Digital Arkansas News

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss Admits Mistake In Communicating Economic Plan https://digitalarkansasnews.com/u-k-prime-minister-liz-truss-admits-mistake-in-communicating-economic-plan/ Prime Minister Liz Truss’ announcement of the U.K.’s biggest tax-cut plan in decades sent the pound to a new low against the dollar.Photo: MAJA SMIEJKOWSKA/REUTERS Updated Oct. 2, 2022 10:49 am ET LONDON—U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss said that her government could have done a better job preparing financial markets for a surprise tax-cut plan funded by increased debt, but otherwise defended the package of economic measures.  “We should have laid the ground better,” Ms. Truss said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday. It was her first acknowledgement that her signature policy since taking office last month had fallen flat among investors, voters and some members of her own party.  Read More Here

Hafertepe Tops Final Short Track Nationals At I-30 Speedway! – STLRacing.com https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hafertepe-tops-final-short-track-nationals-at-i-30-speedway-stlracing-com/ Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 1, 2022) – The final chapter in the storied history of Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway clay oval was punctuated on Saturday night as Sam Hafertepe, Jr., took the $15,041 winner’s share in the 35th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires 41-lap finale atop the high-banked, ¼-mile clay oval. And the final race at I-30 Speedway concluded in true form with a spirited battle between Hafertepe, Jr., and fellow “Twin 20” STN preliminary feature winner Aaron Reutzel before Hafertepe, Jr., ultimately prevailed. But after slipping past pole starter Reutzel for the point on the 18th round, Hafertepe’s work wasn’t done as Reutzel battled back and offered up challenges to reclaim the lead  including contact at the flagstand with a half-dozen laps remaining to take his second Short Track Nationals title aboard the Hills Racing Cigar Port/Truenorth.bet No. 15h Sprint Car. “I’m just glad the 8r didn’t win the race after driving people the way he drives people,” a heated Hafertepe, Jr., exclaimed in victory lane.  “But guess what, we came out on top and he’s sitting over there.” After winning the Pack’s Dash for Cash to earn the pole position for the main event, Reutzel gunned into the lead at the outset after picking off both Thursday and Friday night wins as third-starting Hafertepe, Jr., immediately made his way past outside front row starter Dylan Westbrook for second. Slowed by a pair of cautions in the opening eight rounds for Cody Gardner’s cut left rear tire after five circuits and then Ryan Timms coming to a stop at the top of turn four with race-ending front end damage three laps later, Hafertepe, Jr., stayed in contact with Reutzel in the ensuing laps as the duo broke away from the field. Lapped traffic came into play after 17 circuits and Hafertepe, Jr., pounced on the lead a lap later in turns three and four to take command. “I was just waiting for him to mess up, I knew he probably would eventually,” Hafertepe, Jr., explained.  “We hit the hole when it got there and just protected the rest of the way.” He protected effectively enough, denying a Reutzel slider in turns one two on the 32nd lap and then escaping frontstretch contact upon the completion of the 35th lap that resulted in nosewing damage on Reutzel’s RSR Mobil 1 No. 8 machine. With Reutzel slowed by the incident, Hafertepe, Jr., raced on to the stripe in the final handful of laps to run his weekend earnings to $18,691 with Reutzel settling for runner-up honors. “I was just a little too conservative early, that hole almost bit me on the first lap so I didn’t really want to go through it,” Reutzel explained.  “I knew you could make some speed if you could get through that hole clean, I couldn’t do that and that was what he was executing.” Even with the runner-up finish, Reutzel still pocketed $15,146 for the three-day weekend. “It just wasn’t meant to be, but we had a great weekend,” Reutzel wrapped up.  “We came down and supported the Clays for the last race, all in all it was a great weekend.” Little more than a lap away from earning the pole position for the feature before the right front tire came off the bead, California’s Justin Sanders moved from fifth to third by the ninth round and held the show position the rest of the way aboard the Swindell Speedlab Bubbly Brands No. 39 entry. “It’s awesome to at least get on the podium, I’ll take this third place,” Sanders commented.  “I felt really good for a while, I felt like I got in a rhythm until I got to a couple of lapped cars and got my rhythm broken.” After swapping positions several times with Dylan Westbrook over the early portion of the race, Seth Bergman crossed the stripe fourth with three-time STN winner Blake Hahn rallying from the tenth starting position to round out the top five. Westbrook was sixth at the line with Wayne Johnson, Jason Martin, 16th-starter Derek Hagar and Garet Williamson completing the top ten. Sanders posted the best finish among those making first career STN championship finale starts in third with others making their first finale including Steven Russell (17th), Jeremy Middleton (19th) and Timms (20th). At the other end of the spectrum, Tim Crawley claimed 11th at the line as he made his 25th career STN championship finale in his I-30 Speedway farewell. With 87 cars on hand for the STN finale, Jeffrey West, Howard Moore, Dale Howard, Wayne Johnson, Middleton, Jack Wagner, Sanders, Williamson and Matt Covington topped heat race action. Jace Park and Ayden Gatewood topped “D” Mains, Jerry Brey and Blake Jenkins won “C” Mains and Dale Howard and Hagar  scored “B” Main wins. After Samuel Wagner, Landon Crawley and Rick Pringle got upside down in heat race action, Zach Pringle (D Main) and Kyler Johnson (B Main) turned over as well before Joey Schmidt became the final official flip at I-30 Speedway during the second “B” Main. Lucas Oil ASCS National tour I-30 Speedway – Little Rock, AR 35th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Saturday Night Results: Locked-in from Friday Preliminaries:  87-Aaron Reutzel, 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 36-Jason Martin, 23-Seth Bergman Heat Races (Top 10 in combined points from Friday night and Saturday night heat race passing points to the “A” Main – Balance to Twin “B”, “C” and “D” Mains): First Heat (8 Laps):  1. 24-Jeffrey West (1), 2. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (6), 3. 71-Bradyn Baker (9), 4. 13m-Chance McCrary (2), 5. 91z-Zach Pringle (5), 6. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (4), 7. 72p-Gary Floyd (8), 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett (10), 9. 63LK-Ted Kirkpatrick (3), 10. 29h-Pete Butler (7). Second Heat (8 Laps):  1. 3-Howard Moore (1), 2. 1jr-Steven Russell (2), 3. 29-Chad Jones (3), 4. 87-Tim Crawley (5), 5. 1s-Joey Schmidt (6), 6. 0-Eric Baldaccini (8), 7. 48-Wade Buttrey (4), 8. 17a-Alex Lyles (7), 9. 132-Jamie Manley (9). Third Heat (8 Laps):  1. 47-Dale Howard (2), 2. 45x-Kyler Johnson (4), 3. 21r-Gunner Ramey (5), 4. 30-Joseph Miller (3), 5. 84-Brandon Hanks (7), 6. 27J-Joseph Poe, Jr. (8), 7. 93-Chris Sweeney (9), 8. 73-Samuel Wagner (6), 9. 187-Landon Crawley (1). Fourth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 2c-Wayne Johnson (3), 2. 21s-Kobe Simpson (1), 3. 14-Jordon Mallett (7), 4. 6-Christopher Townsend (4), 5. 16-Steven Howell (2), 6. 97-Scotty Milan (9), 7. 37-Ayden Gatewood (6), 8. 21x-Carson Short (8), 9. 74-Tucker Boulton (5). Fifth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 15J-Jeremy Middleton (2), 2. 13-Chase Howard (1), 3. 9jr-Derek Hagar (6), 4. 4x-Brad Bowden (3), 5. G6-Cody Gardner (7), 6. 43m-Mark Smith (9), 7. 2-Chase Porter (5), 8. 19-Jason Long (8), 9. 12m-Greg Merritt (4). Sixth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 77-Jack Wagner (2), 2. 99-Blake Jenkins (4), 3. 22s-Slater Helt (3), 4. 10-Landon Britt (1), 5. 26-Marshall Skinner (7), 6. 17F-Chad Frewaldt (9), 7. 69-Jamey Mooney (6), 8. 10k-Dewayne White (5), 9. 21-Spencer Meredith (8). Seventh Heat (8 Laps):  1. 39-Justin Sanders (3), 2. 17-Alex Sewell (1), 3. 22-Riley Goodno (2), 4. 99L-Lewis Jenkins, Jr. (4), 5. 85-Josh McCord (5), 6. 10p-Dylan Postier (8), 7. 55-Donnie Howard (6), 8. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (9), 9. 63-Chris Williams (7). Eighth Heat (8 Laps);  1. 24w-Garet Williamson (8), 2. 12h-Tony Bruce, Jr. (1), 3. 91-Michael Day (2), 4. 17J-Jerry Brey (4), 5. 67-Hayden Martin (7), 6. 87J-Jace Park (5), 7. 8m-Kade Morton (6), 8. 2T-Todd Bradford (3), 9. 38-Rick Pringle (9). Ninth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 95-Matt Covington (3), 2. 51b-Joe B. Miller (4), 3. 5T-Ryan Timms (6), 4. 52-Blake Hahn (9), 5. 5L-Dusty Young (2), 6. 41-Colton Hardy (7), 7. 44-Ronny Howard (5), 8. 938-Bradley Fezard (8), 9. 55b-Brandon Anderson (1). “D” Mains – Top 3 from each transfer to corresponding “C” Main: First “D” Feature (8 Laps):  1. 87J-Jace Park (4), 2. 27J-Joseph Poe, Jr. (1), 3. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (5), 4. 44-Ronny Howard (3), 5. 21-Spencer Meredith (7), 6. 48-Wade Buttrey (8), 7. 69-Jamey Mooney (6), 8. 19-Jason Long (9), 9. 63LK-Ted Kirkpatrick (10), 10. 91z-Zach Pringle (2), 11. 74-Tucker Boulton (DNS), 12. 55b-Brandon Anderson (DNS). Second “D” Feature (8 Laps):  1. 37-Ayden Gatewood (2), 2. 16-Steven Howell (4), 3. 2T-Todd Bradford (1), 4. 17a-Alex Lyles (5), 5. 938-Bradley Fezard (6), 6. 10k-Dewayne White (7), 7. 63-Chris Williams (9), 8. 72p-Gary Floyd (3), 9. 29h-Pete Butler (10), 10. 132-Jamie Manley (11), 11. 38-Rick Pringle (8), 12. 12m-Greg Merritt (DNS). “C” Mains – Top 3 from each transfer to corresponding “B” Main: First “C” Feature (10 Laps):  1. 17J-Jerry Brey (3), 2. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (1), 3. 0-Eric Baldaccini (4), 4. 2-Chase Porter (5), 5. 87J-Jace Park (11), 6. 21s-Kobe Simpson (2), 7. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (13), 8. 55-Donnie Howard (9), 9. 27J-Joseph Poe, Jr. (12), 10. 5L-Dusty Young (8), 11. 97-Scotty Milan (7), 12. 13m-Chance McCrary (10), 13. 8m-Kade Morton (6), 14. 29-Chad Jones (DNS), 15. 73-Samuel Wagner (DNS). Second “C” Feature (10 Laps):  1. 99-Blake Jenkins (1), 2. 1s-Joey Schmidt (7), 3. 24-Jeffrey West (3), 4. 6-Christopher Townsend (6), 5. 17F-Chad Frewaldt (5), 6. 37-Ayden Gatewood (10), 7. 17b-Ryan Bickett (9), 8. 16-Steven Howell (11), 9. 2T-Todd Bradford (12), 10. 93-Chris Sweeney (8), 11. 21x-Carson Short (2), 12. 30-Joseph Miller (4), 13. 91-Michael Day (DNS), 14. 67-Hayden Martin (DNS), 15. 187-Landon Crawley (DNS). Pack Building Materials Dash for Cash: Dash for Cash (6 Laps):  1. 8r-Aaron Reutzel (3) [$500], 2. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (2) [$250], 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (6) [$150], 4. 23-Seth Bergman (4) [$100], 5. 39-Justin Sanders (1) [$100], 6. 36-Jason Martin (5) [$100]. “B” Mains – Top 3 from each transfer to “A” Main: First “B” Feature (12 Laps):  1. 47-Dale Howard (1), 2. G6-Cody Gardner (9), 3. 1jr-Steven Russell (4), 4. 10p-Dylan Postier (6), 5. 12h-Tony Bruce, Jr. (3), 6. 71-Bradyn Baker (5...

Trump Defends 'great Woman' Ginni Thomas After Jan. 6 Testimony | CNN Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-defends-great-woman-ginni-thomas-after-jan-6-testimony-cnn-politics/ CNN  —  Former President Donald Trump praised the “courage and strength” of Ginni Thomas at a rally Saturday, days after the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas met with congressional investigators about her efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a four-and-a-half hour meeting with investigators on Thursday, Thomas discussed her marriage to the conservative justice, claiming in an opening statement obtained by CNN that she “did not speak with him at all about the details of my volunteer campaign activities.” Thomas, who attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021 landed on the radar of the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol after text message exchanges she had with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about election fraud claims surfaced during the ongoing congressional probe. Thomas had “significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election. And, as she told the Committee, her minimal and mainstream activity focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated,” her attorney Mark Paoletta said after her closed-door testimony. During a campaign appearance in Michigan, Trump claimed that Thomas told the House panel “she still believes the 2020 election was stolen,” commending her because “she didn’t wilt under pressure.” “Do you know Ginni Thomas?” the former President polled the crowd. “She didn’t say, ‘Oh, well I’d like not to get involved. Of course, it was a wonderful election.’ It was a rigged and stolen election. She didn’t wait and sit around and say, ‘Well let me give you maybe a different answer than [what] I’ve been saying for the last two years.’” “No, no,” Trump continued, “She didn’t wilt under pressure like so many others that are weak people and stupid people… She said what she thought, she said what she believed in.” Thomas, who has previously criticized the House probe into January 6, has long been a prominent fixture in conservative activism – even becoming a persistent annoyance to some Trump White House officials as she tried to install friends and allies into senior administration roles throughout his presidency. She and her husband attended a private lunch with Trump and his wife Melania at the White House shortly after the 2018 midterms, though CNN has previously reported that her direct interactions with the former President were fairly limited beyond that meeting. But on Saturday, Trump praised Thomas as “a great woman,” comparing her to countless former aides and allies who have admitted in their own depositions with the House panel that they themselves didn’t believe Trump’s claims about voter fraud following the 2020 election. Thomas said she “never spoke” with her husband about “any of the legal challenges to the 2020 election,” addressing ethical questions that were raised in the wake a Supreme Court ruling last year on a January 6-related case. Thomas and Meadows texted repeatedly about overturning the election results. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the committee, said that Thomas did confirm during her testimony that she still believes the election was stolen, adding that “at this point we are glad she came in.” Read More Here

Ukraine Gains Full Control Of Lyman, Days After Putin Claimed Russia Rules There https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ukraine-gains-full-control-of-lyman-days-after-putin-claimed-russia-rules-there/ By Thomas Grove Updated Oct. 2, 2022 9:52 am ET KYIV, Ukraine—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the eastern city of Lyman had been cleared of Russian forces and that Ukrainian flags were flying again, scoring a symbolic military and political victory against Moscow on the very territory President Vladimir Putin said last week Russia would annex. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing troops from the city following days of advances by Ukrainian forces to surround them, but Moscow kept several thousand troops there, most likely encircled until fighting ended. Continue reading your article with a WSJ membership View Membership Options Already a member? Sign In Read More Here

Clergy Strive To Reconcile Politically Divided Congregations https://digitalarkansasnews.com/clergy-strive-to-reconcile-politically-divided-congregations/ One member of Rabbi David Wolpe’s diverse congregation left because Wolpe would not preach sermons criticizing Donald Trump. Scores of others left over resentment with the synagogue’s rules for combating COVID-19. But Wolpe remains steadfast in his resolve to avoid politics when he preaches at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. “It is not easy to keep people comfortable with each other and as part of one community,” he said. “A great failing of modern American society is that people get to know each other’s politics before they get to know their humanity.” Wolpe — whose congregation includes liberal Democrats and hundreds of conservative Iranian Americans — is far from alone in facing such challenges. Though many congregations in the U.S. are relatively homogeneous, others are sharply divided. In some cases, divisions are becoming more pronounced as midterm election season heats up, leaving clergy to keep the peace while still meeting the spiritual needs of all of their members. A Black pastor in Columbus, Ohio — Bishop Timothy Clarke of the First Church of God — says there are “deep divides” in his predominantly African American congregation of more than 2,000. He cited abortion as a particularly divisive topic in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in June allowing states to ban the procedure. “There are good people on both sides,” said Clarke, who addressed the congregation’s differences in a recent sermon. “I talked about the fact God loves everybody, even those you disagree with,” he said. The Rev. Paul Roberts, senior pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, said his congregation – like many others — is dealing with one contentious issue after another. “The whole thing with Trump, Black Lives Matter, the pandemic really has highlighted a sense of uneasiness when you’re covering all these different topics as a church,” he said. “It just seems there isn’t anything that doesn’t have tension over it.” His church has about 140 regular attendees, a politically and theologically diverse group that’s about half Black and half white. He said a few people left the church over its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but for the most part it has stayed together. He attributes that in part to hours of patient dialogue over such issues as mask-wearing and vaccines, which some Black members were wary of because of the history of medical maltreatment of African Americans. Rabbi Judith Siegal is asking members of her politically divided congregation in Coral Gables, Florida, to sign a code of ethics pledging to respect those with different views. Newly displayed signs at the synagogue, Temple Judea, hammer home this message. “No matter who you vote for, your skin color, where you are from, your faith, or who you love, we will be there for one another,” one sign says. “That’s what a community means.” Siegal said she and her assistant rabbi, Jonathan Fisch, are often asked by members of the Reform congregation to address certain issues “We’re careful about doing that in a way that’s value-driven, preaching from our tradition and our Torah,” she said. “For example, we know that welcoming immigrants is something that’s important to us as Jews — but we’re never going to tell anyone how to vote.” The Rev. Sarah Wilson said her congregation at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church in Cary, Illinois, includes Republican business leaders and liberal nurses and teachers. There are partisan differences, as well as conflicting views on abortion, but she aspires to keep political debate out of the church and avoid partisan rhetoric of her own. “Politics are very important to me — I vote in every election,” she said. “But I’m not here to tell a person how to vote or who to vote for. If people ask me, even for city council, I don’t do that.” The congregation at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and its connected Catholic school community is diverse ethnically, economically, and politically, said the Rev. David Boettner, rector of the cathedral and vicar general of the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee. Mass is celebrated in five languages, and parishioners and student families speak more than a dozen at home; some are financially well off while others struggle to get by, he said. “We’ve definitely got folks that belong to the Democratic Party and folks that belong to the Republican Party, and folks that probably don’t belong to either,” Boettner said. Political issues crop up in conversations at church, but Boettner suspects members are less likely to share polarizing views with him because he is their priest. They share more freely on social media, and he has noticed an increase in political posts as the midterm elections approach. Abortion and religious liberty, including the recent Supreme Court rulings, are prominent, he said. Boettner said he strives for consistency in preaching about the Catholic teachings on moral, social and economic justice issues, while steering clear of endorsing specific policies. Prayers are offered for all leaders, not just those from a particular party. “The church is not partisan,” Boettner said. “The Catholic Church is probably a great example of a church that offends both Democrats and Republicans alike.” In Bluefield, West Virginia, the Rev. Frederick Brown said he has sought “the middle of the road” during nearly three decades as pastor of a diverse but collegial congregation at Faith Center Church. “Staying in the middle of the road means God thinks it’s all important,” he said. “When you vote, you can vote your convictions — but don’t attack anyone else’s convictions because they’re different from yours.” At Sinai Temple, Rabbi Wolpe strives to encourage mutual respect within his congregation. He cites the men’s book club as a positive example: In a recent initiative, it alternated reading a book by a left-of-center author, then a book by a conservative. Yet Wolpe, 64, says political divisions have become deeply entrenched. “When I was born, people objected to their children marrying someone from another race but didn’t object to marrying someone from a different political party,” he said. “Now it’s the reverse.” Read More Here

Maggie Haberman On Donald Trump: https://digitalarkansasnews.com/maggie-haberman-on-donald-trump/ CBS News’ John Dickerson asked New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who has become the chronicler-in-chief of the Donald Trump era, “How long has Donald Trump been in your head, or you in his?” “At least 11 years for this level of intensity,” she replied. “And what’s it like to have Donald Trump in your head, or be a part of his thinking, for 11 years?” “I had one of his old friends say to me, ‘He doesn’t wear well over time.’ And I think that the collective we have experienced that at various points.” Haberman has been covering Trump since the late 1990s, as a metro reporter for the New York tabloids. In 2016 alone she had 599 bylines or co-bylines in The Times – more than one a day – and that pace has slowed only slightly in the years since. Now, she’s written a book about him: “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America”   (published Tuesday by Penguin Press). Penguin Press Dickerson asked, “I want to read from something you wrote: ‘To fully reckon with Donald Trump, the presidency and his political future, people need to know where he comes from.’ What do you mean, where he comes from?“ “New York in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, was a very, very unique setting,” Haberman said, “because of this combination of dysfunctional and sometimes corrupt forces that touched on media, that touched on City Hall, that touched on the political party system in the various boroughs, that touched on how real estate projects got done, and which touched on racial tribalism, John, and that is a big piece of what he took from his life in New York.” The current incarnation of that racial tribalism shows up in some of Haberman’s scoops about Trump’s presidential years. Like other books of the Trump era, “Confidence Man” has gotten attention for new revelations: Trump considered firing his son-in-law, and engaged in casual transphobia. But Haberman’s larger goal is to put the scoops in the book, and her Times coverage, in an archeological framework, to chart a 50-year, steady, unchangeable DNA. She said, “Donald Trump is generally the same, depending on the context. And he tended to treat the White House as if he was still in a real estate office dealing with local county leaders, as if it was still 1980.” “What are the elements in the Donald Trump playbook that he’s had his whole life?” asked Dickerson. “He has a handful of moves that he has used forever. And people tend to impute a ton of strategy to what he’s doing. But really, there are these moves. And it’s the quick lie, it’s the backbiting with one aide versus another, it is the assigning blame to someone else. All of this, again, is about creating a sense of drama, a sense of chaos, and often, John, about keeping the responsibility off him.” Haberman’s reporting has irritated and embarrassed Trump. Yet, he agreed to sit down with her three times this past summer. Dickerson asked, “Were you surprised he talked to you for your book?” “No; he talked to everybody for their books,” she replied. “It’s an almost reflexive need to sell himself.” “He said at one point to somebody else, but with you in his presence, [that] you were like his psychiatrist?” “He treats everyone like they’re his psychiatrist. This is not a specific-to-me thing. This is what he does. He works everything out in real time with everyone.” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.  CBS News Haberman offers new detail about Trump’s refusal to accept defeat in 2020, quoting sources who heard Trump say, “We’re never leaving.”  Dickerson asked, “Donald Trump’s reluctance to leave office, was that part of that playbook that developed so many years ago, or is that something new?” “It was both,” she said. “It was part of the theme of him believing that everything was always going to work out with him, because it always had. Whether it was his father helping navigate systems for him or helping him financially, or elected officials lining up for him, he always believed things would work out. And after November 3, 2020, it became clearer with each passing day that that was not going to happen, and he did not know how to handle it.” When he did leave the White House, he wasn’t empty-handed, as FBI agents found in that search of his Florida home. “When Donald Trump referred to things in the White House as his possessions, there was a long history of him doing that,” Dickerson said. “Do you then think that that’s why he took those classified documents?” “I do, actually. I think it’s also possible he took them for another reason, and we don’t know what that is. He sees everything in terms of leverage, whether he can have an edge over someone else. He definitely likes trophies.” Trump is facing legal peril in multiple jurisdictions: A fraud suit in New York; election interference charges in Georgia; the January 6th riot investigation; and then those documents from Mar-a-Lago, where he’s mostly holed up these days. Dickerson asked, “You write that when you saw him after he left the White House, that he seemed shrunken?” “In one of the interviews, he had very visibly lost weight, and so that was certainly physically shrunken, but he just seemed diminished,” said Haberman. “And one of the things that I discovered as I was talking to people through the course of the last year is that he became this almost Charles Foster Kane-like figure who was sort of roaming around his club and existing in his own world and having to be reminded of when holidays were, someone totally out of the rhythms of normal daily life.” “What’s your view of whether he’ll run again?” “With the caveat that I don’t know and that I could be proven wrong, I think he’s backed himself into a corner where he has to run,” said Haberman. “I think that he needs the protections that running for president (he thinks) would afford him in combating investigations that he calls a ‘witch hunt.’ And it is the way that he fundraises and makes money. So much of his identity now is about being a politician. So, I expect that he will run. That doesn’t mean that even if he declares a candidacy, that he will stay in the whole time.” Whether he runs or not, Trump has left his mark on the GOP, whose national party labeled the January 6th riots “legitimate discourse,” and where a third of the Republican candidates running for election in 2022 have adopted his lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Multiple GOP candidates who won primaries believe 2020 election was stolen January 6, the “Big Lie” and the fate of democracy (“Sunday Morning”) Texas Republican Party passes resolution denying legitimacy of Biden’s victory in presidential election “Has he essentially transferred the skills of the New York real estate world, as strange as that is, into a political party?” asked Dickerson. “He has transferred how he views the New York real estate industry into the Republican Party,” Haberman replied, “and not just the New York real estate industry, but the New York political system. We’ve seen it in ways that are overt with the Republican Party in terms of comments that get made at rallies, and we have seen it in subtler ways in terms of how candidates deal with journalists or how they engage with basic facts sets. “Not everyone has reacted in some form of emulation to Donald Trump, but most of them have.” Haberman writes that Trump told her how much easier his life would have been if he’d never run for president. And he looked back not on what he’d accomplished, but on what the presidency had meant for Donald Trump. Dickerson said, “When Donald Trump asked himself in your presence ‘If I had to do it all over again,’ what did he say?” “What he said was the answer is yes,” Haberman replied, “because the way he looks at it is, he has so many rich friends and nobody knows who they are. And it was very evident that he saw the presidency as the ultimate vehicle to fame.”       For more info: “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America” by Maggie Haberman (Penguin Press), in Hardcover, Large Print, eBook and Audio formats, available October 4 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound Follow Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) on Twitter      Story produced by Alan Golds. Editor: Ed Givnish. In: Donald Trump Read More Here

AP News Summary At 9:44 A.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-944-a-m-edt/ 10 torture sites in 1 town: Russia sowed pain, fear in Izium IZIUM, Ukraine (AP) — Russian torture in Izium was arbitrary, widespread and absolutely routine for both civilians and soldiers throughout the city, an AP investigation has found. AP journalists located 10 torture sites in the Ukrainian town, including a deep sunless pit in a residential compound, a clammy underground jail that reeked of urine, a medical clinic, and a kindergarten. AP also spoke to 15 survivors of Russian torture and confirmed the deaths of eight men. All but one were civilians. The AP found a former Ukrainian soldier who was tortured three times hiding in a monastery, and connected him with loved ones. 125 die as tear gas triggers crush at Indonesia soccer match MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — Panic and a chaotic run for exits after police fired tear gas at an Indonesian soccer match has left at least 125 dead, most of whom were trampled upon or suffocated. Attention immediately focused on the police use of tear gas, and witnesses described police beat them with sticks and shields before shooting canisters directly into the crowds. The president of FIFA called the deaths on Saturday “a dark day for all involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension,” while President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation of security procedures. While FIFA has no control over domestic games, it has advised against the use of tear gas at stadiums. Violence broke out after the game ended with host Arema FC losing to Persebaya of Surabaya 3-2. EXPLAINER: What’s behind Indonesia’s deadly soccer match? JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Violence, tear gas and a deadly crush that erupted following a domestic league soccer match Saturday night marked another tragedy in Indonesian football. Emotions often run high for sports fans, and Indonesia is no stranger to soccer violence. Saturday’s chaos occurred when a disappointing loss led to fans throwing objects and swarming the soccer pitch, then to police firing tear gas, which led to a crush of people trying to escape. At least 125 have died. Indonesia’s soccer association has banned host team Arema from hosting matches for the remainder of the season. Ukraine presses on with counteroffensive; Russia uses drones KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has attacked the Ukrainian president’s hometown with suicide drones. This comes as Ukraine has pushed ahead with its counteroffensive that has embarrassed the Kremlin. Ukraine took back control of the strategic eastern city of Lyman, which Russia had been using as a transport and logistics hub. That’s a new blow to the Kremlin as it seeks to escalate the war by illegally annexing four regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more Ukrainian flags are flying in what was recently Russian-occupied territory. Pope Francis, meanwhile, on Sunday decried Russia’s nuclear threats against the West and appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop “this spiral of violence and death.”___ Florida deaths rise to 47 amid struggle to recover from Ian FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers have evacuated stunned survivors cut off by Hurricane Ian on Florida’s largest barrier island, and the state’s death toll has risen sharply amid recovery efforts. Hundreds of thousands of people are still sweltering without power in the state, days after Ian’s rampage from Florida to the Carolinas. Florida now has 47 confirmed deaths. Ian was one of the strongest U.S. hurricanes on record when the Category 4 monster smashed ashore at midweek. Many storm victims were left isolated with limited cellphone service and lacking basic amenities like water and power. As of Sunday morning, more than 700,000 customers in Florida were still without electricity. Brazil holds historic election with Lula against Bolsonaro RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilians are voting in a highly polarized election that could determine if the country returns a leftist to the helm of the world’s fourth-largest democracy or keeps the far-right incumbent in office for another four years. The race pits far-right President Jair Bolsonaro against his political nemesis, leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Recent polls have given da Silva a commanding lead, pointing to a chance that he might win the first round outright, without need for a runoff. Da Silva would have to get more than 50% of the votes cast Sunday, topping the total vote for Bolsonaro and the other nine candidates. In Brazilian Amazon, a 1,000-mile voyage so people can vote MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Sunday is election day in Brazil. In the Amazon region, many Indigenous people live days away from the nearest town where there is a voting center. But the nation addressed that challenge years ago, thanks in large part to Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira, who was murdered earlier this year. Pereira created a system for voting machines to travel to Indigenous villages, rather than vice versa, after an infamous incident where Indigenous voters were stranded on a riverbank for weeks with insufficient gasoline to motor their boats home, and many got sick. Some died. Today that system continues, with election officials using light aircraft and helicopters to reach remote villages. Burkina Faso junta urges calm after French Embassy attack OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s new junta leadership is calling for calm after the French Embassy and other buildings were attacked. The unrest following the West African nation’s second coup this year came after a junta statement alleged that the ousted interim president was at a French military base in Ouagadougou. France vehemently denied the claim and has urged its citizens to stay indoors amid rising anti-French sentiment in the streets. The whereabouts of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba remained unknown Sunday. He himself had taken power in a coup back in January, promising to curb the Islamic extremist violence but frustration mounted as the attacks continued. Trump: ‘King’ to some in Pennsylvania, but will it help GOP? MONONGAHELA, Pa. (AP) — The enthusiasm for Donald Trump’s unique brand of nationalist populism has cut into traditional Democratic strongholds in places such as Monongahela in western Pennsylvania. That’s where House Republicans recently outlined their election-year campaign agenda, called  “Commitment to America.” They’re hoping they can tap into the same political sentiment Trump used to attract voters. But it’s not clear whether the support that propelled Trump to the White House will be there on Election Day this November. Just as challenging for the Republican Party is whether Trump’s false claims of voter fraud will hurt the GOP if voters decide to sit out the election. Election officials brace for confrontational poll watchers GOLDSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Local election officials across the United States are bracing for a wave of confrontations on Election Day in November. Emboldened Republican poll watchers, including many who embrace former President Donald Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election, are expected to flood election offices and polling places. The Republican Party and conservative activists have been holding poll watcher training sessions, but in many states they’ve barred the media from observing those sessions. Some Republican-led states passed laws after the 2020 election that require local election offices to allow poll watchers and give them expanded access to observe and challenge ballots. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

Maggie Haberman Takes Down Trump https://digitalarkansasnews.com/maggie-haberman-takes-down-trump/ October 2, 2022 at 8:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment The Guardian reviews Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman: “It is a political epic, tracing Donald Trump’s journey from the streets of Queens to Manhattan’s Upper East Side, from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his Elba. There, the 45th president holds court – and broods and plots his return.” “Haberman gives Trump and those close to him plenty of voice – and rope. The result is a cacophonous symphony. Confidence Man informs and entertains but is simultaneously absolutely not funny. Trumpworld presents a reptilian tableau — reality TV does Lord of the Flies.” Trump trashes Haberman at his Michigan rally. Save to Favorites Classified Ads Introducing the Kindle Scribe, the first Kindle for reading and writing. Amazing. How to Use the Internet to Change the World – and Win Elections, by Colin Delany. 18 in-depth chapters on digital fundraising, advertising, social media, political data and more. PDF or Kindle ebook. Tennis as a Wisdom Practice: A Story About the Quest for Mastery, by Carl Frankel a/k/a Dorien Lazare. Taegan Goddard: “A fun read with great insights into learning and mastery. Not only about tennis!” Pinkie the Pig Podcast will perhaps cause you to pause, think, and ponder. An engaging podcast for children, teaching them values, morals and kindness. Educational, funny, with subtle messages. Place your ad here. Read More Here

Biden Administration Seeks Delay Over Prince Mohammed Immunity Decision https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-administration-seeks-delay-over-prince-mohammed-immunity-decision/ The Biden administration is seeking a 45-day delay in a court proceeding in which it has been asked by a US judge whether it believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be granted sovereign immunity in a case involving the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Representatives from the US justice department said in a legal notice filed on Friday that the department was seeking the extension after Saudi Arabia announced in a press release last week that Prince Mohammed had been named prime minister. Critics of the Saudi government said they believed the new designation was a manoeuvre designed to try to establish sovereign immunity protection for the 37-year-old prince, who is facing a civil case in the US for his alleged role in the murder of Khashoggi. The legal case, which is being heard in a district court in Washington DC, has been filed against Prince Mohammed by Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee, and Dawn, a pro-democracy group founded by the journalist before he was killed. The case has put the Biden administration in a legal and diplomatic bind. The US president entered the White House promising to make the crown prince accountable for Khashoggi’s murder and to make him a “pariah”. But Biden has largely abandoned that pledge in favour of pursuing other political and foreign policy objectives. In a trip to Jeddah this summer, the president fist-bumped the crown prince even after his own administration released a declassified intelligence briefing last year that concluded Prince Mohammed had likely ordered the Khashoggi killing. Prince Mohammed fist bumps Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace, July 2022. Photograph: Bandar Algaloud/Reuters Prince Mohammed has said he has taken responsibility for the murder but that he did not order the killing. The administration is not formally a party to the case, but was invited to weigh in on the matter. It had been given until 3 October – Monday – by a judge hearing the Khashoggi case to respond to a series of legal questions about whether Prince Mohammed should be granted legal immunity, which traditionally is granted to a state’s ruler, like a prime minister, president, or king. In its two-page filing on Friday, the Biden administration acknowledged it needed more time after already being granted an extension to settle the issue because of Prince Mohammed’s recent elevation to the role of prime minister. “In light of these changed circumstances, the United States requests a second extension of time of 45 days to prepare its response to the Court’s invitation,” the administration said in a notice to the court. “The United States appreciates the Court’s patience and consideration in this matter.” Legal experts who have studied the issue say they believe Cengiz’s legal team will likely challenge any legal argument that calls for Prince Mohammed to be granted immunity. Among other issues, they will likely argue that King Salman’s designation was solely designed for Prince Mohammed to evade justice. That’s because, in announcing the change – an exception to Saudi law that calls for the king to also serve as prime minister – it is stated that King Salman will still act as prime minister in meetings in which he is present. Human-rights lawyers have also argued against giving sovereign immunity protection precedence over other principles human rights principles. Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said there were “far greater values at stake” than the immunity of a “possible sovereign that has proven repeatedly that he is prepared to violate the sovereignty of other states and international law”. “The protection of the right to life, the prohibition of torture and enforced disappearance, international peace, the use of force on the territory of another state , principles of international justice and the protection of fundamental human rights should trump concerns of sovereign immunity,” Callamard said. Sarah Leah Whitson, a lawyer and executive director of Dawn, a co-plaintiff in the case, said the best thing the US government could do would be to refuse to weigh in on the matter. Any such decision would likely be seen as a sign to the court that the administration did not believe it had an interest in the case. “MBS’s [Mohammed bin Salman’s] ploy to secure immunity by designating himself as PM should be rejected as an abuse of sovereign immunity. To allow tyrants to dodge prosecution for war crimes and grave abuses by title-washing will eviscerate universal jurisdiction laws all over the world,” she said. Experts have also cautioned that much more is at stake for Prince Mohammed than the civil case in Washington. If a US judge were to determine that the crown prince should be granted sovereign immunity, it would likely assure the crown prince that he was no longer facing legal threats or the threat of possible arrest when he travels outside the kingdom. If a judge determines that Prince Mohammed ought not to be granted sovereign immunity – either because he is not yet fully ruler of the kingdom, or because his alleged wrongdoing was too grave – it would conversely send a stark message that the crown prince could face more legal trouble. The decision in the first instance will be made by Judge John Bates, who was appointed to the bench in 2001 by then-president, George W Bush. Bates has previously received media attention as a Republican-appointed federal judge who ruled against the Trump administration in 2018 after the White House sought to end an Obama-era programme known as Daca, which was designed to protect immigrants who arrived in the US as children. Bates called the Trump administration’s reasoning in the case “arbitrary” and said it had not given sufficient explanation of why the programme should be considered unlawful. Read More Here

In Defense Of Donald Trump – Santa Barbara News-Press https://digitalarkansasnews.com/in-defense-of-donald-trump-santa-barbara-news-press/ Purely Political, By James Buckley COURTESY PHOTO Donald Trump I know, I know. Enough with this Trump stuff. We’ve got to move on. I’ve said as much, though I have always insisted that if Donald Trump runs again, I’ll vote for him. For two important reasons. The first being that as president, Mr. Trump tried mightily to fulfill every campaign promise he’d made. In the face of treachery from all sides, particularly from what he called the Deep State, and political intransigence from his own party, he risked everything, including — as the Founding Fathers once did —  his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor —  to complete his self-appointed task to Make America Great Again. After all, as he would often say, he didn’t need this. He had a great life. The other reason being that a second term was denied him via a quasi-legal campaign of adjusting election rules, particularly in battleground states (using the ongoing pandemic as an excuse for doing so), ballot harvesting, creation of thousands of unguarded drop boxes into which anyone at any time could drop undetected and un-monitored, however many mail-in ballots one had “collected,” and the like. But you knew that, so as we enter a never-ending Election Month, I feel an urgent need to keep the distasteful 2020 campaign effort front and center so that voters don’t forget. The following are extracts I’ve pulled from a speech entitled “Trump’s Virtues,” given by Thomas Klingenstein, chairman of the Claremont Institute, who feels that way too. I don’t know the man, but he was an early supporter of Mr.Trump, and his 17-minute speech encapsulates who the former and perhaps future president is and isn’t, and why it’s important to remember what he accomplished. TRUMP’S VIRTUES “Many leading Republicans and conservatives want someone other than Donald Trump to run for president in 2024. “Other Republican politicians say some version of, ‘I like his policies but don’t like the rest of him.’ But this gets it almost backward. Although Trump advanced many important policies, it is the ‘rest of him’ that contains the virtues that inspired a movement. “Trump was born for the current crisis: the life and death struggle against the totalitarian enemy I call ‘woke communism.’ The ‘woke comms’ clench the Democratic party by the scruff of its neck. They tell us lies and silence those who challenge the lies. Like most totalitarian regimes, they have a scapegoat (white males), a narrative (America is systemically racist) and a utopian vision of society where there are equal outcomes for all preferred identity groups in every area of human life. The woke comms control all the cultural, and economic centers of power in the country from where they ruthlessly push their agenda. That agenda rests on the conviction that America is thoroughly bad (systemically racist) and must be destroyed. “Trump critics say he caused or exacerbated the divide in this country. No, he did not. He revealed — not caused — the divide. “Trump is unreservedly, unquestionably pro-American. He makes no apologies for America’s past. Trump is a refreshing break from the guilt and self-loathing that mark our age. “Trump has said over and over exactly what political correctness prohibits one from saying: ‘We have our culture, it’s exceptional, and that’s the way we want to keep it.’ “It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Trump’s fight against political correctness, a fight in which most Republicans are reluctant to engage. “Trump treated the woke media with the same contempt he treated political correctness, provoking their outrage and revealing their utter corruption. “Unlike most politicians, Trump — when he sees a problem — goes out and fixes it. He fixed our porous borders, moved our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, normalized relations between Arab countries and Israel, eliminated hate-America Critical Race Theory in his administrative agencies, developed a vaccine for the coronavirus in record time, achieved energy independence and much more. “Trump is guided by facts and common sense. He has no use for theories. He knows that slavish devotion to theory can lead to nonsensical beliefs; for instance, that children should be able to change their sex; that police forces should be defunded; or that biological boys should be able to compete against girls in athletics. “Trump taught us crucial things. For starters, that China is a mortal enemy. Before his presidency, the public did not appreciate this. Now it does. “Trump smoked rats out of their hiding places. Because of Trump, we now know that our intelligence agencies are corrupt. We know also that the mainstream media is not just biased but is the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. “Trump also understands that what Americans of all races and creeds desire are stable communities and the opportunity to raise their families in a culture that values industriousness, self-reliance, patriotism and freedom. “Trump is the most towering political figure in living memory. He has, like it or not, defined the politics of our age. “Among the talked-about alternatives to Trump, I have not yet seen anyone who possesses, or even fully understands, Trump’s virtues. Nor I have seen anyone with his backbone and fortitude. One does not appreciate the strength of relentless gale-force winds until one is in the eye of the storm. I am not suggesting that it is time for everyone to make way for Trump; rather that it is much too early to throw him overboard. “If Republicans do choose another candidate to lead the Trump movement, they must do so in full confidence that (their candidate) will embody Trump’s virtues. If not Trump himself, his virtues must be the standard by which we judge other candidates.” Readers should go online to YouTube and punch in “Trump’s Virtues” and watch the entire speech. It’s well worth your time. James Buckley is a longtime Montecito resident. He welcomes questions or comments at jimb@substack.com. Readers are invited to visit jimb.substack.com, where Jim’s Journals are on file. He also invites people to subscribe to Jim’s Journal. Read More Here

Death Toll Rises To 67 In Florida After Hurricane Ian Rendered Some Communities 'unrecognizable,' Officials Say | CNN https://digitalarkansasnews.com/death-toll-rises-to-67-in-florida-after-hurricane-ian-rendered-some-communities-unrecognizable-officials-say-cnn/ 01:51 – Source: CNN Man stays in houseboat during hurricane. See where he ended up CNN  —  Days after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida, shell-shocked residents are still assessing the damage left behind by record-high storm surge, damaging winds and catastrophic flooding that left some areas of the Sunshine State unrecognizable. At least 67 people were killed by Ian in Florida as it swallowed homes in its furious rushing waters, obliterated roadways and ripped down powerlines. Four people were also killed in storm-related incidents in North Carolina, officials say. Nearly 900,000 customers in Florida still did not have power as of early Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 30,000 remained without power in North Carolina. The hurricane – expected to be ranked the most expensive storm in Florida’s history – made landfall Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 and had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone by Saturday, dropping rain over parts of West Virginia and western Maryland. While sunshine has returned to Florida, many there are contending with Ian’s sobering aftermath: a power grid that may take weeks to fix, destroyed homes, damaged landmarks, and lost loves ones. The devastation stretched from Florida’s coastal towns to inland cities like Orlando, but was felt most intensely in southwestern coastal communities, like Fort Myers and Naples. Crews had rescued and evacuated more than 1,070 people from flooded areas in southwest and central Florida and transported 78 people from a flooded elderly care facility as of Saturday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said in a news release. The US Coast Guard also carried out rescues, navigating through challenging post-storm conditions, Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson told CNN. “We’re flying and we’re operating in areas that are unrecognizable,” he said. “There’s no street signs. They don’t look like they used to look like. Buildings that were once benchmarks in the community are no longer there.” Many of the Ian-related deaths have been reported in southwestern Florida’s Lee County, which includes Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, where at least 35 people died. Local officials are facing criticism about whether mandatory evacuations in Lee County should have been issued sooner. Officials there did not order evacuations until less than 24 hours before the storm made landfall, and a day after several neighboring counties issued their orders. DeSantis on Saturday defended the timing of Lee County’s orders, saying they were given as soon as the storm’s projected path shifted south, putting the area in Ian’s crosshairs. The storm’s toll in Florida also includes 12 deaths in Charlotte County, eight in Collier County, five in Volusia County, three in Sarasota County and one each in Polk, Lake, Hendry and Manatee counties, according to officials. President Joe Biden continued to pledge federal support for Florida, saying Hurricane Ian is “likely to rank among the worst … in the nation’s history.” The President and first lady Jill Biden are set to travel to Puerto Rico Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona, then head to Florida Wednesday, according to a statement from the White House. After Hurricane Ian finished its devastating crawl over Florida, residents emerged, surveying damaged homes, picking up debris and maneuvering waterlogged roads. The Florida National Guard was working on search and rescue missions with local authorities throughout southwest and central Florida Saturday, pulling distressed residents from flooded areas and lifting some to safety via helicopter, according to the governor. People on Sanibel and Captiva islands found themselves cut off from the mainland after parts of a causeway were destroyed by the storm, leaving boats and helicopters as their only exit options. Groups of civilian volunteers were working to help residents leave Sanibel, where aerial imagery has shown many cottages that lined the island’s shores were wiped away. Sanibel Island resident Andy Boyle was on the island when the hurricane hit. He said he lost his home and two cars, but feels lucky to be alive. “A lot of people have very expensive, well-built homes on Sanibel and they felt with their multi-million dollar homes built like fortresses, they would be fine,” Boyle said. Boyle was riding out the storm at home when the dining room roof collapsed. “That’s when we started to get concerned,” he said. He described waving down National Guard aircraft the next day outside his house, and seeing the scenes of devastation around the island. “When you go to the east end of the island, there’s just a lot of destruction. The houses surrounding the lighthouse are all gone. When you go to the west end of the island, the old restaurants up there, they’re all gone. The street going to Captiva is now a beach,” Boyle said. The US Coast Guard plans to evacuate people from Lee County’s Pine Island during daylight hours Sunday, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Residents were also evacuated from the Hidden River area of Sarasota County after a compromised levee threatened to flood homes, the sheriff’s office said Saturday. Further complicating recovery is the lack of electricity and spotty communication in impacted areas. It could take up to a week from Sunday before power is restored in storm-damaged counties, said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light Company. And some customers may not be back on the grid for “weeks or months” because some buildings with structural damage will need safety inspections. Around 65% of all power outages in Florida from the storm had been restored as of early Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us. Florida is also working with Elon Musk and Starlink satellite to help restore communication in the state, according to DeSantis. “They’re positioning those Starlink satellites to provide good coverage in Southwest Florida and other affected areas,” DeSantis said. Emergency responders in Lee County will be among those receiving Starlink devices. Fort Myers council member Liston Bochette told CNN the city was hit hard, with “major issues” with in the city’s water, power and sewage systems. In Charlotte County, residents are “facing a tragedy” without homes, electricity or water supplies, said Claudette Smith, public information officer for the sheriff’s office. “We need everything, to put it plain and simple. We need everything. We need all hands on deck,” Smith told CNN Friday. “The people who have come to our assistance have been tremendously helpful, but we do need everything.” Hurricane Ian may have caused as much as $47 billion in insured losses in Florida, according to an estimate from property analytics firm CoreLogic – which could make it the most expensive storm in the state’s history. After walloping Florida, Ian made its second landfall in the US near Georgetown, South Carolina, Friday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane, and began lashing the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas with ferocious wind and rainfall. In North Carolina, the four storm-related deaths include a man who drowned when his truck went into a flooded swamp; two people who died in separate crashes; and a man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in a closed garage, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office. No deaths have been reported in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said Saturday. The storm has flooded homes and submerged vehicles along South Carolina’s shoreline. Two piers – one in Pawleys Island and another in North Myrtle Beach – partially collapsed as high winds pushed water even higher. Edgar Stephens, who manages the Cherry Grove Pier in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, stood yards away as a 100-foot section from the pier’s middle crashed into the ocean. Stephens said the Cherry Grove Pier is a staple for community members and tourists alike. “We’re a destination, not just a fishing pier,” Stephens said. Read More Here

Handful Of University Of Arkansas System Schools Report Fall Enrollment Increases https://digitalarkansasnews.com/handful-of-university-of-arkansas-system-schools-report-fall-enrollment-increases/ Prospective students and their families walk Thursday, June 30, 2022, to the front doors of Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus while taking part in a tour of campus in Fayetteville. Most University of Arkansas System schools reported modest decreases or stable enrollment this fall compared to the same time last year, although a handful saw increased enrollment. At a time when college enrollment is decreasing nationally and across the state, the fact that a handful of UA System institutions grew enrollment, while several others were essentially flat, “is remarkable,” said Donald Bobbitt, president of the UA System. Nearly 1.3 million students disappeared from American colleges during the coronavirus pandemic, and attendance among undergraduates fell nearly 10%. Roughly one out of every four people in Arkansas age 25 or older have at least a bachelor’s degree, which places Arkansas among the bottom five states in that category, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationally, the percentage of people age 25 and older who had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher is about 38%. Enrollment and student credit hours are crucial to colleges and universities partly because of the revenue they bring in from tuition and mandatory fees, as well as from on-campus food services and housing. University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock reported an enrollment decrease of nearly 3% compared to last year, although the number of first-time freshmen, transfers and graduate students all rose significantly. UALR’s total enrollment is 8,103, which is 2.7% lower than the same time last year, according to preliminary figures reported by the university Sept. 7. However, that figure outperformed the university’s own enrollment projection by 3%. The number of first-time freshmen is up an “unprecedented 29%,” while transfer students are up 8% and graduate students are up 5%, according to Angie Faller, news director, communications and marketing at UALR. More students are also living on campus, with an “increase in housing occupancy by more than 11% over last year.” UALR “is experiencing its largest percent increase in first-time freshmen and transfer students in over a decade,” Cody Decker, vice chancellor for student affairs and chief data officer, said in a statement from the university. For those incoming freshmen, the average high school GPA is 3.3, and the average ACT score is 22.4. The rise in graduate students “follows a 45% increase in graduate applications and [a] 31% increase in admissions,” according to Faller. The Department of Information Science saw the highest jump, with an increase of 86%, while enrollment also rose in history, computer science, art and design, and biology graduate programs. “Graduate education continues to be a priority for many baccalaureate-prepared students due to the value that a graduate degree brings,” Brian Berry, vice provost of research and dean of the graduate school, said in a statement from the university. “This is particularly true in the fields of cybersecurity, information science and information quality as evidenced by their significant growth this year,” Berry said. “Growth in these areas is critical for developing the workforce needed to meet the demands of our growing, knowledge-based economy here in Arkansas and across the region.” University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Total fall enrollment at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is down 7% from last fall from 2,670 to 2,482. “We are analyzing the data to determine where and why most of the decline occurred,” according to Mary Hester-Clifton, director of communications, institutional advancement. “There is no singular reason for the decrease, [but] it appears that the pandemic and economic conditions are affecting our enrollment.” However, graduate enrollment is up 17% over last year, and the university has a six-year graduation rate of over 40% for the second-consecutive year, she added. “While we continue to focus on increasing enrollment, we are delighted that a higher percentage of our continuing students are completing their degrees.” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville UA-Fayetteville crossed the 30,000 mark for enrollment for the first time this fall and set a record for enrollment at 30,936, up 8.3% from last year, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. Enrollment has roughly doubled over the last quarter century, and “we’ve added 10,000 students since 2009.” The university received more than 26,000 applications for enrollment for this fall; four years ago, the university received fewer than 20,000 applications, McCray said. The university has received 1,300 more applications for fall 2023 than at this time last year, as “we’ve become a destination university.” The cumulative high school GPA of this fall’s 7,099 degree-seeking incoming freshmen also set a new record at 3.77, she said. “We believe this will improve our retention and graduation rates, [because] these students are better prepared for college.” The Sam F. Walton School of Business has led the way in the enrollment uptick, as it is up 600 students — a far larger increase than any other school — this year, to 2,417 students, she said. UA-Fayetteville’s freshmen class includes 2,835 Arkansans, as well as 2,555 Texans, 578 Missourians and 303 Kansans, as “we are the number one university” for Kansans and Missourians outside of their respective states. Texas is a critical state for recruiting, because it continues to grow rapidly in population, while many other states — including Arkansas — will experience a notable drop-off in potential college students over the next decade due to the country’s birth rate decline, interim Chancellor Charles Robinson said. Out-of-state students, in general, are crucial to the university, because they pay out-of-state tuition, “which allows us to keep costs low for Arkansans.” “Some out-of-state students pay a higher tuition than others based on whether or not they qualify for the New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award” — which offers scholarships based on academic merit, such as GPA — “but even those who qualify still pay out-of-state tuition at a higher rate than any Arkansan,” according to Mark Rushing, associate vice chancellor, university relations. With 2,835 in-state students in this freshman class, the university saw an 8% increase in Arkansans this year, McCray said. At the university, 90% of scholarship dollars go to Arkansans, and 97% of Arkansans who apply for scholarships receive at least one. The university is intent on continuing to recruit in state, she said. The RazorBug continues to tour the state; high school counselors will soon be able to recommend students to the university who might otherwise be overlooked and free application day will be expanded. “Free application days are very popular, and some students count on those,” she said. “We want to make sure no student who wants to apply is” prevented from doing so by lack of resources. University of Arkansas at Monticello Enrollment increased at the University of Arkansas, Monticello, from 2,673 last fall to 2,717 this year, and transfer student enrollment has grown 27% compared to the fall 2021 semester, from 131 to 166 students, according to the university. In addition, graduate student enrollment has hit a record high, growing 10%, from 409 to 451 students, according to the university. Additional graduate student growth is anticipated in the near future with a Master of Science in Nursing degree with an emphasis in public health, which will start in January and is currently accepting applicants. “The increase in overall enrollment at UAM’s three campuses highlights the success of our outreach efforts and confirms what we proudly know about our university: UAM is a model higher education institution, offering an affordable, comprehensive education, from technical certificates to graduate degrees,” Chancellor Peggy Doss said in a statement. “While our numbers are not up in every enrollment area, we are excited to see continued growth in the coming academic year, as a result of new program offerings and partnerships.” Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas reported a 1.5% increase in students this fall, adding 10 students to last fall’s enrollment of 663. Targeted recruitment for technical programs, such as CDL/truck driving, construction, HVAC, cosmetology, medical laboratory technology and phlebotomy, have all seen enrollment increases for the fall semester, and the college also enhanced its presence/marketing on social media, especially throughout the registration period, according to a press release from the school. “Through the use of Google analytic searches, we are able to evaluate our marketing and monitor our performance through data reports that have revealed that our website has experienced a lot of increased traffic.” A new full-tuition scholarship in behavioral health offered through the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership also aided in enrollment, according to the college. Another incentive is the college’s free transportation service, which is available each semester to Helena-West Helena area students who live within a reasonable distance from campus. UA Grantham and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences At UA Grantham — based in Little Rock and the UA System’s only exclusively online institution — eight-week terms start every month in a rotating fashion, as opposed to traditional semester starts, according to Nate Hinkel, director of communications for UA Grantham and for the UA System. The most recent term for reporting is the July/August start dates, w...

Indonesia Authorities Say 125 Dead In Soccer Stadium Stampede https://digitalarkansasnews.com/indonesia-authorities-say-125-dead-in-soccer-stadium-stampede/ More than 320 injured during crowd stampede Indonesia football association suspends league to investigate Police say they fired tear gas to control crowd MALANG, Indonesia, Oct 2 (Reuters) – A stampede at a soccer stadium in Indonesia has killed at least 125 people and injured more than 320 after police sought to quell violence on the pitch, authorities said on Sunday, in one of the world’s worst stadium disasters. Officers fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse agitated supporters of the losing home side who had invaded the pitch after the final whistle in Malang, East Java, on Saturday night, the region’s police chief Nico Afinta told reporters. “It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars,” Nico said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Some local officials had put the death toll at 174, but East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak said the number of fatalities had subsequently been revised down to 125. The earlier figure may have included duplicate fatalities, he said. An East Java police spokesperson said 323 people were injured, up from the initial count of 180. The stadium disaster appeared to be the world’s worst in decades. Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya around 10 p.m. (1500 GMT), followed by scuffles, and what appeared to be clouds of tear gas and unconscious fans being carried out of the venue. Many victims at the nearby Kanjuruhan hospital suffered from trauma, shortness of breath and a lack of oxygen due to the large number of people at the scene affected by tear gas, said paramedic Boby Prabowo. The head of another hospital in the area told Metro TV that some victims had sustained brain injuries and that the fatalities included a 5-year-old. President Joko Widodo said authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be “the last soccer tragedy in the nation”. Jokowi, as the president is known, ordered the Football Association of Indonesia, PSSI, to suspend all games in the top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed. TEAR GAS RULES World soccer’s governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or police. East Java police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of such regulations. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement to Reuters that the football world was in “a state of shock following the tragic incidents that have taken place in Indonesia” and the event was “dark day for all involved”. FIFA has requested a report on the incident from PSSI, which has sent a team to Malang to investigate, PSSI secretary general Yunus Nusi told reporters. Indonesia’s human rights commission also plans to investigate security at the grounds, including the use of tear gas, its commissioner told Reuters. “Many of our friends lost their lives because of the officers who dehumanised us,” said Muhammad Rian Dwicahyono, 22, crying as he nursed a broken arm at the local Kanjuruhan hospital. “Many lives have been wasted.” On Sunday mourners gathered outside the gates of the stadium to lay flowers for the victims. Amnesty International Indonesia slammed the security measures, saying the “use of excessive force by the state … to contain or control such crowds cannot be justified at all”. The country’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, said in an Instagram post that the stadium had been filled beyond its capacity. Some 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium designed to hold 38,000 people, he said. INDONESIAN FOOTBALL SCENE Financial aid would be given to the injured and the families of victims, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told reporters. There have been outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia before, with strong rivalries between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters. Crowds pack stadiums but the football scene in Indonesia, a country 275 million people, has been blighted by hooliganism, heavy-handed policing and mismanagement. Zainudin Amali, Indonesia’s sports minister, told KompasTV the ministry would re-evaluate safety at football matches, including considering not allowing spectators in stadiums. Periodic stadium disasters have horrified fans around the world. In 1964, 328 people were killed in a crush when Peru hosted Argentine at the Estadio Nacional. In a 1989 British disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death when an overcrowded and fenced-in enclosure collapsed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. Indonesia is scheduled to host the FIFA under-20 World Cup in May and June next year. They are also one of three countries bidding to stage next year’s Asian Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the Euros, after China pulled out as hosts. The head of the Asian Football Confederation, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, said in a statement he was “deeply shocked and saddened to hear such tragic news coming out of football-loving Indonesia”, expressing condolences for the victims, their families and friends. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Prasto Wardoyo in Malang, Stefanno Sulaiman and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, and Tommy Lund in Gdansk Writing by Kate Lamb Editing by Ed Davies, William Mallard, Kim Coghill and Frances Kerry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Fort Smith, Van Buren To Celebrate Fall With Events On Oct. 8 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/fort-smith-van-buren-to-celebrate-fall-with-events-on-oct-8/ FORT SMITH — Several fall festival events are planned across the River Valley on Saturday to enjoy the cooler weather and Halloween, as well as recognize area businesses and organizations. One of the biggest events is the Fort Smith Fall Festival, which is returning after being canceled for two years due to the pandemic. The Fort Smith Farmers Market, Miss Laura’s Visitor Center, the Fort Smith Museum of History, the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, the Clayton House, the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum and Frisco Depot are collaborating with the Fort Smith National Historic Site to host different fall and historical-themed events around downtown. Events include living history encampments such as early Fort Smith, Civil War musket and artillery demonstrations and old west-style shootouts. There will be free or reduced admission to area museums and a children’s area including Western Frontier games and a scavenger hunt. Cody Faber, an event coordinator and a park ranger for the national historic site, said the event saw almost 4,000 people when it was held in 2019. He said it’s the largest historical-based event the city offers, and allows attendees to see Fort Smith’s history and the groups helping preserve it. “We’re so many, different groups that oftentimes it seems like we’re not all on the same team or on the same page,” Faber said. “However, we work together very well, we love each other and we want to see each other promoted. Fort Smith is very much well known for the historical side of things, and this gives us an opportunity to kind of show that off as a whole with a lot of different stuff at the same time.” A full list of activities can be found at fortsmith.org/2022-fort-smith-fall-festival or on the Fort Smith Fall Festival Facebook page. Chaffee Crossing is holding an Octoberfest-themed Farmers and Artisans Market at 7300 Ellis St. from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., which includes a costume parade, a dog-stume contest, kids activities, musical entertainment and woodworking and pottery demos, in addition to their usual farm fresh products and artisan goods. Across the river in Van Buren, the city is holding a similar Fall Festival market in the Old Town area all weekend long. Activities include a pumpkin patch and pumpkin painting, live music and vendor trucks, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Read More Here

Two Democrats Are Seeking The Nomination After Del. Mark Keam (D-HD35)’s Resignation. Here Are Karl Frisch’s Responses To The Blue Virginia Questionnaire. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/two-democrats-are-seeking-the-nomination-after-del-mark-keam-d-hd35s-resignation-here-are-karl-frischs-responses-to-the-blue-virginia-questionnaire/ With Del. Mark Keam (D-HD35)’s resignation a few weeks ago to go work in the Biden administration, there’s going to be a special election to fill the seat on January 10, 2023. But first, we’ve got the Democratic nominating caucus this coming week (for more details, see here), with two candidates having filed for this overwhelmingly “blue” seat in the Vienna/Tysons area of Fairfax County: 1) “BRAWS” (“Bringing Resources to Aid Women’s Shelters”) Founder Holly Seibold and 2) Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch. So with this in mind, on September 25, I emailed both Democratic candidates with a Blue Virginia questionnaire, asking if they could get it back to me by today if possible, since early voting starts this coming Tuesday at 10 am and the caucus is next Saturday, October 8 from 10 am to 4 pm (at the Kilmer Center, Oakton Elementary School and the Patrick Henry Library). The first candidate to respond was Holly Seibold; see here for her answers. And now, see below for Karl Frisch‘s responses (thanks!). 1. What would you most like Blue Virginia readers to know about who you are, what your qualifications are for delegate, and what motivated you to seek public office? “During these uncertain times, we need more progressive fighters in Richmond – people who will stand up to Governor Youngkin and the far-right and work every day to protect the progress Democrats have made in Virginia and keep our Commonwealth moving forward. That is the kind of leadership I can deliver in Richmond, and that is why I am running for Virginia House of Delegates in the 35th district special election. For the past few years, school boards across the country have been the target of a well-funded, national right-wing effort tearing at the foundation of public education. Yet, despite the hate mail, death threats, and bigoted attacks, I have never wavered in my commitment to our students, educators, and families. On the School Board, I have championed efforts to eliminate literacy gaps, teach accurate history, protect school libraries from censorship, expand access to advanced academics, encourage energy conservation, teach the truth about contraception and abortion care, rename schools that honored the Confederacy, keep immigrant families together, protect LGBTQIA+ students, and more. Before serving on the School Board, I earned a national reputation as an effective and progressive public policy advocate in our nation’s capital. Most recently, as executive director of consumer watchdog Allied Progress, I successfully fought the Trump administration over its betrayal of struggling Americans targeted by predatory payday lenders, unscrupulous student loan processors, and other financial scammers. As a senior fellow at Media Matters for America during the Obama administration, I developed an early framework for the non-profit’s efforts to hold Fox News and other right-wing media accountable for perpetuating misinformation and baselessly attacking progressive leaders and priorities. When Bill O’Reilly and Andrew Breitbart attacked me, I wore it as a badge of honor. As Democratic staff for the Rules Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, I was instrumental in helping to expose a pattern of corruption by Republican members of Congress. Some later resigned or faced criminal charges stemming from their ethical transgressions. I will bring the same fighting spirit to bear for all Virginians, working to protect our world-class and inclusive public schools, defend abortion access and reproductive freedom, build an economy that works for everyone (especially the workers on whose backs it is built), prevent gun violence, take bold climate action, and preserve our democracy.” 2. Ideologically speaking, how would you describe yourself – “moderate,” “progressive,” “liberal,” other? “If you ask the Fairfax County Republican Committee, they will probably claim I am a woke, Marxist, socialist, commie. But, here on planet Earth, I am what rational people would call a progressive because I believe the government has an obligation to help everyone achieve their full potential – in school, at work, at home, and in the world around them. That means public schools that help all students succeed regardless of circumstance, employers that pay workers a livable wage with healthcare and other stability-enhancing benefits, people who are free to love who they want and make their own medical decisions, and communities where clean air and water are the expectation.” 3. If elected, in what ways – if any – would your representation of the district be different than/the same as Del. Mark Keam’s? “Mark Keam represented us well for more than a decade, and we have much to be grateful for in his legacy of leadership and service to our community. When I ran for school board in 2019, he was generous with his time and counsel – helping me wrap my head around the mechanics of campaigning as a first-time candidate. When we discussed my potential campaign for Delegate, he was no less helpful with advice and counsel. I have always tried to emulate Del. Keam’s example, sharing what I’ve learned as a candidate and elected official with those considering possible future campaigns. As the School Board member representing nearly 2/3 of his district, I can tell you without hesitation that Del. Keam always made our schools a priority. If I asked him to visit a school with me, he would be there. Serving as the School Board’s state legislative liaison, when I called or visited him in Richmond with concerns about Governor Youngkin’s legislative attacks on public education, he was always eager to help find potential solutions. In addition to his legislative accomplishments, Del. Keam’s accessibility made him a standout legislator. He was everywhere, making him a good example not only for anyone hoping to fill his seat but for everyone serving in public office at every level.” 4. The Virginia General Assembly is officially part-time, yet most legislators are busy throughout the year serving their constituents, attending regular and special sessions, etc. Do you believe the job of delegate should officially and/or unofficially be more of a full-time job or continue with the “part-time citizen legislator” model? “As an elected School Board member, I can tell you that ‘officially part-time’ is really full-time if you want to do the job right. That said, few people have employers that will allow them to take the time off needed to serve in the Virginia General Assembly. If we want to attract people with diverse professional backgrounds to public office who will have the time year-round to attend to their constituents’ needs, we must pay a wage that makes it possible for them to step away from their current jobs if needed — $17,000 a year and per diem just isn’t going to cut it. Additionally, allowing unlimited campaign contributions from virtually any source, paying legislators too little, and allowing them to use contributions for most personal expenses is a recipe for ethical disaster.” 5. What would be your top issue priorities to work (and lead) on if you’re elected as delegate? “The U.S. Supreme Court’s terrifying assault on abortion access is just the beginning from a right-wing bench hellbent on undermining federal authority on a host of critical issues. In addition to working with my colleagues in the General Assembly to protect reproductive freedom in Virginia’s constitution, we must be prepared to respond to the activist Supreme Court’s likely future attacks on contraception, marriage equality, environmental regulation, consumer financial protections, and more. Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly need a cross-chamber task force charged with making sure we fix at the Commonwealth level whatever the Supreme Court breaks at the federal level.” 6. How do you view the current Republican Party? And on a related note, if elected, would you look more to work with Republicans in the House of Delegates or to fight for progressive values and to defeat Republicans at the ballot box? “The current Republican Party is more a cult of personality than a political party with core values and beliefs – what Donald Trump wants, Governor Youngkin delivers. Even Republican officials who may disagree with their conspiracy theorist colleagues end up twisting themselves in pretzels to avoid falling out of favor with the party’s radicalism. That is one of the reasons it is so difficult to conceive of many Republicans in the House of Delegates being willing to partner on issues like protecting reproductive freedom, defending LGBTQIA+ Virginians, combating climate change, preventing gun violence, and other critical priorities. Even if they agreed as a matter of principle, they would be unlikely to step out of line. But, if they did muster the courage to do the right thing, I would gladly work with them to get it done.” 7. Are there any Virginia elected officials, past or present, who you view as role models? Who do you view as the worst current Virginia elected officials? “Danica Roem has been an exceptional Delegate since her election in 2017. I have watched her handle hateful, sexist, and anti-trans bigotry with grace, humor, and determination. She has stayed laser focused on serving the needs of her community, mastering her work as a Delegate, and passing meaningful legislation. That is a roadmap that all Delegates, especially freshmen, would be wise to follow. Gerry Connolly is a rare member of Congress who understands the importance of maintaining strong personal relationships with local officials. Perhaps because of his backgr...

Shying From Trump, Ex-Maine Gov. Paul LePage Seeks Job Back https://digitalarkansasnews.com/shying-from-trump-ex-maine-gov-paul-lepage-seeks-job-back/ Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is welcomed to the stage by Maine Gov. Paul LePage at campaign stop in Portland, Maine, in this March 3, 2016 file photo. LePage, who moved to Florida after his second term, has returned to Maine to challenge Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — When then-Maine Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, he credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent presidential candidate. “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular, so I think I should support him since we are one of the same cloth,” said LePage, whose two terms in office were punctuated by brash behavior and frequently offensive comments. Now, as LePage is running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in public, and his advisers say LePage’s hiatus from politics changed him. He’s eager to show he’s smoothed over some of his own rough edges, though flashes of his fiery personality broke through recently at an event at a riverfront boatyard in Yarmouth, where he pledged to take on Democratic “elitists.” “I came from the streets. I was a fighter all my life,” LePage told workers. “I had to scrimp and save to eat and survive. I am a fighter.” As LePage seeks to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and become the longest-serving governor in Maine history, he is banking on an approach familiar to other Republican candidates in liberal- and moderate-leaning states who are trying not to alienate swing voters they would need to win a general election. LePage’s efforts at putting distancing from Trump are particularly notable given LePage once invited comparisons to Trump — and made them himself. Democrats aren’t going to let voters forget LePage’s tumultuous time in office, when he occasionally acted and sounded a lot like Trump. LePage attracted national headlines when he told the Portland chapter of the NAACP to “kiss my butt,” made racist remarks about drug dealers who impregnate “white” girls and accused a lawmaker of screwing over state taxpayers “without providing Vaseline.” His critics point to a recent campaign event in which LePage threatened to “deck” a Democratic staffer who got too close to him — an incident, they say, that illustrates LePage hasn’t changed at all. The race is shaping up to be among a dozen or so competitive contests for governor this election year. The way in which the campaign plays out with voters weary of political ugliness may be a harbinger for Trump’s White House aspirations in 2024. LePage and Mills’ adversarial relationship goes back years. Mills, a 74-year-old moderate and the first woman elected governor of Maine, is a former two-term attorney general whose stint as the state’s top prosecutor coincided with LePage’s time as governor. The two clashed publicly, with Mills declining to represent LePage’s administration on some matters, forcing LePage to seek outside counsel to represent his interests in litigation. Her supporters portray her as a steady leader whose cautious COVID-19 policies helped guide the state through the worst pandemic in a century, with fewer coronavirus deaths per capita than most others. She expanded Medicaid — something LePage had blocked — and presided over the largest budget surplus in Maine history, which allowed the state to send $850 relief checks to most residents. Raised in poverty and homeless for a time as a boy, LePage, 73, is an unabashed conservative whose past controversies often overshadowed his political achievements, such as lowering the tax burden, shrinking welfare rolls, overhauling the pension system and paying back millions of dollars of hospital debt. He attacked Mills’ executive orders during the pandemic, including mandatory vaccines for health care workers, calling it a “reign of terror.” He’s called for a parental bill of rights in education, claimed Mill has allowed crime and drugs to proliferate and accused her of budgetary gimmicks that will cause problems in the future. He has promised to try again to eliminate the state’s income tax. When LePage left office in 2019, prevented from seeking a third consecutive term by the Maine Constitution, he declared he was decamping for Florida, where the taxes were lower, and leaving politics behind. He didn’t stay away long. Soon, he was headed back to Maine for what supporters described as “LePage 2.0.” LePage’s senior adviser Brent Littlefield said LePage was astounded when Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and that LePage fears the country is in danger of tearing itself apart. LePage issued a statement amid the violence supporting law enforcement and telling those involved in the riot “to leave and go home.” LePage served as Trump’s honorary state chairman and once sought a job in his administration, but he now won’t say whether he would vote for Trump for president if Trump runs again in 2024. Despite any private misgivings, however, LePage hasn’t condemned Trump. He declined an Associated Press interview request. The former governor made no reference to Trump while touring Yankee Marina & Boatyard, even though Trump remains popular in rural Maine, where he twice won an electoral vote while losing the statewide vote. Boatyard president Deborah Delp said LePage is needed at a time when her workers are suffering from high inflation and worried about the future. She said she can “handle some rough language” from LePage if he puts the economy on track. “Politicians are politicians. And he’s not a politician. He’s a businessman. He says what he thinks,” Delp said. Maria Testa, a Democrat from Portland, disagrees. “He’s bombastic and has a cruel temper. He’s such a big no for me,” Testa said. While campaigning, LePage largely tries to steer clear of Trump’s lies of a rigged 2020 election. LePage acknowledges that Biden is president but declines to address whether he thinks the election was legitimate. LePage also avoids the issue of abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. Mills has pledged to fight to ensure women continue to have a right to a legal abortion in Maine. A third candidate for governor, independent Sam Hunkler, isn’t expected to play much of a role in the race, unlike deep-pocketed independent Eliot Cutler, who did in 2010 and 2014, when LePage won each election without a majority. Maine’s ranked-choice voting system won’t be a factor. It is used in federal congressional races but not in the governor’s contest because it runs afoul of the Maine Constitution. Betsy Martin, a retired health care administrator from Biddeford, said residents are feeling drained by the corrosive partisanship in a rural state with a tradition of moderate politics and independent voters. Some are tuning out altogether, she said. “They’re exhausted. They’re extremely fatigued. We’re worn out,” she said. ___ Follow David Sharp on Twitter @David_Sharp_AP ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Venezuela Swaps 7 Jailed Americans For Maduro Relatives https://digitalarkansasnews.com/venezuela-swaps-7-jailed-americans-for-maduro-relatives-2/ (AP) In a rare softening of hostile relations, Venezuela freed on Saturday seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the United States releasing two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years on narcotics convictions. The swap of the Americans, including five oil executives held for nearly five years, follows months of back channel diplomacy by senior U.S. officials — secretive talks with a major oil producer that took on greater urgency after sanctions on Russia put pressure on global energy prices. The deal amounts to an unusual gesture of goodwill by Maduro as the socialist leader looks to rebuild relations with the U.S. after vanquishing most of his domestic opponents. While the White House denied any change in policy toward Venezuela is afoot, the freeing of Americans could create political space for the Biden administration to ease crippling oil sanctions on Venezuela if Maduro shows progress in on-again, off-again talks with his opponents. “I can’t believe it,” Cristina Vadell, the daughter of Tomeu Vadell, one of the freed Americans, told The Associated Press on Saturday. Holding back tears of joy on her 31st birthday, she said: “This is the best birthday present ever. I’m just so happy.” The transfer took place Saturday in the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and Grenadines, which is ruled by an ally of Maduro, three people in Venezuela briefed on the matter told the AP on the condition of anonymity. The prisoners arrived from their respective locations in separate planes, the Biden administration said. “These individuals will soon be reunited with their families and back in the arms of their loved ones where they belong,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. Those freed include five employees of Houston-based Citgo — Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo and Jose Pereira — who were lured to Venezuela right before Thanksgiving in 2017 to attend a meeting at the headquarters of the company’s parent, state-run-oil giant PDVSA. Once there, they were hauled away by masked security agents who busted into a Caracas conference room. The men were convicted of embezzlement in 2020 in a trial marred by delays and irregularities and sentenced to between eight years and 13 years in prison for a never-executed proposal to refinance billions in the oil company’s bonds. Also released was Matthew Heath, a former U.S. Marine corporal from Tennessee who was arrested in 2020 at a roadblock in Venezuela, and a Florida man, Osman Khan, who was arrested in January. The State Department had regarded all the men as wrongfully detained. To facilitate a deal, Biden granted clemency for Franqui Flores and his cousin Efrain Campo, nephews of “First Combatant” Cilia Flores, as Maduro calls his wife. The men were arrested in Haiti in a Drug Enforcement Administration sting in 2015 and convicted the following year in New York in a highly charged case that cast a hard look at U.S. accusations of drug trafficking at the highest levels of Maduro’s administration. Referring to the men only as Venezuelans “unjustly imprisoned” in the U.S., the Maduro government in a statement said it “welcomes the outcome of these talks and hopes for the preservation of peace and harmony with all the nations of our region and the world.” The Biden administration has been under pressure to do more to bring home the roughly 60 Americans it believes are held hostage abroad or wrongfully detained by hostile foreign governments. While much of the focus is on Russia, where the U.S. has so far tried unsuccessfully to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American, Paul Whelan, Venezuela has been holding the largest contingent of Americans suspected of being used as bargaining chips. At least four other Americans remain detained in Venezuela, including two former Green Berets — Luke Denman and Airan Berry — involved in a slapdash attempt to oust Maduro in 2019, and two other men — Eyvin Hernandez and Jerrel Kenemore — who, like Khan, were detained for allegedly entering the country illegally from neighboring Colombia. “To all the families who are still suffering and separated from their loved ones who are wrongfully detained — know that we remain dedicated to securing their release,” Biden said in his statement. Saturday’s swap came together quietly over several months of backchannel talks. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, has made multiple visits to Venezuela over the last year to discuss potential deals and to meet with the detained Americans. In July, Maduro officials upped the ante in meetings in Caracas with Carstens and Ambassador James Story, who heads the Venezuela Affairs Unit in neighboring Colombia. It substitutes for the U.S. Embassy the Trump administration shuttered in 2019 to protest Maduro’s reelection in what was widely seen as a sham election. In exchange for freeing the nephews and insider businessman Alex Saab, Maduro was willing to release all Americans, a U.S. official briefed on the outreach told the AP. In the end, Saab — Venezuela considers him a diplomat and U.S. prosecutors a corrupt regime enabler — was never seriously considered, according to the U.S. official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the talks. Unlike the nephews, who were arrested as a result of a drug sting and are about halfway through 18-year sentences, Saab bitterly fought his extradition to the U.S. from Cape Verde, where he was arrested in 2020 during a stopover en route to Iran. He is now awaiting trial in Miami federal court on charges of siphoning off millions in state contracts. Still, it’s unclear if the prisoner release will lead to a broader thaw in relations. The Biden administration is constrained in its engagement with Maduro, especially in the battleground state of Florida, where Latino voters whose families fled authoritarian rule in Cuba and Venezuela hold major sway. “Another Biden appeasement that will result in more anti-U.S. dictators taking more innocent Americans hostage in the future,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on Twitter about Saturday’s exchange. Although the U.S. in the last six months has struck similar deals with Russia, and more recently with the Taliban, a senior Biden administration official downplayed any suggestion that it was caving to hostage-takers, saying such exchanges remain “extraordinarily rare.” The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the administration, also pointed to an executive order from this summe r that sought to impose new costs on countries that jail Americans without cause. Meanwhile, many Maduro supporters remain distrustful of the U.S. “Empire,” recalling the Trump administration’s decision to impose sanctions on a Venezuelan governor who brokered the release of another American, Joshua Holt, in 2018. However, some longtime Venezuela watchers say they’re hopeful this time will be different. A visit to Caracas in March by Juan Gonzalez, the top National Security Council adviser on Latin America, was itself a remarkable gesture toward a leader whom the U.S. considers illegitimate and has indicted on narco-terrorism charges. The Biden administration has also promised to review sanctions if Maduro can point to progress in talks with opponents that had been taking place in Mexico that are aimed at creating fairer conditions for 2024 presidential elections “President Biden did the right thing,” said Caleb McCarry, a former Republican staffer who met recently with Maduro in a bid to free Americans and improve bilateral relations. “This is serious diplomacy and can only help put the Mexico negotiations back on track. It’s a win for the families, the American people and the Venezuelan people.” Read More Here

Federal Judge Declares Six Sections Of Arkansas Election Law Unconstitutional https://digitalarkansasnews.com/federal-judge-declares-six-sections-of-arkansas-election-law-unconstitutional/ U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker (left) and Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston are shown in these undated file photos. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photos) A federal judge in Little Rock has declared as unconstitutional six sections of Arkansas election law pertaining to “new political parties.” In an opinion and order filed Friday, U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker sided with the Libertarian Party of Arkansas in its lawsuit against Secretary of State John Thurston. “The Court declares unconstitutional Arkansas Code Annotated §§ 7–7–101, 7–7–203(c)(1), 7–7–205(a)(2), 7–7–205(a)(4)(B), 7–7–205(a)(6), and 7–7–205(c)(3) both facially and as applied to plaintiffs for the 2019–2020 and all subsequent Arkansas General Election cycles,” wrote Baker. She enjoined Thurston from enforcing those sections of state law. Among other things, the changes implemented by the sections mentioned above effectively increased the signature requirement for getting a party candidate on the statewide ballot from 10,000 to 3% of the number of people who voted in the last election for governor, which would have been 26,746 based on the 2018 election. (The 10,000 signature option was eliminated.) The statutes also moved up deadlines, shortened the amount of time allowed for candidate petition drives, and required new political parties to qualify candidates through a convention. In her 83-page opinion and order, Baker wrote, “The Court concludes that, because of the combined effect of the early petition deadline, the 90-day petitioning period, the three percent petition requirement, the requirement that new party candidates declare before the major party candidates are selected, and that new parties select their candidates at a party convention and not at a primary or runoff election, the Court grants plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment.” Baker determined that the plaintiffs had met their burden of demonstrating that the six sections of state law “collectively impose a severe burden on plaintiffs’ rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and that the State of Arkansas is unable to demonstrate that the statutes are narrowly drawn to serve a compelling state interest.” In Friday’s ruling, Baker also denied a motion for summary judgement from Thurston. “For decades the law has required a minimum level of support for third parties to be on the ballot,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Saturday. “The court has held this unconstitutional. I will review this decision with the Attorney General and assess whether this case should be appealed.” The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by the Libertarian Party of Arkansas and five individuals, including gubernatorial candidate Ricky Harrington Jr. and Michael Pakko of Little Rock, chairman of the state’s Libertarian Party. Pakko said it was “about the best outcome we could have hoped for.” “Judge Baker laid out all of the arguments and found in our favor on every substantive issue in the case,” said Pakko. “If we do need to petition again in the future, this ruling guarantees that we won’t be burdened by these objectionable deadlines and restrictions. They have been declared unconstitutional.” Baker granted a preliminary injunction in 2019, temporarily preventing Thurston from enforcing the six statute sections that were at the center of the lawsuit. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Baker’s preliminary injunction order on June 18, 2020. Before 2019, and since 2007, when the requirement for new political party formation in Arkansas became 10,000 valid petition signatures or 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, only two minor political parties have ever successfully petitioned for new party recognition in Arkansas — the Libertarian Party in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 and the Green Party in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, according to Baker’s order. “The Libertarian Party of Arkansas was the only minor political party to obtain political party recognition and ballot status in Arkansas by petitioning for the general elections which were held in Arkansas in November 2016 and November 2018,” wrote Baker. It was also the only minor political party to obtain recognition for ballot status in Arkansas by petitioning for the 2019-20 election cycle. “The Libertarian Party of Arkansas is on the ballot in 2022, having successfully petitioned under the terms of Judge Baker’s preliminary injunction issued in 2019,” the party said in a news release Saturday. The party “anticipates working with the next legislature to help craft a more fair and equitable process for political parties to gain access to the ballot in Arkansas.” In court testimony, Pakko said there is some perception that the Libertarian Party of Arkansas draws votes away from the Republican Party, though he noted that he has not seen documented evidence of this phenomenon, according to Baker’s order. “Dr. Pakko also testified about his experience in the past with petition drives,” she wrote. “He noted that he has personally collected signatures and that the 10,000-signature requirement is a challenging endeavor. He testified that there are limited venues for canvassing for signatures and that significant manpower is required to collect 10,000 signatures in 90 days. He admitted that this is difficult to accomplish with a volunteer effort alone, so some professional canvassers are paid for with donated money.” “The parties dispute whether severe weather and pandemic outbreaks can have a negative effect on approaching people to sign petitions for the recognition of new political parties,” wrote Baker. “Plaintiffs maintain that it is rare in any 90-day period from the experience of Dr. Pakko not to lose a certain number of days because of bad weather or pandemic outbreaks.” To retain ballot access as a political party through 2024, Arkansas election law requires that the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor receive at least 3% of the vote in the Nov. 8 general election, according to the party’s news release. Otherwise, they will need to petition to become a “new political party” once again. The Libertarian Party of Arkansas is also running candidates for other state offices, as well as on the local and federal level, for the November election. Read More…

Enrollment Results Mixed At UA System https://digitalarkansasnews.com/enrollment-results-mixed-at-ua-system/ FILE PHOTO — Students make their way across campus in November 2017 after a morning rain shower at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Most University of Arkansas System schools reported modest decreases or stable enrollment this fall compared WITH the same time last year, although a handful saw increased enrollment. At a time when college enrollment is decreasing nationally and across the state, the fact that a handful of UA System institutions grew enrollment, while several others were essentially flat, “is remarkable,” said Donald Bobbitt, president of the UA System. Nearly 1.3 million students disappeared from American colleges during the coronavirus pandemic, and attendance among undergraduates fell nearly 10%. Roughly one out of every four people in Arkansas age 25 or older have at least a bachelor’s degree, which places Arkansas among the bottom five states in that category, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationally, the percentage of people age 25 and older who had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher is about 38%. Enrollment and student credit hours are crucial to colleges and universities partly because of the revenue they bring in from tuition and mandatory fees, as well as from on-campus food services and housing. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK The University of Arkansas at Little Rock reported an enrollment decrease of nearly 3% compared with last year, although the number of first-time freshmen, transfers and graduate students all rose significantly. UALR’s total enrollment is 8,103, which is 2.7% lower than the same time last year, according to preliminary figures reported by the university Sept. 7. However, that figure outperformed the university’s own enrollment projection by 3%. The number of first-time freshmen is up an “unprecedented 29%,” while transfer students are up 8% and graduate students are up 5%, according to Angie Faller, news director, communications and marketing at UALR. More students are also living on campus, with an “increase in housing occupancy by more than 11% over last year.” UALR “is experiencing its largest percent increase in first-time freshmen and transfer students in over a decade,” Cody Decker, vice chancellor for student affairs and chief data officer, said in a statement from the university. For those incoming freshmen, the average high school GPA is 3.3, and the average ACT score is 22.4. The rise in graduate students “follows a 45% increase in graduate applications and [a] 31% increase in admissions,” according to Faller. The Department of Information Science saw the highest jump, with an increase of 86%, while enrollment also rose in history, computer science, art and design, and biology graduate programs. “Graduate education continues to be a priority for many baccalaureate-prepared students due to the value that a graduate degree brings,” Brian Berry, vice provost of research and dean of the graduate school, said in a statement from the university. “This is particularly true in the fields of cybersecurity, information science and information quality as evidenced by their significant growth this year,” Berry said. “Growth in these areas is critical for developing the workforce needed to meet the demands of our growing, knowledge-based economy here in Arkansas and across the region.” UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT PINE BLUFF Total fall enrollment at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is down 7% from last fall from 2,670 to 2,482. “We are analyzing the data to determine where and why most of the decline occurred,” according to Mary Hester-Clifton, director of communications, institutional advancement. “There is no singular reason for the decrease, [but] it appears that the pandemic and economic conditions are affecting our enrollment.” However, graduate enrollment is up 17% over last year, and the university has a six-year graduation rate of over 40% for the second-consecutive year, she added. “While we continue to focus on increasing enrollment, we are delighted that a higher percentage of our continuing students are completing their degrees.” UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE UA-Fayetteville crossed the 30,000 mark for enrollment for the first time this fall and set a new record for enrollment at 30,936, up 8.3% from last year, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. Enrollment has roughly doubled over the last quarter century, and “we’ve added 10,000 students since 2009.” The university received more than 26,000 applications for enrollment for this fall; four years ago, the university received fewer than 20,000 applications, McCray said. The university has received 1,300 more applications for fall 2023 than at this time last year, as “we’ve become a destination university.” The cumulative high school GPA of this fall’s 7,099 degree-seeking incoming freshmen also set a new record at 3.77, she said. “We believe this will improve our retention and graduation rates, [because] these students are better prepared for college.” The Sam F. Walton School of Business has led the way in the enrollment uptick, as it is up 600 students — a far larger increase than any other school — this year, to 2,417 students, she said. UA-Fayetteville’s freshmen class includes 2,835 Arkansans, as well as 2,555 Texans, 578 Missourians and 303 Kansans, as “we are the number one university” for Kansans and Missourians outside of their respective states. Texas is a critical state for recruiting, because it continues to grow rapidly in population, while many other states — including Arkansas — will experience a notable drop-off in potential college students over the next decade due to the country’s birth rate decline, interim Chancellor Charles Robinson said. Out-of-state students, in general, are crucial to the university, because they pay out-of-state tuition, “which allows us to keep costs low for Arkansans.” “Some out-of-state students pay a higher tuition than others based on whether or not they qualify for the New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award” — which offers scholarships based on academic merit, such as GPA — “but even those who qualify still pay out-of-state tuition at a higher rate than any Arkansan,” according to Mark Rushing, associate vice chancellor, university relations. With 2,835 in-state students in this freshman class, the university saw an 8% increase in Arkansans this year, McCray said. At the university, 90% of scholarship dollars go to Arkansans, and 97% of Arkansans who apply for scholarships receive at least one. The university is intent on continuing to recruit in state, she said. The RazorBug continues to tour the state; high school counselors will soon be able to recommend students to the university who might otherwise be overlooked and free application day will be expanded. “Free application days are very popular, and some students count on those,” she said. “We want to make sure no student who wants to apply is” prevented from doing so by lack of resources. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT MONTICELLO Enrollment increased at the University of Arkansas, Monticello, from 2,673 last fall to 2,717 this year, and transfer student enrollment has grown 27% compared to the fall 2021 semester, from 131 to 166 students, according to the university. In addition, graduate student enrollment has hit a record high, growing 10%, from 409 to 451 students, according to the university. Additional graduate student growth is anticipated in the near future with a Master of Science in Nursing degree with an emphasis in public health, which will start in January and is currently accepting applicants. “The increase in overall enrollment at UAM’s three campuses highlights the success of our outreach efforts and confirms what we proudly know about our university: UAM is a model higher education institution, offering an affordable, comprehensive education, from technical certificates to graduate degrees,” Chancellor Peggy Doss said in a statement. “While our numbers are not up in every enrollment area, we are excited to see continued growth in the coming academic year, as a result of new program offerings and partnerships.” PHILLIPS COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas reported a 1.5% increase in students this fall, adding 10 students to last fall’s enrollment of 663. Targeted recruitment for technical programs, such as CDL/truck driving, construction, HVAC, cosmetology, medical laboratory technology and phlebotomy, have all seen enrollment increases for the fall semester, and the college also enhanced its presence/marketing on social media, especially throughout the registration period, according to a press release from the school. “Through the use of Google analytic searches, we are able to evaluate our marketing and monitor our performance through data reports that have revealed that our website has experienced a lot of increased traffic.” A new full-tuition scholarship in behavioral health offered through the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership also aided in enrollment, according to the college. Another incentive is the college’s free transportation service, which is available each semester to Helena-West Helena area students who live within a reasonable distance from campus. UA GRANTHAM AND UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES At UA Grantham — based in Little Rock and the UA System’s only exclusively online institution — eight-week terms start every month in a rotating fashion, as opposed to traditional semester starts, according to Nate Hinkel, director of communications for UA Grantham and for the UA System. The most recent term for reporting is the July/August start dates, which included 4,427 students, up nearly 200 from the same time last year. The total fall head count for UAMS is 3,240, up from 3,0...

AP News Digest 5:30 A.m. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-digest-530-a-m/ Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org. —————————- TOP STORIES —————————- INDONESIA-SOCCER-DEATHS — The death toll from panic at an Indonesian soccer match climbed to 174, most of whom trampled to death after police fired tear gas to dispel riots Saturday, making it one of the deadliest sports events in the world. Riots broke out after the game ended Saturday evening with host Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city losing to Persebaya of Surabaya 3-2. By Agoes Basoeki and Niniek Karmini. SENT: 760 words, photos. With INDONESIA-SOCCER-DEATHS-EXPLAINER — What’s behind Indonesia’s deadly soccer match?; CROWD-DEATHS-GLANCE — A look at some of the world’s major crowd disasters (both sent). RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Russia attacked the Ukrainian president’s hometown with suicide drones on Sunday, and Ukraine pushed ahead with its counteroffensive after taking back control of a strategic eastern city. Russia’s loss of Lyman, which it had been using as a transport and logistics hub, is a new blow to the Kremlin as it seeks to escalate the war by illegally annexing four regions of Ukraine. By Jon Gambrell. SENT: 500 words, photos. RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-OIL-PRICE-CAP — U.S. officials celebrated at the start of September when top allies agreed to back an audacious, never-before-tried plan to clamp down on Vladimir Putin’s access to cash. The countries would pay only cut-rate prices for Russian oil. That would deprive Putin of money to keep prosecuting his war in Ukraine, but also ensure that oil kept gushing out of Russia and kept global prices low. But nearly a month later, the organization made up of some of the world’s leading economies, the Group of Seven, is still figuring out how to execute their plan and gather participants. By Fatima Hussein. SENT: 1,220 words, photos. TROPICAL-WEATHER — Rescuers evacuated stunned survivors on a large barrier island cut off by Hurricane Ian and Florida’s death toll climbed sharply, as hundreds of thousands of people were still sweltering without power days after the monster storm rampaged from the state’s southwestern coast up to the Carolinas. By Rebecca Santana and Meg Kinnard. SENT: 750 words, photos, video, audio. With TROPICAL-WEATHER-NORTH-CAROLINA — Governor’s office reports at least four storm fatalities in North Carolina (sent). CHINESE-BILLIONAIRE-ALLEGED-RAPE-LAWSUIT — Chinese billionaire and JD.com founder Richard Liu agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a former University of Minnesota student who alleged he raped her in her Minneapolis apartment after a night of dinner and drinks with wealthy Chinese executives in 2018, attorneys for both sides announced late Saturday. By Amy Forliti. SENT: 820 words, photo. ———————————————————————- MORE ON HURRICANE IAN ———————————————————————- TROPICAL WEATHER-PINE-ISLAND — Paramedics and volunteers with a group that rescues people after natural disasters went door to door on Florida’s devastated Pine Island, offering to evacuate residents who spoke of the terror of riding out Hurricane Ian in flooded homes and howling winds. The largest barrier island off Florida’s Gulf Coast, Pine Island has been largely cut off from the outside world. Ian heavily damaged the only bridge to the island, leaving it only reachable by boat or air. For many, the volunteers from the non-profit Medic Corps were the first people they have seen from outside the island in days. SENT: 780 words, photos. TROPICAL-WEATHER-WEDDING — Hurricane Ian almost derailed plans for one couple to wed in South Carolina. SENT: 540 words, photos. ———————————————————————- MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR ————————————————————————— RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-FRONT-LINE-BAKERY-PHOTO-GALLERY — Seemingly abandoned during the day, the damaged factory building in eastern Ukraine comes to life at night, when the smell of fresh bread emanates from its broken windows. It’s one of two large-scale bakeries left in operation in the Ukrainian-held part of the Donetsk region, most of which is under Russian occupation. The others had to close because they were damaged by fighting or because their electricity and gas were cut. SENT: 820 words, photos. ———————— TRENDING ———————— NEPAL-US-MOUNTAINEER-CREMATED — A famed extreme skier from the United States who was killed after falling from one of the world’s tallest mountains was given a traditional funeral at a Sherpa cremation ground as Buddhist monks officiated over a ceremony attended by family, friends and government officials. SENT: 290 words, photos. RENO-STREET-TAKEOVERS — Thousands of people in hundreds of cars took over northern Nevada parking lots and intersections Friday night and into Saturday, performing stunts in souped-up vehicles and leading to crashes and arrests, police say. SENT: 260 words, photos. TROPICAL-WEATHER-MEXICO — Hurricane Orlene rapidly strengthened as it swirls toward Mexico’s northwest Pacific coast, with a likely close brush with former prison islands being developed by the government as an ecotourism destination. SENT: 230 words, photo. MOOSE FREED — A moose is back on the loose in Connecticut after some quick-acting rescuers helped to free it from a fence. The Connecticut State Environmental Police received a call at around midnight about a moose stuck in Barkhamsted, northwest of Hartford. SENT: 160 words. ——————————————————— WASHINGTON/ POLITICS ———————————————————- ELECTION 2022-GEORGIA-VOTING LAWSUIT — Republicans are using the defeat of a voting suit brought by a group founded by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams to attack her legitimacy as a voting rights advocate. But Abrams is far from backing down from her position, saying she won a number of victories that have made elections fairer. SENT: 820 words, photos. TRUMP-NATIONAL ARCHIVES — The National Archives and Records Administration informed lawmakers that a number of electronic communications from Trump White House staffers remain missing, nearly two years since the administration was required to turn them over. SENT: 410 words, photos. UNITED NATIONS-IRANIAN AMERICAN RELEASED — The United Nations says an 85-year-old Iranian-American who formerly worked for the U.N. children’s agency and was detained in Iran in 2016 has been permitted to leave the country for medical treatment abroad. SENT: 200 words. ———————— NATIONAL ———————— MIGRANTS-SHOT-TEXAS — One of two Texas brothers who authorities say opened fire on a group of migrants getting water near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one and injuring another, was warden at a detention facility with a history of abuse allegations. SENT: 890 words, photos. CALIFORNIA-OIL-SPILL — A Texas oil company was granted permission to repair an underwater pipeline that ruptured off the coast of Southern California a year ago, spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude, and forced beaches and fisheries to close. SENT: 560 words, photos. LAS-VEGAS-SHOOTING-ANNIVERSARY — Saturday marks five years since a gunman rained bullets into an outdoor country music festival crowd on the Las Vegas Strip. The grim drumbeat of mass shootings has only continued in the years since. SENT: 1,130 words, photos. ————————————- INTERNATIONAL ————————————- CLIMATE-NET-ZERO — Most Asian countries are prioritizing keeping the country running, no matter the energy source. For rich countries like South Korea or Japan, this means a foray into nuclear energy as an option. For China and India, whose energy needs are enormous, it implies relying on dirty coal power in the short term. But developing countries with finances already strained due to the pandemic, the war is having a disproportionate impact, said Kanika Chawla, of United Nation’s sustainable energy unit. How Asian countries choose to go ahead would have far-reaching consequences: To choose between doubling down on clean energy or deciding to not phase out fossil fuels immediately. SENT: 1,270 words, photos. CONGO-CHILD-HUNGER — Humanitarian workers say hunger is now soaring in eastern Congo after months of fighting between M23 rebels and the army. An internal draft assessment by aid groups seen by The Associated Press says nearly 260,000 people are facing extreme food insecurity in Nyiragongo and Rutshuru territories. But only 10% of those targeted by aid groups this year received the full recommended food assistance. That’s because of a lack of funds and security concerns that has restricted access to some areas. Health staff at one hospital said that the number of severely malnourished children had nearly tripled between April to July. SENT: 900 words, photos. VATICAN-NOBEL-ABUSE — The United Nations and advocacy groups for survivors of clergy sexual abuse are urging Pope Francis to authorize a full investigation of Catholic Church archives on three continents to ascertain who knew what and when about sexual abuse by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the revered independence hero of East Timor. SENT: 850 words, photos. BRAZIL-ELECTIONS — More than 120 million Brazilians will vote Sunday in a highly polarized election that could determine if the country returns a leftist to the helm of the world’s fourth-largest democracy or keeps the far-right incumbent in office for another four years. SENT: 760 words, photos. KOREAS-TENSIONS — South Korean activists say they clashed with police while launching balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda materials across the North Korean border, ignoring their government’s plea to stop such activities since the North has threatened to respond with “deadly” retaliation. SENT: 570 words, photos. BOSNIA-ELECTIONS — Polls opened Sunday in Bosnia for a general election that is unlikely to bring any structural change despite palpable disappointment in the small, ethnic...

Tension Over President In Brazil https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tension-over-president-in-brazil/ Lula and his followers have “thrown the rest” by demanding an absolute majority that would allow him to be declared president this Sunday. But when closing the timing of promotions and surveys, it was not possible to predict that they would get it. Noting this Sunday’s elections have taken the pulse of Brazil’s referendum, no opinion study – and that period is more than a year – gave them 50 percent plus one vote of the Labor leader’s vote. Is. The party will declare itself as its president today. Although bias toward him remains above 45 percent of voting intentions, the hard and steady vote he cast since the 2018 elections, when he was falsely accused and locked out of the way , he won’t be elected yet. Enough to destroy the ballot boxes in one go. If that forecast is confirmed, Brazil’s most iconic popular leader will have to agree in a second round on October 30 with the man who, more than his contender, has become the number one public enemy of Brazil’s progressivism: the outgoing president. Jair Bolsonaro. Eleven candidates are on the ballot, but everyone knows the fight will be between them. And opinion polls assure that, in the ballot, Lula will win, but candidates for re-election will hardly allow it to happen easily. The persistent “complaints” about Bolsonaro’s alleged irregularities and the inefficiency of Brazil’s proven computerized electoral system force us to assume that if he doesn’t win, as the elections predicted, the president nails the false allegation of fraud. Stick and teeth for power, in imitation of the warlike attitude assumed by his paradigm, American Donald Trump, the promoter of disorders in the Washington Congress, who is still the former president in his country’s vision of justice. While some analysts do not see the approach the military might adopt in the context of a volatile scenario later today and given Bolsonaro’s staging, the truth is that there is nothing to suggest that the armed forces are a bold move. Will support the coup. Nature. Although active and retired troops – such as former Captain Bolsonaro himself – have occupied many ministries and public offices at the invitation of the president, the truth is that, more than a slingshot, they looked like a retaining wall with verbose incoherence and The president’s bad behavior—pardon the redundancy—and, yes, the endorsement of a president who at a certain moment seemed reeling because of the little genius over whom he has to rule, the object, as it has been, for of dozens of requests Impeachment Which never progressed in Congress. The violent climate prior to these elections is to be blamed for his aggressive attitude and disposition to be ignorant of principles—disrespect is a word too short for his behavior—with attacks by his followers—the “Bolsonarista”— On Lula’s supporters, who have killed at least two people, however, outside of campaign events, there have also been violent scenes between one side and “members” of the other, expressing the view that a -How deeply inside the other they decide. But, in reality this is not the case now. The events of the past six years can also explain the heightened sentiments of the Brazilian people when it comes to politics. unjustly indictment The one that ousted Dilma Rousseff in 2016 and went through ten legal cases opened against Lula and her imprisonment around 2018 has attempted to discredit leftists who develop their political opponents through manipulation. Maybe, this feeling should have increased over time. The injustice experienced by the defenders of Progressivism. These are the conditions that have increased what is called observer polarization. To finish it, Arrival in 2018 Alienation Jair Bolsonaro, without “oxygen”, without the “oxygen” expected by those who cast his vote and bets on the third way after the institutional collapse in Brazil—including the performance of Dilma’s replacement, Michel Temer— Which in many ways meant an escalation of hatred. It cannot be ignored that this apparent “starch shortage” has won Bolsonaro his followers, as evidenced by the fact that despite more than 685,000 deaths due to his anti-scientific mistrust and mismanagement of COVID-19. Has cost 19, an atmosphere of between 33 and 38 percent of voters according to the latest polls with him, and he’s even managed to recover a lost distance against Lula. However, the “broad front” policy adopted by the PT candidate in the wise strategy of aligning with the Center and joining all “anti-Bolsonist” forces – which are few – bore fruit, and opinion studies for the following week. awarded Lula an increase of up to 48 percent of the votes; Very, very close to the 51 percent you need. Even a final study published Monday predicted 52 percent for the leader of the PT, which would mean an immediate and spectacular victory that would not accept any interrogation attempt. Which is why it is sure to take the heck into the water in this first round for Brazilian progressivism. Read More Here

The Nation In Brief: Judge Upholds Georgia Election Laws https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-nation-in-brief-judge-upholds-georgia-election-laws/ Max Baer, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Baer has died at age 74 only months before he was set to retire. The court confirmed Saturday that Baer died overnight at his home near Pittsburgh. (AP/Administrative office of Pennsylvania Courts) Judge upholds Georgia election laws ATLANTA — A federal judge upheld Georgia’s election laws in a ruling issued Friday evening in a blow to Fair Fight Action, the voting-rights group founded by Stacey Abrams, now the state’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee. Abrams’ group filed a lawsuit against Georgia’s secretary of state soon after her 2018 election defeat, arguing that the state’s absentee ballot policies — which require an “exact match” for names and addresses between voters’ IDs and voter registration records — represented “gross mismanagement” of the state’s election systems that violated Georgia voters’ constitutional rights. A federal judge ruled in favor of the state, however, saying the law was valid and that the “burden on voters is relatively low.” “Although Georgia’s election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the [Voting Rights Act],” U.S. District Judge Steve Jones wrote in his decision. “The Court finds that plaintiffs have failed to prove that the burdens imposed by [exact match] outweigh the State’s interests in preventing fraud,” said Jones, an appointee of President Barack Obama. Georgia’s “exact match” system placed nearly 50,000 Georgians’ registrations on hold before the 2018 election. Abrams’ group argued that the law was racially discriminatory because 70 percent of those people were Black. New firm’s rocket deploys satellites VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. — A new aerospace company reached orbit with its second rocket launch and deployed multiple small satellites Saturday. Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in early morning darkness and arced over the Pacific. “100% mission success,” tweeted Firefly, based in Cedar Park, Texas. A day earlier, an attempt to launch abruptly ended when the countdown reached zero. The first-stage engines ignited, but the rocket automatically aborted. The rocket’s payload includes multiple small satellites designed for a variety of technology experiments and demonstrations as well as educational purposes. The mission, dubbed “To The Black,” was the company’s second demonstration flight of its entry into the market for small satellite launchers. The first Alpha was launched in September 2021 but did not reach orbit. Baer, Pennsylvania’s chief justice, dies PITTSBURGH — Max Baer, chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, has died only months before he was set to retire, the court confirmed Saturday. He was 74. Baer died overnight at his home near Pittsburgh, the court said. It didn’t give a cause of death but called his “sudden passing” a “tremendous loss for the court and all of Pennsylvania.” The court also said Justice Debra Todd becomes chief “as the justice of longest and continuous service on the court.” “Chief Justice Baer was an influential and intellectual jurist whose unwavering focus was on administering fair and balanced justice,” Todd said. “He was a tireless champion for children, devoted to protecting and providing for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.” Gov. Tom Wolf ordered flags at government facilities, public buildings and grounds lowered to half-staff, saying he was “extremely saddened” by the death of such a “respected and esteemed jurist with decades of service to our courts and our commonwealth.” Baer, a Duquesne Law graduate, was an Allegheny County family court judge and an administrative judge in family court before being elected to the high court in 2003 and became chief justice last year. He was deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1980 and was in private practice before entering the judiciary. Earlier this year, Baer was part of the 5-2 majority as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a wide expansion of mail-in voting in the state. Trump ex-adviser enters into plea deal LAS VEGAS — An ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump has taken a plea deal to resolve allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances to a GOP donor at a Las Vegas event. Corey Lewandowski entered into a plea agreement last month involving a charge of misdemeanor battery, according to online Clark County, Nev., records. While he did not admit to any wrongdoing, Lewandowski will undergo eight hours of impulse control counseling and 50 hours of community service. The charge is to be dismissed if he satisfies the requirements and stays out of trouble for one year. “A misdemeanor case was filed but we are pleased to say the matter has been resolved,” defense attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld said. “The court set conditions that Mr. Lewandowski will fulfill and the case will ultimately be dismissed.” Trump donor Trashelle Odom alleged that Lewandowski repeatedly touched her without her permission, made lewd comments and stalked her throughout a September 2021 fundraising event. The allegations led to several Republican figures cutting ties with him. Read More Here

Zelensky Says Russian Retreat Shows Annexation Is A ‘Farce’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/zelensky-says-russian-retreat-shows-annexation-is-a-farce/ Image A photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service of President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday in Kyiv.Credit…Ukrainian Presidential Press Service, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine quickly sought to capitalize politically on the Russian retreat from the crucial rail hub of Lyman, saying that it showed that Moscow’s attempt to illegally annex much of the country was an “absolute farce.” On Friday, after Russian-appointed officials held discredited referendums in four partially occupied areas of Ukraine, the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, announced that the areas, including Donetsk Province, where Lyman is, would be absorbed into Russia and that its people would be Russian citizens “forever.” Mr. Putin claimed the residents in those provinces had voted overwhelmingly to join the Russian Federation, but Ukraine and its Western allies dismissed the referendums as shams, as most of the citizens had fled the region and many of those left behind were forced to cast ballots at gunpoint. In his nightly address on Saturday, Mr. Zelensky said Moscow’s propagandists had filmed a “pseudo-referendum” in Donbas — the mineral-rich region that includes Donetsk and Luhansk, and that Russia now claims to control. “Russia has staged a farce in Donbas. An absolute farce, which it wanted to present as an alleged referendum,” he said, adding that “now a Ukrainian flag is there.” He then vowed that there would be more Ukrainian flags flying over the Donbas during the coming week as Kyiv’s counteroffensive inches forward. “Our flag will be everywhere,” he said. There was no public comment on Saturday from Mr. Putin or his spokesman about the Russian army’s retreat, even as pro-war commentators and two of Mr. Putin’s closest allies sharply criticized the Defense Ministry for retreating from the city. The spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, told the Russian state news agency Tass that the troops in Lyman had made a tactical retreat to avoid being encircled and trapped. He said the Ukrainian forces had “significant superiority” in numbers and the Russians had withdrawn “to more advantageous lines.” Image A Ukrainian military truck near Lyman, Ukraine, on Tuesday.Credit…Nicole Tung for The New York Times Russia’s retreat from Lyman on Saturday leaves its troops in the country’s east in an increasingly perilous position. The battle for the town was a continuation of Ukraine’s northeastern offensive in September, which routed Russian forces from cities, towns and dozens of villages and recaptured more than a thousand square miles of territory in the Kharkiv region. The lightning victory there severed most supply lines to Lyman, where Russian forces relied on a north-south rail line that is now mostly under Ukrainian control. With a prewar population of around 20,000 people, Lyman sits on the northeastern banks of the Siversky Donets, a meandering river that has served as a natural division between Russian and Ukrainian front lines since Russian forces captured the city in May. Now that Ukrainian forces have retaken the city, they will have a solid foothold on the northeastern side of the river that they can use to advance farther east, applying pressure on the Russian front lines that formed following their recent defeats around Kharkiv. The battle for Lyman was hard fought. In recent days and weeks Ukrainian forces closed in from the south and west. With bridges across the Siversky Donets under frequent shelling, Ukraine relied on boats to move troops and casualties to and away from the front. Dense forest near Lyman proved a confusing nightmare for both sides. Initially, recapturing the city was thought to be easy, according to Ukrainian commanders, but as days turned to weeks, Russian forces reinforced Lyman with troops that had fled from Kharkiv and elsewhere in Ukraine’s east, known as the Donbas. On Saturday, Russian authorities said its forces had retreated to a more advantageous position, effectively surrendering the town. Seizing the mineral-rich Donbas region for Russia has been one of President Vladimir V. Putin’s primary war aims since his forces invaded Ukraine in February. On Friday, he announced the official annexation of four regions in Ukraine — including the entirety of the Donbas and the two Kremlin-backed breakaway republics there that were formed in 2014. Mr. Putin has claimed that any attack on the annexed territory would amount to an attack on Russia, and he has threatened to escalate the war further, potentially with nuclear weapons. Natalia Yermak contributed reporting. The State of the War Annexation Push: After Moscow’s proxies conducted a series of sham referendums in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk, President Vladimir V. Putin declared the four territories to be part of Russia. Western leaders, including President Biden in the United States, denounced the annexation as illegal. Retreat From Key City: Russian forces withdrew from the strategically important city of Lyman, in Donetsk Province, on Oct. 1. The retreat was a significant setback for Moscow, coming just a day after Mr. Putin declared the region to be Russian territory. U.S. Military Aid: The Pentagon seems to be preparing to overhaul how the United States and its allies train and equip the Ukrainian military, reflecting what officials say is the Biden administration’s long-term commitment to supporting Ukraine in the war. Russia’s Draft: The Kremlin has acknowledged that its new military draft is rife with problems, as protests have erupted across Russia, recruitment centers have been attacked and thousands of men have left the country. Image The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in August. The plant was taken by Russian forces in March but is run by Ukrainian engineers.Credit…David Guttenfelder for The New York Times The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency called on Saturday for the release of the director general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, who has been detained by Russia, saying that his detention has “a very significant impact” on the safety of the Russian-controlled facility. The director general, Ihor Murashov, is responsible for nuclear and radiation safety, according to Energoatom, the Ukrainian national energy company. At around 4 p.m. Friday, a car carrying Mr. Murashov was stopped on the road leading to the plant, and he was blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, the company said. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael M. Grossi, said in a statement on Saturday that Mr. Murashov’s detention “has an immediate and serious impact on decision-making in ensuring the safety and security of the plant.” The sudden arrest also put a psychological strain on the rest of the plant’s staff, he added. The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, was seized by Russian forces in March but is run by Ukrainian engineers. Fighting nearby has raised international concern about an accident. Shelling has at times caused the plant to be disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid, which Ukraine’s energy minister has said put critical cooling systems at risk of relying solely on emergency backup power. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called in a statement for Russia to immediately release Mr. Murashov and urged the U.N. nuclear agency to take “decisive measures.” The I.A.E.A. has had two inspectors at the plant since September. It said in a statement on Friday that there had been a series of land mine explosions near the plant in recent days that was jeopardizing safety and security at the facility. The latest blast, the sixth reported in a week, damaged a low-voltage cable outside the fence perimeter, according to the agency. The explosion was close to a nitrogen-oxygen facility and indirectly damaged a voltage transformer at one of the reactors, the statement said. Earlier in the week, the agency said that the land mines appeared to have been set off by animals. Ukrainian and Russian military forces have accused each other of using the specter of nuclear disaster in brinkmanship in the war by making attacks near the plant. Mr. Grossi has repeatedly urged the establishment of a security zone in the area. The plant is in the Zaporizhzhia region, part of the slice of eastern and southern Ukraine that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia moved to illegally annex on Friday. Ukrainian officials have noted the fatigue and stress of Ukrainian control room employees, saying that Russian soldiers had subjected them to harsh interrogations, including torture with electric shocks, suspecting them of sabotage or of informing the Ukrainian military about activities at the plant. — Erin Mendell Image President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia displayed on Friday on a screen in Moscow as he addressed the sham annexation of four regions of Ukraine.Credit…Alexander Nemenov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images WASHINGTON — For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, top Russian officials are making explicit nuclear threats and officials in Washington are gaming out scenarios should President Vladimir V. Putin decide to use a tactical nuclear weapon to make up for the failings of Russian troops in Ukraine. In a speech on Friday, Mr. Putin raised the prospect anew, declaring again that he would use “all available means” to defend Russian territory — which he has now declared includes four provinces of eastern Ukraine. Mr. Putin reminded the world of President Harry S. Truman’s decision to drop atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 77 years ago, adding: “By the way, they created a precedent.” Senior American officials say they think the chances that Mr. Putin would employ a nuclear weapon remain low. They ...

US Supreme Court To Decide Cases With ‘monumental’ Impact On Democracy https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-supreme-court-to-decide-cases-with-monumental-impact-on-democracy/ On Monday, the nine justices of the US supreme court will take their seats at the start of a new judicial year, even as the shock waves of the panel’s previous seismic term continue to reverberate across America. In their first full term that ended in June, the court’s new six-to-three hard-right supermajority astounded the nation by tearing up decades of settled law. They eviscerated the right to an abortion, loosened America’s already lax gun laws, erected roadblocks to combating the climate crisis, and awarded religious groups greater say in public life. The fallout of the spate of extreme rightwing rulings has shaken public confidence in the political neutrality of the court. A Gallup poll this week found that fewer than half of US adults trust it – a drop of 20 points in just two years and the lowest rating since Gallup began recording the trend in 1972. Justices have begun to respond to the pressure by sparring openly in public. The Wall Street Journal reported that in recent speeches the liberal justice Elena Kagan has accused her conservative peers of damaging the credibility of the court by embracing Republican causes. Samuel Alito, who wrote the decision overturning the right to an abortion in Roe v Wade, counter-accused Kagan (whom he did not name) of crossing “an important line” by implying the court was becoming illegitimate. To add insult to injury, Ginni Thomas, the extreme conservative activist married to Justice Clarence Thomas, was questioned on Thursday by the House committee investigating Donald Trump’s attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election result, which she avidly encouraged. With so much discord in plain sight, you might have expected the new supermajority created under Trump to opt for a calmer year ahead. No chance. The choice of cases to be decided in the new term spells full steam ahead. “I see no signs of them slowing down,” said Tara Groves, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The US supreme court is set to decide on issues ranging from affirmative action to racial gerrymandering. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA “The supreme court has chosen to take on cases this term that raise a lot of hot-button issues – just after they decided a bunch of cases that raised a lot of hot-button issues.” From fundamental aspects of American democracy to LGBTQ+ equality, and the electoral power of racial minorities to protecting the environment, the conservative justices have selected a whole new slew of targets that fall squarely within Republican priorities. The schedule for the first two days of oral arguments this week tells the story. On Monday morning, the court will fling itself into the thick of environmental controversy in the latest case threatening the ability of the federal government to counter pollution. Having curtailed in June the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to curb emissions causing planet heating, the court will now hear arguments in Sackett v EPA, which has the potential to whittle down the agency’s powers to uphold clean water standards. Then on Tuesday, the court enters blockbuster territory with Merrill v Milligan. That case could topple the last remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act, which has safeguarded the democratic rights of African American and other minority citizens for the past 57 years. As Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, put it in a briefing this week, the case adds to the court’s upcoming docket “the raw issue of race in America”. Merrill v Milligan concerns Alabama, where Republican lawmakers want to draw up congressional district maps that would give Black voters the power to send just one African American member to Congress out of a total of seven representatives, even though Black Alabamans make up a quarter of the state’s population. The map was blocked by three federal judges who ruled that it was racially discriminatory and that the state had engaged in racial gerrymandering. In its brief to the supreme court, Alabama effectively invites the conservative justices to make it virtually impossible to challenge racial gerrymandering. Should the state’s view prevail, challengers would have to show that racial discrimination was the primary intent behind how district lines were drawn. “That’s a very hard standard to prove,” said Paul Smith, senior vice-president of the Campaign Legal Center. Should the supreme court side with Alabama, Smith added, “it would allow legislatures to undo Black and Latino-majority districts and do away with the opportunity of people to elect their own representatives”. The Alabama dispute epitomizes two visceral themes that run through several of the blockbuster cases this term: race and democracy. The race theme is central to one of the hottest-button cases of all – the challenge to affirmative action in universities. The supreme court will decide on two affirmative action cases this term. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters On 31 October, the court will hear oral arguments in two parallel cases, both brought by Students for Fair Admissions, which describes its mission as “restoring color-blind principles” to colleges and universities. The first case confronts Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy, claiming it discriminates against Asian Americans; the second focuses on the University of North Carolina, which is accused of preferring Black, Hispanic and Native American applicants at the expense of white and Asian students. There is a chilling echo in the concerted attack on affirmative action that is about to play out with what happened to Roe and Casey, the landmark abortion rulings which the supreme court overturned in June. In both arenas – abortion and affirmative action – legal precedent stood firm for half a century. “It’s been the law of the land now for 50 years that universities can take into account all aspects of a person’s background, including their race,” Smith said. “Schools have set up their entire systems based on reliance on that being the law, as reaffirmed multiple times by the supreme court, though it sure seems likely they will change course this time.” Such a racially charged term will collide with another seminal moment for the highest court – the arrival on the bench of the first Black woman in the court’s 233-year history. When Ketanji Brown Jackson takes her place among the nine justices on Monday she will be powerless to touch the conservatives’ unassailable dominance. But like any new justice, she will be able to put her stamp on the court during a tenure which, at 52, could last for decades. It is perhaps unlikely that Jackson will pen excoriating dissenting opinions in her first term on par with those written last term by fellow liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor, who joined the court in 2009. But it is equally implausible that Jackson, whose parents fled the south to escape Jim Crow segregation, will stand aside over issues as elemental as affirmative action and racial gerrymandering. How she handles such intense controversies as a rookie justice could reveal much about her future presence on the bench. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will arrive during a time when the court is handling blockbuster cases on affirmative action, democracy and race. Photograph: Fred Schilling/AP The second major theme of the coming term is democracy. In addition to the Alabama racial gerrymandering case, the court has agreed to take on the highly polarized subject of the role of state legislatures in federal elections. Moore v Harper could have “monumental implications for American democracy”, Groves believes. At the heart of the case is the debunked “independent state legislature theory”, which has been embraced in recent years by radical Republicans who argue that the constitution gives state legislatures the overriding power to regulate federal elections. Though legal scholars have largely rejected the doctrine, four of the nine justices – Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Thomas – have paid lip-service to some aspect of it. Should they command the majority, they could give Republican-controlled state legislatures even more firepower to grab what is in effect minority rule through extreme partisan gerrymandering, with very little possible oversight from state courts. At its most dystopian, an extreme ruling in Moore v Harper could wreak havoc in presidential elections in 2024 and beyond. John Eastman, the conservative law professor mired in legal peril over the central role he played in trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory on January 6, put the independent state legislature theory at the heart of his notorious memo laying out the roadmap for an electoral coup. Smith explained that the supreme court could embolden state legislatures to dictate who wins presidential elections in their state according to political whim. “That might be unconstitutional under state law, but under this doctrine state courts would be powerless to prevent them.” As if race and the future of American democracy were not enough, the conservative justices are also bearing down once again on the right to equal treatment for same-sex couples. They have taken on a case asking whether a graphic design firm, 303 Creative LLC, should be able to turn away gay couples requesting help creating wedding websites on religious grounds. The supermajority also wants to revisit the Indian Child Welfare Act, which for the past 44 years has been protecting Native American children from being forcibly separated from their families and tribes and placed in non-Native homes. The ACLU has warned that if the court overturns the act it could put “the very existence of tribes in jeopardy”. Read More Here

Championing Its Heritage, Canada Inches Toward Its Goal Of Planting 2 Billion Trees – Inside Climate News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/championing-its-heritage-canada-inches-toward-its-goal-of-planting-2-billion-trees-inside-climate-news/ MONTREAL—Marc Garneau lifted off from Cape Canaveral on the Challenger shuttle in October 1984, becoming the first Canadian astronaut in space. Because the orbital inclination of the 13th shuttle mission repeatedly placed him over Canada during his eight days aloft, again and again he found himself looking down on his native country—and most of what he saw was trees, trees, trees.       “Whenever I wasn’t busy, I pressed my nose against the window, looking at Canada and seeing that huge arboreal forest that is our country,” Garneau, now a member of Parliament from the Montreal area, said in an interview. “You grow up in Canada learning that our country is a vast, mostly empty place, full of lakes, ice and snow—and trees. And so from space I only reinforced the idea that this is a country of trees.” Now that country of trees—the nation whose symbol is the maple leaf and whose maple syrup is prized around the globe—is engaged in an ambitious project: a commitment to plant 2 billion more trees this decade as part of its effort to fight climate change. This summer, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who made the challenge part of his Liberal Party’s election platform, traveled 300 miles northwest of the capital city of Ottawa to get down on his knees and plant the 10 millionth new tree in Sudbury, Ontario, a one-time nickel-mining center. “Planting trees is not about planting seedlings,” he said that day. “It’s about planting hope, it’s about planting a future.” If the country meets its 2 billion tree goal, projections suggest, it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 12 megatons of carbon dioxide. The government says that would amount to taking more than 2 million gasoline-powered automobiles off the road each year. What is more, it might help counter the die-off of trees in some North American regions as a result of climate change, insect infestations and diseases. But the effort is lagging. Two years in, Canada has planted 40 million trees, an impressive figure on the surface. But that means it still has 1,999,960,000 tree plantings to go, or 99.9 percent of the distance. And scientists and environmentalists are asking whether tree-planting in the Americas should be a major policy focus, given the potential threat to water supplies in some locales, the possibility of more wildfires and the effects on food security and on biodiversity. Critics also worry that a supply-chain problem of an entirely different sort—whether the flow of money will coincide with various elements of the planting and growing season—could stymie the effort. Some say that the government’s financial support is insufficient, and planters report that funds are not being released at the proper time in the growing season.  Naturalists argue that to assure longevity, seed harvesters will need to target a wider variety of species than those customarily provided to the forestry companies doing the planting. Executives of those companies worry about how quickly seedlings can be produced.  Keep Environmental Journalism Alive ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Donate Now Heads of nonprofits committed to the tree offensive warn meanwhile that seedlings won’t do the trick in absorbing carbon dioxide: It is mature trees, some more than 10 years old, that are needed, especially in urban areas, they note. Then there is the fact that at $15.3 billion, Canada’s forest-products industry—which, after all, also depends on cutting down trees—accounts for more than 1 percent of the country’s real gross national product. The industry is so active a lobby in Washington that its pleas, particularly about the import duties imposed on softwood lumber, are often the leitmotif of diplomatic laments about Canadian-American trade relationships.  In all, for as long as reliable trade statistics have been compiled, no nation has derived more net benefit from trade in forest products than Canada: It has the world’s largest forest-product trade balance, $14.9 billion. Sweden and Finland come next but are falling behind swiftly. Reverberations of a Pipeline Project Canada’s tree offensive grew out of an unusual mixture of controversy and coincidence. Trudeau’s decision in 2019 to support the Trans Mountain pipeline stirred both deep support and deep opposition in his country. Just as he was working to keep his Liberal Party in power in the 2019 federal election campaign, the climate activist Greta Thunburg visited Canada and was a prominent figure in climate rallies in Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal, where she accused Trudeau, “like all politicians,” of “not doing enough.” That day his Liberal Party announced the trees initiative, saying that the costs would be subsidized by revenue from the pipeline. Despite the disappointing start—growing seedlings takes time, Ottawa argues, and it’s not easy to mobilize seed collectors and nurseries—Canada is rallying to the challenge of increasing its annual tree planting by 40 percent, putting land that would jointly amount to about twice the size of Prince Edward Island under a carbon-trapping canopy. Although Nature4Climate, an international coalition of conservation groups, argues that trees planted in the tropics “grow quicker and therefore can capture more carbon,”  Canada—1,400 miles from the Tropic of Cancer—is pressing ahead. The nonprofit group Forests Ontario is three-quarters of the way toward reaching the goal of its 50 Million Tree Program. ReLeaf-Nova Scotia is working to replace the trees devastated by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. And Trees Winnipeg is involved in an effort to plant a million trees in Manitoba’s capital city over the next 20 years: the group distributes 14 different tree species, including pin cherry, Swedish aspen, dwarf Goodland apple, paper birch and silky white willow.  “People here are very attuned to everything involving trees,” said Christopher Adams, a political scientist who is rector of St. Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba, “and for the first time it has become an issue in a Winnipeg mayoral contest.” Five of the 13 mayoral candidates in the Oct. 26 municipal election have taken a trees pledge, vowing that for every public tree lost, the city will replant at least two new ones, water them adequately and maintain a seven-year pruning cycle. Canada is not alone in this effort. When global governmental officials, bankers, public intellectuals and journalists gathered in 2020 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they adopted an initiative to plant 1 trillion trees by 2030 that was even embraced by President Donald J. Trump, an avowed climate-change skeptic. The same year, Ethiopians planted more than 353 million trees in a half-day. Australia and New Zealand each pledged to plant a billion trees.  China has vowed to fill 87 million acres, amounting roughly to the size of Germany, with newly planted trees to create a “Great Green Wall” by 2050. Ireland has pledged to cover almost a fifth of the country with forests by the middle of the century. And countries such as Colombia, Pakistan and Fiji have undertaken tree-planting offensives.  Despite the enduring obstacles to mounting a concerted global offensive against climate change, a bandwagon effect has evidently materialized on the tree-planting front. Within months of the World Economic Forum’s Davos declaration, the first national chapter of 1t.org, dedicated to reaching the 1 trillion trees goal, was launched in the United States. And the U.S.-based Eden Reforestation Projects has planted 977 million trees at 280 sites in 10 countries.  New York City has planted 13,000 trees in the last year alone and expects to plant 20,000 annually in years to come. The Arbor Day Foundation is marking the 150th anniversary of that annual April observance by pledging to plant one tree for every Instagram, Twitter or Facebook post with the hashtag #ArborDay, up to 75,000 trees, and the paper-product industry powerhouse Kimberly-Clark is matching the effort. A #TeamTrees campaign supported by the YouTube personality MrBeast had planted 20.7 million trees around the world by the end of August. The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign hopes to plant a billion trees across the planet. All this at a time when, according to Stuart L. Pimm, a professor of conservation ecology at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, “human actions are driving plant species to extinction at rates a hundred to a thousand times faster than normal.” Overall, about one in six trees native to the United States is in peril, threatened by tree diseases, insect infestation and climate change. As with every other target in the battle to arrest climate change, time is a factor. “It takes a while for trees to grow—and it takes a while for them to absorb carbon dioxide,” former Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who has been President Biden’s special envoy for climate change since early 2021, said in an interview. “But it’s something we have to do.” Scientifically, a Handy Bank for Carbon  The science behind the tree-planting frenzy is simple. Think of trees as banks. You make a deposit into the ground, and the tree pays dividends in the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide. “You can plant a tree as a child, and by the time you’re an adult, it has stored an unbelievable amount of carbon,” said Colin Laroque, director of the Mistik Askiwin Dendrochronology Laboratory.  When a tree grows, about half of its structure consists of carbon. Over time, it adds biomass, creating a highly efficient way to store carbon quickly. Laroque explains the phenomenon by invoking a...

Key Moments From Donald Trump https://digitalarkansasnews.com/key-moments-from-donald-trump/ Donald Trump spoke at a rally in Michigan on Saturday night to bolster Republican candidates in the state. The former president began with a message of support for those affected by Hurricane Ian before quickly moving on to some of his often-mentioned issues, including repeating his baseless claims about the 2020 election being stolen from him. Speaking at the Macomb County Community College Sports and Expo Center in Warren for about an hour and 40 minutes, Trump hit out at the FBI for executing a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago home and called the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol “sick, sick, people.” He also had praise for Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and teased a 2024 run for the White House. Here, Newsweek rounds up some key moments from the rally. Former President Donald Trump speaks during a Save America rally on October 1, 2022 in Warren, Michigan. Trump has endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon, Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo, Attorney General candidate Matthew DePerno, and Republican businessman John James ahead of the November midterm election. EMILY ELCONIN/GETTY Hurricane Ian “Before we begin, I want to send our profound sympathy and our immense support to everyone back in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, who are struck by this brutal wrath of the hurricane. Not a good hurricane, this was a big one,” Trump said. “We just wanna say hello to everybody in that area and we wanna say we love you very much and we do… please know our hearts are with you and our prayers are with you.” ‘Great woman’ Trump praised Ginni Thomas after she reiterated her belief that the 2020 election was stolen earlier this week. “As we talk about and think of the rigged and stolen election of 2020—the presidential election, rigged and stolen—I would like to thank a great woman named Ginni Thomas. Do you know Ginni Thomas? Great woman,” he said. “She says that she still believes the 2020 election was stolen… She didn’t say, ‘Uh well, I’d like not to get involved, of course it was a wonderful election’… She didn’t wilt under pressure like so many others that are weak people and stupid people, because once they wilt, they end up being a witness for a long time.” ‘Cheat like dogs’ Trump lashed out at Democrats, saying they can only win elections when they cheat. “The way they win is to cheat in elections. They cheat like dogs,” he said. At another point in his remarks, he said the greatest threat to the U.S. are the “sick, sinister, and evil people from within our country.” He added: “You know the people I’m talking about, you see them all the time lie, disinformation, cheat, steal.” Trump goes all in on his war against democracy by claiming that Democrats can only win elections when they cheat, “The way they win is to cheat in elections they cheat like dogs.” Trump then called for same day only voting with paper ballots and the elimination of early voting. pic.twitter.com/VfSBPDWIbL — Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 2, 2022 ‘Even after birth’ Trump suggested that “radical” Democrats support abortion “even after birth.” “The radical Democrats believe in abortion and really right from the moment of birth, and even after birth. You can’t let this happen,” he said. “There’s no country in the world that wants what these crazy people want. They are radical. They want to rip babies from the wombs.” Gretchen Whitmer Trump slammed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was a critic of his during his presidency “Michigan, you need to dump this wild-eyed extremist Gretchen Whitmer and put Tudor Dixon in the governor’s mansion,” Trump said. “Gretchen Whitmer is one of the most radical, most sinister governors in America, you know that. She cruelly imposed the most brutal lockdowns in the entire country, causing Michigan to lose more jobs than any other state in the union.” Letitia James Trump continued to attack New York attorney general Letitia James, who recently filed a lawsuit accusing Trump and his company of fraud. At Saturday’s rally, Trump called her “racist” and “one of the worst” attorneys general in the country. At one point, he also played a video featuring clips of commentators criticizing James. ‘Heading for the exits’ Paul Egan, a reporter with the Detroit Free Press, reported that there appeared to be “ample” standing room in the venue minutes before Trump began speaking. Egan added that there was a “steady stream of attendees heading for the exits since about the 15-minute mark of this now hour-long and ongoing speech.” Read More Here

'Saturday Night Live' Gets A Manningcast For Its Season Premiere Episode – ABC17NEWS https://digitalarkansasnews.com/saturday-night-live-gets-a-manningcast-for-its-season-premiere-episode-abc17news/ By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business “Saturday Night Live” kicked off its 48th season on Saturday night with host Miles Teller as former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and Andrew Dismukes as his brother, Eli. In the sketch, the two were doing an analysis of the season premiere of the NBC variety show. “Ok, we got an establishing shot of Mar-a-Lago,” Dismukes’ Eli said. “Oh good! Trump sketch,” Teller’s Peyton said. “Way to mix it up.” This led to the two watching a Trump sketch starring James Austin Johnson as the former president. Peyton (Teller) and Eli (Dismukes) were not happy with the sketch. “Okay, time out,” Dismukes’ Eli said, pausing the sketch. “What the hell was that?” Teller’s Peyton asked why there were no fun impersonations of Anthony Fauci or Rudy Giuliani. “Those were all Kate McKinnon,” Dismukes’ Eli informed Teller’s Peyton. McKinnon left the show last season. Bowen Yang then entered the sketch and flubbed a line, which the two former faux quarterbacks called out. “He was supposed to take a step up this year,” Dismukes’ Eli said. “But you can tell the pressure is getting to him.” Teller’s Peyton said that the show is in a “rebuilding year for sure.” The two then went over the show’s stats so far, which were “14 attempted jokes, 1 mild laugh and 3 chuckles.” “Thank God they have Kendrick Lamar because that’s the only reason anyone is tuning in,” Teller’s Peyton said — the joke being that Teller is also the host. The two then brought out former host Jon Hamm as a guest and asked him what he’s seen so far tonight. “I don’t know, but it’s not comedy,” Hamm said. Hamm, Teller’s co-star in “Top Gun: Maverick,” then remarked that the show can’t even get famous hosts anymore. “Well, I heard they rarely put the host in the cold open, so when they do… it’s special,” Teller’s Peyton said. The whole cast then said the show’s signature catch phrase, “Live… from New York. It’s Saturday Night!” The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Both QBs Are Unable To See End https://digitalarkansasnews.com/both-qbs-are-unable-to-see-end/ Alabama quarterback Bryce Young talks to his teammates on the sideline after leaving Saturday’s game against Arkansas when he landed on his right shoulder in the second quarter. (AP/Michael Woods) FAYETTEVILLE — Neither starting quarterback finished the game in No. 2 Alabama’s 49-26 victory over the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. Junior Bryce Young, the Crimson Tide’s Heisman Trophy winner last season, suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter after leading Alabama to a 14-0 lead. Young was replaced by redshirt freshman Jalen Milroe and didn’t play the rest of the game. University of Arkansas junior starter KJ Jefferson left the game for a play in the fourth quarter after being sacked and was replaced by Cade Fortin, then came back into the game. Fortin, a redshirt senior transfer from South Florida, then played Arkansas’ final two offensive series. “He hit his head,” Razorbacks Coach Sam Pittman said of why Jefferson left the game. “I don’t know where he’s at [physically] to be honest with you. “Obviously, we didn’t bring him back in. I don’t know any more than that.” Sophomore Malik Hornsby is listed on the depth chart as Arkansas’ No. 2 quarterback, but he didn’t play. Pittman said Fortin is the backup behind Jefferson. “That decision has been made for a while,” Pittman said. “He’s our number two quarterback, so we put him in there.” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said Young “has a little AC sprain” in his shoulder. “We’ll have to take it day-to-day,” Saban said. “I think he’s okay. He doesn’t have a serious injury. He didn’t go back in the game today because I didn’t think he had much steam on throwing the ball. “He’s had these before and in a few days he starts to respond pretty well. We’ll just have to see how it goes and play it day-to-day.” Pittman said he wishes the best for Young. “I hope that he’s fine,” Pittman said of Young. “He’s a really good player and competitor.” Sanders sack Arkansas junior linebacker Drew Sanders, a transfer from Alabama, sacked his old quarterback — Bryce Young — for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. Sanders increased his sack total to 6.5, which leads the nation. It was the fifth time Young had been sacked this season. “When I’m in game mode, I’m in game mode,” Sanders said when asked what it was like to play against his old teammates and if he did any talking with them during the game. “I’m not there to make friends. I’m there to play the game. “After it was great seeing all the guys and I got to talk to them a little bit. But when it’s game time, it’s game time.” Second for Ketron Sophomore receiver Ketron Jackson caught a touchdown pass from KJ Jefferson for the second consecutive game. Jackson caught a pass in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left to pull the Razorbacks within 28-7 of Alabama. Jefferson and Jackson connected on a 32-yard touchdown for Arkansas’ first score with 9:44 left in the first quarter in Texas A&M’s 23-21 victory over the Razorbacks last week. Third pick for McGlothern Arkansas junior cornerback Dwight McGlothern got his third interception of the season to stop Alabama’s first drive. The Tide had a first and 10 at the Razorbacks 19 when McGlothern made a one-handed grab of a pass by Bryce Young at the 1. It was the third interception this season for McGlothern, a transfer from LSU. He also had interceptions against Cincinnati and South Carolina. McGlothern had one interception in two seasons at LSU, against Florida last year, which he returned 37 yards for a touchdown. Injury report Arkansas senior receiver Warren Thompson dressed out but didn’t play because of an undisclosed injury. “We thought there was a chance that he could play,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “But he just didn’t practice well at all this week, so we felt like we’d be better with Ketron [Jackson] in there, and Jaedon [Wilson], a chance with him out there, because [Thompson] wasn’t ready.” Junior Myles Slusher started at nickel back for Arkansas, but left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return. “His calf was all tight,” Pittman said. Junior defensive end Jashaud Stewart dressed out but missed his third consecutive game with an undisclosed injury. Two-point try When Alabama stopped KJ Jefferson short of the goal line after Raheim Sanders’ 3-yard touchdown run, it dropped the Razorbacks to 1 of 8 on two-point conversions since 2019, according to a CBS Sports graphic. Arkansas converted a two-point conversion on Dominque Johnson’s run last season when the Razorbacks beat Mississippi State 31-28. Saban & Arkansas “The Miracle on Markham” 20 years ago remains the last time Arkansas beat Alabama Coach Nick Saban. Saban improved to 19-2 against the Razorbacks with Saturday’s victory, including 16-0 since going to Alabama. He was 3-2 against Arkansas as LSU’s coach from 2000-04. Saban’s last loss to Arkansas was in 2002 when the Razorbacks beat LSU 21-20 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Matt Jones’ 31-yard touchdown pass to DeCori Birmingham with nine seconds left and an extra point kicked by David Carlton. Carlton’s kick ended up being 35 yards after Arkansas was penalized for excessive celebration. The game became known as “The Miracle on Markham” because of the street that runs adjacent to War Memorial Stadium. Onside works Arkansas junior Jake Bates executed a successful onside kickoff in the third quarter when he hit the ball up the middle and then recovered the ball himself after getting a clearing hit by linebacker Chris Paul that knocked an Alabama player out of the way. It was the second onside kickoff that went the Razorbacks’ way. Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool recovered an onside kick by South Carolina and returned it 34 yards to the Gamecocks 9 to set up a touchdown in the Razorbacks’ 44-30 victory. Arkansas got a field goal from Cam Little after Bates’ recovery to cut Alabama’s lead to 28-17. Old teammates Arkansas defensive end Jordan Domineck tackled Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs — his former teammate at Georgia Tech — for a 1-yard gain on a second-quarter play. The Razorbacks struggled to tackle Gibbs for most of the game as he rushed 18 times for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns. Domineck and Gibbs both transferred from Georgia Tech after last season. Big crowd The announced crowd for Saturday’s game was 75,579. It was the fifth largest ever home crowd for the Razorbacks. For starters Arkansas went with six defensive backs to start the game, with Dwight McGlothern and Malik Chavis at cornerback, nickel back Myles Slusher and safeties Simeon Blair, Latavious Brini and Jayden Johnson. Arkansas went with a three-man defensive line with ends Landon Jackson and Zach Williams and tackle Isaiah Nichols. For the Razorbacks’ second defensive series they had a fresh four-man line with ends Eric Gregory and Jordan Domineck and tackles Terry Hampton and Cam Ball. The Razorbacks switched between three- and four-man lines the rest of the game. Sophomore receiver Ketron Jackson made his first career start for the Razorbacks. Pool up Arkansas senior linebacker Bumper Pool had 10 tackles to give him 395 for his career. He remains in second place on the Razorbacks’ all-time list behind Tony Bua, who had 408 tackles from 2000-03. Change at center Alabama junior center Seth McLaughlin made his first start of the season in place of injured senior Darrian Dalcourt. McLaughlin played in three of the Tide’s first four games this season — he didn’t get on the field at Texas — and started the final three games last season. Captain Caver Quinton Caver, an All-SEC linebacker for the Razorbacks as a senior in 2000, served as Arkansas’ honorary captain. Caver, from Anniston, Ala., played in 44 games for the Razorbacks and had 239 tackles, including 30 for lost yards. He was a second-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2001 draft and played five seasons in the NFL. Vs. Heisman winners Arkansas’ loss to Alabama and quarterback Bryce Young dropped the Razorbacks to 0-6 against teams with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. In other matchups against players who won the Heisman the previous season, Arkansas lost to Doak Walker and SMU 34-6 in 1949; to Matt Leinart and Southern California 70-17 in 2005; to Tim Tebow and Florida 38-7 in 2008; to Mark Ingram and Alabama 24-20 in 2010; and to Texas A&M and quarterback Johnny Manziel in 2013. Road warriors Alabama is 15-1 in SEC road openers under Coach Nick Saban. The lone loss was when No. 11 Ole Miss beat No. 3 Alabama 23-17 at Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 4, 2014. Saban booed Arkansas’ students made clear their feelings about Alabama Coach Nick Saban when he did a television interview on the field about two hours before kickoff. The student section already was filled and they booed loudly during the interview and chanted, “Saban sucks!” Against the best Alabama improved to 73-18 against ranked teams since 2008, including 5-0 in matchups with Arkansas. The Razorbacks are the first ranked team Alabama will play this season, but the first of three consecutive opponents in the AP poll along with No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 8 Tennessee. Pizza delivery Eric Musselman, Arkansas’ men’s basketball coach, and freshman players Barry Dunning and Derrian Ford handed out pizzas Friday to the students waiting in line to be the first into the stadium on Saturday. Read More…

AP News Summary At 2:50 A.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-250-a-m-edt/ 174 dead after fans stampede to exit Indonesian soccer match MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from panic at an Indonesian soccer match climbed to 174, most of whom trampled to death after police fired tear gas to dispel riots Saturday, making it one of the deadliest sports events in the world. East Java’s Vice. Gov. Emil Dardak told Kompas TV in an interview Sunday the death toll has climbed to 174, while more than 100 injured people are receiving intensive treatment in eight hospitals without any charge, 11 of them in critical condition. Riots broke out after the game ended Saturday evening with host Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city losing to Persebaya of Surabaya 3-2. Riot police had responded by firing tear gas that sent hundreds of fans running for the exits. Russia withdraws troops after Ukraine encircles key city KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After being encircled by Ukrainian forces, Russia has pulled troops out from an eastern Ukrainian city that it had been using as a front-line hub. It was the latest victory for the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has humiliated and angered the Kremlin. The city of Lyman was a key transportation hub for the Russian front line. A day earlier Moscow had annexed as part of Russia. Kyiv has retaken vast swaths of territory beginning in September. With Lyman recaptured, Ukraine can now push further into the occupied Luhansk region, one of the four regions that Russia annexed Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military have vowed to keep fighting to liberate all regions from Russian control. Allies aim for risky Russian oil price cap as winter nears WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials celebrated at the start of September when top allies agreed to back an audacious, never-before-tried plan to clamp down on Vladimir Putin’s access to cash. The countries would pay only cut-rate prices for Russian oil. That would deprive Putin of money to keep prosecuting his war in Ukraine, but also ensure that oil kept gushing out of Russia and kept global prices low. But nearly a month later, the organization made up of some of the world’s leading economies, the Group of Seven, is still figuring out how to execute their plan and gather participants. Florida deaths rise to 47 amid struggle to recover from Ian FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers have evacuated stunned survivors cut off by Hurricane Ian on Florida’s largest barrier island, and the state’s death toll has risen sharply amid recovery efforts. Hundreds of thousands of people are still sweltering without power in the state, days after Ian’s rampage from Florida to the Carolinas. Florida now has 47 confirmed deaths. Ian was one of the strongest U.S. hurricanes on record when the Category 4 monster smashed ashore at midweek. Many storm victims were left isolated with limited cellphone service and lacking basic amenities like water and power. As of Saturday night, nearly 1 million customers in Florida still had not had electricity restored. Pine Island residents recount horror, fear as Ian bore down PINE ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Emergency responders are seeking to evacuate residents from the largest barrier island off Florida’s Gulf Coast, and survivors there spoke of the terror of riding out Hurricane Ian in flooded homes and howling winds. A volunteer group, Medic Corps, was flying residents off Pine island by helicopter on Saturday. The bridge to Pine Island was heavily damaged by the hurricane, leaving it reachable only by boat or air. Some residents said they hadn’t seen anyone from outside the island for days and spoke of being trapped in flooded homes as boats and other debris crashed around their houses in the storm surge. Some feared they wouldn’t make it. Chinese billionaire Richard Liu settles US rape allegation MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — JD.com founder Richard Liu has agreed to settle a lawsuit from a former University of Minnesota student who alleges he raped her after a night of dinner and drinks in 2018. Attorneys for Richard Liu and the woman, Jingyao Liu, released a joint statement Saturday night saying the case was settled. They did not disclose a settlement amount, but said the incident resulted from a misunderstanding and they agreed to settle their differences. Richard Liu was arrested on suspicion of felony rape in August 2018. Prosecutors never filed charges, saying the case had “profound evidentiary problems.” He stepped down as JD.com’s CEO this year amid increased government scrutiny of China’s technology industry. Venezuela swaps 7 jailed Americans for Maduro relatives WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuela’s government has freed seven Americans imprisoned in the South American country in exchange for the release of two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years by the United States on drug smuggling convictions. The swap of the Americans, including five oil executives imprisoned for nearly five years, is the largest trade of detained citizens that the Biden administration has ever carried out. It amounts to an unusual gesture of goodwill by Maduro as he looks to rebuild relations with the U.S. after vanquishing most of his opponents and follows months of secretive talks, including repeated visits to Venezuela over the last year by Washington’s top hostage negotiator. Trump at center of Oath Keepers novel defense in Jan. 6 case WASHINGTON (AP) — The defense team in the Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes are poised to argue that jurors cannot find him guilty of seditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before the riot were in preparation for orders he anticipated from the then-president. But those orders never came. Rhodes and four associates are accused of plotting for weeks to stop the transfer of presidential power, culminating with Oath Keepers in battle gear storming the Capitol alongside hundreds of other Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Opening statements in the trial are set to begin Monday. Brazil holds historic election with Lula against Bolsonaro RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — More than 120 million Brazilians will vote Sunday in a highly polarized election that could determine if the country returns a leftist to the helm of the world’s fourth-largest democracy or keeps the far-right incumbent in office for another four years. The race pits far-right President Jair Bolsonaro against his political nemesis, leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Recent polls have given da Silva a commanding lead, pointing to a chance that he may be able to win the first round outright, without need for a run-off. Da Silva would have to get more than 50% of the votes cast Sunday, topping the total vote for Bolsonaro and the other nine candidates. GOP attacks Georgia’s Abrams on voting as judge rejects suit ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans are using the defeat of a voting suit brought by a group founded by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams to attack her legitimacy as a voting rights advocate. They say a judge’s rejection on Friday of the last remaining claims in a suit brought by Fair Fight Action shows that Abrams was wrong all along to claim that she lost the 2018 Georgia governor’s race to Republican Brian Kemp because of voter suppression by Kemp. But Abrams is far from backing down from her position, and says she won a number of victories that made elections fairer. Her advocacy has also helped make voting rights a defining issue for Black voters in Georgia. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For Related Stories: Hurricane Ian Read More Here

Voice Of Harold https://digitalarkansasnews.com/voice-of-harold/ There is a social media profile a friend of mine and I monitor for fun. It’s not the finest thing we do. The guy behind the profile–I’m going to call him Harold–is someone both of us knew long ago. Years ago he connected with me on Facebook, but I don’t think we’ve had any exchanges. I knew him mostly by his reputation, which was a good one. Harold’s a talented college-educated guy, but he was never lucky enough to achieve the sort of success that he might have taken for his due. A lot of people are like that, because the world is rife with talent but stingy with rewards. So much comes down to timing–to breaks and connections. I know struggling artists whose work could and probably should hang in museums. I know great singer-songwriters you have probably never heard. There are gifted novelists who will never find their champion. To quote Kurt Vonnegut, so it goes. Harold is better off than a lot of them. He makes money with his talent; he can be said to have had a career. He never made the big time–whatever that is–but I’m being very careful not to include too many hints about his identity, because some of you would know his name. The reason we have been monitoring Harold’s social media posts for a few years is not because we appreciate his talent or want to keep up with his fine-looking family or consume the music videos he shares. It’s because he’s been a great source of entertainment for us. Harold is an unrepentant, unbowed Donald Trump fan–a true believer who as recently as a few weeks ago expressed his belief that Trump will be reinstated as president of the United States before or soon after the Republicans retake the country after the mid-term elections. Harold has seen, with his own eyes, evidence of the stolen election. He believes no one needs to look any further than the massive crowds Trump pulls to his campaign rallies to recognize his undiminished popularity among the American people. Harold is not one of those lukewarm supporters who admit Trump is a flawed man and candidate who ought to tone down some of his self-aggrandizing rhetoric. He will argue that Trump is the God-sent redeemer of the old-time America of his youth, a place where no one locked their doors, or tried to go into a bathroom that didn’t match the sex marked down on their birth certificate, and Democrats weren’t satanic child molesters but decent (misguided) people who went to church. In Harold’s world, Joe Garagiola never spiked Jackie Robinson, Robert E. Lee opposed slavery, and Andy Griffith was a rock-ribbed Republican both in Mayberry and real life. Mike Lindell is a truth-teller, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani are heroes. The Oath Keepers are patriots. QAnon doesn’t exist. Antifa is responsible for the Jan. 6 messiness, which was hardly an insurrection but rather a peaceful demonstration. Bob Barr is Judas. Melania was–still is–the “classiest” First Lady ever, while Trump is the most selfless person ever to run for, much less serve as POTUS; taking the job caused him to forgo billions in potential revenue and took him away from his exciting and fulfilling life as one of the world’s smartest and most successful scratch golfers. Harold even bought that Trump is the healthiest president we’ve ever had. In a way, it’s kind of refreshing. Almost every conversation I have with a Republican these days includes them signaling that they never much liked Trump, and that his popularity with the base put them in a difficult position. (I believe them, but do not sympathize. Tom Cotton and John Boozman and French Hill and others failed us when they did not stand up to a would-be fascist. There’s no plainer way to say it than that.) While we’re mostly laughing, I’m not going to pretend that sometimes Harold’s feed doesn’t get a little concerning. He’s a big proponent of the Second Amendment and tends to see arming the right people as a kind of social panacea. If it comes down to it, the right people can just shoot the wrong people. Harold hopes it doesn’t come to that, and he’s “just sayin’,” but nevertheless some of his posts have caused him to be suspended from social media at times. Some have been saddled with notices warning that they may contain misinformation. He hates it when that happens and urges you all to do your own research. But don’t trust The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or even Fox News, because now they’re anti-Trump all the time. Do your own research, but only trust the shadowy sites that are exposing all of the conspiracies. You can see why Harold’s feed amuses us. He’s like the Stephen A. Smith of politics and culture, firing off bad hot takes like a sportsman with a bump-stocked AR-15. The Germans might have a word for the sort of enjoyment we take from reading Harold–it’s not exactly schadenfreude, but a complicated and smug feeling I’m not exactly proud of. I pride myself on not mainlining outrage, of not conditioning myself to receive higher and higher doses of hyperbolic bloviation. We made a huge mistake when we started presenting politics as entertainment, and I understand I am sometimes complicit in the uncoupling of seriousness from statecraft. There are a lot of clowns in our politics precisely because we have made it a safe space for them–we cheer their nonsense as “authentic” and enjoy their invective, their haplessness, and the inevitable scandals that attach to people of low character and poor quality. Chuckling at Harold’s feed doesn’t improve anything. Yet I still check it every day or so. And so, for the past couple of weeks, I have been worried about Harold. His posts have been much less frequent and less inflammatory. We thought maybe he’d been suspended again, or maybe his wife had taken away his phone. Then a few posts showed up, innocuous memes about how good pop music used to be. And then a note to let us know that he was sick, and that he had a personal fight ahead of him. Then a few more silly memes. Corny dad jokes. I felt a little better. I don’t exactly want the old Harold back, but I want him well. I want him happy and alert to the everyday beauty and magic that surrounds us. I don’t want to convert him, but sometimes we all forget that none of the stuff they talk about on the cable news shows is as real as a cup of coffee in the morning or the love of someone who has known you and all your BS for years. It’s all noise, brother, designed to separate you from your paycheck. The driving of a wall between us is just a means to that end. I hope you get better soon. pmartin@adgnewsroom.com Read More Here