Category: US News

DC subway working on fare card holders with Trump’s image

Washington’s subway system is now working with President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to produce a commemorative sleeve to hold Inauguration Day fare cards. Metro revealed on Wednesday that the special Inauguration Day passes won’t have Trump’s picture on them, the way the cards honoring President Barack Obama’s did.

Appeals court: College’s drug tests of all students illegal

A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated a judge’s 2013 ruling that a central Missouri technical college’s mandatory drug testing policy is unconstitutional when applied to all students. The full 8th U.S. District Court of Appeals, in a 9-2 ruling, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in reversing an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the same St. Louis-based court.

North Carolina fails to repeal LGBT law as culture wars rage

Repealing North Carolina’s law limiting LGBT protections at the close of a bitter election year was supposed to heal blows to the economy and perhaps open a truce in the culture wars in at least one corner of the divided United States. The failure of state lawmakers to follow through instead shows how much faith each side has lost in the other, as Americans segregate themselves into communities of us and them, defined by legislative districts that make compromise unlikely.

Senate Dems press Trump’s wealthy picks for financial data

Top Senate Democrats are trying to put the brakes on President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, insisting on extensive financial information on some of the wealthiest Americans before moving forward on nominations. Frustrated by the slow response of billionaires and multimillionaires to their request, 16 Democrats delivered an ultimatum Thursday, saying no committee should vote on a nominee until the individual has cleared an FBI background check, provided a financial report and an ethics agreement with the Office of Government Ethics, and responded to “reasonable requests for additional information” such as tax returns.

States Won by Trump Have Highest ‘Obamacare’ Enrollment

Some 6.4 million people signed up by the mid-December deadline – 400,000 more enrollees than the same period last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. In a twist, the states with the most people selecting coverage all went for Trump in the presidential election: Florida, with just under 1.3 million selections; Texas, with about 776,000; North Carolina, with 369,077; Georgia, with 352,000; and Pennsylvania, with 290,950.

Trump’s Economic Plan is a Betrayal of the People Who Voted for Him

Trump’s economic plan has sent stocks ripping higher for six weeks straight. But what’s going to happen to stock prices when Congress gives Trump’s plan a big thumbs down? Has anyone thought about that yet? And what about the Fed? Does anyone seriously think that Fed chairman Janet Yellen is going to sit on her hands while Trump launches a $1 trillion fiscal stimulus package that triggers a sudden burst of growth followed by a sharp uptick in inflation? No, Yellen’s not going to sit on her hands.

Trump: US must ‘greatly strengthen’ nuclear capability

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” until the rest of the world “comes to its senses” regarding nuclear weapons. His comments on Twitter came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his country’s nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year.

Wisconsin panel OKs investigation into John Doe leaks

The Wisconsin Assembly has authorized Attorney General Brad Schimel to investigate how evidence collected during a secret investigation into Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign was leaked to a newspaper. The Guardian US in September published hundreds of sealed documents from the so-called John Doe investigation, which was shut down by conservative state Supreme Court justices in 2015.

Cruise Ship Passenger ‘Intentionally’ Went Overboard

The United States Coast Guard was called in to search for a man who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of the Florida Keys Thursday morning. A 22-year-old man was reportedly seen jumping from the 12th deck of the ocean liner at 1:49 a.m. about 33 miles southeast of Key Largo.

North Carolina legislature’s special session ends without repealing discriminatory HB2 law

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… Senate Republicans refused to give President Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Scalia even the courtesy of a… The North Carolina legislature ended its special session Wednesday, failing to fulfill the deal they had made with the city of Charlotte and incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to repeal the controversial and discriminatory HB2. Known as the “bathroom bill,” it’s actually an expansive restriction on civil and workers’ rights.

Trump voters will be hurt the most with Obamacare repeal and Democrats have to remind them of that

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… Senate Republicans refused to give President Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Scalia even the courtesy of a… Liberal bloggers aren’t the only ones sending a strong warning to Democrats about not helping Republicans one iota when it comes to dismantling Obamacare, or their bullshit efforts to “replace” it. Here’s Theda Skocpol , a professor of government and sociology at Harvard and the director of the Scholars Strategy Network: For the Democratic Party, the coming Republican assault on public health insurance represents a huge political opportunity.

Photo credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid defended the unsubstantiated charges he made about Mitt Romney’s tax liability as “necessary” during an interview on Nevada public radio Wednesday. Asked by a caller about the “brazen lie” of claiming the former Republican nominee for president hadn’t paid taxes for a decade, Reid took issue with the characterization and said he spoke the “truth”-though he referenced a separate criticism of Romney, that he didn’t release several years of tax returns, as proof.

Clinton wins popular vote by nearly 2.9 million

In this Dec. 8, 2016 file photo, Hillary Clinton attends a ceremony to unveil a portrait of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Capitol Hill in Washington. Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than President-elect Donald Trump, giving her the largest popular vote margin of any losing presidential candidate, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Sherr named new Greenwich Board of Ed chairman

Board of Education member Peter Sherr, seen here at a 2013 candidates forum, is the new chairman of the school board after a Thursday morning vote by the Board of Selectmen. Board of Education member Peter Sherr, seen here at a 2013 candidates forum, is the new chairman of the school board after a Thursday morning vote by the Board of Selectmen.

Under Israeli pressure, UN vote on settlements postponed

Under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt on Thursday indefinitely postponed a planned U.N. vote on a proposed Security Council resolution that sought to condemn Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, diplomats and Western officials said, just a few hours before the vote was set to take place. The vote would have been one of the last opportunities for President Barack Obama to take a stand against Israeli settlement building after years of failed peace efforts, but doing so could re-ignite a dispute with a close ally in the waning days of his tenure.

Suspicious fumes at Florida home leads to FBI-assisted probe

The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it’s assisting a Tampa Bay area law enforcement agency in the potential terrorism activity of a 21-year-old man who was arrested after his father was taken to a hospital due to suspicious fumes in the family home. Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said Thursday there is no indication that Sherif Eleganainy has terrorist ties.

Trump: U.S. must ‘greatly strengthen’ nuclear capability

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” until the rest of the world “comes to its senses” regarding nuclear weapons. Trump made the statement on Twitter and did not expand on the actions he wants the U.S. to take or on the issues he sees around the world.

Florida may let some death row inmates avoid executions

More than half of Florida’s inmates sentenced to death may avoid execution under a far-reaching ruling handed down by the state’s Supreme Court. A sharply divided court agreed Thursday to stop blocking the execution of Mark Asay, a Jacksonville man sentenced to death in 1987 for murdering two men.

Prosecutors: ‘Making a Murderer’ inmate’s confession legal

A Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” has no basis for his claims that his confession wasn’t voluntary and shouldn’t be released from prison as a judge has ordered, state attorneys argued in a court filing. Brendan Dassey, now 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier.

‘It’s a hassle’: Pennsylvania driver’s licenses…

Pennsylvanians planning on traveling in 2018 will be required to have more than their driver’s license to fly as the state-issued ID will no longer be accepted for domestic air travel. ‘It takes a while to get a passport and if they’re not aware of it, they’re not going on a trip’ – Kimberly Wilson Pennsylvanians planning on traveling in 2018 will be required to have more than their driver’s license to fly as the state-issued ID will no longer be accepted for domestic air travel.

Another view: Trumping the environment

Another view: Trumping the environment Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump was elected, the environment is going to suffer. Check out this story on ldnews.com: http://ldne.ws/2ikiTeq President-elect Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to the crowd during a campaign rally on Aug. 31 in Phoenix.

Trump meets with one-time adversary David Koch at Mar-a-Lago

President-elect Donald Trump may be making peace with the Koch brothers, the influential Republican billionaires who frequently criticized him during the election campaign. Sources familiar with the impromptu meeting told the Washington Post that Mr. Trump had met with billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Koch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.

Capitol Report: Senate Dems say Wells Fargo not responding to fraud info requests

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, holds up copies of Wells Fargo earnings call transcripts as she questions John Stumpf, then chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo The bank’s management has so far failed to answer all the questions the committee members have put to it, the letter says, following its settlement with multiple regulatory authorities in September for multi-year fraudulent sales practices. The letter , jointly signed by nine Democrats including Ranking Member Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, again asked Wells Fargo’s board for a status report on its ongoing investigation of the fraud and a detailed timeline of when the board learned about the illegal practices and actions it took.

Gallup’s Top Well-Being Discoveries of 2016

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index provides nearly real-time data on Americans’ well-being across five elements: purpose, social, financial, community and physical. The following are Gallup editors’ picks for the most important health and well-being findings reported in 2016.

Trump after Berlin, Turkey attacks: ‘I’ve been proven to be right’

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called the attacks this week in Berlin and Ankara “terrible” on Dec. 21 and said he has been proven to be correct about his plans to impose curbs on Muslims immigrating to the United States. “What’s going on is terrible, terrible,” Trump told reporters, when asked about the truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin and the killing of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey by a gunman in Ankara, Reuters reported.

Israeli leader urges US to veto UN settlement resolution

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. on Thursday to veto a draft United Nations resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank. The vote, expected Thursday, provides one of the last opportunities for President Barack Obama to take a stand against Israeli settlement building after years of failed peace efforts, but doing so could re-ignite a dispute with a close ally in the waning days of his tenure.

Morning Bits

Steven Mnuchin, left, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, walks through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 7. President-elect Donald Trump’s Achilles heel : “You’re seeing members like John McCain and Lindsey Graham kind of coming out guns blazing, even threatening the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state, saying that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is a butcher and a thug, and we can’t do business with him. The concern is that Trump has this kind of personal admiration for Putin that may blind him to Russia’s real goals and to what America’s strategic stake is in doing business with Russia.

First Nations Development Institute Receives $200,000 USDA-NRCS Grant for Ag and Food Training

First Nations Development Institute has received a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service grant of $200,000 for a broad effort to increase the capacity of Native American farmers, ranchers and tribal communities so they can advance their farming or ranching businesses, or so tribal communities can work more effectively to improve local control of community food systems. Under the grant, First Nations will conduct various in-person trainings and workshops, plus online webinars, for Native farmers, ranchers, tribal departments, nonprofit organizations, food entrepreneurs and others that will focus on business-management systems and techniques.

The Fed: Here’s who Trump may tap for two open posts at the Fed

Donald Trump is not expected to offer Janet Yellen a second four-year term at the helm of the central bank when her term expires in early February 2018 With two nominations made by President Obama stalled, Trump will get a chance to add a pair of officials to the Federal Open Market Committee. The positions will be of particular importance given that Trump will have a chance to nominate a replacement for Janet Yellen when her term as chair expires in Feb. 2018.

A shameful delay

With the end of 2016 just days away, victims of North Carolina’s forced sterilization program have yet to receive their last payment – or the simply courtesy of a written update from the state. The lack of an update is shameful.

Why people believe fake news, explained

Why do so many Americans have trouble telling truth from fiction online? As humans, we’re wired to believe the worst. The controversy around “fake news” took on a new pall this month when a North Carolina man chose to investigate, gun in hand, a false online conspiracy theory that a Washington.

U.S. says Arkansas schools’ ouster of 3 over HIV tests illegal

The Pea Ridge School District violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2013 by excluding some students until they were tested for the human immunodeficiency virus, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice. The district removed three students, all foster children, from its schools on the basis of documents it had received about the HIV status of a family member of those students, according to the letter dated Dec. 13 from Rebecca Bond, chief of the disability rights section of the department’s civil-rights division.

Trump picks China hawk to lead new White House trade council

In another sign that he intends to shake up relations with China, President-elect Donald Trump named economist Peter Navarro to lead a newly created White House council on trade. The University of California-Irvine professor, who advised Trump during the campaign, has sharply criticized China’s economic and military policies in books and videos.