Thursday, August 17, 2023

8/17 WAKE-UP CALL: Super Trial Expected Day Before Super Tuesday


The prosecutor in Atlanta who obtained an indictment this week against former President Donald Trump and 18 others wants to take the case to trial in March. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a proposed scheduling order filed with the court Wednesday that she wants the trial to start on March 4. That would have the trial starting a day before Super Tuesday, when the most delegates are at stake in the primary contest to decide the next Republican presidential nominee. Roughly 14 primaries are set to be held across the country, from California and Texas to Massachusetts and Maine. Trump is currently his party’s dominant frontrunner.


➤TRUMP TO BE PROCESSED AT JAIL, NOT COURTHOUSE: The Fulton County Jail, plagued with overcrowding and detainee deaths and under investigation by the DOJ, could make history as the first location where any U.S. president — current or former— gets a mug shot taken. Former President Donald Trump and the 18 others indicted this week in Fulton County will be booked there like any other pre-trial defendant, the sheriff’s office said. “At this point, based on guidance received from the District Attorney’s office and presiding judge, it is expected that all 19 defendants named in the indictment will be booked at the Rice Street Jail,” Fulton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Natalie Ammons said in a statement.

➤MAJORITY APPROVE TRUMP PROSECUTION: In a new poll, most Americans said they support the decision by special counsel Jack Smith to prosecute former President Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Fifty-four percent of all Americans, including 12 percent of Republicans, said they think Trump should face criminal charges, according to the poll from Quinnipiac University. And 68 percent said they think a convicted felon should not be eligible to run for president. But the same poll found that Trump’s big lead over his rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination is growing. He now leads Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his nearest rival, by 39 points.
  • In a separate poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 64 percent of Americans said they “definitely” or “probably” would not support Trump for president. But 54 percent also said they would “definitely” or “probably” not support Joe Biden for reelection.


➤DEATH TOLL EXPECTED TO RISE: The loss of human life continues to climb in the wake of the devastating inferno that swept through Maui on August 8. The fire claimed at least 110 lives as it raged burned though the historic town of Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Maui officials said Tuesday. That makes it one of the deadliest wildfires in history. It is second only to a 1918 fire in Minnesota as the deadliest wildfire in the United States since 1900. Even among the deadliest wildfires in world history since 1900, on a list published by Statista, the Lahaina fire stands fifth. The island's death toll is expected to climb. As the grim search for victims continues, Maui's police chief John Pelletier has pleaded with people to stay out of the burned over areas in respect for the bodies of those who haven't yet been recovered.

➤NO SIRENS, NO WARNING: Maui's emergency management chief on Wednesday defended his agency's decision against sounding sirens during last week's deadly wildfire amid questions about whether doing so might have saved lives. Herman Andaya, administrator of the Maui County Emergency Management Agency, said sirens in Hawaii are used to alert people to tsunamis. Using it during the fire might have led people to evacuate toward the danger, he told reporters. The grassland fire on Aug. 8 raced down the base of a volcano sloping into the tourist resort town of Lahaina, killing at least 110 people and destroying or damaging some 2,200 buildings. "The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded," Andaya said during a press conference, which grew tense at times as reporters questioned the government response during the fire.

➤MAUI HOUSE SPARED:  New photos show the two-story house with white walls and red roof, miraculously unharmed amidst the apocalyptic devastation surrounding it. The oceanfront home's garden also appears to have kept a semblance of greenery in contrast to the ashes and charred trees. Social media users have named the house 'The Red House That Survived Hawaii Wild Fires' giving it a quasi-mythological status. The wildfires have left at least 110 people dead and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.



➤FOUR TN OFFICERS SHOT: Authorities in Tennessee are investigating a 12-hour standoff that ended in a shootout with police that left four officers and a hostage shot and the two suspects dead. The standoff began Tuesday afternoon between police in Clarksville, Tennessee, and two brothers, Brandon Green and Leonard Green, as police went to execute arrest warrants for aggravated burglary. The brothers barricaded themselves in an apartment with a hostage, leading to several hours of negotiations with Clarksville Police. Officers first set up a perimeter around the home before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, and police said they were "trying to negotiate with a barricaded suspect who is an active threat and has fired several shots at officers."

➤NEWSPAPER GETS BACK SEIZED ITEMS: Days after police officers raided and seized personal cell phones, computers, a file server and other equipment from reporters at a local news outlet in Kansas, the Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said he withdrew a search warrant previously issued to police to obtain information they were seeking. Experts in laws protecting the press are slamming the police department for requesting a search warrant and those issuing the warrant, arguing the move violates the U.S. Constitution and other laws granting journalists protection from searches and seizures. The police department defended its decision to seek the information from the Marion County Record newspaper in a recent Facebook post. On Wednesday in a news release obtained by KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, Ensey said he "submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized" and asked police to return the items they took back to the news organization. He said there was “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between the alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized."

➤TARGET..SHOPLIFTING GETTING VIOLENT: Shoplifting that included “violence of threats of violence” surged 120% during the first five months of the year, said Brian Cornell, chief executive of the Minneapolis-based big-box chain. “Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime,” Cornell said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “Unfortunately, safety incidents associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction.” Cornell said that Target’s inventory shrink — which accounts for retail theft and other losses of merchandise — is “well-above the sustainable level where we expect to operate over time.” The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said its latest security survey of roughly 60 retailers found shrink clocked in at an average rate of 1.4% last year, representing $94.5 billion in losses.

➤MORTGAGE RATES JUMP ABOVE 7 PERCENT: The average nationwide rate for a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.16 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That’s the highest level seen since 2001.

➤D-I-V-O-R-C-E: Britney Spears and husband Sam Asghari have split after 14 months of marriage. The couple first met on the set of a Spears music video in 2016, and were married in a small but star-studded ceremony in June 2022. Asghari, 29, supported Spears, 41, through her mental health treatment and the end of her conservatorship. But rumors of their marital struggles have been splashed across US tabloids.

⚾MLB DODGERS 7 BREWERS 1:  Clayton Kershaw gave up one run over five innings, Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor hit home runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their season-best winning streak to 10 games with a 7-1 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, the top three hitters in the Dodgers' order, went a combined 8-for-13. Betts scored four runs as the Dodgers improved to 14-1 in August.

⚾MLB PADRES 5 ORIOLES 2: Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits, an RBI and a straight steal of home Wednesday night to lead the San Diego Padres to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the rubber match of a three-game series. Padres starter Blake Snell (10-8) gave up two runs on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings. His major-league-leading ERA rose from 2.63 to 2.65. Josh Hader tossed a scoreless ninth inning for his 27th save.

⚾MLB PHILLIES 9 BLUE JAYS 4: Bryce Harper hit two solo homers and Jake Cave added a solo shot as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4 on Wednesday. Cave also hit a sacrifice fly as the Phillies ended a three-game losing streak while gaining a split of the two-game set. Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays. Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman (9-7) allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four.


⚾MLB SCORES

  • Rays 6 Giants 1
  • Braves 2 Yankees 0
  • Tigers 8 Twins 7
  • Mets 8 Pirates 3
  • D-Backs 9 Rockies 7
  • Reds 7 Guardians 2
  • Astros 12 Marls 5
  • Athletics 8 Cardinals 0
  • Nationals 6 Red Sox 2
  • Angels 2 Rangers 0
  • Cubs 4 White Sox 3
  • Mariners 6 Royals 5


⚾LLWS SERIES: Media's Little League baseball team fell to a team from Needville, Texas, on Wednesday night during their first game in the Little League World Series. The final score in Williamsport, Pa., came out 2-1. The Media Little League team now drops down to the elimination bracket and will take on the losing team in the Northwest vs. New England game, which is on Sunday. The underdogs will then have a chance to take on the winning team from another bracket if they advance far enough.

⚾LLWS SCORES:

  • Panama (Santiago de Veraguas, Panama) def. Europe-Africa (Brno, Czech Republic), 4-0
  • Metro (Smithfield, Rhode Island) def. Mountain (Henderson, Nevada), 3-1
  • Japan (Tokyo, Japan) def. Cuba (Bayamo, Cuba), 1-0
  • Southwest (Needville, Texas) def. Mid-Atlantic (Media, Pennsylvania), 2-1

⚽US WOMEN’S SOCCER COACH RESIGNS: The manager of the U.S. women’s national soccer team has resigned, ESPN reported. Vlatko Andonovsi’s exit follows the team’s elimination by Sweden in the round of 16 at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. It was the team’s earliest exit ever. Assistant coach Twila Kilgore is expected to be appointed interim coach.

➤STORM HEADED FOR SOCAL: A rare hurricane is set to hit Southern California as early as Sunday morning, bringing dangerous 70mph winds and downpours, according to forecasters.  Tropical Storm Hilary is currently brewing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mainland Mexico and is due to develop into a hurricane by 1pm on Thursday and a major hurricane by 1am on Saturday.  By Sunday afternoon, Hilary is expected to become a lesser hurricane and then hit Southern California and potentially Los Angeles as a tropical storm.



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