The Full Belmonte, 12/5/2022
Workers inspect a transformer radiator in Carthage, North Carolina, on Sunday that they said was damaged by gunfire.
Power grid attack
“More than 30,000 customers in North Carolina remain without power this morning after two substations were damaged by gunfire over the weekend. The power outages are believed to have been caused by ‘intentional’ and ‘targeted’ attacks on substations that left around 40,000 customers in the dark Saturday, prompting a curfew and emergency declaration. ‘The person, or persons, who did this knew exactly what they were doing,’ Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said Sunday. With no suspects or motive announced, the FBI has joined the criminal investigation alongside local authorities. All schools in the county are closed today and traffic lights remain out. A few stores with generators have been able to open, but several other businesses have been forced to temporarily shut their doors.” Read more at CNN
Stefani Reynolds /AFP via Getty Images
“The Supreme Court hears arguments today on what could be a landmark case that pits LGBTQ rights with free speech. The case involves a Colorado web designer who says state law prevents her from designing wedding websites because she believes that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.” Read more at NPR
Senate runoff
“Georgia will hold a Senate runoff election Tuesday between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, a former football player. Warnock and Walker first faced each other in the November 8 general election, but neither of them received more than 50% of the vote, forcing a runoff. Warnock led with 49.4% of the vote and Walker had 48.5%. More than 1.8 million Georgians have voted so far, with about 300,000 people voting early each day last week -- setting records for the largest single-day early voting turnout in state history. Even with control of the Senate already secured, the stakes are high as Democrats seek to win a majority outright instead of the 50-50 split currently in place.” Read more at CNN
Hawaii volcano
“Lava from the ongoing Mauna Loa volcano eruption is about two miles from reaching a crucial highway on Hawaii's Big Island, according to an update from the US Geological Survey. The lava is just miles from potentially causing major disruptions to the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, but experts say it's unlikely any attempts will be made to redirect the lava flow due to a history of expensive failures. Some scientists and residents of Hawaii also view the lava flow as a natural phenomenon -- not something that needs to be disrupted. Additionally, many people in Hawaii view the timing of Mauna Loa's eruption as especially significant. The volcano erupted on November 28, Hawaiian Independence Day, commemorating when Hawaii was recognized as a sovereign kingdom in 1843.” Read more at CNN
Trump
“Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday. Trump made a post on Truth Social accusing ‘Big Tech’ of working closely with Democrats in response to the release of internal Twitter emails showing how employees debated and temporarily suppressed a 2020 New York Post story about Hunter Biden and his laptop. Employees on Twitter's legal, policy and communications teams discussed -- and at times disagreed about -- whether to restrict the article under the company's hacked materials policy. The discussions took place weeks before the 2020 election, when Joe Biden, Hunter Biden's father, was running against then-President Trump.” Read more at CNN
Defamation Suit Against Fox Grows More Contentious
Lachlan Murdoch is set to be deposed on Monday, the latest in a flurry of activity in the high-stakes case.
Dec. 4, 2022
“Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of the Fox Corporation, is expected to be deposed on Monday as part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News for amplifying bogus claims that rigged machines from Dominion Voting Systems were responsible for Donald J. Trump’s defeat in 2020.
Mr. Murdoch will be the most senior corporate figure within the Fox media empire to face questions under oath in the case so far. And his appearance before Dominion’s lawyers is a sign of how unexpectedly far and fast the lawsuit has progressed in recent weeks — and how contentious it has become.
Fox and Dominion have gone back and forth in Delaware state court since the summer in an escalating dispute over witnesses, evidence and testimony. The arguments point to the high stakes of the case, which will render a judgment on whether the most powerful conservative media outlet in the country intentionally misled its audience and helped seed one of the most pervasive lies in American politics.
Although the law leans in the media’s favor in defamation cases, Dominion has what independent observers have said is an unusually strong case. Day after day, Fox hosts and guests repeated untrue stories about Dominion’s ties to communist regimes and far-fetched theories about how its software enabled enemies of the former president to steal his votes.
‘This is a very different kind of case,’ said David A. Logan, dean of the Roger Williams School of Law, who has argued in favor of loosening some libel laws. ‘Rarely do cases turn on a weekslong pattern of inflammatory, provably false, but also oddly inconsistent statements.’
Dominion, in its quest to obtain the private communications of as many low-, mid- and high-level Fox personnel as possible, hopes to prove that people inside the network knew they were disseminating lies. Fox hopes to be able sow doubt about that by showing how its hosts pressed Trump allies for evidence they never produced and that Dominion machines were vulnerable to hacking, even if no hacking took place.
The judge, Eric M. Davis, has ruled in most instances in Dominion’s favor, allowing the voting company to expand the pool of potential evidence it can present to a jury to include text messages from the personal phones of Fox employees and the employment contracts of star hosts such as Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, along with those of Suzanne Scott, the chief executive of Fox News Media, and her top corporate managers.” Read more at New York Times
GOP rips McCarthy ‘saboteurs’
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“Key hard-right influencers are backing Kevin McCarthy for House speaker, despite a rebellion by some right-wing members.
Why it matters: In a leadership fight, it's rare for the party's rabble-rousers to back an incumbent, Axios' Sophia Cai reports.
Between the lines: McCarthy's longtime strategy of courting the right is paying off.
Given McCarthy's establishment bona fides, there's zero chance he'd have this right-wing defense without his years of patient overtures.
That doesn't guarantee he'll overcome the opposition. But it improves his chances.
What's happening: These influential supporters include immigration hardliner Stephen Miller + Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
But we're really seeing it with a chorus of conservative media powerhouses, including radio host Mark Levin, Mike Cernovich (1 million Twitter followers) and Breitbart's Matt Boyle.
Zoom in: Levin drove headlines by calling anti-McCarthy Republicans a ‘gang of 5 saboteurs.’
Breitbart warned of a ‘doomsday scenario.’
Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec asked: ‘Are there seriously people saying it's ok to hand veto power over subpoenas to the Democrats in attempt to stop Kevin McCarthy?’
The math: McCarthy can't afford more than four defections for the floor vote on Jan. 3. Speakers are elected by members from both parties; the House speaker needs 218 votes to ascend.
Five House Republicans have indicated they oppose giving McCarthy the gavel: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Ralph Norman (N.C.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.).
Reality check: There's no clear McCarthy alternative.
Jordan and House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (La.), the two viable alternative candidates, both support McCarthy.” Read more at Axios
Dems' new path
Data: DNC. Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios
Here's the new DNC primary plan for 2024, which scuttles Iowa after 44 years at the center of presidential campaigning.
Screenshot: CNN
Mysterious Idaho student killings compounded by police contradictions, experts say
“It's been three weeks since four students at the University of Idaho were fatally stabbed in their sleep but in the time since the brutal slayings, it seems more questions have risen than answers. Moscow, Idaho, has been swarmed by local, state and federal officers as well as the national media as questions swirl about who could be responsible for the Nov. 13 slayings, the location of the murder weapon and why the investigation appears at a standstill. Crime experts think those questions have been compounded by contradictory information released by authorities. Read more
•A Mississippi man pleaded guilty to burning a cross to intimidate Black neighbors.
It's been nearly three weeks since four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in a home near campus, but there are still more questions than answers surrounding the investigationTed S. Warren, AP
Explosions hit two military airfields in Russia - reports
“Several people have been killed in explosions at two Russian military airfields, according to reports.
A fuel tanker exploded killing three and injuring six in an airfield near the city Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, Russian state media is reporting.
Another two people are reported to have been hurt in an explosion at an airfield in the Saratov region.
It is not known what caused the blasts. Both areas are hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border.” Read more at BBC
Cyril Ramaphosa: South Africa president's fate in hands of the ANC
Image caption, Cyril Ramaphosa came to power in 2018 on a mission to clean up corruption
“Leaders of South Africa's governing party are meeting to discuss President Cyril Ramaphosa's future amid a corruption scandal that has led to calls for him to resign.
A panel of legal experts said last week that Mr Ramaphosa may have broken the law by allegedly covering up the theft of a large sum of cash at his farm.
The president's spokesman described the report as ‘flawed’.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Ramaphosa said his fate was in his party's hands.
The meeting of the African National Congress' executive committee - its top decision-making body - comes a day after a smaller group of leaders met to discuss the issue, but failed to reach a conclusion.
Mr Ramaphosa's legal team is also expected to lodge papers with the country's Constitutional Court on Monday to undertake a legal review of the report by the panel that was appointed by the speaker of parliament.
The scandal erupted in June, when a former South African spy boss, Arthur Fraser, filed a complaint with police accusing the president of hiding a theft of $4m (£3.25m) in cash from his Phala Phala game farm in 2020.
Mr Ramaphosa admitted that some money, which had been hidden in a sofa, had been stolen, but said it was $580,000 not $4m.
The president said the $580,000 had come from the sale of buffalo, but the panel, headed by a former chief justice, said it had ‘substantial doubt’ about whether a sale took place.
The panel's findings have been handed to parliament, which is set to examine them and decide whether or not to launch impeachment proceedings against the president.
The president is also under pressure from the opposition, as well as rivals within the ANC, to resign.
But the ANC leaders could instruct its MPs to back Mr Ramaphosa, when the issue is due to be discussed by parliament on Tuesday.
The scandal is especially damaging for the president because he came to power vowing to clear up the corruption which had dogged the country under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.
The ANC remains deeply divided between supporters of Mr Zuma and those who back Mr Ramaphosa.” Read more at BBC
What Actually Happened to Iran’s Morality Police?
“Iran’s notorious morality police force may have been disbanded, Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri suggested on Saturday, in vague and ambiguous remarks that have been met with confusion and skepticism.
Montazeri had been responding to a question about the force, which enforces Iran’s conservative dress code and appears to have been less publicly active in recent weeks.
‘The morality police has nothing to do with the judiciary, and it was abolished by those who created it,’ Montazeri said, adding that the judiciary is continuing to monitor behavior. He did not offer further details or any explanation.
Without separate corroboration, as of Sunday night it remained unclear if the force had actually been abolished. Montazeri does not direct the morality police, state media said, and some outlets said foreign media had taken his words out of context, the Washington Post reported.
‘It’s not 100% sure that this is a done deal,’ Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute, told Foreign Policy on Sunday. ‘It could be that they’re just testing the waters to see how it will be received by the protesters.’
Iran’s most recent wave of anti-government protests erupted in September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in the force’s custody in September. In the months since, security forces have launched a deadly crackdown in order to stamp out dissent, though the defiant demonstrations still show no sign of slowing. This week, protesters have planned a three-day-long strike.
On Sunday, Iranian lawmaker Nezamoddin Mousavi appeared to strike a conciliatory tone towards protesters, reportedly saying that Tehran believes ‘paying attention to the people’s demand that is mainly economic is the best way for achieving stability and confronting the riots.’
The ‘Iranian regime is still very much in the thinking and planning stages. They know what the problems are; they don’t know what the solutions ought to be,’ said Vatanka. ‘They’re worried that if they make the wrong kinds of concessions, that this protest movement will feel emboldened.’
In an interview on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation,’ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed his support for Iran’s protesters—sentiments also echoed by Robert Malley, the Biden administration’s Iran envoy, in a recent FP Live conversation with FP’s Ravi Agrawal.
The U.S. position is ‘one of support for the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people and for their fundamental freedoms and rights that all citizens across the globe should enjoy,’ Malley said. ‘We have made clear we are mobilizing international attention and putting the spotlight on what’s happening in Iran at a time when the Iranian regime is trying to hide and distort what’s happening.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
The World This Week
“Monday, Dec. 5: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets his counterpart from Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog visits the United Arab Emirates.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits India.
Tuesday, Dec. 6: South African lawmakers debate holding impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Lavrov meets his counterpart from Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov.
Wednesday, Dec. 7: – Dec. 9: Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Saudi Arabia.
Friday, Dec. 9: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets his Estonian counterpart, Kaja Kallas.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Russian oil price cap. The European Union, G-7, and Australia have agreed to a set a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian crude oil in a bid to deprive the Kremlin of crucial revenue; the cap is set to take effect today.
On Saturday, the Kremlin said that it would ‘not accept’ the cap, further underscoring uncertainty about how effective it would be in practice. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the cap as ‘weak.’ Negotiators were “trying to avoid hard decisions,” he added.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“El Salvador’s gang violence. El Salvador has deployed 10,000 police and soldiers to extract gang members in Soyapango, a town known for its significant gang presence, in its latest clampdown on gang violence. ‘Soyapango is totally surrounded,’ President Nayib Bukele tweeted. ‘8,500 soldiers and 1,500 agents have surrounded the city, while extraction teams from the police and the army are tasked with extricating all the gang members still there one by one.’
Since announcing a state of emergency in March, authorities have arrested over 50,000 people accused of gang involvement. Rights groups have warned of major human rights infractions, including arbitrary detentions and torture.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“South Korea’s labor protests. Protests swept Seoul on Saturday, days after the government ordered 2,500 striking cement truck drivers to resume working—or face potential jail time or hefty fines under a controversial law. Of the thousands of protesters, many were part of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. For more than a week, as many as 20,000 truckers have been on strike for improved minimum wage protections.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Indonesia’s regressive new laws. Indonesian lawmakers are expected to approve a new criminal code that would ban sex outside of marriage, disparaging Indonesia’s president and institutions, and living together prior to marriage, Reuters reported. The code will likely pass on Dec. 15.
‘We’re proud to have a criminal code that’s in line with Indonesian values,’ Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, Indonesia’s deputy justice minister, told Reuters. Human Rights Watch’s Andreas Harsono warned it would be a ‘huge setback to Indonesian democracy.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Capital exchange | Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s ambitious plan to move the capital from rapidly-sinking Jakarta to a site in the rainforest is running out of time. As Faris Mokhtar reports, with just 18 months left in his term, not one international investor has entered into a binding contract to fund the project that Widodo hopes will to elevate the economy, resettle millions of people and cement his legacy.” Read more at Bloomberg
Widodo at the Nusantara site for the new metropolis on March 15. Source: Press, Media and Information Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat
“Costly tournament | Qatar’s $300 billion World Cup construction boom drew criticism from around the globe over workers who died in extremely hot conditions. Now researchers say the massive building program has helped reveal a more concerning and widespread health cost: an epidemic of chronic kidney disease emerging among low-income migrants across hot regions from the Middle East to Central America.” Read more at Bloomberg
December 5, 2022
By Peter Baker
Good morning. The Iowa caucuses were a place where the improbable became possible.
Jimmy Carter in Des Moines in 1976.Associated Press
Reaching the end
“It was an inauspicious debut, to say the least. In February 1975, a little-known governor from Georgia named Jimmy Carter showed up in Des Moines, Iowa, to kick off an improbable campaign for president. His team rented a hotel ballroom and bought enough food for a crowd of 200 people. Three showed up.
So Carter started working the streets and stores. Gerald Rafshoon, who was his media adviser, recalled the other day a story that later became famous. “Carter walks into a barbershop and says, ‘My name is Jimmy Carter and I’m running for president,’” Rafshoon told me. “And the barber said, ‘Yeah, the boys and I were just laughing about that.’
From that modest start, however, something really big grew. Over the next year, Carter practically lived in Iowa and beat every other candidate in the caucuses that followed, propelling him to the White House. Now, nearly a half-century later, the Iowa launchpad is about to close down. With it will go the romance of the long-shot candidate who goes door to door in farm country to emerge from obscurity and reach the heights of American politics.
At President Biden’s behest, the Democratic National Committee is moving around its presidential primary schedule to end Iowa’s marquee first-in-the-nation status. The party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee on Friday approved a schedule putting South Carolina first, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada and then Georgia and Michigan, dropping Iowa from the early lineup. For the changes to be adopted, the full D.N.C. still must sign off early next year.
It is unclear whether Republicans will follow suit, but as my colleague Trip Gabriel wrote, ‘one of the most idiosyncratic and consequential pageants in American elections has come to its likely end.’
‘The Big Mo’
The Carter breakthrough in 1976 gave birth to generations of campaigns by little-known candidates hoping to replicate his stunning success. Iowa had never been a force in primary politics until then, but Carter’s team, which had noticed that George McGovern got a bounce out of a second-place showing in the state in 1972, decided to invest time and resources there.
It was a humbling experience. Just getting a reporter to show up for an event was a major victory. ‘Anyone with a scratchpad and a tape recorder would send us into ecstasy,’ Carter recalled to Jonathan Alter for his biography ‘His Very Best.’ But, from nowhere, Carter got 28 percent of the vote on Jan. 19, 1976, placing him second behind ‘uncommitted,’ with 37 percent, but ahead of all the flesh-and-blood candidates. He went on to win the New Hampshire primary that came next.
Iowa was a proving ground for most candidates who followed. When George H.W. Bush beat Ronald Reagan there in the 1980 Republican contest, he ecstatically declared that he had t’he Big Mo,’ or momentum, only to fall in New Hampshire afterward. In 2008, Barack Obama upset the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, demonstrating that a Black candidate could win in a predominantly white state and giving credibility to his underestimated campaign.
Joe Biden in Iowa in 2020.Hilary Swift for The New York Times
The winnowing
Iowa picked the ultimate Democratic nominee all but two times since that original 1976 contest, the exceptions being 1988, when Richard Gephardt won the caucuses only to lose the nomination to Michael Dukakis, and 1992, when Iowa’s own Senator Tom Harkin was running. On the Republican side, it has been less influential. Putting aside incumbents running for re-election, no Iowa winner has gone on to win the G.O.P. nomination since George W. Bush in 2000. But it has always played a role in winnowing the field.
One candidate who did not particularly like getting winnowed was a senator and later vice president named Joseph R. Biden Jr. In 2008, Biden drew less than 1 percent of the vote in Iowa and dropped out. In 2020, he finished in a humiliating fourth place when he was the presumed front-runner, though he ultimately bounced back.
No surprise, then, that Biden might not feel too committed to Iowa’s claim to the first vote. South Carolina, his choice for opening contest in 2024, is where he turned around his 2020 campaign.
It did not help that the Iowa Democratic Party’s new app-based counting in 2020 was so botched that the winner did not emerge for days. (Under its complicated rules, Pete Buttigieg barely edged out Bernie Sanders for the most state delegate equivalents, the key metric.)
And so that is the end of the Jimmy Carter scenario, at least for the Democrats. ‘When we decided to do it, it was one of the smartest things we did,’ Rafshoon told me. Now, that is just a story in the history books.
Related: The Democrats’ new primary calendar indicates that Biden plans to seek re-election.” Read more at New York Times
Remote-work mismatch
Data: LinkedIn; Chart: Axios Visuals
“Demand for remote work is outpacing supply as companies start to call workers back to offices.
By the numbers: 50% of applications submitted on LinkedIn are for remote jobs, but just 15% of postings are advertising flexible work.
Why it matters: "The scaling back of remote-work policies is among the first and most visible signs of a changing job market," The Washington Post's Abha Bhattarai writes (subscription).
"Flexibility remains one of the top priorities for employees," says Rand Ghayad, head of economics and global labor markets at LinkedIn.
But the balance of power is starting to shift away from workers and back to employers as the labor market shows more signs of cooling down, he says.” Read more at Axios
Musk's danger zone
“Much of Elon Musk's wealth is tied up in Tesla stock, which is down roughly 50% from the start of the year.
He's also believed to hold lots of crypto, which had a lousy year.
Why it matters: It's symbolic of a year when Musk soared in mindshare — as his array of businesses weathered stalls and setbacks, writes Scott Rosenberg, Axios managing editor for tech.
State of play: Tesla shareholders fret that Musk has spread himself too thin as the owner-manager of a half dozen major enterprises.
As Musk obsesses over Twitter, Tesla faces tons of new competition — and its market share has begun declining.
Tesla finally shipped the first of its Semi trucks last week. In 2017 Musk promised the electric big rig would ‘blow your mind clear out of your skull.’ But many doubts remain.
At Twitter, Musk needs to boost revenue while operating with one-third the staff.
A much-touted subscription overhaul is on pause after a rush-job launch led to a train wreck of impersonation and fraud.
Many advertisers, the company's main source of income, paused their buys as Musk took control.
The company's payroll costs are down. But it has to pay roughly $1 billion in annual interest on the $13 billion debt the company took on as part of Musk's buyout.
Touring Musk's other enterprises:
At SpaceX, the good outweighed the bad. His rockets set a launch record, and Falcon Heavy returned to the skies. But the company saw an unusual rise in dissent and workplace complaints.
The Boring Company, a Musk startup that aims to build tunnels under U.S. cities to speed traffic, has completed just one project — a loop under the Vegas convention center. Boring has teased projects in L.A., Chicago, Maryland and Fort Lauderdale — but hasn't followed through with actual bids, The Wall Street Journal reported in a story headlined, ‘Musk's Boring Company Ghosts Cities Across America.’
Musk's Neuralink is developing technology for human-computer interfaces directly implanted in human skulls. As is often the case for Musk projects, Neuralink has presented video demos — most recently last week — touting breakthroughs just around the corner.
Reality check: Musk's net worth of nearly $200 billion still places him at the pinnacle of the global plutocracy.
Even if he had to zero out his Twitter investment, he'd be fine.” Read more at Axios
College football final 4
Axios Visuals
“The College Football Playoff matchups for New Year's Eve:
Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Texas Christian University(TCU).
Peach Bowl: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Ohio State.
Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker tells us Georgia is a 6.5-point favorite over Ohio State in Caesars Sportsbook.
Michigan is a 9.5-point favorite over TCU.
The bottom line: Georgia is the odds-on favorite to win the national title at -135, followed by Michigan (+290), Ohio State (+350) and TCU (+1600).
Go deeper: All 43 bowls ... 17 on ESPN.
P.S. The Green Bay Packers yesterday clinched the bragging rights we previewed for you Friday. Read more at Axios
Graphic: Green Bay Packers
WORLD CUP
“Round of 16: France beat Poland, 3-1, and England won 3-0 against Senegal.” Read more at New York Times
Dominican Republic's baseball power
“The San Diego Padres' (from left) Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Luis Garcia hold the flag of the Dominican Republic before a home game in October, in a salute to National Hispanic Heritage Month. Photo: Denis Poroy/Getty Images
The Dominican Republic will host the first international office for the Major League Baseball Players Association, Axios' Keldy Ortiz has learned.
Why it matters: The new office — to be announced today in the country's capital, Santo Domingo — comes as the league and union work to enhance their presence in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Context: The Dominican Republic is the leading birthplace for MLB players from outside the U.S., according to the 2022 opening-day rosters.
The MLBPA — which handles grievances, and already has an office in New York — says the new office will be a hub for players throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.” Read more at Axios
“Injury: The San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot in the 49ers’ win over Miami yesterday, a blow for the team’s Super Bowl aspirations. Brock Purdy subbed in.” Read more at New York Times
“Elected: Fred McGriff earned entry into baseball’s Hall of Fame yesterday by a unanimous vote from the Contemporary Era Committee. He hit 493 home runs across 19 seasons.” Read more at New York Times
$200,000 halftime
Georgia celebrates a win against LSU in Atlanta. Photo: Brynn Anderson/AP
“Confusion over who won a halftime contest between fans at the LSU-Georgia SEC title game had a happy ending, as both young women walked away with the prize money, AP reports.
Baylor student Reagan Whitaker and St. Augustine student Kayla Gibson's match-up in the Dr Pepper ball toss competition tied and then went into overtime, where they tied again.
Whitaker was declared the winner because she'd scored more points in a preliminary round held the day before. But the stadium filled with boos over the verdict.
Dr Pepper later announced both women would receive the $100,000 tuition prize.” Read more at Axios
Italian Ministry of Culture
“Italian archeologists have discovered two dozen bronze statues of human figures preserved in the hot mud and waters of an ancient, sacred pool. They're calling the discovery the ‘most exceptional’ in the last half-century.” Read more at NPR
Gail Schulman/CBS
“Gladys Knight, Amy Grant, George Clooney, Tania León and U2are this year's Kennedy Center honorees for their contributions to American culture.” Read more at NPR
“Lives Lived: Bob McGrath was an original “Sesame Street” cast member who played an advice-giving music teacher for nearly half a century. He died at 90.” Read more at New York Times