Tuesday, August 29, 2023

8/29 WAKE-UP CALL: Idalia Intensifies, Now Cat 1 Hurricane














Idalia has strengthened to a hurricane and is predicted to strike Florida's west coast as a Category 3 on Wednesday.

The storm's peak winds are now 75 mph and are forecast to leap to 115 mph by the time it makes landfall Wednesday, probably in Florida's Big Bend area, drawing strength from record-warm waters over the Gulf of Mexico. Several counties along Florida’s west coast have issued evacuation orders Monday as the storm threatens to bring a "life-threatening" ocean surge up to 11 feet.



The storm's growing intensity and its northerly track put some 14 million Floridians under hurricane and tropical storm warnings along the Gulf of Mexico.

Authorities warned that the chief hazard to human life posed by the storm would be from surging walls of seawater driven inland by high winds, inundating low-lying coastal areas.


Storm surge warnings were posted for hundreds of miles of Gulf Coast shoreline, from the Sarasota area north through Tampa and stretching to the sport-fishing haven of Indian Pass at the western end of Apalachicola Bay. The storm's growing intensity and its northerly track put some 14 million Floridians under hurricane and tropical storm warnings along the Gulf of Mexico. Authorities warned that the chief hazard to human life posed by the storm would be from surging walls of seawater driven inland by high winds, inundating low-lying coastal areas.


"Buckle up for this one," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during a news conference on Monday afternoon, adding that he had spoken to U.S. President Joe Biden and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell.

Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast Monday as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified and forecasters predicted it to carry dangerous winds, life-threatening storm surge, and heavy, flooding rain.


Suspect
➤1 DEAD IN UNC SHOOTING: A faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was shot and killed in a campus building Monday afternoon, officials said in a press conference. Shortly after 1 p.m. ET, UNC Police were notified of shots fired at Caudill Laboratories, a chemistry building near the center of campus. UNC Police arrived at the scene and found one faculty member shot. No one else was injured, UNC Chief of Police Brian James said. The faculty member has not been identified pending notification to their family. The motive of the shooting is still unknown.

@UNCPolice have released a photo of Tailei Qi, the person of interest in the shooting. QI is a grad student who has previously studied at Wuhan University. Tailei Qi is a researcher in nanoparticle synthesis at UNC, according to his LinkedIn. He was brought into custody at 2:31 p.m. ET. UNC Police underwent a verification process of the suspect before lifting the campus lockdown at 4 p.m. because "we wanted to be sure we had that person in custody and it was the correct person."

➤2 DEAD AS FIRE RESUE HELICOPTER CRASHES: A firefighter and a woman were killed Monday morning after a fire rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment building near Fort Lauderdale, sending at least four people to the hospital. Emergency personnel responded to a call of "an aircraft alert" after the Broward County sheriff's fire rescue helicopter crashed southwest of the Pompano Beach Airpark, said sheriff's spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright. 

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Captain Terryson Jackson, 50, died in the crash. The woman has not been named, but authorities said she was inside the apartment at the time of the crash and was pronounced dead on the scene. The airpark is in Pompano Beach just north of Fort Lauderdale, near the Miami metropolitan area.


➤TRUMP ARRAIGNMENT SET FOR SEPT 6: Former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies indicted for allegedly conspiring to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results will be arraigned Wednesday, Sept. 6 before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. All 19 defendants are accused of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which penalizes activities of individuals engaging in organized crime. Other charges they face include conspiring to commit election fraud, conspiring to commit false statements and writings and perjury. Trump and several of his allies have denied wrongdoing.

Trump’s federal trial on election interference is set to start March 4. That is one day before the Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states, heightening the conflicts between the GOP front-runner’s legal and campaign schedules. The former president can’t appeal the date, but can try to delay it through pretrial motions, which his lawyers have signaled they intend to do. Regardless of the trial’s start date and the presidential election coming in more than a year, U.S. allies and adversaries around the world are already contemplating—and even planning for—a Trump White House 2.0.

➤WHO ARE YOU REALLY? The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has acknowledged the existence of around 5,400 emails that it is holding, suggesting President Biden used various email pseudonyms during his time as vice president.  Knowledge of the collection of correspondence came to light following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), a nonprofit organization specializing in constitutional law. The FOIA request was submitted more than one year ago in June 2022 and appears to confirm emails connected to the aliases Robin Ware, Robert L. Peters, and JRB Ware were aliases being used by Joe Biden.

➤POLL..JOE TOO OLD: An overwhelming majority of Americans believe President Joe Biden is too old to effectively carry out the office of president for another four years, a Monday poll found. According to The Associated Press, a poll found that 77% of Americans say Biden is too old to carry out a second term. While an unsurprising 89% of Republicans expressed the sentiment, an impressive 69% of Democrats also say Biden is no longer up to the task, according to the poll. Meanwhile, fewer than half of Americans say former President Donald Trump is too old to hold office, despite him being just three years younger. The poll further found that American voters increasingly support wide-ranging rules aimed at keeping America's leaders young. Roughly two-thirds of Americans say they support imposing age limits on the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court.

➤16-YEAR-OLD GIRL STABBED TO DEATH BY ANOTHER TEEN DURING MCDONALD'S SAUCE DISPUTE: A 16-year-old girl allegedly stabbed another teenage girl to death in Washington, D.C., early Sunday, police said. The stabbing happened during an argument over McDonald's sauces. Naima Liggon, 16, was brought to a local hospital where she died of her wounds.

➤CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SUED OVER NEW POLICY THAT COULD FORCIBLY OUT TRANS KIDS: California’s attorney general sued a southern California school district Monday over its new policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns, the latest blow in an intensifying battle between a handful of school districts and the state about the rights of trans kids and their parents.  Rob Bonta, the attorney general, said policies like the one adopted by Chino Valley Unified School district will forcibly out transgender students and threaten their well-being. But the district’s board president and supporters say parents have a right to know the decisions their children are making in schools.

➤HOMEOWNERS ARE SKIPPING COVERAGE: A growing number of U.S. homeowners are skipping home-insurance coverage. Some can’t afford rising premiums, while wealthy households say they have enough money saved to rebuild or move if their home were destroyed. Others find their insurer hasn’t renewed their policy due to an increased risk of severe weather damage. Being uninsured can be very risky. When homes are wrecked, owners don’t only lose the property and its contents but might have to pay to remove the ruins and rebuild.

➤PUMP PAIN: U.S. consumers in recent weeks have seen gasoline prices tick up to reach their highest levels so far this year. The increase is leaving many with an unwelcome sense of déjà vu, recalling last summer’s record gasoline prices. Prices have retreated slightly in recent days but remain elevated. A gallon of regular gasoline averaged about $3.82 nationally on Sunday, about 60 cents higher than at the beginning of the year, according to OPIS, an energy-data and analytics provider. Diesel prices are down about 31 cents compared with early January but have gained more than 40 cents from a month ago. 

⚾MLB DODGERS 7 D-BACKS 4: Jason Heyward and James Outman hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 7-4 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in the opener of a three-game series. Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy hit first-inning home runs as the Dodgers improved to 22-4 in August while also opening a 13-game lead over the second-place Diamondbacks in the National League West.

⚾MLB ASTROS 13 REDSOX 5: Jose Altuve hit for the cycle and Yordan Alvarez added four hits and four RBIs as the visiting Houston Astros rolled to a 13-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday. Altuve, who went 4-for-6 and scored four runs, homered in the eighth inning to complete the first cycle by an Astro since Brandon Barnes accomplished the feat in 2013. Alvarez and Jose Abreu also went deep for Houston, which put together a six-run sixth inning en route to its third straight win.

⚾MLB BRAVES 14 ROCKIES 4: Ronald Acuna Jr. homered among his four hits, stole two bases, drove in five runs and was involved in an unsavory incident involving fans on the field as the Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies 14-4 in Denver on Monday night. Ahead of the bottom of the seventh inning, a fan ran to Acuna in right field and put his arms around the Braves star. Security officials tried to pull the man off the four-time All-Star as another fan ran into the scrum, and Acuna was knocked to the ground.

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Yankees 4 Tigers 1
  • Phillies 6 Angels 4
  • Orioles 9 White Sox 0
  • Blue Jays 6 Nationals 3
  • Ranger 4 Mets 3
  • Twins 10 Guardians 6
  • Padres 4 Cardinals 1
  • Brewers 6 Cubs 2
  • Pirates 5 Royals 0
  • Giants 4 Reds 1

🏈KELLY STAFFORD: MATHEW STAFFORD STRUGGLES TO JELL WITH YOUNG RAMS: The Los Angeles Rams' roster has experienced massive turnover in the two years since the team won Super Bowl LVI, and the influx of youth has quarterback Matthew Stafford finding it hard to connect with his teammates, according to his wife, Kelly. 

"It's kind of crazy. So, Matthew's been in the league a long time. He's like, 'The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly.' They have a lot of rookies on their team, they're very young. But he's like, 'I feel like I can't connect,'" Kelly Stafford said on her podcast, 

"The Morning After With Kelly Stafford," last week. "In the old days you'd come out of practice, you'd shower, and people would be playing cards, interacting. Who knows what they're doing, but they're doing something together... But now they get out of practice, and meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones. No one looks up from their phones." Kelly added that Matthew said, "I don't know ... am I the dad? Do I take their phones? What do I do here?' He's like, 'I want them to see me not as a coach.'"

🏈'WORLD'S LARGEST TAILGATE' PLANNED FOR NFL SEASON OPENER​: "Saturday Night Live" star Heidi Gardner will be among several entertainers expected to take part in a virtual tailgate and concert experience before the NFL's kickoff game in Kansas City next month. The show dubbed as the "World's Largest Tailgate" looks to celebrate the start of the football season as the Super Bowl defending champion Kansas City Chiefs Chiefs host the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7, the team announced Monday. The event will be held live outside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.



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