Digis Mak

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Letters: U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s defeat in her Wyoming primary is a message

It is astounding that the morning after U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney received a trouncing in her Wyoming primary, she would have the audacity to say, “I think I will run for president.”Is that the message she got from her defeat?— Sue Atkenson, FranfortIn the Aug. 15 editorial “Is the GOP blowing its midterm chances?” the Tribune Editorial Board writes, “Job one (for the GOP) is to send Trump packing in some face-saving but determinative way and get behind dignified alternatives.”It would take a tremendous amount of courage for a Republican politician to tell the truth about Donald Trump. U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney has that courage. As a result, she first lost her Republican leadership position in the House, and on Tuesday, she lost the Republican nomination for her Wyoming district’s House seat.So R...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Europe

Who is Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s CFO?

The longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization on Thursday pleaded guilty to all 15 criminal charges in a criminal tax evasion case involving former President Donald Trump's family business.Allen Weisselberg was accused of taking more than $1.7 million in back-channel payments from the company. His defense lawyer Nicholas Gravante, said in a statement that entering the plea was one of the most difficult decisions of Weisselberg's life but that he wanted to end "the years-long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family of him. ""Rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. We are glad to have this behind him," the statement said.For decades, Weisselberg has had his fingers on the pulse of the Trump Organ...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Updates

Salman Rushdie stabbing suspect indicted for attack, denied bail

MAYVILLE, NY — A judge refused to grant bail Thursday to the man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie as the acclaimed author prepared to give a talk in western New York.Hadi Matar, 24, appeared in a western New York courtroom after a grand jury indicted him on charges that he rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stabbed Rushdie multiple times in front of a horrified crowd. Matar was arrested Aug. 12.Initial charges of attempted murder and assault were filed the next day, when Matar's court-appointed lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. The prosecutor's office did not immediately release the new charges.Dressed in a black-and-white jail uniform, Matar remained quiet during the hearing while his lawyer unsuccessfully tried to persuade the judge that he shou...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Updates

Number of top A-level grades falls sharply as north-south divide grows | A-levels

The number of top grades at A-level has failed sharply this year after a return to examinations, with warnings about large regional variations and a “stark” divide between the state sector and private schools, where pupils were almost twice as likely to get an Now*.Results awarded in England, Wales and Northern Ireland revealed top grades down by 8.4 percentage points on last year's record results, while A*s alone decreased by 4.5 points, in line with government plans to bring results gradually back to pre-pandemic levels.The attainment gap between the more affluent London and south-east regions and the north-east is growing, however. While the gap between the south and the north-east was between 4 and 5 percentage points in 2019, it now stands at more than 8 percentage points.Chris Za...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Updates

5 most expensive cars up for sale at Pebble Beach

1958 MaseratiSource: Motorcar Studios ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby'sClassic cars up for auction in Monterey, California, this week are expected to shatter records.Auction sales at the Monterey Car Week are expected to total between $300 million and $490 million, according to Hagerty Automotive Intelligence, the classic-car insurance and collector-lifestyle company. Experts say sales are likely to top the all-time record at the showing of $395 million in 2015. Last year's total was $351 million.A total of 956 cars will be up for auction this year across the five auction houses, according to Classic.com. Porsche and Ferrari lead the pack, with 100 Porsches and 93 Ferraris up for sale. A record 149 cars will be offered for $1 million or more this year, with at least a half-dozen expecte...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Europe

29 cases reported in Michigan, Ohio; cause unknown

At least 29 people fell ill due to an E. coli outbreak in Michigan and Ohio.The CDC is investigating the outbreak, but no cause has been determined.Health officials advise people practice safe food handling as the outbreak could easily spread.Dozens of people in Michigan and Ohio have fallen ill to a "fast-moving" E. coli outbreak, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not found a cause. There have been 29 reported cases of E. coli illness in the two states since July 26, with 15 in Michigan and 14 in Ohio, according to CDC data. The ages of ill people range from six to 91 years old, and at least nine people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.However, officials believe the number of sick people is "likely higher," and the bacteria could be outside of...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Europe

Utah officials secretly looked into female athlete’s gender

Comment on this storyCommentSALT LAKE CITY — A Utah high school athletics association secretly investigated a female athlete — without telling her or her parents — after receiving complaints from the parents of two girls she had defeated in competition questioning whether the girl was transgender.The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Utah High School Activities Association and the girl's high school determined she indeed was female after poring through school records dating back to kindergarten.Association spokesman David Spatafore told lawmakers that the girl and her family weren't told of the investigation to spare them embarrassment and “to keep the matter private,” the Tribune reported Thursday.The revelation comes as at least 12 Republican-led states — including Utah — have passed...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Europe

Albert Pujols hits pinch-hit grand slam for 690th home run

Albert Pujols hits pinch-hit grand slam for 690th home run n","providerName":"Twitter","providerUrl":"https://twitter.com","type":"rich","width":550,"__typename":"ExternalEmbedContent"},"$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({"locale":"en-us","slug":"albert-pujols-hits-pinch-hit-grand-slam-for-690th-home-run","type":"story"}).parts.2":{"data":{"type":"id","generated":true,"id":"$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({"locale":"en-us","slug":"albert-pujols-hits-pinch-hit-grand-slam-for-690th-home-run","type":"story"}).parts.2.data","typename":"ExternalEmbedContent"},"type":"oembed","__typename":"ExternalEmbed"},"$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({"locale":"en-us","slug":"albert-pujols-hits-pinch-hit-grand-slam-for-690th-home-run","ty...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Updates

Affidavit used in search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago to be partially unsealed, judge says

An aerial view of former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, US August 15, 2022.Beautiful Frame | ReutersA federal judge said that parts of the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's resort home Mar-a-Lago must be unsealed, NBC News reported Thursday.The decision from US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart came after the Department of Justice asked him not to unseal the highly sensitive document, which details the government's view that it had probable cause to believe the search of Mar-a-Lago would turn up evidence of illegality .The government's investigation into the records seized from Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, residence is still in its "early stages," argued Jay Bratt,...

18Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Europe

Texas students deserve books. Politicians should not target them.

There will be some titles missing on the bookshelves this week as students at Keller ISD return. Among them: Toni Morrison's “Bluest Eye,” the Bible and a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank's diary.The suburban school district in the Fort Worth area is not the first to be swept up in efforts to review and possibly pull books from library shelves, but the level of meddling there seems to go a step beyond what we've seen in some other cases . The 41 books that principals were told to gather up and store somewhere had already been reviewed by the district last year. At the time, the committee recommended some of the titles should stay in student libraries. Then, the school board, with three new conservative members, reversed course just before the start of the new school...