From the Trenches World Report

Baltimore Sun – by John Fritze

Officials in College Park are weighing a plan that would make their city the largest in Maryland to give undocumented immigrants a right to vote in local elections, a long-standing practice elsewhere in the state that has drawn new scrutiny amid the simmering national debate over immigration.

The Prince George’s County city, home of the flagship University of Maryland campus and some 30,000 residents, is considering a measure to let noncitizens cast ballots for mayor and City Council — making it the latest target in a movement that has had more success in Maryland than anywhere else in the United States.
Continue reading “Amid immigration battles, College Park considers giving noncitizens voting rights”

Yahoo News

LONDON (AP) — Britain plans to strengthen the online “right to be forgotten” with a law making social media companies delete personal information on request.

The government on Monday published details of a Data Protection Bill , including a provision allowing people to ask for personal data held by companies to be erased.

The changes also would make it easier for people to find out what data companies or organizations hold on them, and would ban firms from collecting personal information without explicit consent.   Continue reading “UK plans to strengthen online ‘right to be forgotten’”

ABC News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s circle attempted to convey calm Sunday amid reports of a slew of corruptions charges against him that threatened to force him from office.

Netanyahu himself did not address the latest developments at his weekly Cabinet meeting, but a close ally said he was relaxed and confident despite reports that police were preparing to recommend he be indicted.   Continue reading “Israel’s Netanyahu looks to exude calm in face of charges”

NPR – by Molly Samuel

A decade ago, utility executives and policymakers dreamed of a clean energy future powered by a new generation of cheap, safe nuclear reactors. Projects to expand existing nuclear plants in South Carolina and Georgia were supposed to be the start of the “nuclear renaissance.”

But following the decision last week by two utilities to scrap the expansion at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in South Carolina, that vision is in tatters. There’s now just one nuclear expansion project left in the country, its future is also uncertain.  Continue reading “How The Dream Of America’s ‘Nuclear Renaissance’ Fizzled”

NPR – by Amy Held

Two Chinese tourists posing for cell phone pictures in front of the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building, wound up under arrest Saturday for making the Heil Hitler gesture, according to multiple media reports citing German police.

The two men, ages 36 and 49, have been released after each posting close to $600 bail.

Hate speech and symbols are largely verboten today in Germany. The Nazis, who ruled between 1933 and 1945, used such methods to help whip up support, allowing millions of Jews and other minorities to be systemically slaughtered.   Continue reading “Nazi Salutes End In Arrests For Chinese Tourists In Berlin”

Jacksonville.com – by Dan Scanlan

Church and community leaders are convening a town hall meeting to discuss “driving while black” after a prominent pastor said a Jacksonville police officer pointed a gun at him and his nephew while questioning their vehicle’s tinted windows.

The Rev. Darien K. Bolden Sr., past president of the Baptist Ministers Conference, said he won’t comment on what happened until Friday’s gathering, and the Sheriff’s Office has been limited in its response. But nevertheless the incident has been condemned by the head of the local NAACP as well as the man in charge of the Florida General Baptist Convention.   Continue reading “Prominent pastor says Jacksonville officer pointed gun at him during questioning over his window tint”

Mail.com

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea vowed Monday to bolster its nuclear arsenal and gain revenge of a “thousand-fold” against the United States in response to tough U.N. sanctions imposed following its recent intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

The warning came two days after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions to punish North Korea, including a ban on coal and other exports worth over $1 billion. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, called the U.S.-drafted resolution “the single largest economic sanctions package ever leveled against” North Korea.   Continue reading “North Korea vows harsh retaliation against new UN sanctions”

Mail.com

PAULDING, Ohio (AP) — A nationwide manhunt is underway for an Ohio rape suspect who overpowered a sheriff’s deputy in a transport van and stole his gun and ammunition. Paulding County Sheriff Jason Landers said Saturday that FBI agents and U.S. Marshals have joined the search for 32-year-old Branden Powell after his escape around noon Friday on an 80-mile (129-kilometer) trip from a psychiatric hospital in Toledo to the Paulding County Jail in northwest Ohio.

According to Landers, Powell was in leg shackles and in handcuffs secured to a belly belt when he jumped over the seat and put the deputy in a headlock, causing the van to crash into a ditch. Powell managed to get the deputy’s gun during a struggle and ordered the deputy at gunpoint to remove his restraints.   Continue reading “Prisoner charged with rape overpowers deputy, steals his gun”

Mail.com

BREWER, Maine (AP) — Changes in the worldwide sushi industry have turned live baby American eels into a commodity that can fetch more than $2,000 a pound at the dock, but the big demand and big prices have spawned a black market that wildlife officials say is jeopardizing the species.

Law enforcement authorities have launched a crackdown on unlicensed eel fishermen and illicit sales along the East Coast. Although not a well-known seafood item like the Maine lobster, wriggling baby eels, or elvers, are a fishery worth many millions of dollars. Elvers often are sold to Asian aquaculture companies to be raised to maturity and have become a linchpin of the sushi supply chain.   Continue reading “As eels grow in value, US government clamps down on poaching”

Yahoo News – by Chris Kenning and Joseph Ax

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Chicago will sue the Trump administration on Monday over threats to withhold public safety grant money from so-called sanctuary cities, escalating a pushback against a federal immigration crackdown, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on Sunday.

The federal lawsuit comes less than two weeks after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the U.S. Justice Department would bar cities from a certain grant program unless they allow immigration authorities unlimited access to local jails and provide 48 hours’ notice before releasing anyone wanted for immigration violations.   Continue reading “Chicago to sue Trump administration over sanctuary city funding threat”

Didn’t they just issue a travel advisory of this area?

Yahoo News

Four women, believed to be adult entertainers, have reportedly been charged regarding a homicide in Missouri. Investigators learned the women were in southeast Missouri after advertising adult entertainment services online.

Ponesha Taylor, 23, Brittany Curry, 28, Lauteshia Dotson, 23 and Johniesha Simmons, 19, from Nashville and Memphis face charges including first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon connecting to the death of Ralph Cross Aug. 1. The incident happened in Cross’ Missouri home, Fox 13 reported Friday.   Continue reading “‘Adult Entertainers Kill Man Who Changed Their Flat Tire”

Anti-Media – by Carey Wedler

According to a recent survey conducted by cannabis market research firm the Brightfield Group and HelloMD, an online medical cannabis community, nearly half of CBD (cannabidiol) users give up prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications in favor of the non-psychoactive substance.

The survey of over 2,400 respondents found forty-two percent of CBD users — whether they used marijuana-derived CBD or hemp-derived CBD — “have left their traditional medications behind altogether and now use cannabis instead.”   Continue reading “Trouble For Big Pharma As Nearly 50% Of People Report Quitting Pills For CBD”

Reuters – by Sharon Bernstein

WEAVERVILLE, Calif. (Reuters) – Pollution from illegal marijuana farms deep in California’s national forests is far worse than previously thought, and has turned thousands of acres into waste dumps so toxic that simply touching plants has landed law enforcement officers in the hospital.

The volume of banned or restricted pesticides and illegally applied fertilizers in the woods dwarfs estimates by the U.S. Forest Service in 2014, when a top enforcement official testified that the pollution was threatening forest land in California and other states.  Continue reading “Toxic waste from U.S. pot farms alarms experts”