Thursday, April 15 top stories
It is Thursday, April 15. Here are today’s top stories.
The Commerce Department said there was almost a 10% increase in retail sales in March — and that is probably because of the $1,400 stimulus checks that went out. The vaccines are also giving people confidence to go out and shop. In another positive news for the economy, there were 916,000 new jobs last month, the most since August.
An Army Drill Sergeant from South Carolina, Jonathan Pentland, was seen in a viral video shoving a Black man who was walking on a sidewalk near his home and telling him that he “came to the wrong neighborhood” and threatening to do something to him. The Black man’s name is Deandre (last name unknown).
Pentland was later arrested and charged with third degree assault.
He was stationed at Fort Jackson and the Commanding General at the base, Milford Beagle, Jr., said they “in no way condone the behavior depicted in the video” and are investigating.
Ivanka Trump posted two images of herself getting a Pfizer vaccine at a CVS in Miami. She tweeted that she got the shot and hopes you do too.
The prosecution and defense in the Derek Chauvin trial has rested their cases. That means they have gone through all the witnesses and evidence they wanted to present. Closing arguments will be on Monday.
Chauvin spoke briefly this morning in court to invoke his Fifth Amendment to not testify in his case.
The judge told the jury that they will be sequestered after closing arguments on Monday and that they should pack and be prepared to stay away long, but hope for a shorter time. The judge said the jury has all the time they need to reach an unanimous verdict on Chauvin’s charges — second degree unintentional murder and third-degree murder in the death of George Floyd.
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There are 12 people who are missing after a commercial lift boat they were in capsized in very bad weather two days ago off the coast of Louisiana. Six people have been rescued and one person was found dead. A liftboat is a type of boat that has large metal columns or legs that can be lowered to the sea floor so it's cranes can move heavy equipment. The boat is 129 feet long and family members hope rescuers will find them alive and trapped in air pockets in the boat.
The Biden administration announced new sanctions against over 30 organizations, individuals, or government agencies in Russia over allegations of interference in the 2020 elections and for the SolarWinds cyberattack that affected many U.S. government agencies and businesses. A spokesperson for the Russian government said there would be a strong rebuff.
Cariol Horne is a former Buffalo police officer who in 2006 stopped a colleague — a white male police officer — from putting a Black man in a chokehold. She just won a case in state court to get back pay and benefits after proving that she was unfairly reassigned and then terminated from her job because she went against a fellow police officer.
Horne is an activist who successfully pushed for the City of Buffalo to require officers to step in if one of their colleagues used excessive force.
On Wednesday, there were 932 new deaths from the coronavirus and about 75,000 new cases in the U.S. The amount of deaths are declining but the amount of new cases have slowly been going up since March.
A CDC panel said they need more time to assess links between the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and blood clots — and the pause could continue until next week.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://apnews.com/article/retail-sales-economy-2f20ee18d72ed056412fde0fe94f9fae
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9472239/Fort-Jackson-Drill-Instructor-Jonathan-Pentland-charged-degree-assault-viral-video.html
https://twitter.com/fortjacksoncg/status/1382454819122663429/photo/1
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/derek-chauvin-trial-george-floyd-death-2021-04-15/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/04/15/capsized-boat-12-missing-still-after-boat-capsizes-gulf-mexico/7234288002/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/nyregion/cariol-horne-police-chokehold.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-sanction-russia-alleged-election-interference-solarwinds-hack-n1264142
https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/1382435705847226369
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/15/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases