Tuesday, December 14 top stories
Tuesday, December 14 top stories
It is Tuesday, December 14. Here are today’s top stories.
Starbucks workers and unions
Last week workers at a Starbucks cafe in Buffalo, New York voted to form the first-ever union for Starbucks baristas. The union, called Starbucks Workers United, was formed under an established union called Workers United New York. There may be more Starbucks unions in Buffalo in the near future. A Starbucks barista from Buffalo said with a union, workers have an ability to negotiate contracts. CNBC said today that employees at some Starbucks cafes in Boston and at a cafe in Mesa, Arizona have filed for elections to form unions. The Starbucks headquarters said they do not want to see unions be formed and prefer to work directly with employees. We may see more workers forming unions in the future in workplaces such as Amazon, McDonald’s, or Home Depot.
Cuomo ordered to forfeit $5.1 million from book sales
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been ordered to turn over about $5.1 million in earnings from his book about his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. A state ethics board said Cuomo broke several state ethics laws, such as using state resources or government staffers in the process of writing the book. A lawyer for Cuomo said they would fight the order in court.
Ex-NFL player who killed six had severe CTE
An autopsy of former NFL player Phillip Adams, who shot and killed four adults and two children at a home in South Carolina before killing himself, found that Adams had a very severe case of CTE, a brain disease that has been found in many other NFL players. The coroner in the autopsy said Adams, who was 32 years old, developed Stage 2 CTE from his 20 years of playing football and that the level of brain disease was unusually severe. CTE can occur from repeated head trauma and can cause people to become aggressive, depressed, or paranoid. Adams lived on the same road as the victims. Adams’ family said they are not surprised by the CTE diagnosis but are shocked at how severe it was.
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Text messages to Meadows revealed
The Jan. 6 House Committee revealed several text messages that were sent to Mark Meadows, the chief of staff for former President Donald Trump, on January 6 when hundreds of people broke into the U.S. Capitol.
Committee member Liz Cheney (R-Wyo) read out the texts.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., texted, “He’s got to condemn this sh*t ASAP” and later said, “We need an Oval Office address… It has gone too far. And gotten out of hand.”
Cheney said Meadows replied to Trump Jr. saying, “I’m pushing it hard. I agree.”
Cheney read out texts from three different Fox News hosts.
Sean Hannity texted, “Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol?”
Laura Ingraham texted, “The president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home… he is destroying his legacy.”
Brian Kilmeade texted, “Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.”
Cheney also revealed text messages from several members of Congress who were not named that pleaded for Trump to say something because protesters were breaking windows on doors, rushing in, that they were under siege, and that there was an armed standoff at the House chamber door.
The Jan. 6 committee unanimously voted on a resolution to recommend Meadows be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena. The full House will hold a vote on whether to refer Meadows to the Department of Justice for criminal charges, like Steve Bannon was. House Republican leaders said their members should vote “no” on referring Meadows for criminal charges.
Kristen Hayden is first Black woman to win diving title
Kristen Hayden made history on Monday when she became the first Black woman to win a U.S. national diving championship. She won the mixed synchronized 3-meter competition at the USA Diving winter national championships with her diving partner Quinn Henninger. Hayden is a student at Indiana University. She will be headed to the world diving championships in Japan in May.
New record high temperature in Arctic
The World Meteorological Organization, an U.N. agency, said there was a new record high temperature in the Arctic region in June. The temperature is 38 degrees C, or 100.4 F. The temperature was taken in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk. The WMO said the temperature reading sounds “the alarm bells about our changing climate.” The WMO said the high temperatures are fueling fires and driving massive sea ice loss.
That is all the top stories for today. Check out our other videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/14/starbucks-workers-at-two-boston-cafes-file-for-union-election-after-win-in-buffalo.html
https://www.vox.com/recode/22825850/starbucks-union-first-organizing-vote-nlrb
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/14/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-book.html?referringSource=articleShare
https://nypost.com/2021/12/14/andrew-cuomo-ordered-to-return-pandemic-book-profits-to-state/
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32866344/autopsy-ex-nfl-player-phillip-adams-accused-killing-six-people-shows-unusually-severe-cte-damage
https://www.axios.com/meadows-contempt-charges-don-junior-0847b7ca-467f-4a61-ade2-98357248af39.html
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1470796478524411916
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/mark-meadows-house-contempt-vote/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kristen-hayden-first-black-woman-national-diving-title/
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/14/1064042128/arctic-heat-record-siberia-climate-change