Anthony FauciAnthony FauciSunday shows preview: Democrats eye passage of infrastructure bill; health experts warn of fourth coronavirus wave Nickelodeon to feature Fauci in clips answering kids’ questions about COVID-19 The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden may find zero GOP support for jobs plan MORE is urging Americans to continue following COVID-19 guidelines amid warnings of a new surge in cases and the U.S.’s rollout of three vaccines for the virus.

Speaking with  Jim AcostaJames (Jim) AcostaBiden’s first presser wasn’t about him — not really Fox’s Peter Doocy snubbed at first Biden press conference The media allow Biden to talk one way but govern another MORE on “CNN Newsroom” on Saturday, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases implored Americans to remember that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines are only temporary and would be relaxed as more Americans are vaccinated and rates of new infections drop as a result.

“People say, ‘Well, you just want to confine us forever.’ No, this is not going to last forever, because every day that you get four million, three million people vaccinated, you get closer and closer to control,” Fauci told CNN.

“Four million people vaccinated [in a day] is really a lot of people,” he added, referring to a figure just above the current U.S. vaccination rate. “If you multiply that by 30 days in a month, you’ve got 120 million vaccinations that you’ve done. That is what you need to get your arms around this outbreak and to prevent additional deaths, additional hospitalizations, additional infections.”

Health officials including CDC Director Rochelle WalenskyRochelle WalenskyCDC director walks tightrope on pandemic messaging Sunday shows preview: Democrats eye passage of infrastructure bill; health experts warn of fourth coronavirus wave Overnight Health Care: CDC says fully vaccinated people can safely travel | Biden bemoans those acting as though COVID-19 fight over | Will vaccine passports be the biggest campaign issue of 2022? MORE have warned that a new surge of infections is on the way with many U.S. states relaxing restrictions on public life. The rate of new COVID-19 infections ticked up toward the end of March, but has yet to approach anything near the surge encountered by officials over the fall and winter.

President BidenJoe BidenLawmakers say fixing border crisis is Biden’s job Trump calls for Republicans to boycott companies amid voting law controversy White House: GOP has ‘struggled to articulate a reason’ to oppose infrastructure plan MORE has also urged Americans to continue following social distancing and masking guidelines in the face of relaxed state restrictions across the country. 

“Too many Americans are acting as if this fight is over,” he said on Friday.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/546383-fauci-touts-vaccinations-this-is-not-going-to-last-forever

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Source Article from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-04/johnson-pushes-covid-tests-for-all-to-help-reopen-u-k-economy

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new voting bill, SB 202, into law on March 25.

The election law has sparked a backlash from Democratic officials and activists, not least of whom is President Biden, who called the legislation “Jim Crow in the 21st century.”

Corporations spoke out against the law, and Major League Baseball decided to move its 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta because of it. But Kemp and other Republicans say the harsh response shows that critics have not actually read the law.

READ THE FULL TEXT HERE

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/georgia-voting-law-read-full-text

The trial of former cop Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd has left Minneapolis “on edge,” Rep. Ilhan Omar said Sunday.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Omar, the city’s congressional representative, told host Jake Tapper that the trial’s start has re-opened the emotional wound from Floyd’s Memorial Day 2020 death.

“It’s been re-traumatizing,” said Omar, a Democrat. “It’s been really hard. I’ve tried to avoid watching. I know a lot of us here in Minneapolis have done that. … You also want to know the details and hear from the witnesses.

“I think the one part that’s stayed with me is the fact that everyone who took the witness stand said they felt helpless.”

Floyd, 46, was stopped by police after allegedly passing a bogus $20 bill at a Minneapolis store.

While attempting to arrest Floyd, who was black, one of the responding officers, Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, even as he gasped that he could not breathe, pleaded for his life and eventually became unresponsive.

Floyd’s caught-on-video death launched coast-to-coast protests — and, sometimes, violent unrest — against police brutality and racial injustice.

A poster with George Floyd’s picture and a sign reads that “I can’t Breathe” hang from a security fence outside the Hennepin County Government Center on March 30, 2021.

KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

Posters of George Floyd are zip tied to the security fence around the heavily secured Hennepin County Courthouse during the trial of Derek Chauvin.

Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune via Getty Images

Floyd died while being taken into Minneapolis Police custody.

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Nearly a year later, the ongoing trial of the since-fired Chauvin, 45, on charges of murder and manslaughter has revived tension in the city, Omar said.

“The community is on edge,” she said Sunday when asked about the possibility of Chauvin not being convicted. “We have seen justice not delivered in our community for many years.

“I think that there is a lot of confidence in [Minnesota] Attorney General Keith Ellison and the prosecutors in this case, but we are all eagerly awaiting to see how this trial shakes out,” Omar added.

Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, even as he gasped that he could not breathe, pleaded for his life and eventually became unresponsive.

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File

Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, even as he gasped that he could not breathe, pleaded for his life and eventually became unresponsive.

© Darnella Frazier/Courtesy Facebook via ZUMA Wire

The Hennepin County Government Center is seen the day before open statements in the trial of former police Derek Chauvin.

REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

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The lawmaker, however, accused Chauvin’s defense of attacking Floyd’s character in the trial’s first week.

“It’s been really horrendous to watch the defense put George Floyd on trial instead of the former police officer who’s charged with his murder,” she said.

The trial kicked off last Monday and is expected to last several more weeks.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/04/04/derek-chauvin-trial-has-minneapolis-on-edge-says-ilhan-omar/

Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri on Sunday urged the Biden administration to cut its $2 trillion infrastructure plan to roughly $615 billion and focus on rebuilding physical infrastructure like roads and bridges.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Blunt – the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate – argued that only 30% of the president’s proposal focuses on traditional infrastructure and said reducing the price would allow the White House to pass the bill through both chambers of Congress.

“I think there’s an easy win here for the White House if they would take that win, which is make this an infrastructure package, which is about 30% — even if you stretch the definition of infrastructure some — it’s about 30% of the $2.25 trillion we are talking about spending,” Blunt said.

“If we’d go back and look at roads and bridges and ports and airports, and maybe even underground water systems and broadband, you’d still be talking about less than 30% of this entire package,” he added.

“I think 30% is about 615 or so billion dollars,” Blunt said. “I think you can do that and with some innovative things like looking at how we’re going to deal with the electric vehicle use of the highway system, what we can do with public-private partnerships.”

The top Republican’s remarks follow Biden’s introduction of the infrastructure package last week, which focuses on rebuilding roads, bridges and airports, expanding broadband access and fighting climate change through boosting electric vehicle use and updating the country’s electric grid. The proposal also includes increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% to offset spending.

Biden has said that he wants bipartisan support for the plan, but the chances are slim. Republicans have staunchly opposed any tax hikes, arguing they could hinder economic recovery. Republicans have also criticized the package for including initiatives that extend beyond traditional infrastructure issues.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last week that the $2 trillion package would not receive Republican support and vowed to oppose the broader Democratic agenda.

“I’m going to fight them every step of the way, because I think this is the wrong prescription for America,” McConnell said at a news conference on Thursday.

Democrats would need to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the bill on their own unless the White House changes the proposal to satisfy Republicans or 10 Senate Republicans break with McConnell.

The Biden administration passed the $1.9 pandemic relief package in March without a Republican vote through budget reconciliation and could take a similar approach with infrastructure.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday that she hopes the proposal passes with bipartisan support, but added that Biden is prepared to use reconciliation without Republicans.

“So much of this includes priorities that Republicans have supported, so I hope that Democrats and Republicans can be on the final vote ‘yes’ on this package,” Granholm said during an interview on CNN.

Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said on Sunday that Biden’s infrastructure plan is key to spurring job growth as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Let’s also think for the longer term, about where those investments that we can make that will really drive not just more job growth but better job growth,” Deese said in an interview with Fox News. “Not just job growth in the short term but job growth for long term, by investing in our infrastructure.”

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/04/infrastructure-gop-sen-roy-blunt-calls-on-biden-to-slash-plan-to-615-billion.html

In his videos, Prince Hamzah, the king’s half-brother, said he had been told he could not go out or communicate with people.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56633266

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Sunday the Biden White House could score “an easy win” on infrastructure if it would just reduce its new plan to focus solely on infrastructure.

Speaking to host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” Blunt said that of the $2 trillion plan offered last month by President Joe Biden, only about 30 percent of it was truly dedicated to what has traditionally been called infrastructure.

“I think there’s an easy win here for the White House if they would take that win, which is make this an infrastructure package, which is about 30 percent, even if you stretch the definition of infrastructure some, it’s about 30 percent of the $2.25 trillion we are talking about spending,” he said.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/04/blunt-biden-infrastructure-479017

Hunter Biden said he’s “100% certain” that he’ll be cleared of any wrongdoing in a Department of Justice investigation into his finances during an interview Sunday.

The “CBS Sunday Morning” interview came ahead of the scheduled Tuesday release of Biden’s memoir “Beautiful Things.”

HUNTER SAYS HE BEGAN RELATIONSHIP WITH LATE BROTHER’S WIDOW WHEN SHE WAS AT HER ‘NEEDIEST’

The president’s son said he couldn’t go into much detail regarding the investigation.

“But I can say this: I’m cooperating completely. And I’m absolutely certain — I’m 100% certain — that at the end of the investigation, I will be cleared of any wrongdoing,” he said. “And all I can do is cooperate and trust in the process.”

President Joe Biden talks with his son Hunter Biden as he holds his grandson Beau Biden as they walk to board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, March 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
(AP)

Biden also revealed that his father calls him “at least” every night and has for years.

“I’ll tell you why. Because he’s lost [loved ones]. He, like me, knows what it’s like not to be able to pick up the phone and talk to your son,” Hunter Biden said.

HUNTER BIDEN PROBE: AG NOMINEE GARLAND PRESSED BY GOP LAWMAKER TO KEEP US ATTORNEY HANDLING CASE

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware is investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs, Fox News first reported in December. The investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter, began in 2018. 

“I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” Biden said in a statement in December. “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.”

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President Biden has vowed that he will stay out of the DOJ investigation of his son.

The DOJ asked a slew of Trump-era federal prosecutors to resign earlier this year but notably kept on Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the investigation into the younger Biden. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president made the decision to keep on Weiss to “fulfill his promise of maintaining independence.” 

Hunter Biden’s foreign entanglements have been a source of controversy for the Biden administration in its early days. 

In February, Psaki said Hunter Biden was still “working to unwind his investment” in a Chinese equity fund, despite a promise from President Biden that his family would not hold foreign investments during his presidency. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman, David Spunt and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-doj-investigation-finances-interview

Third grade literacy instructor Katelyn Battinelli talks with students about their pandemic-related fears on the first day of in-person learning for five days per week at Stark Elementary School on March 10, 2021 in Stamford, Connecticut.Credit…John Moore/Getty Images

A bipartisan group of governors have decided it is time to get students back into classrooms, despite union resistance and bureaucratic hesitancy.

Democratic governors in Oregon, California, New Mexico and North Carolina, and Republicans in Arizona, Iowa, West Virginia and New Hampshire, among other states, have all taken steps to prod, and sometimes force, school districts to open.

The result has been a major increase in the number of students who now have the option of attending school in-person, or will in the next month.

According to a school reopening tracker created by the American Enterprise Institute, 7 percent of the more than 8,000 districts being tracked were operating fully remotely on March 22, the lowest percentage since the tracker was started in November. Forty-one percent of districts were offering full-time in-person instruction, the highest percentage in that time. Those findings have been echoed by other surveys.

In interviews, several governors described the factors motivating their decision to push districts to reopen, including the substantial evidence that there is little virus transmission in schools if mitigation measures are followed, the decline in overall cases from their January peak, and, most of all, the urgency of getting students back in classrooms before the school year ends.

“Every day is an eternity for a young person,” said Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington, who declared a state of emergency related to child and adolescent mental health and banned fully virtual instruction starting in April. “We just could not wait any further.”

In the weeks since most of the governors acted, nationwide cases have started to rise again, which could complicate the effort to get children back in school. In areas where cases are increasing sharply, like Michigan, some schools have had to revert to remote learning temporarily because so many students were in quarantine.

But for the time being, at least, the moves by these governors have yielded significant results.

In Washington, before Mr. Inslee issued his proclamation, the state’s largest district, Seattle Public Schools, was locked in a standoff with its teachers’ union over a reopening plan. Days after Mr. Inslee announced he would require districts to bring students back at least part time, the two sides reached an agreement for all preschool and elementary school students and some older students with disabilities to return by April 5.

In Ohio, nearly half of all students were in districts that were fully remote at the beginning of 2021. By March 1, that number was down to 4 percent, and it has shrunk further in the weeks since.

“It’s worked exceedingly well,” Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio, said of his decision to offer vaccines to Ohio districts that pledged to reopen. “We’ve got these kids back in school.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/04/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases

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Source Article from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/trump-decries-cancel-culture-calls-boycott-georgia-law.html

  • Marwa Elselehdar is Egypt’s first female ship’s captain. 
  • Online rumors and fake news headlines blamed her for the Ever Given grounding, she told the BBC.
  • Elselehdar was actually 200 miles away from the incident when it occurred.
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Egypt’s first female ship’s captain was blamed for the Suez Canal blockage despite having been hundreds of miles away from the incident, she told BBC News.

Marwa Elselehdar said that she saw online rumors accusing her of being responsible for the Ever Given container ship becoming beached, the media outlet reported.

At the time of the jam, Elselehdar was working as a first mate on the Aida IV. This vessel was in Alexandria — more than 200 miles away from the site of the collision.

An investigation is underway to explain the Ever Given’s grounding, but it is clear that the 29-year-old was not to blame.

Read more: The 4 biggest losers of the Suez Canal fiasco — and 4 surprising winners

Rumors circulating online about Elselehdar’s supposed culpability were made worse by the sharing of screenshots of fake news headlines, BBC News reported.

Several social media accounts also impersonated her and spread false claims putting the blame on her, the media outlet said.

“I felt that I might be targeted maybe because I’m a successful female in this field or because I’m Egyptian, but I’m not sure,” Elselehdar told the BBC.

The young woman described how she was “shocked” when she first saw the baseless accusations on her phone.

The rumors concerned her. “I tried so hard to negate what was in the article because it was affecting my reputation and all the efforts I exerted to be where I am now,” she said in the BBC interview.

 

Elselehdar is one of the few women in the heavily male-dominated shipping industry.

In 2016, she became the youngest and first female Egyptian captain to cross the Suez Canal. A year later, she was honored by Egypt’s president during Egypt’s Women’s Day celebrations, the BBC said.

She hopes that her career, despite this unfortunate setback, inspires other women to break into the industry.

“My message to females who want to be in the maritime field is fight for what you love and not let any negativity affect you,” she told the BBC.

Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/suez-canal-egypts-first-female-ship-captain-unfairly-blamed-jam-2021-4

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/04/former-arkansas-gov-mike-huckabee-issues-racist-tweet-mlb-backlash/7082664002/

  • Donald Trump has spoken out again about the companies that oppose Georgia’s new voting law. 
  • He called for more boycotts, saying “don’t go back to their products until they relent.”
  • Barack Obama, meanwhile, commended the MLB on its decision to move its All-Star Game from Atlanta. 
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Former President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of companies that oppose Georgia’s new voting law, and widened his appeal for more boycotts. 

“Never submit, never give up!” Trump said. In a statement, he added that his political opponents — the “Radical Left Democrats” — had long used brand boycotts to send messages.

“It is finally time for Republicans and Conservatives to fight back — we have more people than they do — by far! Boycott Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS, and Merck. Don’t go back to their products until they relent. We can play the game better than them,” Trump said.

Trump was in opposition to another former president, Barack Obama, who supported Major League Baseball’s (MLB) decision to move its 2021 All-Star Game.

“Congratulations to @MLB for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all citizens. There’s no better way for America’s pastime to honor the great Hank Aaron, who always led by example,” Obama said on Twitter.

 

Sun Trust Park in Atlanta, Georgia.

John Amis/AP Photo


Elsewhere, Republican National Committee chair, Ronna McDaniel, said she was skipping MLB broadcasts.  

“Guess what I am doing today? Not watching baseball!!!!” she said on Twitter.

MLB’s decision to move the game could cost the Atlanta economy about $100 million in lost revenue, Holly Quinlan, a local tourism official, told CNN on Saturday. 

Georgia voting rights activist Stacey Abrams said she supported the league’s decision but didn’t “want to see Georgia families hurt by lost events and jobs.” 

 

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who signed the bill, told Fox News that New York voting laws were more restrictive than those in Georgia. 

“Major League Baseball may be scared of Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams, but we’re not. We will continue to fight to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia,” Kemp said on Twitter

Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-expands-list-companies-boycott-georgia-law-opposition-2021-4

Cher is doubling down on her claim that if she could only have been in Minneapolis last May, she maybe could have helped George Floyd — after being roasted for saying so the first time.

“I CAN,I HAVE,& I WILL..HELP,” the singer tweeted Saturday.

Many online had accused Cher of being tone deaf or blinded by white and celebrity privilege Friday, after the performer tweeted: “Is Gonna Sound CRAZY,But.. I Kept Thinking …..Maybe If I’d Been There,…I Could’ve Helped.”

But by Saturday afternoon, the “Believe” singer was undeterred.

She went right back on Twitter to say she still believes she somehow could have intervened when ex-cop Derek Chauvin planted his knee onto the black suspect’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds.

“Wrestled With This Twt, Because I Thought some ppl wouldn’t understand, Or Believe an Entertainer Could have Honest emotions about a human Being,suffering & Dying,even if It’s Only Shown On tv. You Don’t Know What I’ve Done,Who I Am,Or What I Believe.I CAN,I HAVE,& I WILL..HELP,” the singer’s tweet said.

The second time around, the comment section appeared to be a little more forgiving to the well-meaning 74-year-old.

“I saw the humanity in Cher’s Tweet the moment I read it,” responded @chewstruth, “& I also understood exactly what she meant.”

“While I believe Chauvin was intent on killing George Floyd, who among us wouldn’t at least have tried to get him to stop & save Floyd? Cher is no different.”

Source Article from https://pagesix.com/2021/04/03/cher-still-believes-she-could-have-helped-save-george-floyd/

Since then a number of the people I know, or my friends, have been arrested, my security has been removed, and the internet and phone lines have been cut. This is my last form of communication, satellite internet, that I have – and I’ve been informed by the company that they are instructed to cut it, so it may be the last time I am able to communicate.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56629006

Some residents in Manatee County, Florida, were evacuated from their homes over Easter weekend as officials cited fears that a wastewater pond could collapse “at any time.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the area on Saturday.

County officials said the pond, located at the former Piney Point phosphate processing plant, has a “significant leak,” according to CBS affiliate WTSP-TV. The Manatee County Public Safety Department told people near the plant to evacuate due to an “imminent uncontrolled release of wastewater.” 

“A portion of the containment wall at the leak site shifted laterally,” said Manatee Director of Public Safety Jake Saur, “signifying that structural collapse could occur at any time.” 

Manatee County Public Safety Department initially sent out emergency evacuation notices on Friday for those who were within half a mile of Piney Point, and by 11 a.m. Saturday, evacuation orders were extended to people within one mile north of the reservoir’s stacks of phosphogypsum — a fertilizer waste product — and those within half a mile to the south of the site. Surrounding stretches of highway were also closed to traffic. 

Mandatory evacuations were extended an additional half mile west and one mile southwest of the site on Saturday evening. Manatee County Public Safety Department said that 316 households are within the full evacuation area. 

Phosphogypsum is the “radioactive waste” left over from processing phosophate ore into a state that can be used for fertilizer, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

“In addition to high concentrations of radioactive materials, phosphogypsum and processed wastewater can also contain carcinogens and heavy toxic metals,” the Center said in a statement on Saturday. “For every ton of phosphoric acid produced, the fertilizer industry creates 5 tons of radioactive phosphogypsum waste, which is stored in mountainous stacks hundreds of acres wide and hundreds of feet tall.” 

Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said in a statement Saturday that the “public must heed that notice to avoid harm.” 

Officials are on site conducting a controlled release of water, roughly 22,000 gallons a minute. 

The water that is currently being pumped out by officials in order to avoid a full collapse is a mix of sea water from a local dredge project, storm water and rain runoff. The water has not been treated. 

“The water meets water quality standards for marine waters with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total ammonia nitrogen,” the state said in a statement. “It is slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern, nor is it expected to be toxic.”

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried wrote a letter to DeSantis on Saturday urging an emergency session of the Florida cabinet to discuss the situation. She wrote that the leaking water is “contaminated, radioactive wastewater,” and noted that this leak is not the property’s first.

“For more than fifty years, this Central Florida mining operation has caused numerous human health and environmental disasters and incidents,” Fried wrote. “There have been numerous, well-documented failures — which continue today — of the property’s reservoir liner, including leaks, poor welds, holes, cracks and weaknesses that existed prior to purchase by the current owner, HRK Holdings, and exacerbated since.” 

Video of a Manatee County Commissioners meeting provided insight into what happened prior to the leak. On Thursday afternoon, Jeff Barath, a representative for HRK Holdings, the company that owns the site, appeared emotionally distressed while briefing the Manatee County Commissioners about the situation. 

“I’m very sorry,” he said. He told commissioners he had only slept a few hours that week because he was trying to fix the situation, and through tears, said he first noticed “increased conductivities within the site’s seepage collection system” 10 days prior on March 22. This system, he said, offers drainage around the gypsum stacks. 


April 1, 2021 – BCC Land Use Meeting by
Manatee County Government on
YouTube

He said he immediately notified FDEP of his concerns. 

“The water was changing around the seepage. We went into a very aggressive monitoring program,” he said, to find out where the seepage was coming from.

They discovered the south side of the stack system had “increased in conductivity” and that the acidity of the water, which is normally around a 4.6, had dropped to about a 3.5, which indicated an issue. 

After a few days, the water chemistry had not improved and water flows were increasing from about 120 gallons a minute to more than 400 gallons per minute in less than 48 hours, Barath said. Last Saturday night, the flow rates increased to “rates that I could not even estimate to you,” he said.

Water was filling the stacks so quickly that the ground was starting to rise, Barath said. This “bulging” was temporarily stabilized but then extended hundreds of feet. 

Barath submitted a report to the state on March 26, according to the state-run “Protecting Florida Together,” website, which was created by DeSantis to allow more transparency about state water issues. 

“I was anticipating that the gypstack itself was destabilizing at a very rapid rate and recommended that we consider an emergency discharge,” he told commissioners. He said he feared that “overpressurizing” the system would result in “complete failure.” 

“I’ve spent most of my days and nights constantly monitoring all aspects of this gypstack system and identifying failure points within it,” he said, noting that failure points were happening “constantly, I mean hourly.” 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said that it ordered the company to “take immediate action” to prevent further leaks. On March 30, the department said that “pipes at the facility are repaired” and controlled discharges were initiated to prevent any pressure buildup. 

However, based on Barath’s testimony at the meeting, the situation was far from over. He concluded his address by saying they were doing “everything possible to prevent a true catastrophe.” 

On Friday, another leak was detected in the south containment area of the facility. Despite overnight work to attempt to stop this and other leaks, Manatee Director of Public Safety Jake Saur said on Saturday that the situation was “escalating.”

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-state-of-emergency-wastewater-leak/

Since then a number of the people I know, or my friends, have been arrested, my security has been removed, and the internet and phone lines have been cut. This is my last form of communication, satellite internet, that I have – and I’ve been informed by the company that they are instructed to cut it, so it may be the last time I am able to communicate.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56629006

Long before bombshell allegations of federal sex trafficking rocked the political world this week, Rep. Matt Gaetz‘s rumored sexual conduct was already a source of controversy. 

When Gaetz was a young state lawmaker in the Florida House of Representatives, he allegedly participated in a competition with fellow male lawmakers to earn points for their sexual conquests, the Business Insider reported Friday.

Having sex with married lawmakers and spending the night in a college sorority house earned the lawmakers extra points. And the ultimate prize was sleeping with one particular conservative woman, they dubbed the “snitch,” in a nod to the “Harry Potter” game of Quidditch, a Republican who worked with Gaetz in the 2010s revealed in an interview with the Insider. 

REP. MATT GAETZ’S COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR STEPS DOWN AMID FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF CONGRESSMAN

The game was the “worst kept secret in Tallahassee,” the GOP insider said.

The sex competition in Tallahassee has been alleged before by Chris Latvala, a Republican state representative. During a 2020 Twitter feud with his former colleague, Latvala said Gaetz “created a game where members of the FL House got ‘points’ for sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators.”

Gaetz replied to Latvala at the time, “just because I own you on twitter, don’t confuse me for your daddy when it comes to abusing power for sex.” That was a reference to Latvala’s father, Jack, who resigned from the Florida Senate in December 2017 amid sexual harassment allegations.

Gaetz’s past has come under renewed scrutiny this week amid a steady stream of damning headlines against the 38-year-old congressman — a top ally to former President Donald Trump who rose to national prominence as TV-ready surrogate for the president’s causes. 

Since a federal sex trafficking probe involving Gaetz was made public this week, more reports have surfaced about conservative firebrand’s conduct around women.

In Congress, Gaetz would brag about his sexual escapades to his colleagues on the House floor and allegedly showed fellow lawmakers nude photos and videos of women he had slept with, CNN reported Thursday. One video Gaetz revealed to colleagues allegedly showed a naked woman with a hula hoop.

In Tallahassee, where Gaetz served from 2010 to 2016, some women allegedly referred to the young lawmaker as “Creepy Gaetz” because they were made uncomfortable by him, ABC News reported.

Years ago, the Miami Herald first reported on the scoring system that young male lawmakers had used to rank women, but didn’t name the lawmakers involved. There were special points given out in sexual conquests for “virgins,” a source told ABC News. 

Gaetz was often seen trying to pick up young women at 101 Restaurant in Tallahassee, where students from nearby Florida State University would frequent, ABC News reported. 

Congressman Matt Gaetz speaks during an outdoor town hall style meeting at the Niceville-Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce Building in Niceville. Gaetz Town Hall

These past tales have emerged in recent days as Gaetz is faced with a federal criminal investigation that apparently started during the Trump Administration under former Attorney General William Barr. Despite the barrage of bad press — even losing his communications director on Friday — Gaetz has remained defiant.

“I’m not resigning,” Gaetz told the Washington Examiner on Friday.

Gaetz has suggested an ex-Justice Department official leaked the criminal investigation to the New York Times because Gaetz and his family would not participate in a $25 million extortion plot

“It is a horrible allegation and it is a lie. The New York Times is running a story that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman and that is verifiably false. People can look at my travel records and see that that is not the case. What is happening is an extortion of me and my family,” Gaetz told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tuesday night. 

REP. MATT GAETZ DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT IN ‘TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT’ EXCLUSIVE

The wild extortion plot Gaetz alleges involves a $25 million payoff to help find missing ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson in Iran in exchange to help Gaetz get out of a federal probe involving a purported orgy with underage girls. 

This undated handout photo provided by the family of Robert Levinson after they received it in April 2011, shows retired-FBI agent Robert Levinson. In March 2007, Levinson flew to Kish Island, an Iranian resort awah with tourists, smuggler and organized crime figures. Days later after a meeting with an admitted killer, he vanished. For years the U.S. has publicly described him as a private citizen who was traveling on private business. However, an Associated Press investigation reveals that Levinson was working for the CIA. (AP Photo/Levinson Family)

According to documents obtained and reported by the Washington Examiner, the alleged scheme revolves around attempts by former Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent and Beggs & Lane attorney David McGee, a former federal prosecutor, to free Levinson. Levinson’s family has presumed him to be dead. 

Kent reportedly sought a $25 million loan to fund an operation to rescue Levinson, and promised to help the congressman with legal woes in return. The money was to be transferred into a trust account of law firm Beggs & Lane, bearing the name of McGee, the Levinson family attorney.

Gaetz provided text message screenshots, an email, and a typed document to the Examiner to show the alleged extortion scheme that also involved his father, Don Gaetz, the wealthy former president of the Florida Senate.

MATT GAETZ CASE GETS MORE BIZARRE AS EXTORTION CLAIM INVOLVES SEARCH FOR MISSING EX-FBI AGENT ROBERT LEVINSON

In a document labeled “Project Homecoming” that Kent purportedly gave Don Gaetz, it outlined the feds’ alleged case against the congressman saying he’s “currently under investigation by the FBI for various public corruption and public integrity issues.”

It says the FBI has learned of images of Gaetz in a “sexual orgy with underage prostitutes.” The document says at least one underage girl has provided testimony to a Florida grand jury that Gaetz “paid her to engage in sexual activities.” 

If the Gaetz family paid the $25 million and Levinson is successfully freed from Iran, Gaetz would be on the plane that returns Levinson to freedom and be “given credit” for facilitating the release, the document said. 

FILE – In this Nov. 20, 2012, file photo State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, left, is sworn in as Senate president by his son, state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, as his daughter, Erin, holds the family bible on Tuesday, Nov. 20, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Bill Cotterell, File)
(AP)

Gaetz told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that his family had notified the FBI about the alleged extortion, naming McGee as being behind it. Gaetz said his father had worn a wire during a meeting as part of an investigation of the extortion claim, and that he believes the Times story had been leaked in order to thwart that investigation.

Reached Saturday, McGee called Gaetz’s allegations false. 

“It’s silly. I didn’t try to extort anything from anybody,” McGee told Fox News. “I’m not going to go much beyond that.”

McGee pointed to a statement his Pensacola law firm Beggs & Lane released that called Gaetz’s allegations “false and defamatory.”

Federal investigators are reportedly determining whether Gaetz and another Republican paid underage girls for sex or offered them gifts in exchange for sex. The New York Times reported the existence of the federal investigation on Tuesday first revealing that the feds had zeroed in on whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid her to travel with him. 

MATT GAETZ SAYS HE WON’T RESIGN AS PRESSURE MOUNTS

The Times and other outlets went on to report further details of the investigation that apparently started with Gaetz’s political ally, Joel Greenberg. Greenberg is a former GOP Florida tax collector who was indicted last year and is facing a slew of charges, including sex trafficking of a child.

FILE — In this Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, file photo, Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg talks to the Orlando Sentinel during an interview at his office in Lake Mary, Fla. Greenberg has implicated in an investigation with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for their involvement with multiple women who were recruited online and received cash payments for sex. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
(AP)

The New York Times reported Friday that the investigation focuses on their alleged involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments.

Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., allegedly met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, The Times reported. The investigation is looking at whether Greenberg introduced the women to Gaetz and whether the congressman had sex with them, the newspaper reported.

Federal prosecutors are reportedly focused on payments to the women through the mobile payment service Cash App.

Gaetz came to federal investigators’ attention after they learned he was spotted visiting a closed Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office on a weekend night with Greenberg back in 2018. Greenberg was there going through a basket of driver’s licenses that were turned in by residents for disposal, the Orlando Sentinel reported

Feds allege Greenberg used fake IDs for individuals he was involved in “sugar daddy relationships” with and to engage in “commercial sex acts,” according to clickorlando.com. Greenberg has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. 

Gaetz’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment about the wave of new reports involving sex games, picture sharing and misconduct. But the congressman has repeatedly denied any criminal wrongdoing, including paying for sex and sleeping with underage women. He said he’s been the victim of a federal extortion plot.

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“Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex,” Gaetz’s office said in a statement to The Times. “Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.”

CHEYENNE, WY – JANUARY 28: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) walks with his fiancee Ginger Luckey before speaking to a crowd during a rally against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on January 28, 2021 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Gaetz added his voice to a growing effort to vote Cheney out of office after she voted in favor of impeaching Donald Trump. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Gaetz proposed to Ginger Luckey, a 26-year-old food analyst, at Mar-a-lago in December 2020. The couple met at Trump’s Florida club earlier that year. 

Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

 

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/orgy-underage-girls-sex-games-and-extortion-inside-the-allegations-surrounding-rep-matt-gaetz