Monday, August 8 top stories
It is Monday, August 8. Hope your weekend was good. Ready for today’s top stories?
Biden ends isolation, travels to Kentucky
President Biden has recovered from his coronavirus infection and ended his isolation from the White House on Sunday. His physician said he tested negative for the virus on Saturday and Sunday. Biden left the White House for the first time in two weeks on Sunday to go to his beach home in Delaware.
Today Biden traveled to Kentucky to survey the damage from severe flooding that killed at least 37 people and meet with families whose lives were affected.
New Mexico police investigating killings of Muslim men
Over the past two weeks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, three Muslim men were shot and killed during different, individual incidents. A fourth Muslim man was killed in November. Now, police said they believe the killings may be related and are asking for the public’s help in locating a vehicle of interest.
The most recent victim was a man who was fatally shot on Friday night, 25-year-old Naeem Hussain. He had just attended a funeral for two other Muslim victims, a 27-year-old man and a 41-year-old man.
Police said the first three shootings were “ambush shootings.” They didn’t provide details of the most recent shooting. Police said they are looking for a four-door, dark gray Volkswagen sedan with tinted windows.
There are about 3,000 to 5,000 Muslims living in and around Albuquerque. Muslim community leaders say there is an atmosphere of fear.
Senate passes budget reconciliation package
Senate Democrats passed a bill on climate change, healthcare, and taxes on Sunday after getting the support of two of the most conservative Democrats, Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona.
The bill would allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to reduce the costs of expensive medications beginning in 2026 and beyond.
The bill would address climate change by investing over $150 billion towards tax credits and initiatives toward clean/electric energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill aims to increase revenue by imposing new taxes on large businesses with profits over $1 billion.
Democratic leaders hoped to be able to provide free pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, provide a federally funded paid family and sick leave program, and extend the enhanced child tax credits, but these goals were blocked by Manchin.
The House will vote on this bill on Friday. It is expected to pass and then it’ll be signed by President Biden.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said the bill would be the biggest climate investment in U.S. history and slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.
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Travis McMichael gets 2nd life sentence
Travis McMichael, who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, received a second life prison sentence in federal court on his hate crime charge and other related charges.
Two other men involved in the killing, Travis’ father Gregory and their neighbor William Bryan, will be sentenced later today.
Axios explained that Travis requested to serve his life sentence in federal prison out of fear that he would be killed if he went to state prison. The judge declined that request, which means Travis will be going to state prison. He will be serving his state and federal life sentences concurrently in state prison.
Gaza violence pauses after cease-fire
Over the weekend at least 44 Palestinians were killed from Israeli-Palestinian bombings that lasted three days but have now paused after a cease-fire agreement between the Israeli government and a militia group called the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
On Friday the Israeli military launched missiles against members of the Islamic Jihad and said they did this to prevent an imminent attack. The Islamic Jihad then fired over 1,000 rockets and mortar shells toward Israeli territory.
Both sides agreed to a cease-fire on Sunday night that was mediated by Egypt.
The dead includes at least 15 Palestinian children. Israel said several of its civilians and children were injured by rocket attacks.
Islamic Jihad said 12 of its leaders and members were killed. Palestine’s main militant group, Hamas, was not involved in the weekend violence.
Michigan election investigation
News reports said an investigation conducted by Michigan’s attorney general Dana Nessel found that a county sheriff and eight others may have illegally taken voting tabulators that were used during the 2020 election from local clerks and tampered with them. The investigation could lead to criminal charges.
Nessel’s office said a group of individuals performed unauthorized tests on voting tabulators that they seized from multiple Michigan counties.
Three of the group of people who are under suspicion are Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, State Rep. Daire Rendon (R-Lake City), and Matt DePerno, the Republican candidate for attorney general who is endorsed by Donald Trump and will run against Nessel during this year’s elections.
A news report explained that the Barry County clerk said in 2021, Sheriff Leaf took a Dominion voting tabulator and when the machine was returned, it had a broken security seal. That machine was then taken by the Michigan State Police for a state investigation.
Nessel’s office has asked for a special prosecutor to take over the case because of a potential conflict since she will be running against DePerno.
Sheriff Leaf has filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan with the claim that the state is interfering with his own investigation of voter fraud. DePerno’s campaign team said this was a political witch hunt and accused Nessel of persecuting her political enemies.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/politics/biden-build-back-better-manchin/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/us/ahmaud-arbery-hate-crime-federal-sentencing/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/08/ahmaud-arbery-murderers-sentencing
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-cease-fire.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/08/trump-michigan-attorney-general-candidate-probe