Thursday, December 8, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Cops Hope White Car Is Key To 'Critical Information'


Idaho police revealed Wednesday they are searching for the occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra who may have “critical information” about last month’s quadruple homicide of four college students. Moscow police said the vehicle, believed to be a 2011 to 2013 model, was spotted near the off-campus home of the slain students on Nov. 13 before the victims were discovered dead. Police said they do not know the vehicle’s license plate number. 

“Tips and leads have led” authorities to seek out the driver and any possible occupants, according to a Wednesday post from police asking for the public’s help. “Investigators believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case,” the post read. It’s unclear if investigators believe anyone inside the car could have played a role in the slaughter of the University of Idaho students or if they may have witnessed anything that could help police identify a suspect. Authorities have still not identified a suspect more than three weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were found stabbed to death in their off-campus house.

Daily Mail US Composite (12/8/22)

➤HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TAKING A LOOK AT AOC: The House Ethics Committee is investigating Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the congressional panel confirmed Wednesday. The eight-member committee provided no details about the nature of the investigation, saying only that it had decided to extend its consideration of a matter brought to its attention on June 23 of this year, and would announce its ultimate course of action some time next year. But socialist darling AOC was the subject of two complaints submitted to the Office of Congressional Ethics over her attendance at last year’s Met Gala. Ocasio-Cortez made waves at the gala wearing a designer-made dress emblazoned with the words: “Tax the Rich.” Both complaints allege the socialist rep, 33, broke House rules by accepting free tickets to the star-studded affair. Lawmakers are allowed under chamber regulations to take free tickets to charity events directly from organizers, however, Conservative groups allege that such an allowance does not apply to the Met Gala, since invitations are controlled by a for-profit company — media conglomerate Conde Nast — and the tables at the event are similarly sponsored by corporate entities.


➤TRUMP’S POLITICAL OBITUARY?: Fox News has published what it calls a political obituary for Donald J. Trump. Fox contributor Liz Peek concludes that Herschel Walker, Trump’s hand-picked candidate for the U.S. Senate who lost his race this week, struck the final blow to the former president’s political career. “Mr. Trump will not win another election,” Peek wrote. “His most glaring political strength today is his ability to energize Democrats, causing not only historic turnout but attracting gushers of campaign cash for the opposition.” The piece is notable given that Fox News was for years a stalwart supporter of the former president.


Meanwhile, Trump seems to be moving farther to the fringe of his own party. This week he posed for a picture with a prominent QAnon conspiracy theorist who appeared at a fundraising event at his Mar-a-Lago club. Liz Crokin is a promoter of the Pizzagate story, which alleges that a number of people including Hillary Clinton are running a child sex ring out of the basement of a Washington D.C. pizza parlor.

➤CHINA SCRAPS MOST COVID-TESTING: China scrapped most of its Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements in the wake of nationwide protests. The rapid aboutface suggests Beijing is now more concerned about the economic damage its zero-tolerance policy caused, such as supply-chain disruptions and fewer exports, than a surge in infections. Health officials and state media have recently nodded to relaxing controls because the latest strains are less deadly, though more easily spread.

➤STATES RAMP-UP THEIR TIKTOK CHALLENGES:  Indiana filed a pair of lawsuits, alleging the social-media app deceives consumers about its content and data security and should be prohibited from allowing children to access adult content. Last week, the Republican governor of South Dakota issued an executive order banning the platform from state agencies over national-security concerns stemming from its Chinese ownership. Nebraska did the same in 2020. Federal lawmakers from both parties are threatening a ban because they worry about Beijing potentially ordering the company to collect data on American users and influencing public discourse by controlling what people watch. TikTok has said it has never received such requests and wouldn’t comply if asked. Representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Indiana’s lawsuits.

➤ZELENSKY IS TIME'S MAN:  Time Magazine has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and "the spirit of Ukraine" as its 2022 Person of the Year. The award goes to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months. Other finalists included protesters in Iran, China's leader Xi Jinping and the US Supreme Court. The magazine's editor said the decision was "the most clear-cut in memory". "In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country," Edward Felsenthal wrote. He added that the "spirit of Ukraine" referred to Ukrainians around the world, including many who "fought behind the scenes". This includes people like Ievgen Klopotenko, a chef who provided thousands of free meals to Ukrainians and medic Yuliia Payevska who was captured, then released after three months in Russian captivity.

➤PUTIN SAYS HE HASN’T GONE MAD: In case you thought otherwise, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s not crazy. Speaking with members of his Human Rights Council yesterday, Putin justified his country’s illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine as necessary to preserve Russia’s access to the sea, which he noted that Russian Czar Peter the Great also fought for in the early 18th century. He also dismissed fears that Russia would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, despite an implicit threat weeks ago to do just that. “We haven’t gone mad,” he said. “We are fully aware of what nuclear weapons are.” But he acknowledged that the war could turn into “a long-term process.”

➤JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST SAUDI'S MBS: Despite “credible allegations” of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in the 2018 killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. federal judge on Tuesday ordered a lawsuit against the Saudi royal to be dismissed. The basis for the decision, wrote Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was the legal protections the prince is entitled to in his new role as Saudi Arabia’s prime minister. Last month, the Biden administration determined that Mohammed — also known as MBS — was immune from the suit brought forth in 2020 by Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz.


➤ALLEGED COLORADO CLUB SHOOTER CHARGED: The suspect in the deadly shooting rampage at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs has been charged with 305 criminal counts. Anderson Lee Aldrich is accused of killing five people and wounding 17 others in the assault at Club Q on November 19th. A preliminary hearing is expected to be scheduled for next May.

➤MORE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS FOUND IN TRUMP’S POSSESSION: Two more classified government documents that left the White House with former President Donald Trump have turned up, according to The Washington Post. The documents were found in a storage facility in West Palm Beach and have been turned over to the FBI. The find comes almost four months after FBI agents with a search warrant recovered more than 100 documents marked classified inside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.


➤REWARD IN POWER STATION ATTACK: A reward of $75,000 is being offered for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible for Saturday’s rifle assault on two electrical substations in North Carolina. Investigators have identified two possible motives. One is that domestic extremists were acting on calls for infrastructure attacks that have been posted on online forums. A second theory suggests it was an attack on the LBGTQ community, since the power loss coincided with the finale of a drag performance on stage nearby. Moore County’s utility company has just restored power to 45,000 homes and businesses that lost electricity after the attack.


➤GERMAN COUP PLOT THWARTED: German police have arrested 25 people in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the government and install a man named Heinrich the Thirteenth as the king of Germany. Heinrich, who is a descendant of an old aristocratic family, is accused of being one of two ringleaders of the plot. According to CNN, the plotters also included members of the U.S.-based QAnon group as well as a domestic group called Citizens of the Reich, whose adherents reject modern democracy and refuse to pay taxes,

➤SHOPLIFTING IS GETTING OUT OF HAND: Shoplifting has gotten so bad at Walmart stores that its CEO says the company may shut down some of the worst-hit stores in the U.S. Doug McMillon said on CNBC that shoplifting will cost the company more than $600 million this year. He noted that this is due to “organized retail theft” as well as sticky-fingered individuals.

➤HURRICANE UNCOVERS SHIPWRECK ON FLORIDA BEACH: A massive wooden structure uncovered by beach erosion has been identified as a 19th century shipwreck. The ship had been lying deep under the sand on Daytona Beach Shores until Hurricane Nicole uncovered it over the Thanksgiving weekend. Archaeologists are busy measuring and sketching the remains of the ship, but it will remain where it is until the forces of nature rebury it.

⚾AARON JUDGE IS STAYING WITH THE YANKEES: Aaron Judge is staying with the New York Yankees after agreeing to a new contract worth a reported $360 million over nine years, according to multiple reports. The American League’s Most Valuable Player got the offer directly from managing director Hal Steinbrenner, according to the MLB site. The Yankees matched a deal offered by the San Francisco Giants. 

  • Judge apparently has skills in negotiating, too. He turned down a $213.5 offer from the Yankees last spring. That would be before he broke the American League season record for home runs and before he became a free agent.
  • Judge’s deal is very, very big, but it’s not the biggest in Major League Baseball. Mike Trout wot a 12-year contract worth $426.5 million from the Los Angeles Angels. Mookie Betts got $365 million in a 12-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
⚾OUTFIELDER YOSHIDA GOES TO THE RED SOX: Outfielder Masataka Yoshida, a star for seven years with Nippon Professional Baseball, is joining the Boston Red Sox, according to ESPN. His deal is reportedly worth $90 million over five years.

⚾CONTRERAS JOINS THE CARDINALS: Willson Contreras will replace retiring Yadier Molina as catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, ESPN reports. Contreras has been with the Chicago Cubs for seven seasons. His five-year deal from the Cardinals is worth a reported $87.5 million.

🏈NOTRE DAME’S MAYER DECLARES FOR NFL DRAFT: Notre Dame star tight end Michael Mayer will not be with the team when they play South Carolina in the Gator Bowl on December 30th. He has declared for the 2023 NFL draft. The 6-foot-4 inch, 265-pound Mayer caught 42 passes for 450 yards and two touchdowns, and that was when he was a freshman. This season, Mayer totaled 67 catches for 809 yards and nine touchdowns.

🏈BILLS LB VON MILLER OUT FOR THE SEASON: Von Miller of the Buffalo Bills is out of action for the rest of the season. He had to undergo surgery for a knee injury.



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