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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

4/12 WAKE-UP CALL: Chilling Bank Footage Released


Police released over six minutes of body camera footage from the shooting at the Old National Bank at a news conference on Tuesday. The desperate rush by a rookie policeman and his training officer to bring a mass shooting at a Kentucky bank to a halt was captured in spare but dramatic detail in footage from their body cameras, released by authorities on Tuesday. The footage, shown by the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department during an afternoon briefing and which the police posted on Twitter later, comes a day after a Louisville bank employee killed five people and wounded nine others - including the two officers - while he livestreamed video of the attack on Instagram.

Daily Mail graphic 4/12/23

➤FAMILY BREAKS SILENCE: The family of the Louisville mass shooter has broken their silence to condemn his 'senseless acts of violence' - and revealed he had mental health problems. Connor Sturgeon, 25, was seen entering the bank on East Main Street in Louisville at 8.33am armed with a legally-purchased AR-15 before opening fire and killing five senior executives and injuring eight others. Over the course of six minutes, police were seen driving up to the building and charging down the doors - as gunshots rang out into the streets. One officer was shot in the head in the ambush - Sturgeon was then killed. Sturgeon's family expressed 'sorrow, anguish and horror' as they reflected on the 'unthinkable harm' he inflicted on innocent people. 

➤SPECIAL FORCES ARE IN UKRAINE: The UK is among a number of countries with military special forces operating inside Ukraine, according to one of dozens of documents leaked online. The document does not say where the forces are located or what they are doing. It confirms what has been the subject of quiet speculation for over a year. The leaked files, some marked "top secret", paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine, including sensitive details of Ukraine's preparations for a spring counter-offensive.

➤U-S LOOKING FOR LEAKER: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US won’t stop until it finds out how a trove of classified documents on Ukraine, Israel and other nations appeared online, in his first public remarks about the embarrassing leak. “We take this very seriously,” Austin told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. “And we will continue to investigate, and turn over every rock, until we find the source of this and the extent of it.” Austin said he was first briefed on April 6 about what he called “reports of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and classified material” compiled by the Defense Department. In the days since, the Justice Department has opened an investigation and the US has sought to reassure allies about its ability to keep secrets safe.

➤RUSSIA GETTING TOUGH WITH DRAFT EVADERS:  Changes are part of a package of measures aimed at toughening rules as Russia moves to expand its armed forces by almost 50% to 1.5 million people over several years. They’re designed to rectify problems exposed in last year’s mobilization of 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine, which triggered widespread public discontent. Under the plan, contained in hastily proposed amendments approved unanimously by the lower house of parliament Tuesday, those potentially eligible to be called up who didn’t respond to notices sent electronically would be banned from leaving the country, getting drivers licenses, buying and selling property and taking loans. 

➤BIDEN IN IRELAND: On a windy Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden arrived in Belfast for the start of long-sought trip to his ancestral home. He was greeted by British PM Rishi Sunak, and was accompanied on Air Force One by Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens. It was the start of a visit that has the president flying to the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday afternoon. There, he will meet with distant relatives. Biden was accompanied by the U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland, John F. Kennedy III. His trip comes just after the 25th anniversary of the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement. There was still some tension in the air, after police said they discovered four suspected pipe bombs at a cemetery in Derry.

➤LACK OF PROFITS AND CRIME DRIVE WALMART FROM CHICAGO: Walmart Inc. is closing four stores in Chicago, halving its footprint in the third-largest US city after years of mounting losses.  The closings mark a retreat for the nation’s largest retailer, which faces tough competition in Chicago from the likes of Target Corp., Albertsons Cos. and Aldi. Walmart said it had tried and failed to improve its performance by building smaller stores, localizing its merchandise offerings and investing $70 million in recent years on store upgrades, health facilities and a training center.  Crime and theft, which have cast an unwanted spotlight on Chicago, weren’t leading drivers of the decision, the company said in an email Tuesday. “The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago,” Walmart said in a statement. “These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years.”

➤CHICAGO TO HOST 2024 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION: Chicago will host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday. The convention will be held from August 19-22, 2024. In its announcement, the DNC called the Midwest a “critical Democratic stronghold” that helped President Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election.



➤LEGAL ABORTIONS IN U-S DOWN 5,000 PER MONTH SINCE THE END OF ROE: In the six months since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, there were 5,377 fewer abortions on average per month, according to a new report. The average number of terminations from July through December was 77,073, a 7% drop from the average in April and May, according to a Tuesday report from the Society of Family Planning. In the states with the strictest restrictions (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin) there were 265 abortions per month on average from July to December. That’s a 96% drop from April and May.

➤FSU PROF SUSPECTED OF 'COOKING THE BOOKS': A criminology professor at Florida State University suddenly left his $190,000-a-year position after being accused of fudging data to make racism seem more common than it is.  Professor Eric Stewart has had six of his studies - one of which dates as far back as 2006 - retracted amid allegations that he fabricated data by altering sample sizes. Stewart has denied such criticisms but after the sixth incident in 2020 an FSU committee reconvened to address his record and findings.  

➤PLASTICS FIRE FORCES EVACUATIONS: A large fire at a plastic manufacturing facility in Indiana forced more than 2,000 residents to evacuate their homes on Tuesday. The blaze was caused by a tractor-trailer truck that caught fire, which in turn set alight a nearby building that was storing plastic and recycled materials.  It broke out at around 2.40pm in Richmond, between Indianapolis and Dayton, and a huge plumb of black smoke was visible from more than 20 miles away.

⚾RAYS KEEP WIN STREAK GOING: The Tampa Bay Rays became the first major league team since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers to open the season with 10 straight wins, getting a solo homer from Brandon Lowe in the eighth inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox 1-0 on Monday night. Lowe homered for the third straight game, sending a one-out pitch from Chris Martin (0-1) into the right-field stands. Lowe has nine RBIs over his past three games. "Brandon had a really good at-bat," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Hung in there on some pitches, and then he got a fastball that he could get the barrel to. And we know that he can knock it out of the ballpark when he connects." The 1987 Brewers and the 1982 Atlanta Braves share the major league record for the best start to a season at 13-0.

⚾WHITE SOX STAR TIM ANDERSON OUT 2-4 WEEKS WITH KNEE SPRAIN: Chicago White Sox star shortstop Tim Anderson will miss two to four weeks because of a sprained left knee. The White Sox placed Anderson on the 10-day injured list Tuesday and recalled infielder Lenyn Sosa from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move. Anderson suffered the injury in a collision near third base during Monday's victory over the Minnesota Twins.

⚾RANGERS' ANDREW HEANEY TIES AL RECORD WITH 9 STRAIGHT K'S: Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney tied an American League record by striking out nine consecutive batters in Monday night's 11-2 win against the Kansas City Royals.

🏈LIONS TRADE FORMER NO. 3 OVERALL PICK JEFF OKUDAH TO FALCONS: The Detroit Lions are trading cornerback Jeff Okudah to the Atlanta Falcons. In return, the Falcons will send a fifth-round pick in this year's draft to the Lions. The Lions added cornerbacks Cam Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley in free agency this offseason, with both likely to be starters, making a trade of Okudah more palatable.

➤MICHAEL JORDAN 'LAST DANCE' SNEAKERS SELL FOR RECORD $2.238M: Sotheby announces that a pair of signed Michael Jordan sneakers that were worn in the second half of Game 2 of the 1998 "Last Dance" NBA Finals have sold for $2,238,000, the highest price ever paid at auction for a pair of sneakers. In that game, Jordan had 37 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists (with no turnovers) in the Chicago Bulls' crucial 93-88 win over the Utah Jazz. Nine days later, Jordan won his sixth and final NBA championship and was named Finals MVP.

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