From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Congress will investigate a federal judge accused of sexually assaulting a witness during his time as a federal prosecutor in Utah, a new report says.
Richard Warren Roberts, then a civil rights attorney for the Justice Department, is accused of repeatedly raping Terry Elrod Mitchell in 1981, according to The Salt Lake City Tribune. Continue reading “Congress to probe rape allegations against federal judge: report”
Days of rain caused a hillside to collapse and part of a state highway through Trinity County to crumble and wash away this week, cutting off a main pass for locals, Caltrans officials said.
A stretch of pavement several car-lengths long was washed away on California 3 north of Weaverville along with the hillside that supported it between Monday night and Tuesday morning, photos posted on Caltrans’ Facebook page showed. The area, along with most of the northern portion of California, has been soaked by a series of storms since the beginning of the month. Continue reading “Northern California highway crumbles as storm-soaked hillside collapses”
Today, President Obama took the most significant step in his sordid trail toward transforming our nation.
Obama nominated a virulent anti-gunner to fill the seat of Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Continue reading “Obama’s Judicial Pick Today Would Reverse Your Ability to Own a Gun”
Breaking Energy – by DAVID MAKOVSKY
When Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled his planned visit to Washington recently, many speculated that he was protesting the continued lack of agreement on the amount of U.S. military aid to be embodied in a new ten-year memorandum of understanding (MOU). Vice President Joe Biden, who enjoys a close friendship with Netanyahu, visited Israel last week and urged the prime minister to finalize a deal at the level favored by the Obama administration. Although Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon will meet with Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon this week, the MOU talks have been spearheaded by the White House and the Prime Minister’s Office, so the Carter-Yaalon talks are unlikely to be a game-changer. Continue reading “U.S. Military Aid To Israel: Debating An Increase”
Gas prices continue to move upward in the midstate – the average price increased 10 cents in one week from $1.89 on March 7 to $1.99 on March 14.
“The cheapest gas prices of the year are now solidly behind us as the national average will soon again hit $2,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. Continue reading “Why are gas prices spiking this week?”
Business Insider – by Barak Rabinowitz
Israel is by far the largest exporter of military drones in the world.
Take the AirMule fromUrbanAero. It could have flown right off the pages of a Batman comic book.
Designed to take off and land vertically with up to 1,400 pounds of cargo and zip through the air at over 100mph, this drone is set to transport injured soldiers from urban war zones where standard helicopters simply cannot fly. Continue reading “Israeli drones are about to take over the world’s skies”
A homeless man from San Francisco who pointed police toward two Orange County inmates who had escaped from jail will get the lion’s share of a $150,000 reward set up for their successful capture, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors awarded Matthew Hay-Chapman $100,000, said Jean Pasco, a county spokeswoman. Continue reading “Homeless Man Who Spotted California Fugitives Gets $100K”
FORT WORTH A police officer was critically wounded, one suspect killed and another suspect was in custody after “all hell broke loose” in west Fort Worth Tuesday afternoon.
The officer, who has been with the department since 2009, was shot multiple times during a gunfight in a wooded area and was transported by helicopter ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Continue reading “Fort Worth police officer wounded; one suspect dead, another in custody”
In its liquid form, tritium looks just like water: clear and odorless.
Yet it’s radioactive, and in the past two months, two nuclear power plants outside New York City and Miami were found to be leaking tritium: the former into groundwater within the facility’s confines, the second straight into Biscayne Bay. Continue reading “Nuclear Plants Leak Radiation, and Regulator Faces Scrutiny”
Dallas Morning News – by Bobby Blanchard
AUSTIN — A U.S. District Court approved a motion Monday for Texas to intervene and join a lawsuit involving 90,000 acres of land along the Texas-Oklahoma border.
Last year, a group of landowners sued the Bureau of Land Management in a land dispute along the border. The seven families behind the lawsuit were suing for thousands of acres of land that the Bureau of Land Management claims belongs to the government. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — and several other Texas politicians — praised the landowners for suing. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton even filed a motion to join the suit, which the court approved Monday. Continue reading “Texas allowed in on Red River land grab lawsuit”
CHEVERLY, Md. (AP) — An undercover narcotics officer was mortally wounded by his own colleagues as he responded to an attack on his police station by a gunman with a death wish, their police chief angrily explained on Monday.
And while Officer Jacai Colson lay dying, the gunman’s two brothers coldly recorded Sunday’s firefight on their cellphones, Prince George’s County police chief Hank Stawinski said, tapping a podium and trying to contain his emotions. Continue reading “Maryland Police: Officer killed by friendly fire in attack”
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, timing his move to the launch of Syria peace talks Monday — an end game that allows the Russian leader to cash in on his gains and reduce his risks in the conflict.
The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers Putin an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5 ½-month Russian air campaign that has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army to win back some key ground and strengthen his positions ahead of the talks. With Russia’s main goals in Syria achieved, the pullback will allow Putin to pose as a peacemaker and help ease tensions with NATO member Turkey and the Gulf monarchies vexed by Moscow’s military action. Continue reading “Putin orders start of Russian military pullout from Syria”
An anti-Donald Trump rally flew Mexican flags from cars and trucks on Sunday as it rolled through the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, local Fox affiliate KTTV reports.
“Most of the cars carried Mexican flags — in a clear protest over Trump’s plan to build a wall at the border,” KTTV reported, adding that the protest was peaceful. Continue reading “Anti-Donald Trump Rally Waves Mexican Flags in L.A.”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A criminal and internal investigation is underway at Kellogg’s after a video surfaced online that appears to show a man filming himself urinating on products on an assembly line.
An internal investigation found it was recorded in 2014 at a facility in Memphis, Tennessee, the company said. Continue reading “Video appears to show man urinating on products at Kellogg’s assembly line”
Donald Trump‘s Chicago rally Friday night was canceled as large crowds of protesters amassed inside and outside the venue, leading organizers to fear for the safety of those gathered.
Five arrests were made and two police officers were injured, interim Chicago Police Superintendent John Escalante said during a press conference Saturday night. Of those five arrests, two each were made by the Chicago Police Department and University of Illinois police, and one arrest was made by Illinois State Police. One of the individuals arrested was a journalist. Continue reading “Trump Rally Postponed in Chicago as Large Crowds of Protesters Gather; 5 Arrested”
Dallas Morning News – by Lauren McGaughy
AUSTIN — President Barack Obama will visit Austin on Friday to help kick off South by Southwest. The same day, pro-gun protesters plan to march in the streets to show support for the state’s new open carry law.
This isn’t the first time protesters have openly carried guns during the nine-day festival. But it is the first time that SXSW organizers have brought in the president, who has repeatedly called for tightening gun laws in the wake of mass shootings nationwide. Continue reading “Open carry leader: Obama’s Austin visit during SXSW gun rally could ‘get interesting’”
The two top executives of Wounded Warrior Project were fired Thursday by the board of directors.
Americans donate hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the charity, expecting their money will help some of the 52,000 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Continue reading “Wounded Warrior Project execs fired”
WASHINGTON — Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, met with President Obama on Thursday for the first official visit by a Canadian leader in 19 years, a diplomatic honor made possible in part by new pledges of cooperation on combating climate change.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Trudeau announced Thursday morning new commitments to reduce planet-warming emissions of methane, a chemical contained in natural gas that is about 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide and that can leak from drilling wells and pipelines. Continue reading “Obama and Justin Trudeau of Canada Unveil Efforts to Fight Climate Change”
Fracking opponents were dealt a big blow Wednesday (March 9) by the state’s 1st Circuit Court of Appeal, which upheld a district court ruling that St. Tammany Parish government cannot use its zoning regulations to block a proposed oil drilling project northeast of Mandeville. The controversial case is likely to move to the state Supreme Court.
The appeals court in Baton Rouge, which heard arguments in the case Nov. 5, upheld the April 2015 ruling of 19th Judicial District Judge William Morvant in the lawsuit brought by St. Tammany and the group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany in an effort to block the project by Helis Oil & Gas of New Orleans.
Continue reading “Fracking opponents lose round in state appeals court”