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What to know about ‘referendums’ announced in Ukraine ‘republics’ to join Russia

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(KYIV, Ukraine) — A so-called “referendum” to join Russia announced by pro-Russian authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine has raised alarm bells globally as experts and leaders see it as a manipulative farce by Russia to force control over parts of Ukraine as Ukrainian forces are pushing back on Russian forces.

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink referred to the referendums, as well as increased military mobilization, as “signs of weakness, of Russian failure,” echoing many opinions that Russia is acting out under pressure in response to Ukrainian advances.

“The United States will never recognize Russia’s claim to purportedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Brink tweeted Tuesday.

The voting is planned for Sept. 23 to 27. Self-appointed Kremlin-backed officials of the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions also announced they would hold referendums on the same dates.

“We believe it is more timely than ever to make a strong-willed decision on the immediate holding of a referendum on the unification of the Kherson region with the Russian Federation,” the local so-called Public Council said at a meeting Tuesday.

The Russian Central Elections Commission said it would set up polling stations in Russia. Voters would be presented with one question: “Are you in favor of the secession of the Zaporizhia region from Ukraine, the formation of an independent state by the Zaporizhia region and its entry into the Russian Federation as a subject of the Russian Federation?”

This decision of the Kremlin’s proxies to stage sham referendums marked a significant escalation of the conflict and has been widely condemned by world leaders.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russian statements a “sedative” for the Russian audience.

“There is global consensus and international law,” Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the office of the president posted on Twitter. “It is unambiguous: Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea are Ukraine. Any attempts to repaint flags are a fiction that will not change anything for us nor for our partners.”

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that any referendum in Russian-occupied territories will not have any legal consequences.

“No matter how much the Russian Federation holds illegal votes in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the result will be the same: all Ukrainian territories will be freed from Russian occupation, and the Russian leadership will be brought to the strictest responsibility for organized terror, war crimes and crimes against humanity on Ukrainian soil,” the statement said.

U.S. President Joe Biden also criticized what he called Russia’s “outrageous acts” in a speech at the United Nations on Wednesday.

“Just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe and reckless disregard of the responsibilities of a nonproliferation regime,” he said. “Now, Russia is calling up more soldiers to join the fight and the Kremlin is organizing a sham referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the U.N. Charter.”

The eastern part of Ukraine has been occupied by Russian proxies since 2014. In late February 2022, right before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the “independence” of the so-called DPR and LPR. Since then, the leaders of the unrecognized republics have called for integration with Russia, but Moscow has reiterated that such a decision is not timely.

Parts of southern Ukraine were occupied by Russian forces during the 2022 invasion. The occupational authorities there have tried to hold unofficial referendums to proclaim “independence” following Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Donbas region. The efforts have so far failed and the referendums have been postponed several times.

Now, such a possibility looks much more realistic.

In a speech Wednesday, Putin said Russia would support any decision the electorate makes and provide security for the referendums.

Meanwhile, the Russian leader announced partial mobilization across the country that would draft up to 300,000 men to be sent to war in Ukraine, according to the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The timing of the referendums and mobilization, is not a coincidence, experts say. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War believe Ukraine’s ongoing northern counter-offensive is panicking proxy forces and some Kremlin decision-makers.

In early September, the Ukrainian Armed Forces astonished the world with its lightning counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, moving the Russians more than 30 miles east in just a few days. Videos showed Russian soldiers running away, leaving behind vehicles and ammunition.

In all, the Ukrainian Armed Forces says it has liberated more than 3,700 square miles of territory so far, according to the Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar. This also includes some areas in the southern Kherson region, where Ukrainians are moving forward slowly but steadily, liberating village by village.

Russia’s retreat from the Kharkiv region sparked not only praise of the Ukrainian Army in the West, but also criticism of Russian authorities even amid the Russian propagandist media. Some military bloggers expressed the idea of “freezing” the war in Ukraine, which they claim would be beneficial to Russia itself.

Should masks return in fall and winter to prevent a COVID surge?

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the United States heads into the fall and winter, questions are arising about whether the return of masks is needed to stem a potential COVID-19 surge.

Evidence has shown COVID cases and hospitalizations tend to rise during the colder months when people congregate indoors. Some health officials warn the virus could surge again in December and January.

Currently, cases and hospitalizations are on the decline in the U.S. after having peaked in late July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those who are vaccinated and boosted are at much lower risk of falling severely ill and dying from COVID-19. CDC data shows unvaccinated Americans have a five times higher risk of dying compared to those who’ve received just a primary series and a seven times higher risk of dying compared to those who also received at least one booster dose.

Experts told ABC News that while vaccination is the best protection against COVID-19, some people may need to consider masking to protect themselves in case infections rise.

“My recommendation to people would be to mask when in indoor crowded spaces,” Dr. Stuart Ray, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News. “I’ve spent a great deal of time with patients who have COVID and have not contracted the infection from what I can tell, both from antibody testing and from a lack of syndrome.”

Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News that masks have helped reduce COVID transmission in health care settings.

“I’ve worked in a respiratory infection clinic with COVID patients at the height of their contagiousness and they’re breathing in my face, and I haven’t gotten COVID from patients,” she said. “I really do believe that PPE works, that masks work.”

However, experts admitted it will be hard to convince Americans to wear masks again after so many cities and states have done away with mandates.

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver remain the three biggest cities in the U.S. where masks are still required on public transit. In most cities, only health care environments still require mask mandates.

Ray said he believes a surge, similar to those caused by the delta and the omicron variants, would be the only thing drum up support of mandates.

“I think that people are really tired of this pandemic and there is, culturally, very little appetite for mandates, for masking,” Ray said. “And so, it’s a steep climb to tell people unless there’s a particular context in which it’s important, like a health care setting when there are many vulnerable people.”

He added, “If we were to come into a highly disruptive surge, then the appetite for a mandate might change, because people realize that a bunch of essential services are being disrupted. If hospitals got stressed by the surge, then I think we might see mandates returned.”

Doron said that although she supports masking, she doesn’t believe that cities and counties should reinstate mask mandates because many people take them off indoors for prolonged periods of time anyway, increasing the risk of transmission.

“In the community, we had mask mandates where you wear masks unless you’re eating or drinking and if you’ve ever traveled in an airport or on an airplane, where there when there was a mask mandate, you know that, you know, people are pretty much eating and drinking the entire time,” Doron said. “And so, it just doesn’t have the ability to do what it’s meant to do.”

In the absence of mask mandates, the experts said people may need to assess their individual risk level and decide if wearing a mask will help protect themselves and those around them.

“You to weigh your own susceptibility, your own tolerance for the risk of the long-term complications, which are still somewhat unknown and the risks that you might pose to people you care for either professionally or personally at home,” Ray said. “Now, some people may decide — and this is the judgment part — that they just don’t care that they don’t think that this is a big deal, and that they’ll just get infected and that they’re likely not to be hospitalized.”

Dr. Thomas Murray, an associate professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, said assessing the risk level also applies to kids in school, where many mask mandates have been lifted.

“Children who have higher risk, like asthma, might be an example of that,” Murray said. “What we’re really trying to balance is having kids enjoy a normal in-person school experience with the risks that go with congregating in classes when we have lots of respiratory viruses circulating.”

He said if schools don’t reimplement masking, other strategies “become critically important” for children, such as screening, testing and keeping them home if they have symptoms.

However, not all masks are created equally. For those who plan to keep wearing masks or choose to start wearing them again heading into the colder months, the experts recommend wearing a high-quality mask.

“I think that single-layer cloth masks really don’t provide much protection,” Ray said.

Doron said if you cannot get a N95 or KN95, or cannot wear one for long periods of time, a surgical mask will provide protection.

“The surgical mask does provide protection, especially if it fits you well,” she said. “And then there are ways to make it fit better, ways to fold it or and tuck it and tie the strap for your ears.”

After Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Ricans are frustrated with electric grid, infrastructure problems

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Fiona has pummeled Puerto Rico, an island whose infrastructure struggled to recover from the devastating Hurricane Maria that killed almost 3,000 people in 2017.

Fiona left many without electricity and water, including Pedro Julio Serrano, a resident and human rights activist.

“It’s not a natural disaster. This is a political disaster,” Julio Serrano told ABC News.

Some Puerto Ricans who spoke with ABC News are frustrated with the lack of progress in reconstructing the island so residents no longer have to worry about having running water, electricity, and safe roads, buildings and more.

After Maria, many elderly, sick, and disabled people died because they didn’t have the electricity or access to the care and necessities they required, according to Puerto Rican officials. Following Fiona, hospitals and people in need of care have been left scrambling to find generators to support them, according to Puerto Rico’s Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.

“The vast majority of the people who died [from Maria] was because of incompetence and because people couldn’t get their power back for months,” Julio Serrano said. “What is happening is criminal.”

Some residents said local and federal governments have had several years to fix things.

“We really shouldn’t have to be resilient in the 21st century, when we’re supposed to be a part of the richest nation in the world,” Victor Amauri, referring to Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory, told ABC News. Amauri is a resident and spokesperson for Brigada Solidaria del Oeste, a local activist group.

Puerto Rico’s electric system has long been unstable, even before Hurricane Maria devastated the island. As a result, blackouts have been a regular part of life for many residents for the last five years, according to island residents.

Those who spoke with ABC News say they blame LUMA, a private company that has operated and managed Puerto Rico’s electric power transmission and distribution system since June 2021.

LUMA said it was currently working with customers to restore power and stabilize the grid.

“We will continue to work non-stop until every customer is restored and the entire grid is reenergized” LUMA Public Safety Manager, Abner Gómez, said in a statement. “While these efforts continue over the coming days, we strongly encourage customers to continue to exercise caution and stay away from any downed power lines.”

Much of the federal money allocated to help fix the electric grid has not been spent due to disagreements between Puerto Rican officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on how to use it.

LUMA, as well as the Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi, did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Cynthia Burgos López, resident and executive director of La Maraña, a group dedicated to rebuilding Puerto Rico, told ABC News that residents hadn’t seen the impact of federal dollars on the island.

“Being a colony from the States, we have a lot of money that’s being sent all the time to Puerto Rico, but we have such a corrupt government, that nothing gets to the communities,” she said.

Burgos López recalled the long, but recent history of government officials who have been embroiled in corruption scandals.

At least nine Puerto Rican mayors and several other government officials have been arrested on charges of bribery, extortion, and more in recent years.

Residents said they blame the long-standing corruption, under-resourcing and underfunding for why the island was not ready for Fiona, and why it will not be ready for the next storm.

“We know that without Fiona, we were not having light. So with Fiona, we were going to be monthslong without light,” Burgos López told ABC News.

Some also told ABC News that barriers imposed by the United States — such as the enforcement of the Jones Act, which mandates ships carrying goods between U.S. ports to be built in the United States — have continued to place a financial strain on Puerto Rico and its residents due to increased prices of goods, though it’s a furiously debated topic.

For now, residents are working together to ensure their fellow community members get what they need, and not waiting for outside help to touch down on the island. However, some residents and activists plan to protest, and demand action from officials in the wake of the storm’s damage.

Amauri said there are long lines to get gasoline, people using generators to refrigerate their food, and residents are scrambling to find clean drinking water.

“People are suffering more each day,” he said.

In heated debate, Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem reveals he sat for Jan. 6, DOJ interview

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PHOENIX) — Arizona Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem revealed during Thursday’s debate that he has been interviewed by both the Justice Department and Jan. 6 committee about his alleged involvement in the Capitol attack.

This was the first time Finchem has publicly confirmed speaking on the matter with federal officials.

“They asked me, why was I there? I said, ‘Well, I think you already know. I was there to deliver an evidence package to Representative Paul Gosar,'” Finchem, who was subpoenaed by the committee earlier this year, told reporters after the debate.

The four-term, far-right Arizona lawmaker, who continues to espouse the “Big Lie” and is running to be the state’s chief election officer, revealed the Jan. 6 interview and Justice Department involvement in a back-and-forth on the debate stage with his opponent, Democrat Adrian Fontes.

“I was interviewed by the DOJ and the J-6 commission as a witness,” Finchem said. “So for him to assert that I was part of a criminal uprising is absurd. And frankly, it is a lie.” Finchem told reporters after the debate that the meeting was “a couple of months ago.”

Fontes, the former Maricopa County elections recorder during the 2020 election, prompted the comment by bringing up Finchem’s efforts to decertify President Joe Biden’s win, Finchem’s presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and affiliation with the Oath Keepers militia group.

“Good,” Fontes told reporters after the debate regarding the revelation that Finchem sat for investigators. “I hope they investigate, and if he did something wrong, I hope that they prosecute and convict him.”

ABC News has asked Finchem’s campaign whether he sat for more than one interview with federal investigators and whether he traveled to Washington for the sit-down.

Finchem, leaving the Arizona PBS studio immediately after the debate while reporters chased after him, said he was not asked by investigators about “Stop the Steal” coalition organizer Ali Alexander specifically, and when asked about Alexander’s characterization of him as a “close friend,” Finchem distanced himself, saying, “That’s probably an exaggeration.”

But on the debate stage, Fontes repeatedly tied Finchem to the insurrection.

“He’s part of an organization that has called for the violent overthrow of our government. He has supporters and he himself has called for a civil war in this country, the stockpiling of ammunition for this very war,” Fontes said. “It is an unhinged and violent aspect of Mr. Finchem that he’d rather not discuss.”

“Last time I checked, to be at a place when something is happening is not illegal,” Finchem countered. “I’ve been treated as a witness, not a subject.”

Finchem claimed he was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the attack to deliver a book of information to Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., which he said contained evidence of irregularities in the 2020 election.

“I was there to develop — or to deliver — an evidence book to two congressional members of my constitutionally elected congressional caucus, so that they had the information that they needed to have in the well of the Senate, when they went to argue for a question in controversy,” he said.

While maintaining that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, Finchem said he has “no idea” if there were irregularities in the August primary, which he won, adding, “It is what it is.”

When asked what changed from 2020 to 2022, Finchem said, “The candidates.”

“Not the process, not the people running things, not the rules,” Fontes replied, calling Finchem’s comment “most telling.”

On mail-in voting, Finchem said he doesn’t support every Arizonan getting a mail-in ballot, like Fontes tried to have enacted in Maricopa County in 2020, and dismissed concerns he would try to restrict mail-in voting. He said, “I don’t care for mail-in voting. That’s why I go to the poll.”

Fontes, who supports early and mail-in voting — an option the vast majority of Arizonans use to cast ballots — said, “Mr. Finchem wants to strip Arizonans of their capacity to vote by mail. That’s dangerous.”

Finchem has also previously said he supports getting rid of electronic voting machines in favor of a full hand-count of ballots.

When asked about the role of the federal government in Arizona’s elections, Finchem said, “I think the federal government needs to butt out of states’ rights. It is the legislature who names the time, place and manner of election, not the federal government.”

Fontes interrupted to say, “I think Article One, Section Four of the Constitution of the United States of America would disagree with Mr. Finchem’s assertion about who is charged with the time, place and manner of elections that clearly Congress plays a significant role and that happens to be the federal government, for your information, sir.”

Fontes, who lost his reelection as Maricopa County elections recorder to Republican Stephen Richer, has used his 2020 loss to defend Arizona’s election process.

“This could be the last election in our lifetime,” Fontes told ABC News in a recent interview, expressing concern about the number of candidates on his ballot who deny the validity of the last election. “We can’t depend on the legislature. We can’t depend on the courts. We have to depend on the American people and Arizona’s voters.”

Voting starts in Arizona on Oct. 12.

Elton John set to rock the White House Friday night

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — British pop legend Elton John is set to rock the White House on Friday night, playing for President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden in a South Lawn performance the White House says “will celebrate the unifying and healing power of music.”

Biden has said his songs hold deep meaning for him and John, CNN reported, asked the White House if he could perform.

The event, dubbed “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” is part of a collaboration with A&E Networks and The History Channel, according to the White House. The title of the event is a quote from Irish poet Seamus Heaney that Biden frequently uses in speeches and remarks, including when he accepted the Democratic nomination in 2020.

The event, before Cabinet secretaries and 2,000 invited guests, is to honor John’s life and work, according to the White House, as well as to commemorate “the everyday history-makers in the audience, including teachers, nurses, frontline workers, mental health advocates, students, LGBTQ+ advocates and more.”

Biden and his wife will make remarks.

John has a concert scheduled Saturday night at nearby Nationals Park, part of his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.” The 300-plus world tour dates are a farewell to his fans all over the world, according to the “Crocodile Rock” singer, part of a nearly 50-year career in music.

It’s not the first time the singer has been at the White House. In 1998, President Bill Clinton invited him to play at a state dinner for then-U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, along with Stevie Wonder.

Biden has said that John’s music has comforted his family at its most painful moments.

In his 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, Biden recounted visiting his son Beau in the hospital one night shortly before Beau died of brain cancer. John had been at the White House earlier that day, Biden wrote.

When he reached Beau’s bedside that night, Biden said, he sang “Crocodile Rock” to Beau — just as he had to Beau and his other son, Hunter, many years before, after Biden’s wife and daughter were killed in a car accident.

“The words came back like it was yesterday, but after the first few lines I started to get emotional and wasn’t sure if I could go on,” Biden wrote. “Beau didn’t open his eyes, but I could see through my own tears that he was smiling. So I gathered myself and kept at it, for as much of the song as I could remember.”

In addition to his music, John has also been lauded for his work as an AIDS activist, having testified numerous times on Capitol Hill in support of AIDS funding. To date, according to its website, the Elton John AIDS foundation has raised over $600 million since its inception in 1992.

John also has another presidential fan — former President Donald Trump who reportedly wanted the Grammy award winner to play at his inauguration, but John declined.

Trump frequently plays John’s music at his rallies and infamously reacted to the news of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “Tiny Dancer” blared in the background.

Trump even dubbed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man” in what appears to be a reference to John’s song, “Rocket Man.” The singer also performed at Trump’s wedding in 2005 to his curreent wife, Melania.

Nearly 225,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since the start of 2022 despite viral declines, data shows

September 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Although the daily death rates have ticked down slightly from August, updated federal data shows that the U.S. is still losing hundreds of Americans to COVID-19 every day, and 225,000 people in the U.S. have been lost to the virus since the start of 2022.

On average, more than 350 American deaths related to COVID-19 are still reported each day, and over the last seven days, the U.S. has reported nearly 2,500 deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, totals remain much lower than during prior COVID-19 surges, such as in January 2021, when an average of 3,500 people were reported lost to the virus on a daily basis.

The reaching of yet another grim milestone follows President Joe Biden’s remarks on CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday, during which he said “the pandemic is over.”

“We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. It’s — but the pandemic is over,” Biden said.

Earlier this week, public health experts pushed back on the president’s assertion, telling ABC News that that pandemic is not over yet, and that Biden’s comments may be somewhat premature.

In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky was reluctant to directly agree with the president’s assertion that “the pandemic is over,” but with hospitalization and case rates falling, and vaccines and treatments available, she said that “we’re in a different place.”

“I think if we look at the big picture, things are very different,” she said. “We’re in a different place. Schools are open and businesses are open. We have a lot of population immunity out there right now.”

However, Walensky said that even though there are currently fewer people dying from the virus on a daily basis in the U.S., hundreds of Americans are still dying of COVID-19 every day — a fatality rate that remains too high.

“Three hundred fifty deaths a day is still too many as far as I’m concerned, but we’re in a very different place,” Walensky added.

As the U.S. heads into the fall, wastewater levels in some parts of the country have indicated a slight upturn in the percentage of COVID-19 virus in samplings. Even so, the daily average of new infections continues to hover around 55,000 cases.

However, dozens of states have moved to shutter public testing sites, with more at-home COVID-19 tests now available. Most Americans are not reporting their results to officials, and thus, experts suggest that infection totals are likely significantly undercounted.

COVID-19 testing levels have also plummeted to their lowest point since the onset of the pandemic, with approximately 350,000 tests reported each day, compared to more than 2.5 million tests reported daily at the nation’s peak in January of this year.

In recent weeks, virus-related hospitalizations have continued to fall — with 30,000 virus-positive Americans receiving care in the U.S., down from about 33,000 patients in the hospital last week, according to data collected by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The number of virus-positive Americans — 4,100 — currently entering the hospital each day is down by 6.8% in the last week.

Overall, the total remains significantly lower than at the nation’s peak this past January, when there were more than 160,000 patients hospitalized with the virus.

McCarthy rolls out House GOP ‘Commitment to America’ ahead of midterms

September 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Thursday rolled out an agenda that he says the House GOP would follow should it retake control of the chamber after this year’s midterms.

The plan, dubbed the “Commitment to America,” marks McCarthy’s most concrete attempt to outline a policy agenda to try to persuade voters ahead of November’s races, in which the GOP is favored — but not guaranteed — to flip the House. The proposal seeks to replicate former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” an agenda released in 1994 when Republicans won control of the House for the first time in decades.

McCarthy’s blueprint contains four overarching goals: creating “an economy that’s strong,” “a nation that’s safe,” “a future that’s built on freedom” and “a government that’s accountable.”

In a video, the minority leader cast the plan as a panacea for the country’s struggles, arguing the proposal would fix inflation, lower crime and other issues he lays at the feet of the Democratic majority in Washington.

“Violent crime is at record highs in our streets and neighborhoods. The border has become a national security crisis, with fentanyl killing our fellow citizens. Soaring inflation has shrunk paychecks and sent us into a recession. And our kids have fallen further behind thanks to school closures and lockdowns,” McCarthy says in the clip, seemingly filmed in a grocery store.

“The White House and the Democrat majority in Congress control Washington. They’re in charge. This is their record,” he says. “And yet, they want you to give them two more years in power. But Republicans have a plan for a new direction — one that’ll get our country back on track.”

McCarthy will formally roll out the plan at an event in Pennsylvania on Friday with a broad cross-section of House members, including moderates like retiring John Katko, N.Y., who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a prominent bomb-thrower.

The proposals largely lean on issues that Republicans believe are advantageous for them this cycle, including stubbornly high inflation, concerns over crime and increases in southern border crossings.

While intended to detail what an agenda could look like in a GOP House majority, the plan is light on specifics. Included in the “commitment” are platitudes like “support[ing] our troops,” “exercis[ing] peace through strength with our allies to counter increasing global threats,” “recover[ing] lost learning from school closures” and “uphold[ing] free speech.”

The proposal also boasts of “rigorous oversight,” though no specific investigatory efforts are laid out.

Among the more specific policy suggestions are “support[ing] 200,000 more police officers through recruiting bonuses” and “repealing proxy voting,” which House members of both parties have relied on during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Republicans in Congress praised the plan on Thursday, saying it hits on the right policies.

“This is a guide a map to what we’ll do to a majority and I think the future speaker is handling it exactly the way it should be,” said Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “We’ve got the best candidates we’ve ever had, we’ve got the right message. It’s about cost of living, it’s about crime. It’s about the border.

When asked if the plan was specific enough, Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon said, “More of this is what we believe in, and this is what we are going to fight for. And I think they are good and I embrace them.”

The commitment was notably circumspect on one issue that has roiled the midterms: abortion.

“This election is about kitchen-table issues … inflation,” Emmer maintained. “You’ve got to have a position [on abortion], but [kitchen-table issues] are going to decide the election,” he said.

The release of McCarthy’s vision for his caucus comes amid what strategists and lawmakers of both parties have suggested is a turning of the midterm tide away from what was expected to be a red tsunami earlier this year.

The Supreme Court’s June decision eliminating constitutional protections for abortion and a Democratic legislative hot streak this summer — including passage of the Inflation Reduction Act — have helped level the playing field as generic ballot polling shows Democrats closing the gap with the GOP.

The changed landscape has thrown into question control of the Senate, currently split 50/50, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking ties, though Republicans are still favored by analysts to flip the House.

McCarthy’s decision to release a plan runs counter to the strategy of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has said he will unveil an agenda only if the Senate is controlled by Republicans next year.

“If we’re fortunate enough to have the majority … I’ll be the majority leader. I’ll decide, in consultation with my members, what to put on the floor,” he said earlier this year.

Democrats, for their part, came out swinging Thursday against McCarthy’s agenda, arguing that House Republicans are stoking divisions while President Joe Biden’s plans are the ones that would actually tackle the nation’s issues.

“Republicans are mistaken if they think their political stunt less than 7 weeks before the election will be enough to distract voters from their toxic record. While Democrats deliver critical investments, bring jobs back home from China, and fight to lower costs, Republicans stoke fear for power, obstruct popular legislation that will help everyday families, defend MAGA extremism, and push to ban abortion nationwide,” said Chris Taylor, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

New evidence alleges Ethan Crumbley exhibited more warning signs ahead of school shooting

September 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(OXFORD, Mich.) — New evidence uncovered during discovery of the case of Ethan Crumbley allegedly shows that Oxford High School teachers and school officials failed to respond to warning signs exhibited by the accused school shooter in the months leading up to the November 2021 shooting, attorney Ven Johnson, who represents the victims and their families in a lawsuit, told reporters Thursday.

The evidence was allegedly uncovered as several lawsuits against the school, school officials, the school district, Crumbley and his parents have been filed. At least eight lawsuits accuse the school district and others of wrongdoing and failure to act in the months and days leading up to the shooting, despite teachers and counselors allegedly being aware of concerning behavior exhibited by the accused shooter.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot ordered the release of evidence in June, including school surveillance footage from the shooting. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith also enjoined coordinated discovery and other matters for eight civil lawsuits brought against the Oxford, Michigan, school and school officials.

Crumbley, who was a student at the school, is charged with 24 counts after he allegedly shot and killed four of his classmates on Nov. 30, 2021.

His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter after allegedly failing to recognize warning signs about their son in the months before the shooting.

All three Crumbleys have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Johnson, in a press conference Thursday, said new details were revealed after deposing teachers and school employees who had direct contact with the accused shooter prior to the Nov. 30 shooting, including email correspondence between school employees and several instances where Crumbley’s concerning behavior was not addressed.

Evidence allegedly uncovered included a school assignment submitted by Crumbley in late August 2021 on which he drew what Johnson alleged might be a magazine full of bullets, or a building. In sworn testimony, the teacher who discovered this drawing alleged she only saw the drawing on Nov. 29, just one day before the shooting.

In another instance, a Sept. 8 email from a Spanish teacher to the school’s counselor discusses a school assignment in which Crumbley allegedly wrote that he feels “terrible” and that his family “was a mistake,” Johnson said on Thursday.

Despite the school counselor being informed of this instance, the counselor allegedly never spoke to Crumbley, Johnson alleged.

Weeks later, a teacher sent an email to the school counselor on Nov. 10 raising concerns about Crumbley, saying he is having a rough time and that he may need to speak to the counselor, Johnson alleged.

The counselor testified in his deposition that he went down to Crumbley’s classroom and asked him to step out into the hallway. The counselor then allegedly told Crumbley that if he is having a tough time, the counselor was available to speak with him. Crumbley allegedly responded “okay,” according to Johnson.

Johnson criticized the counselor’s actions, saying more needed to be done and that the counselor needed to follow up with Crumbley, considering this was the second time concerning behavior had been flagged to the counselor. According to Johnson, another email uncovered was sent from a teacher to the dean of students and another school official, telling them that Crumbley was seen in class looking at photos of bullets on his cell phone. The teacher then looked at some of Crumbley’s previous work completed earlier in the year and said it “leans a bit toward the violent side,” Johnson alleges the email said.

The parents of Tate Myre, Justin Shilling and Keegan Gregory, all victims of the shooting, were present at the press conference with Johnson and criticized the school board’s lack of transparency in the months after the shooting, saying its members should resign. Its president resigned last week after receiving months of backlash.

The school board had declined several offers from the state attorney general to investigate the shooting, saying it will launch a third-party investigation as soon as litigation in civil suits brought against the district conclude.

Separately, a Michigan judge ruled Thursday that Ethan Crumbley will remain in Oakland County Jail for adults, as part of monthly procedural hearing. Crumbley’s trial was initially scheduled to begin in September, but was pushed to January 2023.

Attorneys for the Oxford Community School District did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

9-year-old boy seriously injured in bear attack while hunting in Alaska: Troopers

September 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PALMER, Alaska) — Two people, including a 9-year-old boy, were injured in a bear attack while hunting in Alaska, authorities said.

The child suffered serious injuries, while a man sustained minor injuries, Alaska State Troopers said.

The incident occurred Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. local time near Palmer, located about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage, police said.

The pair, who are related, were hunting moose in the Palmer Hay Flats area, a state game refuge, Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel told ABC News. Troopers did not specify their relationship.

They came upon a brown bear that then mauled the child, troopers said. The man shot and killed the bear during the attack, police said.

Troopers and EMS responding to the scene following reports of a bear attack found the two victims, who were taken to a hospital in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley area, troopers said.

McDaniel said the last report he received had the child listed in “fair condition.”

The brown bear was with a cub at the time of the attack. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game were unable to locate a cub in the area after ground and aerial searches, McDaniel said.

House Democrats notch legislative victory on policing before the midterms

September 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — House Democrats on Thursday managed to chalk up another major legislative win before the midterm elections, approving a long-delayed package of changes to policing and public safety.

Moderate and progressive Democrats hammered out a deal on Wednesday after frenetic negotiations — and on one of the House’s last working days before entering a recess that will stretch past the November races.

This new package of bills would fund recruitment and training for police departments across the country and includes new language on police accountability.

The House narrowly cleared a procedural vote on Thursday after a standstill on the floor after some progressive Democrats objected to terms of the deal. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., voted “present” so her vote wouldn’t count against Democrats in a planned move, which resulted in a 216-215-1 vote.

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of of the key negotiators of the package, told reporters they had to make some last-minute updates to one of the pieces of legislation.

“There’s a lot of process, conversations that had to be had to be engaged in,” Omar said. “But we were ultimately hopefully successful. And I’m really proud of everyone for devoting as much energy to making sure our colleagues are able to pass their legislation.”

The four bills passed by slightly wider margins later Thursday afternoon. The package now heads to the Senate, where its fate is unclear.

To address mental health crises, one of the bills, sponsored by California Rep. Katie Porter, would create a grant program for departments to hire and dispatch mental health professionals — not law enforcement officers — in instances involving individuals with behavioral health needs.

The package also includes a bill from Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford that would direct the Justice Department to establish a grant program for local agencies to hire detectives and victim services personnel to investigate shootings.

The legislation targets funding to smaller police departments with fewer than 200 officers; gives the DOJ the ability to preference applicants that use the funds for officer training to improve community safety and accountability; and allows the funding to not only go to officer pay and training but also be used for data collection regarding police and community safety.

Progressives have said they were particularly concerned about providing more grants and funds to police departments without including requirements on accountability for officers’ actions.

Moderates have long insisted on bringing forth public safety bills as a way to fire back at Republican attacks that blame Democrats for rising crime. Polls show some key Senate races tightening, with GOP candidates pressing their opponents on the issue — often citing advocates’ “defund the police” slogan, despite Democratic leaders rejecting such messages.

While Republicans seek to paint Democrats as soft on crime, President Joe Biden has slammed members of the GOP both for denouncing federal law enforcement after an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s residence last month and for expressing support for those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Biden and Democrats pushed in the 2020 cycle for broader policing reform, including changes to the standard to prosecute police misconduct and qualified immunity, after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

But Senate Democrats ultimately failed to overcome Republican opposition to a major piece of legislation named after Floyd. Instead, Biden signed two smaller executive orders on policing earlier this year, on the second anniversary of Floyd’s death.

Omar, who represents the district in Minnesota where Floyd was killed, was one of the harshest critics of the ongoing police reform efforts but gave her approval on Wednesday.

The package, she said, is “evidence-based, holistic legislation that addresses public safety and unifies the Democratic Caucus.”

“After significant, deliberate negotiations, we are pleased to share that … the bill will include a number of reforms to ensure funds are used to support smaller police departments, to invest in de-escalation and other important training, and for data collection and mental health,” Omar and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a joint statement.

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