News Dump for Apr. 24, 2024

US

This is from earlier this month, but what the fuck?!
ABC Tampa Bay – Pay to stay: Florida inmates charged for prison cells long after incarceration
Florida is charging formerly incarcerated people $50 a day even if they’re no longer in prison. The “pay to stay” fee is based on the length of the original sentence, so even when they’re released they must keep paying for a prison bed they’re not using.
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/pay-to-stay-florida-inmates-charged-for-prison-cells-long-after-incarceration

Daily Beast – ‘Losing All Credibility’: Judge Rips Trump Team at Tense Gag Order Hearing
A New York judge did not hold back on Tuesday as prosecutors pushed to hold Donald Trump in contempt for attacking jurors and witnesses—just seven days into his landmark hush money trial. “You’re losing all credibility,” Merchan told Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, at one point, noting that the former president’s team had presented no concrete evidence as they made their defense.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/losing-all-credibility-judge-juan-merchan-slams-trump-team-at-tense-gag-order-hearing

MSNBC – WATCH: Teens use day off from school to attend Trump trial
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing spoke to two New York teens, Hope Harrington and Owen Berenbom, who decided to attend former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial. The students talked about why they wanted to be at court, with Harrington saying she wants to be a lawyer, and their takeaways from the arguments and testimony they heard.
https://www.msnbc.com/chris-jansing-reports/watch/teens-use-day-off-from-school-to-attend-trump-trial-209559621978

Law & Crime – Confederate flag-wielding Jan. 6 rioter who said home-schooling left him ‘sheltered’ heads to prison for assault
Isreal Easterday, a Confederate flag-waving Jan. 6 rioter who donned an “I [heart] Trump” beanie as he assaulted police defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, was sentenced to 30 months, or 2 1/2 years, in prison, a steep downward departure from the 12 1/2 years prosecutors initially sought.
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/a-symbol-of-treason-defiance-of-the-law-and-insurrection-confederate-flag-wielding-jan-6-rioter-who-said-home-schooling-left-him-sheltered-heads-to-prison-for-assault/

ABC – Secret Service prepares for if Trump is jailed for contempt in hush money case
The U.S. Secret Service held meetings and started planning for what to do if former President Donald Trump were to be held in contempt in his criminal hush money trial and Judge Juan Merchan opted to send him to short-term confinement, officials familiar with the situation told ABC News.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/secret-services-prepares-potential-trump-contempt-order-hush/story?id=109542824

BBC – Columbia University extends remote learning amid Gaza war protests
Columbia University has extended remote classes at its main New York City campus for the rest of term amid tense Gaza war protests that have spread to US colleges nationwide. The hybrid learning comes as some students have reported antisemitic harassment around Columbia’s campus.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68883271

CNN – Kari Lake bemoans fact that Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban is not being enforced, in another apparent shift
Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake expressed regret in a recent interview that Arizona’s century-old abortion ban was not being enforced by the state’s Democratic leadership, remarks that appear at odds with her recent public opposition to the law.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/23/politics/kari-lake-abortion-arizona/index.html

Axios – Minnesota senator faces pressure to resign after burglary charge
A Democratic state senator from a Twin Cities suburb is facing calls to resign after prosecutors accused her of breaking into her stepmother’s home to retrieve ashes and other items she said belonged to her late father. Her lawyer, Bruce Ringstrom, Sr., told Axios via email that the first-term senator has “no interest in resigning.”
https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2024/04/23/nicole-mitchell-democrat-burglary-resignation

Not even a slap on the wrist? Fuck that shit.
Guardian – Two Turning Point USA members admit to assaulting queer professor
Kalen D’Almeida and Braden Ellis accosted David Boyles, also co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona, last October. Both D’Almeida and Ellis signed diversion agreements with prosecutors that acknowledge they committed the offenses and enter them into an educational program to avoid convictions, Phoenix TV station 12News reported.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/23/turning-point-usa-assault-david-boyles

She’s right. He should resign NOW.
NBC – Nancy Pelosi says Israel’s Netanyahu ‘should resign’ as prime minister
Pelosi’s comments follow Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/nancy-pelosi-says-israeli-prime-minister-netanyahu-resign-rcna149094

Axios – Trump can’t shake lingering primary protest votes in Pennsylvania
A sizable share of Republican primary voters in Pennsylvania cast a ballot for former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley on Tuesday, despite former President Trump clinching his party’s nomination over a month ago.
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/24/trump-protest-vote-pennsylvania-gop-primary

AP – George Santos ends comeback bid for Congress after raising no money
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos on Tuesday said he is dropping his longshot bid to return to Congress, months after he was expelled from the House while facing a slew of federal fraud charges.
https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-congress-campaign-a4c4cc2ea7cb52a13ec9f8dfc5ede86c

Business Insider – New Marine One helicopters the US spent $5 billion on aren’t allowed to carry the president because they could scorch the lawn
The US has spent $5 billion on a fleet of new helicopters to transport the president. But the VH-92 continues to scorch the White House lawn, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. This years-long problem has sidelined the helicopters from carrying Biden for now.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/marine-one-helicopters-us-spent-164949785.html

Reuters – US bans worker ‘noncompete’ agreements as business groups vow to sue
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday approved a rule to ban agreements commonly signed by workers not to join their employers’ rivals or launch competing businesses, which it says limit worker mobility and suppress wages. The five-member FTC, which enforces antitrust laws and currently has a Democratic majority under President Joe Biden, voted 3-2 to approve the rule during a public meeting.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-agency-poised-ban-worker-noncompete-agreements-2024-04-23/
Statement: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes

NBC – Ex-cop accused in 2 killings, kidnapping of baby fatally shoots self at end of chase, police say
Elias Huizar is accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and is being investigated in the death of a second person, who was described as his girlfriend. Huizar allegedly also kidnapped a 1-year-old child, according to West Richland police.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-officer-accused-killings-kidnapping-baby-shoots-self-chase-rcna149092

Axios – McConnell targets Tucker Carlson over Ukraine
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) attacked former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for the “demonization of Ukraine.” McConnell said during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon that he thought Carlson “ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin.”
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/23/mcconnell-tucker-carlson-ukraine-putin

AP – North Carolina man sentenced to six years in prison for attacking police with pole at Capitol
A man who became a fugitive after a federal jury convicted him of assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison. David Joseph Gietzen, 31, of Sanford, North Carolina, struck a police officer with a pole during a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
https://apnews.com/article/david-gietzen-fugitive-capitol-riot-sentence-b9437f4a4e2d6464f4b89c4523367d02

Daily Beast – Trump’s New Legal Bills Are Hiding an $8 Million Mystery
Trump is using a GOP compliance firm as a go-between to pay lawyers, allowing him to hide who he’s actually paying. Experts have real questions whether he can do that.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-new-legal-bills-are-hiding-an-dollar8-million-mystery

Law & Crime – Judge agrees to conditional discovery delay in lawsuit from legislators, police suing Trump during ex-president’s criminal trial
A group of current and former lawmakers and police suing Donald Trump for his alleged role fomenting the violence of Jan. 6 have agreed to give the former president — currently on trial in New York and preparing to make his last big push to advance his “absolute” immunity argument at the Supreme Court this week — a bit of grace. But on one condition.
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/lawmakers-police-suing-trump-for-jan-6-agree-to-discovery-delay-during-ex-presidents-criminal-trial-on-one-condition/

WSJ – Senate Passes Ukraine, Israel Aid Package After Monthslong Fight
Measure, which also includes forces sale of TikTok, now heads to Biden’s desk.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/senate-pushes-ukraine-israel-aid-closer-to-finish-line-290c07ab

This will never end well.
Politico – Tennessee lawmakers pass bill to allow teachers to be armed
The 68-28 vote in favor of the bill sent it to Republican Gov. Bill Lee for consideration. If he signs it into law, it would be the biggest expansion of gun access in the state since last year’s deadly shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/24/tennessee-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-allow-teachers-to-be-armed-00154042

TWEET: Trump has filed a Motion to Dismiss in Fulton Country, Georgia, asking Judge McAfee to dismiss two counts for which he is charged and arguing that the State of Georgia does not have authority to punish the filing of false documents in federal court.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24602731-trump-loney-supplemental-brief
https://twitter.com/girlsreallyrule/status/1783150239265751532

FINALLY!
CNN – Biden signs foreign aid bill providing crucial military assistance to Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law an aid package providing crucial military assistance to Ukraine, capping months of negotiations and debate.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/biden-signs-foreign-aid-bill/index.html

Conservative Justices: “Fuck off, women. You’re nothing but property. Shut up and go die.
FFS – Supreme Court appears skeptical that state abortion bans conflict with federal health care law
Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday that state abortion bans that took effect after the sweeping ruling overturning Roe v. Wade violate federal health care law, even during some medical emergencies.
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-emergencies-hospitals-doctors-45766f0a1ab576ce0f6515c5a1bd9e2a

CBS – Biden administration expands overtime pay to cover 4.3 million more workers. Here’s who qualifies.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday unveiled a new rule that will extend overtime pay to salaried workers who earn less than $1,128 per week, or $58,656 annually. Previously, only workers who made $684 or less each week, or $35,568 annually, were eligible for OT.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-labor-department-overtime-pay-expansion-who-qualifies-cbs-news-explains/

AP – Airlines will now be required to give automatic cash refunds for canceled and delayed flights
The Biden administration issued final rules Wednesday to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation.
https://apnews.com/article/airlines-junk-fees-baggage-delays-c4a93f9ee9a2bf7d9ee07394183a0374

WORLD

Guardian – Russian minister detained after taking especially large bribe, law enforcement agency says
Deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov, who has been sanctioned by US and EU, faces up to 15 years in jail.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/24/russian-defence-minister-timur-ivanov-us-eu-sanctions-jail-term

AP – UK puts its defense industry on ‘war footing’ and gives Ukraine $620 million in new military aid
The U.K. prime minister said Tuesday the country is putting its defense industry on a “war footing” by increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade, and pledged to send arms worth 500 million pounds ($620 million) to Ukraine.
https://apnews.com/article/poland-uk-nato-ukraine-sunak-military-aid-be9fa8b106eda83c2da140e0f2774fcb

AP – Ukraine gets a big boost of US aid. It still faces a long slog to repel Russia
The arms and ammunition in the $61 billion military aid package should enable Ukraine to slow the Russian army’s bloody advances and block its strikes on troops and civilians. And it will buy Ukraine time — for long-term planning about how to take back the fifth of the country now under Russian control.
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-us-weapons-battle-impact-43072858c26195f6c91565c1ebbf1629

Oh I’m sure Comer is gonna jump all over this, right?
CNN – Exclusive: New evidence challenges the Pentagon’s account of a horrific attack as the US withdrew from Afghanistan
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations, the latest of which was released last week, into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/world/new-evidence-challenges-pentagon-account-kabul-airport-attack-intl/index.html

SCIENCE

Cool!
USA Today – ‘Extraordinary’: George Washington’s 250-year-old cherries found buried at Mount Vernon
The forgotten cherries were supposed to be served on George Washington’s dinner table, but became a time capsule instead, sitting untouched since at least 1776.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/23/george-washington-mount-vernon-cherries/73422858007/

TEXAS

Texas Tribune – Texas politics leave transgender foster youth isolated — during and after life in state care
Support once afforded LGBTQ+ foster kids has vanished and a culture of silence has blanketed the agency tasked with raising children growing up in the system.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/23/texas-foster-care-lgbtq-transgender-kids/

Newsweek – Texas Nuns Defy Vatican, Seek Restraining Order on Bishop
Nuns in Texas are seeking a restraining order against Bishop Michael Olson and other Catholic Church officials in a bid to stop a takeover of their monastery.
https://www.newsweek.com/texas-nuns-defy-vatican-restraining-order-bishop-1893168

Texas Tribune – In one Texas county, elections officials shoulder new costs and burdens to appease skeptics
Brazos County election officials are responding to demands from skeptical residents by expanding hand counts and ordering special paper.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/23/brazos-county-elections-skeptics/

KXAN – Thousands of Austin employees impacted by Tesla layoffs
According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission, Tesla fired 2,688 of its Austin employees.
https://www.kxan.com/news/thousands-of-austin-employees-impacted-by-tesla-layoffs/

Ferfucksake
Texas Tribune – Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocks Harris County’s guaranteed income pilot program
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging the program, saying it violates the Texas Constitution.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/23/texas-supreme-court-guaranteed-income/

Lone Star Left – David Lowe Made Veiled Threats On My Life, Now He’s Running For The Legislature
From violent rhetoric to Nazi-aligned campaign backing, as a legislator Lowe would be threat to our communities.
https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/david-lowe-made-veiled-threats-on

MISC

ArsTechnica – Hackers infect users of antivirus service that delivered updates over HTTP
eScan AV updates were delivered over HTTP for five years.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/04/hackers-infect-users-of-antivirus-service-that-delivered-updates-over-http/

The Hill – Bird flu virus detected in pasteurized milk: FDA
Particles of bird flu were detected in some samples of pasteurized milk, though the virus in that form is not a threat to humans, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Tuesday.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4616539-bird-flu-virus-detected-in-pasteurized-milk-fda/