Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Parade Crash Suspect Was Out On Bail

NY Post front page 11/23/21

QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT WHY SUSPECT IN WISCONSIN PARADE CRASH WAS OUT ON BAIL: Questions are being raised about why the suspect in the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade crash Sunday was out on bail. Darrell Brooks Jr. was free on $1,000 bail that had been posted just two days earlier, and one of the pending cases against him involved an allegation that the 39-year-old intentionally hit a woman with his car after a fight earlier this month, reportedly the mother of his child. On Monday, Milwaukee County prosecutors called their bail recommendation "inappropriately low," and said they'd review it. Police said yesterday that Brooks had been leaving the scene of a domestic dispute when he plowed through the parade route, killing five people and injuring 48 others.

Daily Mail 11/23/21 The Victims
He has a long criminal history and had two outstanding cases against him at the time of Sunday's parade crash. At least nine people, most of them children, remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday and seven others were in serious condition. Three of those killed were members of the "Dancing Grannies" club who were participating in the parade.

➤ATTORNEYS DELIVER CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN ARBERY MURDER TRIAL: Attorneys delivered their closing arguments yesterday in the Georgia murder trial of three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was running through their neighborhood. 

Defense attorneys presented it as a case of self-defense, saying Arbery ran toward and punched Travis McMichael and grabbed for McMichael's shotgun after he, his father Greg McMichael, and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan chased him down in their pickup trucks in February 2020. The prosecutor said the defendants had no evidence Arbery committed any crimes, but assumed he'd burglarized a home under construction. Security cameras at the home didn't show Arbery stealing or damaging anything. Closing arguments will be completed today with prosecution getting the final rebuttal.

➤JANUARY 6TH HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS ROGER STONE, ALEX JONES: The House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol subpoenaed five more people Monday, including former President Donald Trump's longtime ally Roger Stone and Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The subpoenas seek both testimony and documents from Stone and Jones, as well as from three others accused of organizing and promoting the two rallies that took place on that date. The subpoena notes Stone spoke at rallies on the day before the Capitol attack and used members of a far-right group the Oath Keepers as personal security while he was in Washington. The committee chairman says Jones helped organize the January 6th rally at the Ellipse before the Capitol attack, urged his listeners to come to the rally, and marched from the Ellipse to the Capitol.

💲BIDEN NOMINATES POWELL FOR SECOND TERM AS FED CHAIR: President Biden said yesterday that he's nominating Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for a second four-year term. Powell is a Republican initially appointed to the position by former President Donald Trump. By nominating him for a second term, Biden expressed support for Powell's stewardship of the Fed, saying yesterday, "When our country was hemorrhaging jobs last year, and there was panic in our financial markets, Jay’s steady and decisive leadership helped to stabilize markets and put our economy on track to a robust recovery."


➤GOV'T. TO PAY MILLIONS TO FAMILIES OVER FBI'S FAILURE TO ACT ON INFO AHEAD OF PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING: The families of those killed and wounded in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018 said yesterday that they'd reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the federal government. The settlement is over the FBI's failure to stop gunman Nikolas Cruz, a former student, even though it had gotten a tip a month earlier that he attended to attack. AP cited a source as saying the settlement was for $127.5 million overall. That's for 16 of the 17 people killed and some of those wounded. The 17th family chose not to sue.

NY Post Graphic
➤POLL SHOWS MATTHEW McCONAUGHY WOULD BEAT CURRENT GOP GOVERNOR:  Matthew McConaughey still hasn't said if he's going to run for governor of Texas in 2022, but a new poll shows the actor would have a good chance if he does. In the survey by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas Tyler, McConaughey beat both current Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke in head-to-head match-ups. However, in a three-way race, Abbott comes out ahead. McConaughey, a Texas native who lives in the state, has for months said he's considering the idea. He hasn't said if he'd run as a Democrat, Republican or independent, but has expressed centrist views. The poll shows that McConaughey would beat Abbott 43 percent to 35 percent, and he'd beat O'Rourke by an even larger margin of over 20 percentage points. But in a three-way, Abbott came out ahead at 37 percent to McConaughey's 27 percent and O'Rourke's 26 percent.

➤INVESTIGATION FOUND 'OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE' OF CUOMO MISCONDUCT:
Andrew Cuomo
A New York legislative investigation report released yesterday (November 22nd) found, quote, "overwhelming evidence that former Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed women and ordered state workers to help produce his pandemic leadership book -- for which he got a $5.2 million deal -- during work hours. Additionally, his staff were found to have "substantially revised" a state health department report on Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes to leave out data that would have hurt his reputation as a leader during the pandemic. The state Assembly's Judiciary Committee commissioned a law firm to conduct the probe. Cuomo's spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, said in response that senior staff who helped with the book did so on their personal time. Additionally, Azzopardi said on the sexual harassment claims that the Assembly had relied too much on information gathered during what he called a "politically biased" investigation overseen by Attorney General Letitia James. Cuomo resigned in August to avoid likely impeachment.

🎄FIRST LADY RECEIVES DELIVERY OF WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS TREE: First Lady Jill Biden received delivery of the official White House Christmas tree yesterday. The 18 1/2-foot Fraser fir was delivered by a wagon drawn by Clydesdale horses, presented by father and son Rusty and Beau Estes of Peak Farms in North Carolina, who won the National Christmas Tree Association's annual contest. On hand for the arrival were the Bidens' son Hunter Biden, his wife Melissa, and their toddler son Beau. 
The first lady later joined President Biden at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to celebrate "friendsgiving" with service members and military families. The first couple helped serve the meal. The Bidens will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Nantucket, which is their family's tradition.

🦃POLL: AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO TALK POLITICS AT THANKSGIVING: Arguing about politics is one of those things that can derail your Thanksgiving, sparking anger and shouting at the celebration, and a Quinnipiac University poll found that it's something Americans definitely don't want to do this year. Two-thirds of those surveyed, 66 percent, said they are hoping to avoid politics while visiting with family or friends for Thanskgiving, with just 21 percent saying they're looking forward to it. When asked how likely they think there will be a heated political debate at their gatherings, half -- 50 percent -- said not likely at all, 24 percent said not so likely, 15 percent said somewhat likely and nine percent very likely.

➤TARGET TO KEEP STORES CLOSED ON THANKSGIVING FOR GOOD:  Target says it will no longer open its doors on Thanksgiving Day, ever. Target CEO Brian Cornell wrote in a note to employees, “What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard—one that recognizes our ability to deliver on our guests’ holiday wishes both within and well beyond store hours. You don’t have to wonder whether this is the last Thanksgiving you’ll spend with family and friends for a while, because Thanksgiving store hours are one thing we won’t ‘get back to’ when the pandemic finally subsides.” Target is the first major retailer to make such a permanent change during the pandemic, and it could push other retailers to follow in its path, according to Ken Perkins, the president of retail research firm Retail Metrics. So far, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Walmart have all said they will not be open on Thursday (Thanksgiving, November 25th) this year, but none of them have noted plans for the future.

💌FEWER AMERICANS SEE THEIR ROMANTIC PARTNERS AS A SOURCE OF LIFE’S MEANING, AND IT SIGNALS A BIG CULTURAL SHIFT:   Americans aren’t finding as much meaning in their romantic partners anymore. A new report from Pew Research Center, that surveyed over 2,500 American adults, found just nine percent cited their spouse or romantic partner as a source of meaning in life. Back in 2017, 20 percent said the same. The steepest decline among those who said it was in married women—in 2017 31 percent found life’s meaning in their spouse, and this year just 13 percent said the same. But still, 49 percent of all respondents said their family and children were the source of life’s meaning (and they could’ve included their spouse in this), but even that number fell by seven percentage points since 2017. Twenty percent said they found friends as a source of life’s meaning, a number that fell just one percent since 2017. This all suggests that relationships overall still hold importance to Americans, but they’ve taken a hi since the pandemic—particularly romantic relationships.

➤COVID SHUTDOWN LED TO RISE IN SELF-ADMINISTERED COSMETIC PROCEDURES:  At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a nationwide healthcare and economic slowdown. Boston University researchers found that despite this, “many felt compelled to search for easily obtained yet riskier cosmetic options.” Study author Dr. Neelam Vashi says she and her colleagues had three patients who developed complications following home-administered procedures without professional assistance, and that to date they all still have abnormalities in the pigmentation of the skin and/or scarring, some of which may be permanent. Vashi says increased regulatory efforts need to be carried out by law enforcement to limit the amount of illegally traded products people are able to obtain online, and that, “Dermatologists should educate patients on the importance of performing cosmetic procedures in a safe environment with trained professionals, especially during the pandemic.”

🏈BUCCANEERS DOWN GIANTS 30-10 IN 'MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL': The Tampa Bay Buccaneers downed the New York Giants 30-10 in Monday Night Football last night at home, snapping their two-game losing streak. Bucs quarterback Tom Brady threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, as he avoided having three losses in a row for the first time since 2002. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones threw for 167 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice and sacked twice.
 
🏀LEBRON SUSPENDED FOR ONE GAME, DETROIT'S STEWART FOR TWO AFTER INCIDENT: L.A. Lakers star LeBron James was suspended by the NBA for one game yesterday, the first suspension in his 19-year career, and the Detroit Pistons' Isaiah Stewart for two games after an altercation in the game between the teams Sunday. James was suspended, according to the NBA, "for recklessly hitting Stewart in the face and initiating an on-court altercation," and Stewart was punished for "escalating an on-court altercation by repeatedly and aggressively pursuing . . . James in an unsportsmanlike manner." The incident began when James and Stewart was jostling for position during the third quarter during a free throw and James swung his elbow, hitting Stewart in the face. Stewart, who had blood streaming down his face from over his eye, repeatedly tried to go after James.

🏈SAINTS' HILL AGREES TO FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION: The New Orleans Saints' Taysom Hill agreed to a four-year contract extension, ESPN reported yesterday (November 22nd), which has an unusual design. The report says that if Hill continues in his current role as backup quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end, he'll get $40 million over the four years, but if he becomes the Saints' starting quarterback over the next four years, the extension could be worth up to $95 million.

🏀CITADEL BASKETBALL HEAD COACH COLLAPSES AT START OF GAME AGAINST DUKE: The Citadel basketball head coach Duggar Baucom collapsed on the court just after the start of last night's game against Duke. The 61-year-old fell along the sideline barely a minute into the game. He was conscious as he was helped out by medical personnel and was taken to Duke University Hospital. A team spokesman said later that Baucom was in good spirits and would remain in the hospital overnight, then return to South Carolina with the team this morning. Duke won 107-81.

🏈USFL UNVEILS TEAM NAMES AHEAD OAF RETURN NEXT SPRING: The United States Football League unveiled its team names and logos yesterday ahead of its return to play next spring. The eight teams will be split evenly in two divisions, and all eight were part of the USFL's original 1980s run. The north division will have the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers, and the southern division will have the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits. All the teams will play in one location, which has yet to be announced, in a 10-game regular season. That will be followed by semifinals between the top two teams in each division and a championship game between division winners. The season is set to begin in mid-April and run through June, with most games on Saturdays and Sundays.



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