September 10, 2018

Comey defends decision in 2016 Clinton announcement at Sinai Forum in Michigan City

MICHIGAN CITY — Former FBI Director James Comey said he made the right decision when he announced just days before the 2016 election that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was under investigation over her use of a private email server.

After a summer of saying the investigation was closed, after finding nothing worth a prosecutor’s attention, the investigation team found more emails from her Blackberry among former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s account, Comey said.

He spoke before a sold-out crowd at the Sinai Forum’s opening session at Blue Chip Casino’s convention center Sunday night.

Telling Congress about the reopened investigation could influence the election, but not telling Congress would be concealing information, which he refused to do, he said.

Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/comey-defends-decision-in-clinton-announcement-at-sinai-forum-in/article_36a35346-5782-5865-a812-807d6e3d48f3.html

September 10, 2018

IU media school gets $6 million gift to start investigative reporting center

The Media School at Indiana University will launch a center for investigative reporting next fall, with the help of a $6 million gift — the largest in the history of the century-old journalism program.

The Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism will open in the fall of 2019 thanks to the donation from Arnolt, a 1967 graduate of IU Bloomington now living in Indianapolis.

"We are all immensely grateful to Michael Arnolt for this gift," said IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel, in a news release. "Investigative journalism is critical to a healthy democracy and healthy civil society. We need to ensure that we continue to give future journalists the education and the tools to work in our communities so we can be better-informed, better-equipped citizens. This gift makes that possible at The Media School."

The center will conduct multimedia investigative reporting on issues of importance to the residents of Indiana, including matters that reach beyond the state's borders. The work will be available at no cost to local, regional and national news outlets and will seek to supplement their reporting at a time when many are losing newsroom staff, according to the university.

Read more: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2018/09/06/iu-gets-6-million-gift-start-investigative-reporting-center/1216608002/

September 10, 2018

Timeline of suspected Russian plot to infiltrate NRA, GOP

MOSCOW (AP) — As Siberian gun rights activist Maria Butina faces a hearing in Washington, here is a look at the unusual path that led to her arrest.

She's accused of working as an undeclared foreign agent, based on FBI suspicions that she and patron Alexander Torshin sought to infiltrate the NRA and build a long-term influence campaign with the American right. She has pleaded not guilty.

2001

Torshin is elected to serve in Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. He makes his first contact with the NRA.

2011

Butina moves to Moscow, funded by an oligarch couple, and forms gun rights group Right to Bear Arms. Torshin and Butina meet at Moscow gun rally.

Read more: https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/ap/state/timeline-of-suspected-russian-plot-to-infiltrate-nra-gop/article_38de6fd1-0f4a-585e-b3fb-3bde573be38b.html

September 10, 2018

At a Texas State town hall, college enthusiasm for O'Rourke was on display

By Ted Armus, Texas Tribune


SAN MARCOS — Sunday was a day of college visits for U.S. Rep Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, as he spoke to packed town halls of university students here and in College Station.

“It’s young people who are leading the charge right now in Texas, here in this community, and across the country,” the El Paso congressman told hundreds at an auditorium at Texas State University. “If I hope to serve and represent you, I’ve got to first show up and be here.”

Students had lined up two hours ahead of time to see O’Rourke take the stage, as others peeked inside the auditorium for a glimpse.

Wearing a maroon Texas State cap, O'Rourke told the crowd to have “uncomfortable conversations with your Republican mother,” just as O’Rourke did with his own mom.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/09/09/beto-orourke-town-hall-san-marcos-texas-state/

September 10, 2018

Parking dispute pushes Houston art gallery owner to put up 'Gay Conversion Therapy' sign directed at

Parking dispute pushes Houston art gallery owner to put up 'Gay Conversion Therapy' sign directed at church


HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A dispute over parking in Houston's Magnolia Grove neighborhood has led to an unusual sight. It's pitted a gay art gallery owner against a Christian pastor.

A sign outside the Hiram Butler Gallery reads, "Parking Only For Gay Conversion Therapy."

The message appeared alongside bumper stickers. They read "Follow me to the Blossom Gay Conversation Therapy Center where we pray the straight away."

Hiram Butler said the signs went up following an ongoing battle over parking. Butler said for years he's tried to address the issue but hasn't had any success with his neighbor.

Read more and view video: https://abc13.com/society/gay-conversion-parking-sign-directed-at-houston-church/4164273/

September 10, 2018

How black women are organizing to energize voters

Jackson, Miss. – Meeting on the campus of Jackson State University on a recent Friday afternoon, dozens of black women came together to strategize about the upcoming midterm elections, opening the gathering with a freedom song.

“The revolution done signed my name,” they moaned, invoking the names of the ancestors whose strength has willed them to persevere: Harriet Tubman. Shirley Chisholm. Aretha Franklin. Two were like them, daughters of Mississippi: Ella Jo Baker. Fannie Lou Hamer.

“All of us who are in the room right now are midwives for transformation,” said Rukia Lumumba, daughter of the late Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, and co-founder of the Electoral Justice Project.

The impact of such targeted work is evident. Black women went to the polls in record numbers last December to elect Doug Jones as the first Democratic senator from Alabama in 25 years. As of this week, 39 black women are nominees for the U.S. House in the November midterms, including 22 women who aren’t incumbents.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/08/black-women-midterms-election-organize/37752971/

September 10, 2018

Gun free UT signs face removal after University enforces signage policy

The University has requested that faculty take down all outward facing signs from office windows by Sept. 7, including signs affiliated with Gun Free UT.

"Consistent with U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the University has policies that use a content-neutral approach based on ‘time, place and manner’ to regulate speech on campus, including the placement of signs,” UT spokesman J.B. Bird said in an email. “The University’s rules do not allow signs on windows that face externally to campus.”

Gun Free UT was organized to bring attention to Senate Bill 11, Texas’ campus carry law, which went into effect in August 2016 and allows licensed handgun owners to carry concealed weapons into public university facilities. The organization provides downloadable signs on its website that have been hung in faculty windows on campus.

Word began to spread among faculty last month that signs featuring the name of the organization, along with any other outward facing signs, needed to be removed, history professor Joan Neuberger said.

Read more: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2018/09/06/gun-free-ut-signs-face-removal-after-university-enforces-signage-policy


The University is enforcing its signage policy, telling professors who have signs facing outward toward campus to remove them from their office windows. This mainly applies to offices in Garrison Hall, the William C. Hogg Building and Dorothy L. Gebauer Building, where “Gun Free UT” signs are among the most prominent on campus.
Photo Credit: Anthony Mireles | Daily Texan Staff

September 10, 2018

Mike Collier, running against Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, eyes property tax loophole

The Democrat running for lieutenant governor says he would close a property tax loophole to raise $5 billion annually for public education.

Mike Collier is running to unseat Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican who was first elected to the post in 2014. The lieutenant governor presides over the Texas Senate, the upper chamber in the Texas Legislature.

Collier is a certified public accountant who says the state has been losing out on about $5 billion in annual revenue due to a Texas statute that has allowed corporations to lower their property tax burdens.

In an interview with the Tyler Morning Telegraph before a rally with the advocacy group Our Revolution, a group founded by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Collier described how his ideas for public education contrast with Patrick’s.

Read more: https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/mike-collier-running-against-lt-gov-dan-patrick-eyes-property/article_8e230834-b2f2-11e8-8e1a-47c8d9edee38.html

September 10, 2018

Voter data gathering reshapes Michigan politics, sparks privacy fears

Lansing — It was four days out from the 2016 presidential election when then-Michigan GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel got the call: The Republican National Committee’s advanced voter score software was, for the first time, predicting Donald Trump would narrowly win the state.

McDaniel, at the Lansing Capitol Region Airport preparing for a rally with vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, responded to RNC Chair Reince Priebus by asking him to get Trump back to Michigan as many times as possible before Election Day to build on the momentum.

Trump was in Macomb County two days later and ended his campaign with an election eve rally in Grand Rapids. He won by 10,704 votes.

“And then we also did a number of digital ads using our data to target the different voters that we really saw we had a chance of persuading and turning out to vote in order to win,” recalled Steve Ostrow, an RNC regional political director who worked for the state party in 2016.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/09/10/sparks-privacy-fears-reshapes-michigan-politics/1191691002/

September 10, 2018

MSU receives $30M gift -- largest in school history from single donor

Michigan State University alumnus Edward J. Minskoff will give the school $30 million, the largest gift in the 163-year history of the school.

The money will help MSU complete the Business Pavilion at the Eli Broad College of Business. It is intended to create innovative learning and career development spaces for business students.

“In making the gift to the business school, I’m honored to accept the naming of the business school pavilion,” Minskoff said in a video presented during the announcement Thursday. “It’ll be there forever so my great grandchildren will get to see it. That’s important to me, especially since Michigan State actually gave so much to me as a foundation for my moving forward in life.”

Members of the MSU Board of Trustees are expected to approve naming the pavilion in honor of Minskoff during their meeting on Oct. 26.

Read more: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/09/06/msu-donation-business-school-minskoff/1210186002/