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Pacific FC At Cavalry FC: Live Stream, TV Channel, Kick-Off Time & How To Watch https://digitalarkansasnews.com/pacific-fc-at-cavalry-fc-live-stream-tv-channel-kick-off-time-how-to-watch/ The 2022 Canadian Premier League campaign concludes its regular season this weekend as Pacific FC face off with Cavalry FC in a major encounter. © Getty Images TD Place In this final round of matches, those headed to the semi-finals know their place is secure – and the rest just have pride left to play for. GOAL brings you details on how to watch the game on TV in the UK and U.S. as well as how to stream it live online. This page contains affiliate links. When you subscribe through the links provided, we may earn a commission. Pacific at Cavalry date & kick-off time How to watch Pacific at Cavalry on TV & live stream online In the United States (U.S.), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (start with a free trial). New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser. In the UK, the match will be broadcast on BT Sport 1, while the game can also be streamed through the BT Sport App. Country TV channel Live stream US N/A fuboTV UK BT Sport 1 BT Sport App Check out GOAL’s Football on UK TV guide Check out GOAL’s Soccer on U.S. TV guide Pacific squad & team news The visitors know their place before this match even plays out – they will be in the semi-finals next week. But quite which spot they will take on the ladder and who their final opponent will be? That, indeed, looks to be still up for grabs. Position Players Goalkeepers Irving, Gazdov Defenders Mukumbilwa, Haynes, Samake, Dada-Luke, Meilleur-Giguère, Mavila, Đidić Midfielders Balde, Polisi, Heard, Young, Dixon, Aparicio, Ricci, Toussaint Forwards Bustos, Binate, Daniels, Dos Santos, Habibullah, Brown Cavalry squad and team news Just like their rivals, the hosts too are locked into the top four, and will be gearing up for a final tilt at silverware. That underlines their desire to ensure they carry some winning form across – but how much success they will have remains to be seen. Position Players Goalkeepers Carducci, Roloff, Farago Defenders Alarcón, Field, Klomp, M. Trafford, Vliet, Yao Midfielders C. Trafford, Aird, Adekugbe, Camargo, Escalante, Di Chiara, Simmons, Fisk, Norman Jr., Rogers, Cantave Forwards Bevan, Musse, Novak, Mason, Assi, Pepple Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. Read More Here

GOP Candidate Blake Masters Torched By Ex-Classmates: He's A 'Dangerous Politician' https://digitalarkansasnews.com/gop-candidate-blake-masters-torched-by-ex-classmates-hes-a-dangerous-politician/ Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters has been fiercely rebuked in an open letter penned by his former teachers and classmates and other alumni at his school. The Donald Trump-backed Masters “will lead Arizona down a dark, dystopian path” if he wins election in November, the alumni of Green Fields Country Day School in Tuscon warned in the letter shared by the Arizona Mirror on Thursday. “He peddles extremist ideology — attacking veterans, calling abortion ‘demonic,’ being endorsed by Neo-Nazis, blaming gun violence on ‘Black people, frankly,’ and that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” they wrote. Masters is now “barely recognizable” from his time at the school, the letter that was signed by 75 people continued, recalling he was “kind.” “We are deeply grieved to see the Blake we knew for two decades become the dangerous politician he is today,” they added. “We cannot sit idly by while his dishonesty, his selfishness, and his hateful, divisive rhetoric become the voice of Arizona in the U. S. Senate.” Read the full open letter here. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related… Kari Lake Busted For Using Russia Troops In ‘Secure Our Border’ Ad ‘She Flips On A Dime’: Ex-RNC Spokesperson Names GOP Lawmaker He Calls ‘The Worst’ Maggie Haberman Flushes Out The Book Detail That Really Troubled Trump Read More Here

Interview: Why Mastering Language Is So Difficult For AI https://digitalarkansasnews.com/interview-why-mastering-language-is-so-difficult-for-ai/ The field of artificial intelligence has never lacked for hype. Back in 1965, AI pioneer Herb Simon declared, “Machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” That hasn’t happened — but there certainly have been noteworthy advances, especially with the rise of “deep learning” systems, in which programs plow through massive data sets looking for patterns, and then try to make predictions. Perhaps most famously, AIs that use deep learning can now beat the best human Go players (some years after computers bested humans at chess and Jeopardy). Mastering language has proven tougher, but a program called GPT-3, developed by OpenAI, can produce human-like text, including poetry and prose, in response to prompts. Deep learning systems are also getting better and better at recognizing faces, and recognizing images in general. And they have contributed to the software behind self-driving vehicles, in which the automobile industry has been investing billions. “Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust” by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis (Pantheon 288 pages). But scientist, author, and entrepreneur Gary Marcus, who has had a front-row seat for many of these developments, says we need to take these advances with a grain of salt. Marcus, who earned his Ph.D. in brain and cognitive sciences from MIT and is now a professor emeritus at New York University, says the field of AI has been over-reliant on deep learning, which he believes has inherent limitations. We’ll get further, he says, by using not only deep learning but also more traditional symbol-based approaches to AI, in which computers encode human knowledge through symbolic representations (which in fact was the dominant approach during the early decades of AI research). Marcus believes that hybrid approaches, combining techniques from both methods, may be the most promising path toward the kind of “artificial general intelligence” that Simon and other AI pioneers imagined was just over the horizon. Marcus’s most recent book is “Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust” (Pantheon, 2019), co-authored with Ernest Davis, a professor of computer science at NYU. Undark recently caught up with Marcus for an interview conducted by Zoom and email. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Undark: Let’s start with GPT-3, a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. The New York Times Magazine said GPT-3 writes “with mind-boggling fluency,” while a story in Wired said the program was “provoking chills across Silicon Valley.” However, you’ve been quite critical of GPT-3. How come? Gary Marcus: I think it’s an interesting experiment. But I think that people are led to believe that this system actually understands human language, which it certainly does not. What it really is, is an autocomplete system that predicts next words and sentences. Just like with your phone, where you type in something and it continues. It doesn’t really understand the world around it. And a lot of people are confused by that. They’re confused by that because what these systems are ultimately doing is mimicry. They’re mimicking vast databases of text. And I think the average person doesn’t understand the difference between mimicking 100 words, 1,000 words, a billion words, a trillion words — when you start approaching a trillion words, almost anything you can think of is already talked about there. And so when you’re mimicking something, you can do that to a high degree, but it’s still kind of like being a parrot, or a plagiarist, or something like that. A parrot’s not a bad metaphor, because we don’t think parrots actually understand what they’re talking about. And GPT-3 certainly does not understand what it’s talking about. UD: You’ve written that GPT-3 can get confused about very basic facts. I suppose if you ask it who the president of the United States is, it may be almost as likely to say Donald Trump as Joe Biden — just because it is, as you say, mimicking. I suppose in some sense it doesn’t really know that it’s currently 2022? GM: It may even be more likely to mention Donald Trump as president, because probably the database that it is trained on has more examples of Trump. He’s in the news more; he was in the news for longer; he was in office for longer. He continues to be in the news more than your average ex-president might be. And yes, the system does not understand what year we live in. And it has no facility for temporal reasoning. You know, as a function of temporal reasoning, that just because you were president doesn’t mean you’re president anymore. Just because you were alive doesn’t mean that you’re still alive. You can reason that Thomas Edison cannot be president anymore because he is dead; GPT-3 cannot make that inference. It’s astonishingly dumb in that regard. UD: In spite of these AI systems being dumb, as you put it, people are often fooled into thinking that they’re smart. This seems to be related to what you’ve called the “gullibility gap.” What is the gullibility gap? GM: It’s the gap between our understanding of what these machines do and what they actually do. We tend to over-attribute to them; we tend to think that machines are more clever than they actually are. Someday, they really will be clever, but right now they’re not. And you go back to 1965: A system called ELIZA did very simple keyword-matching and had no idea what it was talking about. But it fooled some people into discussing their private lives with it. It was couched as a therapist. And it was via teletype, which is sort of like text messaging. And people were taken in; they thought they were talking to a living person. And the same thing is happening with GPT-3, and with Google’s LaMDA, where a Google engineer actually thought, or alleged, that the system was sentient. It’s not sentient, it has no idea of the things that it is talking about. But the human mind sees something that looks human-like, and it races to conclusions. That’s what the gullibility is about. We’re not evolved nor trained to recognize those things. UD: Many readers will be familiar with the Turing Test, based on an idea put forward by computer pioneer Alan Turing in 1950. Roughly, you ask an unseen entity a series of questions, and if that entity is a computer, but you can’t tell it’s a computer, then it “passes” the test; we might say that it’s intelligent. And it’s often in the news. For example, in 2014, a chatbot called Eugene Goostman, under certain criteria, was said to have passed the test. But you’ve been critical of the Turing Test. Where does it fall short? GM: The Turing Test has a kind of incumbency: It’s been around the longest; it’s the longest-known measure of intelligence within AI — but that doesn’t make it very good. You know, in 1950, we didn’t really know much about AI. I still think we don’t know that much. But we know a lot more. The idea was basically, if you talk to a machine, and it tricks you into thinking that it’s a person when it’s not, then that must be telling you something. But it turns out, it’s very easily gamed. First of all, you can fool a person by pretending to be paranoid or pretending to be a 13-year-old boy from Odessa, as Eugene Goostman did. And so, you just sidestep a lot of the questions. So a lot of the engineering that has gone into beating the Turing test is really about playing games and not actually about building genuinely intelligent systems. UD: Let’s talk about driverless cars. A few years ago, it seemed like great progress was happening, and then things seem to have slowed down. For example, where I live, in Toronto, there are no self-driving taxis whatsoever. So what happened? GM: Just as GPT-3 doesn’t really understand language, merely memorizing a lot of traffic situations that you’ve seen doesn’t convey what you really need to understand about the world in order to drive well. And so, what people have been trying to do is to collect more and more data. But they’re only making small incremental progress doing that. And as you say, there aren’t fleets of self-driving taxis in Toronto, and there certainly aren’t fleets in Mumbai. Most of this work right now is done in places with good weather and reasonably organized traffic, that’s not as chaotic. The current systems, if you put them in Mumbai, wouldn’t even understand what a rickshaw is. So they’d be in real trouble, from square one. UD: You pointed out in Scientific American recently that most of the large teams of AI researchers are found not in academia but in corporations. Why is that relevant? GM: For a bunch of reasons. One is that corporations have their own incentives about what problems they want to solve. For example, they want to solve advertisements. That’s not the same as understanding natural language for the purpose of improving medicine. So there’s an incentive issue. There’s a power issue. They can afford to hire many of the best people, but they don’t necessarily apply those to the problems that would most benefit society. There is a data problem, in that they have a lot of proprietary data they don’t necessarily share, which is again not for the greatest good. That means that the fruits of current AI are in the hands of corporations rather than the general public; that they’re tailored to the needs of the corporations rather than the general public. UD: But they rely on the general public because it’s ordinary citizens’ data that they’re using to build their databases, right? It’s humans who have tagged a billion photos that help them train their AI systems. GM: That’s right. And that particular point is coming to a head, even as we speak, with respect to art. So systems like OpenAI’s DALL-E are drawing pretty excellent imagery, but they’re doing i...

Kelly Criticizes Biden, Masters Backtracks In Senate Debate – KESQ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kelly-criticizes-biden-masters-backtracks-in-senate-debate-kesq/ By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly distanced himself from President Joe Biden on Thursday, calling the U.S.-Mexico border “a mess” and saying his party doesn’t understand border issues during his first and only debate against his Republican challenger Blake Masters. Masters, trying to back away from some of the hard-line positions he took during the bruising GOP primary, said there should be some limits on abortion but not a national ban, conceded after a few prompts that Biden was the legitimately elected president and acknowledged that he hadn’t seen evidence the 2020 vote count was rigged. For Masters, the debate was a chance for a reset in his first political campaign, with polls showing he’s trailing Kelly in a race that could help determine party control of the Senate. Kelly, seeking his first full term in office and cognizant of Biden’s faltering approval ratings, sought to portray himself as an effective senator who was working for solutions on the country’s immigration problem and Americans’ economic worries. On defense over an issue that Republicans have made a central plank of their bid to retake the Senate majority, Kelly said he’s stood up to his party when necessary to stem the flow of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. “When I got to Washington, D.C., one of the first things I realized was the Democrats don’t understand this issue,” Kelly said. “And Republicans just want to talk about it, complain about it but actually not do anything about it. They just want to politicize that.” He pointed to his opposition to Biden’s plans to end a pandemic-era program that allows for the speedy removal of immigrants in the name of public health. “When the president decided he’s going to do something dumb on this and change the rules, that would create a bigger crisis, I told him he was wrong,” Kelly said. The Arizona race is one of a handful of contests that Republicans targeted in their bid to take control of what is now a 50-50 Senate. Kelly, a retired astronaut and Navy pilot, first captured the seat in 2020, winning a special election to fill the remainder of the late Sen. John McCain’s term. Masters, a protégé of billionaire investor Peter Thiel, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who cited the candidate’s strident support of his lies about a stolen 2020 election. On Thursday night, Masters tried to pivot away from claims of a rigged election and instead blamed Trump’s loss on a conspiracy among powerful institutions. “I suspect President Trump would be in the White House today if big tech and big media and the FBI didn’t work together to put the thumb on the scale to get Joe Biden in there,” Masters said, claiming institutions conspired to bury news stories about material on a laptop owned by Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Under repeated questioning, he acknowledged that he hasn’t seen evidence that the vote count or election results were manipulated, as Trump has claimed. Numerous federal and local officials, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even Trump’s own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the fraud he alleges. Masters endeared himself to many GOP primary voters with his penchant for provocation and contrarian thinking. But since then, he has struggled to redefine his image for the more moderate swing voters he will need to win in November. Kelly drew from a pile of controversial statements Masters made during the primary to portray him as an extremist. He repeatedly hammered Masters’ earlier call to “cut the knot” and “privatize Social Security,” a plan that Kelly said would “send your savings to Wall Street.” Masters later scrubbed some controversial positions from his website. He now says he wants to protect Social Security for older and middle-aged workers while creating a private investment option for younger workers. On abortion, Masters said Thursday that he’s “pro-life as a matter of conscience” and believes states should be able to set their own laws on terminating pregnancies, but said he’d support federal legislation banning it after 15 weeks gestation. During the GOP primary, Masters said abortion was “demonic” and called for a federal personhood law that would give fetuses the rights of people. Kelly said abortion should be a personal decision and said he supports limits from Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned last summer that guaranteed a right to an abortion. “I think we all know guys like this, guys that think they know better than everyone about everything,” Kelly said, turning to Masters. “You think you know better than women and doctors about abortion.” Masters tried to pierce Kelly’s image as an independent moderate willing to work across the aisle. He said Kelly has failed to use his leverage to secure the border and is responsible for rising prices that are forcing families to make tough decisions. The Phoenix metro area has been the hardest hit nationally by inflation, according to an analysis by the personal finance website WalletHub. “Two years ago Mark Kelly stood right there and he promised to be independent,” Masters said in his opening statement, calling Kelly a reliable vote for Biden’s agenda. “But he broke that promise.” For Masters, the debate was a chance to go on the offensive against Kelly, whose popularity with independents helped him win two years ago in a state long dominated by Republicans. Thiel, who employed Masters for most of his adult life and bankrolled the candidate’s primary campaign, has not opened his wallet for the general election, though he has held fundraisers. A super political action committee controlled by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has pared back its own spending commitments. That has left Democrats an opening to define Masters on their terms. Masters met Thiel when Masters took a class that the billionaire taught at Stanford University. They wrote a book together, Thiel hired him and Masters eventually rose to senior positions in Thiel’s foundation and his investment firm. The debate came less than a week before early and mail voting begins in the state, the methods chosen by at least 80% of voters in Arizona in recent elections. ___ Associated Press writer Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this report. ___ For more information on the midterm elections, go to: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections Read More Here

Biden Offers Stark 'Armageddon' Warning On The Dangers Of Putin's Nuclear Threats | CNN Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-offers-stark-armageddon-warning-on-the-dangers-of-putins-nuclear-threats-cnn-politics/ Washington CNN  —  President Joe Biden on Thursday delivered a stark warning about the dangers behind Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats as Moscow continues to face military setbacks in Ukraine. “First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use (of a) nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going,” Biden warned during remarks at a Democratic fundraiser in New York where he was introduced by James Murdoch, the youngest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, according to the pool report. He added: “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.” It’s striking for the President to speak so candidly and invoke Armageddon, particularly at a fundraiser, while his aides from the National Security Council to the State Department to the Pentagon have spoken in much more measured terms, saying they take the threats seriously but don’t see movement on them from the Kremlin. “I’m trying to figure out what is Putin’s off ramp?” Biden said during the event, “Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?” His comments come as the US considers how to respond to a range of potential scenarios, including fears that Russians could use tactical nuclear weapons, according to three sources briefed on the latest intelligence and previously reported by CNN. 02:08 – Source: CNN Ex-US defense secretary says in unlikely event that Putin resorts to nukes, he could use this weapon Officials have cautioned as recently as Thursday that the US has not detected preparations for a nuclear strike. However, experts view them as potential options the US must prepare for as Russia’s invasion falters and as Moscow annexes more Ukrainian territory. “This nuclear saber rattling is reckless and irresponsible,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said earlier Thursday. “As I’ve mentioned before, at this stage, we do not have any information to cause us to change our strategic deterrence posture, and we don’t assess that President Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons at this time.” Following Biden’s remarks, officials emphasized to CNN Thursday night that they had not seen any changes to Russia’s nuclear stance. A US official said that despite Biden’s warning that the world is the closest it has been to a nuclear crisis since the 1960s, they have not seen a change to Russia’s nuclear posture as of now. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s Tuesday statement that there has been no indication of a change in Russia’s posture and therefore no change in the US posture still stands, the official said. A senior US government official expressed surprise at the President’s remarks, saying there were no obvious signs of an escalating threat from Russia. While there is no question Russia’s nuclear posture is being taken seriously, this official said the President’s language at a fundraiser tonight caught other officials across the government off guard. “Nothing was detected today that reflected an escalation,” the official said, who went on to defend Biden’s remarks because of the ongoing gravity of the matter. At the fundraiser, Biden was speaking clearly about the threat officials believe Russia poses, a person familiar with his thinking told CNN. Still, US officials have taken somber note of the Russian President’s repeated public threats to use nuclear weapons. In a televised address late last month, Putin said, “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff.” Last Friday, at a ceremony in which he announced the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions, Putin said Russia would use “all available means” to defend the areas, adding that the US had “created a precedent” for nuclear attacks in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. “We’ve got a guy I know fairly well,” Biden said of Putin Thursday. “He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly under-performing.” This story has been updated with additional information. Read More Here

TONIGHT’S OVERALL TOP 10 GAMES https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tonights-overall-top-10-games/ NO. 1 BRYANT AT LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Quigley Stadium, Little Rock COACHES Bryant: Buck James; Little Rock Central: George Shelton RECORDS Bryant 4-0, 2-0 7A-Central; Little Rock Central 0-5, 0-4 NOTEWORTHY Bryant has won 14 in a row against Little Rock Central, dating back to 2007. … Bryant has won 45 straight games against in-state competition. … Bryant is holding opponents to 12.8 points per game. … Central is allowing 47.6 points per game. … Bryant quarterback Jordan Walker has thrown for 846 yards and nine touchdowns. NO. 2 CONWAY AT NO. 5 CABOT WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Panther Stadium, Cabot COACHES Conway: Keith Fimple; Cabot: Scott Reed RECORDS Conway 5-0, 3-0 7A-Central; Cabot 4-1, 2-0 NOTEWORTHY The Wampus Cats have won the previous six meetings with the Panthers. … Conway quarterback Donovyn Omolo has thrown for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns. … Conway running back Boogie Carr has rushed for 539 yards and seven touchdowns. … Cabot is holding opponents to 12.2 points per game. SILOAM SPRINGS AT NO. 3 PULASKI ACADEMY WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Joe B. Hatcher Stadium, Little Rock COACHES Siloam Springs: Brandon Craig; Pulaski Academy: Anthony Lucas RECORDS Siloam Springs 0-6, 0-4 6A-West; Pulaski Academy 6-, 4-0 NOTEWORTHY Pulaski Academy beat Siloam Springs in their only previous meeting — a 2006 opening-round playoff matchup. … The Bruins have won 33 straight games against in-state competition. … Pulaski Academy quarterback Kel Busby leads the state in passing with 1,857 yards. … Siloam Springs is allowing 43.2 points per game. NO. 4 BENTONVILLE AT ROGERS HERITAGE WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE David Gates Stadium, Rogers COACHES Bentonville: Jody Grant; Rogers Heritage: Eric Munoz RECORDS Bentonville 4-1, 2-0 7A-West; Rogers Heritage 3-2, 1-1 7A-West NOTEWORTHY Bentonville has won all 14 meetings with Roger Heritage. … This season, Rogers Heritage has won three games for the first time since 2014. … Bentonville quarterback Carter Nye has thrown for 1,176 yards and 16 touchdowns. … Bentonville running back Josh Ficklin has rushed for 712 yards and 11 touchdowns. GREENBRIER AT NO. 6 LAKE HAMILTON WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Wolf Stadium, Pearcy COACHES Greenbrier: Randy Tribble; Lake Hamilton: Tommy Gilleran RECORDS Greenbrier 3-2, 1-2 6A-West; Lake Hamilton 6-0, 4-0 NOTEWORTHY This is the first meeting between these teams this century. … This is Lake Hamilton’s fourth straight 6-0 start. … Lake Hamilton running back Justin Crutchmer has totaled 449 rushing yards, 483 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. … Greenbrier wide receiver Carter McElhany has caught 25 passes for 547 yards and 6 touchdowns. NO. 8 LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC AT SHERIDAN WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Yellowjacket Stadium, Sheridan COACHES Little Rock Catholic: John Fogleman; Sheridan: Larry McBroom RECORDS Little Rock Catholic 5-0, 3-0 6A-East; Sheridan 2-3, 0-2 NOTEWORTHY This is the first 5-0 start for Little Rock Catholic in at least 30 years. … This is Catholic and Sheridan’s first meeting this century. … Catholic quarterback Sam Sanders has thrown for 864 yards and nine touchdowns. … Catholic is holding opponents to 14.6 points per game. … Sheridan is averaging 278.2 yards rushing per game. NO. 9 ROGERS AT BENTONVILLE WEST WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Wolverine Stadium, Centerton COACHES Rogers: Chad Harrison; Bentonville West: Bryan Pratt RECORDS Rogers 5-0, 2-0 7A-West; Bentonville West 3-2, 1-1 NOTEWORTHY This is the first 5-0 start for the Mountaineers since 2012. … Bentonville West has won five of the six in the series. … Rogers is tied for the second-most points scored in Class 7A with 214. … Bentonville West’s 16.6 points allowed per game is the fourth-best rate in the class. FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE AT NO. 10 FAYETTEVILLE WHEN 7:30 p.m. WHERE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville COACHES Fort Smith Southside: Kim Dameron; Fayetteville: Casey Dick RECORDS Fort Smith Southside 5-0, 2-0 7A-West; Fayetteville 3-2, 1-1 NOTEWORTHY Former University of Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick will be coaching his first game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Southside Coach Kim Dameron is former Razorback defensive back. … Fayetteville has won the previous eight matchups with Fort Smith Southside since 2011. … Fayetteville wide receiver Kaylon Morris is third in the state with 675 receiving yards. … Southside running back Isaac Gregory has rushed for 603 yards and seven touchdowns. NOTE Greenwood is idle. Read More…

How Arkansas’ 2023 Football Commitments Are Faring: https://digitalarkansasnews.com/how-arkansas-2023-football-commitments-are-faring/ Arkansas’ 2023 commitment statistics POS. NAMEHTWT.SCHOOLTONIGHT RB ISAIAH AUGUSTAVE6-2200Naples, Fla.at Palmetto Ridge FOR SEASON 51-436 rushing, 3 TDs CB JAYLON BRAXTON6-0175Frisco (Texas) Lone Starvs. Centennial FOR SEASON 22-355 receiving, 3 TDs, 19 TT, 6 PBU, 3-25 PR OL LUKE BROWN6-6315Paris (Tenn.) Henry Co.vs. Paducah Tilghman FOR SEASON 88 pancake blocks LB CARSON DEAN6-4232Carrollton (Texas) Hebronvs. Plano FOR SEASON 46 TT, 3 QB hits, 3 QB hurries, 11 TFL, 1 SA, 2 ints, 2 blocked kicks WR DAVION DOZIER6-4180Moody, Ala.at St. Clair County FOR SEASON 29-812 receiving, 14 TDs TE SHAMAR EASTER6-5225Ashdownat Malvern FOR SEASON 7-58 receiving, 5-116 rushing, 1 TD, 5 pancake blocks, 2 TT S CHRISTIAN FORD6-0187McKinney, TexasOpen date FOR SEASON DNP in first six games DL IAN GEFFRARD6-6365Mableton (Ga.) Whitefield Acad. vs. Elbert Co. FOE SEASON 27 TT, 7 TFL, 1 SA, 5 QB hurries, 1 RF TE JADEN HAMM6-5225Eudora, Kanvs. Schlagle FOR SEASON 7-99 receiving, 2 TDs, 1 2-pt conv, 23 TT, 2 TFL, 1 batted ball, 1 blocked kick S DYLAN HASZ5-11180Bixby, Oklaat Enid FOR SEASON 1-1 rushing, 7 TT, 3 PBU TE LUKE HASZ6-4, 221Bixby, Okla.at Enid FOR SEASON 11-163 receiving, 3 TDs, 1-17 rushing, 1 TD, 1 2-pt conv DL KALEB JAMES6-4250Mansfield, Texasvs. Cedar Hill FOR SEASON 31 TT, 15 QB hurries, 4.5 SA, 12 TFL, 1 RF, 1 batted ball, 1 blocked FG DB RJ JOHNSON6-2, 200Atlanta Eagle’s Landing Christianat Redan FOR SEASON 28 TT, 1 PBU, 1 int, 17-186 receiving, 1 TD, 1-4 PR DL STEPHEN JOHNSON6-4320Fayetteville (Ga.) Whitewatervs. Trinity Chr. FOR SEASON 40 TT, 10 TFL, 2 SA S TJ METCALF6-1188Pinson (Ala.) Valleyat Center Point FOR SEASON 40.5 TT, 8 PBU, 1 RF, 2 FF, 4-91 receiving, 2 TDs OL PARIS PATTERSON6-5340East St. Louis, Ill. vs. Alton FOR SEASON Helped team average 193 rushing yards per game DL QUINCY RHODES JR.6-7260North Little Rockvs. LR Southwest FOR SEASON 28 TT, 3 TFL, 6 SA, 18 QB hurries, 1 PBU, 4 exceptional plays LB ALEX SANFORD6-3240Oxford, Miss. vs. Germantown FOR SEASON 37 TT, 3 TFL, 2 QB hurries, 3 SA, 2 RF, 1 FF, 1 PBU QB MALACHI SINGELTON6-1225Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobbat Walton FOR SEASON 22-43-201 passing, 1 TD, 2 ints, 29-197 rushing, 1 TD LB BRAD SPENCE6-3232Houston Klein ForestThurs. vs. Klein Cain FOR SEASON 41 TT, 5 SA, 6 TFL, 11 QB hurries OL JOEY SU’A6-4309Bentonvilleat Rogers Hertiage FOR SEASON Graded 84%, 22 pancake blocks, no sacks allowed WR MICAH TEASE6-0180Tulsa Washingtonvs. Tahlequah FOR SEASON 19-426 receiving, 4 TDs, 3-15 rushing, 4 TT, 1 TFL CB DALLAS YOUNG6-1 185Gardendale, Ala.at Minor FOR SEASON 46 TT, 2 TFL, 2 SA, 4 PBU LAST WEEK ISAIAH AUGUSTAVE (Open date); JAYLON BRAXTON (1 TT, 1 PBU, 3-73 receiving, 1 TD, 1-25 PR in 69-14 victory over Liberty); LUKE BROWN (19 pancake blocks in 29-28 overtime victory over Springfield); CARSON DEAN (DNP in 35-23 victory over Plano East); DAVION DOZIER (5-121 receiving, 3 TDs in 53-14 victory over Springville); SHAMAR EASTER (Open date); CHRISTIAN FORD (DNP in 61-50 victory over Braswell); IAN GEFFRARD (3 TT, 1 TFL in 24-7 victory over Brookstone); JADEN HAMM (8 TT, 1 TFL, 3-65 receiving, 2 TDs in 28-27 overtime loss to Louisburg); DYLAN HASZ (2 PBU in 80-0 victory over Southmoore); LUKE HASZ (No stats in 80-0 victory over Southmoore); KALEB JAMES (Open date); RJ JOHNSON (Open date); STEPHEN JOHNSON (4 TT, 3 TFL in 50-13 victory over Fayette County); TJ METCALF (NA in 47-0 victory over Huffman); PARIS PATTERSON (Helped Flyers rush for 121 yards in 55-0 victory over Belleville West); QUINCY RHODES JR. (6 TT, 2 QB hurries, 2 TFL in 35-0 loss to Conway); ALEX SANFORD (6 TT, 1 sack in 35-0 loss to Tupelo); MALACHI SINGELTON (Open date); BRAD SPENCE (5 TT, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 QB hurries in 15-12 loss to Tomball Memorial); JOEY SU’A (Graded 84%, 4 pancake blocks, no sacks allowed in 48-14 victory over Fort Smith Southside); MICAH TEASE (2-21 receiving, 1 TD in 38-6 loss to Stillwater); DALLAS YOUNG (6 TT, 3 PBU in 40-6 victory over Jackson-Olin) Read More Here

Biden Issues Federal Pardons For 'simple Possession' Of Marijuana https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-issues-federal-pardons-for-simple-possession-of-marijuana/ Image source, Getty Images President Joe Biden has pardoned all Americans who have been convicted at the national level of possessing small amounts of marijuana. Officials estimate about 6,500 people with federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana will benefit. No-one is currently in federal prison solely for possession of marijuana. Most convictions occur at state level. But the federal pardons will make it easier for people to get employment, housing, and education, Mr Biden said. As a presidential candidate, Mr Biden promised to decriminalise cannabis use, as well as expunging convictions. “Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Mr Biden said on Thursday. He added that non-white people were statistically far more likely to be jailed for cannabis. As a White House candidate, Mr Biden was criticised for writing a 1994 crime bill that stiffened penalties for drug crimes and led to more incarceration of minorities. Media caption, Cannabis boom: Why Oklahoma is a ‘wild wild west’ The Democratic president said he would call upon all state governors to issue their own marijuana pardons. He is also directing the Department of Justice and the Department of Health to review how cannabis is classified under federal law. “We classify marijuana at the same level as heroin – and more serious than fentanyl,” said Mr Biden. “It makes no sense.” Recreational marijuana is already legal in 19 states and Washington DC. Medical use is legal in 37 states and three US territories. However, the drug remains illegal at the federal level, even in states where it can be legally bought and used, meaning people there could still be convicted for possession in certain circumstances. The pardons come a month before November’s congressional mid-term elections, which will determine the power balance in Washington for the last two years of Mr Biden’s term. Life for Pot, a website advocating for the release of non-violent marijuana offenders, noted that there are no known federal prisoners that will be affected by Mr Biden’s measure, tweeting: “This is window dressing.” Cannabis company shares jumped on the stock market by around 20% with news of Mr Biden’s pardons. Mr Biden is not the first US president to pardon cannabis offenders. On his final day in office, Donald Trump pardoned 12 marijuana offenders, including some who had been jailed for life under the three-strikes rule created by Mr Biden’s 1994 crime bill. Read More Here

Kelly Breaks With Biden Over 'dumb' Decision On Immigration In Heated Arizona Senate Debate https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kelly-breaks-with-biden-over-dumb-decision-on-immigration-in-heated-arizona-senate-debate/ PHOENIX — Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., broke with his party over the hot-button issue of immigration at a debate Thursday, highlighting his differences with progressives over policy and rebuking Democratic leaders in unusually stark terms. “I’ve spent a lot of time on our southern border, and let me just say it’s a mess. It’s a chaos. It’s crisis after crisis,” Kelly said. “I worked in Washington to bring more Border Patrol agents to the state of Arizona. “I’ve been strong on border security. And I’ve stood up to Democrats when they’re wrong on this issue — including the president,” Kelly continued. “When the president decided he was going to do something dumb on this and change the rules that would create a bigger crisis, I told him he was wrong. So I pushed back on this administration multiple times.” Kelly’s campaign said he was referring to Biden’s decision to end Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that began during the Trump administration that enabled officials to turn away asylum-seekers in the name of public health, and it noted Kelly’s vocal opposition to the move this year. His campaign also highlighted another break with Biden last year, when Kelly labeled the border situation then a “crisis,” as well, citing surging levels of people seeking asylum without additional resources to process applications, in addition to his demands for more federal resources to bolster security. Kelly said many Democrats “don’t understand this issue,” while Republicans want to politicize it. Kelly, who was first elected in a 2020 special election, is running against Republican challenger Blake Masters for a full six-year term. The issue of immigration appears to be a political liability for Democrats. Polls suggest Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the matter — including a survey by the president’s own pollster. An NBC News poll last month found that voters prefer Republicans over Democrats to run immigration policy by 46% to 29%. A CNN poll found immigration is tied as the third most pressing issue among likely Arizona voters. The debate, which is the candidates’ only matchup, featured multiple heated exchanges between the two major-party nominees and a third-party candidate, Libertarian Marc Victor. At one point, Masters asked Kelly whether he had “done everything” within his power to “secure the southern border.” Kelly responded: “I’ve been focused on the border since Day One.” Masters retorted, “If this is the result of Senator Kelly being focused on the border, my gosh, he’s the most ineffective and worst senator of all time.” Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut, assailed Masters for his position on abortion, previous calls to privatize Social Security, comments about the validity of the 2020 election and criticisms of the U.S. military. Masters, a venture capitalist and former deputy to billionaire tech mogul Peter Thiel, sought to tie Kelly to rising inflation while defending his opposition to abortion, his skepticism about the 2020 election and his criticisms of the military, which reportedly included opposition to U.S. involvement in World War II when he was a college student. Surveys in recent weeks have consistently suggested Kelly leads by 3 to 7 percentage points. During an extended exchange on abortion policy — one of the top issues both in Arizona and nationwide after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — Kelly insisted Masters was trying to cover up his true position. Masters has called abortion “demonic” and a “religious sacrifice,” and he has supported federal restrictions, Kelly asserted. NBC News reported in August that Masters had scrubbed his website of hard-line abortion positions after his primary win. During the debate, Masters expressed support for a 15-week national abortion ban proposed last month by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “I believe Arizona’s got the right to make its laws. That’s the whole point of reversing Roe vs. Wade,” Masters said. “And I believe in a federal backstop.” Kelly tore into Masters as a know-it-all who fancies himself as being smarter than women and everyone else around him. “Folks, I think we all know guys like this. You know, guys that think they know better than everyone about everything,” Kelly said. “That you think you know better than women and doctors about abortion. You think you know better than seniors about Social Security. You think you know better than veterans about how to win a war.” At one point, debate moderator Ted Simons sought to get Masters, who is backed by Trump, to clarify his position on the legitimacy of the 2020 election. During the primary, Masters put out an ad saying: “I think Trump won in 2020.” In early August, the election policy section of his website was rewritten to remove language that claimed the vote was a “rotten mess,” CNN reported. Masters said he believes Biden is the “legitimate” president but argued that Trump would have won re-election had stories about potential malfeasance by Biden’s son Hunter Biden not been “censored’” on social media. He added that he believes in “Election Day” and not “election season,” although he later answered “no” when he was asked whether he supports eliminating mail-in voting in Arizona, where it has been widely allowed for decades. Pressed about whether the 2020 vote itself was tainted, as Trump and his allies repeatedly claimed but were unable to substantiate in court, Masters said: “Yeah, I haven’t seen evidence of that.” Kelly said that in 2024, “we could wind up in a situation where the wheels come off of our democracy.” “And it’s because of folks like Blake Masters that are questioning the integrity of an election,” he added. Victor, the Libertarian candidate, who some Republicans fear could siphon votes from Masters, took Masters to task for treading cautiously in relation to the validity of the 2020 election. “Boy, for a guy who’s never been elected before, he sure sounds like a politician to me,” Victor said. “I’ll answer the question: Joe Biden won the election.” This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Read More Here

Wisconsin Judge Blocks Absentee Ballot Spoiling https://digitalarkansasnews.com/wisconsin-judge-blocks-absentee-ballot-spoiling/ MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge is prohibiting voters from canceling their original absentee ballot and casting a new one, siding with a conservative group created by prominent Republicans that said the practice known as ballot spoiling is illegal. The ruling Wednesday from a Waukesha County judge who was a former Republican attorney general comes as voters in the battleground state are submitting their absentee ballots for the Nov. 8 election. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson are both on the ballot. Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections filed the lawsuit on behalf of Brookfield voter Nancy Kormanik last month. It challenged the guidance issued on Aug. 1 to more than 1,800 local election clerks by the state elections commission detailing how they can spoil an absentee ballot at the request of the voter after it’s already been returned. Ballot spoiling got more attention in the August primary after a Republican candidate for governor and three top Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate dropped out of the races, but their names were still on the ballots. The elections commission made clear then that voters who had cast their ballots for one of them absentee could spoil it and vote again for someone still in the race. The commission did not immediately have numbers Thursday of how many ballots had been spoiled in the primary. This is not a common policy across the country, and only a few states do something similar due to logistical challenges associated with pre-processing of ballots, according to Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for the nonpartisan voter advocacy group Common Cause. In most states, local election officials can begin verifying mail ballots and processing them ahead of time, which involves removing them from their envelopes so there is no way to track who voted which ballot. RITE argued that the practice in Wisconsin is both against the law and creates additional opportunities for fraud and confusion. The group was created in July by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove, GOP donor Steve Wynn and others. The group has also filed election-related lawsuits in the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania. The Democratic National Committee joined the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission in fighting the lawsuit. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, who was attorney general from 2015 to 2019, sided on Wednesday with RITE and ordered the election commission to rescind its guidance. He also denied a request to put his oral ruling on hold. A written order was expected Thursday. “There doesn’t seem to be a compelling security reason why this should happen,” said David Levine, an elections researcher with the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy. According to Levine, the ability to spoil a ballot doesn’t create significant risk for election fraud due to checks and balances clerks have in place. Levine said it remains to be seen whether the ruling will discourage absentee voting or affect accessibility. Thursday’s ruling is the latest legal defeat for the election commission, which Republican lawmakers who created it have targeted for abolishment. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels also supports doing away with the commission. The commission and its guidance became a target after Donald Trump narrowly lost Wisconsin in 2020, an outcome that’s withstood numerous lawsuits, two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit and partisan reviews. A judge last month ruled that commission guidance allowing election clerks to fill in missing information on a witness certification for absentee ballots was illegal and must be rescinded. Two other lawsuits are pending seeking orders on what constitutes enough of an address for an absentee ballot to be accepted. “We disagree with this decision to restrict voting access in Wisconsin, particularly as voters in the state have already begun to cast their ballots. We will appeal the ruling so that every eligible voter can cast a valid ballot and have it counted,” DNC spokeswoman Brooke Goren said. Spokespeople for elections commission and the state Department of Justice did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday on the latest ruling. Derek Lyons, president of RITE, called the ruling “another major victory for Wisconsin voters.” “WEC’s unlawful guidance destroys voter confidence and taints the integrity of Wisconsin’s elections,” he said in a statement. “Once a vote is cast, it is cast. Period.” —– Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report. —– Harm Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

GOP Steps Up Crime Message In Midterm's Final Stretch https://digitalarkansasnews.com/gop-steps-up-crime-message-in-midterms-final-stretch/ Bebeto Matthews / AP, file Suffolk County Congressman Lee Zeldin listens as he prepares to participate in New York’s Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of CBS2 TV, June 13, 2022, in New York. Zeldin, the Republican challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in next month’s election, has delivered his anti-crime message while speaking at buildings and bodegas in diverse New York City neighborhoods. By Michelle L. Price and Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 | 10:54 p.m. NEW YORK — The graphic surveillance video shows a man on a sidewalk suddenly punching someone in the head, knocking them to the ground. With muted screams and gunshots in the background, the video stitches together other surveillance clips of shootings and punching on streets and subway trains as a voiceover says, “You’re looking at actual violent crimes caught on camera in Kathy Hochul’s New York.” That’s not exactly true. The ad from Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in next month’s election, included video of an assault in California. Some of the footage depicted crimes that took place before Hochul took office last year. While acknowledging a mistake, Zeldin’s campaign defended the ad and said the message was clear: violent crime is out of control. That’s a theme GOP candidates across the U.S. are sounding in the final month of the critical midterm elections. The issue of crime is dominating advertising in some of the most competitive Senate races, including those in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada, along with scores of House and governors campaigns such as the one in New York. The rhetoric is sometimes alarmist or of questionable veracity, closely echoing the language of former President Donald Trump, who honed a late-stage argument during the 2020 campaign that Democratic-led cities were out of control. That didn’t help Trump avoid defeat, but experts say Democrats would be wrong to ignore the potency of the attacks. “When violence is going up, people are concerned, and that’s when we tend to see it gain some traction as a political issue,” said Lisa L. Miller, professor of political science at Rutgers University, who focuses on crime as a political issue in countries across the world. The FBI released annual data this week that found violent crime rates didn’t increase substantially last year, though they remained above pre-pandemic levels. The report presents an incomplete picture, in part because it doesn’t include some of the nation’s largest police departments. More broadly, rates of violent crime and killings have increased around the U.S. since the pandemic, in some places spiking after hitting historic lows. Non-violent crime decreased during the pandemic, but the murder rate grew nearly 30% in 2020, rising in cities and rural areas alike, according to an analysis of crime data by The Brennan Center for Justice. The rate of assaults went up 10%, the analysis found. The rise defies easy explanation. Experts have pointed to a number of potential causes from worries about the economy and historically high inflation rates to intense stress and the pandemic that has killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. There is a history of candidates relying on racist tropes when warning of rising crime rates. During the 1988 presidential campaign, supporters of George H.W. Bush released the so-called Willie Horton ad that has become one of the most prominent examples of race-baiting in politics. In this year’s elections, Republicans often blame crime on criminal justice reforms adopted after George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police, including changes to bail laws that critics had long contended disproportionately impacted communities of color, along with accusations that Democrats have not been sufficiently supportive of law enforcement. Some GOP candidates are trying to make their case in communities of color. Zeldin, for instance, has delivered his anti-crime message while speaking at buildings and bodegas in diverse New York City neighborhoods. In Pennsylvania, the Republican nominee for Senate, heart surgeon-turned-TV talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, has toured the state holding “safe streets” forums in Black communities. Asked by a reporter about his focus on crime, Oz pointed to a conversation he had with Black Republican ward leaders in Philadelphia that turned from economic issues to struggling Black-owned businesses. “The African Americans in the group said, ‘Well, the deep problem is … people don’t feel safe,” Oz said in an interview. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democratic state lawmaker from Philadelphia, said Oz is using crime victims to get votes but rejects steps like limiting the availability of firearms that would reduce gun violence. “Oz does not live in a community that is struggling with this kind of crime and nobody, nobody believes that he actually cares and would actively advance policy solutions that would help deal with this problem,” Kenyatta said. Despite the GOP messaging, it’s not clear that crime is a top priority for voters. In an AP-NORC poll conducted in June that allowed U.S. adults to name up to five issues they consider most important for the government to be working on in the next year, 11% named crime or violence, unchanged since December and well below the percentage naming many of the other top issues for Americans. A September Fox News poll asking people to name one issue motivating them to vote this year found just 1% named crime, even as most said they were very concerned about crime when asked directly. Still, Democrats are responding to Republican efforts to portray them as soft on crime. Hochul in recent days announced the endorsement of several law enforcement unions and released her own ad with a public safety message titled, “Focused on it,” to remind voters that she toughened the state’s gun laws. During a debate last week in Colorado, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis responded to his Republican opponent Heidi Ganahl, who has repeatedly portrayed him as soft on crime, by suggesting her plan to cut taxes would “defund the police” by cutting prison and police budgets. Ganahl denied that, calling herself a “law-and-order girl,” and blamed Polis for rising crime rates. In Oregon, the Republican candidate for governor is making crime a top issue in a three-person race, where an independent candidate who is a former Democratic state lawmaker could take enough votes from the Democratic nominee to help the GOP win the top office in a blue state. Democrat Tina Kotek has joined her opponents in pledging to increase police funding but has also backed tougher gun laws as part of a plan to tackle crime. That approach is one embraced by gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund, which is spending $2.4 million combined on ads in Wisconsin and Georgia to convince voters that Republicans who don’t support tougher gun laws are actually the ones “soft” on crime. “We can reset this narrative and neutralize the GOP’s, what I would call, artificial advantage on the issue,” said Charlie Kelly, a senior political advisor to Everytown. In some states, candidates are raising alarm about crime rates that remain relatively low or have even fallen. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, said in a recent debate as he runs for reelection that the state’s crime is “going down despite some of the fearmongering you hear.” State data shows violent crime rates in Connecticut dropped 9% in 2021 from 2020, which Lamont pointed out in a recent debate with his Republican challenger, Bob Stefanowski, who has made “out of control” crime a central plank of his campaign. When asked how he can keep making the argument that crime is on the rise when the numbers tell a different story, Stefanowski said people are afraid of rising crime, but he denied stoking those fears. “If we weren’t highlighting this, we wouldn’t be doing our job. I can tell you when we’re out there, people are afraid. I’m not trying to make them afraid,” he said. “They’re coming to me afraid and saying, ‘What are you going to do about it?’” ___ Bedayn reported from Denver, Colorado. Associated Press writers Sara Burnett in Chicago, Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report. Read More Here

Joan Carolyn Fisher, 88 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/joan-carolyn-fisher-88/ Joan Carolyn Fisher, 88, died September 22, 2022, at Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was born January 21, 1934, in State Center, Iowa, the daughter of Clarence and Margaret (Davis) Stanfield. Joan graduated from State Center High School, class of 1951. She worked for West Marshall Community School, served on the Gutekunst library board for 18 years, the St. Paul Lutheran Church council and library board, and was treasurer of the American Legion Auxiliary. Organizations she belonged to include the St. Paul Lutheran women’s group, Easter Star and the American Legion Auxiliary. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband Robert Fisher, son Larry Dean Fisher, sister Ardis Stanfield, brother Wesley Stanfield, brother Wallace Stanfield and great grandson Royce Fisher. Joan is survived by sister Phyllis Hansman-Cronk, sons: Richard Fisher (wife Bobbie), Ronald Fisher (wife Sarah), and Thomas Fisher (wife Denise). She is also survived by grandchildren: Jackie (Nick) Howard, Jared Fisher, Rod Fisher, Joel Fisher and Nicholas Fisher. A service of remembrance for Joan will be held on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, beginning at 10:30 A.M. at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in State Center. A visitation for family and friends will be held on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, from 4:30 to 7:00 P.M. at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in State Center. For those unable to attend, a livestream will be available for view on the Mitchell Family Funeral Home Facebook page. Mitchell Family Funeral Home in Marshalltown has been entrusted with the service arrangements. For online condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. – Lovingly written by the family Read More…

Credit Suisse To Repurchase $3 Billion Of Debt Securities https://digitalarkansasnews.com/credit-suisse-to-repurchase-3-billion-of-debt-securities/ Signage hangs over the entrance of a Credit Suisse Group AG branch in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. Inflation in Switzerland has more than doubled since the start of the year and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs expects it to come in at a three-decade-high of 3% for 2022. Photographer: Pascal Mora/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Troubled bank Credit Suisse offered to buy back up to 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.03 billion) of debt securities Friday, as it navigates a plunging share price and a rise in bets against its debt. The Swiss lender is also looking to sell its famous Savoy Hotel in Zurich’s financial district, according to reports Thursday, prompting market speculation that it is dashing for liquidity. In a statement Friday regarding the offer to repurchase debt securities, Credit Suisse said: “The transactions are consistent with our proactive approach to managing our overall liability composition and optimizing interest expense and allow us to take advantage of market conditions to repurchase debt at attractive prices.” It comes after Credit Suisse’s shares briefly hit an all-time low earlier this week, and credit default swaps hit a record high, amid market’s skittishness over its future. The embattled lender is embarking on a massive strategic review under a new CEO after a string of scandals and risk management failures, and will give a progress update alongside its quarterly earnings on Oct. 27. The most costly of the scandals was the bank’s $5 billion exposure to hedge fund Archegos, which collapsed in March 2021. Credit Suisse has since overhauled its management team, suspended share buybacks and cut its dividend as it looks to shore up its future. Shares closed at 4.22 Swiss francs on Thursday. They are down over 50% year to date. On Friday, the bank announced a cash tender offer relating to eight euro or sterling-denominated senior debt securities, worth up to 1 billion euros ($980 million), along with 12 U.S. dollar-denominated securities worth up to $2 billion. The offers on the debt securities will expire by Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, respectively. This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly. Read More Here

Friday Five: Plan Your River Valley Weekend With Theater, Fall Fun And ‘An Evening With Sinatra’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/friday-five-plan-your-river-valley-weekend-with-theater-fall-fun-and-an-evening-with-sinatra/ “James & The Giant Peach” — Roald Dahl’s classic tale, is on stage at 7 p.m. Oct. 7; 3 & 7 p.m. Oct. 8; 3 p.m. Oct. 9 at Breedlove Auditorium at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. Tickets are $10 at uafs.universitytickets.com. (Courtesy Photo) Five fast suggestions for weekend fun in the River Valley: 1. “James & The Giant Peach” — Presented by the UAFS Theatre Department, Roald Dahl’s classic tale will feature original music composed by UAFS student William Newby. The show runs approximately an hour and will include a meet and greet with the characters after each performance, 7 p.m. Friday; 3 & 7 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday, Breedlove Auditorium at UAFS. $10. uafs.universitytickets.com. 2. Chaffee Crossing Farmers and Artisans Market — For the Saturday season finale, organizers expect 160 vendors and more than 3,000 shoppers, along with special guest crafter Steve Smith of Bella Vista, who is the resident fireplace mantle carver at the Valley Woodcarvers Shop at Silver Dollar City, and the Ozark Strangers, an award-winning youth bluegrass band from Mountain View. There will also be a Dog-stume contest at 10 a.m., a costume parade led by Star Wars characters from the 501st Legion and Red One immediately after that, food, music and more, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Chaffee Crossing Historic District, 7300 Ellis St. in Fort Smith. Free. chaffeecrossing.com. 3. Fort Smith Fall Festival — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Fort Smith National Historic Site, 301 S. Parker Ave., with living history encampments, garden tours, a children’s area, weapons demonstrations and trial reenactment, and around Fort Smith: • Miss Laura’s Visitor Center, 2 N. B St., will have free tours and screenings of “Step Into Miss Laura’s” hourly from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. • Fort Smith Museum of History, 320 Rogers Ave., offers reduced admission and will host “History Alive: Voices from Early Fort Smith” from 1 to 3 p.m. Judgement Town will perform old west shootouts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 47 S. Third St. • Fort Smith Trolley Museum at 100 S. Fourth St. will have free electric trolley rides from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an antique tractor & engine show from 1 to 3 p.m. • The Clayton House at 514 N. Sixth St. will have free admission, games, crafts, cupcakes and more in celebration of Judge Clayton’s birthday. • Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, 1601 Rogers Ave., will host a fall family day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with face painting, craft projects, food, music and more. • The Frisco Depot, 200 Garrison Ave., will have a free car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. facebook.com/FortSmithFallFestival. 4. Hispanic-Latinx Celebration — 5-9 p.m. Saturday with Duo Divinas at 6 p.m. and Danza Tonantzin at 7 p.m., Garrison Commons Pocket Park, 913 Garrison Ave. in Fort Smith. Free. 646downtown.com. 5. “An Evening With Sinatra” — The evening will include a pre-performance reception and a performance featuring original choreography to music by Frank Sinatra and other “Rat Pack” entertainers, followed by a dinner party, with all proceeds to benefit Western Arkansas Ballet, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dance academy and pre-professional company, 6 p.m. Saturday, Arts on Main, 509 Main St., and the King Opera House, 427 Main St., both in historic downtown Van Buren. Tickets at waballet.org or (479) 785-0152. Check out Sunday’s What’s Up! for more arts and entertainment events at nwaonline.com/whatsup. — Becca Martin-Brown [email protected] Oktoberfest this Saturday at the Chaffee Crossing Farmers and Artisans Market will include a Dog-stume Contest with categories for Best Dog Talent, Most Unique Costume and Best Fall Festival Costume. Entry fee is one can of dog food per dog per category, with donations going to Fort Smith Animal Haven. (Courtesy Photo/Lorie Robertson) For the “An Evening With Sinatra” fundraiser, Western Arkansas Ballet dancers will perform original choreography to music by Frank Sinatra and other “Rat Pack” entertainers. (Courtesy Photo) Read More Here

Masters Pummels Kelly Over Biden, Borders And Soaring Inflation In Testy Debate https://digitalarkansasnews.com/masters-pummels-kelly-over-biden-borders-and-soaring-inflation-in-testy-debate/ Trump-backed Republican Blake Masterspummeled his Democratic rival over “open borders”, Joe Biden and the soaring cost of living in a bad-tempered debate in Arizona. A month before voters across the country go the polls in mid-term elections that will determine the control of Congress, Mr Masters laid into incumbent senator Mark Kelly, accusing him and Mr Biden of letting inflation surge out of control and failing to lock-down the nation’s borders. At times, particularly in the first half of the debate when Mr Masters appeared to have the momentum, Mr Kelly was saved by the intervention of Libertarian Mark Victor, who often denounced both Republicans and Democrats and claimed he had better ideas than both. “I want to speak up on behalf of the drunken sailor,” he said at one point, in what was likely the most memorable quote of the evening. Mr Masters 36, who is backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, said is opening remarks: “Two years ago Mark Kelly stood right there and he promised to be independent. But he broke that promise.” Mr Kelly, 58, a former Naval officer and astronaut, and the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, said the Republican held views that were “dangerous” for Arizona. “He celebrated when Arizona enacted a national ban on abortion. And he wants to privatise your Social Security,” he said. The event on Thursday in Phoenix, will be the only major debate held in Arizona this election cycle. The competing Senate candidates agreed to a single evening, while the debate for governor has been largely meaningless after Democratic candidate Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said she would not appear with Republican opponent, Kari Lake, who has repeated falsehoods that the 2020 election was rigged. Polls show the Senate race very close, with Real Clear Politics curating an average of around four points advantage to Mr Kelly. But other polls have suggested the race is all but tied, and with the Senate divided 50-50 – with Vice President Kamala Harris possessing a tiebreaker vote – Republicans would love to bag Arizona and in doing so win the upper chamber. Two years, ago Mr Biden managed to become the first Democrat to win there since Bill Clinton in 1996, but he beat Donald Trump by just 10,000 votes. On a state that border Mexico, issues such as immigration are also key issues. Mr Masters hammered away at Mr Kelly, blaming him and Mr Biden for allowing record number of migrants try to enter. Mark Kelly on his Senate victory Records show the authorities are set make more than 2.3 million arrests during the 2022 fiscal year. That will exceed last year’s record of more than 1.7 million arrests. Mr Kelly sought to place space between his actions and those of Mr Biden. “When the president decided he’s going to do something dumb on this and change the rules and create a bigger crisis, I told him he was wrong,” Mr Kelly said. Mr Masters retorted: “We have a wide open southern border, so if that’s the best you can do, I respectfully request you resign.” Mr Masters had previously repeated Mr Trump’s falsehoods that the 2020 election was rigged. He also backed a very conservative position on abortion. After winning the Republican primary and seeking to moderate his image for the kind of suburban voters he would need to win to his side, Mr Masters changed his website. Around one-third of registered voters in Arizona are independents. On Thursday he was confronted about these changes by the moderators. “I encourage people to go read my website now it is still the most pro life most detailed agenda of any Senate candidate running nationwide. I’m pro life. I’m proud to be pro life. I will never run from that,” he said, dodging the question. He was also asked if he recognised Mr Biden as the president. Blake Masters is seeking to oust Mark Kelly (Getty Images) “Joe Biden is absolutely the president. I mean, my gosh, have you seen the gas prices lately,” he replied. He was asked if he thought the election was “rigged”. “I suspect that if the FBI didn’t work with big tech and big media to censor the Hunter Biden infer or the Hunter Biden crime story,” he said. “I suspect that changed a lot of people’s votes. I suspect President Trump would be in the White House today, if big tech and big media and the FBI didn’t work together to put the thumb on the scale to get Joe Biden in there.” Mr Kelly also landed some blows. Looking at Mr Masters, he said: “I think we all know guys like this – guys that think they know better than every one about everything” He added: “You think you know better than women and doctors about abortion. You even think you know better than seniors about Social Security, and you think you know better than veterans about how to win a war.” He said: “Folks, we all know guys like this. And we can’t be letting them make decisions about us. Because it’s just dangerous.” Read More Here

Authorities Arrest Man, Accusing Him Of Threatening To Hang Arizona Official https://digitalarkansasnews.com/authorities-arrest-man-accusing-him-of-threatening-to-hang-arizona-official/ An Iowa man was arrested Thursday on charges that he left a pair of threatening voicemails for a local election official in Arizona and an official associated with the state attorney general’s office nearly a year after the 2020 election, the Justice Department said. Mark A. Rissi, of Hiawatha, Iowa, is accused of threatening to hang Clint Hickman, a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Rissi also allegedly left a threatening voicemail for an employee in Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office. Rissi, 64, was charged with two counts of making a threatening interstate communication and one count of making a threatening telephone call, the Justice Department said. The case is part of the department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was launched in June 2021. It has charged people in numerous states. Hickman, a Republican who attended then-President Donald Trump’s final rally in the state just days before the 2020 election, was the chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, a Republican-controlled and -elected board that stood in staunch defense of the county’s 2020 election. Joe Biden narrowly won Arizona. Rissi is alleged to have left the voicemail for Hickman last September, accusing him of lying about the fairness of the 2020 election. The board of supervisors oversees elections in the county. “I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and fair,” he said, according to a Justice Department news release. “When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie [expletive], you’ll remember that you lied on the [expletive] Bible, you piece of [expletive]. You’re gonna die, you piece of [expletive]. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you.” The Justice Department, which redacted the expletives, said the call was made three days after the Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity firm, released a partisan review of Maricopa County’s 2020 election, which had been ordered by the GOP-controlled state Senate. Hickman confirmed Thursday that he listened to the voicemail. “I remember exactly where I was when I heard that voicemail. It was chilling. This wasn’t a prank call. This wasn’t protected speech. This was a serious threat to me and my family,” he said in a statement. “No one should be subjected to this kind of hatred,” he added. “And if we truly want to keep our country great, we will do everything we can to denounce threats against election workers and combat the disinformation that imperils our democracy.” Rissi is accused of leaving a separate voicemail with an official in Brnovich’s office on Dec. 8, claiming he was a “victim of a crime” that he described as “the theft of the 2020 election” and threatening hanging. “I’m a victim of a crime. My family is a victim of a crime. My extended family is a victim of a crime. That crime was the theft of the 2020 election,” Rissi is alleged to have said, suggesting that “conspirators” had deleted election fraud data from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors computer system. If he is convicted, Rissi could face up to five years in prison for each count of making a threatening interstate communication and up to two years in prison for the threatening telephone call charge. Rissi could not be reached for comment. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Read More Here

Ohio Launches Public Integrity Unit For Elections https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ohio-launches-public-integrity-unit-for-elections/ COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s Republican elections chief has announced a new public integrity unit in response to what he called Americans’ “crisis of confidence” in the electoral process even while acknowledging the state’s reputation for secure voting. The unit, taking effect next week, will consolidate and highlight the Ohio secretary of state’s investigative work and eventually have one or more dedicated investigator, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a statement. Those investigators won’t start until after the General Election, however. He referenced a growing national trend “that indicates a crisis of confidence in the electoral process.” That crisis is largely a concern of Republican voters and stems from claims by former President Donald Trump about election fraud in the campaign won by Joe Biden. Numerous federal and local election officials in both parties, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even Trump’s own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the election fraud the former president alleges. For his part, LaRose initially said the 2020 election was secure and accurate, but as last spring’s primary neared — which LaRose won, defeating a 2020 election skeptic — he began to echo some of Trump’s talking points. LaRose claimed there were problems in other states and touted his office’s work to combat voter fraud. Trump endorsed LaRose, a longtime supporter. LaRose said his new division will help his office more efficiently and thoroughly do work it already does, such as voting system certification and investigation of election law violations, including a team dedicated at looking into rare cases of voter fraud or suppression and campaign finance violations, said LaRose, who is seeking a second term in November. “Our elections are being scrutinized like never before, and any lack of absolute confidence in the accuracy and honesty of those elections weakens the very foundation of our democracy,” LaRose said in a statement. He also referred to Ohio’s “strong national reputation for secure, accurate, and accessible elections.” LaRose’s announcement follows a decision in Florida in which lawmakers and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis created a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes. Democrats called LaRose’s news a waste of taxpayer dollars aimed at bolstering his political aspirations. LaRose’s name is often mentioned as a possible 2024 U.S. Senate candidate. In a referral of 11 individuals for possible election fraud in August, LaRose identified just a single case of possible illegal voting, said party spokesperson Matt Keyes, making the new office “a taxpayer-funded solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” In fact, in a series of referrals since 2019, LaRose identified at least 548 cases of potential election fraud violations it referred to prosecutors, his office said. LaRose has acknowledged that cases of election fraud are a tiny fraction of overall votes cast in Ohio. Chelsea Clark, LaRose’s Democratic opponent, questioned the timing of the announcement. She also noted LaRose’s efforts to keep his other opponent, independent candidate Terpeshore Maras, off the ballot. Clark called out LaRose for a “history of politicizing these investigations to punish opponents.” Maras is a conservative podcaster who embraces Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled her eligible to run for Ohio secretary of state this fall. In August, LaRose’s office had upheld a judge’s decision that a number of Maras’ petition signatures were invalid, and invalidated her candidacy, a move overturned by the state Supreme Court. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

North Little Rock Crisis Negotiators Responding To An https://digitalarkansasnews.com/north-little-rock-crisis-negotiators-responding-to-an/ North Little Rock crisis negotiators responding to an ‘armed barricaded subject’  KATV Read More…

Jan. 6 Committee Schedules Next Public Hearing For Oct. 13 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/jan-6-committee-schedules-next-public-hearing-for-oct-13/ Supporters of President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has scheduled its next hearing for Oct. 13, 2022, pushing the investigation back into the limelight less than three weeks before the midterm election that will determine control of Congress. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has scheduled its next hearing for Oct. 13, pushing the investigation back into the limelight less than three weeks before the midterm election that will determine control of Congress. It will be the panel’s first public session since the summer, when lawmakers worked through a series of tightly scripted hearings that attracted millions of viewers and touched on nearly every aspect of the Capitol insurrection. The committee had planned to hold the hearing in late September, but postponed as Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. The panel — comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans — has not yet provided an agenda, but Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said recently that the hearing would “tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the election.” Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chairman, told reporters last week that the hearing would touch on recent revelations about Save America PAC, Trump’s chief fundraising vehicle. It is facing legal scrutiny after the Justice Department issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that sought information about the political action committee’s fundraising practices. The hearing is also expected to include never-before-seen interview footage of witnesses the committee has deposed since late July. That could include Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was interviewed last week behind closed doors. The committee probed Thomas about her role in trying to help Trump overturn his election defeat, including her correspondence with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election. Throughout its initial eight hearings, the committee has sought to show the American public in expansive detail how Trump ignored many of his closest advisers to pursue false claims of election fraud after he lost the election to Democrat Joe Biden, then failed to act when his rhetoric spurred a mob assault on the Capitol. Some of the more than 1,000 witnesses interviewed by the panel — a number of them Trump’s closest allies — recounted in videotaped testimony how the former president sat idly when hundreds of his supporters violently attacked the Capitol as Congress certified Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021. The committee is aiming to wrap up its work by the end of the year and issue a final report and legislative recommendations, but their investigative work is not yet complete as lawmakers explore several unanswered questions. Panel members still want to get to the bottom of missing Secret Service texts from Jan. 5-6, 2021, which could shed further light on Trump’s actions during the insurrection, particularly after earlier testimony about his confrontation with security as he tried to join supporters at the Capitol. Thompson said earlier this month that the committee has recently obtained “thousands” of documents from the Secret Service. Congressional investigators have also been interviewing several of Trump’s former Cabinet members, some of whom had discussed invoking the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office in the aftermath of the insurrection. Another decision for the committee is how aggressively to pursue testimony from Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. Some members have downplayed the value of taking that step and time is running short to request their testimony. The panel will have to wrap up the loose ends by the end of the year when the select committee status expires. If Republicans take the majority in November’s elections, they are expected to dissolve the committee in January. The panel plans to issue a final report by the end of December that will include legislative reforms it says would help prevent future attempts to subvert democracy. Print Headline: Jan. 6 committee schedules next public hearing for Oct. 13 Read More Here

Falsehoods, Harassment Stress Local Election Offices In US https://digitalarkansasnews.com/falsehoods-harassment-stress-local-election-offices-in-us-2/ Carroll County Board of Elections Clerk Sarah Dyck, foreground, stamps incoming absentee ballot applications as Elections Clerk Deloris Kean counts more applications at the Board of Elections offices Sept. 26, 2022, in Carrollton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Phil Long) CARROLLTON, Ohio — With early voting less than three weeks away, Nicole Mickley was staring down a daunting to-do list: voting machines to test, poll workers to recruit, an onslaught of public records requests to examine. And then, over a weekend, came word that the long-time county sheriff had died. To Mickley, director of elections in a small Ohio county, that added one more complication to an election season filled with them. It meant a new contest was needed to fill the position, so she and her small staff would have to remake the ballots for the fall election for the second time in a week. “I feel like ever since we took office in ’19, it’s just been a constant rollercoaster,” said Mickley, whose 36 months on the job qualify her as the senior member of her four-person staff in the Carroll County elections office. The office Mickley oversees is tucked in a corner of the 137-year-old county courthouse in Carrollton, a close-knit town of 3,200 that sits amid the farm fields and fracking wells of eastern Ohio. She and Deputy Director Cheri Whipkey’s son graduated from high school together. The director and her deputy seem an unlikely pair to be contending with the wrath of a nation. Yet ever since former President Donald Trump began falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Mickley, Whipkey and local election workers like them across the country have been inundated with conspiracy theories and election falsehoods, and hounded with harassment. They’ve been targeted by threats, stressed by rising workloads and stretched budgets. The stress and vitriol have driven many workers away, creating shortages of election office staff and poll workers. During Ohio’s second primary in August — an added burden for election officials stemming from partisan feuding over redistricting — Mickley’s two clerks darted around the county all day filling in for absent poll workers. Two staff members’ husbands were enlisted to help. And then there’s the stream of misinformation falsely alleging that voting systems across the country are riddled with fraud. Unfounded conspiracy theories about voting machines, manipulation of elections by artificial intelligence or ballot fixing have found a wide audience among Republicans. The claims sometimes lead voters — usually friends and neighbors of the Carroll County election staff — to question them about voting equipment and election procedures, no longer clear what to believe about a system they’ve trusted all their lives. The false claims about the 2020 presidential election also have led believers to inundate election offices around the country with public records requests related to voting processes or equipment, demands to retain the 2020 ballots instead of destroying them, and attempts to remove certain voters from the rolls. Carroll County hasn’t been immune, even though it’s heavily Republican and voted for Trump by nearly 53 percentage points over President Joe Biden in 2020. The county of nearly 27,000 people was flooded over the summer with form-letter emails from self-proclaimed “aggrieved citizens.” They were protesting electronic voting machines, vowing to sue or demanding the county retain thousands of records from past elections. Follow-up letters warned that election officials will “be met with the harshest possible criminal and civil repercussions available under the law” if they destroy any election records. In response, a floor-to-ceiling locked cabinet in Mickley’s office is now jammed with boxes of ballots and other records from 2020, papers that normally would have been destroyed by now to make way for the records of the 2022 election. “We’re already busting at the seams,” she said. “It’s a small office in the bottom basement of the courthouse that was built in the 1800s. Space is not our friend.” Whipkey notes that none of the complaint letters are from local residents, so many of whom she knows personally after 16 years managing the local McDonald’s. She and Mickley both feel lucky they are only receiving letters — not the death threats experienced by some election officials around the country. Still, the accusations sting. Whipkey said she hates being called a liar. “If they wanted the answer, they would have come and asked us. We could give it to them,” she said. “But they don’t want the answer; they just want to harass.” Mickley said attending national conferences has persuaded her that election workers across the U.S. are just as honest, hard-working and passionate as her staff is: “I’m starting to get defensive and angry for them, too.” Behind a Plexiglas window in the front of the office, the other two election staffers answer calls and process voter registration forms and change-of-address and absentee ballot requests. They’re also preparing the precinct kits that will go to poll workers — positions the office is still trying to fill for the Nov. 8 election, when they expect heavy turnout partly because Ohio has one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races in the country. Clerks Sarah Dyck, a Democrat, and Deloris Kean, a Republican, keep their personal feelings about the movement spawned by Trump’s election lies out of the office. They don’t want to bring politics into their work helping run the county’s elections. When she’s out in the community, Dyck said neighbors are mostly sympathetic about how stressful elections work has become in recent years. “People all the time say, ‘I don’t know about this, but I know you guys are doing a good job,'” she said. “It’s like with congressmen, right? ‘Well, I don’t like Congress, but my congressman’s okay.’ The closer you are to it, you know the people, and so it’s about those relationships.” That’s not always been the experience of members of the Carroll County Board of Elections. The four members of the bipartisan panel — a retired railroad worker, a farmer, a facilities operator and the owner of a local yoga studio — hold their meetings at a table wedged between Mickley’s and Whipkey’s desks in the cramped office. A collection of whiskey bottles shaped like elephants and donkeys sits atop a metal filing cabinet nearby. Some members said they must work constantly to dispel false information that is rampant in the Republican-dominated county. Roger Thomas, one of the board’s two Republicans and the operator of a popular pumpkin stand, said he’s frustrated that many of his friends “are unwilling to get past what they think they know with the facts.” “It doesn’t matter what you say to them, you can’t convince them,” he said. “I don’t know how we combat that. They don’t care if they gum up the works of these elections, and that’s the problem. If these elections go haywire, go south — as the elections go, so goes the country.” Mickley said she is a perfectionist who would never tolerate the slightest interference with carrying out secure and accurate elections. She chokes up when talking about how seriously she takes her job and how she and her staff long to ease the worries of skeptical voters. The widespread belief in election conspiracy theories and hostility toward front-line election workers leaves Mickley questioning the country’s future. “I think about my kids,” she said, “and I think about what I want to leave for them and what I want to build now to make sure that they still have it in 20, 30 years. And I’m not alone in that.” —— Associated Press writer Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. —— Associated Press coverage of democracy receives support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. —— Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap–politics Read More Here

Insider Worries About The Team DOJ Has On Trump's Mar-A-Lago Case https://digitalarkansasnews.com/insider-worries-about-the-team-doj-has-on-trumps-mar-a-lago-case/ Read More Here

Thailand In Mourning After Children Killed In Mass Stabbing And Shooting https://digitalarkansasnews.com/thailand-in-mourning-after-children-killed-in-mass-stabbing-and-shooting/ Thailand was in mourning on Friday after 37 people were killed, most of them young children, in a brutal gun and knife attack at a preschool centre in the country’s northeast. The attacker, a former police officer, opened fire and stabbed children as they slept at the centre in Na Klang district in Nong Bua Lamphu province at about noon on Thursday, police and witnesses said. Police said the perpetrator was a former police officer. Photograph: THAILAND’S CENTRAL INVESTIGATION/AFP/ Getty Images As he left the nursery the attacker drove his car towards and shot at bystanders then returned home, where he shot himself, his wife and his child. The Thai government ordered all Thai flags to be lowered to half mast on Friday, while prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was expected to visit the area in the afternoon. “This shouldn’t happen,” he said on Thursday. “I feel deep sadness toward the victims and their relatives.” King Maha Vajiralongkorn was expected to visit the town later on Friday to meet families reeling from the tragedy. Rescue workers arrange coffins containing the body of victims. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters “All Thai people, and all people around the world who know about this … will feel so depressed and saddened,” said Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul. Outside the centre on Friday morning, families sat in rows, many wearing black. Nearby lay small coffins, yellow, pale blue and white decorated with gold. On Thursday, some family members of those killed in the attack had remained at the scene of the rampage late into the evening. Mental health workers sat with them, reported Thai TBS television. ‘He shot right through the door’ A teacher told the broadcaster that the assailant got out of a car and immediately shot a man eating lunch outside, then fired more shots. When the attacker paused to reload, the teacher had an opportunity to run inside. “I ran to the back, the children were asleep,” said the young woman, who did not give her name, choking back her words. “The children were two or three years old.” One witness told ThaiPBS that she pleaded with him to stop. “He was heading towards me and I begged him for mercy, I didn’t know what to do,” she said. Another witness said staff at the day care centre had locked the door, but the suspect shot his way in. “The teacher who died, she had a child in her arms,” the witness, whose name wasn’t given, told Thailand’s Kom Chad Luek television. “I didn’t think he would kill children, but he shot at the door and shot right through it.” Paramedics described harrowing scenes. “It’s a scene that nobody wants to see. From the first step when I went in, it felt harrowing,” Piyalak Kingkaew, an emergency worker heading the first responder team, told Reuters. “We’ve been through it before, but this incident is most harrowing because they are little kids.” At least 10 people were wounded, including six critically, police spokesperson Archayon Kraithong said. Among the injured were three boys and a girl. The day care centre sits empty a day after it was attacked. Photograph: Sakchai Lalit/AP Mass shootings are rare in Thailand, however gun ownership rates are high. The attack comes two years after a mass shooting at a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, which was carried out by a soldier angry at his superiors. In an editorial on Friday, the Bangkok Post said: “Both cases beg questions about the recruitment process employed by the army and the Royal Thai Police (RTP).” “Above all, people will want to know how the RTP hired this man, who reportedly admitted to his superior that he had been taking narcotics since he was a teenager. Moreover, he had been punished for bad behaviour on several occasions.” Police identified the attacker as Panya Khamrab, a 34-year-old former police lieutenant colonel who had been dismissed from the force since January for methamphetamine possession, and officially fired in June. He had appeared in court earlier on Thursday on a drugs charge and was due to appear again on Friday. Officials said the results of an autopsy would determine whether or not he had taken drugs prior to the attack. “Primarily, we believe that it’s because of the drugs and the stress [of his court appearance]”, said Police chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat. “I don’t know (why he did this), but he was under a lot of pressure,” Panya’s mother told Nation TV, citing debt the former policeman had clocked up and his drug taking. Politicians across the world have offered their condolences, including British prime minister Liz Truss and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “I’m profoundly saddened by the heinous shooting at a childcare centre in Thailand. Learning centres should be spaces where children feel safe, never targeted. My condolences to the victims’ loved ones & the people of Thailand.” Read More Here

Tropical Depression 13 Forms, Expected To Strengthen https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tropical-depression-13-forms-expected-to-strengthen/ AND EVEN MORE MIDWEEK. THERE ARE TWO AREAS IN THE TROPICS. 12 IS MOVING TO THE WEST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. IT IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAIN OF THE ABC ISLANDS AND STRENGTHEN INTO A TROPICAL STORM BY MORNING. IT WOULD BE NAMED JULIA. IT WILL INTENSIFY IN THE CARIBBEAN AND LIKELY MAKE LANDFALL ON NICARAGUA AS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE AND THEN MOVE OVER CENTRAL AMERICA. Tropical Depression 13 forms, expected to strengthen Tropical Depression Thirteen formed Thursday night near the ABC Islands and the coast of Venezuela. The depression is expected to become a tropical storm by Friday morning.The system was located about 60 miles south-southeast of Curacao and had winds of 35 mph. The storm was moving west at 15 mph.”On the forecast track, the cyclone is expected to move near the ABC Islands, the coast of northwestern Venezuela, and the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia tonight through Friday morning. The system is then forecast to move across the southwestern Caribbean Sea, moving near San Andres and Providencia Islands Saturday night, and approaching the coast of Nicaragua on Sunday morning,” the National Hurricane Center said.SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:A Hurricane Watch is in effect for…* San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina Islands ColombiaA Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for…* Coast of Colombia from Riohacha eastward to the Colombia/Venezuela borderA hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area.A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case within the next 24 hours.Additionally, Tropical Depression 12 was about 800 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde islands Thursday. The storm had winds of 30 mph and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph.”Slow weakening is forecast, and the depression is expected to become a remnant low or dissipate within the next day,” the National Hurricane Center said.Neither of these systems is expected to impact Florida.KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUEDStay tuned to WESH 2 News, WESH.COM, or NOAA Weather Radio for storm updates.Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind.Understand hurricane forecast models and cones.Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use precut plywood.Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first-aid supplies, drinking water, and medications.The WESH 2 First Warning Weather Team recommends you have these items ready before the storm strikes.Bottled water: One gallon of water per person per dayCanned food and soup, such as beans and chiliCan opener for the cans without the easy-open lidsAssemble a first-aid kitTwo weeks’ worth of prescription medicationsBaby/children’s needs, such as formula and diapersFlashlight and batteriesBattery-operated weather radioWHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING IS ISSUEDListen to the advice of local officials. If you are advised to evacuate, leave.Complete preparation activities.If you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows.Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows.HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN HELP DURING A HURRICANEA smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane — with the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath.Download the WESH 2 News app for iOS | AndroidEnable emergency alerts — if you have an iPhone, select settings, then go into notifications. From there, look for government alerts and enable emergency alerts.If you have an Android phone, from the home page of the app, scroll to the right along the bottom and click on “settings.” On the settings menu, click on “severe weather alerts.” From the menu, select from most severe, moderate-severe, or all alerts.PET AND ANIMAL SAFETYYour pet should be a part of your family plan. If you must evacuate, the most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to evacuate them too. Leaving pets behind, even if you try to create a safe space for them, could result in injury or death.Contact hotels and motels outside of your immediate area to see if they take pets.Ask friends, relatives and others outside of the affected area whether they could shelter your animal. Tropical Depression Thirteen formed Thursday night near the ABC Islands and the coast of Venezuela. The depression is expected to become a tropical storm by Friday morning. The system was located about 60 miles south-southeast of Curacao and had winds of 35 mph. The storm was moving west at 15 mph. “On the forecast track, the cyclone is expected to move near the ABC Islands, the coast of northwestern Venezuela, and the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia tonight through Friday morning. The system is then forecast to move across the southwestern Caribbean Sea, moving near San Andres and Providencia Islands Saturday night, and approaching the coast of Nicaragua on Sunday morning,” the National Hurricane Center said. SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT: A Hurricane Watch is in effect for… * San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina Islands Colombia A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for… * Coast of Colombia from Riohacha eastward to the Colombia/Venezuela border A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case within the next 24 hours. Additionally, Tropical Depression 12 was about 800 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde islands Thursday. The storm had winds of 30 mph and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph. “Slow weakening is forecast, and the depression is expected to become a remnant low or dissipate within the next day,” the National Hurricane Center said. Neither of these systems is expected to impact Florida. KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUED Stay tuned to WESH 2 News, WESH.COM, or NOAA Weather Radio for storm updates. Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind. Understand hurricane forecast models and cones. Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use precut plywood. Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first-aid supplies, drinking water, and medications. The WESH 2 First Warning Weather Team recommends you have these items ready before the storm strikes. Bottled water: One gallon of water per person per day Canned food and soup, such as beans and chili Can opener for the cans without the easy-open lids Assemble a first-aid kit Two weeks’ worth of prescription medications Baby/children’s needs, such as formula and diapers Flashlight and batteries Battery-operated weather radio WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING IS ISSUED Listen to the advice of local officials. If you are advised to evacuate, leave. Complete preparation activities. If you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows. Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows. HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN HELP DURING A HURRICANE A smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane — with the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath. Download the WESH 2 News app for iOS | Android Enable emergency alerts — if you have an iPhone, select settings, then go into notifications. From there, look for government alerts and enable emergency alerts. If you have an Android phone, from the home page of the app, scroll to the right along the bottom and click on “settings.” On the settings menu, click on “severe weather alerts.” From the menu, select from most severe, moderate-severe, or all alerts. PET AND ANIMAL SAFETY Your pet should be a part of your family plan. If you must evacuate, the most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to evacuate them too. Leaving pets behind, even if you try to create a safe space for them, could result in injury or death. Contact hotels and motels outside of your immediate area to see if they take pets. Ask friends, relatives and others outside of the affected area whether they could shelter your animal. Read More Here

DACA Recipients’ Future Still In Limbo After Ruling https://digitalarkansasnews.com/daca-recipients-future-still-in-limbo-after-ruling/ SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The future of DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is in jeopardy again after a recent court ruling. One DACA recipient, Karla Palma, said she has called Fort Smith home since she was 4 years old. She is one of a few thousand Arkansans who have established their lives under DACA. “There are some people who have already started a profession, there are teachers or doctors or nurses, and as soon as that program expires, we’re going to lose a lot of the people that we already have in the workforce,” Palma said. Palma said it’s hard living in limbo with the future of DACA unknown. “You don’t know when it’s gonna be over or whenever the new order comes out from whichever court it’s in, if the program is going to terminated, what that’s going to look like,” Palma said. Attorney Aaron Cash said on Wednesday an appeals court decision upheld a case that found DACA illegal, but sent the court sent it back to a lower court to review a new version of the rule that was issued by the Biden Administration in late August. The new version was subject to public comment as part of the formal rule-making process unlike the original DACA program created by the Obama Administration. “Potentially they couldn’t strike it down on that ground, but there may be other grounds that that haven’t been decided yet,” Cash said. Mireya Reith with Arkansas United, an immigrant rights advocacy group, said it’s important to come up with a permanent solution to ensure DACA recipients don’t get deported. “We do believe that Congress has a chance to get us out of this waiting game within the courts, and we’re going to be calling on them to do so in the lame duck come December,” Reith said. The ruling provides temporary reprieve for DACA recipients but does not allow new people to apply for the program. Rep. Bruce Westerman issued the following statement in regard to the ruling. “President Obama created the DACA system illegally in order to circumvent Congress. Democrats’ go-it-alone Executive Order has now put more than 610,000 people in legal limbo. That is unfair to them, the American taxpayer, and the million of individuals who would immigrate legally.” Rep. Bruce Westerman Read More Here

Stock Futures Inch Lower Ahead Of September's Jobs Report https://digitalarkansasnews.com/stock-futures-inch-lower-ahead-of-septembers-jobs-report/ Stock futures slipped in overnight trading Thursday as investors looked ahead to September’s jobs report for further clues into the Federal Reserve’s tightening campaign. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 12 points, or 0.04%, while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.15%. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.29%. Advanced Micro Devices’ stock fell in overnight trading after the chipmaker warned its third-quarter revenue would be lower than anticipated. Levi Strauss shares slipped following a cut to its guidance. Major averages closed lower during regular trading but are on pace to cap their best week since June 24 and finish about 4% higher. The Dow fell 346.93 points, or 1.15%, to 29,926.94, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite shed 1.02% and 0.68%, respectively. All major S&P sectors finished the session in negative territory, with the exception of energy. The sector rose 1.8% as oil prices gained and is on pace to close out the week 14.7% higher. Thursday’s downdraft comes as investors remain on edge ahead of September’s jobs report slated for release Friday. The findings could offer further certainty into the Fed’s tightening cycle, with a strong jobs market or upside surprise signaling that the Fed may need a tougher stance to slow the economy and tame surging prices. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the data to show a 275,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls and unemployment to hover at 3.7%. “The environment is ripe for a crisis and if the Fed keeps its hawkish communication up I think we’re quite likely to have something break in the financial markets,” Scott Minerd, Guggenheim’s global chief investment officer said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday. Minerd said the pace of tightening is beginning to create cracks in the financial markets and could force a Fed pivot in the coming weeks. “All the signs are there,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly what will cause it, but the environment is ripe and when the Fed pivots, they’re not going to preannounce it, they’re not going to ring a bell.” A surprise to the downside occurring 75% of the time over the last 25 years in the September jobs report could lead investors to stage a rally, he added. Along with the big jobs report, wholesale inventories and consumer credit data are also due out Friday. Cannabis stock Tilray Brands, which rose Thursday as the White House announced marijuana pardons, will report earnings results. CNBC Pro: Fund manager says oil is in a multi-year bull market – and names 3 stocks to cash in Oil is in a bull market that’s going to last for at least six years, according to fund manager Eric Nuttall. The partner and senior portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners, which manages more than $8 billion in assets, named three stocks for investors to cash in. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong CNBC Pro: Tesla or Nvidia? One will dominate in A.I., analyst says, giving it 50% upside Tech’s next frontier — artificial intelligence — is still in its adolescence, but offers significant growth opportunities for suppliers and users alike, according to Truist Securities. Both Nvidia and Tesla offer ways to get exposure to AI, the analysts say, revealing their price targets on both stocks. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan Levi Strauss slumps on revenue miss, outlook cut Shares of Levi Strauss shed 6.5% in extended trading Thursday despite an earnings beat. The company missed revenue estimates for the recent quarter and cut its guidance, dragged down by the U.S. dollar’s strength. Levi Strauss posted earnings of 40 cents a share on revenues of $1.52 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 37 cents a share on $1.60 billion in revenue. — Samantha Subin Exxon on pace for best week since October 1974 Exxon Mobil shares are on track to finish their best week since October 1974. The energy stock rose about 3% in regular trading Thursday as oil prices gained, putting Exxon on track to close out the week 17% higher. Energy was the only S&P 500 sector finishing in positive territory on Thursday, rising nearly 2%. It’s on track to finish the week about 15% higher and close out its best week since November 2020. As of Thursday’s close, energy was also the only sector positive for the year. Shares of Marathon, Halliburton and Devon Energy are on track to finish the week higher by roughly 20% or more. — Samantha Subin, Gina Francolla Advanced Micro Devices falls on disappointing preliminary third-quarter results Advanced Micro Devices‘ stock fell 3.9% in extended trading as the company preannounced results for the third quarter that came in below its previous guidance. The semiconductor company shared preliminary revenue of $5.6 billion for the period, down from the expected $6.7 billion. It blamed the cut on a weakening PC market and supply chain issues. AMD also said it expects a non-GAAP gross margin of roughly 50%, previously expecting gross margins would range closer to 54%. — Samantha Subin Stock futures open lower Stock futures opened lower in overnight trading Thursday. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 57 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.36%, while futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.49%. — Samantha Subin Read More Here

Judge To Trump Lawyer In Ex-Aide Deposition: ‘Stop Wasting Time’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/judge-to-trump-lawyer-in-ex-aide-deposition-stop-wasting-time/ By Erik Larson Former President ’s lawyers were told by a federal judge to “stop wasting time” after they tried halting the deposition of former White House Press Secretary in a defamation lawsuit minutes after it began, citing her painkiller medication. Grisham — who famously never held a press conference and resigned her subsequent post as chief of staff to the first lady after the Jan. 6 insurrection — was deposed Thursday in Kansas by lawyers for New York columnist . “Stop wasting time,” US Distract Judge in Manhattan said to Trump’s lawyers during … To read the full article log in. © 2022 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved Read More Here

Federal Agents Mull Possible Tax Charges Against Hunter Biden, Report Says https://digitalarkansasnews.com/federal-agents-mull-possible-tax-charges-against-hunter-biden-report-says/ After a multiyear probe, federal agents believe they have assembled a sufficient case for tax crime charges to be filed against Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware will make the call on whether to charge the younger Biden with tax crimes and a false statement connected to a gun purchase, according to the Post. The Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that investigators in multiple agencies probed whether Biden, 52, had lied on gun purchase paperwork in 2018 and failed to fully report his income. The U.S. attorney for Delaware is David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump but has remained in his post as the probe into Biden churned on. Weiss’ office declined to comment on the report, as did the FBI. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Hunter Biden, Chris Clark, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the New York Daily News. But he said in a statement published by the Post that it is a “federal felony for a federal agent to leak information about a Grand Jury investigation such as this one.” “Any agent you cite as a source in your article apparently has committed such a felony. We expect the Department of Justice will diligently investigate and prosecute such bad actors,” added the statement, according to the Post. ——— Read More Here

Kanye West Defends 'White Lives Matter' Shirts, Slams Liberals Who Threatened, Assaulted MAGA Hat Wearers https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kanye-west-defends-white-lives-matter-shirts-slams-liberals-who-threatened-assaulted-maga-hat-wearers/ Rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West joined Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for an exclusive, wide-ranging interview on Thursday where addressed the controversy arising over the “White Lives Matter” t-shirt he wore alongside friend and commentator Candace Owens. West, now legally known as Ye, caused an uproar particularly on the left after showcasing the shirt. Carlson noted liberal media branded him as “legitimizing extremist behavior” and that the decision was inexcusable. West responded that he was privately warned that people wearing the shirt would be “greenlit” (vernacular for being assaulted) like some Americans who wear Donald Trump’s signature red trucker hats emblazoned with his “Make America Great Again” mantra. “[They] 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 said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” West also explained why his lanyard-borne credential for Milan Fashion Week featured a photograph of a baby’s ultrasound. NADLER FLEES CRIME WAVE QUESTIONS, CHICAGO CONGRESSMAN DEFENDS LORI LIGHTFOOT Candace Owens posted a photo of her and Kanye West wearing “White Lives Matter” shirts (Candace Owens Twitter) “It just represents life – I’m pro-life,” he said, adding that believing in the sanctity of life, just like supporting Trump or wearing his White Lives Matter shirt, unduly causes concern among the elites and “influencers.” “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% of Black Death in America is abortion. So I really don’t care about people’s response.” “I perform for an audience of one and that’s God,” West continued, adding that Black Americans should take the issue seriously because Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was an avowed eugenicist and a member of the Socialist Party. West said he began thinking more about expressing his true beliefs during Trump’s 2016 campaign, when – despite his own favorable view of the mogul – his friends in Hollywood and ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s family warned his political support was ill-advised. BIDEN TURNS TO VENEZUELA AS EUROPE COMMITS ECONOMIC ‘SUICIDE BY GENUFLECTING TO GREEN AGENDA’: PAYNE President Donald Trump hugs rapper Kanye West during a meeting in the Oval office of the White House on October 11, 2018. (Getty) West cited the biblical Book of Samuel, wherein David, son of Jesse, would kindly tend sheep – later being underestimated for such by the Philistine giant Goliath – suggesting the importance of faith and believing in oneself no matter how one is viewed by the masses. “[Goliath] thought because he was a sheepherder, that he didn’t have the skill set to take down Goliath,” West said. “And the thing that I have is the position I have, my heart. But the number one thing is we have God on our side. And for the people, even if you don’t believe in God, God believes in you.” The hip-hop artist was reportedly criticized by the mother of Ahmaud Arbery – the Black man murdered in Brunswick, Ga., while jogging – who told Rolling Stone through an attorney that his White Live Matter shirt “legitimizes extremism.” West however also received some public support from controversial NFL star Antonio Brown – captioning a social media post “All Lives Matter.” West went on to say a main foil to this dynamic is the media, which he described as having a “godless agenda.”  Margaret Sanger (1883-1966), American leader of Birth Control Movement. Undated. (Bettmann / Contributor) He spoke glowingly of his father, Ray – a former Black Panther and retired award-winning photographer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. West cited his father’s past, but added that he is one of the most informed, caring and intelligent people he knows. When West texted Ray about the shirt, he said his father replied it was “just a Black man stating the obvious.”  He explained how his father had faced racial discrimination throughout his life, including in business and when he was living in Delaware as a young man in a military family. That discrimination, he suggested, led him to be well-versed in the United States; overall sociopolitical dynamic. “The same people that have stripped us of our identity and labeled us as a color, have told us what it means to be Black and the vernacular that we’re supposed to have,” West said, adding that when his dad lived in the First State, his was one of few Black families there. HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS PARTNER: FBI ALTERED HISTORY WITH HANDLING OF LAPTOP BEFORE ELECTION Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West in February after nearly seven years of marriage. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) “[Ray] would be discriminated against because he was Black. So by the time he got into college… they said he talked too White.” West criticized the fact his father was reportedly barred from most contact with him when his parents divorced and he moved with his mother Donda to Chicago. “She told my dad, ‘if you come for us, you’ll never see [Kanye] again’,” adding that that memory came to mind when he was criticized for paying close attention to Kardashian’s relationship with Staten Island comic and “SNL” player Pete Davidson, as his children were often living with them. West later said that he has realized that when a celebrity like himself goes against the accepted company line, “liberal Nazis will go up and attack you.” CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He accused some in the fashion and journalism sectors of intentionally criticizing his “White Lives Matter” shirts, calling it a “set-up.” West compared the dynamic to a scene from Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” where “Jamie Foxx[‘s Django] sat on that horse and Samuel L. Jackson[‘s character] said he’s not allowed.” Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.  He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.  Charles covers media, politics and breaking news, and has covered the annual CPAC conference for Fox News Digital. Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com. Read More Here

Suspected Shooter In Dearborn Hotel Standoff In Custody; 1 Dead, Police Say https://digitalarkansasnews.com/suspected-shooter-in-dearborn-hotel-standoff-in-custody-1-dead-police-say/ Dearborn — Police took a suspected gunman into custody Thursday night after a standoff at a hotel in which the suspect allegedly opened fire after a dispute with staff, killing one man, a hotel clerk. The arrest of the 38-year-old suspect came after a nearly seven-hour standoff at the Hampton Inn hotel in downtown Dearborn. “There was some type of dispute with the hotel staff … it revolved around money,” said Dearborn police Chief Issa Shahin about the incident at the hotel on Michigan Avenue. Shahin noted the victim was a 55-year-old hotel clerk from Riverview who was “just trying to do his job.” “We spent the last seven hours negotiating with an individual armed with a rifle … At many times threatened officers, and it was quite tenuous. But fortunately, we were able to resolve that peacefully.” Shahin said the suspect had a history of mental illness and drug abuse. During his nearly nine-month tenure as police chief, the chief noted that “far too often, we’re running into situations with people suffering from mental illness armed with firearms and the outcomes are often tragic. There’s a broader issue here.” The Dearborn police chief earlier had called the standoff “a waiting game.” Officers negotiated with the suspected shooter, who had barricaded himself on the third floor of the hotel, for hours, police said. Moments before the suspect was in custody, authorities had punched out a third-floor window. Cpl. Dan Bartok, the public information officer with the Dearborn Police Department, said police responded to a call of shots fired at 1:09 p.m. Thursday. The shooting took place from the third floor, Bartok said. Police described the weapon used in the shooting as a long gun but didn’t immediately provide information on the suspect. During the standoff, Michigan State Police and Dearborn police officials warned people to stay away from the active shooting scene. “This is a dangerous situation, this person is still liable to shoot at people walking in this area,” MSP Lt. Michael Shaw said. “So I cannot say it enough. This is not a safe area, do not come down to downtown Dearborn.” Warnings didn’t dissuade the many people who turned out to see the activity. Soon, what started as a lively gathering of folks gawking at the mass of police along Michigan Avenue turned somber as more police vehicles and staff gathered as the standoff wore on. Pedestrians at a busy strip mall across the street from the Hampton Inn were initially directed away from the inn as police yelled, “Get out of the line of fire!” ‘I’m scared for my community’ Sarah Azaz was at work at Cosmo salon on Michigan Avenue, interviewing a candidate for a job when she saw 30 police cars racing by. She ran to make sure her mom, Sue Azaz, at Biggby was OK. Sue Azaz owns the coffee shop across the street from the hotel. “I’m not scared, but I’m scared for my community,” Sue Azaz said. Hian Beydoun, 20, lives near the Hampton Inn. “It’s kind of like terrifying to think something so bad could happen so close to home, especially when you’re supposed to feel safe,” Beydoun said. Kamal Mustafa, 55, lives a few blocks from the scene but was in east Dearborn when he heard police were responding to a shooting. His son attends Dearborn High School, about a mile away from the Hampton Inn. “The first thing that came to my mind is somebody shooting in the school. So I just flew here,” he said. Mustafa said students were sent home for the day. Bobak Dehkordi, manager at Athletico’s on Michigan, said he closed the offices after clients canceled when the shooting shut down. He was giving SWAT team members and other authorities access to his restrooms during the standoff. Dehkordi said he’s not seen anything this unusual in Dearborn. “Not in this area. Not like this,” he said. He said he served in the Iranian army: “So I’m used to combat.” cramirez@detroitnews.comhmackay@detroitnews.com Read More Here

Biden’s Saudi Trip Faces New Scrutiny After OPEC Oil Cut https://digitalarkansasnews.com/bidens-saudi-trip-faces-new-scrutiny-after-opec-oil-cut/ Saudi Arabia’s decision to join its partners in announcing a cut to oil production on Wednesday is setting off fresh recriminations over President Biden’s trip to the kingdom this summer, which officials hoped would improve the Saudi relationship across a range of issues, including the global supply of oil. Some officials in the Biden administration bristled in the aftermath of the cut declared by the OPEC Plus cartel, viewing it as a direct affront to the president that threatens to hurt Democrats’ standing in the 2022 midterm elections because it will drive gas prices up. U.S. officials now are left grappling with how to respond to a potential price spike that could help finance Russia’s war in Ukraine, compound the major challenges facing the American and European economies, and give Republicans a powerful new argument on inflation. One White House official called the OPEC decision a “disaster.” Another said administration officials viewed the move as a deliberate provocation designed to boost Republicans’ chances so close to the elections. Other officials said they did not interpret malice in the Saudi decision, but they viewed it as a shortsighted effort to maximize oil profits despite the economic and geopolitical consequences. Biden said Thursday that the cartel’s decision didn’t undermine the point of his visit in July, but that it was still disappointing. “The trip was not essentially for oil. The trip was about the Middle East and about Israel and rationalization of positions,” he told reporters. “But it is a disappointment.” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Biden’s advisers had all agreed to the trip over the summer. “There was consensus across the President’s senior national security team on the importance of this trip to advance U.S. national security interests,” she said in a statement. But that didn’t assuage critics of the Saudi government. “They’re spitting in the face of Joe Biden,” said Dean Baker, a White House ally and an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank. “Whoever thought this trip was a good idea has some explaining to do.” Even before Biden flew to the Middle East in July and fist-bumped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader, White House aides knew the trip would bring criticism. Biden had declared that human rights would be at the “center” of his foreign policy, and he said he would make the oil-rich monarchy a “pariah.” But the president also remained keenly aware of the burden soaring gas prices were having on middle-class Americans. Biden’s top aides on Middle East and energy, Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, pushed for the trip as a means to strengthen the relationship and improve Washington’s ability to project influence in the Middle East at a time when oil-rich states were exploring ties with Moscow and Beijing, according to U.S. officials and congressional aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. policy. Administration officials had long been sharply divided on how to treat the oil-rich autocracy. Those favoring a cold-shoulder approach pointed to Saudi Arabia’s unpopular war in Yemen, Riyadh’s poor human rights record and the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi as reasons to overhaul the relationship. Many officials in senior roles at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development also said they felt they had room to maneuver, given the United States’ growth as an oil-producing energy superpower. Creating a clean break with former president Donald Trump’s remarkably close rapport with the kingdom also had broad appeal among Biden’s political appointees. Some U.S. officials said concerns about the Saudi trip were shared by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, even though the top diplomat ultimately supported and participated in the visit. “Secretary Blinken was fully supportive of the Administration’s engagement with our regional partners on the multiplicity of interests we have,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price. McGurk and Hochstein’s support for the trip began to gain favor in the White House in September 2021, as the price of oil rose and resentment in the Gulf led the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to rebuff repeated U.S. requests to increase oil output, according to senior officials and congressional aides familiar with the matter. The decisive moment for the push to draw closer to the Saudis came when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, sending energy prices soaring and turning high gas costs, already a domestic political liability for Biden, into a geopolitical setback. Some Democrats, already skeptical of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, seized on the OPEC Plus decision to criticize the trip. “I think it’s time for a wholesale reevaluation of the U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate foreign relations subcommittee on the Middle East, told CNBC. One Democratic congressional aide close to administration officials, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. policy, said: “This trip was hotly debated inside the administration, and I don’t know how one could argue now that it wasn’t a mistake.” White House officials have strongly denied that the goal of the trip was to spur Saudi oil production. U.S. officials who favor the U.S.-Saudi relationship said critics misunderstood the objectives of the visit and overestimated Riyadh’s ability to reduce gas prices for average Americans. They also emphasized that Saudi Arabia is pumping 11.1 million barrels per day, a rate the country hadn’t sustained in the past. But the OPEC Plus decision means that increased production will come to an end sooner than U.S. officials hoped. Energy analysts also say Saudi Arabia faced financial pressures to cut production, since the price of oil fell close to $80 per barrel for about two weeks last month. U.S. officials argued to Saudi counterparts that the risks of letting the price fall below that point were minimal, but the Saudis would not budge, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The trip’s defenders also said it was justifiable because of the other objectives of the visit, which included bolstering a truce in the long-grinding civil war in Yemen. Aid groups say the truce, which was first agreed to in April, reduced violence as much as 60 percent. However, the warring sides recently failed to extend the six-month cease-fire, and U.S. officials now fear a “return to war,” Tim Lenderking, the U.S. special envoy for Yemen, told reporters Wednesday. On the trip, U.S. officials also worked to open Saudi airspace to flights serving Israel, and they pressed the United Arab Emirates to stop the construction of a Chinese military base — an effort that is ongoing. Even the staunchest defenders of Saudi Arabia concede that the timing of the production cut was a major blow to the United States, and that it came despite the strenuous objections of U.S. diplomats who pressed their counterparts through the early hours of Wednesday morning to delay the decision. Biden officials across a wide section of the administration — including the Energy Department, State Department and the National Economic Council — raced Thursday to draw up policy responses to the announcement. No obvious solutions are apparent. Energy officials have begun looking at a potential ban on American fuel exports, though such a measure would require the administration to abandon European allies who are dependent on U.S.-produced natural gas. White House officials have also been exploring the possibility of easing sanctions on Venezuela to supplement some of the oil lost by OPEC’s cut to production. That is a long shot, however: The United States believes Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro needs to engage with the Venezuelan opposition before any sanctions are lifted. Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said in a statement Wednesday that they will consult with Congress on additional mechanisms “to reduce OPEC’s control over energy prices” — suggesting that the U.S. policymakers could be interested in repealing a long-standing exemption to federal antitrust law that allows the consortium to effectively coordinate on prices. That measure, however, would require congressional approval and faces industry resistance, strongly reducing its likelihood of being implemented. Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report. Read More Here