Friday, August 26 top stories
Hello! My name is Renca and I will take Alex’s place today for top news. Today is Friday, August 26. Here are the top stories.
Mar-a-Lago search affidavit is released with redactions
The Department of Justice released the affidavit that was used by federal agents to obtain a search warrant of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The affidavit had a lot of redactions to black out sensitive parts that could harm the reputations of other people or slow down the investigation.
The affidavit shows that FBI investigators determined that documents that had classified markings on them were stored at unauthorized locations in Mar-a-Lago. The FBI found 184 unique documents that were marked as “confidential,” “secret,” and “top secret.” Some of the documents were about the U.S. military.
The FBI said in the affidavit that they believe they may find evidence that there was obstruction of justice — that the Trump team may have misled them.
There is no clear information yet on what the documents were about and what the FBI thought Trump was doing with them. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
California votes to ban new gas car sales by 2035
California just passed a new policy that will be effective by 2035 the ban on selling new gas-powered vehicles and switching to zero-emission vehicles This is part of California’s response to battle climate change. California will begin phasing out the sales of gas-powered vehicles by 2026 then they are expecting that by 2035, all new cars sold in the state of California will run on either electricity or hydrogen. However, this policy does allow Californians to keep driving their gas-powered vehicles and buying used ones after 2035, but there will be no new gas-powered vehicles available for sale.
For heavy trucks, the policy will apply by 2045. There were some comments about if many people would be able to afford to buy zero-emission cars. Other states will follow after California such as Colorado and Minnesota. Other countries in Europe and Canada are also planning to implement similar bans.
Rep. Marjorie Greene’s home targeted in two swatting calls
U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, said her home was “swatted” twice in two days. “Swatting” is when someone tries to do a kind of a prank on you by contacting local police and telling them that there were serious crimes that happened at your home, such as murder, and that a suspect is still inside. This could bring out a SWAT team to surround your home. Often it can be dangerous because police officers would be ready to open fire.
The congresswoman lives in Rome, Georgia. The Rome Police Department said they received a 911 call on early Thursday morning around 3 a.m. that a male suspect shot several members of his family. The caller said they came out as a transgender person. Police officers went to the congresswoman’s home to alert her.
On Wednesday morning, someone contacted local police to say that a man was shot five times and that a woman with children was still in Greene’s home. Police officers showed up, but there was nothing there.
Police said the person who made the calls used a fake, computer-generated voice and used a suicide chat line so the person couldn’t be tracked down.
The suspect may have targeted the congresswoman because she introduced a bill last week that would make it a felony to provide children with gender-affirming care (medical treatments to help a person transition genders).
Rome Police said they are now working with the U.S. Capitol Police to try and find out who made the calls.
———
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
——
[Advertisement from Disaster Distress Helpline] After a disaster, you may be at risk for emotional distress. Warning signs can include feeling isolated, anxious, having trouble sleeping and more. If you or someone you know is Deaf or hard of hearing, the Disaster Distress Helpline offers a direct videophone option.
This free service for ASL users is answered 24/7 by trained crisis workers fluent in ASL and can be accessed using any videophone-enabled device and dialing 1-800-985-5990 or at disasterdistress.samhsa.gov.
———
Derek Chauvin moved to Arizona prison
Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, was moved from a prison in Minnesota to a federal prison in Arizona. In the Minnesota prison, Chauvin often stayed in solitary confinement in a 10-by-10 foot cell. The Arizona prison is in Tucson and it is considered safer for Chauvin because he would be less likely to mix with inmates that he previously arrested or investigated. Chauvin is serving a prison sentence of 22 1/2 years.
Pakistan floods affects 30 million people
Since this past summer in Pakistan, heavy monsoon rain and flooding have affected more than 30 million people in different areas and have killed over 900 people- mostly women and children. Right now, the southern part of Sindh, the second largest city in Pakistan, took a hard hit with the heavy rain in the past few days and that area is almost underwater. People are going to higher grounds and 1 million tents have been requested for the affected people.
The National Disaster Management Authority mentioned that in the last 24 hours, about 93 miles of roads have been damaged across the country and over 82,000 homes have been partially or fully damaged. They also reported that since mid-June when monsoon season began in Pakistan, over 1, 864 miles have been damaged, 130 bridges and 495,000 homes have been destroyed.
The rain has not stopped for the past three months and they are expecting more in the next few days. Pakistan has asked the international community to help with relief efforts. Comments mention that this is the result of climate change.
Oscar Mayer selling hotdog popsicles
If you love hot dogs then you might like what Oscar Mayer is selling. They are selling frozen popsicles called “Cold Dogs” that taste like hot dogs. The popsicles even come with a yellow mustard swirl.
Oscar Mayer tweeted “Some call it stupid, many called it genius!” when they introduced the Cold Dogs. In the tweet, it says that it is available now in Long Beach, Atlanta, New Orleans, and New York City and will be sold at $2.00 per popsicle.
Oscar Mayer is known for selling items that make people squirm to attract them to buy. Earlier this year, they sold a bologna face mask that got sold out on Amazon. Question for you, would you try this Cold Dog?
That’s all for now. Enjoy your last weekend of August and don’t forget to stay with the light.
Mar-a-Lago: https://www.axios.com/2022/08/26/doj-document-trump-affidavit-mar-a-lago
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-mar-a-lago-doj-affidavit/index.html
California:https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/25/us/california-ban-new-gas-cars-vote/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/25/1119381508/california-ban-gas-cars-2035
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/washington-massachusetts-californias-gas-car-sales-ban
Senator: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-georgia-home-second-swatting-call-police-say/
Chauvin: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/derek-chauvin-arizona-federal-prison-george-floyd-killing/
Pakistan: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/25/asia/pakistan-flooding-climate-minister-intl-hnk/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/floods-pakistan-climate-and-environment-dcb61e4085c8493d1912aef8bee439f6
Oscar Mayer: https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/oscar-mayer-is-now-selling-frozen-wiener-pops/