George Santos's treasurer resigns amid scrutiny over finances

The treasurer for Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) campaign has resigned, according to a letter sent to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Tuesday.

Nancy Marks, who served as treasurer for Santos’s 2020 and 2022 campaigns, said in a letter to the FEC that she left her position last Wednesday.

“At the request of the FEC, I am submitting this Form 99 stating that I have resigned as treasurer for the Devolder-Santos For Congress Committee as of January 25, 2023,” she said.

The campaign had begun preparing for Marks to leave her role last week, but an obstacle occurred when their expected replacement said he would not serve in the role.

Santos’s campaign and other affiliated groups sent an update to the FEC on Wednesday that Thomas Datwyler, who has worked as a Republican operative, will replace Marks as treasurer. But Datwyler’s attorney said Datwyler told the campaign that he will not serve in the role.




https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3838478-george-santoss-treasurer-resigns-amid-scrutiny-over-finances/

Former Sen. David Durenberger dead at 88

Breaking news on my phone.

Ohio Sheetz Employee Was Forced to Quit Her Job Because of Missing Teeth Caused By Domestic Violence

Rose Marie Counts, a woman from Circleville, Ohio claims she had no choice but to leave her job at her local Sheetz because her teeth—many of which she are missing because she says her ex-husband knocked them out of her mouth—violated the convenience store’s “smile policy.”

“This company has no idea what I’ve been through,” Counts says via audio of a meeting she recorded with the store’s management. “I lost these front teeth because my ex-husband headbutted me because I forgot to turn the hall light out,” she explains. She posted the audio, accompanied by a written account of her dismissal, on Facebook.

“I was informed that policy states all Sheetz employees must have and remain with a perfect beautiful warm welcoming smile,” she detailed of the meeting with management. “The company defines my smile as unbeautiful because I still have work that needs to be done on them.” Counts has awaited permanent dentures (which Sheetz insurance would reportedly partially cover) for her damaged smile since the incident, but claimed her plan does not cover temporary dentures in the interim. As a result, she’s been forced to live with missing and broken teeth until a permanent procedure.

“Even though I am good at my job I can no longer be a frontline employee with the company because of my smile,” she wrote. On the audio, the manager can be heard telling her that while she heard “wonderful things” about her from customers, she was not to return to her role behind the register.

“I feel like my job performance should be enough,” Counts replies, stating that she felt compelled to seek employment elsewhere. “I don’t feel like I should have to justify myself because of my looks.”





https://jezebel.com/ohio-sheetz-employee-was-forced-to-quit-her-job-because-1850055147?rev=1675205450885

Extra Bonus Tweet of the Day

Pennsylvania Democrats endorse McCaffery for seat on state's high court

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's Democratic Party has voted to endorse an appellate court judge from Philadelphia, Daniel McCaffery, to be the party's nominee for an open state Supreme Court seat in this year's election.

Party committee members voted at their meeting over the weekend in suburban Harrisburg to endorse McCaffery over a fellow appellate court judge, Deborah Kunselman of Beaver County.

The primary is May 16. The deadline to file petitions to get on the ballot is March 7, and candidates can start gathering voter signatures Feb. 14.

Both McCaffery and Kunselman serve on the statewide Superior Court, which handles appeals from county courts in criminal and civil cases.

Republicans will hold their state committee meeting this weekend in Hershey and could vote to endorse. One candidate, Carolyn Carluccio, a Montgomery County judge, has announced her candidacy for the party’s nomination for state Supreme Court.


https://www.wtae.com/article/pa-supreme-court-mccaffery-endorsement/42725339?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

Senate Moves Iowa's 'Don't Say Trans' Bill Forward

Opponents of SF83, which has been nicknamed Iowa’s “Don’t Say Trans” bill, spoke passionately about the proposed legislation during an Iowa Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, but the measure still moved forward in a 2-1 vote.

The bill would bar the teaching of gender identity from K-8 school curriculum and would allow parents/guardians to take legal action against a school district found violating the restriction.

Supporters of the bill said gender identity isn’t something that should be taught at schools. Some arguments included that it is inappropriate for young kids to learn about it, it goes against traditional Christian and family values, it is part of an agenda by the elites and the establishment, and one speaker even blamed it for suicides and sexual assault.

Most supporters noted it’s simply an acknowledgment that LGBTQ people exist and that the policy allows educators to have conversations with students about that existence.



https://iowastartingline.com/2023/01/31/senate-moves-iowas-dont-say-trans-bill-forward/

Missouri Senate leader's tweet about drag performance helped kickstart controversy

With a single tweet, Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden turned a local controversy over what Columbia Public Schools told parents about the drag entertainment at a city diversity breakfast into a state issue.

At 8:44 p.m. on Jan. 19, Rowden wrote that his “office has been inundated with calls & emails re: grade school kids being forced to sit through a drag show” at the annual Columbia Values Diversity breakfast that morning.

But in response to a Sunshine Law request filed by The Independent, Rowden’s office produced no emails received earlier than 9:04 a.m. Jan. 20 — more than 12 hours after his tweet. And that first email voiced support for having children experience the drag performance by Nclusion Plus.

“I have attended this event in the past. I’m sorry I missed this year’s exciting entertainment,” wrote Rebecca Shaw, who identified herself as a parent with two children in Columbia schools who did not attend.

In an interview, Rowden said the records produced in response to the Sunshine Law request do not reflect calls and messages he received through non-public channels prior to his Jan. 19 tweet.




https://missouriindependent.com/2023/01/31/missouri-senate-leaders-tweet-about-drag-performance-helped-kickstart-controversy/

Promised green cards, catfishing, threats: How Santos' ex-boyfriends say they were left feeling trap

Several of the men ABC News spoke with said that they met Santos as young men, when Santos, who later ran for Congress as an openly gay Republican, was several years older than they were.

Leonardo Bris said he was 19 years old when he met Santos at a bar in Manhattan in 2013, when Bris was in town from Brazil. Bris told ABC News in an interview that he knew the now-embattled congressman from New York as Anthony Zabrovski, one of a handful of aliases that Santos has reportedly used over the years.

Bris said that over the next few weeks, he began a romantic relationship with Santos, who was 25 at the time. Bris recalled Santos telling him tales of dating supermodels and how they still begged him to become a model himself.

But Bris said he would later find out those claims were lies, and the relationship quickly turned "toxic" -- filled with what Bris said were "manipulative" things that Santos told him to keep him from leaving.

"He promised the world," Bris said of Santos, who Bris said at one point promised to marry him in order to help him secure U.S. citizenship.

"He promised me, 'Don't worry,' and that he will get me a green card if I marry him and stay under his 'wings.'" Bris recalled.




https://abcnews.go.com/US/promised-green-cards-catfishing-threats-santos-boyfriends-left/story?id=96797395

PA: Democratic Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck Announces Re-Election Bid

WARMINSTER, PA —Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck has announced her candidacy for re-election.

Buck, an attorney with 22 years of experience and a Registered Nurse recipient of the international Florence Nightingale Medal, formally announced her plans Tuesday to run for re-election in 2023.

The primary election is on May 16.

“I took office in January 2020, and within six weeks the global pandemic struck.," Buck said. "My office had to quickly adapt and I was honored to help shepherd our community through this unprecedented crisis.”

Since January 2020, she has overseen the investigation of more than 6,800 death cases and the issuance of over 12,000 cremation permits.



https://patch.com/pennsylvania/warminster/bucks-county-coroner-meredith-buck-announces-re-election-bid

Conservative candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court promote gun range, fighting liberal activists

The two conservative candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court continue to try to spell out their differences with each other, ahead of the Feb. 21 primary.

There are four people running to replace retiring justice Patience Roggensack on the seven member state court. The two more liberal candidates are Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell. The conservatives are Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow and former State Supreme Court Justice
Dan Kelly.

With Wisconsin split politically, one theory is one liberal and one conservative will get through the February primary.

If so, which conservative?

During a forum at a Boozhag's Clubhouse, a tavern in Nashotah, Monday night, Kelly and Dorow both mentioned liberals are trying to take over not just the State Supreme Court, but all of Wisconsin.

In describing how she would stand up to them, Dorow talked about presiding over last fall's Waukesha parade deaths trial and often verbally sparring with defendant Darrell Brooks.



https://www.wuwm.com/2023-01-31/conservative-candidates-for-wisconsin-supreme-court-promote-gun-range-fighting-liberal-activists