investigation over her actions while a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.
The hiring of Officer Crimson Elizondo was first reported by CNN on Wednesday night. Less than 24 hours later, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District fired Elizondo on Thursday in the face of swift and mounting backlash from families of the fourth-grade victims and Texas lawmakers.
But the abrupt firing did little to diffuse anger in Uvalde. Families demanded answers over why the school district’s small police force in the first place hired one of the nearly 400 law enforcement officers who rushed to the scene of the May 24 attack but waited more than an hour to confront a gunman with a AR-15-style rifle.
Adding to some parents’ disbelief was the fact that Elizondo, according to records released by the Texas Department of Public Safety, is among at least seven troopers who were at the scene and put under internal investigation over their actions during one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history.
“They knowingly hired her,” tweeted Brett Cross, whose 10-year-old son Uziyah Garcia was killed in the attack.
[PREVIOUS: Uvalde school board fires police chief after mass shooting]
Elizondo did not immediately respond to voicemail and Facebook messages seeking comment Thursday.
The documents show that after the Uvalde school district contacted DPS in July while conducting a background screening of Elizondo, the agency sent back a letter noting that she was under internal investigation over allegations that her actions were “inconsistent with training and Department requirements.”
In a statement Thursday announcing the firing, Uvalde school officials did not address their decision to originally hire Elizondo.
“We sincerely apologize to the victim’s families and the greater Uvalde community for the pain that this revelation has caused,” the statement said.
Elizondo gave notice of her resignation as a Texas state trooper Aug. 17 and her last day with the department of public safety was Aug. 29, said Travis Considine, a DPS spokesperson.
In police body camera footage, CNN reported, Elizondo is heard telling other officers at the scene of Robb Elementary: “If my son had been in there, I would not have been outside. I promise you that.”
Elizondo’s profile was on the Uvalde school district’s website Thursday morning but had been removed by the afternoon.
Hours before the firing, families had gathered outside the school district’s administrative office to protest the hiring.
“We are disgusted and angry at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s (UCISD) decision to hire Officer Crimson Elizondo. Her hiring puts into question the credibility and thoroughness of UCISD’s HR and vetting practices,” a statement from some of the victims’ families said. “And it confirms what we have been saying all along: UCISD has not and is not in the business of ensuring the safety of our children at school.”
In July, a damning report cited “egregiously poor decision making” by law enforcement officers who waited more than an hour before confronting the 18-year-old gunman. The campus police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, said Elizondo’s hiring “slapped this community in the face.”
“A DPS trooper was on scene within two minutes of the shooter and failed to follow training, protocol, and the duty they were sworn to,” he said. “People’s children died because DPS officials failed to do their job.”
A district spokesperson did not immediately return messages Thursday.
Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Associated Press writer Jill Zeman Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.
NEXT: Using a systems-based perspective to analyze the Uvalde school shooting response
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AR Industries Celebrate ‘Manufacturing Day’ Friday https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ar-industries-celebrate-manufacturing-day-friday/
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Friday is National Manufacturing Day, and manufacturers throughout the state are partnering with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions Division to celebrate all month with tours of local facilities, community and employee training seminars, and chamber of commerce events.
“Manufacturing is vital to our state’s economic health,” said Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston. “According to the National Association of Manufacturers, about 148,000 Arkansans are working in manufacturing jobs with a total output of more than $19 billion. Yet, we need more workers to fill necessary job openings. I want to commend community leaders for recognizing the value of their manufacturers and thank the companies for opening their doors so that students and members of the community can learn more about products made in their own back yards.”
National Manufacturing Day, an initiative of the Manufacturing Institute, is held each year on the first Friday in October to showcase modern manufacturing and the impact that industry has on local economies. During the day, and throughout the month, local manufacturers are encouraged to open their doors to students, parents, teachers, and members of the community to promote local companies and the benefits of manufacturing careers. According to the Manufacturing Institute, more than 4 million high-skilled, high-tech, and high-paying jobs will need to be filled in the United States over the next decade.
Several manufacturers across the state are participating in Manufacturing Day activities, including Power Technology Inc., Rockline Industries, Tyson Foods, Potlach-Deltic, Grandeur Fasteners, ConAgra, Americold, KOPCO, Owens Corning, HSM Solutions, Pernod Ricard, ABB, QualServ, and Graphic Packaging. Communities such as Benton, Fort Smith, Russellville, Springdale, and Clark County are participating, as well. Programs for students are being held throughout the state and include a career exploration fair sponsored by the Clark County Workforce Training Group, the Fort Smith iCan Career Expo, a Women in Manufacturing program for eighth graders, a trade and industry education day at Springdale’s Don Tyson School of Innovation, and more.
For information about events and participating manufacturers in your area, contact your local chamber of commerce.
The Manufacturing Institute grows and supports the manufacturing industry’s skilled workers for the advancement of modern manufacturing. The Manufacturing Institute’s diverse initiatives support all workers in America, including women, veterans, and students, through skills training programs, community building and the advancement of their career in manufacturing. As the workforce development and education partner of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute is a trusted adviser to manufacturers, equipping them with resources necessary to solve the industry’s toughest challenges. For more information on the Manufacturing Institute, visit www.themanufacturinginstitute.org.
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Rollback Of Trump ESG Investing Rules Sent To White House Law360
Rollback Of Trump ESG Investing Rules Sent To White House – Law360 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/rollback-of-trump-esg-investing-rules-sent-to-white-house-law360/
By Grace Elletson (October 7, 2022, 1:48 PM EDT) — The U.S. Department of Labor passed a final rule to the White House for review that would roll back two Trump-era restrictions on how retirement plans can consider environmental, social and governance factors, including climate change, in their investment decisions….
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Herschel Walker Fires His Campaign's Political Director For Allegedly Leaking To The Press During The Trump-Backed Candidate's Messiest Week To Date: Report
Herschel Walker Fires His Campaign's Political Director For Allegedly Leaking To The Press During The Trump-Backed Candidate's Messiest Week To Date: Report https://digitalarkansasnews.com/herschel-walker-fires-his-campaigns-political-director-for-allegedly-leaking-to-the-press-during-the-trump-backed-candidates-messiest-week-to-date-report/
Senate GOP candidate Herschel Walker has fired his political director during a raging scandal.
Republican aide Taylor Crowe was reportedly let go for leaking to the press.
Walker is battling headlines about an alleged abortion and attacks from his disillusioned son.
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Embattled Senate hopeful Herschel Walker has fired his political director for reportedly leaking stories to the press during the Georgia Republican’s most grueling week yet.
Taylor Crowe, who announced that he was joining Walker’s campaign just three months ago on LinkedIn, is now gone according to reports from CNN. The short-lived stint is attributed to Crowe sharing unauthorized information with the media while Walker is reeling from a barrage of negative press.
The Walker campaign did not respond to Insider’s request for comment about what, specifically, sparked the sudden departure.
Walker, who is vying to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, remains engulfed in controversy with just weeks to go before election day.
The family-related fracas includes swirling allegations that Walker, who espouses family values on the campaign trail and has endorsed adopting a nationwide abortion ban, paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. He’s also come under attack from his 23-year-old son, Christian Walker, a conservative culture warrior who has been bashing his absentee father on social media.
Herschel Walker continues to dispute the abortion story but has only added to the confusion. The fallout has been so damaging, that even scandal-plagued former President Donald Trump has decided to keep his distance for now.
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Kanye West Live Updates: Kanye Posts Exchange With Diddy On Instagram
Kanye West Live Updates: Kanye Posts Exchange With Diddy On Instagram https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kanye-west-live-updates-kanye-posts-exchange-with-diddy-on-instagram/
Key Takeaways from Kanye’s Tucker Carlson Interview
Rapper Kanye West sat for an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson Thursday night to discuss a range of topics, from his “White Lives Matter” shirts, to his support of Donald Trump, to his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
Here are the main takeaways from the interview:
White Lives Matter
West talked about his “White Lives Matter” t-shirt that drew a lot of criticism at his Yeezy show during Paris Fashion Week Monday.
He said the shirt, which he wore along with conservative pundit Candace Owens backstage, was “funny.”
“I do certain things from a feeling,” West said. “I just channel the energy. It just feels right. It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance.”
West also recalled his father, an ex-Black Panther, who texted him about the shirts.
“He said, ‘White Lives Matter. Ha ha ha ha ha.’ And I said, ‘I thought the shirt was a funny shirt. I thought the idea of me wearing it was funny.’ And I said, ‘Dad, why do you think it was funny?’ He said, ‘just a Black man stating the obvious,'” West told Carlson.
He said that was his favorite response, adding that as an artist, he doesn’t have to give anyone an explanation.
“People, they’re looking for an explanation, and people say, ‘well, as an artist, you don’t have to give an explanation,’ but as a leader, you do,” West said. “So the answer to why I wrote White Lives Matter on a shirt is because they do. It’s the obvious thing.”
Lizzo, Abortion and Black Genocide
West said singer Lizzo’s weight and abortion and examples of the “genocide of the Black race” during the interview.
“It represents life, I’m pro-life,” West said when asked by Carlson why he’s wearing a lanyard with a picture of an ultrasound on it. “I don’t care about people’s responses. I care about the fact that there’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. That 50 percent of Black death in America is abortion.”
He said there are systems in place that prevent his “good friend” Lizzo from losing weight.
“Now let’s talk about Gabby and my good friend Lizzo. Lizzo works with my trainer, a friend of mine, Harley Pasternak,” West said. “When Lizzo loses 10 pounds and announces it, the bots […] on Instagram, they attack her for losing weight, because the media wants to put out a perception that being overweight is the new goal, when it’s actually unhealthy.”
West added that he weight is “clinically unhealthy” and people who promote her size are “demonic.”
Kim Kardashian
West is being accused of slut shaming his ex-wife Kim Kardashian after he criticized her for appearing with her “ass out” on a magazine cover.
“Kim is a Christian, but she has people who want her to go to Interview Magazine and put her ass out while she’s a 40-something-year-old multi-billionaire with four black children,” he said.
He also said he was unaware Kardashian was “close” with the Clintons.
MAGA and Trump
West also told Carlson that he was told his “life would be over” if he publicly supported former President Donald Trump.
The rapper has faced backlash for his support for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
“I really felt like I think I started to really feel this need to express myself on another level when Trump was running for office and I liked him,” West told Carlson. “My so-called friends [and] handlers around me told me if I said that I like Trump that my career will be over. That my life would be over.”
“They said stuff like ‘people get killed for wearing a hat like that,'” he continued. “They threatened my life… they basically said that I would be killed for wearing the hat.”
Part two of the interview is set to air on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox News.
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Anyone Can Submit Filings To A Court Docket. The Mar-A-Lago Probe Proves It.
Anyone Can Submit Filings To A Court Docket. The Mar-A-Lago Probe Proves It. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/anyone-can-submit-filings-to-a-court-docket-the-mar-a-lago-probe-proves-it/
O’Rane Cornish Sr. was reading yet another article about the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida residence when he decided to send the presiding judge a letter. The 70-year-old great-grandfather from Tennessee wrote that he was “offended and repulsed” that Judge Aileen M. Cannon allowed lawyers to refer to the ex-commander in chief as “president” in their legal filings. He suggested she recuse herself from the case.
Cornish’s three-page letter — technically called an amicus curiae, or a “friend of the court” submission — became filing No. 63 on a public docket that has grown to 128 documents, which together chronicle the significant and the mundane in Cannon’s appointment of a special master to review some 11,000 documents seized in the Aug. 8 search.
Most of the submissions to Cannon’s docket are filings by Trump’s legal team and government prosecutors, or orders from Cannon and the special master she appointed, a federal judge, Raymond J. Dearie of Brooklyn. But listed between all those official court documents are at least a dozen filings from others including Cornish — people who have no standing to participate formally in the case through legal filings but are nonetheless permitted by the U.S. legal system to submit documents that become part of the court record.
They are law school dropouts, self-appointed political pundits or ambitiously litigious Americans, all seeking to make their way onto one of the most high-profile dockets in the country. They submit often bombastic and rambling missives, hoping that Cannon will read them and take their free-of-charge legal advice. In some cases, they have been threatened in response by others who have taken an interest in the case.
Together, the filings highlight the intense interest among people of all political leanings in the investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago, while also providing a glimpse into a quirky corner of American court proceedings. It happens even in the country’s highest court. On Monday, the satirical faux news website the Onion filed a briefing in a Supreme Court free-speech case about a man who spent four days in jail after he made fun of his local police department on Facebook.
“I found what is being done in this case rather offensive,” Cornish, a Vietnam veteran and retired meteorologist who frequently writes letters to judges, said in an interview about why he weighed in with Cannon. “And the notion that there are those out there that seem to sanction that, just simply weighed on me, and I thought, let me write her a letter.”
In a high-profile case such as the Mar-a-Lago investigation, in which the Justice Department is probing the possible mishandling of classified information and the possible hiding, tampering with or destruction of government records, these passionate but mostly meaningless filings can attract legions of readers.
Each day, journalists, lawyers and Trump document investigation die-hards scour the Trump documents docket on Pacer, an electronic service that catalogues federal court documents, searching for any new submissions. For 40 cents, anyone with a Pacer account can download the letter Cornish wrote to the judge — even if they landed on it accidentally in the hope that it was a document from Cannon or participating lawyers that would advance the case.
“Cheers to you, sir, for inserting your best, most curmudgeonly snark into this national moment — I dig it,” an anonymous user wrote about Cornish on Reddit in a discussion about the hodgepodge of people submitting filings to the Trump docket.
In theory, anyone with time and a little cash can add their filings to a court docket, said Steve Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor. Rules often vary by judges, but if people adhere to court procedures, they can submit their musings. Some file their documents as appeals or as letters to the judge, but Vladeck said that because those people are not parties to the case, their filings are all considered “friend of the court letters.”
Lawyers can be disciplined for filing frivolous lawsuits, so the people who file letters to judges are typically not lawyers. And the larger federal courts are, the more likely they are to accept these extra filings, according to Vladeck, since these courts typically have legal clerks and more staffers to help sift through the submissions.
Vladeck argued a case in the Supreme Court a few years ago about a fatal cross-border shooting of a Mexican teenager by a U.S. Border Patrol agent that also drew filings from a number of people not involved in the litigation. Vladeck said that he read all the submissions but that they did not change how he viewed or approached any aspect of the case.
“If John Smith sends a letter to the Supreme Court tomorrow about a pending case, chances are that letter will be reflected on the docket — and that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Vladeck said. “When it comes to President Trump, everything increases by a factor of insanity.”
Cornish said he did not realize that his letter to Cannon would be publicly viewable. He was just hoping to persuade the judge to be tougher on Trump, he said. Since submitting the letter, he said, he has received more than a dozen threats from people who found his cellphone number listed on his filing.
Raj K. Patel, 30, who has filed multiple documents to Cannon’s docket, said in an interview that he filed a “motion for intervention,” writing that “the present civil action contains a lawsuit against the United States to determine whether executive Privilege was violated by a former President of the United States.”
Patel also wrote that he wants to be president someday and therefore has great interest in knowing if these executive privileges extend beyond a president’s term in office.
In the Trump document case, Patel said he submits the filings in person because he thinks it gives him a better chance of them landing on the docket — a potentially pricey obstacle, since he lives in Indianapolis. To hand-deliver them, Patel mailed his filings to someone in Florida whom he hired online through the app TaskRabbit to file the documents with a clerk in the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach. The total cost so far? Around $500, he said.
“I think President Trump should have been making the arguments that I am making,” said Patel, who says he attended law school for two years and has multiple lawsuits making their way through federal courts. “I want to make sure that future litigants and President Trump have the Constitution govern this debate instead of politics.”
When Cannon ruled that she would appoint a third-party special master to sort through the 11,000 seized documents, four people wrote letters urging the judge to select them for the high-profile job.
“My requirements, as I quickly muster the courage to submit this motion, include a Military Motorcade (Triple Canopy or National Guard) to safely transition me from Nevada to the case files, with an intermediary stop in Massachusetts to pick up my things,” wrote one special master hopeful who said he has a PhD in philosophy.
Cannon did not select any of the volunteers, instead picking Dearie, a longtime federal judge whom Trump’s lawyers and the Justice Department agreed was a suitable choice for special master.
Merril Hirsh, the executive director of an association of special masters, said his group is working to make the special master process more transparent and accessible by creating public rosters of qualified special masters listed with their areas of expertise.
But would he encourage aspiring special masters to write a public letter to a judge making their case?
“It’s not the way you would think an experienced lawyer would do it,” Hirsh said. “Would you do your PhD thesis in crayon? You wouldn’t stop someone from doing it, but you can’t imagine it’s a real good way to do it.”
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The Justice Department Believes Trump Might Have More White House Documents
The Justice Department Believes Trump Might Have More White House Documents https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-justice-department-believes-trump-might-have-more-white-house-documents-2/
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice suspects former President Donald Trump still possesses documents that he took from the White House, people familiar with the matter told NBC News on Friday.
The department’s top counterintelligence official, Jay Bratt, recently communicated that concern to Trump’s lawyers, the sources said.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the department believed Trump had not returned all of the documents he took from the White House. This was also confirmed by The Wall Street Journal.
The revelation leaves some key questions unanswered, including whether the department has concrete evidence that Trump still holds classified material or it’s just a suspicion based on inferences, such as the empty envelopes with classified markings that were seized at Mar-a-Lago or information from the National Archives that it’s still missing documents from Trump’s presidency.
Various court filings from the department have suggested that some presidential records are still missing.
In a September filing opposing U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling barring the Justice Department from accessing documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, the department complained that her ruling “appears to bar the FBI and DOJ from further reviewing the records to discern any patterns in the types of records that were retained, which could lead to identification of other records still missing.”
The Justice Department has also pointed to the empty envelopes marked classified that the FBI seized at Mar-a-Lago as evidence some docents could be missing.
The Times reported that Trump’s lawyers were split on how to respond to the Justice Departments questions about any further records in the former president’s possession, with one faction, led by attorney Chris Kise, suggesting they hire a forensic accounting firm to search for additional documents. Other lawyers talked Trump out of that idea, the Times reported. NBC News has not independently confirmed the reported disagreement.
The Justice Department declined to comment. NBC has reached out to Kise for comment.
Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said in statement Friday that the “weaponized Department of Justice and the politicized FBI are spending millions and millions of American tax dollar to perpetuate witch hunt after witch hunt.”
Other former presidents had moved “millions of pages of documents,” he said, adding, “The document hoax is just that, a hoax and a charade.”
“President Trump is being unjustly, illegally, and unconstitutionally targeted because he won’t stop fighting to restore power back to the people,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Trump filed an emergency request Tuesday asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the case and allow a special master to review classified documents federal agents seized from Trump’s Florida estate. The request came in response to a ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 21 that said the Justice Department could resume using classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago in its criminal investigation, but barred the special master from reviewing them.
That part of the federal appeals court’s decision “impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the special master,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Moreover, any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice.”
The National Archives informed the House Oversight and Reform Committee last week that some records from the Trump White House had still not been turned over in compliance with the Presidential Records Act.
Several days after the FBI searched Trump’s Florida property, a receipt of recovered items showed that agents found a trove of top-secret and other highly classified documents. Federal agents removed 11 sets of classified documents, some of which were labeled secret and top secret.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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Trump-Backed Super Pac Places 6-Figure Ad Buys In Ohio Pennsylvania Senate Races
Trump-Backed Super Pac Places 6-Figure Ad Buys In Ohio, Pennsylvania Senate Races https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-backed-super-pac-places-6-figure-ad-buys-in-ohio-pennsylvania-senate-races/
Former president Donald Trump‘s new “MAGA Inc.” Super PAC has placed two six-figure ad buys in states with tight midterm Senate races.
The super PAC, launched by Trump’s team in September with plans to to support pro-Trump candidates in the midterms, has completed ad buys in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
So far, Politico reported via AdImpact that $135,650 worth of ads were placed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and another $276,000 in Columbus, Ohio, and Cleveland, Ohio, adding that the numbers are expected to rise as more stations report buys.
The former president has been campaigning in Ohio for Republican J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” and last month rallied in Pennsylvania for Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former daytime host who came to popular culture via Oprah Winfrey.
Democrat John Fetterman had a double-digit lead over Oz through August, but the gap has narrowed in recent weeks. Polls show the state’s lieutenant governor out-polling the former heart surgeon by 4.3%, according to Real Clear Politics.
In Ohio, polls are lagging, with the last one reported in late September showing Vance up by 1.2% over Democrat Tim Ryan, well within the margin of error. The lead has flipped back and forth between the two candidates since Vance’s five-point lead in August eroded, according to Real Clear Politics.
Trump had a $100 million war chest to spend on candidates he supports for the November elections, but Politico reported he has faced criticism for not using more. Both Vance and Oz trail their opponents in fundraising, making outside support more important.
Fetterman recently told MSNBC that Republicans “unloaded $15 million of McConnell’s money on us”, referring to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “And now we are the top target on Fox News,” he added.
Ohio and Pennsylvania are two of the most expensive battleground races, as well as being favorite targets for late night hosts, and will help determine the balance of the Senate for the next two years.
Federal Elections Commission filings show Pennsylvania on top this year, with $87.4 million raised by four candidates, with Fetterman on top with over $25.8 million and Oz second with $19 million.
Ohio is fifth with $73.9 million raised, including $21.5 million by Ryan and $3.6 million by Vance, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Trump also continues to hold rallies with candidates he supports. He’ll next appear in Arizona and Nevada this weekend.
The former president’s endorsements were key for candidates during primary season, but with major issues like the overturn of Roe v. Wade playing into this year’s races, it’s less clear how his support will play in the general election.
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Dow Tumbles 500 Points As Rates Pop On The September Jobs Report
Dow Tumbles 500 Points As Rates Pop On The September Jobs Report https://digitalarkansasnews.com/dow-tumbles-500-points-as-rates-pop-on-the-september-jobs-report/
Stocks fell on Friday as traders evaluated September’s jobs report, which showed the unemployment rate continuing to decline and sparked an increase in interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 536 points, or 1.8%. The S&P 500 lost 2.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 3.3%.
Friday’s jobs numbers showed the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in September, slightly below a Dow Jones estimate of 275,000. However, the unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, down from the 3.7% in the previous month in a sign that the jobs picture continues to strengthen even as the Federal Reserve tries to slow the economy with rate hikes to stem inflation.
“While the data was about as expected, the drop in the unemployment rate is seemingly what the markets are obsessed with because of what it means for the Fed,” said Bleakley Financial chief investment officer Peter Boockvar. “When combined with the low level of initial jobless claims, the pace of firing’s remains muted and this of course gets the Fed all fired up about continuing with its aggressive rate hikes.”
The falling unemployment rate sparked a jump in rates, in turn weighing on futures. The 2-year year Treasury yield rose 5 basis points to 4.302%. (1 basis point equals 0.01%.)
Advanced Micro Devices’ stock fell after the chipmaker warned its third-quarter revenue would be lower than anticipated. Levi Strauss shares slipped following a cut to its guidance.
Friday’s losses trimmed the gains for what started out as a big comeback week for stocks. The major averages are still on pace to end the week higher but have given back most of the gains from the rally that kicked off the week. The Dow is heading to a 2% weekly gain, while the S&P is on track to end the week higher by 1.7%. The Nasdaq is on pace to rise 1%.
“The conclusion many we have spoken with have reached is that not only will the Fed not help markets, but in their dogged pursuit of price stability keep going until something breaks in the capital markets,” said Christopher Harvey, an equity analyst at Wells Fargo Securities. “What appears to be their increasingly singular focus — price stability — will likely help catalyze the dislocation.”
FedEx shares fall on lower forecasts
FedEx shares dropped nearly 3% after Reuters reported the shipping giant’s ground division expects to lower volume forecasts, citing an internal memo. Just last month, FedEx withdrew its financial forecast due to a global demand slowdown.
— Yun Li
The only bull market this week might just be in the energy complex
Asset prices may feel soft everywhere this week, but not in the oil patch. Maybe it has to do with OPEC+ agreeing midweek to cut future crude oil production.
Early Friday, before September’s nonfarm payrolls were reported, November West Texas Intermediate crude oil contracts had risen above $90 a barrel and were 13% higher on the week. That means WTI was on pace for the biggest weekly gain since early March, shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Look at individual stocks early Friday. Premarket, Exxon Mobil was higher by 17.6% in just the first four days of this week, on pace for its best week since at least 1972. That was the same year Standard Oil of New Jersey changed its name to Exxon.
Marathon Oil had soared 26.5% in the first four days of the week and Halliburton was higher by 22.5%. For both of them, it was the strongest weekly performance since June 2020, and there was still one more trading day to go.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF had gained 15% week-to-date, on track for its best week since November 2020. November heating oil futures contracts were up almost 17% week-to-date and were on pace for the strongest weekly gain since late April.
— Scott Schnipper and Gina Francolla
Path to soft landing looks more challenging after jobs report, Lazard’s Temple says
The Federal Reserve’s goal of achieving a soft landing for the U.S. economy amid rate hikes to tame high inflation is looking less likely amid continued labor market strength, according to Ron Temple, head of U.S. equity strategy at Lazard Asset Management.
“While job growth is slowing, the US economy remains far too hot for the Fed to achieve its inflation target,” Temple said in a Friday note. “The path to a soft landing keeps getting more challenging.”
The Friday jobs report showed that employers added 263,000 jobs in September and that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%. That’s a relatively strong labor market, even if job gains are slowing.
It means the Fed will likely be aggressive with interest rate hikes going forward.
“If there are any doves left on the FOMC, today’s report might have further thinned their ranks,” said Temple.
—Carmen Reinicke
Employment data unlikely to push Fed off course, economist says
Friday’s employment data shows the job market is heading in the right direction, said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. But he doesn’t see it as convincing to the Federal Reserve to change course from its strategy of raising rates as a means to fight inflation.
“The 263,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in September is another signal that labor market conditions are cooling,” Hunter said. “But with the unemployment rate dropping back to 3.5% the report is unlikely to significantly alter the Fed’s view that the labor market is ‘out of balance.'”
— Alex Harring
Oil hits $90 per barrel, heating oil also jumps
Oil prices are surging following OPEC+ major production cut announced Wednesday.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery hit $90 per barrel, the highest level since Sept. 14. The commodity is up almost 13% this week and is on track for its best week since March 4. Brent crude is also higher today, up 1.35% at $95.69 per barrel.
Heating oil has also jumped, hitting 3.9478, its highest level since Aug. 30. Heating oil is up nearly 17% this week, on pace for the biggest weekly gain since April 29.
Shares of major energy companies also gained with the price of oil. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund is up 15% this week, on pace for its best week since Nov. 13, 2020.
Exxon is up 17.62% this week, its best weekly performance since 1972. Marathon Oil is up more than 26% this week, and Halliburton is up more than 22% in the same timeframe. It’s both company’s best week since June 5, 2020.
—Carmen Reinicke, Gina Francolla
U.S. jobs growth slows in September to 263,000
The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in September, slightly below a Dow Jones estimate of 275,000. The unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, down from 3.7% in the previous month.
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— Jeff Cox
BMO Capital Markets still sees an up year for the S&P 500
Stocks’ decline starting in mid-August has been “more severe and longer lasting” than analysts at BMO Capital Markets anticipated, but investors should keep calm and carry on, the firm said in a note Friday.
“We advise investors to stay calm and disciplined and refrain from going into panic mode amid this selloff,” chief investment strategist Brian Belski siad. “Yes, the market has been volatile, and the path of least resistance has largely been to the downside in recent weeks, but we continue to firmly believe that the S&P 500 will finish the year higher than current levels with Q3 earnings results potentially being a catalyst for a more sustained market rebound.”
Last week the S&P 500 capped the September trading month, ending lower by about 9% and finding a new bear market low in the midst of the losses. That drop marked the index’s biggest monthly loss since March 2020 and its worst September since 2002.
— Tanaya Macheel
Goldman Sachs shares rise on KBW upgrade
Shares of Goldman Sachs rose slightly in Friday premarket trading after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform. The firm said the Goldman Sachs’ valuation based on tangible book value (TBV) looks attractive.
“We are upgrading Goldman Sachs to Outperform from Market Perform due to an attractive valuation of just under forward TBV, strong TBV growth, improved capital allocation and potential near-term benefits of strong FICC results over what could be a volatile next few quarters,” Konrad wrote.
Read the full CNBC Pro story on the note here.
— Sarah Min
Credit Suisse climbs after announcing debt buyback
The U.S. traded shares of Credit Suisse rose 6% in premarket trading after the investment bank offered to buy back roughly $3 billion of its debt. Credit Suisse is also selling the Savoy Hotel in Zurich.
The bank’s share price and debt have fallen sharply in recent weeks amid concern about how fast rising interest rates around the world are hurting the European financial sector. Credit Suisse is expected to announce broader strategic plan later this month.
— Jesse Pound, Elliot Smith
DraftKings jumps on potential ESPN deal
Shares of DraftKings jumped as much as 9% in premarket trading Friday on reports that ESPN is nearing a new partnership with the sports betting company.
The potential deal would allow ESPN to capitalize on growing demand for sports betting. Disney, which owns ESPN, has been searching for a sports betting partnership for the network for about a year and has said it will spend as much as $3 billion in an extended deal.
Shares of Disney were little changed Friday morning.
—Carmen Reinicke
European markets retreat slightly ahead of key U.S. jobs report
European markets pulled back slightly on Friday to round out a volatile week, as global investors await a key monthly jobs report out of the United States.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2% in early trade, with tech stocks falling 1.6% while food and beverage stocks gained 0.4%.
– Elliot Smith
Inflation could resurge if the Fed pivots too early, former Fed president says
Former Kansas ...
UAFS Forges New Pathway With NWACC https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uafs-forges-new-pathway-with-nwacc/
Featured | News | Business and Industry | Arts and Sciences | Health Education and Human SciencesOctober 07, 2022
UAFS Forges New Pathway with NWACC
Written By: Rachel Rodemann Putman
Leaders from the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith and the Northwest Arkansas Community College signed a Memorandum of Understanding today, Oct. 5, 2022, that will create a seamless pathway for NWACC students who hope to transfer to UAFS.
UAFS Chancellor Dr. Terisa Riley and members of the university’s leadership team sat down with newly appointed NWACC president Dr. Dennis C. Rittle and his staff to officially sign the agreement in the Windgate Conference room on the UAFS Campus. Both Riley and Rittle are first generation college graduates who deeply understand the need for a higher education system that is accessible to all.
The two institutions share a commitment to increasing student access to and success in higher education. As active educational partners, the creation of these MOUs enables each institution to further its mission of making high-quality education both accessible and affordable for all Arkansans.
“UAFS is committed to providing high quality academic programs at a relatively low cost to all students in our region and our work with community college partners is an important part of that mission,” said Dr. Margaret Tanner, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. “Education has the power to change lives and shape communities, and a seamless transfer process is an important mechanism in making it more accessible to all.”
The MOU forges clear pathways for students who have earned their associates degrees at NWACC to obtain bachelor’s degrees in parallel programs at UAFS including Business Administration, Elementary Education, Organizational Leadership, Criminal Justice, and Dental Hygiene at UAFS.
“NWACC does an excellent job of preparing their students for the next step in their academic journey and we are proud to be able to partner with them to assist their students in achieving their personal academic goals,” Tanner Continued.
“ The mission of NWACC is to prepare students for their successful transition into the workforce and for their successful transition onto our university partners,” said Rittle. “UAFS is an outstanding university partner because of their commitment to forging seamless pathways that reduce the cost and time to completion. In short, students win! And when students win, we all win.”
UA Fort Smith currently offers similar transfer agreements with 25 community colleges in the state, spanning more than 60 degree programs.
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Arkansas Storm Team Forecast: A Cool Front Moving Through Today Will Take Temperatures Down To Seasonal Normals This Weekend
Arkansas Storm Team Forecast: A Cool Front Moving Through Today Will Take Temperatures Down To Seasonal Normals This Weekend https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-storm-team-forecast-a-cool-front-moving-through-today-will-take-temperatures-down-to-seasonal-normals-this-weekend/
by: Pat Walker
Posted: Oct 7, 2022 / 11:17 AM CDT
Updated: Oct 7, 2022 / 11:17 AM CDT
It will be a warm afternoon, but not hot like Thursday got. The cool front moving through the state is helping that. Little Rock will still be well above average with an afternoon high temperature of 84°. The average for today is 78°. But thanks to the cool front it will be back to and even slightly below average Saturday.
Still no rain with this front nor any this weekend. But with a couple days of moisture return set to start Tuesday, the next front, next Wednesday night/Thursday will have some moisture to work with and rain is back in the forecast for the first time in over two weeks next Wednesday night and Thursday.
Be alerted as soon as severe weather coverage begins by downloading the Arkansas Storm Team app from the App Store or on Google Play.
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NYC Mayor Eric Adams Declares State Of Emergency Over Influx Of Migrants | CNN
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Declares State Of Emergency Over Influx Of Migrants | CNN https://digitalarkansasnews.com/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-declares-state-of-emergency-over-influx-of-migrants-cnn/
New York CNN —
Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency to help respond to the city’s migrant crisis, which he told reporters Friday will cost the city $1 billion this fiscal year.
“We now have a situation where more people are arriving in New York City than we can immediately accommodate, including families with babies and young children,” Adams said. “Once the asylum seekers from today’s buses are provided shelter, we would surpass the highest number of people in recorded history in our city’s shelter system.”
The mayor called for emergency federal and state aid to handle the continued influx of asylum seekers.
Adams’ declaration will direct all relevant city agencies to coordinate efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis and to construct the city’s Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers. The state of emergency will be in effect for 30 days and may be extended, the mayor said.
New York City now has more than 61,000 people in its shelter system, including thousands experiencing homelessness and thousands of asylum seekers who have been bused in over recent months from other parts of the country, according to the mayor. He said more than 17,000 asylum seekers have been bused to New York City from the southern border since April of this year.
As of the first week of October, Texas has spent more than $18 million busing migrants – who have been processed and released by immigration authorities in Texas border communities – to Washington D.C., New York City, and Chicago. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the program in April as part of his response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies, and acknowledged that taxpayers were likely to foot the bill.
New York City’s shelter system is operating at near 100% capacity, Adams said. The city expects to spend at least $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year dealing with the influx of migrants, the mayor said, adding that if asylum seekers continue to enter the city at the current rate, the total population within the shelter system will exceed 100,000 in the year to come.
Adams said 42 hotels have been set up as emergency shelters and 5,500 migrant children have been enrolled in schools.
The city is also exploring a potential program for New Yorkers to volunteer to host asylum seekers and the “unhoused” in their homes.
“New Yorkers want to help, and we’re going to make it straightforward and easy for them to do so,” the mayor said.
Adams said in September that officials were assessing how they will respond to the influx of migrants, including legal options.
“Once we finalize how we’re going to continue to live up to our legal and moral obligation, we’re going to announce it. Until then, we’re just letting people know what we’re thinking of and how we’re going to find creative ways to solve this man-made humanitarian crisis,” Adams said at an unrelated event.
A record number of migrants were bused to the city on September 18 – nine in total, which is the most recorded in a single day in this recent wave, according to two city officials. At least 1,011 asylum seekers arrived from September 16 to September 18, according to a third city official.
Texas has bused more than 11,000 migrants to New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago since August, Abbott’s office announced in September.
Abbott and others who favor increasing immigration restrictions argue that Biden administration policies have provided an incentive for more people to cross the border illegally. Some Republican candidates have pushed the narrative of a migrant invasion as midterm elections approach, pledging they’ll do more to crack down on illegal immigration.
The busing campaign has led to sparring between Abbott and Adams, whose administration has accused the governor of using human beings as political pawns and whose city has been long considered a sanctuary for migrants. The mayor has asked the federal government for more resources, including housing assistance. The White House said it is in touch with Adams and committed to FEMA funding and other support.
Adams has said he has spoken with the mayor of El Paso and told him New York City cannot accommodate this many asylum seekers. He said the city has been in contact with Abbott’s office, adding that the Texas governor and his team have not been open to communication.
Adams reiterated that New York City is still a sanctuary city but stressed it is unable to handle such an overwhelming influx of migrants.
“We are not telling anyone that New York can accommodate every migrant in the city,” the mayor said Monday. “We’re not encouraging people to send eight, nine buses a day. That is not what we’re doing. We’re saying that as a sanctuary city with right to shelter, we’re going to fulfill that obligation. That’s what we’re doing.”
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Biden: Nuclear 'Armageddon' Risk Highest Since '62 Crisis
Biden: Nuclear 'Armageddon' Risk Highest Since '62 Crisis https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-nuclear-armageddon-risk-highest-since-62-crisis/
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden is declaring that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser, Biden said Thursday night that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a guy I know fairly well” and the Russian leader is “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.”
Biden added, “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” He suggested the threat from Putin is real “because his military is — you might say — significantly underperforming.”
U.S. officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as it has faced strategic setbacks on the battlefield, though Biden’s remarks marked the starkest warnings yet by the U.S. government about the nuclear stakes.
Still, nothing has changed in U.S. intelligence assessments that in recent weeks have shown no evidence that Putin has imminent plans to deploy nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials on Friday.
One official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that Biden was speaking broadly about the administration’s growing concerns about Putin’s threats.
Biden was conveying that the White House sees Putin’s rhetoric as “reckless and irresponsible” and is taking it seriously, the official said. The official added that Biden’s remarks are in line with warnings he’s made in speeches at the U.N. General Assembly and that other senior administration officials have made recently.
The president’s new remarks came after White House officials this week said they have seen no change to Russia’s nuclear forces that would require a change in the alert posture of U.S. nuclear forces.
“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have indication that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
The 13-day showdown in 1962 that followed the U.S. discovery of the Soviet Union’s secret deployment of nuclear weapons to Cuba is regarded by experts as the closest the world has ever come to nuclear annihilation. The crisis during President John F. Kennedy’s administration sparked a renewed focus on arms control on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Biden on Thursday also challenged Russian nuclear doctrine, warning that the use of a lower-yield tactical weapon could quickly spiral out of control into global destruction.
“I don’t think there is any such a thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon,” Biden said.
He added that he was still “trying to figure” out Putin’s “off-ramp” in Ukraine.
“Where does he find a way out?” Biden asked. “Where does he find himself in a position that he does not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?”
Putin has repeatedly alluded to using his country’s vast nuclear arsenal, including last month when he announced plans to conscript Russian men to serve in Ukraine.
“I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction … and when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,” Putin said Sept. 21, adding with a lingering stare at the camera, “It’s not a bluff.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that the U.S. has been “clear” to Russia about what the “consequences” of using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine would be.
“This is something that we are attuned to, taking very seriously, and communicating directly with Russia about, including the kind of decisive responses the United States would have if they went down that dark road,” Sullivan said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier Thursday that Putin understands that the “world will never forgive” a Russian nuclear strike.
“He understands that after the use of nuclear weapons he would be unable any more to preserve, so to speak, his life, and I’m confident of that,” Zelenskyy said.
Biden’s comments came during a private fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidates at the Manhattan home of James and Kathryn Murdoch. He tends to be more unguarded — often speaking with just rough notes — in such settings, which are open only to a handful of reporters without cameras or recording devices.
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Miller reported from Washington.
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