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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/03/31/boy-with-heart-condition-helps-batman-fight-crime-in-orlando/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s a mission Masai Wheeler will never forget, a day with his favorite hero — Batman!
The two were on a special mission to find the Joker who was on the run at the Amway Center after “kidnapping” the Magic mascot, Stuff.
“I really, really wanted to defeat the Joker because he has an evil plan,” Masai said.
His dad, Lance Wheeler, explained the 6-year-old was born with a serious heart condition and immediately had heart surgery.
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“He was born at the children’s hospital in Philadelphia and pretty much did a surgery and he was going to have a 50/50 chance and five years later, six years, yesterday was his birthday, he’s a normal kid,” Wheeler said.
Masai was able to capture the Joker with the help of several local heroes like Orange County Sheriff John Mina, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma and Orlando Police Deputy Chief Eric Smith.
“If you can put a spot on a pin, that’s how big he was when they told us he was going to have heart problems, but we believe in our faith and faith fought us through,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said several foundations were involved to make Masai’s dream come true, including Make-A-Wish, Give Kids The World, The Camaraderie Foundation and The Axel Foundation.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/amazons-first-ever-union-overcomes-hurdles-faces-new-ones/
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NEW YORK – When a scrappy group of former and current warehouse workers on Staten Island, New York went head-to-head with Amazon in a union election, many compared it to a David and Goliath battle.
David won. And the stunning upset on Friday brought sudden exposure to the organizers and worker advocates who realized victory for the nascent Amazon Labor Union when so many other more established labor groups had failed before them, including most recently in Bessemer, Alabama.
Initial results in that election show the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union down by 118 votes, with the majority of Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer rejecting a bid to form a union. The final outcome is still up in the air with 416 outstanding challenged ballots hanging in the balance. A hearing to review the ballots is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Chris Smalls, a fired Amazon worker who heads the ALU, has been critical of the RWDSU’s campaign, saying it didn’t have enough local support. Instead, he chose an independent path, believing workers organizing themselves would be more effective and undercut Amazon’s narrative that “third party” groups were driving union efforts.
“They were not perceived as outsiders, so that’s important,” said Ruth Milkman, a sociologist of labor and labor movements at the City University of New York.
While the odds were stacked against both union drives, with organizers facing off against a deep-pocketed retailer with an uninterrupted track record of keeping unions out of its U.S. operations, ALU was decidedly underfunded and understaffed compared with the RWDSU. Smalls said as of early March, ALU had raised and spent about $100,000 and was operating on a week-to-week budget. The group doesn’t have its own office space, and was relying on community groups and two unions to lend a hand. Legal help came from a lawyer offering pro-bono assistance.
Meanwhile, Amazon exercised all its might to fend off the organizing efforts, routinely holding mandatory meetings with workers to argue why unions are a bad idea. In a filing released last week, the company disclosed it spent about $4.2 million last year on labor consultants, who organizers say Amazon hired to persuade workers not to unionize.
Outmatched financially, Smalls and others relied on their ability to reach workers more personally by making TikTok videos, giving out free marijuana and holding barbecues and cookouts. A few weeks before the election, Smalls’ aunt cooked up soul food for a union potluck, including macaroni and cheese, collard greens, ham and baked chicken. Another pro-union worker got her neighbor to prepare Jollof rice, a West African dish organizers believed would help them make inroads with immigrant employees at the warehouse.
Kate Andrias, professor of law at Columbia University and an expert in labor law, noted a successful union — whether it is local or national — always has to be built by the workers themselves.
“This was a clearer illustration of this," Andrias said. "The workers did this on their own.”
Amazon's own missteps may have also contributed to the election outcome on Staten Island. Bert Flickinger III, a managing director at the consulting firm Strategic Resource Group, said derogatory comments by a company executive leaked from an internal meeting calling Smalls “not smart or articulate” and wanting to make him “the face of the entire union/organizing movement” backfired.
“It came out as condescending and it helped to galvanize workers,” said Flickinger, who consults with big labor unions.
In another example, Smalls and two organizers were arrested in February after authorities got a complaint about him trespassing at the Staten Island warehouse. The ALU used the arrests to its advantage days before the union election, teaming up with an art collective to project “THEY ARRESTED YOUR CO-WORKERS” in white letters on top of the warehouse. “THEY FIRED SOMEONE YOU KNOW,” another projection said.
“A lot of workers that were on the fence, or even against the union, flipped because of that situation,” Smalls said.
Experts note it’s difficult to know how much of ALU’s grassroots nature contributed to its victory when compared with the RWDSU. Unlike New York, Alabama is a right-to-work state that prohibits a company and a union from signing a contract that requires workers to pay dues to the union that represents them.
There was also a grassroots element to the union drive in Bessemer, which began when a group of Amazon workers there approached the RWDSU about organizing.
At a virtual press conference Thursday held by the RWDSU following the preliminary results in Alabama, president Stuart Appelbaum said he believed the election in New York benefited because it was held in a union-friendly state and Amazon workers on Staten Island voted in person, not by mail as was done in Alabama.
Despite some friction between the two labor groups in the leadup to the elections, both have adopted a friendlier public relationship in the past few days. Appelbaum praised Smalls during Thursday's press conference, calling him a “charismatic, smart, dedicated leader.” Likewise, Smalls offered the RWDSU words of encouragement after their initial election loss.
For now, ALU is focusing on its win. Organizers say Amazon workers from more than 20 states have reached out to them to ask about organizing their warehouses. But they have their hands full with their own warehouse, and a neighboring facility slated to have a separate union election later this month.
Organizers are also preparing for a challenging negotiation process for a labor contract. The group has demanded Amazon officials to come to the table in early May. But experts say the retail giant, which has signaled plans to challenge the election results, will likely drag its feet.
“The number one thing is going to be fighting for the contract,” Smalls said. “We have to start that process right away because we know the longer drawn out the contract is, workers will lose hope and interest.”
Meanwhile, some workers are waiting to see what happens.
Tinea Greenway, a warehouse worker from Brooklyn, said before the election, she felt pressured by the messages she kept hearing both from Amazon and ALU organizers, and just wanted to make the decision herself. When the time came, she voted against the union because of a bad experience she’s had in the past with another union who she says didn’t fight for her.
“They won,” she said of the ALU. “So let’s see if they live up to the agreement of what they said they were going to do.”
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Follow Haleluya Hadero: http://twitter.com/masayett
Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/as-ukraine-war-squeezes-energy-uk-looks-again-at-fracking/
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LONDON – The British government on Tuesday ordered scientists to take a new look at the risks of fracking, as soaring fuel prices and squeezed supplies prompt a rethink about the country’s energy supply.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asked the British Geological Survey to review the evidence and report by June “on the geological science of shale gas fracturing and the modelling of seismic activity in shale rocks in the U.K.”
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure to fracture shale rock and release gas. The process has long been controversial in Britain, with attempts to establish a fracking industry meeting strong opposition from environmentalists.
The government suspended fracking in November 2019, saying it was not possible to accurately predict tremors associated with the drilling. That looked like a fatal blow to the industry as Britain sought to move away from fossil fuels and cut U.K. carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, a major oil and gas supplier — have made countries including the U.K. rethink their energy supplies with the goal of reducing dependence on imported fuel. The fossil fuel industry and some lawmakers are pressing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government to end the fracking ban and to increase the extraction of North Sea oil and gas.
Kwarteng said it was important to keep “all possible energy generation and production methods on the table.”
He added that the pause on fracking would remain “unless the latest scientific evidence demonstrates that shale gas extraction is safe, sustainable and of minimal disturbance to those living and working nearby.”
Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., which operated Britain’s only active shale wells until 2019, welcomed the review as a “tentative first step” towards overturning the moratorium.
“We trust that this review will allow Britain’s huge shale gas resources to be exploited,” said chief executive Francis Egan.
But Friends of the Earth energy activist Danny Gross said “energy efficiency and developing the U.K.’s vast renewable power potential are the best ways to deal with the energy crisis and bring down soaring fuel bills.”
On Thursday the U.K. government will release its long-term energy strategy, which is expected to call for more nuclear power plants and offshore wind farms — but not more onshore wind farms, which are seen by some Conservative lawmakers as vote-losing eyesores.
The United Nations’ climate panel warned Monday that temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed to. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed “a litany of broken climate promises” that “put us firmly on track toward an unlivable world.”
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Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/elon-musk-to-join-twitters-board/
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NEW YORK – Elon Musk is joining Twitter's board of directors a day after revealing that he'd become the social media platform's largest shareholder with a 9% stake.
The billionaire has criticized Twitter publicly about its commitment to free speech. He's also run into trouble on the platform as the CEO of Tesla after financial regulators found he had posted inaccurate information about the company.
Musk is barred from owning more than 14.9% of Twitter’s outstanding stock while he sits on the board, Twitter Inc. said in a Tuesday regulatory filing.
Musk has been speaking with the company in recent weeks and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet that “it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board."
“He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term," Agrawal wrote.
Musk said he's looking forward to working with Agrawal and the board “to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!"
Musk wasted no time in weighing in on one of the biggest gripes Twitter users have about the platform late Tuesday, asking in a tweet if he should add an edit button.
“Now its time to get out the popcorn and watch the developments over the coming months with Musk on the board,” wrote Daniel Ives, who follows Twitter for Wedbush Securities.
Twitter's board will have 12 members with Musk. Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO of Twitter last and his term on the board expires at an upcoming stockholders’ meeting on May 25. Three other board members have terms that are set to expire but have been nominated to retain their seats.
Dorsey tweeted Tuesday that Musk and Agrawal “both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team.”
“I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it,” Dorsey said.
After amassing 73.5 million Twitter shares worth a total of about $3 billion, Musk has not spoken specifically about any Twitter rule changes he might push.
In March, Musk told his 80 million followers on Twitter that he was “ giving serious thought ” to creating his own social media platform.
Musk is locked into a bitter dispute with the SEC over his ability to post on Twitter. His lawyer has contended in court motions that the SEC is infringing on the Tesla CEO’s First Amendment rights.
Shares of Twitter rose about 5% Tuesday.
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Matt O’Brien contributed from Providence, Rhode Island.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/france-pushing-for-energy-sanctions-against-russia/
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BRUSSELS – The European Union’s executive branch proposed Tuesday a ban on coal imports from Russia in what would be the first EU sanctions targeting the country's lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU needed to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after what she described as “heinous crimes” carried out around Kyiv, with evidence that Russian troops may have deliberately killed Ukrainian civilians.
Von der Leyen said the ban on coal imports is worth 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) per year and that the EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.
She didn't mention natural gas, with consensus among the 27 EU countries on targeting the fuel used to generate electricity and heat homes difficult to secure amid opposition from gas-dependent members like Germany, the bloc’s largest economy.
Until now, Europe had not been willing to target Russian energy over fears that it would plunge the European economy into recession. Europe’s dependence on Russian oil, natural gas and coal means finding unanimity on energy measures is a tall order, but the recent reports of civilian killings have increased pressure for tougher EU sanctions.
The U.S. and United Kingdom previously announced they were cutting off Russian oil. Individual EU countries have announced efforts to draw down their energy reliance on Russia: Poland says it plans to block imports of coal and oil from the country, while Lithuania said it’s no longer using Russian natural gas.
“To take a clear stand is not only crucial for us in Europe but also for the rest of the world,” von der Leyen said. “A clear stand against Putin’s war of choice. A clear stand against the massacre of civilians. And a clear stand against the violation of the fundamental principles of the world order.”
Energy policy expert Simone Tagliapietra with the Bruegel think tank in Brussels said coal represented 20 million euros in revenue for Russia from Europe per day at current prices, compared with 850 million per day for oil and gas.
The coal ban “is important because it breaks the energy taboo,” he said, but is not “a game changer. ... Targeting coal for the moment is too prudent, it’s too symbolic and the time for symbolic measures is gone.”
“It’s not with coal that Putin can get rich or sustain the funding of the war. The big flow of money is certainly oil and gas, not coal, and that’s the issue.”
The proposal still must be adopted unanimously by all 27 EU countries and is included among a new package of sanctions.
Other measures proposed by the EU’s executive arm include sanctions on more individuals and four key Russian banks, among them VTB, the second-largest Russian bank.
“These four banks, which we now totally cut off from the markets, represent 23% of market share in the Russian banking sector,” von der Leyen said. “This will further weaken Russia´s financial system."
The bloc also would ban Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels from EU ports, with exceptions for essentials such as agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid and energy.
Further targeted export bans, worth 10 billion euros, in sectors covering quantum computers, advanced semiconductors, sensitive machinery and transportation equipment also were proposed.
“With this, we will continue to degrade Russia’s technological base and industrial capacity,” von der Leyen said.
But energy was the focus. EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said 62% of Russia’s exports to the EU were hydrocarbons last year.
“If we really want to affect Russia’s economy, that’s where we need to look,” he said. “And that’s exactly what is subject to discussions concerning this sanctions package.”
Because of its climate ambitions, the EU has been moving away from coal for years. Coal use fell from 1.2 billion tons a year to 427 million tons between 1990 and 2020, but imports rose from 30% to 60% of coal use.
The European Union imported 53% of hard coal from Russia in 2020, which accounted for 30% of the EU’s hard coal consumption.
Russian coal would be easier to replace than natural gas because coal comes by ship and there are multiple global suppliers. Germany’s association of coal importers said last month that Russian coal could be replaced “in a few months.”
But the switch would mean more import demand from Europe and higher global coal prices, with significant effects on emerging and developed economies that also rely on coal.
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AP journalist Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this story.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/new-twitter-biggie-musk-may-have-thoughts-on-edit-button/
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Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and power Twitter user who is now Twitter's largest shareholder and newly appointed board member, may have thoughts on a long-standing request from users: Should there be an edit button?
On Monday evening, Musk launched a Twitter poll about whether they want an edit button, cheekily misspelling “yes” as “yse” and “no” as “on.” More than 3 million people had voted as of Tuesday morning. The poll closes Tuesday evening Eastern time.
Twitter's CEO, Parag Agrawal, retweeted the poll with a seeming reference to an earlier tweet by Musk, saying “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” Musk had used the same language in a March tweet describing another one of his polls that asked whether Twitter adheres to free speech principles.
Twitter spokesperson Catherine Hill declined to comment on whether Agrawal was joking, and did not answer whether Twitter would follow the results of Musk's poll. Musk tweeted Tuesday that he was looking forward to making “significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”
Many Twitter users — among them, Kim Kardashian, Ice T, Katy Perry and McDonald's corporate account — have long begged for an edit button. The company itself recently teased users with an April Fool's Day tweet saying “we are working on an edit button.”
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had said that Twitter had considered an edit button, but in a January 2020 Q&A maintained that “we’ll probably never do it.” He cited wanting to keep the spirit of Twitter's text-message origins — texts can't be edited — and the confusion that could result from users making changes to a tweet that has already been highly circulated by others. Dorsey stepped down as CEO in November 2021.
For what it's worth, the chief technology officer of Facebook owner Meta, Andrew Bosworth, tweeted Monday that big changes to posts that have already gone viral were not an issue. (Facebook lets you edit posts.) “You just include an indicator that it has been edited along with a change log,” he wrote.
Musk’s response: “Facebook gives me the willies.”
But other people say adding an edit button would change the nature of Twitter, making it less valuable as a historical warehouse that stores official statements by politicians and other high-profile people. Twitter, for better or worse, “has become the de facto news wire,” said Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor and an expert on social media who researches propaganda.
Tweets are often embedded in news stories, which could cause problems if the users edit important or controversial tweets without leaving evidence of the original statement. Grygiel suggested instead giving Twitter users a window of time to edit their tweets before they publish them.
Letting powerful Twitter users edit their tweets means they would not be historical statements anymore, Grygiel said. “We need to think about what the implications are, what these tweets are, who has power.”
Musk said that a related proposal for a post-publication edit window of a few minutes “ sounds reasonable.”
Musk is someone who could seemingly use an edit button. His tweet about taking Tesla private at $420 per share, when funding was not secured, led to a $40 million SEC settlement and a requirement that Musk's tweets be approved by a corporate lawyer. Musk is still embroiled in a fight over that settlement.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/oil-prices-asian-shares-gain-after-tech-rally-on-wall-st/
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Stocks fell in afternoon trading Tuesday and bond yields jumped as investors monitor the latest developments around Russia’s war against Ukraine and prepare for the next round of corporate earnings reports.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 1:38 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70 points, or 0.2%, to 34,852 and the Nasdaq fell 1.8%.
Weakness from big technology stocks weighed down the broader market. Companies in the sector, with their pricey valuations, tend to push the market higher or lower more forcefully. Chipmaker Qualcomm fell 4.6%.
Twitter rose another 4.2% after disclosing an arrangement with Tesla chief Elon Musk that will give him a board seat but also limit how much of the company he can buy while he’s a director. The company disclosed a day earlier that the mercurial billionaire and Twitter critic had become the company’s largest shareholder.
Treasury yields jumped again as investors brace for more aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve to rein in the hottest inflation in 40 years. Fed Governor Lael Brainard said in a speech that it’s “of paramount importance” and that the central bank is set to keep raising short-term interest rates following its March hike, which was its first increase since 2018.
Traders are pricing in a nearly 78% probability the Fed will raise its key overnight rate by half a percentage point at its next meeting in May. That’s double the usual amount and something the Fed hasn’t done since 2000. That helped the yield on the two-year Treasury jump to 2.51% from 2.46%, its highest level since March 2019.
Brainard said the Fed would also soon throw into reverse the massive bond-buying program it engineered through the pandemic to keep longer-term rates low. She said the Fed could decide to roll some bonds off its balance sheet as soon as its May meeting, and “at a rapid pace.”
That helped the 10-year Treasury yield jump to 2.56% from 2.46% before Brainard's speech, its highest level since April 2019.
Higher interest rates tend to most hurt stocks that are seen as the priciest, which puts the focus on big technology and other high-growth stocks. Apple and Tesla were some of the biggest weights on the market.
Wall Street is watching closely for any clues as to how sharply interest rates will rise as inflation persists. More details will be gleaned Wednesday when the Fed releases minutes from its March interest rate meeting.
Russia's war in Ukraine remains a key focus for Wall Street as the potential for stricter economic sanctions increase. The European Union’s executive branch has proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia in what would be the first sanctions targeting the country’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine.
The Treasury Department will not allow any Russian government debt payments from accounts at U.S. financial institutions to be made in U.S. dollars, restricting one of the strategies President Vladimir Putin is employing to stave off default.
The stricter sanctions follow mounting evidence Russian soldiers deliberately killed civilians during the conflict.
Wall Street is preparing for the next round of corporate earnings reports in the coming weeks. The results could give a clearer picture of how companies are dealing with the impact from rising inflation.
Carnival rose 3.8% after the cruise line gave investors an encouraging bookings update. Norwegian Cruise Line rose 2.5% and Royal Caribbean rose 1.1%. Health care and consumer goods companies made solid gains. Insurer UnitedHealth Group rose 2.8% and Procter & Gamble rose 1.1%.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/trial-testimony-vatican-wanted-to-pay-off-london-broker/
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VATICAN CITY – The former head of the Vatican’s financial watchdog testified Tuesday that the agency launched an intelligence investigation into a suspicious London real estate deal after it learned about it but had no power to stop the Vatican secretariat of state from concluding it.
The testimony by defendant Rene Bruelhart in the Vatican’s big fraud and extortion trial again put the spotlight on Pope Francis and the No. 2 in the secretariat of state, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, who Bruelhart said made clear the deal had to be concluded “under any circumstances.”
The Vatican’s payment of 15 million euros to Italian broker Gianluigi Torzi to get full ownership of the building is at the heart of the trial into the London property, which has grown to include other financial charges. Prosecutors accuse 10 people, including Torzi, other Italian money managers and Vatican officials, of defrauding the Holy See and extorting it of millions, with losses totaling 217 million euros.
Several witnesses have previously asserted that Francis approved the payment to Torzi, with one saying the pope was so pleased with the outcome of the deal that he paid for a celebratory dinner on May 2, 2019 for the Vatican officials who negotiated it.
The payout to Torzi was deemed necessary because the Vatican secretariat of state had signed contracts with him at the end of 2018 giving him full control over the building. When the Vatican realized that it didn’t own the building, a decision was made to negotiate an exit deal for Torzi rather than sue.
The concern in the Vatican was that Torzi might sell the building, leaving the Vatican empty handed after investing 350 million euros into it, and that the Holy See was in a weak position to try to sue, given the contracts it had signed. Pena Parra was also concerned about reputational damage if the losses became public, Bruelhart testified.
Bruelhart is accused of abuse of office for having allegedly failed as president of the Financial Information Authority to file a formal complaint with Vatican prosecutors when he learned about the London deal on March 7, 2019, and of having failed to stop the payment to Torzi.
Bruelhart testified Tuesday that the agency had no authority to supervise the secretariat of state, much less stop it from paying off Torzi. But he said the agency promptly did its job when the secretariat of state filed a suspicious transaction report about the deal on March 22, 2019.
He said the same day he learned from Pena Parra about the deal on March 7, 2019, he met with Francis and the pope “confirmed the need to help the secretariat of state.” He said he briefed Francis on the progress of the agency’s intelligence investigation after it was launched later that month.
Later, in April of that year, the Vatican’s London-based law firm advised the Holy See of the risks if it wanted to continue negotiating an exit deal with Torzi. But Bruelhart told the Vatican tribunal: “The decision was clearly and exclusively with the secretariat of state. AIF had no supervision over the secretariat of state.”
And he said in his meetings with Pena Parra on April 16, 2019, he realized “that the secretariat of state wanted to proceed under any circumstances.”
Pena Parra and his superiors have not been charged. Also escaping indictment was Pena Parra's deputy, who actually signed the contracts with Torzi; he has turned into the prosecution's star-witness.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/uk-plans-rules-for-some-cryptocurrencies-amid-global-effort/
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LONDON – Britain has unveiled plans to regulate some cryptocurrencies as part of a broader plan to become a global hub for digital payments, coming as authorities in the U.S. and Europe are racing to draw up rules for crypto.
Cryptocurrencies have exploded in popularity, leaving officials worldwide scrambling to figure out how to regulate them amid fears they could threaten financial stability and hurt consumers.
“The U.K. is open for business — open for crypto businesses,” John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, said in a speech Monday.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak also has asked the Royal Mint to create a digital collectible known as an NFT as an “emblem of the forward-looking approach the U.K. is determined to take," Glen said.
Crypto proponents say the technology will make payments faster, easier and more transparent, while skeptics worry it could be used for illegal activity like money laundering and contribute to carbon emissions because of the heavy computing power needed to process transactions.
Last month, the United States stepped up government oversight of cryptocurrency while European Union lawmakers agreed on draft rules for cryptoassets.
Glen said the government plans to update laws on payments to include a typo of cryptocurrency called stablecoins to encourage issuers and service providers to operate and grow in the U.K. Stablecoins are usually tied to the dollar or a commodity such as gold, making them a lot less volatile than normal cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, which can swing wildly in value.
“This will also enable consumers to use stablecoin payment services with confidence,” Glen said, without specifying which stablecoins would be regulated.
There are more than 200 stablecoins, and two of the biggest are Tether and USD Coin. Stablecoins are often used to pay fees on cryptocurrency trading exchanges or send payments across borders.
Sunak has commissioned the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token, or NFT, by the summer. NFTs use a version of encryption technology known as the blockchain to create one-of-a-kind digital objects like artwork or sports memorabilia, which are sometimes sold for millions of dollars.
There are also plans to explore the idea of using crypto technology to issue U.K. government debt.
The government is now looking at “regulating a broader set of crypto activities including trading of tokens like bitcoin," with a consultation expected later this year, Glen said.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/us-agency-opens-probe-into-electric-vehicle-batteries/
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DETROIT – U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into electric and hybrid vehicle batteries after five automakers issued recalls due to possible defects that could cause fires or stalling.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the probe covers more than 138,000 vehicles with batteries made by LG Energy Solution of South Korea.
General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Stellantis and Volkswagen have issued recalls since February of 2020, most due to internal battery failures that can increase the risk of fires.
The agency says it will write to LG and other companies that might have bought similar batteries to make sure recalls are being done when needed.
Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from LG Energy Solution.
The investigation is another bug in a growing global rollout of electric vehicles by all automakers to replace internal combustion vehicles to cut emissions and fight climate change. Ford and BMW also have recalled batteries in recent years. Also, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigated a series of fires in Tesla vehicles and said the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries pose safety risks to first responders after crashes.
Many governments are counting on counting EVs to replace gasoline-burning vehicles that emit greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
Data on electric vehicle fires is limited, but a small sample in April of 2021 by the insurance industry's Highway Loss Data Institute found that EVs and their conventional gas counterparts had about the same number of non-crash fire claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years.
The institute tracked claims for 10 EVs and their gas equivalents and found that EVs had 0.19 fire claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years compared with 0.2 for gasoline counterparts.
In a document posted Tuesday on its website, NHTSA said the recalls began on Feb. 24, 2020 when Mercedes recalled a 2019 Smart Fortwo electric vehicle. The company said the high-voltage battery made by LG had a defect that could ignite inside the battery cells, raising the risk of a fire.
Eight months later, Hyundai recalled some 2019 and 2020 Kona EVs with a similar problem.
In November of 2020, General Motors began a string of recalls that involved more than 140,000 Chevrolet Bolt EVs from the 2017 through 2022 model years due to the “simultaneous presence of two rare manufacturing defects in the same battery cell.” The defect caused at least 10 fires, causing GM to warn owners to park the Bolts outdoors. LG Energy Solution agreed to reimburse GM $2 billion for the recall costs, and the company remains in a joint venture with LG to build batteries for its next generation of electric vehicles. This month, GM is scheduled to restart production and sales of Bolts with replacement battery cells.
Hyundai issued a second battery recall March of 2021 covering 2019 and 2020 Konas and 2020 Ioniq EVs and said an electrical short inside the batteries could increase the risk of fires while parked, charging or driving.
Last February, Stellantis’ Chrysler brand recalled some 2017 and 2018 Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivans with LG batteries after getting a dozen reports of fires. A month later, VW recalled some 2021 ID4 electric vehicles with unreliable connections inside the batteries that could cause stalling. Stellantis also has a joint venture with LG Energy Solution to make batteries for future electric vehicles.
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This story has been corrected to show that five automakers issued recalls, not seven.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/04/05/world-bank-says-war-shocks-to-drag-on-asian-economies/
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BANGKOK – Disruptions to supplies of commodities, financial strains and higher prices are among the impacts of the war in Ukraine that will slow economies in Asia in coming months, the World Bank says in a report released Tuesday.
The report forecasts slower growth and rising poverty in the Asia-Pacific region this year as “multiple shocks” compound troubles for people and for businesses.
Growth for the region is estimated at 5%, down from the original forecast of 5.4%. The “low case” scenario foresees growth dipping to 4%, it said. The region saw a rebound to 7.2% growth in 2021 after many economies experienced downturns with the onset of the pandemic.
The World Bank anticipates that China, the region’s largest economy, will expand at a 5% annual pace, much slower than the 8.1% growth of 2021.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has helped drive up prices for oil, gas and other commodities, eating into household purchasing power and burdening businesses and governments that already are contending with unusually high levels of debt due to the pandemic, the report said.
The development lending institution urged governments to lift restrictions on trade and services to take advantage of more opportunities for trade and to end fossil fuel subsidies to encourage adoption of more green energy technologies.
“The succession of shocks means that the growing economic pain of the people will have to face the shrinking financial capacity of their governments,” said the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific Chief Economist Aaditya Mattoo. “A combination of fiscal, financial and trade reforms could mitigate risks, revive growth and reduce poverty.”
The report pointed to three main potential shocks for the region: the war, changing monetary policy in the U.S. and some other countries and a slowdown in China.
While rising interest rates make sense for cooling the U.S. economy and curbing inflation, much of Asia lags behind in its recovery from the pandemic. Countries like Malaysia may suffer outflows of currency and other financial repercussions from those changing policies, it said.
Meanwhile, China's already slowing economy could falter as outbreaks of COVID-19 provoke lockdowns like the one now in place in Shanghai, the country's biggest megacity. That is likely to affect many Asian countries whose trade relies on demand from China.
“These shocks are likely to magnify existing post-COVID difficulties," the report said. The 8 million households whose members fell back into poverty during the pandemic, “will see real incomes shrink even further as prices soar."
The report noted that regional economies fared better during the 2021 Delta variant waves of coronavirus than in the initial months of the pandemic in 2020, largely because fewer restrictions were imposed and widespread vaccinations helped limit the severity of the outbreaks.
On average, countries with a 1 percentage point higher vaccination rate had higher growth, it said.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/deals/2022/04/05/learn-all-about-the-cryptocurrency-market-through-this-free-4-week-online-course/
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Few investments have increased in value as rapidly in the past decade as cryptocurrency. In fact, in 2021, nine out of the top 10 fastest-growing assets were cryptocurrencies, with Solana (a blockchain platform designed to host decentralized, scalable applications) experiencing an incredible 3476% growth from January to September of that year. With performances like that, it seems almost a no-brainer to invest in this market. But without knowing what they are and how these cryptocurrency platforms operate, you’re like a student going in for an exam without studying. Make sure that you have the information you require to increase your odds of making a profit in trading cryptocurrency by taking this free online course.
As tempting as it is to jump into this potentially lucrative market, it is a well-known fact that it is also very volatile. Factors such as supply and demand, government regulations, and social media influencers (who can forget Elon Musk’s declaration about taking Dogecoin to the moon?) can affect the value either positively or negatively. For example, right around the time that Elon started touting just how great Dogecoin was, that cryptocurrency soared while Bitcoin suffered an 11% one-day loss. Other pitfalls can include fraudulent offerings and generally not understanding the market.
Now that cryptocurrency is becoming more mainstream, it has piqued the interest of more and more people. Just like trading in any market, the key is to not go in blindly and do your research. Through this free four-week course, Learn the Basics of Cryptocurrency, you will start from the very beginning by defining exactly what these digital currencies are, as well as some basic economic principles behind them. You will explore the world of blockchain, mining, Ethereum, and more. You will be introduced to Tradingview, an online platform used for technical analysis, and explore popular trading strategies. In short, you will become familiar with how to get ahead in the crypto market.
Highly rated and with rave reviews such as, “This course is fantastic! I learned so much so far, all topics are well explained,” this Learn the Basics of Cryptocurrency is absolutely free (regularly valued at $200). For four weeks you will be able to access eight lectures and eight hours of content and learn all about the shift to these new-age currencies.
Prices subject to change.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/deals/2022/04/05/save-big-and-learn-how-to-conquer-tiktok-with-this-bundle/
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If you’ve been avoiding jumping on TikTok because you don’t want to deal with another social media site, you might want to rethink that decision. TikTok is quickly becoming the top social media platform and many influencers and business owners are profiting big time from it.
It’s obvious that it’s not going away and dismissing it could end up being a mistake. With that being said, being successful on TikTok is more than just going viral one time, you need to be in it for the long haul.
If you’ve been tossing around the idea of creating content on TikTok but don’t have a clue where to start, check out The Telegram & TikTok Mastery Bundle.
This 5-course bundle packed with 60 creative lessons will set you on the right course and right now it’s on sale for only $19. There are two online courses that dive into a few secrets of how to go viral on TikTok and how to gain traffic and momentum. They’ll show you how to craft stories that you can write in as little as an hour and provide you with a formula to become a TikTok master.
You’ll also have the opportunity to learn more about Telegram for business including what errors to avoid and strategies that will help you monetize your channel faster. Finally, you’ll learn some pretty cool alternatives to Facebook Groups and how to reach all of your followers more effectively but with less effort.
If this sounds like a good place for your to start on your TikTok journey, don’t wait to grab this bargain deal. Get The Telegram & TikTok Mastery Bundle on sale for an affordable $19. That’s well worth the cost with a savings of 98% off the regular price of $1,000 but only for a limited time.
Prices subject to change
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https://www.clickorlando.com/entertainment/2022/04/05/darwin-notebooks-missing-for-20-years-returned-to-cambridge/
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LONDON – Two of naturalist Charles Darwin’s notebooks that were reported stolen from Cambridge University's library have been returned, two decades after they disappeared.
The university said Tuesday that the manuscripts were left in the library inside a pink gift bag, along with a note wishing the librarian a Happy Easter.
The notebooks, which include the 19th-century scientist’s famous 1837 “Tree of Life” sketch, went missing in 2001 after being removed for photographing, though at the time staff believed they might have been misplaced. After searches of the library’s collection of 10 million books, maps and manuscripts failed to find them, they were reported stolen to police in October 2020.
Local detectives notified the global police organization Interpol and launched an international hunt for the notebooks, valued at millions of pounds (dollars).
On March 9 the books reappeared, left in a public area of the building, outside the librarian’s office, which is not covered by security cameras. The two notebooks were wrapped in clingfilm inside their archive box, and appeared undamaged. The accompanying note said: “Librarian Happy Easter X.”
Darwin filled the notebooks with ideas shortly after returning from his voyage around the world on HMS Beagle, developing ideas that would bloom into his landmark work on evolution, “On the Origin of Species.”
The university's director of library services Jessica Gardner said her feeling of relief at the books’ reappearance was “profound and almost impossible to adequately express.”
“The notebooks can now retake their rightful place alongside the rest of the Darwin Archive at Cambridge, at the heart of the nation’s cultural and scientific heritage, alongside the archives of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Stephen Hawking,” she said.
The notebooks are set to go on public display from July as part of a Darwin exhibition at the library.
Cambridgeshire Police said its investigation was continuing, “and we are following up some lines of inquiry."
“We also renew our appeal for anyone with information about the case to contact us,” the force said.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/entertainment/2022/04/05/director-of-drive-my-car-surprised-by-oscar-popularity/
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TOKYO – Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi says he was surprised by the international popularity of his Oscar-winning film “Drive My Car,” but attributes it to the universality of the short story by Haruki Murakami on which it is based.
The movie centers on an actor played by Hidetoshi Nishijima who is directing a multilingual production of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.” Still mourning the sudden loss of his wife, the actor, Kafuku, leads the cast in rehearsals in which they sit and read their lines flatly, ingesting the language for days before acting them out.
The 3-hour-long story of grief, connection and recovery won an Academy Award last month for best international feature film.
“Actually I was surprised by how widely this film has been accepted,” Hamaguchi said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, his first major event since the Oscar.
While attributing its popularity to the universality of Murakami's story, Hamaguchi said the actors “put it on the screen in a very convincing way, even though I’m sure it was an extremely challenging task for them to embody Haruki Murakami's worldview.”
On his part, he tried to "show some sort of hope, as Mr. Haruki Murakami does in his novels, so we can feel this character is now OK — the process of loss and coming to terms with it to move on — if not quite a full recovery," Hamaguchi said.
The “inner reality” of the characters in the story is both the charm and difficulty of turning Murakami’s story into visuals, Hamaguchi said.
“Describing inner reality ... is something movies are not very good at,” Hamaguchi said. So he decided not to trace the written language of the original story. “The more attractive a story is, the harder it is for visuals to surpass the images already formed in the minds of readers," he said.
Hamaguchi said he decided to visualize the core of the story — the relationship between Kafuku and his much younger driver Misaki — who has also suffered the loss of her mother in a mudslide — which gradually deepens through their conversations in his beloved red Saab, one of few colorful items in the movie.
The film combines the inner worlds of Murakami and Chekhov and reflects their similarities, Hamaguchi said.
Conversations between Kafuku and Misaki contrast with those of Vanya and Sonya in “Uncle Vanya,” and when Kafuku acts as Vanya during the performance, he comes to realize his own inner words toward recovery.
“So I found ‘Drive My Car’ and ‘Uncle Vanya’ wonderfully intertwined as if they translated each other,” Hamaguchi said.
Hamaguchi said he wanted to thank Murakami at the Oscar awards ceremony but missed the chance because his “thank you” after giving a long list of actors’ names was misunderstood as the end of his speech.
“I still wanted to thank Murakami-san and my staff,” he said.
Hamaguchi's films, which include the anthology “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” released last year, are acclaimed, but he was not widely known in Hollywood before an award for best screenplay at last year's Cannes Film Festival brought attention to “Drive My Car.”
Hamaguchi said international audiences now see Asia as a source of interesting films, and he hopes his fellow filmmakers can create movies that can “pierce through the hearts of audiences” and live up to their expectations.
His goals for his next film? “I just want to be able to say I made one that is a little better than my previous one," Hamaguchi said.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/entertainment/2022/04/05/ishmael-reed-among-winners-of-anisfield-wolf-book-awards/
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NEW YORK – Author, playwright and longtime champion of multiculturalism Ishmael Reed is receiving a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to literature.
Reed is among this year's winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, given for work that “confronts racism and explores diversity," the Cleveland Foundation announced Tuesday. Percival Everett's novel “The Trees” won for fiction and Donika Kelly's “The Renunciations” was cited for poetry. Prizes for nonfiction were given to George Makari's “Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia” and Tiya Miles' “All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake.”
“This year, we honor a satiric novel about lynching disguised as a detective story, a poetry collection that remakes the meanings of childhood abuse, an innovative look at the idea of xenophobia, and a story of recovered history based on an embroidered sack," jury chair Henry Louis Gates Jr. said in a statement. "All is capped by the lifetime achievement of Ishmael Reed, a genre-bending and genre-transcending colossus of literature.”
Philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf founded the prize in 1935. Previous winners include the Rev. Martin Luther KIng Jr., Toni Morrison and Nadine Gordimer.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/features/2022/04/04/time-to-fire-up-the-grills-bbq-festival-to-raise-money-for-student-scholarships/
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MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Eastern Florida State College Foundation will be hosting its 6th Annual Backyard BBQ Cook-Off & Family Fest on Saturday.
The event will be held at the EFSC Melbourne Campus (3865 N. Wickham Road) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Each year, the EFSC Foundation hosts the barbecue to raise money for student scholarships and other college initiatives.
There will be a cook-off competition for a grand prize of $1,000, as well as three other categories: brisket, pork and ribs. The top three contests on each category will also receive prizes up to $500.
Teams will also compete for the People’s Choice Award, where the winner will receive the Golden Pig Trophy to display for an entire year until the 2023 edition.
In addition to the cook-off and barbecue tastings, there will be live music by the band Alter Ego, a kid’s zone, local vendors and food truck. Attendees will also have access to visit the Red, White & Wheels Car Show.
Tickets are $10 per person and available at the gate, plus free parking.
For more information regarding the event, visit this website.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/features/2022/04/05/5-must-do-things-on-your-next-visit-to-nashville/
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Nashville, Tennessee has become a hotspot for tourism in recent years, and if you ever decide to visit, you’ll understand why that is, immediately.
There are really only a few hours when the streets of Broadway aren’t bustling with people, which can make it feel like the town is alive.
There’s live music nearly around the clock, countless bars and restaurants, and just so much great energy.
I personally love Nashville so much that I was prepared to move there many years ago. I ventured onto another path, and while the town has changed a bit since then (in a good way!), my love for it has not.
If Nashville has been on your list of places to visit, do it. Plan it now. You won’t be sorry.
In preparation for when you do go, I’ve got some recommendations.
1. Do the Ryman Auditorium experience.
You don’t have to be a history buff to find this one interesting, but if you even remotely like and appreciate country music, you’ve got to cut out some time for a Ryman tour. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience. And it’s just a block off of Broadway, so it’s quite close to a lot of the action.
If you don’t want to spend a ton of time here, I would suggest at least going in, taking a look around and soaking in the building.
If you feel like a tour would interest you, it’s really very cool.
You will get a seat in the theater and watch the “show” -- one that has holograms, special effects, multidimensional film messages and archived footage, with “guests” who include Darius Rucker, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill and others.
There’s also a tour you can take at your own pace, if that suits your trip better.
There are still shows held at the Ryman, so check out the schedule to find out if there’s anyone you might be interested in seeing.
2. Visit all the bars on Broadway.
I can’t even begin to explain to you how much fun you are going to have. And when I say to visit ALL the bars, I mean all of them -- or as many as you can.
There are plenty, but they are all so fun. They pretty much all offer up cocktails and live music during the course of the day and night, but they’re all different in their own way, and worth checking out.
There are some bars that have quite a history on Broadway, like Tootsies Orchid Lounge, the Stage and Legends Corner, to name a few.
There are also some newer bars, like Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, or the FGL House -- all of which are different and fun.
These are just a handful. There are more, and you can expect to hear live music in all of them -- not necessarily just country, either.
3. Also make a trip off Broadway.
My favorite place to visit that’s not on Broadway is Loser’s Bar and Grill, near Music Row (not off of Broadway) and it is a local favorite, too. It’s got a dive bar feel, it’s fun, and there’s a good chance you could run into someone famous, because country singers are known to pop in there from time to time.
Some other places that locals know and love: The Local, 6th and Peabody or Red Door Saloon in mid-town.
4. See a show at the Grand Ole Opry.
The Grand Ole Opry technically takes place at two locations: The Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry House, which is going to be a drive, if you’re mostly hanging out near Broadway. Where the big show is depends on when you visit, so check ahead of time.
There are concerts happening all the time, and you never know who you might see on stage, from up-and-coming artists to the classic country singers our parents loved and the most popular in the industry.
You might not know the Opry began in 1925 in its first radio broadcast, and to this day, each show is still broadcast.
5. Stay near Broadway.
Broadway really is where a lot of the action is, so you’ll want to be close enough to walk or take a quick Uber.
You’ll find the go-to hotels people love, like Hyatt, Westin, JW Marriott and Omni, and if you’re a creature of habit who knows you love these hotels, by all means, go with what feels right.
However, if you’re looking for an authentic experience, you’ll want to check out a local and unique hotel, like the Hermitage Hotel, the Moxy or the Cambria. For the record, the Hermitage has a five-star rating, so you can expect a nice stay.
Honorable mentions
There really is so much to do in Nashville, and much of what you do might depend on how long your stay is, what you’re interested in or who you’re with.
Here are a few more recommendations that are worth your time:
- Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame. Admittedly, this is not a quick stop. You can probably expect to spend a few hours here, but it’s well worth the time. You get to kind of walk through the history of music, and it’s so interesting.
- Go see the the Time Jumpers. This is a super personal recommendation. If you know who Vince Gill is, and especially if you’re a fan, this will be a worthy venture for you. Vince Gill is part of this local band that plays every Monday night at 3rd and Lindsley. No two shows are the same, it’s an insanely talented group of musicians, and I guarantee it’s something like you can’t find anywhere else.
- Do the Old Town Trolley Tours. It gives you a great view of the city, and you’ll get some insights into the interesting history of Nashville and middle Tennessee.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/features/2022/04/05/photos-bodies-in-ukraine-start-to-be-discovered-after-russian-forces-retreat-from-kyiv-refugees-continue-to-flee/
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As Russian forces start pulling out of Kyiv, world leaders are starting to call what’s been left behind a crime scene.
Bodies of citizens that have been uncovered in all the wreckage has been enough evidence for President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova to accuse Russia of committing war crimes.
Meanwhile, refugees continue to pour into other countries such as Poland and England, with an estimated four million Ukrainian refugees leaving the country.
Here are some photos from the past week, copyright Getty Images.
Warning: Some photos below are graphic in nature.
Workers at a 'welcome hub' for arriving Ukrainians wait to guide people at St Pancras station in London, England. Photo by Dan Kitwood. (Getty Images) People, mainly women and children, pass through Przemysl train station in Poland after fleeing from war-torn Ukraine. Photo by Jeff J Mitchell. (Getty Images) Ukrainians and Belgians demonstrate in Place de la Monnaie against the war in Ukraine Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Thierry Monasse. (Getty Images) Burnt cars are seen in the parking lot of the Retroville trade center in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Alexey Furman. (Getty Images) A territorial defense member takes pictures inside the destroyed Retroville trade center in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Alexey Furman (Getty Images) Destroyed Retroville trade center in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Alexey Furman. (Getty Images) A message on the LED Screen displays the word 'Peace' to indicate peace and sympathy with Ukraine ahead of the Serie A match between Juventus and FC Internazionale in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani. (Getty Images) Makeshift graves of three civilians killed by Russian forces during the town's occupation are seen in a residential area in Trostyanets, Ukraine. Photo by Chris McGrath. (Getty Images) A territorial defense member signals to cars passing a checkpoint in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Alexey Furman. (Getty Images) Family and friends mourn as Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko is buried in Rusyn, Ukraine. Photo by Joe Raedle. (Getty Images) A funeral procession for Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko makes its way to the cemetery in Rusyn, Ukraine. Photo by Joe Raedle. (Getty Images) Sergey Zhelisko holds the Ukrainian flag given to him during the burial of his son, Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko in Rusyn, Ukraine. Photo by Joe Raedle. (Getty Images) Romanian and Ukrainian Red Cross volunteers offload humanitarian aid brought by the Romanian Red Cross in Tysmenytsya, Ukraine.Photo by Andreea Campeanu. (Getty Images) 23 year-old Oleh Smolin, who sustained leg injuries from Russian shelling, recovers at a hospital in Chuhuiv, Ukraine. Photo by Chris McGrath. (Getty Images) A destroyed house, on April 2, 2022 in Dmytrivka, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Photo by Alexey Furman. (Getty Images) A dog walks past a destroyed house in Dmytrivka, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Photo by Alexey Furman. (Getty Images)
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/2022/04/05/jury-in-michigan-gov-whitmer-plot-deliberating-for-2nd-day/
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A judge rejected a request for trial transcripts Tuesday as jurors returned for a second day of deliberations in the case of four men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker said there is a practical reason: Transcripts of testimony aren't available yet. But even if they were, he added, the jury shouldn't have them.
“You have to do your best as a group to recall, remember,” Jonker said.
Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are charged with a kidnapping conspiracy. Three of them also face additional charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, namely an explosive.
The trial has covered 17 days since March 8, including 13 days of testimony. The jury heard hours of closing arguments and instructions Friday before beginning its deliberations Monday.
Prosecutors said the conspiracy against Whitmer was fueled by anti-government extremism and anger over her COVID-19 restrictions. With undercover FBI agents and informants embedded in the group, the men trained with a crudely built “shoot house” to replicate her vacation home in September 2020, according to testimony.
There is no dispute that the alleged leaders, Fox and Croft, traveled to Elk Rapids, Michigan, that same weekend to see the location of the governor's lakeside property and a nearby bridge. Harris and Caserta have been described as “soldiers” in the scheme.
Another man, Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty, said the goal was to get Whitmer before the fall election and create enough chaos to create a civil war and stop Joe Biden from winning the presidency. Much of the government's case came from secretly recorded conversations, group messages and social media posts.
Defense lawyers attacked the government's investigation and the use of a crucial informant, Dan Chappel. They claimed Chappel was the real leader, taking direction from the FBI and keeping the group on edge while recording them for months.
“There was no plan," Croft attorney Joshua Blanchard told the jury.
Croft is from Bear, Delaware, while the others are from Michigan.
Whitmer, a Democrat, rarely talks publicly about the plot, though she referred to “surprises” during her term that seemed like “something out of fiction” when she filed for reelection on March 17.
She has blamed former President Donald Trump for fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists like those charged in the case.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the Whitmer kidnap plot trial at: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial
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White reported from Detroit.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/florida/2022/04/05/nyc-mayor-to-floridians-come-here-where-you-can-say-gay/
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NEW YORK – New York City is launching a digital billboard campaign to lure Floridians unhappy with their state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law to the Big Apple, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.
The billboards supporting LGBTQ visibility will be displayed in five major markets in Florida for eight weeks starting Monday, Adams, a Democrat, announced.
“This is the city of Stonewall. This is the city where we are proud to talk about how you can live in a comfortable setting and not be harassed, not be abused — not only as adults but also as young people,” Adams said at a City Hall news conference.
[TRENDING: Florida order calls Orlando FreeFall ride ‘immediate danger to public health’ | DeSantis staff delayed release of Gaetz associate Halsey Beshears’ spending records | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
The announcement came one week after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
DeSantis and fellow Republicans say the new law affirms the right of parents, not teachers, to decide when children learn about sexual orientation and gender identity.
LGBTQ groups have condemned the legislation, which they call the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Advocates say the law, which allows parents to sue school districts for noncompliance, will marginalize LGBTQ children and families.
A request for comment was sent to a spokesperson for DeSantis.
Adams called the Florida law “a targeted attack on the LGBTQ+ population.”
Messages on the digital billboards include: “People say a lot of ridiculous things in New York. ‘Don’t Say Gay’ isn’t one of them" and “Come to the city where you can say whatever you want.” There will also be social media ads with the same messages, city officials said.
Although known as a supporter of LGBTQ rights during his political career including six years in New York's state Senate, Adams angered LGBTQ activists earlier this year when he appointed three men who have taken homophobic positions to posts in his administration.
“This is not a community that’s going to be silent,” Adams said when asked about the hires Monday. “If they see something they don’t like, they’ll let you know.”
He added, “We can work through anything but we will never go to the days where we will publicly demonize a group, and that’s what’s happening now. And so they voiced their concern about the hires that we made and we’re going to continue to move forward.”
New York state has seen more migration to Florida than from Florida in recent years. In the last three years of the 2010s, more than 60,000 New Yorkers moved to Florida each year on average. By contrast, during the same period, fewer than 24,000 Floridians on average annually moved to New York state, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/03/jury-selection-to-begin-in-murder-trial-for-man-accused-in-celebration-slayings/
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OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Day one of jury selection in the Anthony Todt case wrapped just after 2 p.m. Monday, with the judge and attorneys whittling down the first group of 50 people to 29.
Todt was arrested in January 2020 in connection to the alleged slayings of his family in their Celebration home.
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They are looking at 150 people over the course of the jury selection process.
The process is all about asking potential jurors questions to gauge whether they could serve in the case.
Some of the initial questions from the judge to potential jurors were regarding medical appointments that could not be rescheduled, any work-related conflicts, or if the juror is responsible for the care of someone else.
The second round of questions came from attorneys asking jurors if they had seen any news coverage surrounding Todt, or if they had religious beliefs that could interfere with them remaining impartial.
Todt, 46, is accused of killing his wife, three children, and their dog in January of 2020. According to the medical examiner’s report, they had lethal doses of Benadryl, as well as stab wounds.
The judge has ruled the federal investigation cannot be brought up during the trial. During a final status hearing last week, the judge also said Todt’s mental health history cannot be discussed.
The judge also partially excluded Todt’s confession to law enforcement after his defense argued he was not informed of his Miranda rights before talking to detectives.
While Todt is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of animal cruelty, the former Orange Osceola State Attorney, Aramis Ayala, at the time, said they would not be seeking the death penalty in this case.
Todt’s trial was initially scheduled for last year, however, it was rescheduled after Todt had a medical issue and because his lead attorney died unexpectedly.
The trial is scheduled to begin Monday, April 11, at 9 a.m., and the judge indicated it is expected to last two weeks.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/04/baby-born-with-heart-defect-survives-4-surgeries-in-4-months/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – One in 100 babies will be born with a heart defect that requires special monitoring and possible surgery for some of the tiniest patients.
When a Winter Haven family found out their newborn needed cardiac care, they sought treatment at Nemours Children’s Hospital about their son’s unexpected diagnosis.
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The Crews family called it a “lifelong battle” for their son Carter that all began in September 2019.
“He got the cord wrapped around his neck, and so when he came out he was blue, and I really didn’t understand what that meant at the time,” Joanna Crews said.
Carter was given oxygen and taken to the Neonatal intensive care unit or NICU.
“I was like if you’ll just let him rest he’ll be OK, that’s what my mom heart wanted to be true,” Joanna Crews said.
After several tests cardiologists determined Carter had a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) and needed to be transferred to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando.
“So taking that ride, we knew it was a much more serious situation,” Mickey Crews, Carter’s father, said.
The family spent a month in the hospital, with their newborn and his 5-year-old sister Isabella. Both parents credit the nurses at Nemours and the Ronald McDonald House for taking care of the whole family during their son’s treatment.
“(Isabella) remembers our time in the hospital as a fun adventure, and that is awesome,” Joanna Crews said.
Just days after being released from the hospital at a month old, Carter experienced another major breathing scare at home, and his mother performed CPR while waiting for paramedics.
“Having to perform CPR on your own child, I don’t wish that on anybody,” Joanna Crews said.
The Crews returned to Nemours and Carter’s cardiologists diagnosed him with malignant vasovagal syndrome, and he needed surgery for a pacemaker.
In all the family spent four months in the hospital, and Carter went through four surgeries.
“He may have surgery one day to fix his heart defect, but he’ll never not have CHD, you know,” Joanna Crews said.
Carter is one of three Patient Ambassadors for Nemours during the month of April. He has made huge strides since his stay at Nemours and recently started walking.
“He would not be here today if it wasn’t for them, I believe that with every fiber in my being,” Joanna Crews said.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/04/florida-order-calls-orlando-freefall-ride-immediate-danger-to-public-health/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Inspectors were back at the Orlando FreeFall thrill ride at Icon Park on Monday, testing it yet again and sending the ride carriage into the air, even while leaving the seats on the ground and raising only the top half of the carriage.
Inspectors brought special equipment, including what appeared to be a 3D camera that rotates and captures every angle of a scene. They also carried basic equipment including a ruler.
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Trevor Arnold, GrayRobinson attorney on behalf of Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot, LLC., the ride’s owner, said he was expecting state inspectors to return Monday.
“Orlando Eagle Drop continues to cooperate at every level with all state agencies and departments conducting their respective investigations,” Arnold said. “Friday’s pledge by Florida lawmakers to effectuate change in our industry is welcome. We are committed to working with those in charge to make a difference, as the safety of the public remains Orlando Eagle Drop’s top priority. On Monday, April 4, we will have staff from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on site. We will continue to provide additional information, as it is appropriate, given our respect for the ongoing investigations.”
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Friday her department hired a forensic engineering and analysis firm to assist with the department’s investigation to get to the bottom of exactly how 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell to his death from the ride a week and a half ago.
Fried’s office released pages of state statute and the permitting and inspection requirements Monday for rides in Florida. The list includes testing, signage, and training -- all of which the investigation is expected to scrutinize.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services also released the official “stop operation order” which became effective March 25, the day after Tyre Sampson fell to his death.
The stop order said the FreeFall ride is “considered an immediate serious danger to public health, safety, and welfare and may not be operated for patron use until it has passed a subsequent inspection.”
FDACS Stop Operation Order for Drop Tower by christie zizo on Scribd
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/04/man-71-dies-after-being-found-stabbed-at-orange-county-gas-station/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – A 71-year-man died Saturday after being found stabbed at an Orange County gas station, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said they arrived at the Amoco gas station on North John Young Parkway, south of West Colonial Drive, around 1:15 p.m. Saturday where they found Charlie Henderson in his wheelchair with a stab wound.
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Henderson was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
DETECTIVES NEED YOUR HELP: On 4/2/22 at 1:17 p.m., deputies responded to 601 N. John Young Pkwy in reference to a stabbing. When deputies arrived, they located Charlie Henderson in his wheelchair, unresponsive. Anyone with information is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/OoMarohQhz
— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) April 4, 2022
Investigators said the man was homeless.
No other information is available at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477). Crimeline is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/25-arrested-in-child-sex-sting-in-marion-county/
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MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods discussed a six-day undercover child sex sting Tuesday that resulted in the arrest of 27.
At a news conference, Woods said 22 of the arrests were local, including someone who works in a school system, a Florida Department of Corrections officer and the son of Ocala City Council member Ire Bethea Sr.
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Woods said the culprits traveled to meet who they thought were young children for sex. Another three stand accused of sending sexually explicit images but did not travel to meet who they believed were minors, officials said.
“These are the press conferences that you don’t really like doing. It brings light to the true evil and ugliness of our world of today,” Woods said. “My notes have down here to call these individuals pieces of scum. Well, most of y’all know me. I think they’re pieces of (expletive).”
Woods said the details are disturbing.
“You got one individual who thought he was meeting a 12-year-old paraplegic individual to have sex,” Woods said. “It infuriates me. As a father, my blood boils to think this occurs on a regular basis.”
[STORY CONTINUES BELOW]
Woods highlighted a few arrests at the news conference, saying Victor Cruz, 23, a corrections officer, and Ire Bethea Jr., 38, both sought sex with whom they thought was a 14-year-old girl. Woods did not provide details about the school employee who was arrested.
Woods stressed to parents the importance of keeping tabs on their children, especially their computer habits.
“Every day, there is somebody out there trying to get your teen into a dark place,” Woods said.
Woods added he will continue to hunt down child sex predators.
“I will use every resource in my power to hunt you down,” he said. “I want this community to know they are the predators. They are the ones preying on your innocent children every day. Our detectives didn’t ask them to have sex. They are the ones who reached out. These predators go where children are.”
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/at-least-1-dead-in-crash-on-sr-429-in-orange-county-fhp-says/
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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 27-year-old woman from Winter Garden is dead after a crash on S.R. 429 in Orange County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash happened around 6:30 p.m. at mile marker 19, troopers said.
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Troopers said the woman was driving a Pontiac sedan northbound on S.R. 429 when she lost control, crossed over the median and hit a Ford van head-on. The woman, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from her car, according to the crash report.
Investigators said a third car also got caught up in the crash sending it into the median.
The woman was taken to Winter Garden Hospital, where she later died, troopers said. The other two drivers were also taken to the hospital but are expected to be OK, records show.
Troopers have not released the name of the victim.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/daytona-beach-firefighters-rescue-woman-seconds-before-car-completely-submerged-in-pond/
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A woman was rescued by Daytona Beach firefighters “seconds before” her vehicle completely went underwater in a pond.
The Daytona Beach Fire Department said in a Facebook post Tuesday the car went into a pond across from Target. She was the only one in the vehicle and was unable to get out by herself, the department said.
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“Firefighters quickly swam over to her and assisted her in getting out and making it safely to land,” a Facebook post read.
A tow truck pulled the car out of the water, firefighters said.
Details of what led up to the vehicle entering the water have not been released.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/double-trouble-teen-has-2-great-white-shark-encounters-off-florida-coast/
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It’s not often that people see a great white shark off Florida’s coast, let alone twice in two days.
But a teen in Florida had just that experience.
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Nick Bailey, 17, posted video on Instagram last week.
He says he was in the water near Stuart Inlet when he came within arm’s length of a great white shark.
The next day, he says he was in the water near Jupiter, where again he came upon a great white.
Bailey says he could tell they were different sharks because one was bigger than the other.
Watch the video and see for yourself.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/florida-foodie-founder-of-gigpro-talks-changing-landscape-of-the-restaurant-industry/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Twenty-five years spent working in kitchens does not typically lead to a career inside the tech sector, but Ben Ellsworth managed to do it — founding a company aimed at helping restaurants deal with unexpected staffing shortages.
Ellsworth is the founder and CEO of GigPro, which was recently launched in the Orlando area.
“We (cover) restaurants, catering companies, event companies, hotels, lots of resorts, but yeah, anything that encompasses hospitality and service,” he said.
[ADD YOUR BUSINESS TO THE FLORIDA FOODIE DIRECTORY]
GigPro allows people in the service industry to fill in on open shifts at businesses — allowing those places to cover themselves if someone calls out sick or has to leave work unexpectedly.
Ellsworth, who is from Charleston, South Carolina, said he got the idea while looking for someone to fill an open shift at a restaurant where he was working.
“A dishwasher didn’t show up for a shift,” he said. “I looked at my line staff, and I said, ‘Who knows a guy?’ We all got 40 people on our phones that can cover the shift, but finding the person available is impossible. That’s when I got an AirBnb notification that someone had booked a room at my house for the night and I was like, ‘I wish he had booked to wash these dishes.’ And that was kind of a little lightbulb moment.”
Ellsworth feels as though GigPro can be a boon to the struggling service industry, which he believes was “hit the hardest by the pandemic.” Much of the service industry has been dealing with staffing shortages, though Ellsworth admits, this problem has been a long time coming.
Check out the Florida Foodie podcast. You can find every episode in the media player below:
“This has been going on for over a decade, you know, in Charleston — in any market that’s got a big dining scene and a high cost of living that’s experienced like a lot of economic gentrification,” Ellsworth said. “I mean, people are — where’re all the restaurants? They’re in the city center. People are getting pushed out of there — further and further — and if you can’t afford to live in the area, it’s tough to get to the area. So that was a decade of staffing just getting worse and worse and worse. And then COVID was like this Band-Aid that just got ripped off.”
Ellsworth said GigPro is designed to offer service workers more flexibility. He said the platform also provides a $15 per hour minimum for workers.
“That’s kind of the only requirement we have is you can’t post (a job) lower than $15 an hour. Above that a business can post at whatever hourly rate they want. We don’t assign anyone we don’t use algorithms to connect people with computers. It’s not like a traditional staffing agency where you order seven (workers) — like, we’re not dealing with hamburgers, we’re dealing with people,” he said.
Ellsworth added that his company often sees GigPro workers end up with full-time employment coming out of a shift they’ve worked through the app.
“It happens all the time,” he said. “We don’t track it through the platform by any means — because we don’t charge for it so we don’t need to track — but we work very closely with our business partners, and we hear about it all the time.”
In the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Ellsworth talks more about the founding of GigPro and how the service works. He also shares why he focuses on independent restaurants and expanding the service into a dozen markets.
Please follow our Florida Foodie hosts on social media. You can find Candace Campos on Twitter and Facebook. Lisa Bell is also on Facebook and Twitter and you can check out her children’s book, “Norman the Watchful Gnome.”
Florida Foodie is a bi-weekly podcast from WKMG and Graham Media that takes a closer look at what we eat, how we eat it and the impact that has on us here in Florida and for everyone, everywhere. Find new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/florida-rep-randy-fine-wants-to-make-gender-confirming-surgery-drugs-illegal-for-minors/
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BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A state representative from Brevard County announced that he will introduce legislation next session that would make gender-confirming treatments on minors illegal in Florida.
Republican Rep. Randy Fine said in a Facebook post he would introduce legislation next year that would make it illegal to provide drugs or surgery to a minor “for the purpose of alleged ‘gender assignment.’”
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In the post, Fine said no child should be able to make a “fundamentally life-altering” decision before they are of age.
“If an adult wants to self-mutilate their body in pursuit of the fiction that they can defy both G-d and science, more power to them -- so long as they don’t expect me to pay for it,” he wrote.
I've had enough of this nonsense. Next session, I will help shepherd legislation to make it illegal to provide drugs...
Posted by State Representative Randy Fine on Monday, April 4, 2022
Fine also wrote that violators should face felony child abuse charges and the loss of their medical license.
Last September, Rep. Anthony Sabatini filed legislation that could prosecute doctors who perform gender-affirming surgeries on transgender children.
Under the bill he proposed, doctors who perform surgeries such as a vasectomy, sterilization, mastectomy or vaginoplasty could have receive criminal penalties. Hormone blockers and hormone therapy that use testosterone or estrogen would have also been criminalized.
Fine’s post comes days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the “Parental Rights in Education” bill — also dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — banning sexual identity discussion in school grades kindergarten through 3rd grade.
DeSantis held up examples of materials during a news conference that he said were found in Florida schools and were objectionable and would be prohibited under the new law, including a diagram called the “Genderbread Person” — a diagram which is used to help explain gender identity — and an excerpt from a children’s book called “Call Me Max” — which is about a transgender boy.
“This is inappropriate for kindergarteners and first graders and second graders. Parents do not want this going on in their schools,” DeSantis said.
This bill takes effect on July 1, 2022.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/orlando-rescue-group-catches-23-rabbits-from-overrun-azalea-park/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – With an army of volunteers and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for support, an Orlando rescue group evicted almost two dozen rabbits last week from an Azalea Park neighborhood that was overrun with domesticated bunnies.
Forty volunteers from Orlando Rabbit Care and Adoptions captured 23 rabbits Friday, ranging in age from just a few weeks old to adults. They believe at least two of the female rabbits are expecting.
[TRENDING: Florida order calls Orlando FreeFall ride ‘immediate danger to public health’ | DeSantis staff delayed release of Gaetz associate Halsey Beshears’ spending records | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
Residents believe the rabbit colony grew from rabbits dumped by people who couldn’t take care of them. When News 6 first reported the story in March, it was believed there were 30 to 50 rabbits roaming the neighborhood. ORCA says neighbors told them that several were killed by suspected poisoning. They also heard that breeders came to the neighborhood to trap some rabbits for themselves.
Rabbit rescues across Florida have been inundated with rabbits given up or dumped by owners unable to care for them. The problem is domesticated rabbits cannot survive in the wild. Wild rabbits are bigger and slimmer and know how to burrow or hide to escape prey and the elements. Domesticated rabbits do not.
OCSO Deputy Justin Sorrell (left) and Corporal Evan Avila (right) were on hand Friday night for a bunny rescue in Azalea Park organized by the Orlando Rabbit Care & Adoptions. Since last year, the east Orange County neighborhood has seen a huge influx of rabbits. pic.twitter.com/ZekWk7RpBa
— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) April 4, 2022
In the first two months of 2022, ORCA received requests to rescue 130 rabbits. ORCA is the only rabbit rescue in the area. Orange County Animal Services and Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando do not take in rabbits.
ORCA has set up a temporary space to house the rabbits and is getting them medical attention. The space is not air-conditioned, however, and the group is still hunting for a more long-term space as well as foster homes for the rabbits.
Orlando Rabbit Care and Rescue is asking for help finding that long-term space. If you can help, email the rescue at info@OrlandoRabbit.org.
If you would like to learn how to foster a rabbit, head to the Orlando Rabbit Care and Adoptions website and learn what it takes.
ORCA says getting a rabbit is a 10-year commitment that can be expensive to care for. With Easter coming up, many people will buy rabbits for children, but the rescue says rabbits are not a “starter pet” and are not very good pets for children. If you are interested in getting a rabbit, ORCA prefers you contact them and learn more about rabbits and fostering first.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/ovideo-leaders-propose-moratorium-on-permits-for-fireworks-sales/
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OVIEDO, Fla. – Oviedo city leader discussed a plan Monday night to institute a moratorium on permitting fireworks sales within the city.
The moratorium would lapse in October, but leaders could cancel it sooner than that.
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It would not allow new permits to be issued for tent sales of fireworks or even sparklers.
City leaders said the move is in response to a company getting a permit to sell sparklers but it ended up selling fireworks not covered by that permit.
Oviedo will hold a public hearing on the proposed temporary ban later in April.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/pedestrian-killed-in-hit-and-run-crash-involving-box-truck-in-orange-county/
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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A good Samaritan followed a box truck after it drove off from a crash that killed a woman and injured another person in Orange County, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
FHP said the crash happened around 12:45 p.m. on Curry Ford Road near Sanctuary Point Boulevard. Troopers responded to the crash along with Orange County Fire Rescue.
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Troopers said a woman was outside of her disabled SUV in the westbound lanes of Curry Ford when the box truck struck her and the vehicle.
#Crash at Curry Ford Rd./Sanctuary Point Blvd: Auto vs. pedestrian, 1 fatality. W/B Curry Ford shut down. Crews transported a 2nd patient to AHE. OCSO and FHP also on scene.
— OCFire Rescue (@OCFireRescue) April 5, 2022
The woman was pronounced dead on scene.
A passenger in the SUV was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, FHP said.
Troopers said a good Samaritan followed the box truck until law enforcement arrived. Two people in the truck are being interviewed by FHP, officials said.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information as we receive it.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/watch-live-attorneys-for-family-of-teen-who-died-in-fall-from-orlando-thrill-ride-hold-news-conference/
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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Attorneys representing the family of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from the Orlando FreeFall attraction visited the ride Tuesday morning.
The family of Tyre Sampson hired attorneys Ben Crump and Bob Hilliard days after the boy was killed in Orlando. According to a news release, Crump was hired by Sampson’s father, Yarnell Sampson. Hilliard was hired by Sampson’s mother, Nekia Dodd. Both attorneys said in statements that they intend to work together to get answers for the grieving family.
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Crump visited the site and reiterated Sampson’s death was “completely preventable.”
“Other than George Floyd’s tragic torture video, I think this is the worst tragedy captured on video that I’ve ever seen,” he said.
The Orlando FreeFall opened in Orlando’s tourist district in December 2021, billing itself as the tallest free-standing drop tower on Earth, taking up to 30 guests high into the air before dropping them 400 feet at about 75 mph.
An investigation is still underway to determine the cause of the teen’s fall from the thrill ride. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried said during a news conference last week the state hired a forensic engineering firm, which will look back at the ride’s calibrations and mechanisms in the movement, to assist in the investigation and analyze what may have caused the boy’s fatal fall.
According to the firm’s website, their engineers use the latest science and forensic technology to reconstruct accidents.
“They will help us look at the engineering of the ride and come up with any, as in the Sandblaster incident that we had, they were able to do a root cause analysis for us and tell us exactly where the failure happened,” Richard Kimsley, the Division of Consumer Services director, said during a news conference in Orlando.
Inspectors were back at the thrill ride at ICON Park Monday, testing it yet again and sending the ride carriage into the air, even while leaving the seats on the ground and raising only the top half of the carriage. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released the official “stop operation order,” which became effective March 25, the day after Sampson fell to his death.
The stop order said the FreeFall ride is “considered an immediate serious danger to public health, safety, and welfare and may not be operated for patron use until it has passed a subsequent inspection.”
FDACS Stop Operation Order for Drop Tower by christie zizo on Scribd
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05/watch-live-gov-desantis-speaks-in-jasper/
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Jasper, Hamilton County Tuesday morning to award millions of dollars in infrastructure funding.
The governor was joined by Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Dane Eagle for the news conference at 11:30 a.m. at the Hamilton County Courthouse Annex.
[TRENDING: Florida order calls Orlando FreeFall ride ‘immediate danger to public health’ | DeSantis staff delayed release of Gaetz associate Halsey Beshears’ spending records | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
DeSantis awarded $5.4 million for public infrastructure improvements and to support manufacturing.
The governor says he likes giving money to Florida’s rural counties because the state’s dollar goes farther there than it does in the bigger metropolitan areas like Miami or Jacksonville.
This comes after the governor signed a bill into law to recruit and retain law enforcement, with the goal of making the state more attractive and accessible for people considering to pursue or continue a career in the field.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/national/2022/04/04/california-police-search-for-shooters-who-killed-6-hurt-12/
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento police arrested a man Monday connected to the shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others in the heart of California’s capital as multiple shooters fired more than 100 rapid-fire rounds and people ran for their lives.
Police said they booked Dandrae Martin, 26, as a “related suspect" on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun. Detectives and SWAT team members found one handgun during searches of three area homes.
The arrest came as the three women and three men killed were identified in the shooting that occurred at about 2 a.m. Sunday as bars were closing and patrons filled the streets near the state Capitol.
The fallen included a father of four, a young woman who wanted to be a social worker, a man described as the life of the party, and a woman who lived on the streets nearby and was looking for housing.
The Sacramento County coroner identified the women killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21. The three men were Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De’vazia Turner, 29.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg read their names during a vigil Monday evening attended by grieving relatives, friends and community members.
“So we gather here to remember the victims and to commit ourselves to doing all we can to ending the stain of violence, not only in our community but throughout the state, throughout the country, and throughout the world,” Steinberg said.
Turner, who had three daughters and a son, was a “protector” who worked as the night manager at an inventory company, his mother, Penelope Scott, told The Associated Press. He rarely went out, and she had no reason to believe he would be in harm’s way when he left her house after he visited Saturday night.
“My son was walking down the street and somebody started shooting, and he got shot. Why is that to happen?” Scott said. “I feel like I’ve got a hole in my heart.”
The burst of gunshots sent people running in terror in the neighborhood just a few blocks from the arena where the NBA's Sacramento Kings play.
Detectives were trying to determine if a stolen handgun found at the crime scene was connected to the shooting, Police Chief Kathy Lester said. Witnesses answered her plea for help by providing more than 100 videos and photos of evidence.
District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert noted Martin was not arrested on suspicion of homicide, but suggested investigators were making progress.
“The investigation is highly complex involving many witnesses, videos of numerous types and significant physical evidence,” Schubert said in a statement. “This is an ongoing investigation and we anticipate more arrests in this case.”
Martin was held without bail and was scheduled to appear in Sacramento County Superior Court on Tuesday, according to jail records.
Martin was freed from an Arizona prison in 2020 after serving just over 1 1/2 years for violating probation in separate cases involving a felony conviction for aggravated assault in 2016 and a conviction on a marijuana charge in 2018.
Court records show he pleaded guilty to punching, kicking and choking a woman in a hotel room when she refused to work for him as a prostitute.
He was also wanted on a misdemeanor warrant by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in Southern California.
It was not immediately clear whether Martin had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Of the 12 wounded, at least four suffered critical injuries, the Sacramento Fire Department said. At least seven of the victims had been released from hospitals by Monday.
At the scene where the chaos erupted, streets were reopened Monday and police tape had been removed.
Memorials with candles and flowers began to grow on sidewalks where video showed people screaming and running for shelter as gunshots rang out and others laying on the ground writhing in pain. One balloon had a message on it saying in part: “You will forever be in our hearts and thoughts. Nothing will ever be the same.”
A small bouquet of purple roses was dedicated to Davis, who lived on the streets for years, with a note saying “Melinda Rest In Peace.”
Harris was regular at the London nightclub, near the shooting scene.
“My son was a very vivacious young man,” his mother, Pamela Harris, told KCRA-TV. “Fun to be around, liked to party, smiling all the time. Don’t bother people. For this to happen is crazy. ... I don’t even feel like this is real. I feel like this is a dream.”
Alexander was a doting aunt who wanted to work with children as a social worker.
“She was just beginning her life,” her father, John Alexander, told the Los Angeles Times, sobbing. “Stop all this senseless shooting.”
Politicians decried the violence, and some Democrats, including President Joe Biden, called for tougher action against gun violence.
California has some of the nation’s toughest restrictions on firearms, requiring background checks to buy guns and ammunition, limiting magazines to 10 bullets, and banning firearms that fall into its definition of assault weapons.
But state lawmakers plan to go further. A bill getting its first hearing Tuesday would allow citizens to sue those who possess illegal weapons, a measure patterned after a controversial Texas bill aimed at abortions.
Other proposed California legislation this year would make it easier for people to sue gun companies and target unregistered “ghost guns.”
The California Assembly held a moment of silence Monday in honor of the victims.
Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, a Democrat who represents Sacramento, noted lawmakers could see the crime scene from the building’s balcony.
“Tragic is too small of a word to describe what occurred just two nights ago as a devastating loss for our city,” McCarty said.
Police were investigating whether the shooting was connected with a street fight that broke out just before gunfire erupted. Several people could be seen in videos scrapping on a street lined with an upscale hotel, nightclubs and bars when gunshots sent people scattering.
Scott, a hospice social worker who deals with death for a living, said she was not prepared for this kind of grief.
“I know the process of bereavement but, you know, this is my kid,” she said. "It’s tragic and sudden. I’d just seen him, just had him in my house. He’s got children. He’s got a wife.”
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This story has corrected the spelling of the suspect's first name to Dandrae, not Dandre,
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Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio, Brian Melley and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Don Thompson in Sacramento, Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this story.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The first day of jury selection in the worst U.S. mass shooting to go to trial was slow, methodical and painstaking — a process that is expected to drag on for two months.
More than 120 of the first 160 prospective jurors who filed through Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer’s courtroom on Monday were dismissed. Most said it would be impossible for them to serve from June through September. That's the amount of time it is expected to take for lawyers to present their cases in a trial that will end with a jury deciding whether Nikolas Cruz gets life in prison or a sentence of death for murdering 17 at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
A few were dismissed because of health issues, because they don't speak English fluently or because they had already paid for extensive vacations.
A woman was dismissed when she began crying upon seeing Cruz — not a new occurrence; that also happened to three women at an October hearing. Another prospective juror had a personal connection to Scherer, having taught her how to roller-skate as a child. Yet another had met Cruz in 2016 on a group outing, while one woman was excused after saying she couldn't serve on a jury because she needed to meet up with her “sugar daddy” every day.
“I'm seeing double. I've seen a lot of people,” Scherer said at the end of the day. “For Day 1, things went rather smoothly.”
Cruz, 23, sat between his attorneys, wearing a green sweater and an anti-viral face mask, four sheriff’s deputies sitting nearby. He spoke only briefly at the start of the hearing, waiving his right to participate directly in the screening process. He pleaded guilty in October, meaning the jury will only decide if he gets death or life without parole.
Eight parents and other family members of some victims sat together in the courtroom. They declined to comment as they left.
Approximately 1,500 potential jurors, perhaps more, will be screened over the next few weeks as the pool is pared down to 12 plus eight alternates in a three-step process that will run through the end of May.
In the first screening, they are only being asked about hardships and conflicts. With the exception of the woman who met Cruz, they were not asked on Monday for their opinions about the death penalty or whether they could be fair. Those who said they could serve were given questionnaires to fill out in another room. The questionnaires will be given to lawyers in advance of the next round.
One prospective juror said she met Cruz in 2016 when she went with a group of friends to a lake cabin for a weekend and an acquaintance invited him along. The woman, who appeared to be in her early 20s, said she had few interactions with Cruz, but he seemed perhaps “mentally not together.” She was dismissed after saying she could not envision many circumstances where she would even consider voting for a life sentence.
The Parkland shooting is the deadliest in the U.S. ever to make it to trial. Seven other U.S. killers who fatally shot at least 17 people died during or immediately after their attacks, either by suicide or at the hands of police. The suspect in the 2019 massacre of 23 at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart is still awaiting trial.
Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz's was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.
Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter, Gina, died in the attack, said before Monday's hearing that the trial “has been a long time coming.”
“I just hope everyone remembers the victims,” he said. Cruz, he said, “told the world his plans on social media, carried out those plans in a cold and calculated manner and murdered my beautiful daughter, 13 of her classmates and three of her teachers.”
The parents and spouses of victims who have spoken publicly said they are in favor of Cruz's execution. Montalto has not answered the question directly, but has said on multiple occasions that Cruz "deserves every chance he gave Gina and the others.”
When the prospective jurors who pass the initial screening return for individual questioning several weeks from now, both prosecutors and the defense can challenge any for cause. Scherer will eliminate candidates who lawyers from either side have convinced her would be prejudiced against their side. Each side will also get at least 10 peremptory strikes, where either can eliminate a candidate for any reason except race or gender.
For Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student, to get the death penalty, the jury must unanimously agree that aggravating factors such as the number of people he killed, his planning and his cruelty outweigh such mitigating factors as his lifelong mental illness and the death of his parents.
If any juror disagrees, Cruz will receive a life sentence.
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INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana State Police identified a now-deceased man on Tuesday as the suspect who raped and killed three women in Indiana and Kentucky in the late 1980s as they were working night shifts as motel clerks.
Sgt. Glen Fifield of Indiana State Police said a laboratory analysis of crime scene samples positively identified Harry Edward Greenwell, who died in January 2013, as “the I-65 killer" — so-named because the attacks occurred at motels near Interstate 65.
“Greenwell had an extensive criminal history and had been in and out of prison several times, even escaping from jail on two separate occasions,” Fifield said. “He was known to travel frequently in the Midwest.”
Greenwell was born in Kentucky and died in Iowa, and his obituary listed cancer as his cause of death.
Fifield said evidence linked Greenwell to the Feb. 21, 1987, killing of Vicki Heath, who was working a night shift at the Super Eight Hotel, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and the March 3, 1989, killings of Mary “Peggy” Gill and Jeanne Gilbert.
Gilbert was slain while working the night shift at a Days Inn in Remington, Indiana, while Gill was killed while working at a Days Inn in Merrillville, Indiana, and the investigation also was known as the “Days Inn Killer” case.
Fifield said Greenwell was also linked by investigators to a Jan. 2, 1990, attack on a woman who was a clerk at a Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana, and who was “attacked in a similar manner as the previous three victims."
“This victim was able to escape her attacker and survive. She was later able to give an excellent physical description of the suspect and details of the crime," he said. “She is the only known victim to have survived the vicious, brutal attacks of this killer.”
Fifield said the Indiana State Police crime lab matched ballistic evidence in the Gill and Gilbert slayings, and the crime lab later matched DNA evidence linking the Heath and Gilbert killings to the Columbus, Indiana, case.
He said that one of the primary factors linking the four crimes scene were their proximity to Interstate 65, which runs from Gary, Indiana, to Mobile, Alabama.
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The story and summary have been updated to correct the spelling of Sgt. Glen Fifield’s first name.
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NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Residents of a five-story apartment building near Miami have been evacuated after an engineer said its foundation was unsound, as officials heighten focus on the safety of aging buildings following last year’s deadly Surfside condominium collapse.
The evacuations Monday and Tuesday were at the Bayview 60 Homes tower, built in 1972 in North Miami Beach, and came during one of the structure’s recertification inspections required by the county every 10 years, following its initial 40-year recertification.
That process has drawn new scrutiny after the Champlain Towers South collapse last year killed 98 people as it was having its 40-year check. Miami-Dade County is moving toward requiring the first major recertification to take place after only 30 years, and municipalities have stepped up action to remove residents from faulty buildings when necessary.
North Miami Beach has been especially proactive, also evacuating a 10-story condo tower shortly after the Surfside collapse.
Bayview 60 resident Austin Harper said he was surprised to see sheriffs and municipal officials posting notes on the building’s 60 apartment doors early Monday.
“They said you have until 2 p.m. tomorrow to vacate, so I said, OK, you know — not really much you can do with that,” Harper told reporters outside the building Tuesday while residents carted boxes, lamps and mattresses into moving trucks.
Harper said many of the elderly people living in the building will have trouble relocating. “For me, I’m more of bachelor life so I can move out easily. Some people have lived here 10 years, plus,'' he said.
The building had been undergoing repairs since July to try to meet recertification requirements. But an engineer then informed the building owner that the foundation was shifting and residents should be removed immediately, City Manager Arthur Sorey told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The engineer copied the city in on the email late Friday but since it was after working hours, city officials did not see it until Monday morning, Sorey said. He said as soon as they did, they contacted the building owner and came up with a plan to evacuate everyone.
“We did speak with the owner and advised the owner that they should have closed the building,” Sorey said. “But once we got the information, we went out and did what we needed to do to protect the lives of North Miami Beach residents.”
He said residents were given until Tuesday afternoon to retrieve smaller items, and that they would be able to remove larger furniture starting Friday. Officials will limit the number of people in the building, however, he added.
Residents were given three-day hotel vouchers for now, and the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust and the American Red Cross would help with housing for those having difficulty finding accommodations, Mayor Anthony DeFillipo said.
In addition, the building’s owner is returning April rent and security deposits within 72 hours, Sorey said.
“One thing to note is the rents in this building that just closed are between $1,500 and $1,900 a month. And If you know anything about South Florida that is very cheap rent right now and affordable,″ Sorey said. “That’s going to be the issue right now with those individuals trying to find something along the same lines and the same price. It’s going to be very hard.”
The building is in a section of North Miami Beach known as Eastern Shores, which features apartment buildings on finger canals along the Intercoastal Waterway. The one and two bedroom apartments are about 750 square feet (70 square meters).
Shortly after the Surfside condominium collapse, North Miami Beach officials ordered the evacuation of the 10-story Crestview Towers Condominium. Residents of that building, which is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the collapsed Surfside site, have not been allowed back.
After the collapse, Miami-Dade County began surveying high-rise condominium buildings to make sure they met safety standards. Some other smaller buildings around the county have also been evacuated since June.
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Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writer Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
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A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Mayor Anthony DeFillipo’s name.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A father of four. A best friend with a positive personality. A vivacious partygoer. The six people who were killed during a mass shooting in California’s capital city were remembered by their friends and family as police worked to piece together what happened.
Dozens of rapid-fire gunshots rang out early Sunday in the crowded streets of Sacramento, leaving three women and three men dead and another 12 people wounded. One of the dozen wounded is a suspect in the bloodshed.
Police have arrested two brothers in connection with the violence, but only one — Smiley Martin — is believed to be a shooter. The 27-year-old was arrested while hospitalized with serious injuries from the gunfire.
When his condition improves enough for him to be jailed, he will be booked for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, police said in a statement released early Tuesday.
On Monday, authorities booked Dandrae Martin, 26, as a “related suspect” on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun. Jail records said he was held without bail and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear whether the Martins have attorneys who could speak on their behalf.
Authorities previously said they were looking for at least two shooters and it was not clear Tuesday morning if they are still seeking another suspect. Few details have been made public as investigators comb through evidence gathered from what Police Chief Kathy Lester called a complex crime scene. Witnesses have submitted more than 100 videos and photos taken during and shortly after the shooting.
On Tuesday, small memorials with candles, balloons and flowers remained near the crime scene on the outskirts of the city’s main entertainment district that occurred as bars and nightclubs were closing.
The Sacramento County coroner released the identities of the six people killed. They were Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De'vazia Turner, 29.
DE’VAZIA TURNER
Turner had four young children, including a 3-year-old daughter named Penelope with sticky fingers. But his bright yellow Mercedes CLS was always clean.
Born and raised in Sacramento, Turner played football from a young age until a knee injury slowed him down. He worked as a manager for an inventory company, keeping a close eye on things his mother might like and letting her know when they would go on sale.
“He was a protector,” his mother, Penelope Scott, said. “Raising him as a single mom, you know, he took the role of being the man of the house. He took care of everything.”
He worked out with his dad, Frank Turner, five days a week. When they weren’t pumping iron, they were probably talking about cars. They both had old Buicks — Turner’s was a 1973 while his dad’s was a 1970 — and Turner had big plans for his. He had just ordered a new stereo and a steering wheel with a cherry wood finish.
Frank Turner said he plans to finish his son’s car, including painting it to include images of De’vazia’s face for his kids to see.
“I want them to see their daddy when they see that car,” Frank Turner said.
De’vazia Turner had visited his mother on Saturday, eating leftover pork chops and taking a shower before briefly falling asleep on her couch. When he woke up, he said he was going out — a rarity for him, because he works so much, Scott said.
Scott woke up at around 1 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. She was looking at her phone when she got a call that her son had been killed.
“Your kids are supposed to bury you. You’re not supposed to do that,” she said. “I’m grateful that he has a legacy with his children. However, you know, he’s 29. He didn’t make it to 30.”
The last time Frank Turner saw his son was at the auto shop where they were working on their cars. After his son’s death, a friend called Frank Turner and told him the shop’s security cameras had picked up their conversation.
He watched the video — a father and son spending time together on something they loved — and he cried.
JOHNTAYA ALEXANDER
Alexander was just shy of turning 22 when she was killed, her father told the Los Angeles Times. Her birthday was at the end of the month.
She hoped to become a social worker who worked with children and was a doting aunt to her nieces and nephews, John Alexander told the newspaper.
His daughter’s name was a combination of his own and his older sister’s, he told the Times.
“She was just beginning her life,” he told the newspaper, sobbing. “Stop all this senseless shooting.”
MELINDA DAVIS
Davis was a “very sassy lady” who lived on the streets of Sacramento near the shooting site, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Shawn Peter, a guide with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership who had known Davis for 15 years, told the newspaper that she had been homeless and lived in the area on and off for a decade.
Officials had helped her find housing before the pandemic began but she had returned to the downtown business district in recent months, Peter said. A small bouquet of purple roses with a note saying “Melinda Rest In Peace” was left on the street in her memory.
“Melinda was a very eccentric individual, a very sassy lady,” he told the newspaper. “This was her world, 24/7.”
Davis was a periodic guest at Maryhouse, a daytime center for women and children experiencing homelessness, from 2016 to 2018, director Shannon Stevens said in an email to The Associated Press. Stevens recalled her as kind but someone who did not do well in crowds. She was seeking housing services at the time.
“This was a space she came to find respite from the trauma of living on the streets of our city,” Sacramento Loaves & Fishes, which runs the Maryhouse program, said in a statement.
A memorial for Davis near the shooting site featured a card with messages, including one that said, “Melinda, we're sorry Sacramento failed you. You deserved better.”
SERGIO HARRIS
Described by family members as the life of the party, Harris was a frequent presence at the London nightclub, which is near the shooting scene.
“My son was a very vivacious young man,” his mother, Pamela Harris, told KCRA-TV. “Fun to be around, liked to party, smiling all the time. Don’t bother people. For this to happen is crazy. I’m just to the point right now, I don’t know what to do. I don’t even feel like this is real. I feel like this is a dream.”
His family members congregated at the crime scene Sunday after they hadn't heard from him for hours. Later that day, Harris was the first victim publicly identified by the coroner.
“This is a sad and terrible act of violence that took the lives of many,” his wife, Leticia Harris, told KCRA-TV. “I want answers so I can have closure for my children.”
YAMILE MARTINEZ-ANDRADE
Martinez-Andrade was killed in front of her best friend, according to KXTV-TV.
She was described as someone who “brought light to the room,” the station reported, and had a positive outlook.
“There was never a dull moment with her. She has a beautiful heart and a beautiful mind. Everyone misses her so much," her best friend, who was not named, told KXTV-TV.
JOSHUA HOYE-LUCCHESI
Hoye-Lucchesi was born and raised in Sacramento and his survivors include his mother, his girlfriend and six young children, KCRA 3 reported.
“I never wanted kids, and if I said if I was to have a kid, I just wanted a boy. And I was blessed with a boy,” Sherilyn Hoye told the TV station.
Hoye-Lucchesi's girlfriend called Hoye at 2:45 a.m. to tell her the tragic news. She later saw painful images on social media.
“It was a post of my son on the ground dead. It was sent to me through Instagram. My son was lying on the ground dead,” Hoye told KCRA.
A memorial with white and blue balloons, candles and two empty bottles of Hennessy was left a block from the shooting in honor of Hoye-Lucchesi. On the ground, someone wrote “Josh" in what appeared to be blue paint.
“I love and miss you. Foreva n my heart!" someone wrote in black marker on a white balloon shaped like a star. “Things will never be the same," read another balloon.
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Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press Writer Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON – U.S. airport security procedures will become more gender-neutral, with changes to scanners used for screening and the use of an “X” for travelers going through Precheck who do not identify as male or female, the Biden administration said Thursday.
Transportation Security Administration officers will also receive new instructions on screening intended to make procedures less invasive, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
They are among a series of travel-security measures announced by the department in conjunction with Transgender Day of Visibility. President Joe Biden is marking the day by advocating against what his administration terms “dangerous anti-transgender legislative attacks” that have passed in statehouses across the country.
“DHS is committed to protecting the traveling public while ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender identity, is treated with respect,” Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the statement.
The Transportation Security Administration said it will update the PreCheck Program to include an “X” gender marker option on its application, but the agency did not provide a date. A new “X” gender marker on U.S. passport applications begins April 11.
Later this year, TSA will begin using scanners with new technology that will replace gender-based systems and are intended to “advance civil rights and improve the customer experience.”
The TSA will work with airlines to promote the acceptance of the “X” gender marker and will also update the guidance for airport security screening officers to remove gender considerations when validating documents, DHS said.
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WASHINGTON – Senate bargainers have reached agreement on a slimmed-down $10 billion package for countering COVID-19 with treatments, vaccines and other steps, but both parties' bargainers ended up dropping all funding to help nations abroad combat the pandemic.
Yet a day after lawmakers announced the bipartisan accord, it was possible the measure could get entangled with an election-year battle over immigration, and it was unclear Tuesday how quickly the bill might move through Congress.
The compromise drew quick support Monday from President Joe Biden, who initially pushed for a $22.5 billion package. In a setback, he ended up settling for much less despite administration warnings that the government was running out of money to keep pace with the disease's continued — though diminished — spread in the U.S.
“Every dollar we requested is essential and we will continue to work with Congress to get all of the funding we need,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “But time is of the essence. We urge Congress to move promptly on this $10 billion package."
Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., his party’s lead bargainer, abandoned Biden’s request to include $5 billion to help countries — especially poorer ones — where the disease is still running rampant.
The inability of Biden and top Democrats to protect the additional spending they wanted came after the two parties gridlocked over GOP demands to pay for it by pulling back unspent aid from earlier pandemic measures. It also reflected the diminished political force that battling COVID-19 has this election year, two years into a pandemic that began with bipartisan support for throwing trillions of dollars at it.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the lead GOP bargainer, hailed the accord as one that would address “urgent COVID needs.” He also trumpeted the measure’s savings, which he said meant it “will not cost the American people a single additional dollar.”
Still uncertain was whether objections by some Republicans might prevent the Senate from considering the bill this week, as Biden and Schumer want, before Congress begins a two-week recess.
As their price for letting the bill move quickly, Republicans were considering demanding a vote on an amendment barring Biden from lifting immigration restrictions. At least 10 GOP votes will ultimately be needed for the legislation to get the 60 votes it will need to clear the 50-50 Senate.
“We have an agreement,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a brief interview. “The question is when will we be able to process the bill, and honestly that’s just not clear yet.”
Some Republicans want an election-year vote on retaining curbs imposed by then-President Donald Trump during the height of the pandemic in 2020 that's let authorities immediately expel migrants crossing the border from Mexico for public health reasons.
The ban is due to end May 23. And while Democrats largely favor immigration, the lifting of the restrictions could cause political problems for moderates due to the massive increase in migrants that its lapse would prompt.
In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and many liberals have criticized the ejection of global assistance. But leaders signaled they were ready to accept compromise.
While short of Biden’s agreement full request, “this package will fulfill immediate needs to secure more vaccines, boosters, testing and therapeutics to keep the pandemic at bay – and it must be enacted as quickly as possible,” Pelosi set an a statement released overnight.
Schumer said members of both parties want to craft a second spending measure this spring that could include funds to battle COVID-19 and hunger overseas and more assistance for Ukraine as it continues battling the Russian invasion. The fate of such a measure is uncertain.
Romney also suggested an openness to considering future money. “While this agreement does not include funding for the U.S. global vaccination program, I am willing to explore a fiscally responsible solution to support global efforts in the weeks ahead,” he said.
The agreement comes with BA.2, the new omicron variant, expected to spark a fresh increase in U.S. cases. Around 980,000 Americans and over 6 million people worldwide have died from COVID-19.
At least half the agreement's $10 billion would be used to research and produce therapeutics to treat the disease, according to fact sheets from Schumer and Romney.
The money would also be used to buy vaccines and tests. At least $750 million would be used to research new COVID-19 variants and to expand vaccine production, the descriptions said.
Administration officials have said the government has run out of money to finance COVID-19 testing and treatments for people without insurance. They've also said funds are running low for boosters, vaccines focused on specific variants, free monoclonal antibody treatments and care for people with immune system weaknesses.
The deal is also a reduction from a $15 billion version that both parties’ leaders negotiated last month. Pelosi abandoned that plan after Democratic lawmakers rejected proposed cuts in state pandemic aid to help pay for the package.
The measure is fully paid for by pulling back unspent funds from previous pandemic relief bills that have been enacted, bargainers said.
Fact sheets said that includes savings from funds protecting aviation manufacturing jobs, assisting entertainment venues shuttered by the pandemic, helping states extend credit to small businesses and aiding agriculture.
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WASHINGTON – Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney say they will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic elevation to the Supreme Court, giving President Joe Biden's nominee a burst of bipartisan support and all but assuring she'll become the first Black female justice.
The senators from Alaska and Utah announced their decisions Monday night ahead of a procedural vote to advance the nomination and as Democrats pressed to confirm Jackson by the end of the week. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced last week that she would back Jackson, noting her "stellar qualifications” as a federal judge, public defender and member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
All three Republicans said they did not expect to agree with all of Jackson's decisions, but they found her extremely well qualified. Romney said Jackson “more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity." Murkowski said she will “bring to the Supreme Court a range of experience from the courtroom that few can match given her background in litigation.”
With three Republicans supporting her in the 50-50 split Senate, Jackson is on a glide path to confirmation and on the brink of making history as the third Black justice and only the sixth woman in the court’s more than 200-year history. Beyond the historic element, Democrats have cited her deep experience in nine years on the federal bench and the chance for her to become the first former public defender on the court.
Both Collins and Murkowski said they believed that the Senate nomination process has become broken as it has become more partisan in the past several decades.
Murkowski, who is up for reelection this year, said her decision partly rests “on my rejection of the corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees, which, on both sides of the aisle, is growing worse and more detached from reality by the year.”
After the vote, Murkowski said she had “assumed a level of risk” but "there’s three of us that found ourselves in this place where I believe the strength, qualifications of the candidate are such that are appropriate for the court.”
Biden nominated Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, who will step down after the court's session ends this summer. Biden has sought bipartisan backing for his pick, making repeated calls to senators and inviting Republicans to the White House. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that administration officials would work the phones until the last minute to maximize support.
“Judge Jackson will bring extraordinary qualifications, deep experience and intellect, and a rigorous judicial record to the Supreme Court,” Biden tweeted earlier Monday. “She deserves to be confirmed as the next justice.”
The Senate's 53-47 vote Monday evening was to “discharge” Jackson's nomination from the Senate Judiciary Committee after the panel deadlocked, 11-11, on whether to send the nomination to the Senate floor.
The committee vote, split along party lines, was the first deadlock on a Supreme Court nomination in three decades.
The Judiciary committee’s top Republican, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, said he opposed Jackson’s nomination because “she and I have fundamental, different views on the role of judges and the role that they should play in our system of government.”
The committee hadn’t deadlocked since 1991, when Biden was chairman and a motion to send the nomination of current Justice Clarence Thomas to the floor with a “favorable” recommendation failed on a 7-7 vote. The committee then voted to send the nomination to the floor without a recommendation, meaning it could still be brought up for a vote.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky set the tone for most of his party last week when he said he “cannot and will not” support Jackson, citing GOP concerns raised in hearings about her sentencing record and her backing from liberal advocacy groups.
Republicans on the Judiciary panel continued their push Monday to paint Jackson as soft on crime, defending their repeated questions about her sentencing on sex crimes.
“Questions are not attacks,” said Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, one of several GOP senators on the panel who hammered the point in the hearings two weeks ago.
Jackson pushed back on the GOP narrative, declaring that “nothing could be further from the truth" and explaining her reasoning in detail. Democrats said she was in line with other judges in her decisions. And on Monday they criticized their GOP counterparts' questioning.
“You could try and create a straw man here, but it does not hold,” said New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
The questioning was filled with “absurdities of disrespect,” said Booker, who also is Black. He said he will “rejoice” when Jackson is confirmed.
Derrick Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, expressed disappointment with the committee tie, even as he noted that Jackson had cleared an important hurdle. He said “history will be watching" during the full Senate vote later this week.
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Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Lisa Mascaro and Josh Boak in Washington contributed.
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WASHINGTON – By announcing they will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, three Republican senators are marking the historical moment by building legacies of their own.
Every senator has a voice, and some choose to use theirs. The three Republican senators — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney — have broken with their party at critical junctures, despite the political risks of standing alone.
The three said separately that they don’t expect to agree with all of Jackson’s rulings from the bench. President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer will likely join the liberal wing of the high court, and is not expected to tilt its 6-3 balance toward conservatives. But the senators also indicated the Harvard-educated judge is more than just likable, well-qualified and possessing the judicial temperament to do the job. They said she is deserving of confirmation.
As the other Republican senators line up to oppose Jackson, the support from the three outliers gives Biden the bipartisan backing he was seeking for the historic choice, but may do little to shield them from the blowback of party leaders and activists back home.
The votes from Collins, Murkowski and Romney also serve as a rejection of the soft-on-crime attacks leveled at Jackson, some tapping into dangerous conspiracy theories, reminiscent of racist arguments senators made against the first Black nominee to the court, Thurgood Marshall, a half century ago.
Voting for the “historic nomination,” Murkowski said it was not only worth the political risk, but a rejection of a Senate process that “is growing worse and more detached from reality.”
It’s a measure of the nation’s polarizing times that what could be seen as a milestone for the country — the first time in the court’s 233-year history it won’t be made up of mostly white men — has devolved into another bitter, grievance-laden, political brawl.
Jackson’s nomination is advancing through procedural hurdles, including another vote Tuesday, and is on a glide path to confirmation in the Senate by week’s end.
While Democrats hold a narrow majority in the 50-50 chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to break a tie, her vote is unlikely to be needed.
“The confirmation of the nation’s first Black woman to the highest court in the land will resonate for the rest of our nation’s history,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday as he launched the weeklong procedural steps toward confirmation.
It wasn’t always guaranteed that Jackson, who was confirmed by the Senate to be a federal appellate judge just a year ago, would win over Republicans this time.
One key Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who voted to confirm her for the lower court, led the opposition during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings against her nomination.
Along with other Republicans, Graham saw political value in using Jackson’s hearing to dredge up complaints about the partisan treatment of previous Supreme Court nominees during the Donald Trump era — from Brett Kavanaugh, who faced accusations of sexual assault from his high school years that he strenuously denied during his 2018 confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, to Amy Coney Barrett's fervent Catholic faith.
“If we were in charge, she would not have been before this committee,” Graham said about the Republican side ahead of the panel's deadlocked vote Monday. "You would have had somebody more moderate than this.”
But personal political legacies can be as strong a draw for senators, who like to think of themselves as one of the 100 distinct voices in the Senate, despite the pressure party officials and others bring to bear on a vote.
Collins, Murkowski and Romney have all proven over long careers in Republican Party politics that they can be independent brokers.
They have shaped brands at home and beyond, occasionally displaying a centrist streak but also being willing to work pragmatically across the aisle with Democrats rather than reflexive opposition.
Collins, who won re-election in 2020, has long gone her own way to vote for a president's judicial nominees, regardless of the party of the president in the White House. A notable exception was Barrett, whose confirmation in October 2020 she said she could not support so close to the presidential election.
Collins expressed hope that the Senate could get back to a place where there is bipartisan support for qualified Supreme Court nominees “because it’s important for public confidence in the court. The court is not supposed to be a politicized institution.”
Romney, the party's 2012 presidential nominee and the only Republican senator to vote to convict Donald Trump during both trials of the former president, has emerged as a new force in the Senate, helping to broker bipartisan deals on issues like infrastructure and COVID-19 aid. He declined to back Jackson just a year ago for the lower court, but once he had a chance to meet and review her record he said she "more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity.’' He would run for re-election in 2024.
Murkowski faces perhaps the most precarious political climate because she is up for re-election this year in Alaska where Republican Party leaders have censured her over voting to convict Trump in impeachment over the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, among her other stances.
Alaska party leaders have endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a Trump-backed candidate, ahead of the August primary. In the state’s new election system, the top four primary vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the general election where voters will rank their choices.
Yet, if anyone knows how to use political independence as a political currency, it's Murkowski who in 2010 won a write-in campaign — voters had to write in M-u-r-k-o-w-s-k-i for Senate — after she lost the primary bid and party backing to a more conservative challenger.
Murkowski shrugged off the political attacks that could come from her decision to back Jackson as worth the risk.
“Is there any safe place in this polarized time?" she said.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Farnoush Amiri, videojournalist Rick Gentile, and Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Lisa Mascaro, the AP's chief congressional correspondent, has covered Capitol Hill since 2010. Follow her on twitter at www.twitter.com/LisaMascaro
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/04/05/ap-sources-ivanka-trump-set-to-testify-before-jan-6-panel/
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WASHINGTON – Ivanka Trump, former President Donald Trump's daughter and among those closest to him during the insurrection at the Capitol, is set to testify Tuesday before the Jan. 6 committee, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Trump's daughter, who was with her father much of that day, is expected to speak to the committee virtually, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss it.
Ivanka Trump is one of more than 800 witnesses the committee has interviewed as it works to compile a record of the attack, the worst on the Capitol in more than two centuries. She the first of Trump's children known to speak to the committee and one of the closest people to her father.
Her decision to cooperate is significant for the committee, which has been trying to secure an interview with her since late January. It comes less than a week after her husband, Jared Kushner, testified to the nine-member panel in a virtual meeting that lasted more than six hours. Members of the committee said his testimony was helpful and are hoping to further fill in the gaps with her help.
Her testimony, like others before the committee, will be private. The panel is using the interviews to compile a comprehensive record and will begin to release information in the coming months as it holds public hearings and releases a series of reports on the insurrection.
Lawmakers have said they want to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts, including a telephone call they say she witnessed, to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden's 2020 election win as part of his ceremonial role overseeing the electoral count. Pence rejected those efforts.
The committee is also interested in any concerns she may have heard from Pence’s staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel’s office about Trump's pressure on Pence.
Ivanka Trump's cooperation stands in contrast with some of her father's other top advisers, several of whom have refused to cooperate as the former president has fought the probe. Trump has tried to exert executive privilege over documents and interviews, but in many cases has been overruled by courts or Biden, who has that authority as the sitting president.
The House is expected to vote this week to recommend contempt charges for Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, both of whom the committee says have been uncooperative. The committee previously voted to recommend contempt charges against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who defied a congressional subpoena, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who ceased cooperating with the panel.
Bannon was later indicted by a federal grand jury and is awaiting prosecution by the Justice Department. The Justice Department has not taken any action against Meadows.
Other witnesses who are still close to the former president — and several who were in the White House that day — have declined to answer the committee’s questions.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/04/05/australia-uk-us-alliance-to-develop-hypersonic-missiles/
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WASHINGTON – The United States, United Kingdom and Australia announced Tuesday they will work together via the recently created security alliance known as AUKUS to develop hypersonic missiles.
The move comes amid growing concern by the U.S. and allies about China’s growing military assertiveness in the Pacific. U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the plan after holding a check-in on the progress of AUKUS, the Indo-Pacific alliance that was launched by the three countries in September.
The leaders said in a joint statement they are “committed today to commence new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as to expand information sharing and to deepen cooperation on defense innovation.”
The U.S., Russia and China have all looked to further develop hypersonic missiles — a system so fast that it cannot be intercepted by any current missile defense system.
In October, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that China had conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon system as part of its aggressive effort to advance in space and military technologies.
Milley described the Chinese test as a "very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system, and it is very concerning,” in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Russia has used hypersonic missiles “multiple” times in Ukraine, according to the top U.S. commander in Europe.
Last fall, as U.S. intelligence officials had become increasingly concerned about the massing of Russian forces on the Ukraine border, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the country’s arms manufacturers to develop even more advanced hypersonic missiles to maintain the country’s edge in military technologies.
The Russian military has said that its Avangard system is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound and making sharp maneuvers on its way to a target to dodge the enemy’s missile shield. It has been fitted to the existing Soviet-built intercontinental ballistic missiles instead of older type warheads, and the first unit armed with the Avangard entered duty in December 2019.
The Kinzhal, carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, according to Russian officials.
The Pentagon’s 2023 budget request already includes $4.7 billion for research and development of hypersonic weapons. It includes planning that would have a hypersonic missile battery fielded by next year, a sea-based missile by 2025 and an air-based cruise missile by 2027.
Biden, Johnson and Morrison have billed the creation of AUKUS as a chance to build greater sharing of defense capabilities. As their first major action, the alliance said it would help equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.
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Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/04/05/biden-obama-white-house-reunion-to-celebrate-health-law/
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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama returned to the White House on Tuesday to savor the 12th anniversary of his signature Affordable Care Act, which is now part of the fabric of the American health care system and whose reach President Joe Biden is looking to extend.
Sign-ups under the health law have increased under Biden's stewardship, and more generous taxpayer subsidies have cut costs for enrollees, albeit temporarily.
Obama's last time in the mansion was Jan. 20, 2017, when he left to escort his successor, a president-elect bent on overturning “Obamacare," to the Capitol to be inauguration.
“It's good to be back in the White House. It's been a while," Obama said in the East Room after he was introduced by Vice President Kamala Harris. He opened by referring to Biden as “vice president" before acknowledging the joke and embracing his former No. 2.
Obama said he and Biden accomplished “a lot” in their eight years as stewards of the country, but “nothing made me prouder than providing better health care and more protections to millions of people across this country.”
“The ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place,” Obama said, calling it the “high point of my time here.”
Biden and Obama marked the 12th anniversary of the law, which back in 2010 the then-vice president had memorably called a “big (expletive) deal.” Its staying power has been enhanced by three Supreme Court victories and an emphatic thumbs-down vote by the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., which took the wind out of President Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal and replace it.
The law was such a bugaboo in 2010 that Democrats rarely invoked it as they went into a midterm election that turned out to be, in Obama's own words, a “shellacking." Now, Democrats are hoping the political equation will work to their advantage, and that a focus on shoring up the tween-age health law can help them avoid a debacle at the polls this November.
In addition to talking health care at the White House, Biden and Obama met over lunch, recalling their weekly ritual when Biden served as Obama’s vice president.
“They are real friends, not just Washington friends,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Vice President Kamala Harris called on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs and to make permanent subsidies for the Affordable Care Act that were included in Biden’s pandemic relief bill. Harris also called out 12 states that have not expanded eligibility for Medicaid.
Obama likes to refer to his health care law as a “starter home” that Americans can build upon, gradually reducing the 9% share of the population that remains uninsured. The rate was nearly 15% in 2013, before the coverage provisions of the law took effect. Between the health law's Medicaid expansion and its health insurance markets, more than 30 million people are now estimated to be getting coverage.
Shortly after taking office, Biden opened up the health insurance markets to anyone seeking coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his coronavirus relief bill provided a significant, though temporary, increase in financial assistance. The result was a record 14.5 million people signed up for subsidized private coverage.
When it comes to how to keep that trend going, Obama and Biden have no shortage of options to discuss.
The Biden administration has been working on a fix to what's known as the law's family glitch, a quirk estimated to be keeping about 5 million people from getting coverage under the law. The White House announced the new policy proposal Tuesday.
People tripped up by the family glitch are dependents of workers who have an offer of employer coverage that the government interprets as being affordable. As a rule, people with affordable employer coverage are not eligible for taxpayer-subsidized ACA plans.
But the issue with the current interpretation is that affordability is determined by the cost for employee-only coverage, and not more expensive family policies. Workers able to afford their own share may not be able to cover premiums for the entire family. So the family is cut out of ACA coverage.
A Biden administration regulation addressing the issue recently cleared White House review. The intent of the original policy was to prevent people with employer coverage from going into the health law's subsidized markets, but advocates say it has proven too restrictive.
The White House estimates that the fix would help 200,000 people get insurance and bring costs down for nearly 1 million more.
There are more fundamental issues for the two presidents to consider as well, both policy-wise and politically.
Unless Democrats in Congress finally coalesce around a version of Biden's social legislation, his enhanced financial assistance for millions purchasing ACA plans will expire at the end of this year. A return to higher premiums would likely trigger an increase in the number of uninsured people, a political embarrassment for Democrats committed to expanding coverage.
The Biden legislation, which passed the House but sputtered in the Senate, also includes a mechanism for providing coverage to as many as 4 million uninsured low-income adults in states that have refused the health law's Medicaid expansion. It would deliver on Biden's campaign promise to build on existing government programs to move the U.S. closer to coverage for all.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/04/05/california-may-empower-citizens-to-sue-over-illegal-firearms/
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – For all California's nation-leading attempts to regulate firearms, the state has not found a way to deter those happy to skirt the laws with stolen or homemade and increasingly prevalent “ghost” guns.
In just two recent examples, police say the first weapon recovered after gunmen killed six people and wounded 12 in downtown Sacramento early Sunday had been stolen and converted to being capable of automatic gunfire. The homemade assault weapon a father used a month ago and a few miles away to kill his three daughters, their chaperone and then himself was unregistered.
“People argue that we’ve got the toughest gun laws in the nation. But they’re clearly not tough enough,” Democratic state Sen. Robert Hertzberg said Monday.
The latest mass shooting in a nightclub area blocks from the state Capitol renewed calls for tougher firearms laws from President Joe Biden. Biden called for Congress to take many of the steps nationwide that California already has in place — imposing background checks, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and outlawing ghost guns.
The most populous state will consider an innovative new approach Tuesday when Hertzberg, at the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, expects to take the first step to advance a bill allowing private citizens to sue anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons, parts that can be used to build weapons, guns without serial numbers, or .50 caliber rifles.
The penalty: at least $10,000 in civil damages for each weapon, plus attorneys fees.
But the bill would not bar anyone from possessing or using the weapons, though they're illegal under other laws. And it would not include stolen weapons unless they are otherwise made illegal, for instance by filing off the serial number.
“It's going to have hopefully a chilling effect on folks with ghost guns or assault weapons,” Hertzberg said. "You’ve got to have millions of eyeballs looking for these guns. If someone flashes one, talks about it, all of a sudden there’s an incentive among the public in a way that there’s never been before to try to pull them off the street.”
Yet, Hertzberg's bill is patterned after a similar Texas law allowing citizens to go after those who provide or assist in providing abortions. And even if it becomes law, Hertzberg's bill will automatically be invalidated if the Texas law is eventually ruled unconstitutional.
“This is tit for tat political gamesmanship, which is the worst reason to be passing some kind of a bill," said Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association and an attorney who wrote a book about California's complicated gun laws. “You’re going to deputize a bunch of amateurs — non-lawyers, non-cops — to judge a neighbor’s actions and then give them the right to drag them into court over it."
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which generally favors firearms restrictions, hasn't taken a position on the bill.
The center's state policy director, attorney Ari Freilich, said it “would essentially bring more enforcement oversight to some specific criminal laws in California."
“It’s not something that’s really been tried before," Freilich said.
He wouldn't predict if it would be effective, but said the proposal has some “potential challenges.” Among them is encouraging civil actions to punish crimes, and establishing “a bounty” to be collected by those who haven't been directly harmed.
His organization is backing other bills, including one that would make it easier for people to sue gun companies for liability in shootings that cause injuries or death. Two other bills also target firearm parts and guns without serial numbers, and those made with 3D printers.
Legislative analysts also raised concerns, including that California's bill might be seen as legitimizing Texas' approach.
Much like the Texas law, the analysts said Hertzberg's legislation is written so broadly that it might ensnare, for instance, “a taxi driver that takes a person to a gun shop,” though Hertzberg said that is not the intent.
Parts use to make weapons are not themselves illegal, but a California law taking effect July 1 will require that they be sold only through licensed firearms dealers.
Sen. Tom Umberg, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a Democrat like Hertzberg and Newsom, said he expects Hertzberg's bill to clear his committee "in order to continue the conversation about the absurdity of the Texas law.”
Umberg said he supports Hertzberg's goal, though he recognizes that "the enforcement mechanism is susceptible to challenge.”
The bill would then have to clear two other committees before getting a full Senate vote. It would also have to pass the Assembly before going to Newsom.
Hertzberg said he thinks his bill could also help root out dangerous domestic abusers like David Mora. Investigators said Mora used a homemade semiautomatic rifle-style weapon with an illegal 30-round ammunition magazine to kill his daughters at a Sacramento church Feb. 28 despite a restraining order barring him from possessing weapons.
“I think this will have bigger teeth, sharper teeth than a court order," Hertzberg said. "This goes to somebody’s bank account. You win this case, you seize their bank account. Their world changes.”
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/04/05/epa-rule-would-finally-ban-asbestos-carcinogen-still-in-use/
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WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed a rule to finally ban asbestos, a carcinogen that is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products and kills thousands of Americans every year.
The proposal marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a landmark 2016 law that overhauled rules governing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products, from household cleaners to clothing and furniture.
The proposed rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only ongoing use of asbestos in the United States. The substance is found in products such brake linings and gaskets, and is used to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the rule an important step to protect public health and "finally put an end to the use of dangerous asbestos in the United States.''
The proposed ban "demonstrates significant progress in our work to implement the (2016) law and take bold, long-overdue actions to protect those most vulnerable among us,” Regan said.
The 2016 law authorized new rules for tens of thousands of toxic chemicals found in everyday products, including substances such as asbestos and trichloroethylene that for decades have been known to cause cancer yet were largely unregulated under federal law. Known as the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, the law was intended to clear up a hodgepodge of state rules governing chemicals and update the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 1976 law that had remained unchanged for 40 years.
The EPA banned asbestos in 1989, but the rule was largely overturned by a 1991 court decision that weakened EPA’s authority under TSCA to address risks to human health from asbestos or other existing chemicals. The 2016 law required the EPA evaluate chemicals and put in place protections against unreasonable risks.
At the signing ceremony for the new law, then-President Barack Obama said the U.S. chemical system under TSCA was "so complex, so burdensome that our country hasn’t even been able to uphold a ban on asbestos. I think a lot of Americans would be shocked by all that.”
Asbestos, which was once common in home insulation and other products, is banned in more than 50 countries and its use in the U.S. has been declining for decades. The only form of asbestos known to be currently imported, processed or distributed for use in the U.S. is chrysotile asbestos, which is imported primarily from Brazil and Russia. It is used by the chlor-alkali industry, which produces bleach, caustic soda and other products.
Most consumer products that historically contained chrysotile asbestos have been discontinued.
While chlorine is a commonly used disinfectant in water treatment, there are only 10 chlor-alkali plants in the U.S. that still use asbestos diaphragms to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The plants are mostly located in Louisiana and Texas.
The use of asbestos diaphragms has been declining and now accounts for about one-third of the chlor-alkali production in the U.S., EPA said.
The American Chemistry Council, a lobbying group for the chemical industry, slammed the EPA proposal, saying it could cause substantial harm to America’s drinking water supply by reducing the domestic supply of chlorine.
About 98% of public drinking water treatment facilities use some form of chlorine-based disinfectant, the group said, adding that supply chain disruptions experienced by water utilities over the last couple of years "have highlighted the vital importance of chlorine to water disinfection.''
Chlorine also is used in production of batteries, windmills and solar panels, the group said.
The proposed ban would take effect two years after the effective date of the final rule.
In addition to addressing the significant human health effects of chrysotile asbestos exposure, the proposed rule is also expected to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with chlor-alkali production, an energy-intensive industrial operation.
In a 2019 op-ed, former EPA administrators Gina McCarthy and William K. Reilly called for Congress to “do what this (Trump-era) EPA has failed to do: consider all the science and ban asbestos once and for all.''
A bill known as the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act would "save tens of thousands of lives and close the book on asbestos use for good,'' they wrote in The New York Times. McCarthy, who led the EPA in Obama's second term, is now White House climate adviser to President Joe Biden.
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https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/04/05/explainer-why-some-states-still-lack-new-voting-districts/
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Campaigns for Congress are underway for this year's elections, but lingering disagreements over the final shape of new voting districts have left some candidates — and would-be candidates — in limbo.
A few states have yet to enact new congressional districts following the 2020 census, thanks to legal challenges or party infighting.
“If you have maps struck down, or you have uncertainty, there can be a burden on individual voters," said Ben Williams, a program principal for elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Still, he said it was fairly normal to have redistricting battles lasting into April in a handful of states.
Redistricting matters politically because it provides parties who control the process an opportunity to shape districts to their advantage. That could be particularly consequential in this year's midterm elections, as Democrats seek to defend a slim U.S. House majority against expected Republican gains.
A look at some states still dealing with redistricting issues:
STATES THAT HAVE YET TO ADOPT NEW DISTRICTS
A delay in receiving Census Bureau data due to coronavirus complications caused many states to get a late start on redistricting. But internal Republican political divisions have had more to do with why a few states still haven't adopted new U.S. House districts.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is a potential 2024 presidential candidate, vetoed the redistricting maps passed by the GOP-led Legislature. DeSantis is pushing his own plan, which could give Republicans a shot at winning more seats than the legislative proposals and could result in two Black Democratic members of Congress losing their seats.
The Florida Legislature is to convene April 19 in a special session to take up redistricting again.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, also has pledged to veto the congressional map passed by the GOP-led Legislature. Sununu is pushing a plan that would make both of the state's two districts competitive. The Legislature's plan would tilt one district toward Republicans while solidifying the Democrats' advantage in the other.
Missouri is the only state where a new congressional map has yet to be either enacted or passed. The large Republican majorities in the state House and Senate are at odds over how aggressively to draw districts in the GOP's favor and over which communities to split while equalizing district populations.
Lawsuits in all three states have asked courts to step into the stalemates and adopt new maps.
STATES WHERE COURTS HAVE OVERTURNED MAPS
New York recently became the latest state where a court struck down a congressional map drawn by state lawmakers — in this case, by Democrats who control the Legislature.
The Democrats' map would give them a strong majority of voters in 22 of the state's 26 congressional seats on this year's ballot while potentially costing Republicans four seats. A court invalided the map last week and gave New York officials until April 11 to submit new districts.
But on Monday, an appeals judge put a temporary hold on the lower court ruling. A hearing is set for Thursday on whether to continue that hold.
A Maryland judge also recently struck down a congressional map that had been enacted by that state's Democratic-led General Assembly, calling it a "product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.” But the General Assembly quickly passed a revised map, which Republican Gov. Larry Hogan signed Monday.
The new Maryland districts are more compact than the map originally enacted by Democrats, which could have given them a shot at sweeping all eight of the state's districts.
Courts previously blocked Republican-passed congressional maps in North Carolina and Ohio. The North Carolina Supreme Court later allowed districts drawn by court-appointed experts to be implemented for this year's elections. The state's primary was pushed back from March to mid-May.
The Ohio Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether a replacement congressional map enacted by a Republican-dominated panel is constitutional. Early voting for the May 3 primary starts Tuesday.
LAWSUITS AFFECTING MINORITY VOTING RIGHTS
Several states face legal challenges that could extend past this year's elections.
A court panel ruled earlier this year that Alabama's Republican-led Legislature likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by not creating a second district in which Black voters comprise close to a majority. But the U.S. Supreme Court put a hold on an order to redo those districts, allowing the May 24 primary to proceed under the Republican-passed map.
A federal judge in Georgia also allowed that state's Republican-drawn congressional districts to remain in place for this year's elections, even though he said plaintiffs appeared likely to prove in an ongoing lawsuit that certain aspects of the map violate the federal Voting Rights Act.
Lawsuits alleging that new districts unlawfully dilute the influence of minority voters also have been filed in other states, including Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas.
Louisiana’s Republican-led Legislature last week overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards to enact a congressional map that’s projected to continue the GOP’s strong advantage. Edwards had said lawmakers should have included a second majority-Black district among the state’s six districts.
A coalition of civil rights groups has sued, alleging the Louisiana map dilutes the political power of Black voters.
STATES WITH UNRESOLVED LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS
Although much attention is focused on congressional redistricting, uncertainty also remains for the voting districts used by some state House, Assembly or Senate chambers.
In Ohio, for example, primary elections for state House and Senate seats have been delayed because no set of district boundaries has been settled on long enough to be used for making ballots.
A group of Republican voters had asked a federal court to force the state to use one of three sets of legislative maps approved by a GOP-led commission but rejected by the state Supreme Court. The panel of federal judges refused to do so. Because of the uncertainty, Secretary of State Frank LaRose has said the legislative primaries will have to be delayed from May until August.
Wisconsin has a new congressional map in place but not new state Assembly and Senate districts.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month overturned state legislative districts that had been enacted by that state's high court after the governor and lawmakers failed to agree on maps. Republicans had complained that the court's map — favored by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers — shifted too many people among districts to try to increase the number of districts with a majority of Black and Hispanic voters. That case is now back in the hands of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
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WASHINGTON – Jurors began hearing opening statements Tuesday in the trial of a former Virginia police officer charged with storming the U.S. Capitol with a fellow officer who could be a key witness for federal prosecutors.
The federal judge presiding over former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson's trial in Washington, D.C., questioned prospective jurors for several hours on Monday and again on Tuesday. Twelve jurors and two alternates were selected.
Two other Capitol riot defendants already have been tried on federal charges arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, siege. The first two trials both ended with convictions, although a judge acquitted one of those defendants of a disorderly conduct charge.
One of Robertson’s former colleagues, Jacob Fracker, also was arrested on riot-relate charges. Fracker pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, the joint session of Congress to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Fracker agreed to cooperate with authorities and is listed as a potential trial witness.
Robertson is charged with six counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Robertson and Fracker both served as police officers in Rocky Mount. The town, which is about 25 miles south of Roanoke and has roughly 5,000 residents, fired both of them after their arrests.
Robertson and Fracker drove with a neighbor to Washington on the morning of Jan. 6. Robertson brought three gas masks for them to use, according to prosecutors. After listening to speeches near the Washington Monument, Fracker, Robertson and the neighbor walked toward the Capitol, donned the gas masks and joined the growing mob, prosecutors said. Robertson used a large wooden stick to impede police officers who were trying to hold off the mob, according to prosecutors.
Defense attorney Mark Rollins has said Robertson was inside the Capitol for only 10 minutes and didn’t assault anybody or break anything.
Robertson has been jailed since U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in July that he violated the terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms.
Robertson’s trial will be the first for somebody accused of entering the Capitol building during the riot.
On March 8, a jury decided the first Capitol riot trial by convicting a Texas man, Guy Reffitt, of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun. In the second trial, a judge who heard testimony without a jury convicted New Mexico county official Couy Griffin of illegally entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.
Reffitt and Griffin entered restricted areas outside the Capitol but not the building itself.
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