Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Light's Out In Chicago Election



Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will meet in a runoff to be the next mayor of Chicago after voters on Tuesday denied incumbent Lori Lightfoot a second term, issuing a rebuke to a leader who made history as head of the nation’s third-largest city. Vallas, a former schools CEO backed by the police union, and Johnson, a Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, advanced to the April 4 runoff after none of the nine candidates was able to secure over 50% of the vote to win outright. Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to lead the city, won her first term in 2019 after promising to end decades of corruption and backroom dealing at City Hall. But opponents blamed Lightfoot for an increase in crime that occurred in cities across the U.S. during the pandemic and criticized her as being a divisive, overly contentious leader.

She is the first elected Chicago mayor to lose a reelection bid since 1983, when Jane Byrne, the city’s first female mayor, lost her Democratic primary.


➤GREECE RAIL DISASTER CLAIMS AT LEAST 32 DEAD: A passenger train carrying hundreds of people collided at high speed with an oncoming freight train in a fiery wreck in northern Greece, killing 32 and injuring at least 85, officials said Wednesday. Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the collision near the town of Tempe on Tuesday just before midnight. Rescue crews illuminated the scene with floodlights before dawn on Wednesday as they searched frantically through the twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors. Survivors said several passengers were thrown through the windows of the train cars due to the impact. They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field next to the tracks near a gorge about 235 miles north of Athens where major highway and rail tunnels are located.

➤CHINA LAB 'MOST LIKELY' SOURCE OF COVID: FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday the agency has assessed that a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic. "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray told Fox News. His comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department has assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China.

➤JUSTICES APPEAR SKEPTICAL OF STUDENT-LOAN FORGIVENESS PLAN: The Supreme Court signaled its skepticism about President Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plan. During more than three hours of oral arguments, conservative justices were at times incredulous that federal law allowed forgiving $430 billion in student debt. Liberal ones countered that Congress’ authorizing the education secretary to waive or modify financial assistance programs for national emergencies included debt cancellation. The Biden administration said that the six Republican-led states and the two individual borrowers who filed the two cases weren’t harmed by the debt-relief program, so they lacked the legal standing to sue. The justices are expected to reach a decision by June. No matter how they rule, the three-year pause in payments due to the Covid-19 pandemic is set to end.

➤HOMELESS MAN MURDERED IN ST. LOUIS: Deshawn Thomas (inset) can be seen standing over a homeless man on a St. Louis sidewalk before executing him with a gunshot to the head. Witnesses said they saw the pair fighting outside the Shell gas station further up the street moments earlier. Thomas - who has now been charged with first degree murder - fled the scene and was arrested after entering a public library later in the afternoon. Frightened St Louis residents say it is proof that local leaders including Soros-backed progressive Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner do not have a handle on the escalating crime.


➤HARRY AND MEGAN EVICTED: Buckingham Palace reportedly issued an eviction notice to the Harry and Meghan after his memoir Spare - in which he made a series of sensational claims against the Royal Family - hit shelves in January. King Charles decided to boot the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Frogmore Cottage (top right) and replace them with Prince Andrew. Andrew is said to be resisting the move, but it is said Harry and Meghan will be forced to leave the cottage - their only remaining home in the UK - and fully complete their relocation to the US irrespective of whether Andrew moves in. The cottage, a grace and favor home on the Frogmore Estate in Windsor, was gifted to the Duke and Duchess by the late Queen in 2018 for their wedding. The revelation comes with preparations for King Charles' Coronation in May well underway amid speculation that Prince Harry may not receive an invitation.

➤AFFLUENT AREA OF ATLANTA WANT TO SECEDE: The possibility of a secession from the city of Atlanta became a little more likely this week as the affluent city of Buckhead continues its attempt to peel off from the crime-ridden inner city. Two bills that would allow Buckhead to secede from the city passed a Georgie Senate committee Monday and could be up for a floor vote as soon as Wednesday. If both chambers of the legislature approve the bills, and they are subsequently signed by Governor Brian Kemp, residents of Buckhead - the 24-square-mile area on the edge of Atlanta - would be able to vote in the November 2024 election about whether to leave Atlanta and form their own city.

➤AIR QUALITY TESTS REVEAL HARMFUL AIR NEAR TRAIN DISASTER: Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon University scientists conducted their own air quality tests using a mobile testing unit in East Palestine, finding nine potentially harmful chemicals in the area (top left) where the Norfolk Southern train derailed. The finding is in direct contrast to the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ongoing assurance that the air quality in the area is safe. While they said the findings are not necessarily an 'immediate health concern', they said repeated exposure over time could be damaging. There are already warning signs among residents, including reports of altered voices and rashes that look like chemical burns. Wade Lovett, 40, has suffered breathing difficulties and his previously low voice now sounds high-pitched and squeaky while Ayla Antoniazzi said her four-year-old has developed a rash on her hands.

➤11 MINUTES OF DAILY EXERCISE COULD HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOUR HEALTH, LARGE STUDY SHOWS: Got 11 minutes? That modest amount of daily pulse-raising exercise is enough to reduce the risk of premature death and various diseases, a new review of studies has found. It adds up to about 75 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking, dancing, riding a bike, playing tennis or hiking, anything that makes the heart beat faster but isn’t so intense that it leaves a person breathless.

➤MILLENNIALS ARE MISSING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS AT ALARMING RATES: Since 2019, Americans in their 30s have seen their debt rise 27%. Along with all that debt comes missed payments. U.S. credit card debt rose $61 billion dollars in the last quarter of 2022, bringing the total national credit card balance to $986 billion. The number of Americans in their 20s and 30s who are missing credit card payments have since surpassed pre-pandemic rates. "It's gotten to a point where my payments cover the interest and not much else," 26-year-old Anthony Strain said. "Both of my credit cards are maxed, with one actually surpassing the credit limit thanks to interest."

➤WOOD DENIES CLAIMS THAT SHE ‘MANIPULATED’ MARILYN MANSON ACCUSER: Evan Rachel Wood filed a declaration with the Los Angeles Superior Court this week, in connection with Marilyn Manson’s defamation lawsuit against her, denying the recent claims made by Manson’s former accuser, Ashley Morgan Smithline. “I never pressured or manipulated Ashley Morgan Smithline to make any accusations against [Manson],” the Westworld actress said. “And I certainly never pressured or manipulated her to make accusations that were not true.”  Smithline told Rolling Stone, "Evan's full of s---. That's my comment. She's saying anything she can to discredit me."

➤PARENTS OF 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL UNAWARE OF MALE PRONOUNS: The nine-year-old child, who was taught by Debra Rosenquist at Terryville Road Elementary School in Long Island, identifies as a girl but was being called a boy's name and given male pronouns in class. The damning lawsuit claims that Rosenquist started calling the fifth-grader 'Leo' and using he/him pronouns in class in October 2021 - unbeknownst to the girl's parents. It was only months later in January 2022 - when the girl was caught drawing a picture of a suicidal girl with the words 'I wanna kill myself' - that her parents were informed that she was being called male pronouns in school. Rosenquist also allegedly read from LGBT books that were not on the school district's curriculum, and told her students to 'try being gay' even if they were not. The new revelations shocked the child's parents - who did welcome their pre-teen daughter exploring her identity - but believed she was being forced into doing so.

Vanessa & Kobe Bryant
🏀KOBE BRYANT FAMILY TO RECEIVE $29M SETTLEMENT: Los Angeles County will pay the wife of late basketball star Kobe Bryant nearly $29 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that sheriff officers and firefighters shared gruesome photos of the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter. "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant's courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct," said Luis Li, attorney for Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife. "She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect."

⚾DODGERS' GAVIN LUX TO MISS 2023 SEASON WITH TORN RIGHT ACL: Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux will miss the 2023 season with a torn ACL in his right knee. Manager Dave Roberts said that Lux is "obviously crushed" and that the injury is "a huge blow" to the Dodgers, who were anticipating that the former top prospect would be their starting shortstop this season.

🏈BENGALS ON TEE HIGGINS TRADE RUMORS: 'FIND YOUR OWN' WR: The Cincinnati Bengals emphatically let the rest of the NFL know that wide receiver Tee Higgins isn't on the trading block. During his annual session at the NFL scouting combine, team executive Duke Tobin refuted any notion that the team could be interested in shopping the standout receiver this offseason. The team's longtime director of player personnel said teams haven't presented any offers, and if they did, trading Higgins wasn't a thought.

🏀KEVIN DURANT TO DEBUT FOR SUNS ON WEDNESDAY VS HORNETS: Kevin Durant will make his debut with the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets, the team announced Tuesday. Durant has been out with an MCL sprain since Jan. 8 but has been working out with his new teammates for the past two weeks. He was able to get several long practices in, including Tuesday, which was an important part of his process.

🏈NCAA PANEL EYES SHORTER FOOTBALL GAMES, CITES PLAYER SAFETY: College football leaders are meeting this week in Indianapolis to consider three rules changes that could shorten game times and reduce the number of plays during games this upcoming season, a continued push to monitor player safety as the sport prepares for a 12-team College Football Playoff beginning in 2024. The rule changes under consideration include: running the clock after a first down is awarded, except in the last two minutes of either half; eliminating the option for teams to call consecutive team timeouts; and carrying over any fouls to the next period instead of finishing with an untimed down.

🏀NBA SCORES:
  • Washington Wizards 119 Atlanta Hawks 116
  • Milwaukee Bucks 118 Brooklyn Nets 104
  • Toronto Raptors 104 Chicago Bulls 98
  • Memphis Grizzlies 121 Los Angeles Lakers 109
  • Denver Nuggets 133 Houston Rockets 112
  • Sacramento Kings 123 Oklahoma City Thunder 117
  • Indiana Pacers 124 Dallas Mavericks 122
  • San Antonio Spurs 102 Utah Jazz 94
  • Golden /state /warriows 123 Portland Trail Blazers 105
  • Minnesota Timberwolves 108 Los Angeles Clippers 101



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