August 18 top stories
It is August 18. Here are today’s top stories.
Hurricane Hilary now Category 4
Hurricane Hilary became a Category 4 storm this morning with wind speeds of up to 145 mph. It went from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in only 24 hours.
It is forecast to approach California’s Baja Peninsula on Saturday, but the hurricane may weaken in strength.
A big concern is the potential for flooding in four states: California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. The cities under flooding watch include Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and areas just west of Phoenix. Weather forecasters also issued warnings for strong winds.
Trump wants election fraud trial to take place in 2026
Donald Trump’s legal team asked a judge for his D.C. trial — on criminal charges of using fraud to alter the results of the 2020 election — to take place in April 2026.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who led the DOJ investigation into Trump’s actions, previously requested a trial date of January 2024. Smith said it would satisfy the public’s interest in a speedy trial.
Trump’s team said Smith’s request for a trial within a few months is not reasonable because they have 11.5 million pages of evidence to review from Smith’s investigation. Trump’s side said Smith is obviously trying to deny Trump a fair ability to prepare for trial.
The judge overseeing this case is D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. She will hear arguments from both sides in the courtroom on August 28 on the trial date.
In separate but related news, a 43-year-old woman in Texas was arrested on Wednesday and charged with threatening Judge Chutkan. Her name is Abigail Jo Shry. She allegedly called Judge Chutkan’s office on August 5 and left a voicemail with racist slurs threatening to kill her if she went after Trump.
Law enforcement said Shry admitted to leaving the voicemail. A news report said she was charged four times in the past year over similar allegations. She was ordered to remain in custody for at least 30 days until a detention hearing in Houston.
Maui official resigns after criticism over not sounding sirens
NBC News said Maui’s top emergency management official Herman Andaya resigned yesterday. There was criticism over his office’s decision not to sound warning sirens while there were wildfires.
Andaya recently said it was because the sirens are typically associated with tsunamis and he didn’t want residents to mistakenly flee into higher land because that’s where the fires were coming from.
A Maui spokesperson said Andaya resigned due to health reasons and that they would place someone in this position as quickly as possible.
There are some people online who say it would have been very difficult to escape the flames even if there were sirens because the wildfires spread very fast — traveling at around 60 mph, covering a mile a minute.
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British nurse found guilty of murdering 7 infants
BBC News reported that a nurse in England, Lucy Letby, was found guilty of murdering seven babies in neonatal units in 2015 and 2016. She is also convicted of trying to kill six other infants.
BBC said Letby intentionally injected babies with air, force-fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin.
A key piece of evidence is a handwritten note found in Letby’s home in which she wrote, “I am evil I did this” and “I killed them on purpose because I am not good enough to care for them…”
Letby will be sentenced this Monday.
Mortgage rates now over 7%
Axios news said mortgage rates are now back to 2001 levels. The average U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rate is just over 7%. It is a sharp spike from 2021 levels when rates were around 3%.
What is the difference? Axios provided an example.
The average mortgage amount taken out last week is $417,200 and with current rates, the monthly payment would be $2,820. Two years ago, these monthly payments translated to a $670,000 home. That’s a big difference.
This means home ownership is less affordable and more challenging for would-be buyers.
That’s all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-asks-judge-schedule-federal-election-interference-trial/story
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194362551/tanya-chutkan-judge-threats-trump-insurrection-trial-shry
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/texas-woman-charged-trump-judge-kill-threat
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/us/politics/woman-arrested-death-threat-judge-chutkan.html
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/mortgage-rates-2001-loan
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194407822/mortgages-housing-homes-freddy-mac-economy-interest-rates
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/hurricane-hilary-2023-flooding-california-arizona