October 22, 2022

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni sworn in as Italian premier

Rome – Giorgia Meloni, whose political party with neo-fascist roots emerged victorious in recent elections, was sworn in on Saturday as Italy’s first far-right premier since the end of World War II. She is also the first woman to be premier.

Meloni, 45, recited the oath of office before President Sergio Mattarella, who formally asked her to form a government a day earlier.

Her Brothers of Italy party, which she co-founded in 2012, will rule in coalition with the right-wing League of Matteo Salvini and the conservative Forza Italia party headed by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Those two parties’ popularity has sagged with voters in recent years.

Meloni recited the ritual oath of office, pledging to be faithful to Italy’s post-war republic and to act “in the exclusive interests of the nation.” The pledge was signed by her and counter-signed by Mattarella, who, in his role as head of state, serves as guarantor of the Constitution, drafted in the years immediately after the end of war, which saw the demise of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. ...............(more)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/world/2022/10/22/italy-far-right-premier-giorgia-meloni-sworn/69582620007/

October 22, 2022

Ethan Crumbley to plead guilty in Oxford school shooting, prosecutors say

A teenager accused of killing four fellow students and injuring seven people at Oxford High School is expected to plead guilty to murder next week, authorities said Friday.

Ethan Crumbley had created images of violence during a classroom assignment last November but was not sent home from Oxford High School in southeastern Michigan. He pulled out a gun a few hours later and committed a mass shooting.

"We can confirm that the shooter is expected to plead guilty to all 24 charges, including terrorism, and the prosecutor has notified the victims," said David Williams, chief assistant prosecutor in Oakland County.

Williams told the Free Press that prosecutors made no plea deals, no reductions and no agreements regarding sentencing. ..................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2022/10/21/ethan-crumbley-to-plead-guilty-murder-oxford-shooting-prosecutors/69581215007/

October 22, 2022

Ron DeSantis launches a trend: Local prosecutors are now central players in the culture war

Ron DeSantis launches a trend: Local prosecutors are now central players in the culture war
DeSantis' feud with Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren is just the beginning — and it goes well beyond abortion rights

By DAVID J. TOSCANO
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 22, 2022 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is consistently up for a fight, apparently in hopes of seizing the mantle of Donald Trump's divisive politics. His newest opponent is Andrew Warren, the two-time elected local prosecutor of Hillsborough County, Florida, which includes Tampa and has a population of 1.5 million, greater than that of 12 U.S. states. Warren recently joined 90 of his colleagues from across the country who asserted, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, that they would decline to prosecute people who "seek, provide, or support" abortions.

DeSantis branded Warren's statement a "blatant abuse of power," and immediately suspended and replaced him. Warren has sued the governor, alleging that his First Amendment rights have been violated. The closely watched case will be tried in November, and predicting the results is perilous. Florida law gives the governor broad removal power "for any . . . good and sufficient reason," where "the ends of justice would be best served." But with no actual case having been rejected by Warren, a court might conclude that the prosecutor was simply exercising his right of free speech.

The Supreme Court's effort to consign Roe v. Wade to the dustbin of history has opened yet another front in the culture wars, but this fissure engages new participants: locally elected prosecutors, some of whom argue that their decisions to decline abortion prosecutions are consistent with a long-established legal principle of "prosecutorial discretion."

Since the 1830s, when direct election of local prosecutors gained ascendancy, our legal system has embraced the notion that these lawyers are best positioned to exercise sound judgment in handling their cases. They frequently determine who to charge, how cases should be tried and prosecuted, and what sentences a defendant will serve if convicted. The ultimate backstop to this system rests with local citizens, who, in 45 of the 50 states, can vote out chief prosecutors whose decisions run counter to the views of the community they serve. Only three states — Alaska, Delaware and Rhode Island — do not provide for local prosecutorial discretion; in those, the state controls prosecutions.

....(snip)....

New prosecutors, new policies

The Dobbs case has merely accelerated the rifts between so-called progressive prosecutors and conservative lawmakers. While much of the prosecutorial resistance to Dobbs has emerged in states where abortion rights are already protected, it also includes local prosecutors in what might be described as blue communities within red states, such as New Orleans, Charlotte, Nashville, San Antonio, Jackson, Mississippi (home to the clinic that was the focus in Dobbs), and De Kalb County, Georgia. Increasing prosecutorial independence is not merely about abortion issues but includes new responses to everything from drug offenses to the death penalty.

When prosecutors eager to appear "tough on crime" were pushing incarceration of more and more people for ever longer periods, they were rarely second-guessed. But as public attitudes have changed and prosecutors have been elected on platforms promising criminal justice reform and an end to mass incarceration, a backlash has developed in conservative statehouses. Lawmakers in many such states are now trying to undermine prosecutorial decisions through executive orders and legislation, much like they are trying to preempt the actions of local governments with which they disagree. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/22/ron-desantis-launches-a-trend-local-prosecutors-are-now-central-players-in-the-culture/

October 21, 2022

DC/MD/VA: Metro Says Silver Line Extension Ready to Open -- But There Aren't Enough Trains

Metro says it is ready to open the next phase of the Silver Line to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia, in time for the busy Thanksgiving rush, but it doesn’t have enough trains to do so at this point.

Because Metro has not been permitted to return its full fleet of troubled 7000-series railcars to the tracks, opening 11 more miles of track on the Silver Line with the current number of trains in use would increase wait times and crowding and could lead to dangerous conditions.

Phase 2 of Silver Line in Virginia Will Extend to Dulles Airport & Beyond

Metro's Silver Line extension — also referred to as "Phase 2" of the Silver Line — will add another 11.4 miles of track west and northwest from the Wiehle-Reston East station.

When it opens, the extension will add six new stations: three more in Fairfax County and Metro's first-ever stations in Loudoun County, including that long-awaited stop at Dulles International Airport. .................(more)

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/metro-says-silver-line-extension-ready-to-open-but-there-arent-enough-trains/3186030/

October 21, 2022

Please, media, stop pitting abortion against inflation -- Republicans suck on both issues

Please, media, stop pitting abortion against inflation — Republicans suck on both issues
Republicans have no ideas on how to fix the economy — and what they are planning will only make things worse

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 21, 2022 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Cable news in the weeks before an election is the ninth circle of hell. For proof, look no further than the way MSNBC subjected Georgia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to an interview by 79-year-old white guy plagiarist and organized crime apologist Mike Barnicle. Abrams, whose only crime is being a "Star Trek" nerd who wants Georgia to suck less, was subjected to this crotchety fraud demanding she stop talking about abortion rights so much, arguing that what voters supposedly care about is "the cost of gas, food, bread, milk, things like that." Because, as all old men who have never changed a diaper know, having and raising babies is totally free, unlike a gallon of gasoline.

Abrams handled the question as well as she could, pointing out that you "can't divorce being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy from the economic realities of having a child." She went on to outline her plans to help Georgians with rising housing prices and other economic problems. But as much as it's fun to kick around Barnicle for being out of touch, the sad truth is the false premise of his question is endemic throughout the mainstream media coverage of the 2022 midterm elections. Everywhere you turn, pundits and reporters are treating this election as if it's a choice between fighting inflation and protecting abortion rights.

This is, and it cannot be stressed enough, total hooey. When it comes to the ballot box, there is absolutely no trade-off between reproductive rights and the economy. Either way, voting Republican is bad: Bad for the economy, bad for abortion rights. Pretending otherwise is misleading to the point of outright dishonesty.

To say Republicans have no plan to fight inflation if they retake Congress is really an understatement. They have nothing concrete to offer about the issue beyond using it as a stick to beat Democrats with. The second polls close on Election Day, all GOP interest in relieving Americans' economic woes will dry up. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/21/please-media-stop-pitting-abortion-against-inflation--suck-on-both-issues/

October 21, 2022

FBI: Birmingham art dealer faked lung transplant to rob seniors in $1.6 million fraud scheme

(Detroit Free Press) For years, Wendy Beard ran a lucrative Birmingham art gallery she inherited from her millionaire father.

But along the way, the FBI says, she got greedy — so greedy that she scammed seniors by taking their rare art on consignment, selling it and then keeping all the profits, including a mural-sized Ansel Adams photograph she sold for $440,000 without ever telling the owner.

When the 82-year-old owner of the photo tried to get the picture back, the FBI says, Beard came up with a story: She was in the hospital getting a double lung transplant and was too sick to deal with the request.

None of it was true, the FBI says. .............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2022/10/21/birmingham-art-halsted-consignment-fraud/69578698007/

October 21, 2022

America's Trumpiest court just declared an entire federal agency unconstitutional

(Vox) Three judges appointed by former President Donald Trump handed down an astonishing decision on Wednesday, effectively holding that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency charged with protecting consumers from a wide range of predatory activity by lenders and other financial services, is unconstitutional and must be stripped of its authority.

The decision by the conservative United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit relies on a novel reading of an obscure provision of the Constitution, and is entirely at odds with a Supreme Court decision that rejects the Fifth Circuit’s reading of that provision. This is not unusual behavior from the Fifth Circuit, which often reads the Constitution in novel and unexpected ways that benefit political conservatives and the Republican Party.

Indeed, Judge Cory Wilson admits in the court’s new opinion in Community Financial Services v. CFPB that “every court to consider” the arguments presented in this case has deemed the CFPB to be “constitutionally sound.”

Should the three Trump judges’ decision stand, it would effectively neutralize much of the federal government’s ability to fight financial fraud — although that outcome probably is not likely given that the Fifth Circuit’s decision is such an outlier. As Wilson explains, the CFPB assumed enforcement authority “over 18 federal statutes” when it was formed nearly a dozen years ago, and these statutes “cover everything from credit cards and car payments to mortgages and student loans.” .............(more)

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/20/23414311/cfpb-unconstitutional-fifth-circuit-supreme-court-trump-community-financial

October 20, 2022

We could face the sunset of democracy -- or the end of the world: Get off your butt and vote

We could face the sunset of democracy — or the end of the world: Get off your butt and vote
In a season of venom, insanity and global peril, our imperfect democracy still offers a path forward. Let's take it

By BRIAN KAREM
Columnist
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 20, 2022 9:08AM (EDT)


(Salon) The midterms are nigh upon us, and the concerned crazies are riding their social media platforms far and wide, alerting the countryside.

The pundits are screeching like banshees, warning of gloom and doom.

Extremist voters are on high alert and spewing maximum venom, while casual observers are wondering why the NFL sucks so damn much.

Some might say we've all done gone plumb crazy from the heat and pandemic. How else do you explain all of these people trying to turn left from the far right lane?

....(snip)....

Meanwhile, the Democrats — who continuously scream that their representatives aren't framing the narrative well enough — seem to forget they outnumber the Republicans. There's your argument framed nicely.

There's no need to scare the populace: Just encourage your guys to vote. Quit telling us how scary the Republicans are — the GOP's big stars do a fine job of that all by themselves. No one need explain the extremism of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Louie Gohmert or anyone else on that side of the ledger. More than 300 of the people running for office as Republicans across this country believe in the "Big Lie." If they won't see facts, there's no point in talking to them — or about them. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/20/we-could-face-the-sunset-of-democracy--or-the-end-of-the-world-get-off-your-butt-and-vote/

October 19, 2022

Lee Chatfield suspected of engaging in criminal enterprise

(Detroit News) Lansing — Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield is under investigation in connection with an alleged "criminal enterprise," potentially involving embezzlement, bribery, campaign finance violations and controlled substances, according to court documents obtained by The Detroit News.

The records, reported for the first time, named other high-profile figures in Lansing and detailed an array of purported crimes that agents for Attorney General Dana Nessel's office are investigating related to Chatfield, who served in the state Legislature from 2015 through 2020.

According to two April affidavits, in which state agents attempted to establish probable cause to get a judge to authorize search warrants, the Republican ex-lawmaker's brother, Aaron Chatfield, told investigators he occasionally received money from Lee Chatfield's political accounts despite not doing "any work." In one affidavit, an agent in the Attorney General's financial crimes section said Aaron Chatfield purchased and provided the prescription drug Adderall to Lee Chatfield and two Lansing lobbyists "20 to 30 times."

While both search warrants were authorized, no one has been charged as part of the investigation, which launched in January after Lee Chatfield's sister-in-law, Rebekah Chatfield, accused the former House speaker of sexually abusing her beginning when she was 15 years old. Lee Chatfield has denied wrongdoing and said through an attorney that he and his sister-in-law had a consensual affair. ..............(more)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/michigan/2022/10/18/ex-michigan-house-speaker-lee-chatfield-under-investigation-for-criminal-enterprise/69568954007/

October 19, 2022

Emergency stabilization work to start this week on OCTA-owned San Clemente tracks

Work is tentatively scheduled to begin this week to stabilize the railroad track through San Clemente in Orange County, Calif., after the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) finalized a contract with Condon-Johnson & Associations Inc., a geotechnical contractor in Los Angeles.

Emergency repairs occurred in September 2021 to the track adjacent to the Cyprus Shore Homeowners Association in southern San Clemente following heavy rain and storm surge that caused movement along the track. OCTA explains while that emergency work stabilized the track for several months, geologists and engineers monitoring the area determined after additional storm surge in September 2022 that the adjacent slope was moving again and the track was moving .01 inches to .04 inches per day. Metrolink and Amtrak halted all passenger trains from using the track on Sept. 30 out of an abundance of caution until more stabilization efforts could take place.

The OCTA Board of Directors held a special meeting Oct. 4 and declared a state of emergency for the tracks in San Clemente, which cleared the authority to finalize a contract for the stabilization work.

“We’re in uncharted territory with this emergency stabilization work and, as we’ve said all along, passenger safety is what guides all of our actions,” said OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy, also the Mayor of Orange. “We want this work to get done as soon as possible but we first need to make sure it’s done right and the slope is secure.” ................(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/maintenance/article/21284232/emergency-stabilization-work-to-start-this-week-on-octaowned-san-clemente-tracks