March 11, 2022

Rents Rise Most in 30 Years, Signaling More Pain for Americans

Source: Bloomberg

A measure of rents in the U.S. posted the largest monthly increase in three decades, underscoring an increasingly high cost of living that’s poised to contribute even more to inflation this year.

The index for rent of primary residence increased 0.6% in February from the prior month, the most since 1987, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday. It was part of an acceleration across the broader shelter category, which accounted for more than 40% of the monthly increase in an index of consumer prices excluding food and energy.

Rents, which have been in rising in the U.S. for the past year, are reported with a lag in the CPI report. That means they’ll contribute even more to inflation going forward, which already stood at a 40-year high in February. Prices are set to climb further as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupts supply chains and availability of key commodities including oil.

“There’s still further strength to be seen,” Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co., said of rent prices. “We don’t expect that to peak until maybe the third quarter of this year.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-10/rents-rise-most-in-30-years-signaling-more-pain-for-americans

March 10, 2022

Prosecutor seeks incarceration, restitution for Smollett

Source: AP

The special prosecutor who brought the criminal case against Jussie Smollett that led to a guilty verdict against the actor asked a judge Thursday to include “an appropriate amount of prison time” when sentencing Smollett for his conviction of lying to police in a staged hate crime.

Dan Webb said during the sentencing hearing that he would not ask for a specific amount of time, leaving that to Cook County Judge James Linn’s discretion. He also asked that Smollett be ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago.

Smollett’s defense attorney Nenye Uche asked Linn to limit the sentence to community service. He said Smollett “has lost nearly everything” in his career and finances and asked that Linn give him time to make restitution if that is part of the sentence.

“Why are we jumping up and down as if this is a murder case?” Uche said. “It’s not.”

Witnesses for both the state and Smollett testified at Smollett’s sentencing at the Cook County Courthouse. Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who was called by the state, submitted a statement that was read aloud by Samuel Mendenhall, a member of the special prosecution team.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/jussie-smollett-sentencing-live-updates-dca736b72447363711dbda548f13d79d

March 5, 2022

Putin: No-fly zone would be seen as "participation in the armed conflict"

Source: Axios

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow will consider a declaration of Ukraine as a no-fly zone by any third-party as "participation in the armed conflict."

Driving the news: Russia would view "any move in this direction" as an intervention that "will pose a threat to our service members," Putin said Saturday, speaking at a meeting with female pilots, AP reports.

"That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are," Putin said.

The big picture: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Western leaders to impose a "no-fly zone" over Ukraine, but the U.S. and other major powers have ruled out doing so as it could trigger a widespread war with nuclear power Russia.

"It would require, essentially, the U.S. military shooting down Russian planes and causing ... a potential direct war with Russia — something we want to avoid," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday in ruling out creating a NFZ.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/russia-putin-no-fly-zone-declaration-of-war-f7979ba5-1925-4b49-86d2-70089a6c7e2f.html

March 4, 2022

DeSantis announces Florida first lady is cancer-free

Source: The Hill

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced on Thursday that his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, is cancer-free.

DeSantis revealed in October that the first lady had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In January, the governor said she completed her chemotherapy treatment.

“I have a positive update about my wife, Casey DeSantis. After going through both treatment and surgery for breast cancer, she is now considered cancer-free,” the governor said in a video posted to Twitter.

The governor said the first lady “still has more to do,” but he said he is “confident she’s gonna make a full recovery.”

In a retweet of the governor’s video, Casey DeSantis said “There are no words to express how truly blessed, grateful and humbled I am to hear the words cancer free.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/596781-desantis-announces-that-florida-first-lady-is-cancer-free

March 1, 2022

Federal judge upholds Georgia redistricting for 2022 elections

Source: AJC

A federal judge has ruled that Georgia’s redrawn political maps can remain in place for this year’s elections, deciding that it’s too close to the state’s May 24 primary election to make court-ordered redistricting changes.

The decision allows this year’s elections to proceed with new congressional districts designed for Republicans to gain a north metro Atlanta seat.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones’ ruling late Monday denied an effort by plaintiffs who argued that Georgia’s redistricting discriminated against Black voters by weakening their ability to elect candidates who represent them.

“The court finds that the public interest of the state of Georgia would be significantly undermined by altering the election calendar and unwinding the electoral process at this point,” Jones wrote in a 238-page order. “Elections are complex and election calendars are finely calibrated processes, and significant upheaval and voter confusion can result if changes are made late in the process.”

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/politics/federal-judge-upholds-georgia-redistricting-for-2022-elections/I636NTBGMBEOHCI54A6RBXSTNU/

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My rep, Lucy McBath, is the one that's going to lose out in this redistricting process.

February 26, 2022

Youngkin to request emergency funding for Virginia's HBCUs amid bomb threats

Source: Axios

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said Friday that he plans to ask the state's General Assembly to provide emergency funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for campus security purposes amid bomb threats that have continued for weeks.

The big picture: Dozens of HBCUs have received bomb threats since January, leading multiple campuses to issue shelter-in-place orders or shut down entirely. The FBI is investigating the pattern as "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes."

Many HBCUs have had to hire additional police officers as a result.

What he's saying: "I am deeply concerned by the recent pattern of bomb threats plaguing [HBCUs]," Youngkin said in a statement.

He added that he has spoken with the presidents of Virginia's HBCUs to discuss the "disturbing repeated threats on their schools" and that he will ask the General Assembly for the funding next week.

"I am committed to harnessing state resources to support these institutions and will work together with them on a continued coordinated response that ensures the safety of our HBCU students and faculty."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/virginia-youngkinhbcu-bomb-threats-dc3e6e5d-6b3e-42c3-bbe3-1c5d146d86fd.html

February 21, 2022

Australia demands answers from China over alleged laser incident at sea

Source: CNN

Australia is demanding China investigate the alleged use of a laser to "illuminate" an Australian jet in waters off the country's north coast in an incident that threatens to worsen relations between the two countries.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday he'd called on the Chinese government to explain the "dangerous" and "reckless" act allegedly carried out by a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warship last week.

"This was dangerous, it was unprofessional and it was reckless for a professional navy, and we want some answers as to why they did this," Morrison said. "At worst, it was intimidating and bullying."

"They're the ones who need to explain, not just to Australia, but to think of all the countries in our region," he added. "It could occur to anyone else who is just simply doing the normal surveillance of their own Exclusive Economic Zone."

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/21/asia/australia-china-warship-laser-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

February 17, 2022

Jury in Sarah Palin v. New York Times libel trial learned of judge's plan to throw out suit

Source: Politico

Jurors in former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s libel trial against The New York Times became aware during deliberations that the judge overseeing the case had ruled that it should be thrown out, the judge disclosed in an order on Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff said that after the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the Times in the case on Tuesday, one of his law clerks learned that some on the panel had received alerts on their phones on Monday when Rakoff announced, outside the presence of the jury, that he planned to toss out the case because Palin’s lawyers had failed to prove their case to the high standard of evidence required in libel suits against public figures.

“These jurors reported that although they had been assiduously adhering to the Court’s instruction to avoid media coverage of the trial, they had involuntarily received ‘push notifications’ on their smartphones that contained the bottom-line of the ruling,” the Manhattan-based Rakoff wrote in a two-page order.

While rulings by judges to throw out a case at the close of a civil or criminal jury trial are not uncommon, many legal experts faulted Rakoff for revealing his plan in the middle of the jury’s deliberations. Doing so raised the prospect that jurors would learn of his decision and that it might prompt them to side with the Times regardless of their view of the evidence.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/16/jury-in-sarah-palin-v-new-york-times-libel-trial-learned-of-judges-plan-to-throw-suit-out-00009498

February 12, 2022

Sarah Palin's lawyers: New York Times libeled her amidst pattern of sliming conservatives

Source: Politico

Sarah Palin’s lawyer offered jurors a simple explanation Friday for why The New York Times used a 2017 editorial to link Palin to a deadly shooting in Arizona six years earlier: a long-standing political vendetta against conservatives.

“They just didn’t care. She’s one of them,” attorney Ken Turkel said during closing arguments in the former Alaska governor’s libel suit against the Times

On several occasions during his summation of the evidence in a Manhattan courtroom before jurors began deliberating on the case Friday afternoon, Turkel argued that the Times’ decision to reference Palin’s political action committee in the editorial spurred by a shooting at a GOP congressional baseball practice in Virginia was part of a pattern at the newspaper of slurring Republicans.

“There’s common thread through all the pieces as to how they treat people on the right they don’t agree with,” Palin’s attorney said. “Look at the common thread: how in every single one of them they demonize the right wing or just treated them differently.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/11/sarah-palin-lawyers-new-york-times-libel-conservatives-00008248

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While I think Palin is going to lose this particular case, I'm more than a little nervous this case could make its way to the Supreme Court, who could then reverse the NYT v Sullivan case. Both Gorsuch and Thomas have said they need to take a look at press liability and perhaps revise the current standard.

February 8, 2022

Towing companies on city contracts refuse to move convoy vehicles

Source: CBC

The tow trucks operators on contract to the City of Ottawa are taking a hard pass on requests to haul vehicles out of protest areas, according to the city's top public servant.

"I've contacted them all and they're all refusing, as of today, to provide heavy tow truck work," city manager Steve Kanellakos told reporters Monday evening after a six-hour special council meeting.

"Right now we're reviewing their contracts or standing offer, and reviewing what actions we can take to deal with this unprecedented situation."

More than 400 vehicles are parked illegally in the downtown core, according to Ottawa police, the majority of them heavy trucks (and at least one crane). One of several challenges facing the Ottawa Police Service and the city is how to get them off the streets if protesters refuse to drive them away.

...

"Right now, the consensus seems to be that many of them — or most of them — don't want to do the work because … they rely on on the the heavy truck industry for their livelihood, and they don't want to damage that part of their business. That's the position they're taking, at least."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tow-truck-ottawa-convoy-protest-refuse-1.6343177

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Towing semi-trucks is super difficult, and not just any tow truck is capable of it.

The Canadian military does have some armored recovery vehicles that would be capable of moving a semi truck, but we'll see what actually happens. The optics of putting tracked military vehicles (even though these vehicles are generally unarmed) on the streets could be a challenge.