The Capitol is seen at sunup, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, as Senate Republicans are poised to use their majority to confirm President Donald Trump’s controversial nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite calls from Democrats for a delay as both houses of Congress prepare to leave Washington for the Presidents Day weekend and return to their home districts. The Senate remains tied up with delays in confirming Trump’s cabinet picks, while the House is spending most of its time reversing regulations from the close of President Obama’s term, including the GOP’s promised swift repeal of Obamacare.
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Stalemate over future of historically black 33rd Avenue High School ends
Plans are moving forward for a $30 million Jobs Corps Center on the old 33rd Avenue High School campus in Gulfport. Plans are moving forward for a $30 million Jobs Corps Center on the old 33rd Avenue High School campus in Gulfport.
John McCain blasts Trump’s policies in scathing conference speech
John McCain does not appear to think President Trump is doing a very good job in uniting the GOP.
Idaho leaders continue to review faith-healing laws – Fri, 17 Feb 2017 PST
Legislative leaders are currently considering several options to change Idaho’s faith-healing laws, but details about what’s being discussed are being kept under wraps. Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Idaho Falls, said Friday that he had met with Gov. Butch Otter and legislative leaders over the past week to discuss Idaho’s statute that allows families to cite religious reasons for medical decisions without fear of being charged with a crime.
Bolten, Fleischer, Card: Three veteran swamp creatures who could rescue Trump’s White House
President Trump ‘s dismissal of former White House national security adviser Mike Flynn amid the furor over his correspondence with Russian officials has forced the fledgling administration to confront an important truth: To restore order, serious changes must occur. Some say Trump should begin by re-evaluating his senior staff in the West Wing and adding a voice with previous experience in the executive branch.
Johnnye Warnsley
Johnnye Warnsley, who inspired her Scott High School students long past their graduation and who won notice beyond the school system, died Feb. 11 in her central Toledo home. She was 70. Mrs. Warnsley retired in 2011 from Scott, where she taught American history and American government.
Trump’s hardline immigration rhetoric runs into obstacles – including Trump
Protesters march in front of the federal courthouse, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, in Seattle, where a hearing was held for Daniel Ramirez Medina, a Seattle-area man who was arrested by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children. A federal magistrate on Friday declined to release Medina and said he must request a bond hearing from a federal immigration judge.
Chaffetz asks Sessions to look into former staffer over Clinton email probe
House Oversight Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz is asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look into the staffer who helped set up former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server. In a letter sent Thursday evening, Chaffetz recommends former Clinton IT aide Bryan Pagliano for prosecution over failure to show up in person to his committee in compliance with a subpoena.
EPA criticizes EPA in news release hailing Pruitt’s confirmation
The Environmental Protection Agency welcomed its new leader with an unusual news release Friday that occasionally took aim at itself. Scott Pruitt, who has questioned human connectivity to climate change, was confirmed by the Senate Friday in a partisan vote.
Kansas City Congressman Cleaver Touts ‘Broom Stick’ Resistance After Republican Election Sweep
Actually, like it or not, this is a pretty good story inasmuch as it reveals an honest look at where the Democratic Party stands in relation to the current divisive, confused and angry state of the American electorate. Take a look whilst we ogle Jessica Simpson in her glory days: This week on Capitol Hill has been a trying and unbelievable week.
Roseville Man Sentenced to over 21 Years in Prison for Soliciting…
According to court documents, Mora used the online application, Kik Messenger, to encourage girls between the ages of 14 and 17 to send him sexually explicit photographs, engage in sexually explicit conversations, and to meet him to have sex. In some cases, Mora represented that he was younger than his actual age, claiming to be 19 years old, when exchanging messages with his victims.
The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays a ” February 17, 2017
It’s our ongoing mission to create and curate a unique mix of informed public affairs, culture and arts that provokes thought and reaction on a complexity of issues facing our listeners. Expanding KPFA’s digital footprint with more on-demand programming gives us the opportunity and space to offer new and compelling voices from the community.
CNN Reporter Compares Trump To Hitler While Her Boss Buys Obama…
Jared Kushner Delivers Critique of CNN to Time Warner Executive – Trump’s son-in-law and adviser complains that coverage has been slanted against the president – Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, has expressed the administration’s deep concerns about CNN’s news coverage.
Congress keeps Trump grounded
Congress keeps Trump grounded – The Senate left town Friday with Trump’s administration barely staffed, Republicans’ legislative agenda stuck in neutral and Democrats using parliamentary tactics to make senators and staffers’ life a blur of partisan fights and all-night debates.
Canada welcomes migrants leaving the US as they risk life and limb to get away from Trump
Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes. But… Despite promising to release his tax returns in a televised debate with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump continues to show that… **NOTE: THE FORM LETTER IS BLANK.
Liberal group threatens to challenge Democrats with primary fights
The progressive coalition solidified by Bernie Sanders’ insurgent campaign and energized by the broad liberal backlash to President Donald Trump is preparing to launch primary challenges against elected Democrats they see going wobbly in the fight against the new administration. To press the issue, Sanders veterans, along with allied activists and organizers, have launched a new political action committee called We Will Replace You.
AP Exclusive: DHS weighed Nat Guard for immigration roundups
The White House distanced itself Friday from a Department of Homeland Security draft proposal to use the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, but lawmakers said the document offers insight into the Trump administration’s internal efforts to enact its crackdown on illegal immigration. Administration officials said the proposal, which called for mobilizing up to 100,000 troops in 11 states, was rejected, and would not be part of plans to carry out President Trump’s aggressive immigration policy.
Michel, GOP leader skilled at deal-making, dies at age 93
In this photo taken Oct. 29, 2013, former House Minority Leader Bob Michel speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. A former aide says Michel has died at age 93. FILE – In this June 9, 1992 file photo, then-House Minority leader Bob Michel of Ill.
Trusting in Trump, Utah lawmakers back off suing for public-land control
Tribune file photo) Rep. Keven J. Stratton, R-Orem, says now that President Donald Trump is in the White House, Utah wants to use legislation and executive action to take control of millions of acres of federal lands — not a lawsuit. Tribune file photo) Rep. Keven J. Stratton, R-Orem, says now that President Donald Trump is in the White House, Utah wants to use legislation and executive action to take control of millions of acres of federal lands — not a lawsuit.
To make Trump’s America ungovernable, African American struggles are key
“Trump’s America,” wrote a leading African American journalist, Charles Blow in the New York Times , January 30, “is not America: not today’s or tomorrow’s, but yesterday’s. “Trump’s America is brutal, perverse, regressive, insular and afraid.
Prawit confirms B13.5bn sub order
The procurement of the first 13.5-billion-baht Chinese-made submarine will take place as scheduled this year, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has confirmed. Gen Prawit, who is also defence minister, yesterday said the Yuan Class S26T, the first of three Chinese-manufactured submarines Thailand wishes to buy, will be purchased in accordance with the procurement time frame.
McAuliffe appoints Anne Holton to education board
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has appointed Anne Holton, a former state secretary of education and wife of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, to the state education board. Holton served as McAuliffe’s education secretary until last year.
The Latest: Speakers blast Trumpa s immigration orders
The archbishop of Los Angeles said at a Vatican-sponsored conference Friday that the new White House administration is cruelly playing with people’s lives. Archbishop Jose Gomez said fears surrounding deportation are not new, but that the administration under President Donald Trump has set a harsh tone and shows a cruelty he does not like.
RBS to Miss Target for Asset Sale – Takes $920 Million Charge
The bailed-out lender is exploring an alternative plan after saying it will miss an EC target to dispose of assets, including Williams & Glyn, and repay state aid Bailed out British lender, Royal Bank of Scotland said Friday that it will miss a European Commission deadline for selling off assets, including its Williams & Glyn division, and repaying taxpayer aid given to it during the financial crisis. It will report a A 750 million exceptional charge when it reports full-year results on Feb. 24 and is now considering an alternative plan for repaying state aid.
‘Truths Not Tweets’: Protesters Greet Trump at Boeing Plant
More than 100 people gathered at the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday to protest the president’s visit. President Donald Trump was met with peaceful protesters in North Charleston, South Carolina on Friday as he gave a speech at a Boeing plant in his first visit to the state since winning its Republican presidential primary last year.
Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close Out Strong Week With Fresh Records
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02% to 20,623, its seventh consecutive record close. The Nasdaq was up 0.41% to finish at 5,838, also a new record.
Sparking ‘The Fight of a Lifetime,’ Senate Puts Fossil Fuel Ally at Helm of EPA
Portending risks to “the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we love,” the U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency . The 52-46 vote comes a day after an Oklahoma judge said Pruitt was in violation of the state’s Open Records Act and ordered the release of thousands of emails between his office and fossil fuel companies.
House Republicans stop Sen. Norment’s felon voting rights proposal
A House committee on Friday stopped a proposal from Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, that would have given legislators authority over deciding which felons receive the right to vote again, while reducing the governor’s power.
VP Pence’s wife aims to raise awareness about art therapy
The wife of Vice President Mike Pence has been a passionate advocate of art therapy for many years, including during her service as first lady of Indiana. Now, she hopes to use her new and loftier public profile to raise awareness of the mental health profession and help change the public’s perceptions about what art therapists actually do.
They’re fraudsters not refugees says Smalley
So while I have some compassion for the plight of these students, the law is the law. Their applications are fraudulent.
Sen. Kaine, Rep. Scott discuss ACA, civil rights at Newport News church
This comes the same week Sen. Kaine (D-VA) introduced legislation commemorating African American history dating back to the first arrival of Africans at Port Comfort, Virginia.
Former Trump Adviser: Expect To See More Unscripted Trump Moments
Speaking with the Washington Examiner , former Trump adviser, Roger Stone, promised that the world would see more unscripted Trump pressers, because that’s what his fan base wants to see. “All of my other clients have been career politicians and therefore they were more scripted and more coached and more programmed,” said Stone.
Senate confirms Trump’s EPA pick
The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of Democrats and environmentalists worried he will gut the agency. Senators voted 52-46 on Friday to approve Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.
Republicans Brace for Town Hall Protests About President Trump
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 17, 2017. Republicans used town-hall meetings in 2009 to help channel outrage at the sitting president and take back Congress the next year.
Sequins and slogans: Politics seeped into NY Fashion Week
“When you have a voice, you should use it,” designer Raf Simons says. The new Calvin Klein designer did just that, using a particularly pointed David Bowie lyric on his soundtrack.
Phoenix woman deported, activists arrested blocking ICE van
With other immigrant rights activists, Walt Emrys Staton , director of pastoral care and justice ministries at the UU Congregation in Phoenix, blocks an ICE van holding Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos. She was deported; Staton and six other activists were arrested.
Threat came from ex-US high official
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is welcomed by local Awami League leaders as she reaches Munich Marriott Hotel in Germany yesterday to join the Munich Security Conference 2017. Photo: PID Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the then US secretary of state, assistant secretary and US ambassador in Dhaka had threatened several times that the funding for the Padma bridge project would be withdrawn if Dr Muhammad Yunus was removed as the Grameen Bank managing director.
Why should we trust you? Donald ducks
Washington, Feb. 17: An extraordinary exchange unfolded in the White House yesterday when President Donald Trump’s command of facts was openly challenged by a reporter who asked: “Why should Americans trust you?” The issue was the margin of victory in the US electoral college, which Trump asserted early in a rowdy and free-for-all news conference was the “biggest” since fellow Republican Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980 and 1984. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by a 304-227 tally of state-by-state electors, who represent votes cast in the election.
Bitter Dems Turning On Each Other
We recently addressed a looming internal battle within the Democratic party – specifically the prospect of a liberal version of the Tea Party emerging to take out “moderate” Democratic lawmakers. Will it happen? Who knows but in the meantime there’s growing evidence of additional dissension within the Democratic ranks as the party struggles to adjust to life under the reign of Republican president Donald Trump .
Trump vowed to isolate family businesses, but they have seeped into White House
President Trump stands with his wife first lady Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, inside of the inaugural parade reviewing stand in front of the White House on January 20, 2017. President Trump stands with his wife first lady Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, inside of the inaugural parade reviewing stand in front of the White House on January 20, 2017.