Categories
News Daypop

Democrat Marilyn Lands flips seat in Alabama House after running on abortion rights

Marilyn Lands, a Democratic candidate for a state House seat in Alabama, won a special election on Tuesday, defeating Republican Teddy Powell and  flipping the Republican-held seat. The seat representing Alabama’s 10th district (Madison City) in the state legislature had long been held by Republicans. Lands also ran for the seat in 2022, narrowly losing to her Republican opponent.

As a result of a court ruling in Alabama that threw access to fertility treatments into question, Lands focused her campaign on reproductive rights, including support for access to in vitro fertilization and abortion. Lands, a mental health counselor, said a statement: “Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation. Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”

After an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children, leading to major IVF providers in the state to pause fertility treatments, Lands spoke openly about her own abortion when her pregnancy was nonviable. She ran advertisements on reproductive health care, like contraception and in vitro fertilization.

Heather Williams, president of Democrats’ legislative campaign, called the special election “the first real test, and a harbinger of things to come .. Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF — from the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country.”

Editorial credit: Donald Walker / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Settlement reached in lawsuit between allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney

Following the takeover of the Walt Disney World theme park resort’s government by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Disney and allies of DeSantis reached a settlement agreement on Wednesday after a court fight over how Walt Disney World is developed in the future.

The board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District –which provides municipal services such as firefighting, planning and mosquito control, for example — was controlled by Disney supporters for most of its five decades.  The board members approved the settlement agreement, ending almost two years of litigation that was sparked by DeSantis’ takeover of the district from Disney supporters following the company’s opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. As punishment for Disney’s opposition to the law, DeSantis took over the governing district through legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and appointed a new board of supervisors. Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees, claiming the company’s free speech rights were violated for speaking out against the legislation. A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit in January.

Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement Wednesday: “this agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state.”

Under the terms of Wednesday’s settlement agreement, Disney lets stand a determination by the board of DeSantis appointees that the comprehensive plan approved by the Disney supporters before the takeover is null and void. According to the settlement terms, Disney also agrees that a development agreement and restrictive covenants passed before the takeover are also not valid. As such, a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it, and the agreement suggests Disney and the new board will negotiate a new development agreement in the near future.

Editorial credit: Andrew Cline / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

6 presumed dead after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

Six construction workers are presumed dead after the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday when a support column was hit by a large container ship that had lost power. Search and rescue operations were suspended at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, as officials transitioned to recovery efforts.

Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath told reporters, confirming that the length of time the workers have been missing, combined with the cold temperature of the water, made rescue unlikely: “At this point, we do not believe we are going to find any of these individuals still alive.”  Col. Roland Butler Jr. and Maryland State Police said conditions in the water, including changing currents, low visibility and sharp metal objects, made it dangerous for divers and first responders.  Divers were to begin recovery operations at 6 a.m. ET Wednesday, Butler Jr. said, adding that officials didn’t know where the victims are located.

Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said in a mid-morning press conference that two other people were rescued from the water, and all eight people were part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge at the time, employed by local company Brawner Builders. According to news outlets, one of the rescued workers was unhurt, and the other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said during a news conference Tuesday that a preliminary investigation pointed to the cause of the crash being “an accident …We haven’t seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.” Moore said the ship’s crew issued a “mayday” before crashing into the bridge as they confirmed the ship lost power, noting the warning prevented traffic from flowing onto the bridge: “we’re thankful that between the mayday and collapse that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge.”

The MarineTraffic website has identified the involved vessel as the Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali operated by charter vessel company Synergy Marine Group and chartered by Maersk, carrying Maersk customers’ cargo, the companies said.  The ship was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, when the crash occurred. According to a statement from Synergy, there were 22 crew members, including two pilots, aboard the ship, with all crew members Indian nationals. Synergy said it had activated its incident response team and is cooperating with state and federal officials.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, opened in 1977, spans the Patapsco River- a key waterway that serves with the Port of Baltimore as a hub for East Coast shipping. The 1.6-mile span was used by some 31,000 people per day and carried 11.5 million vehicles annually. The Maryland Transportation Authority said all lanes were closed in both directions on I-695, with traffic being detoured to I-95 and I-895. All ship traffic at the port, which is the second-largest seaport in the mid-Atlantic region, has been halted.

Editorial credit: Alexander Briggs / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. names attorney Nicole Shanahan as vice presidential running mate

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that Nicole Shanahan, a donor and California-based attorney and entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay Area, will be joining his campaign as his vice presidential selection. Kennedy made the announcement at a rally in Shanahan’s hometown of Oakland, saying in part: “I’m so proud to introduce to you the next vice president the United States, my fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom, Nicole Shanahan.”

Shanahan, 38, was thought to be a leading contender as Kennedy’s running mate, in particular due to her campaign funding for Kennedy. Shanahan contributed $4 million to the Kennedy super PAC American Values 2024 and was involved in coordinating the production of an ad highlighting the Kennedy campaign, which aired during the Super Bowl. Said Kennedy of Shanahan: “I wanted a partner who is a gifted administrator, but also possesses the gift of curiosity, an open, inquiring mind and the confidence to change even her strongest opinions in the face of contrary evidence. I wanted someone with a spiritual dimension and compassion and idealism and, above all, a deep love of the United States of America. I found all of those qualities in a woman who grew up right here in Oakland.”

Kennedy’s announcement comes after his campaign threatened legal action against the Nevada Secretary of State’s office over his petition to appear on the ballot after it was reported that the signatures he had gathered could be invalid because his petition did not include a vice presidential candidate. Documents requested from the Nevada office revealed that Kennedy only named himself, without a running mate, on his candidate petition, in violation of the rules, potentially making the signatures collected in the state void.

Earlier this month, Kennedy teased his vice-presidential selection by sharing potential candidates including NFL player Aaron Rodgers, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and Mike Rowe, 62, former host of the “Dirty Jobs” TV series.

Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun stepping down at the end of the year

Boeing announced on Monday that CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of the year. The company said Calhoun will stay on until the end of 2024 to “complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future.”

Board Chair Larry Kellner, a board member for nearly 15 years, plans to forgo nomination for an additional term at the company’s annual shareholder meeting this spring, Boeing said, adding that Steve Mollenkopf, former CEO of chipmaker Qualcomm, will immediately take over as Boeing board chair and lead the search for a new chief executive.  Mollenkopf said:  “I am fully confident in this company and its leadership — and together we are committed to taking the right actions to strengthen safety and quality, and to meet the needs of our customers.” 

The move comes amid fallout from a high-profile safety failure onboard an Alaska Airlines flight in January, when a door plug blew out of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 aircraft while the plane was in flight. In a statement, Calhoun shared: “The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company. We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do.”

Calhoun served as CEO of Boeing for four years, and in a letter to employees on Monday he said: “we must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company. The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years.”

Editorial credit: Muhammad Alimaki / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Appeals court grants delay, lowers bond to $175M in Trump civil fraud case

A New York appeals court has granted Donald Trump 10 more days to post bond for the civil fraud judgment against him, and lowered the amount from $464 million to $175 million. The former president, along with his adult sons and his company, were fined more than $464 million, including interest, after Judge Arthur Engoron found they fraudulently inflated the value of his assets.

New York Attorney General Letitia James was prepared to seize the properties of the Trump Organization beginning Monday; however, the ruling stated that the $175 million bond will be in place until at least September, meaning James won’t be able to seek to enforce the judgment against Trump until then.

Court documents from the NY civil fraud case indicate the estimated value of many of Trump’s properties, including Trump Tower, the Trump Building and more than a dozen golf and social clubs, (including the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida), were fraudulently reported by the Trump Organization. Those fraudulent values were found on financial statements and loan applications as the Trump Organization sought to take out loans against the properties.James alleged Trump used to inflate, or in some cases deflate, those values to obtain loans, avoid taxes or otherwise seek capital gains.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

1 man killed, his brother injured in 1st fatal California mountain lion attack in 20 years

Officials have confirmed that an attack by a mountain lion in a remote Northern California region west of Lake Tahoe left one man dead and his brother injured, marking the first fatal incident by a mountain lion in the state in 20 years.

The attack took place on Saturday afternoon while the brothers, ages 21 and 18, were out searching for shed deer antlers near the El Dorado National Forest, about 52 miles northeast of Sacramento. An 18-year-old man called 911 on Saturday at about 1:13 p.m. PT to report that he and his brother had been attacked by the mountain lion in Georgetown and he had become separated from his older sibling, according to a statement from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.  Georgetown is a small town north of Placerville, California.

When sheriff’s deputies and paramedics arrived at the scene near Georgetown around 1:34 p.m., they located the injured teenager and began administering first aid. The teenager sustained “traumatic injuries to his face” and transported to a nearby hospital. Information on his condition was not immediately disclosed. Additional deputies sent to the scene launched a search for the teenager’s brother, finding the 21-year-old man nearby lying motionless on the ground with the mountain lion crouched next to him. According to a statement, “deputies discharged their firearms in order to scare the mountain lion off so they could render medical aid,” but by the time they reached the victim, he was dead.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement on social media: “Following the mountain lion attack today, Sat., March 23, 2024, in Georgetown, California, a mountain lion was euthanized near the scene of the attack. The mountain lion has been sent to the CDFW forensics laboratory to obtain DNA information and general health of the lion.”

Authorities said mountain lion attacks are rare, and most verified encounters between the big cats and humans are not fatal. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, before Saturday’s attack there had been only three fatal mountain lion attacks on humans in California since 1994, the most recent involving a 35-year-old male who was fatally mauled in 2004 at Whiting Ranch Regional Park in Orange County.

Editorial credit: Arne Beruldsen / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Indianapolis bar shooting leaves 1 dead, 5 injured

Authorities confirmed that one person was killed and five others were injured after a shooting erupted outside a bar early Sunday morning. One of the injured was identified as an off-duty Indianapolis Metro police officer.

The police said in a news release that two off-duty Indianapolis Metro Police officers were working security at a bar at 9449 E. Washington St. when, around 1:30 a.m., there was a “disturbance in the parking lot .. At some point, there was an exchange of gunfire between the two officers and at least one suspect, resulting in one officer being shot …When first responders arrived at the scene, other officers rendered aid to their colleague, who was taken to a hospital in stable condition.”

Four other people also suffered gunshot wounds, with the victims identified as two 45-year-old men, a 42-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman. Police say another male victim showed up with an apparent gunshot wound at Community East Hospital, where he later died.

Police recovered one firearm at the scene, while officials say they continue to work to determine how the victims suffered their injuries. The two off-duty officers have been placed on administrative leave as police continue their investigation.

Editorial credit: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Lawmakers unveil $1.2 trillion gov’t funding package ahead of potential shutdown

Lawmakers have unveiled the $1.2 trillion government funding deal in the hopes of preventing a government shutdown this weekend.

The bill covers half of the 12 yearly government funding bills, providing funding for the departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security, in addition to general government and foreign operations. Additionally, the funding package includes $824.3 billion for the Department of Defense, $19.6 billion for Customs and Border operations and $90 billion for Homeland Security.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement Republicans got $20 billion in proposed cuts to the IRS, and also welcomed funds that increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention capacity and funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents.  Johnson added: “overall, during the FY24 appropriations process, House Republicans have achieved significant conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals and imposed substantial cuts to wasteful agencies and programs while strengthening border security and national defense.”  Democrats received $1 billion increase in child care and Head Start funding, as well as more money for Alzheimer’s and cancer research and “climate change and resilience activities.”

For vital operations like Defense, Homeland Security, State Department and Labor, Health and Human Services departments to avoid interruption, the funding package must be finalized by Saturday morning. President Joe Biden said the House and the Senate are working to pass the package, which he pledged to sign immediately.

Editorial credit: Cvandyke / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Justice Department sues Apple over iPhone monopoly in landmark antitrust case

The Justice Department sued Apple in an antitrust case, saying that the iPhone maker has a monopoly over the phone market that harmed consumers, developers, and rival companies. The lawsuit, filed by the DOJ and 16 attorneys general in federal court in New Jersey, claims Apple’s anti-competitive practices extend beyond the iPhone and Apple Watch businesses, citing Apple’s advertising, browser, FaceTime and news offerings. Sixteen state and district attorneys general joined the DOJ in bringing the case.

The Justice Department said in a release that to keep consumers buying iPhones, Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility, and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud streaming services.  Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the lawsuit: “We allege that Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law. If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly. Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly.”

Garland said at a news conference that the Supreme Court defines monopoly power as “the power to control prices or exclude competition .. As set out in our complaint, Apple has that power in the smartphone market,” Garland said. “If left unchallenged. Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”

Apple said in a statement that it would fight against the premise of the lawsuit. with an Apple spokesperson saying:  “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”

The lawsuit could force Apple to make changes in the iPhone, in which Apple reported more than $200 billion in sales in 2023, the Apple Watch, part of the company’s $40 billion wearables business, and its profitable services line, which reported $85 billion in revenue. The Justice Department said Apple has fought cloud streaming services on its App Store platform, blocking consumer access to high-quality video games on iPhones. Garland said the DOJ is also looking at changing policies around Apple Wallet, the company’s app for phone-based credit cards and payments.

Editorial credit: achinthamb / Shutterstock.com