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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The Supreme Court was back after the holiday, hearing arguments around a case involving a private citizen and bribery.
In 2018, Joseph Percoco was convicted of taking a bribe from a real estate developer. At the time, the former advisor to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was working for his re-election campaign, and not the state.
“Without an agency relationship, the whole concept of bribery really doesn’t make any sense,” Percoco’s attorney Jacob Roth said.
Roth argues because he was a private citizen at the time, taking the money cannot be considered corruption.
“That person is not representing anyone else and doesn’t have a fiduciary duty to anyone else other than his new employer,” Roth said.
Several of the Justices expressed concern that siding with Percoco could open the door for future corrupt politicians.
“A very high public official goes off the government payroll and onto the campaign payroll,” Justice Elena Kagan said.
Kagan said if former government employees aren’t held to some standard, nothing may stop them from resigning before accepting a bribe and then resuming their position over and over again.
“He’s not called the executive secretary anymore, but there’s no other executive secretary around and he has the trust of the Governor,” Kagan said.
But Justice Neil Gorsuch said for private individuals, it may be difficult to separate bribery from legally hiring a lobbyist.
“Why not? This town is full of such persons. Presidents have had kitchen cabinets since the beginning of time,” Gorsuch said.
A ruling is expected sometime before next summer. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/washington-dc/scotus-concerned-about-future-political-corruption-during-percoco-case/ | 2022-11-28T23:42:36 | en | 0.975248 |
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CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia has some unique foods, especially deep-fried ones. From hand-picked delicacies to Italian classics, when in doubt, deep fry it.
Dandelions
Did you even know dandelions were edible? An Appalachian recipe recommends eating the blossoms deep-fried. While there are several different recipes online, they generally are made with a simple batter of eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper and take about 30 minutes. Keep in mind that the recipe requires fresh dandelions so you may not want to try it until spring.
Green Tomatoes
This one is more common and can be purchased at a lot of West Virginia and Appalachian restaurants in the early fall and sometimes even year-round. If you grew tomatoes in your garden and a few fell off before they were ripe, this is a great way to use them. Fried green tomatoes are usually made with a simple batter and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Ramps
Ramps are a West Virginia delicacy that have a flavor between garlic and onion and can be used in tons of different recipes. If you enjoy their strong flavor, you can consider eating them with just a simple deep-fry batter. Ramps can be harvested in places like the Monongahela National Forest, with some guidelines, from late April to early June.
Pepperoni Rolls
If you know anything about West Virginia, you probably know that the state is obsessed with its pepperoni rolls. We have some restaurants, like the Donut Shop in Buckhannon, that even make “ramperoni rolls.” But one recently opened restaurant, Mason Jar BBQ in Fairmont, sells deep-fried mini pepperoni rolls.
Pie
Anyone who took West Virginia history knows that West Virginia is home of the Golden Delicious apple. But the state is also home of the fried apple pie or apple hand pie. It is basically a dinner roll-sized portion of bread dough, some even suggest using frozen dinner rolls, stuffed with apple pie filling, fried and topped with cinnamon and sugar. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/strange-foods-that-west-virginian-residents-like-to-deep-fry/ | 2022-11-28T23:42:42 | en | 0.963399 |
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HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) – Marshall football took down Georgia State, 28-23, in their final home game of the 2022 season.
Check out head coach Charles Huff’s full postgame press conference above!
Below are some of the players, including quarterback Cam Fancher, running back Khalan Laborn, and defensive lineman Koby Cumberlander.
Up next: the Herd waits to see their bowl announcement. | https://www.wowktv.com/sports/watch-huff-press-conference-after-final-home-game/ | 2022-11-28T23:42:48 | en | 0.952793 |
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CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – West Virginia high school girls basketball tips off this week, with games beginning Tuesday night.
Today, the preseason poll was dropped.
Below are the full rankings for every class, and below those lists are the results from the 2022 state tournament.
Class AAAA
Others receiving votes: Capital 15, University 13, Parkersburg South 12, South Charleston 9, Spring Valley 7, Greenbrier East 7, Princeton 4, Bridgeport 2, John Marshall 2, Brooke 1.
Class AAA
Others receiving votes: Keyser 13, Winfield 12, Wheeling Central 10, Oak Glen 6, Sissonville 6, Weir 5, Shady Spring 4, Midland Trail 3, Liberty Harrison 2, Lewis County 1.
Class AA
Others receiving votes: Charleston Catholic 12, Magnolia 7, Ravenswood 5, Bluefield 3, Buffalo 2, Liberty Raleigh 1, Poca 1, Williamstown 1.
Class A
Others receiving votes: River View 15, Pendleton County 9, Greater Beckley Christian 8, Union 7, Clay-Battelle 6, Madonna 5, Greenbrier West 4.
2022 state tournament results
Class AAAA
Champion: Huntington
Runnerup: Morgantown
Semifinal losers: Cabell Midland, Wheeling Park.
Quarterfinal losers: Capital, George Washington, Jefferson, Spring Mills.
Class AAA
Champion: Logan
Runnerup: Fairmont Senior
Semifinal losers: North Marion, PikeView.
Quarterfinal losers: Keyser, Nitro, Philip Barbour, Sissonville.
Class AA
Champion: Parkersburg Catholic
Runnerup: Wyoming East.
Semifinal losers: Petersburg, St. Marys.
Quarterfinal losers: Buffalo, Charleston Catholic, Frankfort, Summers County.
Class A
Champion: Cameron
Runnerup: Gilmer County.
Semifinal losers: Tucker County, Webster County.
Quarterfinal losers: Doddridge County, River View, Tug Valley, Union. | https://www.wowktv.com/sports/wv-girls-basketball-preseason-poll/ | 2022-11-28T23:42:54 | en | 0.81428 |
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Story highlights
This page includes the show Transcript
November 29, 2022
Today on CNN 10, we’re going to begin with news on the economy and one of many people’s favorite topics…shopping! With the holiday season traditionally a big season for sales, will this year bring shoppers back to their pre-pandemic routines? We’ll also take an up close look at the world’s largest active volcano which is currently erupting for the first time in nearly 40 years. And finally, we’re talking drones. Can drones that start fires be the answer to preventing dangerous fires in the first place? We’ll take a look at the technology that some fire departments are testing out.
Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript
CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.
Thank you for using CNN 10 | https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/cnn10/ten-content-tues/index.html | 2022-11-28T23:44:32 | en | 0.917537 |
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Helena Bonham Carter is coming to the defense of two fellow members of the “Harry Potter” universe.
The actress, who played Bellatrix Lestrange in four of the “Harry Potter” films, spoke up in support of both author J.K. Rowling and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” star Johnny Depp in a new interview published in the Times of London.
Addressing the controversy around views Rowling has expressed that have been criticized by some as transphobic, Bonham Carter called the backlash “horrendous.”
“I think she has been hounded,” she said. “It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people.”
Bonham Carter went on to say that the author of “Harry Potter” is “allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse.”
In a 2020 essay published on her website, Rowling disclosed she is a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor.
“Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma, and you have to respect where people come from and their pain,” Bonham Carter said. “You don’t all have to agree on everything – that would be insane and boring. She’s not meaning it aggressively, she’s just saying something out of her own experience.”
Tthe “Fight Club” actress also addressed issues surrounding actor Johnny Depp, who played Grindelwald in two “Harry Potter” spinoff films, including 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”
Bonham Carter, who has worked with Depp in several projects over the years, said she considers Depp “completely vindicated” after his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard earlier this year, in which both Depp and Heard were found guilty of defamation of one another.
The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million dollars in punitive damages, while they awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages and no money for punitive damages.
Depp sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Though Depp was not named in the article, he claims it cost him lucrative acting roles. Heard countersued her ex-husband for defamation over statements Depp’s attorney made about her abuse claims.
“People will jump on the bandwagon because it’s the trend and to be the poster girl for it,” Bonham Carter told the Times of Heard and the #MeToo movement.
She also addressed cancel culture, saying, “You can’t ban people. I hate cancel culture. It has become quite hysterical and there’s a kind of witch hunt and a lack of understanding.”
CNN has reached out to representatives for Bonham Carter, Depp and Rowling for comment. | https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/entertainment/helena-bonham-carter-jk-rowling-johnny-depp/index.html | 2022-11-28T23:44:38 | en | 0.976629 |
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A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
Iran threatened its own players not to protest at the World Cup, a source told CNN’s Sam Kiley, and is fuming over the US Soccer Federation’s social media as protests at home continue despite violent crackdown.
Meanwhile, China is dealing with its own groundswell of protest against the country’s draconian zero-Covid policy – a movement that, like Iran’s, began with young people who have grown up in repressive regimes taking to the streets.
US vs. Iran
It’s foolish to view a soccer game as too much more than a soccer game, even when it features the national teams of two countries that spar over human rights, religious freedom, nuclear capabilities and pretty much everything else.
But Tuesday’s must-win match for the United States against the Iran squad known as Team Melli in the group stage of the World Cup has some added geopolitical baggage.
A since-deleted graphic featured in the US Soccer Federation’s social media platforms displayed an Iranian flag without the emblem of the Islamic Republic. The omission, which it said was intended to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights,” prompted Iranian state media to call for the US to be booted from the tournament. Read more about Iran’s reaction.
Seeing improvement
The international dustup also briefly turned the 23-year-old captain of the US Men’s National Team into a diplomat Monday.
Tyler Adams, who is from New York and plays professionally for Leeds United in the United Kingdom, was corrected by an Iranian journalist at a press conference for mispronouncing “Iran” – “ee-RON” is correct, not “EYE-RAN” – and then asked to explain how he can represent a country with racism and racial tension like the United States.
Here’s Adams’ response, after apologizing for mispronouncing “Iran.” It is worth reading:
“One thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the US, we’re continuing to make progress every single day.
“Growing up for me, I grew up in a White family, and with obviously an African-American heritage and background as well. So, I had a little bit of different cultures, and I was very easily able to assimilate in different cultures. Not everyone has that ease and the ability to do that, and obviously, it takes longer to understand, and through education, I think it’s super important.
“Like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. So, yeah, it’s a process. I think as long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing.”
Let’s hope the US is that collected when it plays on the field Tuesday. But let’s also realize that no matter what happens in the game, the “full-fledged human rights crisis” the United Nations human rights chief has described in Iran as authorities crack down on protesters will not be affected by it.
Iranians are conflicted too
While Iran’s government is angry at the US Soccer Federation, it seems like a small token compared with the actions by Iran’s own players, as described by the Dartmouth College professor Golnar Nikpour in a recent essay for the New York Times.
The team’s players stood silent when their national anthem played before their kickoff match, which ended in a loss to England. Nikpour also noted that Team Melli’s captain Ehsan Hajsafi acknowledged the families of people killed in protests during a pre-World Cup press conference.
Nikpour writes: “Against this bloody backdrop, many Iranians have said that they won’t be supporting the side. Some have called for FIFA to remove the team from competition altogether, arguing that allowing Team Melli to play on the international stage affords the Islamic Republic an opportunity to whitewash its repression in the country. Others simply find it impossible to care about football while protesters are being killed.”
Players threatened
It can be a dangerous proposition for soccer players in Iran to overtly protest. Kiley talked to a source involved with security for the games, who told him that after their earlier silent protest before the England game, the players were threatened that their family members would be imprisoned or tortured if they did not sing the national anthem, which they did before their win against Wales. Read Kiley’s full report.
At least one professional soccer player in Iran, Voria Ghafouri, has been fired from his team and arrested for supporting protests, the latest in a string of athletes to be rebuked or arrested by the Iranian government. Read more about the regime’s actions.
NPR talked to people in Iran who said they were hoping for the team to beat the US in the hopes it could bring more people to the street to protest.
Iran won its previous World Cup matchup with the US, played in 1998 in France.
If nothing else, the US matchup with Iran and its attendant symbolism will bring the international headlines into more American homes.
More recent Iran coverage: Iran’s supreme leader praises paramilitary for crackdown on ‘rioters’ and ‘thugs’
Protests spreading in China too
China does not have a soccer team at the World Cup. But it does have its own series of unprecedented protests in cities across the country.
Like the Iran protests, which were accelerated by social media, the latest movement in China appears to have sprung from videos that showed the response to a deadly apartment fire last Thursday in the far western city of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, was delayed by Covid lockdown measures.
Protests, many featuring people standing silently with blank sheets of white paper to symbolize censorship, have since grown and are about more than the Covid policy, according to CNN’s Nectar Gan, Selina Wang and the Beijing bureau for the Meanwhile in China newsletter. Read their take, which includes this line: “… to many protesters, the demonstrations are about much more than Covid – they’re bringing together many liberal-minded young people whose attempts to speak out might otherwise be thwarted by strict online censorship.”
Why the China protests are so significant
CNN’s Jessie Yeung and the Beijing bureau explain:
Public protest is exceedingly rare in China, where the Communist Party has tightened its grip on all aspects of life, launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent, wiped out much of civil society and built a high-tech surveillance state.
The mass surveillance system is even more stringent in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government is accused of detaining up to 2 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in camps where former detainees have alleged they were physically and sexually abused.
They also note that China has repeatedly denied accusations of human rights abuses in the region.
Read more about how the China protests came to be and how they’re spreading. | https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/politics/iran-protests-world-cup-what-matters/index.html | 2022-11-28T23:44:44 | en | 0.972341 |
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President Joe Biden in a statement Monday called on Congress to pass legislation “immediately” averting a rail shutdown and officially adopting a September tentative agreement approved by labor and management leaders.
“I am calling on Congress to pass legislation immediately to adopt the Tentative Agreement between railroad workers and operators – without any modifications or delay – to avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown,” he said.
“This agreement was approved by labor and management negotiators in September,” Biden continued. “On the day that it was announced, labor leaders, business leaders, and elected officials all hailed it as a fair resolution of the dispute between the hard-working men and women of the rail freight unions and the companies in that industry. … Since that time, the majority of the unions in the industry have voted tso approve the deal.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, said Monday the House will take up this week legislation to avert a possible rail strike.
“This week, the House will consider legislation adopting the Tentative Agreement reached in September after months of hard-fought negotiations,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Congress can impose a contract on both parties or extend a negotiation “cooling-off period” to keep the railroads running and avert disruptions to interstate commerce under the Railway Labor Act of 1926. The main crux of the dispute between the railroads and their workers revolves around time off rules.
Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden has been “directly involved” in efforts to resolve the ongoing rail union dispute which could lead to a rail shutdown – in contrast with comments from Biden himself, who told reporters in Nantucket over the weekend he has “not directly engaged” with railway and labor negotiators. | https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/politics/joe-biden-rail-strike-congress/index.html | 2022-11-28T23:44:50 | en | 0.968459 |
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The Republican Party is in the midst of a fight over what it will stand for and who will lead it in the future.
The squabble will play out most directly in the 2024 Republican presidential race, where former President Donald Trump has already announced his candidacy, but plenty of others – like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – are expected to get in as well.
But long before we get to the 2024 votes, there will be a test of what kind of party the GOP wants to be. In January, the Republican National Committee will select its chair for the next two years.
On Monday, MyPillow CEO (and ardent Trump defender) Mike Lindell said on Steve Bannon’s podcast that he would seek the position.
“I am 100% running for the RNC chairman against Ronna McDaniel,” Lindell said. “100%, I’m all in, Steve.”
It remains to be seen whether Lindell will be a serious candidate (or might even win the endorsement of Trump).
What we do know is that McDaniel, who first won the RNC job following Trump’s win in the 2016 election, is going to seek another term.
She has been a staunch Trump ally and he has reciprocated by praising her stewardship of the national party committee. It’s unclear exactly how another McDaniel bid will be viewed after Republicans underwhelmed in the 2022 election, failing to retake the Senate majority and carrying the House by just a handful of seats.
An aide to McDaniel told CNN earlier this month that she had received private commitments of support from about 100 of the 168 RNC members, which would be well more than the simple majority she needs to be reelected.
The most serious challenge to McDaniel could well come from New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, who narrowly lost a surprisingly competitive race to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month.
In a mid-November email to RNC members, Zeldin indicated he was “very seriously considering” a run for the chairmanship, adding: “It is time for our party to retool, transform, win back the Presidency in 2024, expand our number of Republican held seats in Congress, and elect the maximum number of down ballot races across the country.”
The Point: The race for RNC chair looks, at the moment, like it is McDaniel’s to lose. But how and whether Trump weighs in could have a real impact – and deliver an early test of just how much power he retains among GOP stalwarts. | https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/politics/ronna-mcdaniel-rnc-chair-lindell-trump/index.html | 2022-11-28T23:44:56 | en | 0.971192 |
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SAN ANTONIO — Black Friday may be over, but plenty of deals are only a click away on Cyber Monday.
In San Antonio, there is a push to support small businesses. It's called the "Buy Local Holiday Campaign." The initiative launched on "Small Business Saturday" and goes though January 3.
The campaign, part of the city's broader "Buy Local" initiative, urges San Antonians to consider the impact of their holiday purchases and spur the local economy by supporting small and locally owned businesses.
Nancy Nieto hopes shoppers will keep her mind, even on the e-commerce holiday. She owns El Retoñito and sells handmade, hand painted and one-of-a-kind items.
This year, all of her items are online through her new website. It's her first time participating in Cyber Monday.
"I didn't have a website before so I have been really trying to push my website this year," said Nieto.
Nieto's holiday deals are under the sale tab on her website. There are earrings, prints and more to purchase. She said sales have been pretty good from her repeat customers, but she welcomes new shoppers as well.
Nieto hopes that the city's push to support local will help.
"I think it's so awesome because I have vended at local markets in other cities outside of San Antonio, and I don't think the support to shop local is as great as it is in San Antonio," she said.
In a release, the city said shifting as little as ten percent of spending to locally owned businesses can make a profound difference for business owners, their employees and the local economy.
Online, the Buy Local page also lists the benefits of supporting local: community investment, more jobs, local culture, nonprofit support, better service and reduced environmental impact.
Shopping El Retoñito also supports Nieto's livelihood.
"This is what we do and this is how we provide for our home, so it's important to shop locally," she said. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/small-business-owner-san-antonios-support-buy-local-campaign/273-60147868-0be4-422d-b13b-9c4d66361c73 | 2022-11-28T23:45:22 | en | 0.980134 |
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Cyber Monday deals lure in consumers amid high inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after flocking to stores on Black Friday, consumers are turning online for Cyber Monday to score more discounts on gifts and other items that have ballooned in price because of high inflation. Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions for top online retailers, forecasts Cyber Monday will remain the year’s biggest online shopping day and rake in up to $11.6 billion in sales. Some analysts expect the amount of items consumers purchase could remain unchanged - or even fall - compared to prior years. And profit margins are expected to be tight for retailers offering deeper discounts to attract budget-conscious consumers and clear out their bloated inventories.
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2 Fed officials favor keeping key rate at peak through 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Federal Reserve officials said they favor raising the Fed’s key rate to roughly 5% or more and keeping it at its peak through next year — longer than many on Wall Street have expected. John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that the central bank has “more work to do” to reduce inflation closer to its 2% target. And James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, suggested that financial markets are underestimating the likelihood the Fed will have to be more aggressive in its fight against the worst inflation bout in four decades.
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Irish watchdog fines Meta 265M euros in latest privacy case
LONDON (AP) — Irish regulators have slapped Facebook parent Meta with a 265 million euro fine in what is the company’s latest punishment for breaching strict European Union data privacy rules. The Data Protection Commission said Meta Platforms infringed sections of the EU rules that cover technical and organizational measures aimed at protecting user data. The watchdog opened an investigation last year into news reports that data on more 533 million users was found dumped online. Meta says the data had been “scraped” from Facebook using tools designed to help people find their friends through phone numbers using search and contact import features. The company said it had “cooperated fully” with the Irish watchdog.
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BlockFi files for bankruptcy, latest crypto company to fail
NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, the latest casualty of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. New Jersey-based BlockFi had been struggling for much of this year, but was given a lifeline this summer in the form of an FTX line of credit. FTX’s own bankruptcy, however, all but sealed BlockFi’s financial fate. BlockFi suspended withdrawals after FTX’s failure, and it had hired bankruptcy specialists in recent days. BlockFi was one of several crypto currency lenders to pop up in recent years. The company gave loans to customers using their crypto assets as collateral.
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Russian energy giant says no further gas cuts to Moldova
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Monday that it will not further reduce natural gas to Moldova as it had threatened to do after claiming that bills went unpaid and that flows crossing through Ukraine were not making it to Moldova. Gazprom tweeted Monday that Moldovagaz has “eliminated the violation of payment” for November supplies and that “funds for the gas deposited on the territory of Ukraine, intended for consumers in Moldova, have been received.” Last week, Moldova and Ukraine hit back at Gazprom’s claim that Russian gas moving through the last pipeline to Western Europe was being stored in Ukraine. They said all supplies Russia sends through the war-torn country get “fully transferred” to Moldova.
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US stock indexes fall as lockdown protests spread in China
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street as protests spread in China calling for President Xi Jinping to step down amid growing anger over severe restrictions imposed as part of his “zero COVID” strategy in the world’s second-largest economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4%. The Nasdaq lost 1.6%. Small-company stocks fell even more. Technology companies were the biggest weights on the broader market. Bond yields mostly rose. Markets will get another key piece of data on the economy later this week when the Labor Department issues its monthly jobs report.
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Biden eases Venezuela sanctions as opposition talks resume
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is easing some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opposition. The Treasury Department is allowing Chevron to resume “limited” energy production in Venezuela after years of sanctions that have dramatically curtailed oil and gas profits that have flowed to President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Earlier this year the Treasury Department again allowed the California-based Chevron and other U.S. companies to perform basic upkeep of wells it operates jointly with state-run oil giant PDVSA. Under the new policy, profits from the sale of energy would be directed to paying down debt owed to Chevron, rather than providing profits to PDVSA.
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Whole Foods decision to pull lobster divides enviros, pols
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmental groups are once again at odds with politicians and fishermen in New England in the wake of a decision by high-end retail giant Whole Foods to stop selling Maine lobster. Whole Foods recently said that it will stop selling lobster from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country. The company cited decisions by a pair of sustainability organizations to take away their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry. The organizations, Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch, both cited concerns about risks to rare North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. Entanglement in gear is one of the biggest threats to the whales.
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The S&P 500 shed 62.18 points, or less than 1.5%, to 3,963.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 497.57 points, or 1.4%, to 33,849.46. The Nasdaq tumbled 176.86 points, or 1.6%, to 11,049.50. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 38.23 points, or 2%, to 1,830.96. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Business-Highlights-Cyber-Monday-BlockFi-17616618.php | 2022-11-28T23:45:22 | en | 0.950196 |
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded guilty Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, guaranteeing he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Payton Gendron, 19, entered the plea Monday in a courthouse roughly two miles from the grocery store where he used a semiautomatic rifle and body armor to carry out a racist assault he hoped would help preserve white power in the U.S.
Gendron, who was handcuffed and wore an orange jumpsuit, occasionally licked and clenched his lips as he pleaded guilty to all of the most serious charges in the grand jury indictment, including murder, murder as a hate crime and hate-motivated domestic terrorism, which carries an automatic sentence of life without parole.
He answered “yes” and “guilty" as Judge Susan Eagan referred to each victim by name and asked whether he killed them because of their race. Gendron also pleaded guilty to wounding three people who survived the May attack.
Many of the relatives of those victims sat and watched, some dabbing their eyes and sniffling. Speaking to reporters later, several said the plea left them cold. It didn’t address the bigger problem, which they said is racism in America.
“His voice made me feel sick, but it showed me I was right,” said Zeneta Everhart, whose 20-year-old son was shot in the neck but survived. “This country has a problem. This country is inherently violent. It is racist. And his voice showed that to me.”
After the roughly 45-minute proceeding ended, Gendron's lawyers suggested that he now regrets his crimes, but they didn't elaborate or take questions.
“This critical step represents a condemnation of the racist ideology that fueled his horrific actions on May 14,” said Gendron’s lawyer, Brian Parker. “It is our hope that a final resolution of the state charges will help in some small way to keep the focus on the needs of the victims and the community.”
Gendron has pleaded not guilty to separate federal hate crime charges that could result in a death sentence if he is convicted. The U.S. Justice Department has not said whether it will seek capital punishment. Acknowledgement of guilt and a claim of repentance could potentially help Gendron in a penalty phase of a death penalty trial.
The plea comes at a time when many Americans have become nearly desensitized to mass shootings. In recent weeks, there have been deadly attacks at a Walmart in Virginia, at a gay club in Colorado and at the University of Virginia.
Just days after Gendron’s rampage in Buffalo, a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas.
Gendron wore body armor and used a legally purchased AR-15 style rifle in his attack on the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo. Those killed ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included an armed security guard died trying to protect customers, a church deacon and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner. Gendron surrendered when police confronted him as he emerged from the store.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who was in the courtroom for Gendron’s guilty plea, told reporters afterwards that “It was important to hear why these precious lives were snatched from us for no other reason than the color of their skin.”
The mayor, a Democrat, called for a ban on assault weapons, as did Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia. Relatives of the victims reiterated their calls for Congress and the FBI to address white supremacy and gun violence. "We are literally begging for those in power to do something about it," said Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed."
White supremacy was Gendron’s motive. He said in documents posted online just before the attack that he’d picked the store, about a three hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York, because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood. He said he was motivated by a belief in a massive conspiracy to dilute the power of white people by “replacing” them in the U.S. with people of color.
“Swift justice,” is how Erie County District Attorney John Flynn described Monday’s result, noting that it’s the first time anyone in the state of New York has been convicted of the hate-motivated terrorism charge. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents several of the victims’ families, said they remain baffled that the gunman survived. They want harsh punishment, he said: “We want him to be treated as the heinous, cold blooded vicious murderer that he was for killing all these innocent Black people. It is emotional and we are angry.”
Mark Talley, the son of Geraldine Talley, who was killed, called on authorities to incarcerate him in Erie County, in the same community where he caused so much pain, so that he might face the same horror experienced by his victims. “I want that pain to eat at him every second of every day for the rest of his life,” Talley said.
Talley and Everhart said they were offended by Gendron's tone and cleaned-up appearance in court. They said a Black defendant would have been treated differently. Gendron is a “thug,” they said.
“We show them in a way that doesn’t make them threatening, and it’s disgusting,” Everhart said.
“Am I happy he’s gong to jail for life?" Tally said. “What would make me happy is if America acknowledged its history of racism.” | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/nation-world/buffalo-supermarket-gunman-guilty/507-c52169ac-fba7-43a1-a7b2-67688f4fc820 | 2022-11-28T23:45:28 | en | 0.983088 |
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BEIJING, China — Authorities eased anti-virus rules in scattered areas but affirmed China’s severe “zero- COVID” strategy Monday after crowds demanded President Xi Jinping resign during protests against controls that confine millions of people to their homes.
The government made no comment on the protests or criticism of Xi, the most widespread display of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades. There was no official word on how many people were detained after police used pepper spray against protesters in Shanghai and struggled to suppress demonstrations in other cities including Beijing, the capital.
The city government of Beijing announced it would no longer set up gates to block access to apartment compounds where infections are found. It made no mention of a deadly fire last week that set off the protests following angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls.
“Passages must remain clear for medical transportation, emergency escapes and rescues,” said a city official in charge of epidemic control, Wang Daguang, according to the official China News Service.
“Zero COVID,” which aims to isolate every infected person, has helped to keep China’s case numbers lower than those of the United States and other major countries. But people in some areas have been confined at home for up to four months and say they lack reliable food supplies.
The ruling party promised last month to reduce the disruption of “zero COVID" by changing quarantine and other rules. But public acceptance is wearing thin after a spike in infections prompted cities to tighten controls, fueling complaints overzealous enforcement is hurting the public.
On Monday, the number of new daily cases rose to 40,347, including 36,525 with no symptoms.
The ruling party newspaper People’s Daily called for its anti-virus strategy to be carried out effectively, indicating Xi’s government has no plans to change course.
“Facts have fully proved that each version of the prevention and control plan has withstood the test of practice,” a People’s Daily commentator wrote.
Also Monday, the southern manufacturing and trade metropolis of Guangzhou, the biggest hotspot in China’s latest wave of infections, announced some residents will no longer be required to undergo mass testing. It cited a need to conserve resources.
Protests spread to at least eight major cities after at least 10 people died Thursday in the fire in an apartment building in Urumqi in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Most protesters complained about excessive restrictions, but some shouted slogans against Xi, China's most powerful leader since at least the 1980s. In a video that was verified by The Associated Press, a crowd in Shanghai on Saturday chanted, “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!”
Police using pepper spray broke up that demonstration, but people returned to the same spot on Sunday for another protest. A reporter saw an unknown number being driven away in a police bus after being detained.
Elsewhere, videos on social media that said they were filmed in Nanjing in the east, Chongqing and Chengdu in the southwest and other cities showed protesters tussling with police in white protective suits or dismantling barricades used to seal off neighborhoods. The Associated Press could not verify that all those protests took place or where.
Earlier, the ruling party faced public anger over the deaths of two children whose parents said anti-virus controls hampered efforts to get emergency medical help.
Urumqi and a smaller city in Xinjiang, Korla, announced markets and other businesses in areas deemed at low risk of infection would reopen this week and public bus service would resume in what appeared to be an attempt to mollify the public.
There was no indication whether residents in higher-risk areas would be allowed out of their homes. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/nation-world/china-covid-protests/507-0bc54b02-fb12-4b5f-bd4f-07a5e6d7112a | 2022-11-28T23:45:34 | en | 0.965621 |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut program that offered “hero pay” to essential workers at the peak of of the coronavirus pandemic got so many applicants that state lawmakers had to go back into session Monday to provide extra funding and put new limits on who could get the biggest bonuses.
The Connecticut General Assembly was meeting to revamp the distribution formula for the Premium Pay Program for private sector workers.
Initially, the state had expected to award about $30 million in bonuses to people who had to go to work, in person, in jobs in health care, food distribution, public safety and other essential services.
But after getting 155,730 applications from eligible people, lawmakers realized they would have to either put more money in or slash benefits.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done a program like this in the history of Connecticut, to my knowledge. And guessing what that’s going to be is hard to do,” said Democratic state Rep. Sean Scanlon. “Once we became clear that we did have more oversubscription to the program than there was, we figured out a solution to it.”
Numerous states provided bonuses to certain workers during the coronavirus pandemic, often by tapping into federal relief funds.
Half the states have collectively budgeted about $2.7 billion for extra pay to public or private-sector workers by using federal American Rescue Plan funds, according to an Associated Press analysis of the most recent data released by the U.S. Treasury Department. Connecticut’s program does not rely on the federal funds.
Some states have targeted the extra pay to workers most likely to come into close contact with people, such as public health and safety employees and teachers. Others have distributed money more widely. The “essential employee premium pay program” in Massachusetts provided $500 to any individual earning between about $13,000 and $39,000 annually, or earning up to nearly $80,000 for a household of four.
Under the revamped Connecticut plan, which cleared the House of Representatives and awaited a vote in the Senate on Monday night, funding would be boosted by $76.6 million and a new tiered system would be imposed for the program, which has stopped accepting new applications.
Only eligible full-time workers earning $50,000 or less per year — 66,289 people — would receive the full bonus of $1,000. Other applicants would receive reduced sums. The original program had offered full bonuses to workers earning as much as $150,000. Someone earning $150,000 will now receive $100.
Meanwhile, the benefit for eligible part-time workers would drop from $500 to $200.
Connecticut's program covers a fairly wide range of workers who were among the first eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Those include health care workers, police, firefighters, prison guards, grocery clerks, teachers, bus drivers and employees in various manufacturing fields.
There's been debate among state and city officials across the country about who should receive pandemic bonuses, especially after the U.S. government allowed so-called hero pay for frontline workers as a possible use of federal pandemic relief funds.
“If you wanted to benefit the heroes, you needed to define better what a hero is,” said Rep. Vincent Candelora, the Republican leader of the Connecticut House of Representatives, who criticized Connecticut's plan for being underfunded and making “no sense” as to who receives the money.
Like Connecticut, some other state's bonus programs also far exceeded original estimates.
In Minnesota, checks of $487.45 were cut for qualified frontline workers this fall after the state approved more than 1 million applications. State officials had originally estimated the final pool of qualified workers would be around 667,000, with payments of about $750 apiece, but applications exceeded expectations.
Missouri had originally budgeted $24 million to give bonuses to state employees working in institutions such as prisons, mental health facilities and veterans nursing homes. The program, which expired in 2021, ended up costing nearly $100 million.
Vermont twice increased funding for its hazard pay program, which originally included health care employees who worked during the early days of the pandemic and later was expanded to include retail and grocery workers, child care providers, janitors, trash collectors and others.
If Connecticut's revamped bonus program for private sector essential workers clears the General Assembly, as expected, the issue of pandemic pay is not over. Gov. Ned Lamont has yet to reach an agreement with union leaders on how to distribute a second pot of money for state workers. An arbitrator is scheduled to meet with both sides Dec. 16.
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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Connecticut-facing-growing-cost-of-pandemic-bonus-17616739.php | 2022-11-28T23:45:34 | en | 0.975611 |
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The capital murder trial began Monday of a former U.S. Border Patrol agent who confessed to killing four sex workers in South Texas, telling investigators he wanted to “clean up the streets” of his border hometown.
If convicted of capital murder, Juan David Ortiz, 39, faces life in prison without parole because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
At the time of his arrest, Ortiz, a Navy veteran, was a Border Patrol intel supervisor. He was arrested in Laredo on Sept. 15, 2018, after Erika Pena escaped from him and asked a state trooper for help. Ortiz pleaded not guilty Monday to capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint and evading arrest.
“You will see and you will hear, through his own words, how he took each woman to their last resting place, how he executed them," Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz told jurors during opening statements. “You will hear in his own words the indifference, the disrespect, the degradation that he has for these people.”
“You will hear the evidence in this own words: ‘I wanted to clean up the streets,’” Alaniz said, adding that Ortiz in Spanish called the women “dirt."
Ortiz is standing trial in San Antonio, in Bexar County, following a defense request to move the trial from Webb County due to extensive media coverage.
Alaniz also said that during the confession, Ortiz told investigators where to find the body of one of his victims.
Ortiz’s attorney, Joel Perez, told jurors in opening statements that investigators had jumped to conclusions, and that his client’s confession was “coerced.” He said his client was “broken” and “suicidal” when he made the confession after being questioned for over eight hours. Months earlier, the veteran had been put on “a bunch of psychotic pills” after seeking help when he was unable to sleep and having nightmares, Perez said.
Ortiz told investigators he’d had blackouts as well, Perez said.
“This is a defeated man,” Perez said.
Melissa Ramirez, 29, was killed on Sept. 3, 2018, and 42-year-old Claudine Luera was killed on Sept. 13, 2018.
On Sept. 14, 2018, Ortiz picked up Pena, who told investigators that Ortiz acted oddly when she brought up Ramirez's slaying. Pena testified Monday that she took off running when Ortiz pointed a gun at her in a truck at a gas station, and was crying as she approached a state trooper who was refueling his vehicle.
Ortiz fled and, he later told investigators, picked up and killed his last two victims, 35-year-old Guiselda Alicia Cantu and 28-year-old Janelle Ortiz. Authorities eventually tracked Juan David Ortiz to a hotel parking garage where he was arrested.
Each of his victims was shot in the head and left along rural Laredo-area roads. One died of blunt force trauma after being shot.
“Through the evidence, we will take you … to those last moments of these women’s lives,” Alaniz told jurors on Monday.
The Border Patrol placed Ortiz on indefinite, unpaid suspension after his arrest. When asked Monday for an update on his current employment status, a Border Patrol official said the agency doesn't comment on “pending litigation.” | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Ex-Border-Patrol-agent-accused-of-killing-4-goes-17616596.php | 2022-11-28T23:45:40 | en | 0.986531 |
DENVER (AP) — Two Colorado sheriff’s deputies needlessly escalated a fatal standoff with a 22-year-old man experiencing a “mental health crisis,” leading him to brandish a knife in “a state of complete panic and self defense,” indictments released Monday showed.
The death last June of Christian Glass drew national attention and prompted calls for police reforms focused on crisis intervention. Glass was shot after calling 911 for help getting his car unstuck in the hamlet of Silver Plume, an hour west of Denver.
Clear Creek County Sheriff Deputy Andrew Buen, who shot Glass, was verbally aggressive toward the “paranoid” young man and muted his body worn camera when speaking to the shift supervisor, deputy Kyle Gould, just before the situation was escalated, according to the indictment.
Buen was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, official misconduct, and reckless endangerment. The indictment was announced last week, months after Glass' death, but the details were only made public with Monday's release.
Gould, who was not at the scene, was indicted on charges of reckless endangerment and criminally negligent homicide
The death has become a flashpoint for demands for police reforms focused both on crisis intervention and de-escalation training to address 911 calls police may not be fully equipped to handle.
Carrie L. Slinkard, an attorney representing Buen, did not immediately return a request for comment. No telephone listing or attorney could be found for Gould.
Nichole Lentz, spokesperson for the Clear Creek County Sheriff, said in a statement that both officers were terminated following the indictments.
The sheriff office’s ongoing internal investigation found “policy and procedural failures,” Lentz said, adding that the office’s initial news release following the shooting “does not reflect the entirety of what happened on that terrible night.”
Glass, who called police late on June 10 to help get his Honda Pilot unstuck, appeared to be “paranoid” and having a “mental health crisis," according to the indictment. Once law enforcement arrived, body camera videos show Glass refusing to get out of his car while telling police he is “terrified” and making heart shapes with his hands to officers.
Officers tried to speak with Glass, establish a rapport and persuade him to leave the car, but Buen oscillated between aggressive language and a conversational tone with the young man, according to the indictment.
Eventually, Buen spoke with Gould, the shift supervisor, over the phone but muted his body camera during the conversation, according to the indictment. After the call, Buen told another officer at the scene that the decision to forcefully remove Glass from the vehicle had been made, the indictment claims.
The decision to breach the car came without a determination that there was probable cause or a reasonable suspicion by officers on the scene that a crime had been, or was being, committed, according to the indictment.
Once the window was shattered, Glass seemed to panic, and police then shot Glass with bean bag rounds and shocked him with a stun gun, causing the young man to “scream in agony and panic,” according to the indictment.
Glass then brandished a knife in “a state of complete panic and self defense," according to the indictment. It added that Glass had previously offered to throw two knives out of the window though the video shows officers told him not to.
The footage then shows Glass twisting in his seat and thrusting a knife toward an officer who approaches the rear driver window before Buen fired his gun five times into Glass, according to the documents.
The grand jury alleged that at no point was the officer in imminent danger of being stabbed and Glass never attempted to get out of his vehicle.
“But for the decision by Gould to remove Mr. Glass from the vehicle there is no reason to believe that Mr. Glass would have been a danger to any law enforcement personnel, to himself, or to any member of the public,” the grand jury wrote, “And the decision to remove him from the vehicle directly lead to the death of Mr. Glass.” | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Grand-jury-Deputies-escalated-standoff-with-man-17616597.php | 2022-11-28T23:45:47 | en | 0.97716 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is making a fuller reopening to the public following more than two and a half years of closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Beginning Dec. 1, the high court will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the Supreme Court’s website. The high court closed to the public in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In October, the high court began allowing the public to attend arguments in the courtroom again on the approximately six days a month the court hears arguments, but the court building remained closed to visitors at other times.
The high court initially postponed arguments because of the pandemic, then started hearing arguments by phone. The justices began hearing arguments in the courtroom again in October 2021 but without the public present. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/High-court-opening-its-doors-to-public-on-17616671.php | 2022-11-28T23:45:53 | en | 0.944956 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday in a letter to Congress that there is “nothing to suggest” that Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics standards following a report that a 2014 decision he wrote was leaked in advance of its announcement.
The letter was in response to an inquiry from lawmakers following a New York Times report earlier this month. That report said that a former anti-abortion leader was told in advance the outcome of the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores case involving health care coverage of contraception. In a 5-4 decision, Alito wrote that some companies with religious objections can avoid the contraceptives requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care legislation.
Earlier this year, Alito's opinion in a different case, the court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, was leaked. But while that leak was a public disclosure of the text, the new report alleged that in the 2014 case, the disclosure wasn't as broad.
In the Times story, Rev. Rob Schenck said he was told the outcome of the 2014 decision by Gail Wright, a donor to an organization he headed who had dined with Alito and his wife. In the story, Wright denied obtaining or sharing any information and Alito also emphatically denied disclosing the case's outcome in a statement.
The Supreme Court's letter Tuesday to Congress included language Alito used previously denying the case's outcome had been disclosed.
“There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito's actions violated ethics standards,” Supreme Court legal counsel Ethan Torrey wrote in a letter addressed to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia. The two Democrats chair courts subcommittees.
Alito was appointed to the high court in 2006 by President George W. Bush. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Letter-Nothing-to-suggest-Alito-violated-17616669.php | 2022-11-28T23:45:59 | en | 0.980921 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A Fort Wayne man was given life in prison Monday in the death and dismemberment of another man.
Allen Superior Court Judge David Zent sentenced Mathew J. Cramer II, 22, after a jury convicted him of murder, abuse of a corpse and resisting law enforcement in the slaying of Shane Van Nguyen, 55, on April 23, 2021. The jury had recommended the life sentence.
Cramer apologized to Nguyen's family.
“I’m really sorry for what happened,” Cramer said.
Family friends Rob Evans and Don Cochran presented a victim impact statement on behalf of Nguyen's widow, Don Nguyen.
“His murder took away my husband,” Don Nguyen’s statement said. “His murder took away a father of two sons.”
During his trial, the defense claimed Cramer was homeless and living in a storage unit. It said Nguyen saw Cramer walking along a street, asked Cramer if he needed a ride, drove Cramer to the storage unit and the two had sex. It said Cramer was the victim of a sexual predator and acted in a panic.
Investigators said Cramer slammed Nguyen’s head to the ground, killing him. They say Cramer and an accomplice, 21-year-old Jacob Carreon-Hamilton, dismembered Nguyen’s body at a storage unit before placing them in the victim’s van.
Carreon-Hamilton pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal, abuse of a corpse, and resisting law enforcement in July. He was sentenced to five years in prison. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Man-gets-life-in-prison-for-man-for-dismemberment-17616650.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:02 | en | 0.970249 |
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Incoming and returning Republicans to the North Carolina Senate chose on Monday a key lawmaker on tax, voting and energy issues to become the chamber's majority leader for the next two years.
The Senate Republican Caucus, meeting privately, elected Sen. Paul Newton of Cabarrus County to the majority leader's post, according to a news release. Newton is a retired Duke Energy president for North Carolina first elected to the Senate in 2016.
In a separate meeting Monday, Senate Democrats reelected Sen. Dan Blue of Wake County to another term as minority leader.
Newton succeeds outgoing Sen. Kathy Harrington, who didn't seek reelection this fall to her Gaston County seat. When Republicans chose her two years ago, Harrington was the first woman to hold the Senate majority leader job since the chamber created it over 40 years ago.
The majority leader presides at caucus meetings in which the majority party discusses policy issues and votes, and is usually considered a top lieutenant to the Senate president pro tempore.
The GOP caucus on Monday also agreed to nominate Phil Berger of Rockingham County to a seventh term as president pro tem when the entire chamber votes for the post when the two-year term convenes Jan. 11.
Republicans will hold 30 of the 50 Senate seats — a two-seat increase with the November elections — so Berger is all but assured of retaining the chamber’s most powerful position. His time holding the job — dating to 2011 — ranks second all-time to late Democratic Sen. Marc Basnight of Dare County, who served 18 years at the top.
Newton has been a co-chairman of the Senate finance and redistricting and elections committees. He also was heavily involved in negotiations over a bipartisan 2021 law that directs the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by electric energy producers, chiefly Duke Energy.
"I’m so appreciative of the support I have received from my colleagues and am ready to build on our prior success of lowering taxes, improving the quality of education, and spending responsibly,” Newton said in a news release.
The Senate GOP caucus also on Monday nominated Sen. Ralph Hise of Mitchell County to another term as deputy president pro tempore and reelected Sens. Tom McInnis of Richmond County and Jim Perry of Lenoir County as majority whips.
Blue, elected on Monday to his fifth term as Senate Democratic leader, originally joined the General Assembly in 1981 in the House. He was the first Black speaker in North Carolina history, serving from 1991 through 1994. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri of Wake County also was reelected minority whip.
House Republicans earlier this month agreed to nominate Rep. Tim Moore of Cleveland County to what would be a record fifth two-year term as speaker. House Democrats will meet Dec. 5 to choose their leaders. Current House Minority Leader Rep. Robert Reives of Chatham County has said he will seek another two years at the job. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/NC-Sen-Newton-new-majority-leader-Berger-gets-17616614.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:08 | en | 0.961313 |
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NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday said Donald Trump “demonstrated profoundly poor judgment” and called on him to apologize after the former president had dinner last week with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West days after launching his third campaign for the White House.
“President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and Holocaust denier, a seat at the table and I think he should apologize for it. And he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification,” Pence said in an interview with NewsNation's Leland Vittert airing Monday night.
Still, Pence, who is considering his own potential run against his former boss, said he does not believe Trump is antisemitic or racist and said he would not have served as Trump's vice president if he was.
“But I think the President demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table and as I said, I think he should apologize for it," he added. “He should denounce them without qualification.”
Trump had dinner last Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago club with West, who is now known as Ye, as well as Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist with a long history of antisemitic and white nationalist commentary.
Trump has said that he had “never met and knew nothing about” Fuentes, who had accompanied Ye, before the meeting. But he has so far refused to acknowledge or denounce the positions of ether Fuentes or Ye, who has made his own series of antisemitic comments in recent weeks, leading to his suspension from social media platforms and the end of his ties with major companies like Adidas.
The meeting has been criticized by Jewish groups like the Zionist Organization of America, which honored Trump just two days before his campaign launch, Trump's former ambassador to Israel, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another potential Trump 2024 rival, who has become an outspoken Trump critic.
“This is just another example of an awful lack of judgment from Donald Trump, which, combined with his past poor judgments, make him an untenable general election candidate for the Republican Party in 2024,” Christie told The New York Times.
On Saturday, Trump's former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, another potential 2024 rival, denounced antisemitism as “a cancer,” without directly referencing the dinner or the president under whom he served.
But other top Republicans, including many considering challenging Trump for the GOP nomination, have so far remained silent, underscoring the hold Trump maintains over the party, even as he has been blamed for their worse-than-expected showing during the midterm elections. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Pence-calls-on-Trump-to-apologize-for-dinner-with-17616670.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:15 | en | 0.986021 |
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Two women were found dead after a car crash and police shooting in suburban Detroit, and authorities in Tennessee were checking whether one discovered in the trunk could be a person reported missing days ago.
The car had a Tennessee license plate.
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, police detectives “have been in touch with Michigan State Police, the lead investigating agency, and are awaiting the results of their investigation and including identities of parties involved,” Officer Larry Flowers said Monday.
The incident occurred Sunday. Dearborn police were approaching a black Dodge Charger, but the driver hit the gas and fled when officers got closer, state police said.
Moments later, the car crashed into a house.
“As officers approached the crash scene, there was an exchange of gunfire between the officers and the suspect,” state police said.
The 36-year-old female driver died in the shooting. A 34-year-old woman who was a passenger was injured. Police found the body of a 31-year-old woman in the car trunk.
Autopsies were planned Monday, The Detroit News reported.
Eleni Kassa was reported missing to Murfreesboro police on Nov. 18. She had failed to pick up her daughter from school the previous day. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Police-checking-for-link-between-missing-woman-17616645.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:21 | en | 0.988262 |
What exactly is a winter beer? While there’s no legal definition of what a winter beer is, you probably have a general idea of what one will taste like when you crack it open. Winter beers cover a broad range of styles, but they are generally higher in alcohol than their summery counterparts, utilize more malts, and (on some occasions) have wintry, seasonal spices included. Under this umbrella, you’ll find double IPAs, barleywines, stouts, winter warmers, brown ales, and various other styles.
Like with all beer styles (especially seasonal), more well-known examples seem to pop up every year. We found eight of these classic gems and decided to rank them based on quality and flavor. Below, you’ll find winter warmers, lagers, IPAs, and even Christmas ales. Keep scrolling to see them all.
8) Samuel Adams Winter Lager
ABV: 5.6%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This festive, wintry spiced wheat bock starts with Hallertau Mittelfrueh & Spalt Spalter Noble hops. The addition of lager yeast, 2-row pale, Caramel 60, Carafa, Munich 10, and malted wheat give it a toasty, sweet, slightly spicy flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is fairly light with caramel malts, wintry spices, orange peel, and not much else. The palate follows suit with more like vanilla, caramel, bready malts, orange, and cinnamon. It’s an okay beer if you like light wintry spices, but nothing to get excited about.
Bottom Line:
Samuel Adams recently changed the recipe for this beer and it has more wintry spices and orange peel flavor. Clearly, it’s designed to be more of a festive beer, it just misses the mark.
7) Hop Works Abominable
ABV: 7.3%
Average Price: $11.50 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This 7.3% ABV winter ale is brewed with 2-row, C40, C60, Black Malt, and Black Prinz malts. It gets its snappy, floral flavor from the addition of Chinook, Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe, and Cryo Chinook hops. It’s a well-balanced, citrus and spiced winter ale you’ll look forward to every year.
Tasting Notes:
This beer starts off in an unexpected way for a winter ale. There’s a ton of citrus and pine up front with aromas of vanilla and caramel following closely behind. Drinking it reveals more caramel malts as well as pineapple, citrus peels, and piney, herbal hops. It’s a fun beer, but a little hoppy for some winter beer fans.
Bottom Line:
While the hop presence is nice and it’s a highly drinkable winter beer, we’d just prefer that the malts and hops were a little more balanced.
6) Full Sail Wreck The Halls
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $10.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Sometimes you just want to deck the halls by drinking something that seems out of place during the holidays. This award-winning beer is referred to as a double IPA, but it’s more like you mixed a winter warmer and a bold Crystal malt and Centennial hop-based IPA together.
Tasting Notes:
Another beer that has floral, herbal pine right off the bat, Wreck the Halls also has a ton of bready and caramel malt aroma. The palate is surprisingly bitter for a winter ale with a ton of pine needles, grapefruit, and tangerine, as well as bready and caramel malts. It’s very hop-forward but has a nice balance to it.
Bottom Line:
As wintry double IPAs go, this one is fairly well-balanced. This finish is dry and a little sweeter than we’d prefer in a double IPA though.
5) Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $10.99 for a four-pack
The Beer:
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome is just that. It’s a seasonal, limited edition beer that helps to usher in the start of winter. It’s malt-forward with a nice kick of Fuggle and Goldings hops to tie everything together nicely in one neat, holiday package.
Tasting Notes:
Caramel malts, freshly baked bread, dried fruits, vanilla, and lightly herbal hops aromas are prevalent on the nose. The palate continues this trend with toffee, honey, raisins, floral hops, and gentle holiday spices. Overall, it’s a little watery, but surprisingly flavorful.
Bottom Line:
To really live up to its name, we wish this winter warmer had a little more oomph to it. The ABV is a little low and the palate is a little watery.
4) Deschutes Jubeleale
ABV: 6.7%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This aptly named beer is referred to as a “festive winter ale”. Its complex flavor profile of chocolate, caramel, and winter spices comes from the addition of Pale, Crystal, Extra Special, Carapils malts and roasted barley as well as Bravo, Cascade, Delta, Us Tettnang, and East Kent Goldings hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is dried fruits, caramel candy, and chocolate fudge. It doesn’t seem like much, but it really draws you in. Drinking it reveals a nice mix of toffee, milk chocolate, wintry spices, and lightly floral, herbal hops that tie everything together with an earthy, spicy flavor.
Bottom Line:
This is an interesting winter ale, to say the least. It’s not all hops and it’s not all spice. There’s a nice caramel and chocolate component that make it a truly special beer.
3) Anderson Valley Winter Solstice
ABV: 6.9%
Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This eagerly awaited seasonal beer is brewed with house yeast, Pale 2-row, Crystal, and Munich malts as well as oat flakes, Northern Brewer and Chinook hops. It’s known for its bold, caramel, toffee, and spiced flavor profile that needs to be tasted to be believed.
Tasting Notes:
Cinnamon, nutmeg, toffee, dried fruits, and light, earthy hops are prevalent on the nose. Toasted malts, wet grass, dried fruits, more wintry spices, brown sugar, caramel candy, and lightly bitter hops round out the palate nicely. The finish is a nice mix of sweetness and bitterness.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason this is such a beloved, eagerly awaited holiday beer. It’s well-balanced and flavorful with everything you’d want in a winter brew.
2) Sierra Nevada Celebration
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There aren’t many winter seasonal beers as eagerly awaited as Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. This winter favorite is brewed with ale yeast, caramelized, and 2-row pale malts. It gets its bright, hoppy flavor from the addition of Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose starts off with light cereal grains, toffee, and bready malts and moves onto aromas of grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, and herbal, earthy pine. The palate continues this start with flavors like caramel candy, honey, grapefruit, tangerine, and spicy, floral, earthy pine needles. The finish is a nice mix of malt sweetness and citrus and piney bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This is an extremely complex, complicated beer. This one and the beer that took the top spot could easily be interchanged based on your beer preference. This is the holiday beer for the hop fans.
1) Anchor Christmas Ale
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There aren’t many winter beers (or any beers for that matter) as beloved and eagerly awaited as Anchor Christmas Ale. Brewed since 1975 (you read that right), Anchor doesn’t release the recipe. But you can bet that year after year it will be loaded with caramel malts, wintry spices, and light hops.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of cocoa powder, sticky toffee pudding, molasses candy, cinnamon, nutmeg, and floral, herbal pine greet you before your first sip. The palate is loaded with bready and toasted malts, caramel, toffee, honey, molasses, fudge, nutmeg, cinnamon, and lightly bitter, earthy hops. The finish is a mix of roasted malts and bitter, floral hops.
Bottom Line:
The folks at Anchor have had a long time to perfect this beer and they definitely have. It’s an amazingly balanced beer with caramel malts, wintry spices, and hops playing together nicely. | https://uproxx.com/life/best-craft-beer-winter-2022/ | 2022-11-28T23:46:27 | en | 0.923741 |
WAVERLY, Ohio (AP) — The first defendant to face trial in the slayings of eight people from another Ohio family should be convicted regardless of whether he was a triggerman, a prosecutor told jurors Monday as closing arguments began.
George Wagner IV, his brother and parents were charged in southern Ohio's Pike County for the 2016 slayings of seven adults and a teenager from the Rhoden family, which authorities say the Wagners spent months planning. The 31-year-old Wagner wasn’t accused of shooting any of the victims, and he testified in his own defense, denying that he knew anything about his relatives' involvement in the killings.
But special prosecutor Angela Canepa told jurors that Wagner knew what would happen, participated in the plans and should be convicted in the killings, which authorities say stemmed from a dispute over custody of Wagner's young niece.
“He doesn’t have to be the person that actually pulled the trigger,” Canepa said.
Prosecutors allege that Wagner was with his brother and father when they drove to the locations of the killings, went inside with them and helped his brother move two bodies.
Jurors are scheduled to hear closing arguments from the defense on Tuesday before beginning their deliberations.
They've listened to testimony from dozens of witnesses over the course of more than two months, including from Wagner, who said he wouldn't have let the slayings occur if he had known of the plans.
His testimony stood at odds with that of his own brother and mother, who previously admitted their roles under earlier plea agreements in the slayings.
His younger brother, Edward “Jake” Wagner, admitted killing five victims and implicated his father in the other three slayings. Jake had pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other charges and agreed to testify against George and their parents in a deal to help the family avoid potential death sentences.
Prosecutors said the Wagners became obsessed with gaining control of a child that Jake Wagner had with Hanna Rhoden.
Angela Wagner, who pleaded guilty to helping to plan the slayings, testified that Jake wanted to kill Hanna Rhoden. But Angela Wagner said it was her husband, George “Billy” Wagner III, who believed they had to kill the whole Rhoden family to avoid a possible revenge attack.
Billy Wagner has pleaded not guilty in the slayings and awaits trial.
The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children: 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna, and 16-year-old Christopher Jr.; Frankie's fiancée, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Prosecutor-Triggerman-or-not-find-man-guilty-in-17616748.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:27 | en | 0.981435 |
Elon Musk has a record of saying one thing and doing another, a fact that has become increasingly obvious and alarming since his takeover of Twitter has resulted in chaos within the company and an uptick in far-right actors and hate speech on the platform.
Take, for example, his circuitous route to owning Twitter. After offering $54.20 per share for the company in April and waiving due diligence, the world’s richest man tried to back out of the deal because, he alleged, Twitter hadn’t offered enough information about fake accounts. It was only months later, when Twitter sued Musk to enforce the agreement, that the Tesla billionaire moved forward with the acquisition.
But rather than beef up the team focused on spam and misinformation, Musk oversaw the shrinking of the company’s workforce by about two-thirds, a mixture of mass layoffs, firings and resignations. Then Musk said that anyone, even new Twitter users with unverified identities, would be able to buy a blue “verification” badge for $8 per month under his leadership ― only to reverse course after a staggering wave of impersonation and scam accounts rolled in.
Most significant, Musk has completely abandoned a commitment he made just a few days after purchasing Twitter. He promised to convene “a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” including “civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence,” before making any major content decisions or reinstating banned accounts that had violated Twitter’s rules.
Instead, Musk has taken matters into his own hands, tweeting out a poll to ask if former President Donald Trump, who had been permanently suspended from Twitter after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol for inciting violence, should be allowed back on the platform. Less than 10% of Twitter’s daily active users actually weighed in, but the poll reportedly broke in Trump’s favor by a 4-percentage-point margin, and Musk reinstated his account.
A second poll from Musk, which reported a quarter of the participation of the first one, resulted in a commitment from him to pursue amnesty for all suspended accounts except for those that had violated the law or pushed “egregious” spam, whatever that means.
“Amnesty begins next week,” Musk said on Thursday.
Twitter did not respond to HuffPost’s questions for this article. Musk, however, has blamed his reversal on content moderation on social justice groups, whom he has accused of “starving us of advertising” by pressuring Twitter’s major clients to hold the site’s feet to the fire over hate speech.
Rashad Robinson, president of the online racial justice group Color of Change, who attended an early meeting Musk organized with civic society groups, told HuffPost that Musk’s erratic actions have spoken louder than his words.
“It was just shocking how not ready for prime time Twitter was and how, at every turn, they made the case to advertisers far better than we could have,” Robinson said.
“The advertisers experienced the same thing that we experienced: One minute, these grand promises, and then the next minute they find out that the same people that Elon Musk brought on the call were leaving the company.”
“It was just shocking how not ready for prime time Twitter was.”
Twitter Shifts Right
In the month since Musk took over, Twitter has already reinstated accounts, including those belonging to the right-wing influencer Jordan Peterson and the satire website Babylon Bee — reportedly on Musk’s direct orders — that had violated company policy against misgendering transgender people.
Twitter has also reopened accounts belonging to Andrew Tate, a misogynist influencer; Project Veritas, the right-wing undercover activist group previously banned for violating rules about sharing others’ personal information; and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who had been banned for violating a policy on spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Meanwhile, far-right actors including members of the Proud Boys are reportedly creating new accounts on the site.
Emma Steiner, a disinformation analyst at the watchdog group Common Cause, said she knew of new accounts being created on Twitter that were focused on the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, supporters of which call for the mass arrest or execution of public figures they accuse of being satanic pedophiles. Some accounts, Steiner said, are trying to “censorship check” Twitter by seeing what kind of material earns a response from the company ― what she called “a lot of boundary-pushing.”
Musk has said that “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized.” But he hasn’t explained how that will work, and Gizmodo’s Dell Cameron has noted “that doing so competently would involve deploying technology that, at present, doesn’t seem to exist.” In the meantime, slurs and hate speech have been popping up across the site.
Imran Ahmed, founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, told HuffPost that “we’ve seen the anti-vaxxers in particular flooding back in,” as well as a wave of hate speech.
Ahmed pointed to an analysis from his organization showing that the use of racial slurs on Twitter spiked after Musk took over the platform. He also noted a survey that showed 99 out of 100 racist comments aimed at professional soccer players remained up after CCDH flagged them to Twitter.
In the first two weeks after Musk took over Twitter, use of the word “whore” was up 60% over the 2022 average, and the use of “slut” rose to 75% above the 2022 average, according to a CCDH analysis of Twitter data from the company Brandwatch.
Far-right users of the message board 4chan have also sought to capitalize on recent instances of antisemitism from Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and from NBA player Kyrie Irving. The 4chan users bombarded Twitter with both antisemitic and anti-Black messages in a concerted effort to pit Black and Jewish Twitter users against each other, writer Elad Nehorai noted, as part of an organized campaign under the hashtag #TheNoticing.
“I’d love to see blacks Mexicans and Jews Reservoir Dogs each other,” one commenter wrote, referring to the Quentin Tarantino film in which an ensemble cast of jewelry thieves end up killing each other out of paranoia. The Network Contagion Research Institute found that a surge in mentions of the n-word on Twitter during Musk’s first day occurred in tandem with a surge on 4chan, suggesting a planned “raid” on Musk’s site by racists. Other slurs and hateful comments were similarly visible on Musk’s site.
Musk has painted himself as a free speech warrior, but there are apparently caveats: Amid the wave of account reinstatements on the far right, several prominent left-wing accounts have been suspended, including that of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, an anti-fascist group recently noted in The New York Times for demonstrating in support of drag events in Texas. Journalist Steven Monacelli has documented that several accounts belonging to anti-fascist researchers or activists, including one belonging to Chad Loder, have been removed. At least one popular account appears to have been suspended for a joke about hysteria over the HPV vaccine.
Another limitation on free speech has popped up in the Twitter offices: The new company head has reportedly fired employees who are critical of him.
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s recently departed head of trust and safety, summed up the situation in a recent New York Times opinion piece citing Musk’s “impulsive changes and tweet-length pronouncements about Twitter’s rules.”
“In appointing himself ‘chief twit,’ Mr. Musk has made clear that at the end of the day, he’ll be the one calling the shots,” Roth wrote. “It was for this reason that I chose to leave the company: A Twitter whose policies are defined by edict has little need for a trust and safety function dedicated to its principled development.”
‘Completely Inaccurate’
Compared to social media sites like Facebook and YouTube, Twitter isn’t actually that popular: Roughly 1 in 5 Americans said they used the site, according to a Pew Research Center survey from May, making Twitter comparable to SnapChat and WhatsApp. But the site does act at times like a “digital town square,” as Musk has described it, providing a critical resource not only for journalists and academics but also for government officials and concerned citizens.
That dynamic “has a disproportionate impact on communities that are already targeted, exploited and attacked,” Robinson said. “The rules of the platform matter. Accountability on the platform matters. And now what we have is a dangerous, unaccountable person with an immense amount of wealth and no care about the people and the communities that will be hurt by their actions.”
Steiner noted one recent high-stakes test Twitter faced: when Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, tweeted incorrect advice to voters on Election Day.
Voters in Maricopa County were experiencing long lines and printer problems in several polling places across the county, which is home to Phoenix and most of the state’s voters. Arizonans can participate at any polling place in a given county — if they’ve signed in to one, they only need to be “checked out” to go to another — but Lake urged voters not to switch polling locations at all.
Steiner contacted Twitter, urging the site to append a fact check to Lake’s tweets. Knowledgeable reporters, she noted, had pointed out that Lake was giving false information to her supporters. The tweets could potentially suppress the participation of Lake’s own supporters in the election, a violation of Twitter’s rules.
“It was completely inaccurate,” Steiner said. “You just have to talk to a poll worker to be checked out, and then you can go to another location.”
Twitter “declined” to act on the false Lake tweet, Steiner said. Since then, Lake has repeatedly cited long lines on Election Day as part of her refusal to concede the election, despite trailing the winner, Democrat Katie Hobbs, by more than 17,000 votes.
Owning The Libs
Twitter’s refusal to address the false information from Lake is part of a pattern: The previous Friday, Common Cause had flagged multiple inaccurate tweets about vote-rigging and election fraud, some from accounts with more than 1 million followers, to Twitter only to hear the day before Election Day ― an unusually long response time ― that Twitter would not take action.
“It made us wonder if content moderation was still happening at the platform,” Steiner said.
And she’s not alone. Ahmed told HuffPost that Twitter’s content moderation has always been “underwhelming” but that “it is clear that enforcement has suffered” under Musk.
“It is clear that enforcement has suffered.”
Part of the backslide seems to be due to staffing: Between layoffs and resignations, Twitter’s corporate workforce is about one-third of its pre-Musk size, and that’s not counting the thousands of contract-based moderators employed by the company who are believed to have been fired as well. How else would one Twitter user have been able to post the entire 2001 “The Fast and the Furious” film, in tweets of two-minute video clips, without action on the blatant copyright infringement for hours?
There are other, more serious signs of flailing moderation: Over the weekend, Twitter failed to remove footage of a white supremacist’s infamous 2019 attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, taking action only after the country’s government alerted the company. And Twitter users searching for information about ongoing protests in China have been swamped with spam and pornographic content, seemingly from government-connected accounts.
Twitter’s apparent lurch to the right starts at the top: Users have flagged Musk’s own pattern of interacting with far-right influencers on the site, and he isn’t shy about voicing his views. After mocking old Twitter apparel printed with the hashtag #StayWoke, Musk commented, “It has been really bad. Far left San Francisco/Berkeley views have been propagated to the world via Twitter.”
“Twitter is moving rapidly to establish an even playing field,” he added. “No more thumb on the scale!”
For now, there is no sign of Musk addressing the influx of far-right material and spam he invited to his new property, nor of any new revenue streams strong enough to keep up with Musk’s interest payments, raising questions about what Musk might do to keep the lights on. Advertisers, wary of being affiliated with a potential hate site, are eying the exits, with somewhere between one-third and half of Twitter’s top clients not advertising on the site for weeks, according to a recent analysis from The Washington Post and Media Matters.
To the extent Musk is following any plan at all, it’s one of opposition to his perceived philosophical enemies, Steiner said.
“It does seem to be kind of an ‘owning the libs’ strategy.” | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-far-right-twitter-content-moderation-censorship_n_638526efe4b09a86b1b63a86 | 2022-11-28T23:46:29 | en | 0.966267 |
“Gaslighting” is Merriam-Webster’s 2022 Word of the Year, the site announced Monday, saying there was a 1740% increase in lookups for the term throughout the year.
As defined by Merriam-Webster, gaslighting is “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”
Searches for the term did not surge in response to any one particular event in 2022, as has been the case with previous words of the year. “Gaslighting” is often used to describe the dynamics of emotionally abusive relationships; people also use it to refer to manipulative deception in other contexts, such as by politicians.
“It’s a word that has risen so quickly in the English language, and especially in the last four years, that it actually came as a surprise to me and to many of us,” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s unveiling.
“It was a word looked up frequently every single day of the year,” he said.
The term comes from a 1938 British play, “Gas Light,” by the British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton. The play was adapted into two separate films, both called “Gaslight,” in the 1940s. (“Saturday Night Live” spoofed one of the film adaptations, of all things, earlier this year.)
Hamilton’s play is a dark story about a deceitful marriage in which the husband tries to convince his wife she is going insane in order to steal from her. Periodically, the gas-fueled lights in their home mysteriously grow dim, but the man insists to his wife that the lights are unchanged and she’s only imagining things.
The first records of the use of the term “gaslight” in the context of psychology come from the early 1960s. The term was later used by mental health practitioners to clinically describe a form of prolonged coercive control in abusive relationships.
By the 1990s, the term “gaslight” had gained more casual use outside of psychology, usually in the broader context of society and politics. As defined by Merriam-Webster, “gaslighting” can also refer to “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage.”
This definition could apply to various forms of deception and manipulation in the modern era, such as fake news, deepfakes and artificial intelligence.
During Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and then during his time in the White House, the media frequently used the term “gaslighting” to describe his habit of making claims that were patently not true. The United States government also used the word this year to characterize Russia’s propaganda and misinformation strategy during its invasion of Ukraine.
The Chicks’ 2020 album “Gaslighter” was inspired by the term.
In other word news this year, “oligarch” saw a 621% increase in lookups in early March after Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in the U.S., the United Kingdom and other nations imposing sanctions on Russian oligarchs and their families.
“Omicron” also saw a jump in searches after a January increase in cases of the omicron strain of the coronavirus, and reports in November that the omicron booster was not significantly more effective than prior vaccines.
“Codify,” “queen consort,” “raid,” “sentient,” “cancel culture,” “LGBTQIA” and “loamy” ― we have Quordle to thank for that last one ― were also among the top-searched terms of 2022. | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gaslighting-2022-merriam-webster-word-of-the-year_n_638522afe4b06ef4a5473cdb | 2022-11-28T23:46:30 | en | 0.977428 |
College was extremely difficult for me. When I was an undergrad at Fayetteville State University, an HBCU in North Carolina, I juggled academics, part-time jobs, relationships and other obligations. I was a walking ball of anxiety wrapped in the “strong Black woman” trope that we all still insist on upholding. And that, if you can imagine, was five years ago — pre-pandemic.
The collective trauma of COVID-19 paired with heightened racial tension in the wake of the George Floyd protests has had a profound impact on Black students. Many counselors at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) are noticing this effect in their students and the heavy toll that it is taking on their mental health. After a little digging, I found that not only has the need for counseling increased among Black students, but the severity of certain mental illnesses might have too.
“People are very much feeling disconnected from a lot of things. From classes, from their friends, from families. That could have a huge impact upon other areas of their lives,” said Vivian Barnette, counseling director at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Sometimes, however, it’s not as easy to detect what’s clearly a crisis in the community. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the number of students seeking counseling at Southern University and A&M College is just about the same as pre-pandemic, after opening back to in-person sessions. But counseling director ValaRay Irvin explains that many of her counselors are now seeing more students presenting with increased anxiety, depression and lack of motivation.
Rates of depression and anxiety among Black students have been increasing at a staggering rate. A study from the National Institutes of Health found that approximately 34% of Black students reported feeling “so depressed in the last year it was difficult to function.” Black students attending HBCUs have also been dealing with the additional stress of bomb threats at their universities, and suddenly not having access to abortion services in the wake of Roe v. Wade — Black women are disproportionately affected by this. Eighty-six HBCUs are in states that have already restricted access to abortion, and many more are in the process of challenging reproductive rights, a factor that undoubtedly adds to the stress and anxiety Black students are already experiencing.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Gabrielle Oliver, an alumna of Howard University. “When people say abortion is health care, it really is true. The [maternal] mortality rate for Black women is so high. It’s really scary right now.” According to the According to the CDC, Black women in the United States are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications, and abortion restrictions could increase the maternal mortality rate among Black women.
These are just a few factors that make it clear that Black students need mental health services — both talk therapy and sometimes meds — now more than ever, but with the increase in students seeking counseling, some universities are having trouble meeting their needs.
“All of us directors have been talking about how the demand is much higher than our staff availability,” said Barnette, about counselors at N.C. A&T having difficulty accommodating every student. The university is looking for solutions, one of which is utilizing wellness apps when in-person options aren’t available.
India Mallard, a senior at Bowie University in Maryland, thinks it’s incredible her university is also providing telehealth and after-hour crisis services for students at the counseling center. She explains that her sessions are now “primarily telehealth” because it is easier for her as a commuter student.
Mallard also noted that Bowie heavily promoted their wellness center services before the pandemic. Counselors would even send surveys to students to assess their mental health. After the quarantine period though, she saw an extra push in outreach. “I think [Bowie] has always understood the mental awareness aspect, but it intensified after the pandemic. They pushed extra hard for the relationship between the staff and the students,” she said.
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Carolyn Moore, who was a counseling director at North Carolina Central University for 16 years before retiring in 2021, says she had seen a significant increase in Black students seeking counseling due to increased stress and anxiety among students. However, NCCU did find the funds to expand the program.
“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of very good support from the university. And we were able to hire additional staff,” Moore explained. “So students have not been turned away, and they did not have to wait long. Probably within 10 days to two weeks, students were able to get an appointment.”
Many HBCUs are not as fortunate when it comes to providing extra resources for students’ needs. It’s no secret that HBCUs have experienced systemic racism and been grossly underfunded for decades. A Forbes study earlier this year showed that several HBCUs between 1987-2020 have been underfunded by at least $12.8 billion dollars when compared to their predominantly white counterparts. Some HBCUs are getting more funding under the American Rescue plan but half of that money is going to be used for “financial relief for students.” Where does that leave the counseling departments?
“The ratio of staff to students may be lower at some HBCUs, so that makes a difference,” Moore said. “It makes a difference in whether a student could get an appointment right away, and sometimes it could be the quality of care.” To her point, chronically underfunded HBCUs often lack resources in aspects such as financial aid, scholarships, housing and other health care resources, such as insurance for students.
I learned that both NCCU and N.C. A&T use state insurance under Blue Cross and Blue Shield. And if students are covered under the university’s insurance plan, they can utilize many on-campus resources for no extra cost, and get funded if needing outside referrals. While this is the case at many HBCUs, it’s important to note the array of nuanced challenges (including a pervasive and bias in the American health care system) that young people of color face when seeking and keeping a therapist.
In many Black communities, seeking help with mental health issues is still sometimes perceived as a weakness — although social media movements are steadfastly trying to combat this stigma. And then, there’s the problem of representation: Many studies show that only about 2% of the psychology workforce is Black, while 85% is white, which can discourage Black students from finding care (imagine how much time during sessions is spent providing cultural context). On campus, the stats are a little better, but they’re still disheartening ― according to a 2020 survey from the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, on college campuses, “close to 61% of counseling center staff are white, and 13% are Black.”
Ultimately, the quest to support young Black Americans navigating mental illness will need to be multi-pronged. Raising awareness is a priority. Letting students know that depression and anxiety are real health conditions, not imagined ghosts haunting them, will be crucial. Some HBCUs have begun holding summits to address the mental health care needs of their students. Even celebrities, such as Taraji P. Henson, started foundations and have raised substantial funds to offer “free mental health services” for Black Americans.
The administrators I spoke with are innovating every day, not just by adding the option for wellness apps but with other options for students to see counselors virtually. Counselors agree, though, that dismantling stigma and providing awareness should be the first step, especially for incoming freshmen.
“We did a lot of workshops and presentations on depression and stress management and topics we felt would be helpful to students. We did work with recreation to do programming on how you can use physical exercise to manage your stress,” said Moore. “We even did mental health first aid which was courses students and staff could take… and help them recognize when they’re having an issue, and help them get to the appropriate resources they need.”
This attitude could not only end the stigma of mental health that revolves around the Black community but could also encourage students to not suffer alone. “Sometimes [students] that attend HBCUs may not have ever met with a therapist or anyone, and know what it’s like,” Barnette said. She believes that HBCUs that may not have adequate resources could partner with organizations within the community, or universities could reach out to private practitioners who do pro-bono work.
“I would like to see more conferences centered around mental health in the Black community. I don’t feel like there is enough,” Mallard said. “I think having more [mental health awareness] events and being more mindful would be very beneficial.” She also believes HBCUs could implement stress-relieving techniques such as allowing “mental health” days off for students before major exams, so they don’t have to worry about classes and can focus on studying and preparing themselves.
Irvin believes that addressing mental illness should have been a priority for Black students even back when she was an undergraduate student at Southern University 30 years ago. “You know in our community we haven’t always been comfortable with the word ‘mental health,’ and there’s still some stigma around that. I am concerned for institutions that can’t provide these services, because [mental illnesses] are far more prevalent now,” she said. “When we think about the whole student, we can’t separate their mental wellbeing from how we want them to succeed academically. It just doesn’t work that way.”
The truth is, we can’t separate our mental wellbeing from our ability to succeed at anything. We deserve happiness and peace of mind, and we are willing to fight for it. And HBCUs appear to be fighting with us. But getting the care we need means dismantling the largest systems at play here ― ones that have disregarded Black health and humanity for centuries. | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hbcu-mental-health-black-students-college_n_63850e5ce4b006c42d415798 | 2022-11-28T23:46:32 | en | 0.972398 |
Five police officers in Connecticut were criminally charged Monday after a Black man in their custody was paralyzed while riding in the back of a police van.
Oscar Diaz, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier, Luis Rivera and Betsy Segui, all officers with the New Haven Police Department in Connecticut, were charged with a misdemeanor of second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to a person, according to arrest warrants filed in the State of Connecticut Superior Court.
Richard “Randy” Cox Jr., 36, was arrested in June for allegedly threatening a woman while he had a gun on his person during a block party. He was charged with breach of peace, second-degree threatening, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, and first-degree threatening. The charges were dropped last month.
During his arrest, Cox was put in the back of a police van which was not equipped with any seatbelts.
Diaz, who was driving the van, stopped abruptly during the ride after another vehicle ran a stop sign, according to an arrest warrant. Cox flew head first into a metal partition in the van and struck his head and neck area. He shouted for help a number of times and asked Diaz to pull over because he had fallen and could not move.
Diaz said he could see Cox on camera and told him to get up.
“I literally can’t move. I can’t move. I literally can’t move. Yo, I think I broke my neck,” Cox told Diaz.
Diaz repeatedly said he could not hear Cox, though he eventually stopped the van and opened the door to examine him, according to the warrant.
Diaz called for an ambulance to meet them at the police station, where he and the other four officers removed Cox from the van.
Cox told them he could not move. The officers accused him of being drunk or high on drugs and questioned why he could not move. The officers then grabbed him by his ankles and dragged him out of the van.
According to court documents, Pressley threatened Cox, saying, “You keep messing with me. I’ll see you when you come back. I’ll be here tonight.”
Cox later told state authorities he was never given any medical aid after being taken out of the van and telling the officers his neck was broken.
Cox’s family filed a $100 million lawsuit in September following the incident, and New Haven’s Mayor Josh Elicker announced new policing reforms after he visited Cox in the hospital.
All five officers posted a $25,000 bond. | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/randy-cox-paralyzed-connecticut-officers-charged_n_638529a2e4b082d8e6d3e913 | 2022-11-28T23:46:33 | en | 0.986503 |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea extradited a 42-year-old murder suspect to New Zealand two months after she was arrested over her possible connection to the bodies of two long-dead children found in abandoned suitcases in August.
South Korea’s Justice Ministry said Tuesday that the unidentified woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities Monday evening at the Incheon international airport near Seoul. The ministry said it also has provided New Zealand with unspecified “important evidence” on the case.
“With the extradition, we hope that the truth of the case, which has garnered worldwide attention, will be revealed through the fair and strict judicial process of New Zealand,” the ministry said in a statement.
South Korean Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon issued an order for the woman’s extradition earlier this month. The Seoul High Court had earlier granted approval of her extradition after she expressed her consent in writing to be sent back to New Zealand.
South Korean police arrested the woman at a southern port city in September, based on a domestic court warrant issued after New Zealand requested her provisional arrest. New Zealand’s Justice Ministry then submitted a formal request for her extradition to the South Korean ministry.
New Zealand police said the South Korean warrant for the suspect’s arrest was in connection with two murder charges. The children’s bodies were discovered in August after a New Zealand family bought abandoned goods, including two suitcases, from a storage unit in an online auction.
The children were between 5 and 10 years old, had been dead for years, and the suitcases had been in storage in Auckland for at least three or four years, according to police.
South Korean police say the woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship. Immigration records show she had returned to South Korea in 2018.
South Korean police had said it was suspected she could be the mother of the two victims, as her past address in New Zealand was registered to the storage unit where the suitcases were kept. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/South-Korea-extradites-murder-suspect-to-New-17616727.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:33 | en | 0.984538 |
First responders in northern Minnesota rescued an estimated 200 ice fishers from a large ice chunk that broke free on Upper Red Lake, leaving them stranded on the frozen mass.
Several hundred anglers were fishing the popular spot late Monday morning when the floe broke loose, stranding them on a large portion of drifting ice, according to the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities deployed airboats, water rescue boats, all-terrain vehicles, drones and a temporary bridge to track down fishers who were stranded on the ice and extract them to shore.
Shane Youngbauer, who runs the fishing outfitter Northwoods Fish Houses, warned anglers on social media of the massive crack and informed them of the ongoing rescue efforts.
“There she is, ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a livestreamed video, showing viewers the widening gap of open water. “She’s not good, guys!”
Youngbauer estimated the gap at 60 feet and growing.
“It’s supposed to snow here, so just keep your eyes open,” Youngbauer told the stranded fishers. “Keep watching. When we come get you, make sure you’re ready to go, because we’re not waiting. Your gear might have to wait on the other side. It sucks. But that’s just the way it is.”
A multi-hour effort concluded shortly after 2:30 p.m., with all of the people successfully rescued.
“The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office reminds those who are thinking of heading on the ice that early season ice is very unpredictable,” the office said in a release. “Extreme caution should be used when heading on the ice and to check the thickness frequently to ensure an adequate amount of ice.” | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stranded-ice-fishers-minnesota_n_63852d40e4b09a86b1b6424d | 2022-11-28T23:46:36 | en | 0.955191 |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker whose resume includes ministry work and a career in the military announced Monday that she will run for Kentucky attorney general next year.
State Rep. Pam Stevenson, an attorney from Louisville, filed paperwork to begin running for the job as Kentucky’s chief law enforcement officer. She won a second term to the Kentucky House this month.
Stevenson referred to the job of attorney general as serving as the “people’s lawyer.” The incumbent, Republican Daniel Cameron, is running for governor next year.
“I’m looking forward to traveling the commonwealth and having conversations with Kentuckians about what matters to them," Stevenson said in a statement announcing her candidacy.
She vowed to engage in battling the opioid epidemic and “making sure that extreme laws from Frankfort don’t take away our freedoms,” though she offered no specifics.
Stevenson, a retired Air Force colonel, pointed to her experience as an attorney at the federal level, having served as a chief prosecutor, criminal defense attorney and an “operations law expert supporting aircrews with over 1,000 sorties over Iraq.”
She also pointed to her background as a non-profit leader and a Baptist minister.
“My life’s work has been service to others — as a mother I have raised a family, as a minister I have empowered congregations, as a colonel in the United States Air Force I fought for our country globally — including in the Middle East, Croatia, Africa, Europe and many other places," she said.
"Now, as a state representative, I work to ensure that our laws give every Kentuckian a fair shot at the American Dream,” she said.
On the Republican side, former U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman entered the attorney general's race in the spring. He has campaigned on such issues as cracking down on violent crime and drug trafficking while pointing to his extensive criminal justice resume.
Republicans went on the attack Monday soon after Stevenson entered the campaign, raising questions about her stand on some criminal justice issues. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Stevenson-announces-bid-for-attorney-general-in-17616710.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:39 | en | 0.977733 |
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LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared Monday that the U.K.'s “golden era” of ties with China was over in his first major speech on foreign policy, describing China's growing authoritarianism as a “systemic challenge to our values and interests."
But Sunak stopped short of calling China a threat, disappointing China hawks in his Conservative Party who had until recently expected him to class China as a “threat” to U.K. security as part of an update of the government's foreign and defense policies.
In his speech to the annual Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, Sunak said the U.K. would stand up to global competitors like China — “not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism" and by boosting its ties with like-minded global allies including the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan.
“We recognize China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism," he said.
Referring to Beijing's handling of widespread protests across China against the country's strict “zero COVID” strategy, Sunak said that “instead of listening to their people’s protests, the Chinese government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a BBC journalist.”
In July, during a Conservative leadership race to pick a successor to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sunak said China represented the “largest threat” to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity.
At the time, he pledged to close all Confucius Institutes, the partially Chinese government-funded organizations that promote Chinese culture and language at U.K. universities. He also said he would lead an international alliance against Chinese cyberthreats, and help British companies and universities counter Chinese spying.
Lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader and a vocal China critic, said Sunak's “robust pragmatism” meant “anything you want it to mean” and amounted to “appeasement.” And David Lammy, the opposition Labour Party's foreign affairs spokesman, described Sunak's speech as “as thin as gruel.”
“All it shows is that once again the Conservative government is flip-flopping its rhetoric on China,” Lammy said. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/UK-s-Rishi-Sunak-says-golden-era-with-China-over-17616655.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:42 | en | 0.968072 |
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LONDON (AP) — The British government on Monday abandoned a plan to force tech firms to remove internet content that is harmful but legal, after the proposal drew strong criticism from lawmakers and civil liberties groups.
The U.K. has watered down its Online Safety Bill, an ambitious but controversial attempt to crack down on online racism, sexual abuse, bullying, fraud and other harmful material. Similar efforts are underway in the European Union and the United States, but the U.K.’s was one of the most sweeping. In its original form, the bill gave regulators wide-ranging powers to sanction digital and social media companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.
Critics expressed concern that a requirement for the biggest platforms to remove “legal but harmful” content could lead to censorship and undermine free speech.
The Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who took office last month, has now dropped that part of the bill, acknowledging that it could “over-criminalize” online content.
Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan said the change removed the risk that “tech firms or future governments could use the laws as a license to censor legitimate views.”
Instead, the bill says companies must set out clear terms of service, and stick to them. Companies will be free to allow adults to post and see offensive or harmful material, as long as it is not illegal. But platforms that pledge to ban racist, homophobic or other offensive content and then fail to live up to the promise can be fined up to 10% of their annual turnover.
The legislation also requires firms to help people avoid seeing content that is legal but may be harmful -- such as the glorification of eating disorders, misogyny and some other forms of abuse -- through warnings, content moderation or other means.
Companies also will have to show how they enforce user age limits designed to keep children from seeing harmful material.
The bill still criminalizes some online activity, including cyberflashing — sending someone unwanted explicit images — and epilepsy trolling, sending flashing images that can trigger seizures. It also makes it an offense to assist or encourage self-harm, a step that follows a campaign by the family of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old who ended her life in 2017 after viewing self-harm and suicide content online.
The government hopes the changes will be enough to get the bill through Parliament, where it has languished for 18 months amid widespread opposition. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/UK-waters-down-online-restrictions-after-free-17616621.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:48 | en | 0.947063 |
Even an oral rebuke can sound like a chart-topping hit when it’s being delivered by musician Matty Healy.
The frontman of British pop-rock band The 1975 caused an online stir over the weekend after reprimanding security guards at a recent concert for not coming to the aid of a possibly injured fan.
Footage of the incident, which reportedly took place at the band’s Nov. 23 performance in Phoenix, shows Healy alerting staff at the Arizona Financial Theatre that an audience member had fallen during his band’s performance of the song “I Like America & America Likes Me.”
“Someone’s fallen down over there,” he proclaims in the clip, which was previously shared by Entertainment Weekly and People, among other outlets. “Go and fucking sort ’em out. Stop standing there like a bunch of dickheads.”
Those who weren’t listening carefully, however, may have assumed Healy’s expletive-laden plea was a part of the show, as he addressed the situation in robotic-sounding auto-tune as part of the song’s melody.
As of Monday afternoon, Healy’s onstage critique had been viewed on TikTok more than 880,000 times.
“The fact that he’s simultaneously being both obnoxious and considerate is so him,” one person wrote, while another added: “I truly cannot believe I was there to witness this.”
The 1975 is currently touring in support of their latest album, “Being Funny in a Foreign Language.” In true rock star fashion, however, Healy has been generating buzz for the tour with his antics, which include eating a slab of raw steak and kissing a male fan onstage.
Speaking to The New York Times in September, Healy opened up about what he described as his band’s “cringe rule,” noting: “We’re not embarrassed by much.”
“One could criticize me for loads of things, but you can’t criticize me for being insincere,” he explained. “Annoying, whatever. But I’m not insincere. The cringe means insincere. Their attitude is, if you’re going to go there, go there. The only time you’re going to slip up is if you pull the punch a little bit.” | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-1975-matty-healy-autotune-rebuke_n_6384f6b3e4b0e4c775958731 | 2022-11-28T23:46:49 | en | 0.971911 |
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Interior Department on Monday proposed rules to limit methane leaks from oil and gas drilling on public lands, the latest action by the Biden administration to crack down on emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming.
The proposal by Interior's Bureau of Land Management would tighten limits on gas flaring on federal land and require energy companies to better detect methane leaks that add to planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution.
The actions follow a more comprehensive methane-reduction plan announced by President Joe Biden earlier this month. The Nov. 11 proposal, announced as Biden attended a global climate conference in Egypt, targets the oil and gas industry for its role in global warming even as the president has pressed energy producers for more oil drilling to lower prices at the gasoline pump.
Oil and gas production is the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, the primary component of natural gas, and is a key target for the Biden administration as it seeks to combat climate change.
The proposal announced Monday would prevent billions of cubic feet of natural gas from being wasted through venting, flaring and leaks, boosting efficiency while at the same time reducing pollution, administration officials said.
“This proposed rule will bring our regulations in line with technological advances that industry has made in the decades since the BLM’s rules were first put in place, while providing a fair return to taxpayers,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
Venting and flaring activity from oil and gas production on public lands has significantly increased in recent decades. Between 2010 and 2020, total volumes of natural gas lost to venting and flaring on federal and tribal lands averaged about 44.2 billion cubic feet per year — enough to serve roughly 675,000 homes, Interior said. The figure represents a sharp increase from an annual average of 11 billion cubic feet lost to venting and flaring in the 1990s.
“No one likes to waste natural resources from our public lands,'' said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. She called the draft rule a common-sense, environmentally responsible solution to address the damage that wasted natural gas causes. The rule "puts the American taxpayer first and ensures producers pay appropriate royalties,” she said.
Interior had previously announced a rule to restrict methane emissions under former President Barack Obama. The plan was challenged in court and later weakened under former President Donald Trump. Competing court rulings blocked enforcement of the Trump and Obama-era rules, leading the agency to revert to rules developed more than 40 years ago.
The Environmental Protection Agency rule announced in Egypt targets emissions from existing oil and gas wells nationwide, including smaller drilling sites that now will be required to find and plug methane leaks.
The rule comes as Biden has accused oil companies of “war profiteering” and raised the possibility of imposing a windfall tax on energy companies if they don’t boost domestic production.
Besides the EPA rule, a sprawling climate and health law approved by Congress in August would impose a fee on energy producers that exceed a certain level of methane emissions. The fee, set to rise to $1,500 per metric ton of methane, marks the first time the federal government has directly imposed a fee, or tax, on greenhouse gas emissions.
The law includes $1.5 billon in grants and other spending to improve monitoring and data collection of methane emissions, with the goal of finding and repairing natural gas leaks. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/US-rule-would-limit-methane-leaks-from-public-17616623.php | 2022-11-28T23:46:55 | en | 0.95567 |
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah's attorney general plans to file an appeal challenging a judge's decision to overturn a death penalty conviction three years after the state's Supreme Court ordered a new trial due to claims of prosecutorial misconduct.
Douglas Stewart Carter, 67, has been on death row since 1985, when a jury found him guilty of the aggravated murder of 57-year-old Eva Olesen, the aunt of a former Provo police chief who was found stabbed and shot in the head.
Though there was no physical evidence linking Carter to the crime scene, prosecutors secured a conviction based on a written confession from Carter, who is Black, and two witnesses who testified he had bragged about killing Olesen. Carter later argued the confession was coerced.
After decades of appeals, the Utah Supreme Court in 2019 reversed Carter's conviction and ordered a new trial after the witnesses — Epifanio Tovar and Lucia Tovar — said police and prosecutors offered them gifts and money, coached them to lie in court and threatened them with deportation if they didn't cooperate. The Tovars were immigrants without legal status.
Police said the funds were intended for witness protection.
The Supreme Court's reversal drew widespread attention in Utah and renewed focus on questions about whether capital punishment should be permitted in the state. Utah was the first state to execute someone after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its moratorium in 1976.
In his ruling overturning Carter's conviction, Judge Derek Pullan ruled that the Tovars' testimonies prejudiced Carter's trial and gave Utah five days to decide whether to challenge his decision to overturn the conviction.
"The State knowingly failed to disclose that the testimony was false and coached by police. Carter’s conviction was secured — at least in part — on the basis of this false testimony," Pullan wrote in a decision last week.
Rich Piatt, a spokesperson for the Utah Attorney General's office said in a statement that the state planned to appeal Pullan's ruling.
“The office has full confidence that both Carter’s conviction and death sentence will be reinstated on appeal, especially in light of the fact that Carter confessed to committing this murder,” he said. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Utah-to-challenge-decision-overturning-death-row-17616755.php | 2022-11-28T23:47:01 | en | 0.979305 |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia's football team will travel to its third funeral in five days Wednesday to honor the life of Lavel Davis Jr., who was fatally shot on a bus along with two teammates after they returned to campus from a field trip.
Davis, 20, and teammates D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed Nov. 13 after returning from the trip to see a play in Washington, D.C.
Teammate Mike Hollins and a fifth student, Marlee Morgan, were also shot, but survived.
Authorities have said Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former member of the football team who was on the trip, began shooting at students on the bus as it pulled to a stop at a campus parking garage.
The team, which opted to cancel its final two football games after the killings, attended Perry's funeral in Miami on Saturday and Chandler's in Virginia Beach on Sunday.
Davis' service will be held at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, South Carolina.
The victims' lives were celebrated at a memorial service in the John Paul Jones Arena on the Virginia campus on Nov. 19. More than 9,000 attended the nearly two-hour service.
Athletic director Carla Williams vowed “we will make sure their legacies never fade at the University of Virginia.” Football coach Tony Elliott said, “Only time will reveal God’s purpose in this adversity” and said he's certain the three are “rejoicing in paradise."
Jones, 23, faces second-degree murder and other charges stemming from the shooting, which set off a manhunt and 12-hour campus lockdown before Jones was apprehended in suburban Richmond. Jones is being held without bond.
Robert Kraft, the owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots, has provided a private plane for the Virginia football team's funeral travel. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Virginia-football-team-to-attend-3rd-funeral-in-5-17616732.php | 2022-11-28T23:47:02 | en | 0.971956 |
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A woman who in August accused a former state legislator of groping her at a Montgomery restaurant is asking that a criminal charge against him be dropped.
The woman's attorney, Dianne James Davis. shared the statement with news outlets, saying that the matter with Perry Hooper, Jr. has been resolved
“I have asked that any charges against Perry Hooper be dismissed," the statement said. “The matters relating to Mr. Hooper and me have been resolved and going through the turmoil of a trial would provide no more justice than getting a sincere public apology from Mr. Hooper. I so respect and appreciate law enforcement and the job they have to perform, nevertheless, I request these charges be dismissed.”
A grand jury indicted Hooper, 68, on a felony sexual abuse charge earlier this month. He was accused of grabbing the woman’s breasts and waist, kissing her on the neck and shoving his pelvis into her backside, according to an affidavit filed in the case. The woman was behind the host stand at the restaurant and Hooper was leaving the restaurant when the alleged events occurred, the document said.
The acting district attorney in the case did not immediately respond to an telephone message seeking comment. Hooper's attorney did not immediately respond to a telephone message.
Hooper is a member of a prominent Republican family. Hooper served in the Alabama House from 1983 to 2003. Hooper, as chairman of the Alabama Trump Victory in 2016, campaigned and raised money for former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. His father, Perry Hooper, Sr., was the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Woman-asks-for-charge-to-be-dropped-against-Perry-17616736.php | 2022-11-28T23:47:09 | en | 0.979446 |
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The Big Ten has disciplined Michigan State and Michigan for their roles in stadium tunnel altercations that led to seven Spartans being charged with crimes.
The conference announced Monday that it is fining Michigan State $100,000 for its football players “hitting, kicking or using of their helmet” to hit Michigan players and suspending cornerback Khary Crump, who is facing a felony charge, for the first eight games of next season.
The Big Ten is also reprimanding Michigan for not providing adequate protection for both teams as they left the playing surface.
“The Big Ten Conference has a standard of excellence both academically and athletically that has been built over 127 years,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, who attended the game a month ago and has a son, Powers Warren, who is a walk-on tight end for the Spartans. “Our standards require that our student-athletes, coaches and staff members represent the conference, and their member institutions, with the highest level of decorum and sportsmanship.
“We are taking disciplinary action and will continue to work with our member institutions to strengthen their game day procedures and ensure our honored traditions.”
The Big Ten said the suspensions that ended the season for seven other Michigan State players was sufficient. The conference also said the schools properly addressed a football staff member who violated the Big Ten's sportsmanship policy that was unrelated to the tunnel altercations.
Last Wednesday, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office charged seven Michigan State football players for their actions Oct. 29 following the game at Michigan Stadium.
The most serious charge is against Crump, who faces one count of felonious assault, and the other six players are charged with misdemeanors. Crump in one video appears to swing his helmet at a Michigan player. That could account for the more serious charge, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. State law describes felonious assault as an attack “using knife, iron bar, club, brass knuckles or other dangerous weapon without intending to commit murder or to inflict great bodily harm.”
Linebacker Itayvion “Tank” Brown, safety Angelo Grose, cornerback Justin White, defensive end Brandon Wright and defensive end Zion Young are each charged with one count of aggravated assault while linebacker Jacoby Windmon faces one count of assault and battery. A conviction for a misdemeanor count of assault carries a prison term of up to one year, while misdemeanor assault and battery carries a maximum sentence of 93 days behind bars.
Spartans cornerback Malcolm Jones, one of the suspended players, is not facing charges, nor are any players from Michigan.
Following the Wolverines' 29-7 win over their in-state rivals, social media posts showed Michigan State players roughing up Michigan’s Ja’Den McBurrows in and near a hallway that doesn’t lead to either locker room. Brown, Grose and Young are clearly seen on video getting physical with McBurrows.
McBurrows skipped into the tunnel after the game and defensive back Gemon Green walked up it alongside Spartans while much of Michigan’s team was waving the Spartans off the field.
Green, in another post, is seen surrounded by police while shouting across the tunnel at Michigan State players.
The prosecutor’s office did not provide detail on the allegations, including who is accused of hitting whom. It was not clear when the charged players will make initial appearances in court.
No. 2 Michigan secured the Big Ten East Division title by beating rival Ohio State, and is preparing to face unranked Purdue in the conference championship game. A win would give the Wolverines a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Michigan State won five games under third-year coach Mel Tucker, who helped them go 11-2 last season with a second straight win over the Wolverines.
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won't have a playbook for everything that lies ahead.
The practices, meetings, film work, making handoffs, throwing passes for the Browns, all of that will be easy, second nature. The rest: protesters, heightened scrutiny and pointed questions, will be unscripted.
There's no blueprint for the once-revered quarterback now reviled in some circles.
Cleveland's controversial, $230 million QB was officially reinstated Monday by the NFL after serving his 11-game suspension for sexual misconduct allegations made by more than two dozen women.
Watson's return wasn't accompanied by any fanfare, simply a posting on the league's personnel notice.
He's now a starter again and poised to make his regular-season debut for the Browns on Sunday, coincidentally, in Houston, where he began his pro career and quickly rose to stardom before off-field decisions knocked him off course.
The 27-year-old quarterback isn't starting over, but anew.
He's coming back to the Browns (4-7), who are clinging to the hope that he can lead them to the playoffs despite his long layoff.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski believes Watson, who returned to practice two weeks ago, is ready for what will be his first game in 700 days — and whatever's next.
"I have confidence in Deshaun based on his preparation and, really, the focus is on just him doing his job,” Stefanski said a day after the Browns rallied for a 23-17 overtime win against Tampa Bay. "We’re still gonna be all about the team effort, still offense, defense and special teams. So this is never, ever gonna be about one person.
“But as it relates to Deshaun, I believe in his preparation, I believe that he worked really hard on a bunch of things to be ready to go.”
In August, Watson ended months of legal entanglements by agreeing to the suspension, a $5 million fine and to undergo professional counseling and treatment after an independent arbitrator ruled he violated the league’s personal conduct policy.
Watson was accused of being sexually inappropriate with the women during massage therapy sessions. The three-time Pro Bowler has long maintained he didn't harass or assault any of the women, some of whom said he forced them to have sex.
Watson wasn’t indicted on criminal charges by two grand juries and reached financial settlements in 23 of 24 civil lawsuits.
While his return to Houston could be hostile, Stefanski said the Browns didn't consider delaying Watson's return. They didn't send three first-round draft picks to the Texans for him to watch.
Their wait is over. It's time for Watson to be a franchise quarterback.
"Deshaun is gonna come in and be Deshaun,” wide receiver Amari Cooper said Sunday. “We’ve seen that greatness on display a multitude of times. So can’t wait for him to get back, can’t wait to practice with him. Can’t wait to catch some balls from him.”
WHAT'S WORKING
The derided defense rebounded against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
With All-Pro end Myles Garrett leading the way with 1 1/2 sacks while playing through a painful shoulder injury, Cleveland's defense came up with big stops when needed in one of its best games in week.
After giving up a touchdown in the third quarter, the Browns held the Bucs to 92 yards and forced six punts.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
How about some consistency?
One week, the Browns look like legitimate playoff contenders. The next, they're almost completely inept.
Stefanski has been puzzled by his team's inability to string together good quarters, let alone good games. But Sunday's performance — along with Watson's return — could give the Browns a perfect jolt heading into December.
STOCK UP
Starting in place of Greg Newsome (concussion), rookie cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. had a huge game.
He was credited with four pass breakups and didn't allow Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans a catch on the seven passes that were targeted to him with Emerson in coverage.
STOCK DOWN
Rookie kicker Cade York missed his sixth field-goal attempt, this one a 39-yarder that had no chance.
York did convert on a 51-yarder, but the Browns were counting on better production from the fourth-round pick. Stefanski wanted to speak with York before making any comment about the latest misfire.
INJURIES
Garrett could barely get dressed after aggravating a left shoulder sprain sustained two months ago when he flipped his car while speeding. Garrett acknowledged he may need surgery, and it's not out of the question the Browns will give him a week off to rest. ... CB A.J. Green is in concussion protocol after making a tackle in the first quarter. ... Stefanski said Newsome, who has missed the past two games, is trending toward a return.
KEY NUMBER
218 — Consecutive wins for Brady in games his team has led by seven points or more with two minutes left. The Browns ended that streak by scoring with 32 seconds left in regulation and winning with 19 seconds left in OT.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Watson era begins against the hapless Texans (1-9-1), who may be the perfect opponent for him to shake off any rust.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A former member of the Vancouver Canucks’ coaching staff has filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, alleging she was fired because of her sex, mental illness and physical disability.
Rachel Doerrie, a former video analyst and assistant video coach for the team, posted a copy of the complaint to Twitter on Sunday, saying she has been “mentally and emotionally destroyed” and is “done hiding.”
The six-page document says Doerrie disclosed to the Canucks that she had a heart condition and post-traumatic stress disorder and believed the conditions would be “appropriately dealt with by the Canucks” before she was hired in January.
The complaint, which was filed with the quasi-judicial tribunal on Nov. 22, alleges the team’s assistant general manager Emilie Castonguay questioned Doerrie’s mental ability to do her job and treated her differently from the organization’s male employees, and that Doerrie’s sex, mental illness and physical disability played a role in her being fired on Sept. 27.
In the complaint, Doerrie claims to have suffered multiple cardiac episodes and anxiety attacks as a “result of this treatment of her by Ms. Castonguay.”
“Ms. Doerrie never received any complaints with respect to her job performance,” the complaint said.
The complaint contends that Castonguay was “instrumental in the termination of her, based entirely on a flimsy pretext — that she spoke to a friend of hers, a reporter, about the positive comments (Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau) made about her publicly.”
Doerrie says she was admonished by Castonguay for sharing a positive article about herself on her Instagram account.
The complaint says Castonguay told Doerrie she was “not important enough to be cared about” and that “no one in the media is your friend.”
Castonguay said in a statement that the allegations are “absolutely not true” and that Doerrie was never “treated differently due to gender, a mental disability or a physical condition.”
“I take a lot of pride in my work with the Vancouver Canucks, being a good leader, a person of high moral character, and always respecting and putting my co-workers first,” Castonguay said.
Canucks Sports & Entertainment also issued a statement saying it disagrees with the allegations, which have not been tested in court.
“Our organization provided Ms. Doerrie with all the necessary resources, support and opportunities to succeed in her role. We acted in good faith and abided by our contractual obligations, both during and after Ms. Doerrie’s employment with the organization,” the team said.
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AP NHL: www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/article/Ex-employee-files-discrimination-complaint-vs-17616740.php | 2022-11-28T23:47:27 | en | 0.976502 |
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Matt Rhule said he had plenty of options after he got fired by the Carolina Panthers. He could have taken a year off from football or worked in television.
Or he could jump back into college coaching. A number of schools reached out to him, he said, but only one appealed to him and his family.
Nebraska introduced Rhule as its coach on Monday, exactly seven weeks after the Panthers fired him five games into his third season. Awaiting him is the daunting task of taking over a team coming off a sixth straight losing season and a program that's a shell of what once was one of the biggest brands in the college game.
“I am here because this is the right fit, it’s the right time,” Rhule said. “And if I have one message for you: We can absolutely do it. We can absolutely get University of Nebraska football exactly where it’s supposed to be. It will be hard. It may take time, but it will be done.”
Rhule signed an eight-year, $74 million contract that makes him the third highest-paid coach in the Big Ten behind Ohio State's Ryan Day and Michigan State's Mel Tucker and among the top 10 nationally.
Athletic director Trev Alberts said the contract is 90% guaranteed and that some of the compensation is deferred. Rhule will have a pool of $7 million to spend on assistant coaches.
When the Panthers fired Rhule, he was still owed $34 million on his seven-year contract. Alberts said the Panthers were involved in Rhule's negotiations with Nebraska.
“Structuring a business arrangement that everybody was willing to sign off on was a bit of a challenge,” Alberts said, “and there were some fits and starts to it."
Alberts said there was a period when it looked like the deal would fall through, but the sides reached an agreement on Thanksgiving morning.
Rhule's starting salary is $5.5 million and rises by at least $1 million each year, topping out at $12.5 million if he's still coach in 2030. Asked if he thought he would need to spend an average of $9 million per year on a football coach, Alberts said the salary scale is rising in the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference because of dramatically increasing revenues tied to record-setting television rights deals.
“Let's be honest, there's a Power Two now,” Alberts said. “Certainly not to denigrate any of the other conferences, but that's kind of where we're heading. ... If we're going to be serious about having Nebraska football competing at the upper level of the Big Ten Conference, there's going to be resources needed to acquire that talent.”
Rhule, who was 11-27 in two-plus seasons with the Panthers, was hired because of the success he had in his two college head coaching jobs.
He had Temple playing for and winning the American Athletic Conference championship in his third and fourth seasons (2015-16). He had Baylor playing for the Big 12 championship in his third season (2019) after taking over a Bears program emerging from the sexual assault scandal under Art Briles.
Rhule emphasized toughness in practices and games and said the only way to win games is to win the line of scrimmage. The Huskers have notably struggled on the offensive and defensive lines.
Rhule, who grew up in New York City as a Penn State fan, was a walk-on linebacker for the Nittany Lions. He said he attended the Huskers' 44-6 Kickoff Classic win over Penn State in 1983 and was heartbroken when Nebraska beat out the unbeaten Nittany Lions for the 1994 national title.
Rhule said he respected the physical brand of football the Huskers played back then and that he wants to bring it back.
About 750 boosters and former players turned out at the Hawks Championship Center for a welcome event and news conference. Among them were Gov.-elect Jim Pillen, a Republican who played defensive back for the Huskers in the 1970s, and 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers. The band played and fireworks went off next to the podium as Rhule and Alberts entered the building.
Rhule, 47, is the sixth coach to lead the program since College Football Hall of Famer Tom Osborne won or shared three national championships in four years before retiring after the 1997 season.
The Huskers' most recent conference championship came in 1999 under Osborne's successor, Frank Solich. Bill Callahan, Bo Pelini and Mike Riley followed before the program bottomed out under Scott Frost, who was 16-31 in four-plus seasons and never finished higher than fifth in the Big Ten West.
Rhule's arrival came three days after the Huskers closed a 4-8 season under Mickey Joseph — named interim coach after Frost's firing Sept. 11 — and just a few months before the opening of Nebraska's $165 million football facility.
“There’s not a game that I expect to ever walk into where we don’t expect to win,” Rhule said. “It is not a burden but a responsibility on me as the coach to know that there will be people from all across the state who take the money that they’ve made with their hands and with their work and their daily toil — and they spend it to come watch our team play. You can’t win every game every year, but you can certainly be a team that people are proud to watch.”
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Mike White is the present for the New York Jets. And maybe even the future.
Sure, overreactions are part of the playbook on Mondays during the NFL season. But this might not qualify as such.
Not when you have the type of performance White had at quarterback in a 31-10 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday in place of a benched Zach Wilson.
“He was just doing Mike White things,” running back Ty Johnson said Monday.
In his first start since last season, White was 22 of 28 for 315 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a near-perfect 149.3 quarterback rating. He brought energy to the field and the stands, where rain-soaked Jets fans chanted his name throughout the game.
More importantly, White knows how to operate this offense: efficiently and effectively.
“I think he’s a baller, obviously,” tight end Tyler Conklin said. “I just really appreciate the way he works. He’s an even kid. Never gets too high, never gets too low. I just think that’s huge for a quarterback.”
White's performance Sunday — even against a banged-up and depleted Bears defense — was everything the Jets have been hoping to see from Wilson since they drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick last year.
But Wilson has stumbled in his opportunities, showing only flashes of the playmaker they drooled over at his pro day at BYU. There has been more bad than good, with Wilson failing to consistently make even the most basic of plays.
And this comment from Saleh on Sunday said it all about White: “He made the easy look easy."
White had good touch on his passes, despite the rainy conditions. He also got the ball out of his hand quickly, showing decisiveness. He spread the ball around, connecting with 10 receivers.
It was reminiscent of the performance that got his jersey displayed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a dominant performance in his first NFL start last October. It's a small sample size, of course, but he looked like a completely different quarterback from the one everyone saw in his last regular-season game when he threw four interceptions against Buffalo last year.
“You’ve got to learn from your lows,” White said, “and build upon that and just keep playing smart, winning football.”
The Jets are a surprising 7-4 and Saleh's move last week sent the message this season is now about more than just developing Wilson. It's about winning.
And White gives them the best chance to do so right now.
Could Wilson still be the future for the Jets? Maybe. Saleh insists the quarterback situation remains week to week and New York intends for Wilson to play again after he works through what the coach has called a “reset.”
Things change in a hurry in the NFL, but White has a chance to make the Jets consider maybe he has been that guy all along.
WHAT’S WORKING
Third-down efficiency. Extending drives on offense has been troublesome for Mike LaFleur's unit all season. With White leading the way, New York was 7 of 12 on third down against the Bears.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
Tackling. It was a wet, soggy and slippery day at MetLife Stadium, but the defense had several missed tackles, particularly in the first half when the Bears scored all their points on their first two drives. Things got better in the second half, but the Jets need to improve on wrapping up ball carriers if they want to go from being an excellent defense to elite.
STOCK UP
RB Zonovan Knight. With James Robinson inactive and Michael Carter injured during the game, the undrafted rookie out of North Carolina State nicknamed “Bam” sparkled with 69 yards on 14 carries and three catches for 34 yards. It was the most yards rushing by a Jets player in his debut since Matt Snell had 82 in 1964.
STOCK DOWN
Robinson. The Jets acquired him from Jacksonville last month after a season-ending injury to Breece Hall, and he had minimal impact — 75 yards on 25 carries in three games — before being among the inactives Sunday.
“He's still learning our system,” Saleh said after the game. “There are still things he is getting comfortable with. No one has seen the last of him.”
INJURIES
Saleh said Carter has a low-ankle sprain and will be evaluated throughout the week but has a chance to play Sunday. Same for RT Cedric Ogbuehi (groin), S Ashtyn Davis (hamstring) and LB Chazz Surratt (hamstring).
KEY NUMBER
466 — The Jets' total yards — 308 passing, 158 rushing — were their most since getting 486 in Week 9 at Indianapolis last season. White started that game but was injured early. The performance Sunday also marked the first time New York had 300 or more yards passing and 150 or more yards rushing since doing so in Week 13 vs. Kansas City in 2017.
NEXT STEPS
The Jets face a stiff test by going on the road against the 9-2 Minnesota Vikings, who should be well-rested after beating Buffalo on Thanksgiving. It's a meaningful game in December, a rarity in recent seasons for the Jets, who have missed the playoffs an NFL-worst 11 straight years.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/article/Mike-White-can-make-case-he-s-the-Jets-QB-of-now-17616581.php | 2022-11-28T23:47:46 | en | 0.982034 |
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SEATTLE (AP) — Kalen DeBoer would much rather be preparing for the Pac-12 championship game than sitting around waiting to find out what the bowl destination will be for No. 9 Washington.
But the Huskies coach and the rest of his team have a rooting interest in what transpires on Friday night in Las Vegas between No. 4 Southern California and No. 12 Utah. A win by the Trojans could end up landing Washington a trip to the Rose Bowl in DeBoer’s first season in charge.
“We’ve become very selfish the last few weeks, haven’t we?” DeBoer joked on Monday.
USC could be headed to the College Football Playoff with a win. That would open up the Rose Bowl to select a team of their choosing from the Pac-12 to replace the Trojans.
That could be the Huskies, who wrapped up a 10-2 regular season and 7-2 Pac-12 campaign with a 51-33 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup last Saturday. Washington, Utah and Oregon all finished tied for second in conference play, but Utah won the tiebreaker putting the Utes in the championship game opposite USC.
“I guess I’m looking at it this way, we did Utah a favor already, right?” DeBoer joked, noting that Washington’s win over Washington State is what put Utah into the title game. “Selfish-wise, I certainly think there is a team we’re rooting for.”
If the Pac-12 still had divisions, which it did away with this season, Washington would have won the North Division and been headed for Las Vegas.
“It’s hard because there’s a tie for the second spot and we’re in that tie. We all agreed on it before the season. Those are the rules and that’s what you got to go with,” DeBoer said. “We’d certainly love to see if we’ve got that type of team. We feel we do, certainly, but we had our chances throughout the course of the year.”
The Rose Bowl is not required to take Utah despite being in the championship game, especially with Washington expected to be ranked higher in the CFP rankings. Utah also played in the Rose Bowl last year. Washington’s last trip came after the 2018 season.
The Huskies also feature one of the most exciting offenses in the country led by quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the nation’s leader in yards passing and a late candidate to be included in the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Penix said Monday he intends to play in Washington’s bowl game even as his draft stock is rising. And it could end up being the Granddaddy of Them All.
“That’d be really incredible coming back Year 1 after 4-8 and (going) 10-2 and having the chance of playing in the Rose Bowl, which is the dream for so many guys on the West Coast,” DeBoer said. “To be playing, not on New Year’s Day but Jan. 2 would certainly be a highlight.”
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SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio-area home sales in October took their biggest dip since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, as higher prices and near-record mortgage rates kept buyers on the sidelines.
Single-family home sales fell nearly 20 percent from the same month a year ago, according to new data from the San Antonio Board of Realtors. It was the biggest year-over-year decline since May 2020, when sales fell 20 percent, and the seventh consecutive month of declining sales.
In some ways, the market is returning to norms not seen since the pandemic supercharged sales, giving sellers a strong upper hand as demand and prices soared and the inventory of available homes was depleted.
On ExpressNews.com: Mortgage rates surge past 7 percent for the first time since 2002
Now, homes are sitting on the market longer and the supply of available properties is expanding — but prices are still continuing to increase. Along with mortgage rates bouncing around record highs, higher prices are making it tougher for many buyers to land a deal.
“That is reflected in the latest data, which shows existing home sales slowing across all price points,” said Sam Khater, chief economist at mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac.
In San Antonio, buyers closed on 2,656 new and existing homes in Bexar and surrounding counties in October, Realtors data show. That’s down 19.9 percent from a year ago.
As sales have slowed, houses are staying on the market longer, too. The average time a house was for sale last month was 44 days, up 57 percent from a year earlier. Inventory rose to 3.3 months, up from 1.7 months.
Despite lower demand and higher supply, sale prices are continuing to rise. The median price of a home sold in October reached $323,190, up 8 percent from a year ago.
On ExpressNews.com: Report shows significant racial gap in appraised home values
Higher mortgage rates are making it tougher for buyers, as well. The average rate for the standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.58 percent during the week ended Wednesday, Freddie Mac said. That was down from 6.61 percent a week earlier — and record highs hit earlier — but up from 3.1 percent a year ago.
Higher rates are a byproduct of the Federal Reserve’s continuing battle against inflation, which includes raising interest rates. The Fed doesn’t set mortgage rates, but its actions affect the mortgage market. And that’s expected to continue to chill the real estate market as consumers remain uncertain about how high rates will go — and wary of a potential recession.
“In recent weeks, rates have hit above 7 percent, only to drop by almost half a percentage point,” Khater said. “This volatility is making it difficult for potential homebuyers to know when to get into the market.”
It marks a departure from the early days of the pandemic.
San Antonio’s housing market soared for much of 2020 and through 2021, turbocharged by high demand, a tight supply of homes for sale, low interest rates and people seeking more space or a new neighborhood as they shifted to remote work, home schooling and children moving back home.
A record 38,448 homes were sold in San Antonio in 2020. Slightly fewer — 37,332 — were sold in 2021, but that was still up 8 percent from 2019. Through October, Realtors data shows, 31,731 homes have been sold, down 7 percent from the first 10 months of 2021.
The cooling housing market in San Antonio is in keeping with trends statewide and nationwide.
Sales of new and existing homes across Texas slid 21.2 percent in October, compared with the same month a year earlier.
The median sale price jumped 8.1 percent to $340,000, and inventory expanded to 2.9 months from 1.6 months during the same period.
Nationally, sales of existing homes declined 28.4 percent in October and inventory stood at 3.3 months, up from 2.4 months. The median sale price jumped 6.6 percent to $379,100.
“More potential homebuyers were squeezed out from qualifying for a mortgage in October as mortgage rates climbed higher,” said Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist. “The impact is greater in expensive areas of the country and in markets that witnessed significant home price gains in recent years.”
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Cyber Monday deals lure in consumers amid high inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after flocking to stores on Black Friday, consumers are turning online for Cyber Monday to score more discounts on gifts and other items that have ballooned in price because of high inflation. Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions for top online retailers, forecasts Cyber Monday will remain the year’s biggest online shopping day and rake in up to $11.6 billion in sales. Some analysts expect the amount of items consumers purchase could remain unchanged - or even fall - compared to prior years. And profit margins are expected to be tight for retailers offering deeper discounts to attract budget-conscious consumers and clear out their bloated inventories.
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2 Fed officials favor keeping key rate at peak through 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Federal Reserve officials said they favor raising the Fed’s key rate to roughly 5% or more and keeping it at its peak through next year — longer than many on Wall Street have expected. John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that the central bank has “more work to do” to reduce inflation closer to its 2% target. And James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, suggested that financial markets are underestimating the likelihood the Fed will have to be more aggressive in its fight against the worst inflation bout in four decades.
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Irish watchdog fines Meta 265M euros in latest privacy case
LONDON (AP) — Irish regulators have slapped Facebook parent Meta with a 265 million euro fine in what is the company’s latest punishment for breaching strict European Union data privacy rules. The Data Protection Commission said Meta Platforms infringed sections of the EU rules that cover technical and organizational measures aimed at protecting user data. The watchdog opened an investigation last year into news reports that data on more 533 million users was found dumped online. Meta says the data had been “scraped” from Facebook using tools designed to help people find their friends through phone numbers using search and contact import features. The company said it had “cooperated fully” with the Irish watchdog.
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BlockFi files for bankruptcy, latest crypto company to fail
NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, the latest casualty of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. New Jersey-based BlockFi had been struggling for much of this year, but was given a lifeline this summer in the form of an FTX line of credit. FTX’s own bankruptcy, however, all but sealed BlockFi’s financial fate. BlockFi suspended withdrawals after FTX’s failure, and it had hired bankruptcy specialists in recent days. BlockFi was one of several crypto currency lenders to pop up in recent years. The company gave loans to customers using their crypto assets as collateral.
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Russian energy giant says no further gas cuts to Moldova
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Monday that it will not further reduce natural gas to Moldova as it had threatened to do after claiming that bills went unpaid and that flows crossing through Ukraine were not making it to Moldova. Gazprom tweeted Monday that Moldovagaz has “eliminated the violation of payment” for November supplies and that “funds for the gas deposited on the territory of Ukraine, intended for consumers in Moldova, have been received.” Last week, Moldova and Ukraine hit back at Gazprom’s claim that Russian gas moving through the last pipeline to Western Europe was being stored in Ukraine. They said all supplies Russia sends through the war-torn country get “fully transferred” to Moldova.
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US stock indexes fall as lockdown protests spread in China
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street as protests spread in China calling for President Xi Jinping to step down amid growing anger over severe restrictions imposed as part of his “zero COVID” strategy in the world’s second-largest economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4%. The Nasdaq lost 1.6%. Small-company stocks fell even more. Technology companies were the biggest weights on the broader market. Bond yields mostly rose. Markets will get another key piece of data on the economy later this week when the Labor Department issues its monthly jobs report.
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Biden eases Venezuela sanctions as opposition talks resume
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is easing some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opposition. The Treasury Department is allowing Chevron to resume “limited” energy production in Venezuela after years of sanctions that have dramatically curtailed oil and gas profits that have flowed to President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Earlier this year the Treasury Department again allowed the California-based Chevron and other U.S. companies to perform basic upkeep of wells it operates jointly with state-run oil giant PDVSA. Under the new policy, profits from the sale of energy would be directed to paying down debt owed to Chevron, rather than providing profits to PDVSA.
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Whole Foods decision to pull lobster divides enviros, pols
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmental groups are once again at odds with politicians and fishermen in New England in the wake of a decision by high-end retail giant Whole Foods to stop selling Maine lobster. Whole Foods recently said that it will stop selling lobster from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country. The company cited decisions by a pair of sustainability organizations to take away their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry. The organizations, Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch, both cited concerns about risks to rare North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. Entanglement in gear is one of the biggest threats to the whales.
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The S&P 500 shed 62.18 points, or less than 1.5%, to 3,963.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 497.57 points, or 1.4%, to 33,849.46. The Nasdaq tumbled 176.86 points, or 1.6%, to 11,049.50. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 38.23 points, or 2%, to 1,830.96. | https://www.lakecountystar.com/business/article/Business-Highlights-Cyber-Monday-BlockFi-17616618.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:02 | en | 0.950196 |
Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said he spoke with Lamar Jackson on Monday about the star quarterback's profane postgame tweet directed at a fan a day earlier, saying the language Jackson used was out of character.
Jackson, meanwhile, insisted on Twitter that he did not intend to disrespect anyone's sexual orientation and has never done so.
After the Ravens lost 28-27 to Jacksonville on Sunday, a fan suggested Baltimore let Jackson leave via free agency. Jackson responded — in a tweet that was later deleted — by saying the person “never smelt a football field" and using vulgar language that members of the gay community said was offensive.
Jackson shot back at the idea that his tweet was anti-gay by tweeting Monday: “Not once have I ever mentioned or disrespect anyone’s Sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, Religion or Race.”
Harbaugh said he heard about Jackson’s tweet Sunday night and talked to him Monday morning.
“We talk a lot about football, but we also talk a little bit about that stuff too — what goes on in terms of the media and everything, and really, it’s just, beg guys not to get into the Twitter world right after the game, especially after a loss,” Harbaugh said. “It’s never going to be positive. It’s not going to be a nice place, and I think that’s kind of reflected in Lamar’s response.
“... He wants to win. I’m sure he’s frustrated, just like we all are, and that’s just a place you just don’t want to live right after a game. I know he understands that.”
Outsports.com, which covers LGBTQ sports news, published a piece about Jackson's comments that said: “Jackson might not be homophobic, but his comment was. He would have been better off apologizing for the tweet in the first place as opposed to trying to defend its contents.”
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/article/Ravens-Harbaugh-speaks-with-Jackson-about-17616674.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:04 | en | 0.96529 |
A San Antonio nonprofit that provides services to disabled people and the elderly was the victim of a data breach two months ago.
Disability Services of the Southwest said Monday that one or more “intruders” infiltrated its website Sept. 28 and may have gained access to information about current and former employees at its offices across the state.
The nonprofit initially disclosed last week that a “HIPAA data breach” had occurred, but later said it erred in describing it as such. HIPAA is shortand for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects patient health information from being disclosed without a patient’s consent.
No personal health information was involved in the breach. Employee information that may have been accessed includes names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, as well as job and location information.
Social Security numbers and bank account information were not accessed, Marjorie Costello, DSSW’s chief administrative officer, said in an email.
On ExpressNews.com: Ex-employee sues San Antonio’s Pape-Dawson Engineers over data breach
The organization employs about 2,000 people at its offices across Texas, but as many as 4,000 current and former employees may have been affected. An unknown number of prospective employees also may have had their information accessed.
DSSW notified the Texas Attorney General’s office of the data breach Wednesday, Costello said. The breach does not yet appear among the reports on the state agency’s website.
Costello said it did not lose access to its websites because of the breach, only “databases associated with our websites.”
In the news release, DSSW said the breach occurred on the systems of Internap Holding Inc., which operated the nonprofit’s website at the time.
“The intruder or intruders placed ransomware on the platform provider’s servers,” DSSW said. It did not pay any money to the intruders, Costello said.
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Internap didn’t respond to requests for comments.
TechRadar, an online publication that writes about technology products, reported that the cloud and data company experienced a ransomware attack from 2:11 a.m. to 5:41 a.m. Sept. 28 before it was discovered later that morning.
Internap, also known as INAP, was not able to recover its customers’ services because of the attack, TechRadar said.
As a result, INAP said in a statement it would no longer provide database, web hosting and email hosting services. TechRadar found the statement on an internet archive website after it had apparently been removed from INAP’s incident report page.
Costello replied “no comment” when asked if her organization was contemplating legal against against INAP.
DSSW says on its website that it is licensed by the state to provide a variety of services to persons with disabilities, including community living assistance and home care. It operates offices in 10 cities outside San Antonio.
pdanner@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/san-antonio-nonprofit-breached-17616435.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:08 | en | 0.971637 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden calls on Congress to impose tentative agreement on railroads, workers to avoid 'potentially crippling' shutdown.
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DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Switzerland’s loss made its upcoming World Cup rematch all the more enticing, and with a lot more on the line.
Ever since the match schedule was made in April, the Group G game between Switzerland and Serbia has been one to keep an eye on. Not just because of the talented players on both teams, but because of the political tensions they brought on the field when they met at the last World Cup.
Four years ago in Russia, Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka celebrated his goal against Serbia by making a double-headed eagle with his hands — thumbs representing the heads of the two eagles, fingers fanned to look like feathers. The figure is considered to be an Albanian nationalist symbol.
Xherdan Shaqiri added another goal in the final minute of the game, and did the same thing with his hands as the Swiss won 2-1 in the second of the three group matches.
Xhaka and Shaqiri both have ethnic Albanian heritage and family ties to Kosovo. They were teenagers growing up in Switzerland when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, something the Serbs still don’t recognize 14 years later.
Both players were fined by FIFA during the tournament, and the government of Albania opened a bank account for people to contribute toward paying the 10,000 Swiss franc ($10,500) penalties.
On Friday, only one of the two teams will be able to advance to the round of 16 in Qatar. Brazil, which beat the Swiss 1-0 on Monday and defeated Serbia 2-0 last Thursday, has already assured itself of a spot in the knockout round.
The Swiss likely need only a draw at Stadium 974, and Shaqiri should be available to play after sitting out the match against Brazil with a muscle injury.
Xhaka, now 30 and a mature leader for his country, brushed aside the controversial match from four years ago.
“(There’s) nothing in the history behind these two games,” the Arsenal midfielder said. “We are Switzerland, they are Serbia, that’s it. We are here to play football — them, us as well.”
Still, the Serbian delegation at this year’s World Cup has already made the politics of Kosovo an issue.
Serbia’s locker room ahead of its opening game against Brazil displayed a national flag with territory that included Kosovo and the slogan “No Surrender.” FIFA opened a disciplinary case against the Serbian soccer federation on Saturday.
The Kosovo soccer federation formally complained to FIFA after a photograph circulated and the country’s sports minister, Hajrulla Ceku, described the image as using the World Cup to promote “hateful, xenophobic and genocidal messages.”
The Swiss advanced to the round of 16 in 2018 after a draw with Costa Rica in their final group match, while the Serbs were eliminated after losing to Brazil. This time, the teams go head-to-head in their final group game.
“Of course, the history is the history,” said Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who also played against Serbia four years ago in Kaliningrad. “But in this moment it will be the game that is important.
“We know this game already,” Sommer added. “We had it in Russia.”
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/article/Swiss-loss-sets-up-enticing-rematch-with-Serbia-17616737.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:10 | en | 0.975543 |
SAN ANTONIO — In an Airbnb more than 5,000 miles from home, two San Antonians watched news of yet another U.S. mass shooting.
This one was in Colorado.
A friend and I, vacationing in Argentina, sat quietly as we watched a CNN anchor relay the horrid details.
This time, a man armed with multiple firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle, killed five people and injured at least 17 others.
On ExpressNews.com: ‘We DON’T wait for SWAT’: How San Antonio police would respond to a mass shooting
This time it was at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, and the gunman had grown up in San Antonio.
“We’re numb,” one of us said to the other, breaking the silence.
It was how we felt at the time, so far away from home.
Editorial: Gun rights and gun control are not in conflict
Speaking later and on U.S. soil, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Safety in America, better defined the moment.
“We aren’t numb,” she said on Twitter. “We’re traumatized.”
Three days after the Colorado shooting, a Walmart supervisor in Chesapeake, Virginia, shot and killed six co-workers before killing himself on Nov. 22. He had legally purchased a 9 mm handgun that day.
The week before, a gunman killed three University of Virginia football players.
Asked about gun control, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin responded by saying that now was not the time to talk about it.
We may be traumatized. But we’re not numb, and we’re not stupid.
And “we” are the majority of people in the United States, who support tighter controls on the amassing of guns and on who should be allowed to buy them.
This alone won’t eliminate gun violence, but it’s a start.
Poll after poll shows Americans support gun control measures despite inaction in the nation’s statehouses and in Washington, D.C.
The Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans somewhat favor or strongly favor banning assault-style weapons, and that 64 percent support a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
Pew also found that 66 percent of U.S. residents support the creation of a federal database to track all gun sales, and that 81 percent support mandatory background checks for private gun sales and sales at gun shows.
Eighty-seven percent want to prevent people with mental illnesses from buying guns.
Yet Youngkin and other elected officials exemplify the political stalemate. It’s paid for by a gun industry that doesn’t want to stop selling weapons and ammunition to anyone, including people it knows shouldn’t have access to either.
Youngkin wouldn’t talk about restrictions of any kind even after his state suffered two mass shootings in two weeks.
On Twitter, Elon Musk joined the conversation by publishing a photo of what he called “My bedside table.”
It showed two guns and several Coca-Cola cans. In another tweet, he joked, “There is no excuse for my lack of coasters.”
Don’t tell us this isn’t the time to talk about gun control.
President Joe Biden broke through the numbness and trauma to say — and to hope — that gun control legislation is possible. He vowed to work with Congress, despite its lame-duck status, to “try to get rid of assault weapons” before a newly elected Republican majority takes control of the House in January.
The president said that continuing to allow “semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. It’s just sick. It has no social redeeming value, zero, none.”
Biden said what we’re all thinking and wishing.
“I’m going to try. I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons.”
We know what will happen. Republicans won’t hear of prohibiting assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. They’ll block stronger background checks.
They’ll cling theatrically to the Constitution, at least on this one issue, and say that none of Biden’s measures will address the real, underlying problem behind gun violence.
Mental illness is the issue right-wing groups like the Heritage Foundation trot out every time gun legislation is mentioned.
One of Heritage’s legal experts said that investing in the nation’s mental health infrastructure would better address gun violence, as would investments in education, stable families, economic opportunities and programs “that promote human flourishing.”
Yes to all of that. But Republican-led legislatures aren’t exactly known for supporting such investments.
Back in Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in May, an activist and mother expressed doubt that Congress or the state of Texas will do anything to prevent more massacres.
“Their guns are more important than the children,” Janine Turner told me.
But there’s hope, and we saw some in November, in the unexpectedly strong showing by progressive candidates in elections across the country.
And there’s hope that at least a few Republicans will show with their votes that children deserve a chance to flourish.
eayala@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Ayala-Enough-already-it-s-time-to-ban-17616372.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:14 | en | 0.961227 |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut program that offered “hero pay” to essential workers at the peak of of the coronavirus pandemic got so many applicants that state lawmakers had to go back into session Monday to provide extra funding and put new limits on who could get the biggest bonuses.
The Connecticut General Assembly was meeting to revamp the distribution formula for the Premium Pay Program for private sector workers.
Initially, the state had expected to award about $30 million in bonuses to people who had to go to work, in person, in jobs in health care, food distribution, public safety and other essential services.
But after getting 155,730 applications from eligible people, lawmakers realized they would have to either put more money in or slash benefits.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done a program like this in the history of Connecticut, to my knowledge. And guessing what that’s going to be is hard to do,” said Democratic state Rep. Sean Scanlon. “Once we became clear that we did have more oversubscription to the program than there was, we figured out a solution to it.”
Numerous states provided bonuses to certain workers during the coronavirus pandemic, often by tapping into federal relief funds.
Half the states have collectively budgeted about $2.7 billion for extra pay to public or private-sector workers by using federal American Rescue Plan funds, according to an Associated Press analysis of the most recent data released by the U.S. Treasury Department. Connecticut’s program does not rely on the federal funds.
Some states have targeted the extra pay to workers most likely to come into close contact with people, such as public health and safety employees and teachers. Others have distributed money more widely. The “essential employee premium pay program” in Massachusetts provided $500 to any individual earning between about $13,000 and $39,000 annually, or earning up to nearly $80,000 for a household of four.
Under the revamped Connecticut plan, which cleared the House of Representatives and awaited a vote in the Senate on Monday night, funding would be boosted by $76.6 million and a new tiered system would be imposed for the program, which has stopped accepting new applications.
Only eligible full-time workers earning $50,000 or less per year — 66,289 people — would receive the full bonus of $1,000. Other applicants would receive reduced sums. The original program had offered full bonuses to workers earning as much as $150,000. Someone earning $150,000 will now receive $100.
Meanwhile, the benefit for eligible part-time workers would drop from $500 to $200.
Connecticut's program covers a fairly wide range of workers who were among the first eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Those include health care workers, police, firefighters, prison guards, grocery clerks, teachers, bus drivers and employees in various manufacturing fields.
There's been debate among state and city officials across the country about who should receive pandemic bonuses, especially after the U.S. government allowed so-called hero pay for frontline workers as a possible use of federal pandemic relief funds.
“If you wanted to benefit the heroes, you needed to define better what a hero is,” said Rep. Vincent Candelora, the Republican leader of the Connecticut House of Representatives, who criticized Connecticut's plan for being underfunded and making “no sense” as to who receives the money.
Like Connecticut, some other state's bonus programs also far exceeded original estimates.
In Minnesota, checks of $487.45 were cut for qualified frontline workers this fall after the state approved more than 1 million applications. State officials had originally estimated the final pool of qualified workers would be around 667,000, with payments of about $750 apiece, but applications exceeded expectations.
Missouri had originally budgeted $24 million to give bonuses to state employees working in institutions such as prisons, mental health facilities and veterans nursing homes. The program, which expired in 2021, ended up costing nearly $100 million.
Vermont twice increased funding for its hazard pay program, which originally included health care employees who worked during the early days of the pandemic and later was expanded to include retail and grocery workers, child care providers, janitors, trash collectors and others.
If Connecticut's revamped bonus program for private sector essential workers clears the General Assembly, as expected, the issue of pandemic pay is not over. Gov. Ned Lamont has yet to reach an agreement with union leaders on how to distribute a second pot of money for state workers. An arbitrator is scheduled to meet with both sides Dec. 16.
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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. | https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/Connecticut-facing-growing-cost-of-pandemic-bonus-17616739.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:14 | en | 0.975611 |
In a new federal lawsuit, the mother of Eliahna Torres, one of 19 children killed in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting on May 24, accuses scores of individuals, law enforcement agencies, local government and the maker of the semi-automatic rifle used in the slayings of failing to protect the victims.
Filed Monday in Del Rio, the suit described the last time Sandra C. Torres talked her 10-year-old daughter, hours before the gunman entered the Uvalde school and opened fire in classrooms 111 and 112, killing 21 fourth-grade students and teachers.
Eliahna called her mother, a fleet driver, after waking up around 7:20 a.m. Her final softball game of the season was that evening, and Eliahna was nervous about making the all-star team.
Before hanging up, Eliahna told her mother that she loved her. She then put on ripped jeans, a white top and black Vans sneakers. Her grandmother took her to school for her third-to-last-day as a fourth grader in classroom 111. It was awards day. Eliahna attended the ceremony in the morning, posing for a photo in front of pink balloons with some of her best friends.
The girl returned to class later that morning.
“Eliahna did not make it out of classroom 111,” the lawsuit said. “She was killed. Her family’s world was destroyed.”
Sandra Torres brought the lawsuit, along with Eliahna’s older brother, Eli Jr., and older sister, Justice.
They are suing gun maker Daniel Defense LLC of Georgia, the local Oasis Outback gun store where the shooter picked up his AR-15-style rifle, the Uvalde school district, dozens of officers who converged on the school, the city of Uvalde, Uvalde County and the local fire marshal.
The 77-page lawsuit accuses many of the defendants of contributing to wrongful death, negligence and violating the constitutional rights of Eliahna and other victims.
“Sometimes the only way you get justice is by filing a lawsuit,” said Blas Delgado of San Antonio, the lead lawyer for the Torres family. “There have been a lot of questions throughout the investigation, and we hope this also helps answer some of them.”
The suit alleges that Daniel Defense “markets its products to adolescent and young men using a range of channels, including social media content, product placements, and print advertising.
“For example, Daniel Defense promotes its products heavily on Instagram, a platform with a young user base,” the lawsuit states. “Daniel Defense also places its products in video games, and then heavily promotes the video game tie-ins in the company’s social media accounts.”
The gun manufacturer did not respond to request for comment on Monday.
Salvador Ramos of Uvalde bought a DDM4 V7 rifle on Daniel Defense’s website for $2,054.28 on May 16, his 18th birthday. On another website, he paid $1,761.50 for 1,740 rounds of ammunition for the rifle.
The next day, Ramos went to Oasis Outback and bought a Smith & Wesson M&P15 assault rifle for $1,081.42, the suit said.
The day after that, the teenager went back to Oasis Outback to buy an additional 375 rounds of AR-15 ammunition.
Ramos returned to Oasis Outback again two days later, on May 20, to pick up his Daniel Defense rifle and bought accessories for the weapon.
“Oasis Outback had a duty not to sell weapons to the just-turned 18-year-old shooter, who it knew or reasonably should have known was likely to harm himself or others,” the suit said. “The shooter was described by patrons of the store as having a nervous disposition and behaving suspiciously.”
“The shooter had purchased two extraordinarily lethal assault weapons and enough ammunition to fight off a small army, as well as a holographic sight and Hellfire Gen 2 trigger system, spending thousands of dollars within days of his 18th birthday,” it stated.
The owner of Oasis Outback declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The complaint names as defendants several officers from the school district, city police officers, Uvalde County sheriff’s deputies and constables, the Texas Department of Public Safety and a Texas Ranger — participants in a botched law enforcement response to the mass shooting. Officers waited more than 70 minutes to confront and kill the gunman,
Officers on the scene “had a duty of care to Eliahna, which they breached by delaying their entry to the classroom for well over an hour, thus denying her access to emergency medical and rescue services,” the lawsuit said.
The suit also includes another 123 defendants identified only as “Doe.” Most are officers who responded to the mass shooting.
guillermo.contreras@express-news.net| Twitter: @gmaninfedland| Staff writer Sig Christensen contributed to this story | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Family-of-10-year-old-slain-in-Uvalde-massacre-17616629.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:21 | en | 0.973779 |
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The capital murder trial began Monday of a former U.S. Border Patrol agent who confessed to killing four sex workers in South Texas, telling investigators he wanted to “clean up the streets” of his border hometown.
If convicted of capital murder, Juan David Ortiz, 39, faces life in prison without parole because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
At the time of his arrest, Ortiz, a Navy veteran, was a Border Patrol intel supervisor. He was arrested in Laredo on Sept. 15, 2018, after Erika Pena escaped from him and asked a state trooper for help. Ortiz pleaded not guilty Monday to capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint and evading arrest.
“You will see and you will hear, through his own words, how he took each woman to their last resting place, how he executed them," Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz told jurors during opening statements. “You will hear in his own words the indifference, the disrespect, the degradation that he has for these people.”
“You will hear the evidence in this own words: ‘I wanted to clean up the streets,’” Alaniz said, adding that Ortiz in Spanish called the women “dirt."
Ortiz is standing trial in San Antonio, in Bexar County, following a defense request to move the trial from Webb County due to extensive media coverage.
Alaniz also said that during the confession, Ortiz told investigators where to find the body of one of his victims.
Ortiz’s attorney, Joel Perez, told jurors in opening statements that investigators had jumped to conclusions, and that his client’s confession was “coerced.” He said his client was “broken” and “suicidal” when he made the confession after being questioned for over eight hours. Months earlier, the veteran had been put on “a bunch of psychotic pills” after seeking help when he was unable to sleep and having nightmares, Perez said.
Ortiz told investigators he’d had blackouts as well, Perez said.
“This is a defeated man,” Perez said.
Melissa Ramirez, 29, was killed on Sept. 3, 2018, and 42-year-old Claudine Luera was killed on Sept. 13, 2018.
On Sept. 14, 2018, Ortiz picked up Pena, who told investigators that Ortiz acted oddly when she brought up Ramirez's slaying. Pena testified Monday that she took off running when Ortiz pointed a gun at her in a truck at a gas station, and was crying as she approached a state trooper who was refueling his vehicle.
Ortiz fled and, he later told investigators, picked up and killed his last two victims, 35-year-old Guiselda Alicia Cantu and 28-year-old Janelle Ortiz. Authorities eventually tracked Juan David Ortiz to a hotel parking garage where he was arrested.
Each of his victims was shot in the head and left along rural Laredo-area roads. One died of blunt force trauma after being shot.
“Through the evidence, we will take you … to those last moments of these women’s lives,” Alaniz told jurors on Monday.
The Border Patrol placed Ortiz on indefinite, unpaid suspension after his arrest. When asked Monday for an update on his current employment status, a Border Patrol official said the agency doesn't comment on “pending litigation.” | https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/Ex-Border-Patrol-agent-accused-of-killing-4-goes-17616596.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:21 | en | 0.987042 |
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HOUSTON (AP) — Deshaun Watson was a star with the Houston Texans. Then he became disgruntled and later disgraced. After sitting out an entire season, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns. There, he has missed most of another as punishment amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Come Sunday, he'll be back in H-Town, taking snaps in an NFL game for the first time in nearly two years.
“I think this will probably be the final piece to that story,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said.
Watson is set to return from an 11-game NFL suspension when the Browns visit the Texans on Sunday, an uncomfortable reunion with Houston after the team's acrimonious split with the former face of the franchise.
“Deshaun is back. He’s playing football," Smith said. "The way things go, his first game would be back down here.”
Sunday will be the first time Watson has played a regular-season game since the 2020 season finale on Jan. 3, 2021, when he threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns for the Texans in a 41-38 loss to Tennessee to cap a disappointing 4-12 season.
Less than a month later, Watson became unhappy with the direction of the team and requested a trade.
In the months after his request, more than 20 women filed civil lawsuits alleging that he sexually harassed or assaulted them during massages, sparking a police investigation. A grand jury in Houston declined to indict Watson on March 11, clearing the way for the Texans to trade him. He was dealt to the Browns a week later. The NFL suspended him and fined him $5 million in August.
Before that, he and the Texans spent more than a year in limbo, with Watson on the roster and required to report to the facility but refusing to play for the team. That prompted then-coach David Culley to withstand a barrage of questions about the quarterback.
“It was a little bit different last year,” said Smith, who was the team’s defensive coordinator. “Deshaun was in the building a little bit, but we didn’t have a whole lot of interaction with him. But that is in the past. Changed area codes and all that.
"Now it’s just about a great quarterback coming into town that we need to get ready for with a history with our franchise.”
Despite Houston’s struggles in 2020, the Texans were confident that Watson would be their long-term solution at quarterback after being plagued by woes at the position for most of their relatively short history.
In the three seasons before drafting Watson with the 12th pick in 2017, the Texans had nine players start at least one game. Watson started six games as a rookie, finding immediate success before a season-ending ACL tear.
He returned in 2018, and his dynamic play helped the Texans to an 11-5 record and an AFC South title. Watson led Houston to a 10-6 mark and another division crown the following season before losing in the divisional round of the playoffs.
By then, Watson was a fan favorite in Houston. On game days, you’d see as many people wearing his No. 4 jersey as those of established superstars like J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins.
He endeared himself to the city not only with his play on the field but with multiple charitable endeavors across Houston. Watson made headlines as a rookie when the team released a video showing him giving his first rookie paycheck of about $27,000 to three Hurricane Harvey victims who worked in the team cafeteria.
Some fans became upset with him when he asked for the trade, but many blamed the problem on a team that had become somewhat dysfunctional after owner Bob McNair died in 2018 and his son Cal McNair took over.
But when the lawsuits began piling up and Watson remained out while the Texans struggled, some fans became ready to move on from the quarterback.
“I was a major Watson fan and thought he might finally get us to the Super Bowl,” Jose Rodriguez said at a sports bar Sunday while watching the Texans lose yet again. “But after everything that happened, I’m glad he’s gone and not our problem anymore.”
Houston (1-9-1), which finished with four wins for the second straight year last season, is struggling through another terrible season. With a team devoid of big names, it’s common to see jerseys of players no longer on the team at the stadium on game day.
Watt, Hopkins and Andre Johnson jerseys are commonplace. It’s rare to see Watson’s No. 4, so popular just two years ago.
Though the Texans and their fans are ready to move on from the Watson chapter, they are counting on the trade that sent him away to help turn things around. The Texans received three first-round draft picks in the trade, along with a third-round selection in 2023 and a fourth-round pick in 2024.
They used the first pick from the deal to take offensive lineman Kenyon Green with the 15th overall pick in this year’s draft. He’s started 10 games this season, and the Texans will use Cleveland’s first-round picks in the next two drafts to try and add talent to a team that seems overmatched in almost every way.
Despite their long history with Watson, the Texans will try to treat Sunday’s game as just the next one on the schedule as they try to snap a six-game skid. Smith was quick to point out that there probably won’t be much emotion toward the quarterback from Houston’s players since most of them never played with Watson.
“Did I tell you we’ve got a lot of young guys? They don’t know a whole lot about our past and what we’ve done,” he said. “They are just trying to get better and help us get another win.”
____
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.myjournalcourier.com/sports/article/Texans-brace-for-Deshaun-Watson-s-return-with-17616721.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:23 | en | 0.983057 |
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Erika Peña was scared.
Juan David Ortiz had picked her up at a Laredo bus stop and took her to score drugs and then to his home to have sex, she told the jury at his capital murder trial Monday.
Peña began to realize that the U.S. Border Patrol supervisor might have killed her friend, Melissa Ramirez, 29, when Ortiz told her he had been “the next to the last person” to have sex with Ramirez, she said.
Ortiz said he was worried that investigators would find his DNA, and “it made me think that he was the one who might have been murdering,” Peña told the jury.
Ortiz is accused of killing four women — all sex workers who frequented a stretch of San Bernardo Avenue just north of downtown Laredo. Each was shot in the head or neck and each had previous contact with Ortiz, authorities said.
Prosecutors began their case against him with testimony from his alleged fifth victim, Peña, 31, who said Ortiz held her at gunpoint before she fled his vehicle on the night of Sept. 14, 2018.
Peña, a single mom, told the jury she has a criminal record and has been arrested “several times.”
An addict, she started “having sex for money” so she could buy cocaine, crack and heroin. She is now “done with everything,” is taking Methadone and recently completed two years of probation, she said.
Peña had known Ortiz for about five or six months, she said. He gave her money to buy narcotics, driving her to a drug house, she said, and they would have sex at his home or in his pickup on the side of a road or at a park.
“He was nice, smart, funny, a normal guy,” Peña said.
But on Sept. 14, Ortiz “was not himself anymore,” Peña said, and as her suspicions grew as he talked about Ramirez, she became ill and went outside to throw up.
She convinced Ortiz she was just hungry, so he drove her to a gas station to get some beer and cigarettes, then parked behind the store, pulled out his government-issued handgun and grabbed her blouse, Peña said.
“He was trying to grab me by my left shoulder,” she saod. “Somehow, some way, I took off running without a shirt.”
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper happened to be gassing up his vehicle.
“I heard her yelling for help,” Trooper Francisco Javier Hernandez told the jury. “She was scared and fearing for her life.”
His body camera video shows Peña hyperventilating and stating in English and Spanish that Ortiz, whom she knew only as David, had pointed a gun at her after they discussed the deaths of two of her friends, Ramirez and Claudine Anne Luera.
Before Ortiz’s arrest hours later, two more people Peña knew would die.
Ramirez had been killed Sept. 3. Luera, 42, was killed Sept. 13. After Peña fled Ortiz’s pickup, police believe he killed two more victims: Guiselda Alicia Hernandez, 35, and Janelle Ortiz, 28, a transgender woman.
Juan David Ortiz was arrested around 2:30 a.m. Sept. 15. A Webb County Sheriff’s SWAT team found him unarmed and hiding on the third level of a motel parking garage.
Besides capital murder, Ortiz is charged with aggravated assault and unlawful restraint stemming from his encounter with Peña. His trial was moved to San Antonio from Webb County because of extensive media coverage in Laredo.
He has been held in the Webb County jail in lieu of $2.5 million bail.
In his opening statement, defense attorney Joel Perez of San Antonio took a slight shot at Webb County District Attorney Isidro R. “Chilo” Alaniz’s lengthy remarks to the jury, and reminded them that his words were not evidence.
Perez said investigative reports by the Webb County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers were either missing or protocols were not followed.
He said Peña “spent $300 to $400 a day and prostituted herself, not for her children, but to maintain her (drug) habit.”
Border Patrol officials have described Ortiz as a “rogue individual.” He joined U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Laredo in 2009 after serving in the U.S. Navy. He was 35 when arrested, a supervisory intelligence agent with a master’s degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.
Now 39, Ortiz faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.. His case is being heard in Bexar County Court at Law No. 5 by state District Judge Oscar J. Hale, Jr., who presides over the 406th Disrict Court in Webb County.
ezavala@express-news.net| Twitter: @elizabeth2863 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Ortiz-Capital-Day-1-17615653.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:27 | en | 0.98965 |
DENVER (AP) — Two Colorado sheriff’s deputies needlessly escalated a fatal standoff with a 22-year-old man experiencing a “mental health crisis,” leading him to brandish a knife in “a state of complete panic and self defense,” indictments released Monday showed.
The death last June of Christian Glass drew national attention and prompted calls for police reforms focused on crisis intervention. Glass was shot after calling 911 for help getting his car unstuck in the hamlet of Silver Plume, an hour west of Denver.
Clear Creek County Sheriff Deputy Andrew Buen, who shot Glass, was verbally aggressive toward the “paranoid” young man and muted his body worn camera when speaking to the shift supervisor, deputy Kyle Gould, just before the situation was escalated, according to the indictment.
Buen was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, official misconduct, and reckless endangerment. The indictment was announced last week, months after Glass' death, but the details were only made public with Monday's release.
Gould, who was not at the scene, was indicted on charges of reckless endangerment and criminally negligent homicide
The death has become a flashpoint for demands for police reforms focused both on crisis intervention and de-escalation training to address 911 calls police may not be fully equipped to handle.
Carrie L. Slinkard, an attorney representing Buen, did not immediately return a request for comment. No telephone listing or attorney could be found for Gould.
Nichole Lentz, spokesperson for the Clear Creek County Sheriff, said in a statement that both officers were terminated following the indictments.
The sheriff office’s ongoing internal investigation found “policy and procedural failures,” Lentz said, adding that the office’s initial news release following the shooting “does not reflect the entirety of what happened on that terrible night.”
Glass, who called police late on June 10 to help get his Honda Pilot unstuck, appeared to be “paranoid” and having a “mental health crisis," according to the indictment. Once law enforcement arrived, body camera videos show Glass refusing to get out of his car while telling police he is “terrified” and making heart shapes with his hands to officers.
Officers tried to speak with Glass, establish a rapport and persuade him to leave the car, but Buen oscillated between aggressive language and a conversational tone with the young man, according to the indictment.
Eventually, Buen spoke with Gould, the shift supervisor, over the phone but muted his body camera during the conversation, according to the indictment. After the call, Buen told another officer at the scene that the decision to forcefully remove Glass from the vehicle had been made, the indictment claims.
The decision to breach the car came without a determination that there was probable cause or a reasonable suspicion by officers on the scene that a crime had been, or was being, committed, according to the indictment.
Once the window was shattered, Glass seemed to panic, and police then shot Glass with bean bag rounds and shocked him with a stun gun, causing the young man to “scream in agony and panic,” according to the indictment.
Glass then brandished a knife in “a state of complete panic and self defense," according to the indictment. It added that Glass had previously offered to throw two knives out of the window though the video shows officers told him not to.
The footage then shows Glass twisting in his seat and thrusting a knife toward an officer who approaches the rear driver window before Buen fired his gun five times into Glass, according to the documents.
The grand jury alleged that at no point was the officer in imminent danger of being stabbed and Glass never attempted to get out of his vehicle.
“But for the decision by Gould to remove Mr. Glass from the vehicle there is no reason to believe that Mr. Glass would have been a danger to any law enforcement personnel, to himself, or to any member of the public,” the grand jury wrote, “And the decision to remove him from the vehicle directly lead to the death of Mr. Glass.” | https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/Grand-jury-Deputies-escalated-standoff-with-man-17616597.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:27 | en | 0.97716 |
You need to enable JavaScript to run this app. | https://sportspyder.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/articles/41679279 | 2022-11-28T23:48:28 | en | 0.738227 |
Eighteen San Antonians want to temporarily fill District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry’s seat while the incumbent takes a leave of absence following a hit-and-run arrest.
Applications for the role closed at 5 p.m. Monday.
City Council will narrow down the pool to up to three candidates Wednesday. Council members will interview those applicants Thursday and select one to serve in the position.
If there are eight or more votes in favor of an individual, that person will immediately be sworn-in and take a seat on the dais, according to the council agenda memorandum. If there are seven or six votes in favor of someone, they will be sworn in on Dec. 12 and participate in the Dec. 14 City Council B session.
The community members who applied are as follows:
- Charles Daniels
- Gracie Farias
- Michael R. Gallagher
- Jose F. Garcia
- Lisa Garcia
- Donald J. Hartshorn
- Ezra Johnson
- Elise L. Kibler
- Laurence Kurth
- Christopher Longoria
- Bryan Martin
- William Peche
- Pauline A. Rubio
- Christopher W. Sanchez
- Andrew Shelnutt
- Joel G. Solis
- Timothy P. Taylor
- Laura Thompson
Former District 10 City Councilman Mike Gallagher is among the applicants. The retired Air Force colonel left office in 2017. When he first applied, Gallagher said he did not plan to run for District 10 during the May 6 city elections.
Gallagher served as Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf’s media relations director during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He is president of the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance, a coalition of neighborhood associations, and the Northern Hills Homeowners Association.
On ExpressNews.com: ‘An unforeseen circumstance’: Former Councilman Mike Gallagher looks to fill City Council seat in Clayton Perry’s absence
Perry, 67, was collecting an annual salary of $45,722, which is what council members can receive according to the city charter, but told city officials he had plans to stop receiving compensation during his leave. Gallagher said that if he is appointed, he will not accept the salary either.
Perry allegedly fled the scene after crashing his black Jeep Wrangler into a Honda Civic at the intersection of Jones Maltsberger and Redland roads around 9 p.m. on Nov. 6. The third-term councilman was arrested and charged with failure to stop and give information, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up $2,000 and 180 days in jail. He was released on a $1,000 bond, according to court records.
San Antonio police also plan to file a drunken driving charge against Perry.
Perry’s arraignment hearing on the hit-and-run charge is set for Dec. 12.
On Nov. 14, City Council voted to grant Perry’s request for a sabbatical rather than calling for his resignation as originally planned. It is unclear how long Perry will be on leave and how long the interim representative will have to serve in his place.
On ExpressNews.com: City Council agrees with Clayton Perry on sabbatical request
The applicants that make it to Thursday morning’s council meeting will make a three-minute statement before council members ask them questions. Each of these interviews will take about 10 minutes, said Deputy City Clerk Aurora Perkins. Then, the council will go into executive session to discuss who they want to select.
Each applicant had to submit several items to be considered, including a letter of interest, a resume, a valid Bexar County voter registration certificate and documents that show their current address. Applications were not made public Monday afternoon when the names of applicants were posted online.
Originally a final selection was going to be made on Dec. 15, but Perkins said the timeline was moved up so that the district could have a representative as soon as possible.
District 10 Chief of Staff Paul Jimenez — who previously served under Gallagher — said the district office has been able to run smoothly despite Perry’s absence.
Jimenez said he thinks Gallagher would “be excellent” in the position if appointed.
“I don’t know who else has put their names forward,” Jimenez said Monday morning before the names of all applicants were posted online at the end of the day, “but I’m sure whoever is in there, it’s going to be fine.”
megan.rodriguez@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/18-San-Antonians-hope-to-fill-Councilman-Clayton-17616745.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:33 | en | 0.959371 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is making a fuller reopening to the public following more than two and a half years of closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Beginning Dec. 1, the high court will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the Supreme Court’s website. The high court closed to the public in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In October, the high court began allowing the public to attend arguments in the courtroom again on the approximately six days a month the court hears arguments, but the court building remained closed to visitors at other times.
The high court initially postponed arguments because of the pandemic, then started hearing arguments by phone. The justices began hearing arguments in the courtroom again in October 2021 but without the public present. | https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/High-court-opening-its-doors-to-public-on-17616671.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:33 | en | 0.944956 |
You need to enable JavaScript to run this app. | https://sportspyder.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/articles/41679457 | 2022-11-28T23:48:34 | en | 0.738227 |
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher has started clearing the path to hiring a true offensive coordinator, one who will take over the primary play-calling duties from Fisher moving forward.
The Aggies on Monday announced that offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey, who served as more of a consultant to Fisher from the press box than an actual play-caller, had been “relieved of his duties” from the program.
A&M (5-7, 2-6 SEC) wrapped up its season on Saturday night with a 38-23 home victory over No. 5 LSU, in snapping a six-game losing streak to league opponents. The Aggies, who are not eligible for a bowl for the first time since 2008, lost six consecutive games for the first time in 50 years under Fisher’s watch, and the offensive-minded coach has been under scrutiny for an offense that ranks outside the top 100 of 131 FBS programs in scoring (101 at 22.8 points per game).
Fisher is expected to announce the hire of a true offensive coordinator in coming weeks, especially with the early signing period starting on Dec. 21. Dickey has been with Fisher at A&M since 2018, after Fisher arrived from Florida State in taking over for Kevin Sumlin.
Dickey, 62, made a reported $850,000 as a non-play calling coordinator.
Prior to Texas A&M, Dickey was the offensive coordinator under Justin Fuente and Mike Norvell at Memphis. He also has coordinator experience at UTEP, SMU, Utah State, New Mexico and Texas State.
Dickey spent 1998-06 as the head coach at North Texas and left Denton with a 42-64 record.
brent.zwerneman@chron.com
twitter.com/brentzwerneman | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/aggies/article/Aggies-part-ways-with-offensive-coordinator-Dickey-17616695.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:39 | en | 0.953871 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday in a letter to Congress that there is “nothing to suggest” that Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics standards following a report that a 2014 decision he wrote was leaked in advance of its announcement.
The letter was in response to an inquiry from lawmakers following a New York Times report earlier this month. That report said that a former anti-abortion leader was told in advance the outcome of the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores case involving health care coverage of contraception. In a 5-4 decision, Alito wrote that some companies with religious objections can avoid the contraceptives requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care legislation.
Earlier this year, Alito's opinion in a different case, the court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, was leaked. But while that leak was a public disclosure of the text, the new report alleged that in the 2014 case, the disclosure wasn't as broad.
In the Times story, Rev. Rob Schenck said he was told the outcome of the 2014 decision by Gail Wright, a donor to an organization he headed who had dined with Alito and his wife. In the story, Wright denied obtaining or sharing any information and Alito also emphatically denied disclosing the case's outcome in a statement.
The Supreme Court's letter Tuesday to Congress included language Alito used previously denying the case's outcome had been disclosed.
“There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito's actions violated ethics standards,” Supreme Court legal counsel Ethan Torrey wrote in a letter addressed to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia. The two Democrats chair courts subcommittees.
Alito was appointed to the high court in 2006 by President George W. Bush. | https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/Letter-Nothing-to-suggest-Alito-violated-17616669.php | 2022-11-28T23:48:39 | en | 0.980921 |
You need to enable JavaScript to run this app. | https://sportspyder.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/articles/41679693 | 2022-11-28T23:48:40 | en | 0.738227 |
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