TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalAfter threats, Kiah Morris withdraws from House race
BENNINGTON — Rep. Kiah Morris, D-Bennington, who has been the target of online racial comments and threats to her safety, has withdrawn her candidacy for re-election just 10 days after winning the Democratic nomination for a third term.
During her four years in the Legislature, Morris has become one of the strongest voices for women and minorities in Vermont politics.
“The last four years of service have been incredible; an enormous honor and significant responsibility,” Morris said in an announcement posted online Friday.
“The last two years have been emotionally difficult for many. Political discourse, and in particular within the sphere of social media has been divisive, inflammatory and at times, even dangerous. It is my hope that as a state, we will continue to demand greater support and protections for one another from those forces which seek to divide and destroy our communities.”
Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2018/08/24/kiah-morris-withdraws-candidacy-bennington-house-race/
Doorman who sold story of alleged Trump 'love child' to AMI says he's free to talk now
A former Trump World Tower doorman said Friday he’s been released from a contract that kept his story — claiming Donald Trump had a love child with a housekeeper — under wraps at the National Enquirer.
The one-time doorman, Dino Sajudin, is now free to discuss the tale once under lock and key of American Media Inc., whose owner David Pecker is a close pal of Trump’s, according to CNN.
Pecker is famous for “catch and kill” stories – paying people for the rights to their potentially embarrassing tales about Trump and keeping the sordid accusations locked away.
“Mr. Sajudin has been unable to discuss the circumstances regarding his deal with American Media Inc. and the story that he sold to them, due to a significant financial penalty,” Sajudin’s lawyer Marc Held told CNN.
Read more: https://nypost.com/2018/08/25/doorman-who-sold-story-of-alleged-trump-love-child-to-ami-says-hes-free-to-talk-now/
Democratic 'progressive' candidates rally support on Long Island
Zephyr Teachout, a candidate in the Democratic primary for state attorney general, rallied supporters in Hempstead on Friday evening with a promise to investigate the business practices of President Donald Trump.
“It is not enough to take on Donald Trump. We have deep problems in our society. But we need to take on Donald Trump with everything we have,” Teachout told an audience of about 80 people gathered inside the American Legion Post 390.
Teachout, 46, a Fordham law professor and activist, also vowed to be a watchdog against corruption in state government while also protecting student data and the right for students to opt out of standardized state testing.
Teachout, who has never held public office, ran a Democratic primary race in 2014 against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in which she received more than 30 percent of the vote.
Read more: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-zephyr-teachout-1.20656386
Charge reduced against inmate rights activist who planted fake bomb in Nassau
A local inmate rights activist accused of placing a fake bomb outside the Nassau County Legislature building had his offense reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, his attorney said Friday after his client’s Mineola court appearance.
On June 14, police arrested Stephen Figurasmith, 32, of Valley Stream, and Suzanne Myron, 51, of Woodbury, after they said the two put about 120 bottles containing an unknown liquid in front of the Franklin Avenue legislature building — with another 125 bottles found nearby.
Figurasmith's attorney, Ronald Kuby of Manhattan, said his client will return to court in September, when he expects the case against his client to be completely dropped.
Kuby said the Nassau district attorney’s office already agreed to give his client an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal or ACD, which means a defendant’s case is dismissed if that person keeps out of legal trouble for a certain amount of time.
Read more: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/fake-bomb-1.20650396
Long Island schools' cash reserves hit $2.4B high
Cash reserves stockpiled by Long Island school districts are at a record high of nearly $2.44 billion, which officials said will help strengthen school security this year and serve as a hedge against future economic challenges.
The accumulation of funds, however, has infuriated critics who contend that districts should apply more of their surplus money to provide relief for the Island's homeowners, whose tax bills are among the nation's highest.
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement the accumulation means that increasing numbers of districts exceed the state's legal limit. The agency reports abuses, but is not empowered to penalize offenders.
Cash reserves, officially designated as fund balances, raise issues that have been argued locally and in Albany for more than a decade. The cash concentrations have grown more than 80 percent in Nassau and Suffolk counties during the past 10 years, increasing from $1.33 billion in the 2007-08 school year to almost $2.44 billion in 2017-18, a Newsday review of state data shows.
Read more: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/schools-property-taxes-cash-reserves-1.20648244
70 percent of millennial women are Democrats: Survey
A huge gender gap has opened up between the two political parties among millennial voters: 70 percent of women born after 1980 favor Democrats, while only 23 percent identify as Republicans.
Millennial men favor Democrats 49 percent to 41 percent. Both sets of data come from a new survey by Pew Research Group.
"Vox" points out that millennial men are the most Democrat-friendly of any age group, but the gender divide in the generation born between 1981 and 1996 is the biggest by far. In the Silent Generation, women prefer Democrats by 8 points; Baby Boomers, by 10 points; Gen-Xers by 11 points. But among millennials, the gap is 21 points — twice as large as it was just three years ago.
Why? "That’s driven by what seems to be an explosive change in millennial women’s political sentiments over just the past two or three years even while most other groups’ views have stayed relatively stable," says "Vox."
Read more: https://www.metro.us/news/politics/70-percent-millennial-women-are-democrats-survey
Cynthia Nixon demands Cuomo return $64K in donations from Donald Trump
Activists led by gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon gathered outside the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street Wednesday to demand Gov. Andrew Cuomo return prior donations he received from President Donald Trump.
Cuomo, who is seeking a third term in office and will face Nixon in the Democratic primary election on Sept. 13, received $64,000 in donations from Donald Trump between 2001 and 2009, the New York Post reported last month.
Trump, then a real estate mogul and reality TV star, gave to both Democrats and Republicans prior becoming president in 2016.
Nixon has been calling on her rival Cuomo to return the Trump donations, but when questioned at a July event in Brooklyn, the governor said, “I’m going to be deeply critical of him and keep the contributions.”
Read more: https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/cynthia-nixon-demands-cuomo-return-donald-trump-donation
GOP waits on Collins replacement, fearing 'domino effect' on ballot
Republican county leaders heard from the candidates, one by one, and liked what they heard.
And the more the GOP county chairs thought about it, the more they decided it's not the right time to throw any of those nine candidates into the legal thicket created by Rep. Chris Collins' indictment and subsequent decision to suspend his re-election campaign.
That's the take Republican insiders offered Wednesday, a day after the eight county chairs in New York's 27th Congressional District met with the nine people who want to replace Collins on the ballot in November.
Republican leaders still don't know exactly how to get Collins' name off the ballot, but they do know that Democrats will meet whatever they do with a legal challenge.
Read more: https://buffalonews.com/2018/08/23/ballot-fears-prompted-gop-leaders-to-wait-on-collins-replacement/
Buffalo deacon, Higgins, Burke, call on Bishop Malone to resign over sex abuse scandal
A congressman and a prominent Buffalo businessman who serves as a church deacon today called upon Buffalo Diocese Bishop Richard J. Malone to resign because of his handling of clergy abuse cases that have rocked the community.
Paul L. Snyder III, chief executive officer of the Snyder Corp., told The Buffalo News it is time for thousands of Catholics in Western New York to “rise up” and insist on changes in their church.
He said he believes that recent news reports about Malone’s handling of clergy abuse show that he and other top officials of the diocese have been involved in a “cover-up” and that it is time for Malone to resign.
“Your … conduct to mask the truth from our Community, demonstrates that you have been seriously negligent in your duties as the leader of our Diocese,” Snyder wrote to the bishop. “I … respectfully ask for your resignation from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.”
Read more: https://buffalonews.com/2018/08/24/buffalo-diocese-deacon-calls-on-bishop-to-resign-over-sex-abuse-scandal/
Alleged Facebook scammer from Allegany County arrested in Ecuador
Paul Ceglia, an Allegany County man who claimed he owned half of the social networking giant Facebook and disappeared in 2015 just before his fraud trial in Manhattan federal court began, is being held in Ecuador and in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, a Marshals Service spokesman confirmed to The Buffalo News Thursday.
The arrest was also confirmed by Robert Ross Fogg, Ceglia's Buffalo attorney in the criminal case.
"I don't know the circumstances of how he was caught, but I received a copy of a letter from the federal prosecutor in New York City stating that Paul was arrested in Ecuador this morning," Fogg told The News Thursday afternoon. "I understand there will be an extradition hearing in Ecuador within the next 24 hours."
In 2010, Paul Ceglia filed a lawsuit against Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg claiming he owned half of the social networking giant.
Ceglia's suit was based on his contention that he and Zuckerberg signed a contract in 2003. Facebook acknowledges that Zuckerberg signed a contract with Ceglia while a student at Harvard University, but the social media giant contends that the contract had nothing to do with Facebook.
Read more: https://buffalonews.com/2018/08/23/facebook-scammer-from-allegany-county-reportedly-found-in-ecuador/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,416
