The Full Belmonte, 7/31/2022
A Kentucky National Guard soldier looks through debris near Troublesome Creek for flood victims in Fisty, Ky. Saturday morning. At least two people died after being swept away by flood waters and others feared missing from the small Knott County hamlet. One resident, Cody Thompson, said his grandmother and father are missing and people were hanging onto his home's gutters from the second floor as surging storm waters rushed through the area. July 30, 2022 Matt Stone/Courier Journal
“The number of dead found in Kentucky following devastating flooding has risen to 25 and is likely to continue increasing, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday.
The announcement comes a day after Beshear and other officials grimly predicted the count would rise from earlier tallies after torrential downpours led to historic flooding Wednesday and Thursday.
Beshear said at a Saturday press conference that four children are among the dead, revising down officials' earlier report that six children had died.
Saturday will likely be decisive, as the state continues recovery efforts in its hard-struck eastern Appalachian region. Beshear said National Guard units and other emergency responders have performed at least 1,200 air and water rescues so far, including the rescue of more than 600 people via helicopter.” Read more at USA Today
“NEW YORK (AP) — Officials in New York City declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the monkeypox virus Saturday, calling the city “the epicenter” of the outbreak.
The announcement Saturday by Mayor Eric Adams and health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said as many as 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection. The declaration will allow officials to issue emergency orders under the city health code and amend code provisions to implement measures to help slow the spread.
In the last two days, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency declaration and the state health department called monkeypox an “imminent threat to public health.”
New York had recorded 1,345 cases as of Friday, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California had the second-most, with 799.” Read more at AP News
“The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted this week to downgrade the accreditation of Tulsa Public Schools after a teacher reportedly complained that the school district’s training materials ‘shame white people.’
The board voted 4-2 to lower the status of Tulsa Public Schools to “accredited with warning” on Thursday after the State Department of Education determined an implicit bias training for teachers in August 2021 violated House Bill 1775. The law, which restricts discussions of race and sex in public schools, is widely seen as targeting critical race theory. The state investigation began after a complaint from a teacher who has not been publicly identified, according to the Oklahoman.
The board also demoted another district, Mustang Public Schools near Oklahoma City, to ‘accredited with warning’ after it self-reported that a teacher had violated House Bill 1775 by using an exercise that made students uncomfortable on account of their race or sex.
The demotions mark the first enforcement action under the law, which Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed in May 2021, the Oklahoman reported. All four members who voted to downgrade the districts were appointed by Stitt.
The law does not explicitly mention critical race theory — an academic framework for examining the way laws and policies perpetuate systemic racism — but prohibits teaching what it calls “discriminatory principles,” including that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”
The measure came amid Republican efforts to bar teaching about systemic racism and oppression in schools following the nation’s racial reckoning in 2020, which opponents say is leading to self-censorship and fear among teachers. The American Civil Liberties Union sued Oklahoma over the law in October, alleging that it violates students’ and teachers’ First and 14th amendment rights.
What is critical race theory, and why do Republicans want to ban it in schools?
Representatives for the Tulsa and Mustang school districts did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday. In a statement to the Oklahoman, Tulsa Public Schools denied that the training stated that people of a certain race were inherently racist, saying it would ‘never support such a training,’ but the system defended the need for implicit bias training.” Read more at Washington Post
Ron DeSantis (R), governor of Florida, speaks during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa on July 22. (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg)
“WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Miami-Dade County school board couldn’t make up its mind. It has voted three times in four months on whether students can use a particular textbook, ‘Comprehensive Health Skills,’ for sex education classes. The board for the state’s largest district signed off in April, then banned it in July after some parents objected and told members that they’d be known as ‘groomers.’ That meant the cancellation of sex ed classes for more than 100,000 students. Board members reversed themselves again a week later.
The first day of school in Florida is less than two weeks away, but officials are still plagued by confusion and uncertainty about what a raft of new laws championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will mean. The measures — aimed at eliminating what DeSantis calls ‘woke ideology’ in public schools — have parents, teachers, and students scrambling to figure out how to follow them and to also keep from being targeted by Floridians newly empowered to sue school boards.
Florida’s culture war is being waged primarily in schools. The DeSantis administration has decried teachings on race, suggested civics instruction that downplays the historical separation of church and state, told school districts to ignore advice from the federal government that guarantees civil rights protections for LGBTQ students and, on Wednesday, asserted that children in elementary schools are being told they are the wrong gender.” Read more at Washington Post
The authorities searched the area near the Apple River with metal detectors after five people were stabbed while tubing down the river on Saturday.Credit...Alex Kormann/Star Tribune, via Associated Press
“One person was killed and four others were critically injured on Saturday after they were stabbed while tubing on the Apple River in Wisconsin, a popular summer spot that attracts visitors from across the region, the authorities said.
The suspect, a 52-year-old man from Minnesota, had left the scene but was taken into custody after a witness identified him at a point where tubers on the river exit, said Sheriff Scott Knudson of the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office.
The authorities did not release the names of the victims or the suspect. One of the victims, a 17-year-old from Minnesota, was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. Four additional victims in critical condition were all in their early 20s, and Sheriff Knudson said he believed they were three men and one woman. Precise ages were not immediately available and it was unclear where they were from, Sheriff Knudson said.” Read more at New York Times
“AUSTIN, Texas — Facing a potential $150 million judgment and two more damages trials for defaming the families of people killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, the conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones on Friday put his Infowars empire into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Last year, Mr. Jones lost four defamation lawsuits filed by the families of 10 people killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Soon after the shooting, he began spreading the bogus theory that the shooting was staged by the government as a pretext for confiscating Americans’ firearms, and that the families were complicit in the plot. The families have suffered years of torment from people who believe those false claims.
Judges in Texas and Connecticut ruled Mr. Jones liable by default for defying court orders. The losses set the stage for the three jury trials for damages. The first trial began in Austin last week. In it, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis, 6, died in the massacre, have sought $150 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages. Mr. Jones and a sidekick, Owen Shroyer, implied on Infowars that Mr. Heslin’s recollection of holding his son soon after his murder was a lie.” Read more at AP News
“CHICAGO (AP) — A single ticket bought in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot.
According to megamillions.com, there was one jackpot-winning ticket in the draw Friday night, and it was bought at a Speedway gas station and convenience store in Des Plaines.
The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Mega Ball: 14….
The jackpot was the nation’s third-largest lottery prize. It grew so large because no one had matched the game’s six selected numbers since April 15. That’s 29 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner.
Lottery officials had estimated the winning take at $1.28 billion, but revised the number up to $1.337 billion on Saturday.” Read more at AP News
President Biden.Tom Brenner for The New York Times
“After a string of political victories, President Biden’s challenge is to ensure that they resonate with voters in the midterm elections.”
“Biden tested positive for Covid again yesterday in a ‘rebound’ case attributed to the post-infection treatment Paxlovid, but his symptoms had not come back.” Read more at New York Times
Pramila Jayapal. A man was arrested outside the Congressional Progressive Caucus chair’s home for allegedly shouting racist obscenities and threatening to kill her. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
“Members of the US House of Representatives will now receive up to $10,000 to upgrade security at their homes in the face of rising threats against lawmakers, the House sergeant at arms announced last week, in yet another sign that American politics has entered a dangerous, violent new phase.
As support for political violence appears to be on the rise in the US, experts warn that such threats endanger the health of America’s democracy. But they say the country still has time to tamp down violent rhetoric if political leaders, particularly those in the Republican party, stand up and condemn this alarming behavior.
The announcement over increasing security for people in Congress came days after a man attacked Lee Zeldin, a New York congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate, with a sharp object during a campaign event.
Two weeks before that, a man was arrested outside the home of Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, for allegedly shouting racist obscenities and threatening to kill her. Last month, authorities filed federal charges against a man who they say traveled from California to Maryland with the intent of murdering the supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Public service has clearly become an increasingly dangerous endeavor in America.
Recent polls show an increasing number of Americans are comfortable with political violence, although there is a wide range of opinions on the type of violence that is acceptable.” Read more at The Guardian
“KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian and Russian officials blamed each other Saturday for the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in an attack on a prison in a separatist-controlled area. The International Red Cross asked to visit the prison to make sure the scores of wounded POWs had proper treatment, but said its request had not been granted so far.
Meanwhile, Russia kept launching attacks on several Ukrainian cities, hitting a school and a bus station.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the ICRC and the United Nations have a duty to react to the shelling of the prison complex in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, and he called again for Russia to be declared a terrorist state.” Read more at AP News
“KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A drone-borne explosive device detonated Sunday at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, injuring six people, officials said.
The explosion at the headquarters in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 caused cancellation of observances of Russia’s Navy Day holiday.
The Black Sea Fleet’s press service said the drone appeared to be homemade. It described the explosive device as “low-power” but Sevastopol mayor Mikhail Razvozhaev said six people were injured in the blast.
There was no immediate information on where the drone began its flight; Sevastopol is about 170 kilometers (100 miles) south of the Ukrainian mainland and Russian forces control much of the mainland area along the Black Sea.
Fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine. The mayor of the major port city of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, said shelling killed one of Ukraine’s richest men, Oleksiy Vadatursky, and his wife. Vadatursky headed a grain production and export business.” Read more at AP News
“In another sign of growing political repression in Guatemala, the authorities have arrested an award-winning journalist who was critical of the government and raided the offices of the newspaper he founded.
José Rubén Zamora, president of the elPeriódico newspaper, was arrested at his home in Guatemala City on Friday night on charges including possible money laundering, blackmail and influence peddling, according to the Guatemalan attorney general’s office.
‘There must be a conspiracy, a persecution,’ Mr. Zamora told reporters outside his home as he was being held by the police. ‘If that’s the case, we must pay for the love of Guatemala with jail time.’
Mr. Zamora’s arrest is the latest move by Guatemalan authorities to stifle political dissent and crush attempts to expose graft in the government of President Alejandro Giammattei, which has become an increasing challenge for the Biden administration and its goal of stamping out corruption in Central America.” Read more at New York Times
“Remnants of a massive Chinese rocket that was descending uncontrollably back to Earth reentered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean at roughly 12:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, the US Space Command said on Twitter.” Read more at CNN
“Prince Charles’s charity accepted more than $1 million from the family of Osama bin Laden.” Read more at The Guardian
“The cancellation of Full Frontal is part of a bigger story about late night television. The news of TBS ending the incisive news satire show carried the sting of seeing Samantha Bee, the most prominent female voice in late night, unceremoniously removed from TV, our critic Eric Deggans writes. The genre is suffering instability — just as women and people of color were getting a seat at the table.” Read more at NPR
Amanda Nunes celebrates after defeating Julianna Pena in the main event of UFC 277 on Saturday night in Dallas. Photograph: Richard Rodriguez/AP
“Amanda Nunes won a unanimous five-round decision over Julianna Peña in the main event of UFC 277 on Saturday night at to regain the women’s bantamweight championship that she lost last December.
Nunes (22-5), nicknamed ‘The Lioness’, is again a double-champion, already holding the featherweight belt. The judges’ scoring was 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43.
Peña beat Nunes last December at Las Vegas to claim the title in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
Saturday’s fight was the first title defense for Peña (12-5) in the 135lb division.
Brandon Moreno won the co-main event with a third-round TKO over Kai Kara-France in a scheduled five-round bout to take possession of the interim men’s flyweight championship belt.” Read more at The Guardian