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Thursday, March 9, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Russian Missiles Pound Ukraine Cities

Daily Mail Composite 3/9/23

Russian missiles struck cities across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, the Black Sea port of Odesa and the second city of Kharkiv early on Thursday, while Ukrainian defenders repelled fierce assaults on the beleaguered town of Bakhmut. The missiles hit a wide arc of targets, including cities stretching from Zhytomyr, Vynnytsia and Rivne in the west to Dnipro and Poltava in central Ukraine, officials said. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions were registered in the southwestern part of the town and rescue services were on their way. Some residents reported power cuts. The governor of Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko, said on Telegram that a mass missile attack had hit an energy facility in the port city, cutting power. Residential areas had also been hit.  Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Synehubov said the city and region had been hit by 15 strikes, with targets including infrastructure. Other strikes were reported in the central city of Dnipro and regions throughout the country.

Late on Wednesday, Ukraine's military said its forces had managed to push back intense Russian attacks on the eastern mining town of Bakhmut, despite a Russian claim of control of its eastern half.

➤3 LAPD OFFICERS WOUNDED: Three Los Angeles police officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday evening but were in stable condition, while the suspect was dead, according to the chief of police and media reports. "I'm relieved and grateful that these three brave officers are in stable condition, and are able to have a conversation with two of them, when I checked in on them," said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a news conference on Wednesday. Live overhead images from CBS-affiliate KCAL-TV had earlier shown several police cars sealing off the area around a garage in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. Officers in full tactical gear were seen near the site where the suspected gunman was holed up. CBS News said the suspect, a parolee at large wanted for an unknown felony, was reported dead at the scene just before 9:30 pm local time following a lengthy standoff with the police.

➤SLIP AND FALL SENDS McCONNELL TO HOSPITAL: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was taken to a hospital on Wednesday night after a fall at a Washington-area hotel, his spokesman said in a brief statement. The statement added that McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, had “tripped during a private dinner” and had been admitted to the hospital, where he was being treated. The statement, from David Popp, the senator’s communications director, didn’t provide more details or name the hospital.  Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services said that an ambulance was dispatched to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue at 9:17 p.m. on a report that someone had been injured in a fall.

➤INSTAGRAM DISRUPTED BY 'ISSUES': Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram says it’s resolved “technical issues” that disrupted the photo-sharing service for thousands of users around the world. Instagram, which hosts about 2 billion users a month, didn’t elaborate on the disruption. At its peak, website tracker DownDetector received more than 50,000 reports covering glitches from difficulties posting updates to long load times. The hashtag #instagramdown at one point trended globally as users from around the world flooded their feeds with complaints. The last service outage documented on Instagram’s Twitter feed dated back to October, when the company tweeted about a bug it fixed that blocked users from accounts or altered the numbers of followers.

➤EX GAL-PAL WANTS TO TALK:  Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend Erica Herman is seeking to nullify an August 2017 non-disclosure agreement with the professional golfer.  Due to the NDA, Herman is unsure if she is able to disclose “facts giving rise to various legal claims she believes she has,” her attorneys said in a complaint filed in Martin County, Florida. The NDA is legally unenforceable under the Ending Forced Arbitration Of Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment Act Of 2021, according to the suit. The latter law prohibits employers from enforcing NDAs and non-disparagement clauses  — often signed on the first day of employment, and sometimes unknowingly — that stop workers from discussing any incidents of sexual harassment or assault occurring months or years later. Herman’s complaint follows a lawsuit she filed last October seeking more than $30 million after Woods broke off their relationship. She claimed she was locked out of a house where they lived, in violation of an “oral tenancy agreement” that she claimed gave her the right to live there. 

➤BIDEN BUDGET PLANS OUT TODAY: President Biden’s budget will lay out plans to cut drug prices, crack down on fraud and raise some business taxes. The blueprint will propose reducing federal budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade, administration officials said. Republicans are expected to oppose many of Biden’s plans. The document is likely to shed light on possible themes of the president’s expected re-election campaign. It will also call out large corporations, including the oil industry and drug companies, White House officials said.

➤DeSANTIS TO VISIT POLITICALLY IMPORTANT IOWA:  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will meet with Iowa Republican legislators in Des Moines on Friday amid rising expectations that he will run for president in 2024, according to people familiar with the matter. DeSantis has been on a national tour to promote his recently-published book, “The Courage to Be Free,” yet his visit to a state that has typically been crucial to the nomination hopes of presidential candidates will be scrutinized by both Republicans and Democrats.  The governor will greet members of the state House and Senate at the Capitol, according to the people, engaging in the sort of retail politicking that’s expected in the Iowa caucuses. The Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans, will not be in session on Friday.

His trip will take place three days before former President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Iowa. Trump, who announced his candidacy last November, has been lashing out at DeSantis, whom he once considered a political protege but now may become a powerful rival.  DeSantis has, for the most part, ignored the insults, and Trump. 

➤DeSANTIS NOT SUPPORTER OF BLOGGER'S BILL: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) accused the media of erroneously connecting him to a controversial bill proposed by a Republican state senator from Lake Mary that would require political bloggers in Florida to register with the state if they’re covering state officials such as the governor. DeSantis made it clear at a Tuesday press conference that he does not support the registration requirement. Many in the media used reports about the bill to attack DeSantis, including NBC presidential historian Michael Beschloss who described the Republican as a “little Mussolini” over the bill and other legislative efforts targeting material deemed explicit in public schools.

➤DeSANTIS GETS GRAPHIC: Ron DeSantis played a shocking video at the start of his press conference on Wednesday containing sexually explicit content, illustrated and detailed in children's books at various Florida school libraries. The Florida governor had his staff warn the crowd in Tampa, Florida, that the video would show 'material that is sexually explicit in nature and not suitable for children' - and all minors were removed from the room during the roughly six-minute screening.  Illustrations from the books included depicting minors engaged in sexual activity and instructions on how to masturbate, engage in sex acts or download apps that make it easier to have 'casual intercourse.'

➤TRAIN CHIEF TO TESTIFY: Norfolk Southern Corp.’s leader plans to tell US lawmakers on Thursday he’s sorry for the train wreck that spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month and the company is “determined to make it right.”  Chief Executive Officer Alan Shaw said in prepared testimony reviewed by Bloomberg that the railroad has committed to $20 million in reimbursements and other payments in East Palestine and is urgently working to remove waste from the area.  “To date, nearly 600 homes have been screened; none of the results indicate a health risk from incident-related substances,” Shaw said in remarks submitted to a Senate committee in advance of Thursday’s hearing. “We are committed to this monitoring for as long as necessary.”  Dozens of rail cars jumped the tracks in East Palestine on Feb. 3 after a wheel bearing failed, prompting a fire and, days later, the burning of toxic vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hear from Shaw and other witnesses. 

Daily Mail Composite 3/9/23

➤KIDNAPPED AMERICANS HAVE RAP SHEETS: Four U.S. citizens who were kidnapped in Mexico by the notorious criminal and drug syndicate Gulf Cartel have lengthy criminal rap sheets. Latavia McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard traveled to the U.S. - Mexico border town Matamoros on Friday when they were caught in crossfire and abducted. Brown and Woodard didn't survive. DailyMail.com can reveal that Williams was previously busted for 'distributing crack near a school,' while McGee has been slapped with 'unlawful conduct towards a child,' when her daughter tested positive for amphetamines.

➤CHINA OUT TO CONTROL PRIVATE COMPANIES: China is taking stakes in private companies as a way to control them.  Though sometimes very small, the so-called golden shares tend to give the government board seats, voting power and sway over business decisions. For example, a fund of Beijing’s cyberspace watchdog recently got a 1% stake in e-commerce giant Alibaba’s digital-media unit. Companies have little choice but to sell the shares to the government if they want to stay in business. These stakes, which ensure corporate behavior hews to the Communist Party agenda, blur the lines between the state and the private sector. Many of the firms involved count on capital from foreign investors, who worry about getting entangled with the Chinese state at a time of high political tensions.

➤FEDERAL REVIEW FINDS FAULT WITH LOUISVILLE POLICE: A federal investigation of the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Kentucky city’s government found a pattern of unconstitutional behavior including routine use of excessive force, searches with invalid warrants, and discrimination against Black citizens in enforcement. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it has reached an agreement in principle with the city to resolve the issues. The investigation was launched after the botched police raid in which Breonna Taylor was killed in March 2020.

➤JUDGE STRIKES DOWN A BIDEN BORDER POLICY: A federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration border policy called “catch and release,” ruling that it had turned the U.S. border with Mexico into a “meaningless line in the sand.” The policy allows border police to give humanitarian parole to migrants, releasing them into the U.S. in advance of a ruling on their immigration status. The policy is one of several “alternatives to detention” authorized by the Department of Homeland Security in 2021.

🏀JA MORANT CLEARED OF GUN CHARGE: Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant won’t face any charges from police in Glendale, Colorado, over an incident during which he appeared to brandish a gun during a visit to a strip club. Police said that no one was threatened or menaced with the firearm, and in any case no firearm was ever located. Morant posted video on social media in which he appeared to be holding a gun. He has not been officially suspended but he has missed two games and a team announcement said he will stay away “for at least the next four games.”


🏀KEVIN DURANT’S DEBUT WITH THE SUNS POSTPONED: Ouch! Kevin Durant’s highly anticipated home debut with the Phoenix Suns has been postponed. Durant injured his left ankle during a pregame warm-up on Wednesday and was ruled out just before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder began. Durant joined the Suns from the Brooklyn Nets while sidelined with a previous injury. He played with the Suns against the Charlotte Hornets on the road on March 1.

🏀UCLA’S JAYLEN CLARK OUT FOR THE SEASON: UCLA starting guard Jaylen Clark is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering an Achilles injury during the team’s regular season finale against Arizona last Saturday. Clark, who is in his junior year, averaged 13 points per game this season, second only to Jamie Jaquez.

🏀SYRACUSE COACH RETIRES AFTER 47 YEARS: Jim Boeheim is retiring as men’s basketball head coach at Syracuse University after 47 years in the job. The team announced that he will be replaced by Adrian Autry, a former Syracuse player and the team’s associate coach since 2011. Boeheim took Syracuse to the NCAA tournament 35 times and was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

🏈TOM BRADY IS BUSY RIGHT NOW: Rich Eisen recently passed along a rumor on his syndicated radio show that recently retired quarterback Tom Brady might be considering un-retiring yet again. Brady responded on Twitter that he is way too busy helping his daughter train the two-month-old kitten they just adopted to come back to the NFL. Ever-hopeful fans noted that he didn’t absolutely, positively say that he is retiring for good.

➤CALIFORNIA BRACES FOR ANOTHER DRENCHING: People across central and northern California are bracing for yet another drenching on top of the vast mound of snow and rain the state has already received. About 16 million people are officially under a flood watch ahead of the storm expected today. The greatest concern is for people who live in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, which are vulnerable to flooding from snowmelt. Some roads in mountainous San Bernardino County were still closed yesterday due to the earlier accumulation of snow.



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