Month: August 2023

On Wednesday, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani turned himself in to authorities in Georgia to face racketeering charges alleging he meddled in the state’s 2020 presidential election. Court records show that Giuliani was booked at the Fulton County Jail mid-afternoon on Wednesday, with a judge signed off on a $150,000 bond agreement Giuliani’s lawyers worked out with prosecutors.His arraignment is expected in the next week or two and may take place virtually.

Giuliani and Trump both face 13 counts, more than the other 17 defendants in the case. The indictment in Fulton County alleges that Giuliani was a key part of a criminal conspiracy, pressing election officials in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania to act on voting fraud claims that he was repeatedly told were false. Giuliani was also charged with promoting false claims that voting machines were rigged, and making false claims in sworn legal filings. Additionally, the indictment singles out false claims Giuliani made about Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman, who was targeted with death threats and harassed as a result of the phony allegations.

While Giuliani has consistently supported former President Trump’s bogus election fraud claims, the former New York City mayor has maintained his innocence, claiming that he was only guilty of ‘zealously advocating for his client (Trump). Giuliani predicted Wednesday that he will be vindicated: “This will be proven to be like all the rest, a complete hoax and a lie.”

Trump has said he will surrender at the Atlanta jail on Thursday.

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On Wednesday, South Carolina’s all-male Supreme Court upheld the state’s six-week abortion ban in a 4-1 decision, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty being the sole dissenter.

Chief Justice Beatty said in his opinion on that case that terminology was  “inaccurate” and stated it is an attempt to control women’s health decisions by “distorting reality.”  Beatty wrote in his opinion: “The title and content of the legislation are a misnomer if it is viewed as a six-week ban because the terminology is medically and scientifically inaccurate. As such, it is the quintessential example of political gaslighting; attempting to manipulate public opinion and control the reproductive health decisions of women by distorting reality.”

The state’s previous abortion ban was 20 weeks. A state circuit court judge had placed a hold on the abortion ban until it was heard again at the state Supreme Court, who had decided in a 3-2 vote in January that based on the right to privacy the six-week abortion ban violated the state constitution. That decision came when former Justice Kaye Hearn was on the court; she has since left the court after reaching the mandatory retirement age.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster in a statement: “The Supreme Court’s ruling marks a historic moment in our state’s history and is the culmination of years of hard work and determination by so many in our state to ensure that the sanctity of life is protected. With this victory, we protect the lives of countless unborn children and reaffirm South Carolina’s place as one of the most pro-life states in America.”

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/south-carolinas-new-male-highest-court-reverses-abortion-102480719

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Tropical Storm Harold made landfall Tuesday with sustained winds of 50 mph on Padre Island, Texas, but was downgraded to a tropical depression after moving quickly inland at 21 mph, weakening as it moved west-northwest across southern Texas and toward Mexico.

Rainfall amounts across southern Texas will range from 2 to 4 inches with isolated amounts up to 6 inches possible through early Wednesday, which could lead to some instances of flash flooding and isolated tornadoe. Around 1 to 3 feet of storm surge is also possible from the Mouth of the Rio Grande to Sargent, which includes Baffin Bay, Corpus Christi Bay and Matagorda Bay. Mexico is more likely to see flooding from remnants of Harold, with 4 to 6 inches and locally up to 10 inches possible there through Wednesday.

National Hurricane Center forecasters said in an update late on Tuesday that heavy rainfall continues to be expected across wide areas of South Texas through Wednesday. Flash-flooding in parts of Mexico’s Coahuila and northern Nuevo Leon could lead to possible landslides in mountain regions, and parts of south Texas can expect to see as much as 6 inches of rain by Wednesday, while parts of Mexico could get closer to 10 inches of rain. The National Hurricane Center also warned of “life-threatening” surf and tidal conditions along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

On a positive note, Harold will bring much-needed rain to a drought-stricken Texas, with the system also bringing a brief reprieve to the excessive heat including for cities like Austin, Corpus Christi and Brownsville.

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UPS workers ratified the labor deal negotiated by the Teamsters nearly a month ago, which will allow the five-year contract to take effect.

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement Tuesday: “This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers. Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry. This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention.”

More than 86% of UPS union members voted in favor of the deal covering 340,000 employees, which officially removes the threat of a strike at UPS. Logistics experts had warned that a protracted work stoppage at the carrier would have caused widespread disruptions across the U.S. UPS confirmed the vote results, saying in a statement, “Our Teamsters-represented employees have voted to overwhelmingly ratify a new five-year National Master Agreement.”

The new UPS agreement eliminates the criticized two-tiered wage system and institutes raises across the package carrier’s workforce. Current full- and part-time union workers are guaranteed a $2.75 hourly pay increase this year amounting to a $7.50 hourly increase through the duration of the contract. Pay for existing and starting part-time workers will be raised to at least $21 per hour immediately, advancing to $23 per hour. Current part-timers also won longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 per hour. Wage increases for full-time drivers would bring their average top rate to $49 per hour.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/unionized-ups-workers-approve-contract-leaders-agreed-late-102462688

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A 19-year-old Ohio woman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on Monday for deliberately crashing her car  into a brick wall at 100 mph, killing her boyfriend and another teenaged friend. The woman, Mackenzie Shirilla, was found guilty last week on charges of murder, felonious assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, drug possession and possession of criminal tools.

Shirilla was 17-years-old at the time of the July 2022 crash in the Cleveland suburb of Strongsville that killed Shirilla’s boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominic Russo, and their 19-year-old friend, Davion Flanagan. Shirilla, who was tried as an adult, was spared consecutive sentences in the case, and was instead sentenced to two concurrent life sentences. She will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison before she is eligible for parole.

Defense attorneys argued that Shirilla lost control of the Toyota Camry while driving recklessly two days shy of her 18th birthday on July 31, 2022, but prosecutors said the evidence showed she intentionally crashed the vehicle into an industrial park building. A security camera video of the crash shows the car accelerating in what prosecutors called “a controlled manner” up to 100 mph “with intent” before careening off the road and into the building.

Cuyahoga County Judge Nancy Margaret Russo called Spirilla’s actions “selfish, intentional and a cruel decision ..There’s only one person who’s responsible for the pain of every person in this room and that person is you, Mackenzie. Nobody else is responsible.” Judge Russo also responded to family members who pleaded for the sentences to run consecutively so that parole would be withheld for 30 years: “I understand that the pain in this room wants me to impose the harshest sentence. But I don’t believe that would be an appropriate sentence, because I do believe that Mackenzie will not be out in 15 years.

Before she was sentenced Monday, Shirilla tearfully read a statement in court and apologized to the families of Flanagan and Russo, saying she had no intention of killing the two men: “I wish I could take all of your pain away. I’m so sorry. I hope one day you can see I would never let this happen or do it on purpose. We were all friends, and Dom was my soul mate.”

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According to federal prosecutors, agents arrested a Chicago-area woman on Monday after a criminal complaint accused her of sending emails threatening to shoot former President Donald Trump and his son Barron. According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, the woman, 41-year-old Tracy Marie Fiorenza, was arrested Monday morning on a charge of transmitting threats to kill or injure. The case was filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in southern Florida.

According to an affidavit accompanying the complaint, Fiorenza said in a May 21 email to the head of an educational institution in the Palm Beach, Florida: “I will state that I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Barron Trump straight in the face at any opportunity I get!”  The affidavit submitted by a U.S. Secret Service agent stated that Fiorenza allegedly wrote a similar email on June 5, saying she would “slam a bullet” into Barron Trump “with his father IN SELF DEFENSE!”  Donald Trump’s primary residence is in Palm Beach. The affidavit says Fiorenza lives in the southwest Chicago suburb of Plainfield, Illinois.

Reports state that that Fiorenza made an initial appearance Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Chicago, and a judge said she must go to the district court in Florida to answer the charges. The judge will decide at a Wednesday hearing how she will be transferred. It wasn’t immediately clear if Fiorenza had an attorney who could speak on her behalf. No attorney is listed for her on the federal docket.

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