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COP26 updates: Summit focuses on accelerating transition to clean energy

November 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(GLASGOW, Scotland) — Leaders from nearly every country in the world have converged upon Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that experts are touting as the most important environmental summit in history.

The conference, delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed as the check-in for the progress countries are making after entering the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, a value that would be disastrous to exceed, according to climate scientists. More ambitious efforts aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Not one country is going into COP26 on track to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, according to experts. They will need to work together to find collective solutions that will drastically cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need to move from commitments into action,” Jim Harmon, chairman of the World Resources Institute, told ABC News. “The path to a better future is still possible, but time is running out.”

All eyes will be on the biggest emitters: China, the U.S. and India. While China is responsible for about 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all other developed countries combined, the cumulative emissions from the U.S. over the past century are likely twice that of China’s, David Sandalow, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told ABC News.

Here’s how the conference is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 04, 8:10 am
US needs to ‘get in the game’ on clean energy transitions, energy secretary say

The U.S. needs to lead by example in the clean energy transition and leaders should jump at the chance to scale up new technology to stay competitive on the global stage, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told ABC News.

As the “richest country in the world” and one of the biggest polluters, it will be incumbent upon Americans to “do our part,” Granholm told ABC News’ Maggie Rulli on Thursday.

“If you’re a businessperson, you want to be able to get in the game,” Granholm said. “And in the United States, we don’t want our economic competitors getting those jobs, getting those businesses. We want to be able to create it in the United States for our people to work.”

Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, said governors from states that have relied heavily on one fossil fuel industry, such as coal or oil and gas, should prioritize creating clean energy jobs for workers, adding that there are opportunities in clean energy, such as geothermal power, that use the same set of skills.

“If you’re a governor, you don’t want people moving to a new state,” she said. “They want to be able to create those opportunities inside of your state, and every single state in the United States has something to offer as a competitive advantage in clean energy.”

Nov 04, 7:34 am
Dozens of countries promise to phase out coal

A coalition of 190 countries and organizations have agreed to commit to the end of coal power at COP26, a potentially major step toward limiting global temperature increases.

Major coal-using countries such as Poland and Vietnam have committed to phasing out the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel for the first time, the U.K. government announced Wednesday night.

The coalition has committed to ending all investment in new coal power generation both domestically and internationally, rapidly scale up deployment of clean power generation, phase out coal power for major economies in the 2030s and the rest of the world by the 2040s and make a transition away from coal power in a way that benefits workers and communities.

China, Japan and Korea, the three largest public financiers of goal, have already committed to ending overseas finance for goal generation by the end of 2021.

Nov 03, 8:04 pm
Global carbon emissions set to rise after 2020’s COVID-induced reduction

Carbon emissions are on track to return to pre-COVID levels after dropping by 5.4% in 2020, according to the 16th annual Global Carbon Budget prepared by the Global Carbon Project.

Researchers from University of Exeter, University of East Anglia, CICERO and Stanford University found that coal and gas emissions are set to grow more in 2021 than they fell in 2020.

While all major emitters – U.S., China, India and the EU27 – are seeing a rise in emissions by a minimum of 4% in 2021, India and China are set to beat their respective 2019 emission levels.

“Investments in the green economy in post-COVID recovery plans of some countries have been insufficient so far, on their own, to avoid a substantial return close to pre-COVID emissions,” study leader Pierre Friedlingstein, who holds a chair in Mathematical Modelling of the Climate System at the University of Exeter, said.

Looking ahead, Friedlingstein said, “To achieve net-zero by 2050, we must cut emissions every year by an amount comparable to that seen during COVID.”

US paying a high price for climate change-induced weather disasters

November 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Weather globally and across the U.S. has grown increasingly violent, with Americans seeing a steady increase in tornado events since 1950. More than 900 tornadoes have been confirmed since Jan.1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

However, Tornadoes are not the only severe weather event leaving behind a trail of destruction. Tropical storms and hurricanes also have been wreaking havoc, amassing billions of dollars in damages. Since 1980, when NOAA began calculating overall damage costs, the U.S. has seen more than 300 extreme weather events rack up bills of over $1 billion each. Collectively, these events exceeded $ 2 trillion.

In 2020, there were 22 weather and climate disasters totaling $1 billion — a new record. This also marked the 10th consecutive year the nation had at least eight disasters with billion-dollar tabs.

Hurricane Ida slammed Louisiana in August, becoming just the third hurricane in history to make landfall in the state with winds of at least 150mph. Hurricane Laura in 2020, and the “Last Island” hurricane from 1856 are the other two. Costs from Ida are expected to surpass $64 billion, making it the second-most damaging hurricane in Louisiana, behind Hurricane Katrina.

According to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards the most recent disasters could have been worse as a system of flood gates, pumps and levees costing more than $14 billion were put to the test, avoiding disastrous flooding similar to those caused by Katrina.

“Our levees really did perform extremely well,” he said, adding, “There were a few smaller levees that were overtopped… but they did not fail.”

Still, more than a million people in Louisiana were left without power, over 90 people killed across eight states, and the remnants of Ida crippled parts of the Northeast. New York City issued a flash food emergency for the first time in history, and Central Park saw a record 3.15 inches of rainfall in a single hour, according to the National Weather Service.

“You have to meet a $30 million threshold in order to qualify for the additional FEMA assistance. We shattered that number. We’re at least $50 million in damages,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “Because of climate change, unfortunately, this is something we’re going to have to deal with with great regularity.”

Texas was sent into a deep freeze in February after historically low temperatures and multiple severe winter storms swept through northwest, central, and eastern states, leading to a catastrophic power outage. Millions suffered with no heat or drinking water, and over 125 people were killed in Texas alone. NOAA reports this as the most costly U.S winter storm on record at more than $20 billion, eclipsing the “Storm of the Century” in 1993.

Memories of being left cold and in the dark are still fresh for those like Houston resident Michael Ashby, telling ABC News, “Our temperature in the house went from 80 degrees, all the way down to 45. So, we were just snuggled together, bundled up.”

The tornadoes, hurricanes and even Texas’ deep freeze share a common source according to Stanford University climate specialist Noah Diffenbaugh.

“The heat in the upper layers of the ocean is increasing. That’s providing more energy for storms. We are seeing not just stronger storms, but also this rapid intensification of storms,” Diffenbaugh said.

More than 530 people have died this year due to severe-weather events with a price tag of about $350 billion, according to government meteorologists.

Biden appears unaware of possible separated family payments, says it won’t happen

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday denied reports that his administration was planning to pay migrant family members separated by the Trump administration up to $450,000 per person.

“That’s not going to happen,” Biden said in response to a question about the plans at a press conference Wednesday.

Biden called the reported plans “garbage” and “not true.”

The cash settlements, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, could have totaled up to $1 million per family, the paper said. ABC News confirmed last week that some officials had considered payments but reported that the exact dollar amounts had not yet been determined and could change.

The ACLU responded to Biden’s comments with a statement saying the president would be “abandoning a core campaign promise” if he doesn’t make good on the payments.

“President Biden may not have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department as it carefully deliberated and considered the crimes committed against thousands of families separated from their children as an intentional governmental policy,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said in a statement. “But if he follows through on what he said, the president is abandoning a core campaign promise to do justice for the thousands of separated families.”

As a candidate, Biden described the separation of migrant families under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance policy” as “criminal.”

The Biden administration has identified nearly 4,000 children who were separated from their families, according to the latest report from the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families. The task force has reunified 50 families, with 50 more in the process of being reunified. About 2,100 more were reunified under court orders with the help of nongovernmental organizations.

As of September, the task force was aware of 1,727 children who had still not been reunited with their parents.

Missing girl found in Australia, man in custody: ‘Our family is whole again’

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(CARNARVON, Australia) — A 36-year-old man is now in custody following the rescue of missing 4-year-old Cleo Smith, who disappeared 18 days ago while camping with her family, the Western Australia Police Force announced during a press conference.

Police said they received a tip Tuesday that led to a suburban home in Carnarvon, Australia, where they broke in and found Cleo around 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

“When she said, ‘My name is Cleo,’ I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house,” Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said Wednesday, while describing the girl’s words to the police officers. “To see Cleo rescued this morning, I’m speechless.”

He added that many detectives were “openly crying with relief.”

Blanch confirmed that Cleo has since been reunited with her parents and that the suspect in custody is currently being questioned by detectives.

Cleo’s mother, Ellie Smith, said, “Our family is whole again,” in a post on social media.

Cleo went missing on Oct. 16 after she disappeared from the tent she was sleeping in with her parents at a popular camping site north of Carnarvon.

Despite the state government offering a 1 million Australian dollar reward — equivalent to $743,000 — five days after Cleo went missing, Blanch said the money is not expected to be claimed.

“This is the outcome we all hoped and prayed for. It’s the outcome we’ve achieved because of some incredible police work,” Blanch said. “I want to thank Cleo’s parents, the Western Australian community and the many volunteers.”

China could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030: Pentagon

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — China is rapidly increasing the size of its nuclear arsenal and could have as many as 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, according to a new Pentagon report released Wednesday.

The development comes on the heels of China’s recent test of a hypersonic weapon that has raised serious concerns about China’s military buildup and its growing capability.

“The accelerating pace of the PRC’s nuclear expansion may enable the PRC (People’s Republic of China) to have up to 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027,” said this year’s version of the annual Pentagon report formally known as “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.”

“The PRC likely intends to have at least 1,000 warheads by 2030, exceeding the pace and size the DoD projected in 2020,” it added. That increase is dramatically different than was projected in last year’s version of the report which predicted a doubling of China’s current nuclear arsenal of several hundred warheads.

Even with China’s dramatic increase, it’s larger nuclear arsenal will still be much less than the United States’ declared stockpile of 3,750 warheads capable of being deployed by hundreds of land-based and sea-launched missiles and a strategic bomber fleet.

In recent months, the growth of China’s nuclear force has been captured by commercial satellite images showing the construction of hundreds of missile silos at three locations in northern and western China.

“New developments in 2020 further suggest that the PRC intends to increase the peacetime readiness of its nuclear forces by moving to a launch-on-warning (LOW) posture with an expanded silo-based force,” said the report.

China’s leaders have publicly stated that they want China’s military become a global power by 2050 as they move beyond what is currently assessed to be a military force with only regional capabilities.

The report indicated China’s growth of its military capabilities are in line with that plan noting that they “continue to strengthen the PRC’s ability to “fight and win wars” against a “strong enemy” [a likely euphemism for the United States], coerce Taiwan and rival claimants in territorial disputes, counter an intervention by a third party in a conflict along the PRC’s periphery, and project power globally.”

That growing military capability was demonstrated recently after reports emerged that over the summer China had tested a new hypersonic glide weapon capable of orbiting the earth that could eventually carry a nuclear weapon.

The development of a “fractional orbital bombardment system” raised concerns about how the United States could counter such a system that could conceivably travel at hypersonic speeds, or greater than five times the speed of sound, after reentering the atmosphere.

Like other hypersonic vehicles it would be hard to track because the glide vehicles are maneuverable in the atmosphere, unlike ballistic warheads that follow a fixed trajectory, meaning they could weave their way around American radars and ground-based interceptor missile systems.

“The U.S. does not currently have the ability to even track this weapon, much less defeat it,” said Steve Ganyard, a retired Marine colonel and ABC News contributor who noted that American radars pointing to the Cold War threat of missiles coming over the North Pole would not be in a position to detect a hypersonic weapon coming from the south.

Earlier on Wednesday, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that China’s recent test of an apparent hypersonic weapon capable of delivering a nuclear warhead was “very significant,” but “not a Sputnik moment,” at least in terms of novelty.

That term refers to the 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union that caught Americans off guard and led the United States to play catch up leading to a space and arms race.

“They’re not new, they’ve been around for a while. So, in that limited, narrow sense, it’s not a Sputnik moment, because Sputnik was new at the time,” Milley said in comments at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, D.C.

Last week, Milley was the first American official to publicly confirm the test labeling it “a very significant technological event” but also said he didn’t know “if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that.”

Milley described the test as part of the larger trend by China to be a bigger player on the international stage.

“If you look at the totality, this test that occurred a couple weeks ago is only one of a much, much broader picture of a military capability with respect to the Chinese,” said Milley. “That is very, very significant. We’re witnessing, in my view, we’re witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power at the world has witnessed.”

Recent flight activity near Taiwan has once again raised concerns about whether China is poising to launch military action against the island it considers to be a breakaway province.

Asked if he believed that China is likely to invade Taiwan, Milley replied, “Based on my analysis of China, I don’t think that is likely in the next near future,” a time period he defined as meaning over the next six to 24 months.

“Having said that, though, the Chinese are clearly and unambiguously building the capability to provide those options to the national leadership if they so choose at some point in the future,” he said.

Talks over Iran’s nuclear program scheduled to resume Nov. 29 amid high tensions

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program will resume on Nov. 29, Iran’s top negotiator and the European Union’s senior diplomat coordinating previous rounds announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes amid high tensions over Tehran’s growing nuclear stockpile and advancing capabilities, with pressure growing on President Joe Biden to consider a “Plan B.”

If they go ahead as scheduled, the indirect talks will be the first meetings in over five months and the first under the new government of the more hard-line conservative president, Ebrahim Raisi, who was elected in June.

The U.S. and Iran have still not met directly but instead held six previous rounds of negotiations through intermediaries, the remaining parties to the Obama-era nuclear deal — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.

While there’s finally a date on the books, critics still contend that Iran is simply buying time as it continues to build out its nuclear program.

Key questions about negotiations remain. In particular, where they will start — from the beginning again, or from where the previous rounds with the last Iranian government left off? And will Iran continue to demand the U.S. acts first by granting sanctions relief — citing former President Donald Trump’s exit from the original agreement?

The Biden administration has said repeatedly it wants a “mutual return to compliance,” in which the U.S. lifts sanctions as Iran scales back the steps it took in violation of the deal. Starting one year after Trump’s exit, Iran began its own violations, such as enriching more uranium to higher levels, using more advanced centrifuges and more of them.

European allies have joined the U.S. in expressing growing concern about those steps and the months of delay since Iran’s presidential election in June.

In a joint statement Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined Biden in condemning the “accelerated… pace of provocative nuclear steps” by Iran, including enriching uranium metal and enriching uranium to 60%.

“Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure, but both are important to nuclear weapons programs,” they warned.

But they added they continue to hope for a diplomatic solution, saying, “We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.”

It’s unclear if Raisi’s government is on the same page. Iran’s new top negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, tweeted Wednesday that Iran “agreed to start the negotiations aiming at removal of unlawful & inhumane sanctions” — perhaps a sign that talks will have to start over instead of resume where they left off.

But the State Department was quick to reject that. Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Wednesday if talks “are to succeed, if we are to close the remaining areas of disagreement, they should start precisely where the sixth round of talks left off… It would be neither productive nor wise to take up from any other position.”

Critics say Iran’s nuclear program is already too far advanced to keep the nuclear deal alive. But Price added again that the Biden administration still believes “there is a window in which we can achieve a mutual return to compliance” — in part, he said, because there’s a “relatively small number of issues that remained outstanding” when talks were last held in June.

The in-person meetings will again be coordinated by the EU’s senior diplomat, Enrique Mora, in Vienna, the Austrian capital. U.S. special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, will lead the U.S. delegation, according to Price — meeting all the parties except Iran, which refuses to sit down with the Americans.

What the Minneapolis vote on police reform means for the movement

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — Minneapolis voters on Tuesday rejected a charter amendment that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety.

About 56% of voters voted “no” on the charter amendment, which was pitched as a “public health approach” to policing in response to the anti-police brutality movement of 2020.

Corenia Smith, campaign manager for Yes 4 Minneapolis, the group behind the charter proposal, released a statement on the proposal’s loss.

“This campaign began with working-class Black and brown residents marching together to demand a higher standard of public safety in the city,” Smith said. “It grew into a citywide movement that spanned race, income and neighborhoods, to give residents a say in their future and to advocate for the resources that they need.”

The amendment would have removed the police department from the city’s charter, removed the requirement to employ 1.7 officers for every 1,000 residents and would have replaced the police chief with a commissioner, who would be nominated by the mayor and approved by the city council.

Police reform has been a powder keg issue following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. His death prompted national divisions over whether to “defund” policing systems across the country in order to change the way departments operate.

“While this is not the result that we hoped for, the story of our movement must be told,” Smith wrote.

Yes 4 Minneapolis collected over 22,000 signatures, knocked on over 100,000 doors, made almost 200,000 phone calls and sent 300,000 text messages to Minneapolis residents about expanding public safety in the city, according to Smith.

The movement, which also included the work of partnering organizations, faced several challenges, including a lawsuit by several Minneapolis residents who sued the city council for promoting a “misleading ballot question.”

Those residents claimed in the lawsuit that the council “approved an incomplete and misleading ballot question regarding an amendment to the City Charter that would eliminate the Minneapolis Police Department without any plan for replacing that department’s critical public safety functions.”

The proposal language was challenged several times and vetoed by Mayor Jacob Frey until the city council finally passed the official language that appeared on the ballot.

Frey, a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, denounced the efforts.

“My primary reason for opposing this charter amendment comes down to accountability,” Frey previously said in a statement to ABC News. “If passed, this proposal will dilute accountability by diffusing responsibility for public safety across 14 policymakers. The result would likely leave voters — and the department — uncertain of who among the 13 council members and mayor’s office is actually directing, and responsible for, the department’s activity.”

Frey said he believes that a change in department leadership would lead to a major setback for “accountability and good governance.”

Smith claims the proposal was misrepresented throughout the campaign season by Frey and others who oppose the changes to policing.

“We spoke the truth, while the opposition, Democrats and Republicans alike, spread lies and mischaracterized our measure to create confusion, distrust and fear,” Smith alleged.

Some voters also said the charter change was confusing and lacked specifics and a clear message of how the transition would affect the city.

“I knew it wasn’t gonna pass,” said Tallaya Byers, a North Minneapolis resident who was in favor of the amendment. “There’s a lot of people that don’t understand. It was all confusing. People didn’t understand the plan behind replacing it with the Public Safety Department. So I knew that it was going to end up like that.”

Some voters say a lack of resident input helped lead the proposal to its downfall.

“[Voters] want to take an approach that is well thought out, well researched and includes the voices and perspectives of community members who are normally marginalized in our society,” said Minneapolis resident Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was against the charter amendment.

Teto Wilson, a North Minneapolis resident who was also against the charter amendment, said he rejected the amendment because it seemed “arbitrarily” put together and hopes the council works on a more thorough plan for the city in the upcoming legislative periods.

Leili Fatehi, the campaign manager of All of Mpls, an advocacy group against the charter, said she hopes Mayor Jacob Frey and the city council commit to addressing the issues of policing.

“Minneapolis voters have made clear that they want a planful approach to transforming policing and public safety in our city that includes meaningful consultation with the communities most impacted by violence and over-policing, and a real conversation about how to ensure every resident is protected from crime and from police brutality,” Fatehi said in a statement to ABC News.

Despite the loss, activists say that their efforts won’t stop, as roughly 43% of people voted “yes” for the charter amendment.

“Even though ballot question #2 wasn’t approved this year, we will continue to fight to expand what safety looks like for Black and brown communities,” Rashad Robinson, the spokesperson for Color of Change, said. “In doing so, we will challenge how our society views safety and the resources attached to addressing public safety, in hopes of providing a more just and equitable future for all.”

Jury seated in trial of men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(GLYNN COUNTY, Ga.) — A jury was impaneled on Wednesday to decide the fate of three white Georgia men accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who prosecutors allege was just out for a Sunday jog in 2020 when he was attacked.

Opening statements in the murder trial will likely begin Friday in Brunswick, Georgia, the judge said.

The jury panel in the Glynn County Superior Court case was picked after an arduous selection process that lasted nearly three weeks and started with a pool of 1,000 potential jurors. The 12 selected include 11 white people and one Black person, which caused an objection based on racial bias. Each juror was revisited and the court felt that it did seem there was discrimination, but was limited as to what could be done.

“This is the most complicated jury selection that I have ever been part of and that includes death penalty cases,” Kevin Gough, the attorney for defendant William “Roddie” Bryan, said during a court hearing Thursday morning.

The 16 jurors, including four alternates, were selected from a smaller pool of 64 qualified would-be candidates. All 16 jurors will be sworn in to hear evidence in the case.

Before the final stage of jury selection commenced, one of the potential jurors in the qualified pool was dismissed for cause after Gough alerted the court to a series of TikTok videos brought to his attention overnight of the 44-year-old woman performing what he described as a “dance tribute” to Arbery. Gough noted that at least one of the videos posted by the prospective juror included a heart emoji and the hashtag RunWithMaud.

“Clearly this juror has an emotional connection to Mr. Arbery,” Gough said.

The pool of 48 from which they were drawn included 36 whites and 12 African Americans, a makeup that is more in line with the population of Glynn County, which is 30% Black.

The three defendants are Gregory McMichael, 65, a retired police officer, his son, Travis McMichael, 35, and their neighbor, Bryan, 52.

The men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

The McMichaels and Bryan were also indicted on federal hate crime charges in April and have all pleaded not guilty.

Arbery was out jogging on Feb. 23, 2020, through the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick when he stopped and went into a house under construction, according to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing. A surveillance video showed Arbery, who lived in another neighborhood of Brunswick, inside the unsecured house looking around and leaving empty-handed.

Arbery continued running past the McMichaels’ home, where Gregory McMichael spotted him and believed he matched the description of a neighborhood burglary suspect, according to his lawyer.

Investigators allege that Gregory McMichael and his son armed themselves and chased after Arbery in a pickup truck bearing a vanity plate of a Confederate flag. Bryan allegedly joined the pursuit and, according to prosecutors, attempted to use his truck to block Arbery’s path.

Travis McMichael is also expected to claim self-defense, arguing the use of deadly force was justified when Arbery violently resisted a citizens’ arrest under a law that existed at the time. The pre-Civil War-era law that was repealed in May primarily due to the Arbery killing gave civilians the power to arrest someone they “reasonably suspected” of trying to escape from a felony.

Bryan recorded a cellphone video of the confrontation that partly caught Travis McMichael shooting Arbery during a struggle and is expected to be the key evidence prosecutors plan to present at trial.

Bryan’s lawyer claims he was just a witness to the incident, but prosecutors alleged he was an active participant. Prosecutors also allege that Bryan told investigators he overheard Travis McMichael yell a racial slur at Arbery as he lay dying in the street, an allegation the younger McMichael denies.

Since Arbery’s killing, the case has frequently been in the national spotlight as protesters took to the streets for weeks to demand the suspects be arrested and as two district attorneys recused themselves.

Former Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson, the first prosecutor to get the case and who once had a working relationship with Gregory McMichael, was indicted in September on a felony count of violating her oath of office by allegedly “showing favor and affection” to Gregory McMichael and a misdemeanor count of hindering a law enforcement officer. Johnson, who lost a reelection bid in November 2020, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

New Jersey’s 2021 gubernatorial election results

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Voters in New Jersey headed to the polls on Tuesday to weigh in on Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s reelection bid. New Jersey and Virginia were the only two states with a gubernatorial election in an off year, and all eyes were on them as the first official test for President Joe Biden at the ballot box.

But as of 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the New Jersey governor’s race was still too close to call.

Murphy and former member of the state assembly Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee, were swapping leads in early vote totals, but as heavily-Democratic counties processed mail-in ballots Wednesday afternoon, Murphy widened his lead over Ciattarelli. Still, vote totals remained outstanding.

Leading up to the election, Murphy comfortably led in public polling, but the race was still seen as a referendum on Biden’s agenda.

Democrats nationwide have attempted to equate all Republicans with former President Donald Trump, but Republicans deployed that same tactic as they tied Democrats to Biden, whose poll numbers began to sink over the summer with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the spread of the delta variant and congressional negotiations over his agenda.

National Democrats, while more concerned with Virginia, swung through New Jersey to stump for Murphy, as well. He’s hosted former President Barack Obama, First lady Jill Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Although New Jersey is reliable for Democrats when it comes to presidential and Senate elections, if he wins, Murphy would be the first Democratic governor reelected by New Jerseyans in more than 40 years.

Counties are colored red or blue when the % expected vote reporting reaches a set threshold. This threshold varies by state and is based on patterns of past vote reporting and expectations about how the vote will report this year.

‘People want us to get things done,’ Biden says in response to Tuesday’s election losses

November 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday reiterated calls for his own party to move hastily on his legislative agenda following a punishing election night for Democrats.

“People want us to get things done,” Biden said when asked about former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s upset loss in the battleground. “They want us to get things done. And that’s why I’m continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my Build Back Better bill.”

Democratic lawmakers appear to be feeling the pressure. On Wednesday, some said it was more urgent than ever to pass Biden’s legislative agenda, pointing to a lack of deliverables they say may have soured voters on Tuesday.

Democrats have been paralyzed on a path forward for Biden’s social spending plan and a separate massive bipartisan infrastructure bill for months. Senators say McAuliffe’s loss and the razor-thin margin in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race are voter responses to that inaction.

“Democrats let Terry down,” Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine said Wednesday. “If we had done the infrastructure and reconciliation bills in October that we will almost certainly do by the end of the month, it would have been extremely helpful to him because it would have meant that Democrats are doers, Democrats deliver things that people care about in suburban communities.”

Democrats have struggled for months to find their way out of a complex political maze they set for themselves in the face of unified Republican opposition to Biden’s social spending agenda. Earlier this year, leadership tied a $1 trillion infrastructure package that includes funding for roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, to a separate social spending package that was yet to be drafted. They vowed one would not progress without the other.

The Senate passed the $1 trillion infrastructure package in August, but it is still negotiating over the social spending package. The House has not yet held a vote on either bill as a result. It may finally vote on both packages as early as this week — too late to impact Tuesday’s election results.

Inaction on the infrastructure package has left moderate Democrats who helped negotiate the bill, like Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, wringing their hands. Warner said both packages urgently need to be passed, but he noted that the infrastructure package could have provided McAuliffe a much-needed win.

“Only in Washington could people think that it is a smart strategy to take a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure and prevent your president from signing that bill into law and that’s somehow a good strategy,” Warner said. “It’s not just about the substance of the bill, it’s about showing that you can govern in a way that affects people’s lives.”

Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has been demanding a House vote on the infrastructure bill for weeks. McAuliffe’s loss is just another sign that it’s time, Manchin said Wednesday.

“The House needs to really truly pass the infrastructure bill,” Manchin said. That’s something that’s proven. That’s what they really want.”

But Manchin is perhaps the most insurmountable obstacle in the Democratic quest to pass “Build Back Better” because of his opposition to several provisions in the president’s framework, including an expansion of Medicare and paid family leave.

Manchin reiterated Wednesday concerns about cost and inflation, the same point Republicans successfully used to campaign against Biden’s agenda. But Democrats Wednesday said their losses were about a lack of deliverables, not a rejection of the overall plan.

Asked whether voters were pushing back on progressive policies, Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said he didn’t believe so.

When it’s finally done, Durbin said he believes “America will receive it, I think, in a positive way.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., diagnosed Tuesday’s losses as “failure to deliver.”

“Congress has to deliver,” Blumenthal said. “The window is closing. We have no more time. We need to get it done.”

Democrats fear that unless they can make significant movement on Biden’s policy, the Virginia race could prove to be a bellwether for the 2022 midterms.

“I’m worried not just in Virginia, I’m worried across the country,” Warner said Wednesday. “We’ve got to show that we can deliver in a pragmatic way that affects people’s lives.”

“There’s no time left,” Durbin said. “This warning to us came early enough for us to do something about it, and now we have to respond.”

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