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Monday, February 20, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Biden Makes Surprise Visit To Ukraine




Turkey stepped up work to clear away rubble from collapsed buildings on Monday, as rescue work wound down two weeks after major earthquakes killed more than 46,000 people in southern Turkey and northwest Syria. Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said that nearly 13,000 excavators, cranes, trucks and other industrial vehicles had been sent to the quake zone. The death toll in Turkey had risen to 41,020, the AFAD said, and it was expected to climb, with some 385,000 apartments in the country known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing.

➤BIDEN TO POLAND AS WAR ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES: U.S. President Joe Biden is due to visit Poland on Monday to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which said it was inflicting heavy losses on Moscow's forces in Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two. The war which began on Feb. 24 last year has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, driven millions from their homes and reduced cities to rubble across swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine. There has been little change on the vast frontline in recent months as both sides prepare for offensives expected in the spring, Russia boosted by thousands of conscripts and Ukraine fortified with Western battle tanks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia had suffered "extraordinarily significant" losses near the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow claimed to have annexed in September.

➤L-A CATHOLIC BISHOP MURDERED: The Saturday shooting that killed Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell in Los Angeles is being investigated as a murder, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. O’Connell, a 69-year-old native of Ireland who served several parishes in South LA, was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound on Saturday afternoon in the Hacienda Heights neighborhood, according to the statement. No additional information was available.  Homicide rates spiked in LA during the pandemic along with other types of crime and have fallen slightly since. There have been 33 homicides in LA in the year through Feb. 11, according to statistics compiled by the police department, down 30% from this time last year. 

Philly Inquirer 2/20/23
➤PHILLY PLAGUED BY SHOOTING: Miles Pfeffer, 18, is accused of shooting Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald, 31, on Saturday night before going through his pockets and trying to steal his gun. Fitzgerald's loved ones, Temple University students and members of the community paid their respects on Sunday at a memorial that continued to grow just steps away from where the cop lost his life. Video footage by Action News captured Fitzgerald's final moments doing what he loved - serving and protecting the community.

Daily Mail Composite 2/20/23
Around 7:15 p.m., Fitzgerald was shot in the face and upper torso while in pursuit of criminal suspects, according to police. Fitzgerald was pronounced dead shortly after. On Sunday morning, officers arrested 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer in Bucks County and planned to charge him with murder of a law enforcement official, among other charges.

➤MOM OF 2 SHOT DEAD: A 26-year-old mother was shot and killed in front of her young children outside of a South Carolina grocery store on Valentine’s Day.   Alexandria Cress Borys had been shopping at a Kroger in Irmo, South Carolina on Tuesday when she got into a verbal dispute with a complete stranger while packing groceries in her car in the parking lot, Borys’ husband, Tyler, told WIS-TV. After the argument apparently ended, the stranger, identified by police as 23-year-old Christina Harrison, pulled out a gun and shot Borys in the back around 4 p.m., he said. Tyler Borys told WACH that she was gunned down while their 2-year-old child and an infant were in the car.  According to the Irmo Police Department, police arrived at the scene and declared Alexandria Cress Borys dead shortly after.


➤RECORD 6,542 GUNS INTERCEPTED AT U.S. AIRPORT SECURITY IN 2022: The Transportation Security Administration intercepted a record 6,542 guns at airport checkpoints across the country last year. The number is an all-time high for guns intercepted at U.S. airports. It roughly translates to about 18 guns intercepted every day. With the exception of pandemic-disrupted 2020, the number of weapons intercepted at airport checkpoints has climbed every year since 2010. The top 10 list for gun interceptions in 2022 includes Dallas, Austin and Houston in Texas; three airports in Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta; Phoenix; and Denver.

➤CARTER IN HOSPICE: President Joe Biden expressed his condolences and love to the Carter family after former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at the age of 98. Biden said he admired the Carter's strength and humility during difficult times and wished them peace as they 'continue their journey with grace and dignity'. Carter, who served as the U.S. president from 1977 to 1981, decided to spend his remaining time at home after a series of hospital stays. The Carter Center foundation thanked the Bidens for their message of support. 

✞RICHARD BELZER HAS DIED: Richard Belzer (right), the longtime stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: SVU,” has died. He was 78. Belzer died Sunday at his home in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, in southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft said. Scheft, a writer who had been working on a documentary about Belzer, said there was no known cause of death, but that Belzer had been dealing with circulatory and respiratory issues. The actor Henry Winkler, Belzer’s cousin, tweeted, “Rest in peace Richard.” For more than two decades and across 10 series — even including appearances on “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development” — Belzer played the wise-cracking, acerbic homicide detective prone to conspiracy theories. Belzer first played Munch on a 1993 episode of “Homicide” and last played him in 2016 on “Law & Order: SVU.”

✞STELLA STEVENS DIES AT 84: Entertainment Tonight reports that Poseidon Adventure actress Stella Stevens passed away Friday (February 17th) in Los Angeles, following a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 84 years old. Stevens starred in Girls! Girls! Girls! alongside Elvis Presley, The Nutty Professor alongside Jerry Lewis, and The Silencers alongside Dean Martin. She also won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year in 1960 for her role in Say One For Me. Her television appearances included shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, and Murder, She Wrote.

➤SIZEMORE IS CRITICAL: Tom Sizemore (left), an actor known for his roles in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down," has been hospitalized in Los Angeles after suffering a brain aneurysm early Saturday morning and is in critical condition, his manager said.  "He is currently in critical condition and it’s a wait and see situation," the 61-year-old actor's manager, Charles Lago, wrote in an email. Sizemore, whose film and television career has spanned decades, is best recognized for his roles as the battle-hardened sergeant at Tom Hanks’ side in 1998’s “Saving Private Ryan,” and as commander of an Army Ranger battalion in 2001’s “Black Hawk Down.” 

🎥DISNEY'S ANT-MAN TOPS WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Ant-Man often bests his enemies by shrinking to the size of an insect or growing as tall as a skyscraper, as the situation demands. The character’s ticket sales seem to be supersizing with each new movie that comes out. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” from Walt Disney Co.’s DIS -0.58%decrease; red down pointing triangle Marvel Studios, overcame middling reviews from critics to earn $104 million in domestic ticket sales in its debut, making it the third-highest grossing February release ever, after the 2016 superhero comedy “Deadpool” and Marvel’s 2018 blockbuster “Black Panther,” according to box-office tracker Comscore. The first movie in the series, “Ant-Man,” released in 2015, earning $57 million domestically in its opening weekend, while its 2018 sequel, “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” grossed $76 million in its debut, according to Comscore.  Box Office Numbers from Friday (February 17th) through Sunday (February 19th):

1. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, $118 million
2. Avatar: The Way of Water, $7.5 million
3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, $6.97 million
4. Magic Mike’s Last Dance, $6.3 million
5. Knock at the Cabin, $4.49 million
6. 80 for Brady, $4.25 million
7. Titanic, $2.7 million
8. Marlowe, $2.26 million
9. Missing, $2.025 million
10. A Man Called Otto, $1.9 million

➤CALI SCHOOL DISTRICT ACCUSED OF SECRETLY COUNSELING CHILD TO TRANSITION GENDER FACES PARENTS WRATH: A California school district being sued for allegedly violating parental rights by transitioning an 11-year-old's gender in secret is facing the wrath of local parents, who this week demanded transparency and for school officials not to keep them in the dark on matters of importance to their children's' lives. According to Fox News, seats were full at last week's Board of Education meeting of the Chico Unified School District in northern California, where a major point of debate was what critics have named the district's so-called "Parental Secret Policy." Under the policy, which is based on guidance from the California Department of Education, the district's 23 schools only inform parents of their child pursuing or considering a gender transition with the student's prior written consent, except for extraordinary situations. Proponents argue the policy is meant to protect students' privacy.


➤SECTION 230, STUDENT DEBT TOP DIVISIVE SUPREME COURT AGENDA: The Supreme Court begins a two-week argument session on Tuesday that includes divisive clashes over student debt forgiveness and a controversial liability shield known as Section 230 that Big Tech argues is fundamental to social media. The justices will begin by weighing the scope of Section 230 before hearing from the Biden administration the following week. Lawyers for the administration will be seeking to fend off challenges to block its plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for qualifying borrowers.

🏀MAC MCCLUNG DOMINATES FIELD TO WIN NBA'S SLAM DUNK CONTEST: The 2023 NBA All-Star Saturday Night was capped by an electric dunk contest with Mac McClung throwing down three dunks that scored a perfect 50 to claim the trophy. For his final dunk, McClung put on his Gate City (Va.) high school uniform over his red Sixers' uniform and threw down a 540-degree two-handed dunk to secure the victory. McClung said he wasn't able to finish the 540-degree dunk in practice leading up to the contest, but had confidence in the moment based on how his night was going to pull it off.

🏀NBA ALL GAME: Team Giannis 184 vs Team LeBron 175


🏀BRITTNEY GRINER RETURNS TO PHOENIX MERCURY ON 1-YEAR-DEAL: After being detained for 10 months in Russia, Brittney Griner fulfilled the promise she made to play for the Phoenix Mercury again in the 2023 season. Griner, a 32-year-old free agent, signed a one-year, $165,100 contract with the Mercury on Saturday. She'll return to the team that drafted her first overall in 2013 for a 10th season.

➤STENHOUSE WINS DAYTONA:  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 in double overtime and under caution on Sunday in the longest running of "The Great American Race.'' The two overtimes pushed the 65th running of the event to a record 212 laps -- a dozen laps beyond the scheduled distance and a whopping 530 miles. It provided anxious moments before a landmark celebration: The first Daytona 500-winning team co-owned by a Black man and a woman.

⚾BREWERS SIGN JUSTIN WILSON, PUT JASON ALEXANDER ON 60-DAY IL: The Milwaukee Brewers have signed left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson to a one-year contract with a club option for 2024 and placed right-hander Jason Alexander on the 60-day injured list. Alexander, who turns 30 on March 1, has a strained right rotator cuff. He went 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA last season while making 18 appearances, including 11 starts.

🏈COMMANDERS OFFICIALLY NAME ERIC BIENIEMY AS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: The Washington Commanders have named Eric Bieniemy as the team's new offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. The sides agreed on a two-year deal that includes a "promotion in title, contractual structure" and a pay raise. Bieniemy spent the past five seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator, helping oversee an offense that powered two Super Bowl championships.

🏈CARDINALS HIRE EAGLES' NICK RALLIS AS NEW DC: Philadelphia Eagles linebackers coach Nick Rallis will be the Arizona Cardinals' defensive coordinator under new coach Jonathan Gannon. Rallis, 29, worked with Gannon in Philadelphia for the past two seasons before joining him in Arizona. Gannon was named coach on Tuesday. Before joining the Eagles, Rallis spent three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He was defensive quality control in 2018 and 2019, and then added the role of assistant linebackers coach in 2020.

⛄MASSIVE WINTER STORM TO BRING HEAVY SNOW, RAIN TO SEVERAL STATES: A massive storm is gearing up to affect the U.S. and will start in the Northwest on Tuesday morning, bringing heavy snow to the mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, forecasts show.  By Wednesday, there will be a wide swath of snow from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes region, delivering possible blizzards to the northern Plains and upper Midwest. Many regions are projected to receive up to 2 feet of snow through Friday morning, but projected totals could increase as the storm gets closer.



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