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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Nashville Shocked Beyond Comprehension


The former student of a Christian grade school in Nashville who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults in a shooting spree there was under a doctor's care for an "emotional disorder" and had amassed a collection of guns, the city's police chief said on Tuesday. New details about assailant Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, emerged hours after police released harrowing video showing officers storming the Covenant School in the midst of Monday's rampage and conducting a room-to-room search before confronting and fatally shooting Hale.

Nashville police continue to look for a motive in yesterday’s fatal school shooting. They said they’re examining evidence, including writings and hand-drawn maps, that belonged to Audrey Hale, who they said killed three children and three adults at the private Christian academy. The suspect’s target was believed to be Covenant School itself, where Hale was a former student, rather than specific individuals. Police also released body-worn camera footage from two responding officers.

Daily Mail Composite 3/29/23

Katherine Koonce, 60, ran towards the sound of gunfire, a member of Nashville city council has said. He said Koonce was on a Zoom call at the time, and went to help her students. She was found lying dead inside a corridor, which Nashville police chief said indicated she had 'a confrontation' with Audrey Hale, a transgender 28-year-old. Hale shot through the locked glass door at the entrance to The Covenant School at 10:13am on Monday, and the alarm was raised. Hale then began prowling for victims - chosen at random, police said - and was seen on surveillance footage walking through the corridors, assault rifle in hand. Russ Pulley, a member of Nashville city council and a former FBI agent, said Koonce tried to save her students.



➤RUSSIA BOGGED-DOWN: Russian forces are relentless in their attempts to capture the bombed-out eastern Ukrainian towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka but were not making progress, Ukraine's military said on Wednesday, but a pro-Moscow official said the Russians are advancing. The two towns along with other communities in the industrial Donetsk region are at the epicentre of Russia's attacks, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.

More than a year into the Ukraine war, Russia’s economy is starting to feel the pinch.  The country’s biggest exports, gas and oil, have lost major customers. The ruble is down over 20% since November against the dollar. The labor force has shrunk as young people are sent to the front or flee the country to avoid the draft. Uncertainty has curbed business investment. So far, those issues haven’t impacted Russia’s ability to wage war, but strained government finances could threaten military expenditures and the subsidies and social spending that have helped President Vladimir Putin shield civilians from hardship.

➤McCARTHY TO MEET WITH TAIWAN PRESIDENT: China threatened to retaliate on Wednesday if U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during her planned transit of the United States next month, saying any such move would be a "provocation". China, which claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly warned U.S. officials not to meet Tsai, viewing it as support for the island's desire to be seen as a separate country. China staged war games around Taiwan last August when then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and Taiwan's armed forces have said they are keeping watch for any Chinese moves when Tsai is abroad.  Tsai is due to depart on Wednesday for a trip to Guatemala and Belize that will see her transit through New York and Los Angeles. While not officially confirmed, she is expected to meet McCarthy while in California, at the end of her trip.

➤CRYPTO KID CHANGED AGAIN:  Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with conspiring to bribe Chinese government officials. Prosecutors say the FTX founder in 2021 authorized paying off one or more people with at least $40 million in cryptocurrency to regain access to more than $1 billion in crypto frozen by law enforcement. A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined to comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment. He already faces 12 counts of fraud and other financial crimes for allegedly stealing billions of dollars of FTX customer funds and misleading investors and lenders. His crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November.

➤FIRE KILLS MIGRANTS: Surveillance footage from inside the immigration detention center in northern Mexico near the U.S. border where 38 migrants died in a dormitory fire appears to show guards walking away from the blaze and making no apparent attempt to release detainees. The fire broke out when migrants fearing deportation set mattresses ablaze late Monday at the National Immigration Institute, a facility in Ciudad Juarez south of El Paso, Texas, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. Authorities originally reported 40 dead, but later said some may have been counted twice in the confusion. Twenty-eight people were injured and were in “delicate-serious” condition, according to the National Immigration Institute. (USAToday)

➤GRAND JURY CONCLUDES WORK FOR THE WEEK: The Manhattan grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s role in paying hush money to a porn star has concluded its work for the week, according to people familiar with the matter, making the timing of any potential charges against the former president unknown. The grand jury isn’t expected to meet Wednesday, when it has often heard Trump-related evidence, and any work the panel does on Thursday is expected to be on other cases, the people said. It isn’t clear whether grand jurors will consider the Trump matter next week, according to the people. 

Daily Mail Graphic 3/29/23
➤AND THE HAPPIEST U-S CITIES ARE...The Golden State is listed 29 times out of the 182 cities ranked as being the happiest cities, with most of its entries being in the top 25. Fremont, California, ranked number one overall, as well as for physical and mental wellbeing, community and environment, and for lowest depression rate. Several California cities ranked among the top five in various categories, including depression and income growth. Its fellow East Coast metropolitan, New York City, only ranked 57 on the list and Los Angeles ranked 76. Detroit, Cleveland, and several Southern cities ranked dead last.


➤MAN EATING MCDONALD'S FOR 100 DAYS IS DOWN NEARLY 30 LBS. SO FAR AND NOW HIS WIFE IS JOINING HIM: In February Kevin Maginnis, also known as @bigmaccoaching on TikTok, revealed that he's following an unconventional weight loss plan. An all McDonald's diet for 100 days where he will be eating nothing but half portions of the fast food chain menu items for every meal. According to Yahoo News, On Monday, he shared that his wife, Melody Maginnis, will be joining him on his food journey for the duration of the challenge. "For all of you who have been following along saying, 'Yeah, but you're a guy, you don't understand whether or not this would work for a woman, guess what? My wife of 32 years, Melody, is joining us for the last 60 days of this journey," he said in a recent TikTok video. This week, Kevin shared that he lost 29 pounds on day 34. In a TikTok clip sharing the update, Kevin said he doesn't have proof whether or not it's "working," but he's on his way to his goal.

🏈TWO GROUPS SUBMIT $6 BILLION BIDS FOR COMMANDERS: The Josh Harris/Mitchell Rales group, which now includes Magic Johnson, officially submitted a fully financed bid for the Washington Commanders that meets Dan Snyder's $6 billion asking price. Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos also has submitted a fully funded $6 billion offer for the Commanders. If either bid is accepted, the deal would break the previous record sale for a franchise, set last August, when a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton bought the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion.

⚾SHOHEI OHTANI TO MAKE MLB-RECORD $65M IN 2023, ACCORDING TO FORBES: Shohei Ohtani is expected to make a Major League Baseball-record $65 million for the 2023 season including endorsements, according to an annual list published Monday by Forbes, making the Los Angeles Angels' two-way standout the highest-paid player in the sport. The amount includes the one-year, $30 million contract extension that Ohtani signed in October as part of an agreement to avoid salary arbitration.

🏀NBA SCORES:
  • Washington Wizards 130 Boston Celtics 111
  • Atlanta Hawks 120 Cleveland Cavaliers 118
  • Toronto Raptors 106 Miami Heat 92
  • Memphis Grizzlies 113 Orlando Magic 108
  • Charlotte Hornets 137 Oklahoma City Thunder 134
  • Golden State Warriors 120 New Orleans Pelicans 109 

🏈NFL OWNERS VOTE IN FAVOR OF LETTING PLAYERS WEAR NO. 0: The jersey No. 0 is coming to rosters across the NFL. The league voted Tuesday to allow all players other than offensive and defensive linemen to wear the jersey No. 0. The proposal was submitted by the Philadelphia Eagles, and also allows kickers and punters to use any jersey numeral between 0-49 and 90-99.

🏀BROOKLYN NETS SHUTTING DOWN BEN SIMMONS FOR REST OF SEASON: The Brooklyn Nets are shutting down guard Ben Simmons for the rest of the season, coach Jacque Vaughn said Tuesday. "Ben will not be joining us the rest of the year and through the playoffs," Vaughn said after practice. "After consulting with our doctors, multiple specialists, he's just going to begin a rehab program. Our doctors and the specialists feel and think that he'll have a full recovery so that starts now."

🏀BRADLEY BEAL UNDER POLICE INVESTIGATION AFTER SPAT WITH FAN: Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal is under police investigation after a postgame incident with a fan in Orlando, who claimed to have lost a bet. After a 122-112 road loss to the Orlando Magic last Tuesday at Amway Center, Beal and the Wizards were exiting the court through the visitors' tunnel. As they headed to the locker room, an unidentified man remarked to Beal, "You made me lose $1,300, you f---." Beal turned around and walked toward a friend of the man who made the comment and swatted his right hand toward him, knocking the man's hat off and contacting the left side of his head. Police reviewed video footage of the altercation and heard Beal say this is his job and he takes it seriously, and the man is heard apologizing, implying he did not intend to offend him.



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