From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Charlotte Observer – by Craig Jarvis
RALEIGH – It would be easier to legally carry concealed handguns under a gun-rights bill that began moving in the state House on Wednesday.
Concealed-carry permits would no longer be needed if the legislature passes House Bill 746. It’s already legal to wear a visible handgun, except where restricted. Concealed handguns would be treated similarly under the bill.
Continue reading “North Carolina: Concealed handgun permits would no longer be required”
Dallas Morning News – by Claire Z. Cardona, Eline de Bruijn, Julieta Chiquillo
Two bounty hunters and the fugitive they were looking for died in a shootout Tuesday evening at a Greenville auto dealership, officials say.
Officials identified the bounty hunters as Fidel Garcia Jr., 54, and Gabriel Bernal, 33. Minnesota fugitive Ramon Michael Hutchinson, 49, was also killed.
The shootings occurred about 7:15 p.m. at Nissan of Greenville along Interstate 30 near Joe Ramsey Boulevard.
Continue reading “Bounty hunters scuffle with fugitive as fatal shots ring out at Greenville car dealership”
Sent to us by Patricia.
Continue reading “Gavin Seim honors vets over Memorial Day”
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge called a New Hampshire man a “bully vigilante” and sentenced him Wednesday to more than seven years in prison for his role organizing armed backers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy after a standoff with U.S. agents in 2014.
Gerald “Jerry” DeLemus became the first person sentenced for his ties to the confrontation that became a rallying cry for those who want vast stretches of federal land in the U.S. West put under local control. Eighteen others are in custody. Continue reading “1st prison sentence given in Bundy armed standoff in Nevada”
Congressman Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday that would encourage states to develop more comprehensive gun control laws.
Introduced on the anniversary of the tragedy of May 23, 2014, The Gun Violence Restraining Order Act would incentivize states to allow courts to issue temporary firearm restraining orders against those the court determines to be a threat to themselves and others. Continue reading “Congressman Introduces Federal Gun Control Legislation”
WASHINGTON — Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Tuesday that he would sign deals for U.S. goods and services worth $15 billion to $17 billion during his visit to Washington, mainly for high-technology products and for services.
“Vietnam will increase the import of high technologies and services from the United States, and on the occasion of this visit, many important deals will be made,” Phuc told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce dinner. Continue reading “Vietnam to Sign Deals for Up to $17B in US Goods, Services”
Washington Post – by Derek Hawkins and Katie Mettler
A man with a fake gun was taken into custody at the Orlando International Airport Tuesday night following a nearly three-hour standoff with police in one of the main terminals, officials said.
Police said the suspect was attempting “suicide by cop,” trying to draw gunfire from authorities by threatening bystanders and the responding officers. No shots were fired, but panicked travelers ran for cover as the suspect brandished the fake weapon in the terminal’s rental car area, officials said. Continue reading “Orlando airport terminal shut down for hours due to man with fake gun”
Maureen Erickson applied for and received a voter-registration card in Virginia despite listing her home address in Guatemala.
The home address in Guatemala apparently was not enough to sound alarms among elections officials in Prince William County, who let Erickson cast ballots in 14 different elections, according to records obtained by the Public Interest Legal Foundation. Officials finally removed Erickson’s name from the rolls for being a non-citizen in 2012. Continue reading “Study: More Than 7,400 Illegal Votes Cast in Virginia Since 2011”
LOS ANGELES — Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California is preparing to launch a missile designed to shoot down an incoming warhead.
CBS Los Angeles reports a Ground-based Interceptor, which is scheduled to be launched between noon and 4 p.m. Tuesday, is part of a missile defense test, according to the Air Force base.
The goal of the unprecedented launch is to simulate a North Korean ICBM aimed at the U.S. homeland, officials said last week. Continue reading “U.S. Air Force base prepares unprecedented missile launch”
CHILD sex offenders will be banned from international travel as the Federal Government makes good on a promise to stop Australian paedophiles from terrorising children across the globe.
It is understood Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Justice Minister Michael Keenan will present plans to the coalition party room today to permanently bar Australia’s 20,000 registered child sex offenders from travelling overseas, with legislation likely to go before Parliament by June. Continue reading “Australian paedophiles face international travel ban”
Texas Tribune – by Matthew Watkins, Alexa Ura, Julián Aguilar
The normally ceremonial last day of the legislative session briefly descended into chaos on Monday, as proceedings in the House were disrupted by large protests and at least one Republican lawmaker called immigration authorities on the protesters.
State Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, said he called U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement while hundreds of people dressed in red T-shirts unfurled banners and chanted in opposition to the state’s new sanctuary cities law. His action enraged Hispanic legislators nearby, leading to a tussle in which each side accused the other of threats and violence. Continue reading “Republican lawmaker: I called immigration authorities on Capitol protesters”
Washington Post – by Derek Hawkins
The mayor of Portland, Ore., is calling on federal authorities to cancel a pair of upcoming rallies organized by conservative groups, saying the city was still “in shock” after two men were fatally stabbed on a commuter train Friday while fending off a man shouting anti-Muslim slurs.
Mayor Ted Wheeler asked the federal government to revoke a permit authorizing a June 4 “Trump Free Speech Rally” in Portland’s downtown. He also called on the government to block a “March Against Sharia” that is scheduled for June 10 but has not received permits. Continue reading “Portland mayor asks feds to bar free-speech and anti-sharia rallies after stabbings”
Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who spied for the United States before his drug trafficking and brutality triggered a U.S. invasion to oust him in 1989, has died aged 83.
President Juan Carlos Varela announced Noriega’s death on Twitter late on Monday, and said his passing marked the closing of a chapter in the Central American country’s history. Continue reading “Panama dictator Noriega, ousted in U.S. invasion, dies at 83”
May 29 (UPI) — A volcano an Alaska’s Aleutian island chain erupted, sending a plume of ash at least 35,000 feet in the air and prompting a temporary aviation alert, state officials said.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory recorded a “significant explosive eruption” starting at 2:16 p.m. Sunday. Bogoslof Volcano, located on the island of the same name, may have sent ash up to 45,000 feet into the air. Continue reading “Alaskan volcano erupts, sending ash 35,000 feet into air”
Baltimore could be the next city to remove Confederate monuments from public view, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh told the newspaper she’s looking into what it would take to remove the Confederate symbols, a move that was first considered by the city’s former mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who left office in 2016. Continue reading “Baltimore considers Confederate monument removal ‘in the footsteps of New Orleans’: report”
Iran signed an agreement with Russia under which it has broken free from the petrodollar, and will “sell”, or rather barter crude oil to Russia in exchange for products. The announcement was made by Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, as reported by Russia’s RIA and TASS news agencies.
“The deal has been concluded. We are just waiting for the implementation from the Russian side. We have no difficulties; we signed the contract, everything is coordinated between the parties. We are waiting for Russian oil companies to send tankers,” he said, as quoted by Russian news agencies. While sanctions against Iran have been lifted, restrictions on trade in US dollars for the country’s banks remain, making it difficult to sell oil on the open market. Continue reading “Russia And Iran Sign Oil-For-Goods Barter Deal; Escape Petrodollar”
Two men were killed in a stabbing on a MAX train Friday when they tried to intervene as another man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, including one wearing a hijab, police said.
A third passenger who tried to help was also stabbed, but is expected to survive, said Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.
Officers arrested the suspect as he ran from the Hollywood transit station into the neighborhood near Providence Portland Medical Center in Northeast Portland, Simpson said. Police are still working to identify him and the three men stabbed. Continue reading “2 killed in stabbing on MAX train in Northeast Portland as man directs slurs at Muslim women, police say”
Washington Post – by Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Cody Xiong cracked open his door, saw the investigator on his porch and ‘fessed up, authorities say.
“I guess,” Xiong said, “you are here for the opium.”
The investigator wasn’t. But suddenly, he was intrigued.
What followed was a massive opium bust, based entirely on a North Carolina poppy grower who thought prematurely that the jig was up. Continue reading “‘I guess you are here for the opium’: Investigator stumbles across $500 million in poppy plants”
An inmate being transported from a Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud to the prison in Lino Lakes hijacked a white transport van full of other prisoners and escaped this morning, authorities said.
The escape occurred just before 11 a.m. Nine have now been taken into custody. One is still at large, James Douglas Mitchell, 26, who is serving prison for felony assault, said Sarah Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. Mitchell was last seen wearing standard prison garb: blue jeans, a white t-shirt and blue button-down shirt. Continue reading “Inmate hijacks van full of Lino Lakes prisoners and escapes”
Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine and Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake are trying once again to get Congress to debate and vote on authorizing military action against ISIS.
The senators on Thursday unveiled a new Authorization for Use of Military Force against ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban, their second attempt to prod their colleagues to formally vote on the military effort. Continue reading “Senators to Introduce Bill Seeking Authorization of Military Force Against Terror Groups”