This week, officials in Dallas and Bexar counties successfully sued for the right to again require masks in public schools and many government buildings — at least temporarily. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins went a step further Wednesday and mandated that child care centers and businesses must also require employees and customers to wear masks.
“We are all team public health and the enemy is the virus,” Jenkins said. “Right now, the enemy is winning.”
Other officials didn’t bother with a court battle. Travis County officials went ahead Wednesday afternoon with an order requiring mask-wearing in public schools. Some of the state’s largest school districts — Austin, Houston and Fort Worth — already plan to require students, teachers and staff to don masks.
“The rebellion is spreading across the state,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.
Abbott — under intense pressure from some on his right to hold the line against local officials who want to require masks — now is trying to quell that rebellion.
Hours after Jenkins signed his mandate, Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton announced they would go to court to block Dallas County’s top official — asking the 5th Court of Appeals to overturn the state district judge’s decision that allowed Jenkins to move forward. The two men threatened to sue any government official who defies Abbott’s order.
“The path forward relies on personal responsibility — not government mandates,” Abbott said in a statement.
Speaking to Lubbock radio host Chad Hasty, Paxton predicted the Texas Supreme Court would hear the case by the end of the week.
“If we have local officials who just defy law because they feel like they know better, then we end up with little dictators all over the state and we don’t have any rule of law and we lose our representative government that we vote for,” Paxton told Hasty.
To some local officials, they have little choice but to try and reclaim the authority to enact measures like mask mandates — powers Abbott took away — in the face of skyrocketing COVID-19 hospitalizations and a shortage of nurses to treat the ill. Rarely willing to run afoul of Abbott earlier in the pandemic, the heads of cities, counties and school districts now risk his ire and drawn-out legal battles.
Jenkins said mandating masks is an attempt to give some relief to hospitals, but the best way to do that is for more people to get vaccinated.
“We’re trying to buy our hospitals some time by doing everything that we all can do to get through this,” Jenkins said.
To hard-right conservatives, Abbott had done little until Wednesday to beat back the tide of locals contesting his authority.
For some comparison, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has vowed to punish school districts that require masks by pulling their funding — a measure Paxton said earlier Wednesday could be done in Texas.
One of Abbott’s primary challengers, Don Huffines, called on the governor to “stop surrendering to local mask tyrants.”
“While Greg Abbott brags about banning mask mandates in Texas, the largest and most populous counties in the state are imposing them on citizens,” said Huffines, a former Dallas state senator, adding that “it is past time” for Abbott and the Legislature to override the local requirements and “impose real consequences.”
Matt Rinaldi, the new chairman of the Texas GOP, tweeted Tuesday night that Abbott should add the issue of rogue local leaders to the list of items state lawmakers should take up during the current special session.
Abbott also could face pressure from the White House. President Joe Biden floated the possibility Wednesday of intervening in states where governors ban mask mandates.
In the meantime, the rush by local officials to once more require mask wearing has resulted in a patchwork of mandates across the state. As of midnight Wednesday, people in Dallas will have to wear masks to go grocery shopping or eat at a restaurant. Not so four hours south in San Antonio.
In Bexar County, most school districts seemed willing to abide by the local health authority’s order requiring masks in schools, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
But some are holding out. Most of Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD’s schools are in a neighboring county. As a result, officials there have decided to keep masks optional, Superintendent Clark C. Ealy said Wednesday.
Also holding out is Northside ISD, the county’s largest school district — a move Superintendent Brian Woods took to “avoid flip flopping from day to day” as the county’s legal fight against Abbott continues.
“There is still much legal and political wrangling to come,” Woods told district employees in an email.
School districts in Bexar that don’t comply with the health authority’s order are unlikely to face punishment for doing so. San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia said Wednesday he has no plans to go after the two school districts.
“Unfortunately, not complying with this mask mandate only increases the possibility that those in their care could be infected with the virus when it’s clear we know it can be avoided,” Segovia said.
Wolff agrees that’s the right approach.
“The only real enforcement tool, quite frankly, is the school districts,” Wolff said. “If they choose not to do it, well, what are you going to do? Send a policeman out to every classroom? I don’t think so.”
But school districts flout the order with risk, he said.
“They’re endangering their kids, I’ll say that,” Wolff said.
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El presunto hijo de Evo Morales y Gabriela Zapata no habría nacido, dice ahora el periodista que destapó el supuesto escándalo, Carlos Valverde.
“He tenido acceso a información seria que confirma que el supuesto hijo de GZapataM y el presidente Morales no existe”.
Eso fue lo que escribió ayer en su cuenta de Twitter Carlos Valverde, el periodista que hace tres meses provocara un escándalo en Bolivia al mostrar un certificado de nacimiento de un presunto hijo del presidente Evo Morales y de la empresaria Gabriela Zapata.
El certificado Valverde se lo había mostrado a los medios el 3 de febrero, para sustentar su denuncia de que el gobierno adjudicó contratos millonarios a la empresa china CAMC porque su entonces gerente comercial, Zapata, era madre de un hijo del mandatario.
Ante eso, Morales reconoció haber mantenido una relación de dos años con Zapata, entre 2005 y 2007, pero aseguró que ésta le dijo que un hijo de ambos había muerto poco después de nacer.
Y dijo que, en caso de que estuviera vivo, lo quería conocer.
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Gabriela Zapata fue la gerente de la empresa china CAMC.
“Tengo derecho a conocer a mi hijo, a cuidarlo, a protegerlo, es mi obligación. Espero que me lo traigan en las próximas horas”, declaró Morales el 29 de febrero.
Y como Zapata se negó a ello, Morales interpuso una demanda ante un juez para que la mujer presentara al niño en un plazo de cinco días, algo que al final se hizo en una audiencia reservada.
Hijo de una “supuesta tía”
Este miércoles, sin embargo, el periodista que destapó el presunto escándalo aseguró que aquél niño no es el presunto hijo de Morales y Zapata, ya que éste jamás existió.
“Tengo la información de que el hijo de Evo Morales con Gabriela Zapata efectivamente no habría nacido. Que existe un niño, existe un niño, de acuerdo a la información seria que tengo; pero ese niño no es hijo de Gabriela Zapata ni de Evo Morales, o peor, de los dos”, explicó en su programa de radio Antes que sea tarde.
“Gabriela Zapata estuvo usando ese chico como si fuera su hijo, presentándolo como si fuera su hijo“, añadió.
Image copyright Twitter
Según el periodista, el niño en realidad sería el nieto de una mujer llamada Pilar Guzmán, quien se identificó como la tía de Zapata.
Y ya el pasado 6 de mayo la juez Jacqueline Rada había dictaminado que “se ha evidenciado que no existen otros registros que acrediten y confirmen la existencia física del sujeto de protección”.
Según la juez, Zapata rehusó someterse a una prueba de ADN que pudiera demostrar que el niño presentado es hijo del mandatario.
Demanda por trata
Ahora, coincidiendo con las declaraciones de Valverde, el abogado del presidente Morales, Gastón Velásquez, presentó una denuncia contra Zapata y sus abogados, Eduardo León y William Sánchez, así como contra Pilar Guzmán.
El abogado los acusa de alteración y sustitución de estado civil, trata y tráfico de personas, sustracción de un menor, falsedad material y falsedad ideológica, además del uso de un instrumento falsificado.
Image copyright Reuters
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Los partidarios de Morales afirman que el escándalo influyó sobre el resultado del referendo con el que buscaba una nueva reelección.
Ante esto, el fiscal Héctor Arce confirmó que los abogados de Zapata y ella misma deberán ser investigados.
“Hemos escuchado al señor (William) Sánchez Peña, quien dijo que él da fe de la existencia del niño”, dijo.
“Entonces todo eso tendrá que ser drásticamente investigado, porque no se puede jugar con la tranquilidad y la salud emocional de los niños”.
Según los partidarios del presidente, la acusación de tráfico de influencias contra el gobierno de Evo Morales influyó sobre el desastroso resultado del mandatario en la consulta por la reforma constitucional planteada el 21 de febrero.
El resultado le cerró la puerta una nueva reelección de Morales, y fue la primera derrota de electoral del mandatario boliviano en los 10 años que lleva en el cargo.
La caracterización de Carlos Álvarez que motivó la carta del contralor Edgar Alarcón | Fuente: RPP/Twitter @soledadnalvarte
No se amilana. El humorista Carlos Álvarez caracterizó este jueves a su personaje del ‘contralor Alacrón’ en el programa Conexión de RPP Noticias, pese a la carta notarial que le envió hoy el contralor Edgar Alarcón para que deje de imitarlo.
En una breve entrevista con Milagros Leiva, ‘Alacrón’ advirtió a la periodista que la tenía ‘chuponeada’. “Yo sé mucho y tengo más llamadas chuponeadas, incluso la suya”, dijo.
Además reveló que grabó al ministro de Economía, Alfredo Thorne, “porque estaba a punto de venderle unos carritos”.
Carta Notarial. Este jueves, el contralor Alarcón, envió una carta notarial a Álvarez para pedirle que no lo imite con la advertencia de posibles acciones legales. Esto a propósito de una imagen que apareció en Twitter en la que se ve al cómico caracterizado como el funcionario.
En declaraciones a RPP Noticias el comediante lamentó los términos de la carta y pidió que se entienda “el trabajo de un humorista político. “Es una broma, no podemos asumir que el personaje Alacrón sea el personaje real. Es un personaje inspirado en la actualidad, en la sátira, nada más. No hay ninguna animadversión personal”, afirmó.
El humorista grabó un programa con la caracterización de su personaje del ‘contralor Alacrón’ para Willax TV. | Fuente: Andina
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Domingo, 24 de Agosto 2014 | 4:40 pm
Créditos: ANDINA
Ana María Solórzano refirió que las propuestas legislativas orientadas a cambiar la ley que dispone la obligatoriedad de aporte de AFP para los independientes pasarán primero por comisiones.
La presidenta del Congreso, Ana María Solórzano, señaló este domingo que entre los asuntos prioritarios del Parlamento nacional figuran la afiliación de los trabajadores independientes a las Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) y la reforma electoral.
Refirió que las propuestas legislativas orientadas a cambiar la ley que dispone la obligatoriedad de aporte de AFP para los independientes pasarán primero por comisiones, siguiendo el procedimiento parlamentario.
“El compromiso es que una vez que se salga del tema del voto de confianza, la Mesa Directiva pondrá en la agenda del pleno los dictámenes sobre ese asunto (…)”, declaró en RPP Noticias.
Indicó que los eventuales cambios a la mencionada norma dependerá de la voluntad de los parlamentarios.
Solórzano remarcó que la presente legislatura significará un año duro y de mucho trabajo, porque existen aproximadamente 300 dictámenes de proyectos de ley en la agenda del Pleno que serán priorizados por la Mesa Directiva conjuntamente con los presidentes de las comisiones.
Indicó que otros temas prioritarios son la reforma electoral y otras reformas constitucionales como la no reelección de los presidentes de los gobiernos regionales.
“Son temas sobre los cuales hay consenso, pero no sería para las próximas elecciones”, aseveró.
Indicó que durante la presente legislatura, el pleno del Congreso también puede debatir los informes emitidos por las comisiones investigadoras, entre ellos el caso Ecoteva.
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El vicepresidente brasileño, Michel Temer, es un actor cada vez más protagónico en la crisis política de su país.
El futuro político de la presidenta de Brasil, Dilma Rousseff, cada vez luce más incierto.
El Partido del Movimiento Democrático Brasileño (PMDB), que además de tener la mayor bancada del Congreso ejerce la vicepresidencia del país y controlaba seis ministerios, decidió salirse del gobierno de Rousseff por aclamación de su directorio nacional.
La ruptura deja potencialmente vacantes cientos de cargos ejecutivos de Brasil en plena crisis político-económica y aumenta la vulnerabilidad de Rousseff al proceso de juicio político para destituirla, que avanza en el Congreso.
Si el impeachment es aprobado, Rousseff, que pertenece al izquierdista Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) y está acusada de haber ocultado el déficit fiscal violando normas presupuestales, debería dejar la presidencia mientras la juzga el Senado.
Entonces el gobierno del mayor país de América Latina quedaría encabezado, al menos temporalmente, por el actual vicepresidente Michel Temer, uno de los líderes del PMDB.
La voluntad de los parlamentarios de este partido de ocupar el lugar de Rousseff quedó expuesta durante la reunión de su directorio este martes, que duró menos de cinco minutos y acabó con cánticos de “Fuera PT” y “Temer presidente”.
Image copyright Getty
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Dilma Rousseff está cada vez más aislada y lucha por seguir en el cargo.
“Con el PMDB saliendo de la coalición (gubernamental) obviamente el impeachment va a seguir adelante y la presidenta muy probablemente será apartada”, sostuvo Marcus Melo, profesor de ciencia política en la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco.
Pero recordó que el propio Temer enfrenta acusaciones de ilegalidades y que sobre otros miembros del PMDB en el Congreso pesan denuncias graves.
“Es una situación dramática”, le dijo Melo a BBC Mundo.
Fundado en 1980 a partir de un movimiento opositor a la dictadura militar brasileña (1964-1985), el PMDB se volvió uno de los mayores partidos de Brasil al priorizar las elecciones de alcaldes, gobiernos estatales y congresistas.
Esto lo hizo sin tener un liderazgo nacional firme, una ideología clara o candidatos presidenciales en elecciones recientes: el último lo presentó en 1994 y sacó apenas 4% de los votos.
Image copyright Agencia Brasil
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El PMDB es un “partido bisagra” en el Congreso brasileño.
Pero el poder del PMDB en el Congreso lo volvió decisivo los últimos gobiernos: al igual que Rousseff, los expresidentes Fernando Henrique Cardoso y Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tuvieron que buscar acuerdos con el partido para lograr mayorías.
A medida que el PMDB ganó fuerza para negociar y cargos en diferentes gobiernos, aumentaron las denuncias contra sus miembros.
Hoy, con 68 diputados federales y 18 senadores, el partido es un actor crucial en un Congreso fragmentado. Además tiene siete gobernadores estatales y casi un millar de alcaldes electos.
Los seis ministerios que el PMDB ejercía en el gobierno y ahora decidió entregar son: Salud, Minas y Energía, Agricultura, Ciencia y Tecnología, Aviación Civil y Puertos. También comandaba el ministerio de Turismo, pero su titular anticipó su renuncia el lunes.
Tras el anuncio de ruptura, el ministro jefe de gabinete de Rousseff, Jaques Wagner, sostuvo que la salida del PMDB abrió el espacio para “un nuevo gobierno”.
Pero algunos analistas advierten que otros partidos menores de la coalición de gobierno podrían seguir los pasos del PMDB, lo que debilitaría aún más a la presidenta.
Rousseff y sus aliados han calificado como intentos de “golpe” las acciones para acabar con su mandato mediante un juicio político, una acusación que es rechazada por opositores y los integrantes del Tribunal Supremo federal.
Image copyright AFP
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La presidenta brasileña y quienes la apoyan afirman que hay un intento de “golpe” en Brasil.
En una señal de la gravedad de la crisis, Rousseff canceló un viaje a Estados Unidos previsto para el jueves, que habría implicado que el vicepresidente Temer asumiera la presidencia durante dos días.
Temer, un abogado constitucionalista de 75 años que hasta poco tiempo atrás mantenía un bajo perfil, es señalado como un impulsor clave de la ruptura del PMDB con el gobierno.
El vicepresidente evitó asistir a la reunión del directorio de su partido este martes, pero divulgó un video asegurando “con la mayor tranquilidad” que las instituciones brasileñas “están funcionando regularmente”.
“El próximo en caer”
Temer ha intentado mostrarse como un factor de unidad en Brasil y algunos creen que un gobierno suyo reduciría tensiones en la desgastada clase política brasileña si Rousseff fuese destituida por el Congreso.
“Temer conviene por muchos motivos, sobre todo porque evita la elección”, sostuvo el destacado columnista brasileño Elio Gaspari esta semana.
Image copyright Getty
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En Brasil hay un amplio apoyo popular al juicio político para destituir a Rousseff, según las encuestas. Pero el vicepresidente Temer parece lejos de ser una opción de gobierno querida por la mayoría.
Pero el vicepresidente parece lejos de ser una figura popular:tiene menos de 3% de las intenciones de voto para las elecciones de 2018, según una encuesta de la empresa Datafolha de este mes.
Aunque el impeachment a Rousseff es apoyado por 68% de los electores brasileños, la misma encuestadora indicó que sólo 16% creen que Temer haría un gobierno bueno o muy bueno.
El vicepresidente también ha rechazado recientes acusaciones en su contra.
El senador Delcídio Amaral, exlíder del PT en la cámara alta, acusó a Temer de “apadrinar” a un operador de la enorme red de corrupción en la petrolera estatal Petrobras, preso por sospechas de que movió millones de dólares de sobornos para el PMDB.
Image copyright Agencia Senado
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El senador brasileño Delcídio do Amaral acusa al vicepresidente Temer.
Amaral, procesado en la causa Petrobras, realizó esa acusación en un acuerdo de colaboración con la Fiscalía donde también citó los nombres de Rousseff, Lula y el senador opositor Aécio Neves.
El líder del gobierno en el Senado, Humberto Costa, advirtió el lunes que Temer “será el próximo en caer” si asumiese la presidencia tras una destitución de Rousseff.
Rousseff y Temer enfrentan además denuncias opositoras en el Tribunal Superior Electoral de que su campaña en las elecciones de 2014 recibió dinero ilegal, lo cual podría acabar con el mandato de ambos a la vez.
Causas y cuentas
Otros miembros notorios del PMDB están en situaciones más delicadas que Temer.
Uno de ellos es el presidente de Diputados, Eduardo Cunha, que aceptó el pedido de impeachment a Rousseff estando él mismo acusado de cobrar al menos US$5 millones en sobornos por contratos de Petrobras.
Cunha rechaza esto y ha luchado para mantenerse en el cargo hasta ahora, pero el Supremo ya aceptó examinar las denuncias por corrupción y lavado de dinero que le realizaron los fiscales.
Image copyright Ag. Camara
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Eduardo Cunha, presidente de la cámara brasileña de Diputados, enfrenta acusaciones de corrupción y lavado de dinero.
El Supremo también tiene nueve investigaciones por corrupción en Petrobras abiertas contra el presidente del Senado, Renan Calheiros, otro miembro destacado del PMDB.
Hasta ahora el más favorable al gobierno, Calheiros, puede ser otro actor clave de un juicio político a Rousseff en el Senado, si el proceso es aprobado por dos tercios de los diputados y aceptado por la mayoría de los senadores.
La cámara baja tiene 513 miembros, por lo que los opositores necesitan reunir 342 votos de diputados para lanzar el impeachment.
Para evitarlo, el oficialismo precisa que 172 diputados voten en contra o al menos se ausenten durante la sesión. El PT tiene 58 diputados y con sus aliados más firmes suma 97.
Así, lo más cierto hoy es que los partidos menores tendrán la llave del impeachment, que es analizado por una comisión y podría pasar en abril al plenario de diputados.
La Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) y el consorcio a cargo de la obra, que lidera la española Sacyr, acordaron negociar un aporte extraordinario de fondos para evitar que las obras se paralicen este mes. Este anuncio se lo hizo a Panamá la ministra española de Fomento, Ana Pastor, quien se reunió con el presidente de ese país, Ricardo Martinelli.
Obama descarta enviar tropas a Irak para luchar contra Al Qaeda
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, no enviará tropas a Irak para combatir contra Al Qaeda en los enfrentamientos en la provincia de Al Anbar, al oeste del país, informó la Casa Blanca. “He oído que miembros del Congreso creen que hay que enviar tropas a luchar y morir en Faluya. El presidente no está de acuerdo”, aseveró el portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Jay Carney, en su primera rueda de prensa del año.
Piden investigar a expresidente de Perú
Una comisión del Congreso de Perú aprobó un informe que pide a la Fiscalía investigar por lavado de activos y asociación ilícita para delinquir al expresidente Alejandro Toledo por supuestos vínculos con millonarias compras inmobiliarias de su suegra en Lima.
Gobierno de Sudán del Sur inicia diálogo con rebeldes
El gobierno de Sudán del Sur sostuvo las primeras conversaciones con los rebeldes que se separaron del ejército nacional. El diálogo se inició en la capital etíope de Adís Abeba. El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Sudán dijo que su país está considerando el envío de una fuerza conjunta con Sudán del Sur para asegurar los campos petrolíferos que los rebeldes han estado atacando.
Canciller alemana sufre accidente cuando esquiaba
La canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, sufrió un accidente cuando practicaba esquí de fondo en Suiza y se fracturó el anillo pélvico, lo que le obligó a suspender buena parte de su agenda de trabajo durante las próximas tres semanas. El accidente tuvo lugar antes de fin de año, cuando Merkel, de 59 años, aficionada al senderismo y la montaña, se cayó mientas practicaba esquí de fondo.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry speaks at the COP26 summit during a joint U.S.-China statement on a declaration enhancing climate action.
Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
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Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry speaks at the COP26 summit during a joint U.S.-China statement on a declaration enhancing climate action.
Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
The United States and China — the world’s top two greenhouse gas-emitting countries, which together account for about 40% of the world’s annual carbon output — announced Wednesday they have agreed to cooperate on limiting emissions to address the global climate crisis.
The agreement, announced at the United Nations COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, aims to accelerate emissions reductions toward the goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement. That accord held governments worldwide responsible for emissions cuts that would keep the global temperature rise “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) relative to preindustrial times, with a target of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
“It’s beneficial not only to our two countries but the world as a whole that two major powers in the world, China and the U.S., shoulder special international responsibilities and obligations,” Chinese special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua told reporters at a news conference. “We need to think big and be responsible.”
At a time when China and the U.S. are at odds over other international issues, the agreement declares an intent to take “concrete actions” on emissions reductions and limitations. The two countries would share policy and technology development, announce new national targets for 2035 by the year 2025 and revive a “multilateral” working group on climate change.
“I’m absolutely convinced that that is the fastest, best way to get China to move from where it is today,” said U.S. special climate envoy John Kerry in an interview with NPR’s Ari Shapiro.
China’s special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, speaks during the joint U.S.-China statement at the COP26 climate summit.
Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
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Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
China’s special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, speaks during the joint U.S.-China statement at the COP26 climate summit.
Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
A joint pledge, but a lack of specificity
Kerry acknowledged that the new agreement in itself is not enough to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement, but he defended its ability to stimulate mutual accountability and action.
“It’s the fastest we can get at this moment here in Glasgow, but it’s the first time China and the United States have stood up — the two biggest emitters in the world — and said, ‘We’re going to work together to accelerate the reduction,’ ” Kerry said.
“Yesterday was bigger than some people think,” he said separately.
Much of the language in the agreement remains unquantified. For instance, China pledges to draw down its coal consumption and to “make best efforts to accelerate this work.”
Kerry said China’s willingness to cooperate, its current state of emissions and its history of “outperforming its own goals” makes this agreement more ambitious than its critics realize. He also pointed out the importance of the agreement to reduce methane emissions. It is the first time the Chinese government has pledged to address the issue, and it’s one the U.S. announced new rules for this month.
“If we’ve reached the goal that we have set for 30% reduction of methane by 2030,” Kerry said, “that is the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world, all of the trucks in the world, all of the airplanes in the world, all ships in the world, down to zero. That’s how big it is. That’s what’s on the table.”
Kerry also expressed confidence that the terms of this agreement and COP26 would translate to action.
“The key to Glasgow is not the words here,” he said. “It’s the promises and goals that have been made and the implementation. And we’re going to become an implementation force in the aftermath of this meeting.”
The U.S. role in the global picture
Kerry also addressed criticism from representatives of nations that are among the most vulnerable to climate change, as well as questions about U.S. leadership on climate issues.
Developing nations have called for wealthy nations to uphold a 2009 pledge made at a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, to channel $100 billion per year to less wealthy countries to help them adapt to climate change. Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate says that in 2021, that promise has not yet been delivered.
“And it’s so unfair to countries on the front lines of a climate crisis that this climate finance has been delayed for more years,” she told NPR this week.
“I hope she won’t hold the Biden administration responsible for Donald Trump,” Kerry responded. “The reason there hasn’t been money in the last few years is Donald Trump shut it off — he pulled out of the Paris Agreement. But from the moment President Biden has come into office, he has been fixated on helping provide that money.”
Kerry also said that his talks with the six largest banks in the U.S. and conversations with philanthropists and foundations would result in funding measured in the trillions of dollars.
Kerry also answered questions about the failure of the U.S. Congress to pass Biden’s domestic spending plan, which includes funding to address climate change. He acknowledged that having completed legislation to show off “helps, no question” in international credibility, but expressed confidence that it would not hurt the negotiation process. He also predicted it would pass “in the next two weeks.”
“I think the [climate] issue itself [is] so compelling that people are ready to respond to the actions people say they’re willing to take,” Kerry said. “And the United States, by the way, has pretty good bona fides on that. Because we’ve done what we’ve said we’re going to do in terms of these things.”
As the COP26 summit entered its final day, Kerry said he hoped for reasonable cooperation and consensus. He also spoke on the need to provide funding to address a world already being affected by climate change.
“We need to help countries adapt. There needs to be greater focus on adaptation,” he said. “Yes, it does mean committing money … money and technology and assistance. We’re prepared to do that. We also need strong mitigation, because if you don’t mitigate enough, you’ll never be able to adapt your way out of this problem.”
Kerry acknowledged the moral responsibility of the U.S. to provide solutions to climate change, given its history of contributing to the problem.
“And, yes, we have a fundamental moral obligation to do this,” Kerry said. “Because we are the richest country on the planet. We’re the second-largest emitter, and we’ve been doing this for a long time. And the accumulated results of what we’ve been doing are up in the atmosphere causing damage, and we need to pay attention to that.”
The omicron variant first discovered in South Africa last week is likely to quickly spread around the globe and could result in “severe consequences,” the World Health Organization warned Monday.
“There could be future surges of COVID-19, which could have severe consequences depending on a number of factors including where surges may take place,” the WHO said in a technical brief. “The overall global risk related to the (omicron variant) is assessed as very high.”
The WHO said there is currently no information to suggest symptoms connected with omicron differ from those associated with other variants. No deaths linked to the omicron variant have been reported, the WHO added. However, it said preliminary evidence raises the possibility the variant has mutations that could help it both evade an immune-system response and make it more transmissible.
Miranda Schaup-Werner had just checked into her Grand Bahia Principe hotel, in the Dominican Republic town of San Pedro de Macoris, and was taking pictures from her room balcony on May 25 when she started to feel ill. Less than two hours later, she was dead, local authorities said.
The 41-year-old Pennsylvania woman is the third American known to have died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances at two sister resorts in the Caribbean island nation within a week, according to local authorities and the U.S. State Department.
Cynthia Ann Day, 49 and Nathaniel Edward Holmes, 63, both of Prince George’s County, Md., were found dead inside their room at the Grand Bahia Principe La Romana on May 30. Relatives had become suspicious after they didn’t check out from the resort, located about 60 miles from the tourist-heavy Punta Cana area. The resort, and the Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville, where Schaup-Werner was staying, are adjacent to one another on the island’s southern coast.
The Dominican Republic’s National Police is investigating all three deaths and awaiting toxicology results, officials said. Initial autopsy results for Day and Holmes showed they died of pulmonary edema and respiratory failure, police said. Investigators said they found blood pressure medication and three prescription pill bottles in the room, one of which contained five-milligram doses of the painkiller oxycodone.
Jay McDonald, a spokesman for the Schaup-Werner family, told The Washington Post that Dominican police indicated that his sister-in-law died of pulmonary edema and respiratory failure. The family declined to comment further. Hotel officials said in a statement Wednesday that the woman died of a heart attack and that her husband, Daniel Frank Werner, confirmed to them that she had a history of heart conditions.
Local authorities initially did not run toxicology tests for Schaup-Werner because there were no signs of violence, said Ramon Brito, a spokesman for the National Police’s special tourism unit. After the Maryland couple was found dead, investigators ordered a set of tests to determine whether anything the three Americans consumed may have led to their deaths, Brito said.
Dominican authorities have not released autopsy results for Schaup-Werner, who was visiting the country with her husband to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. They declined to confirm or clarify any details about the woman’s death until the investigation was complete.
Hotel officials said their medical staff team responded to Schaup-Werner in her room and began treating her immediately. Before they could take her to a hospital, she was pronounced dead.
“During the event and in the days that followed we provided our complete support to Mr. Werner in collaboration with local authorities and the U.S. Embassy,” the statement from Bahia Principe Hotel and Resorts said. “We once again express our condolences to Mr. Werner and his family and friends on the passing of Mrs. Schaup-Werner.”
Holmes, of Temple Hills, and Day, of Upper Marlboro, were found five days later. An autopsy showed that both died when their lungs filled with fluid, leading to respiratory failure, according to a news release from the Dominican Republic’s National Police.
There were no signs of violence, according to Dominican officials.
The couple had posted photos of themselves on Facebook enjoying time on the beach, wading in the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean, riding all-terrain vehicles and cruising on a boat. On May 26, Holmes posted: “Can somebody please loan me $250,000 bcuz I don’t want to come home!!!!!”
More than 2 million North American tourists flock to the Dominican Republic every year. After an attack on a Delaware woman inside her resort near Punta Cana in mid-April, the U.S. State Department alerted travelers to exercise “increased caution in the Dominican Republic due to crime.”
This report has been updated to reflect new information about the deaths, including that the three victims were staying at two adjacent Bahia Grand Principe resorts. In addition, an earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that oxycodone is used to treat high blood pressure. Oxycodone is a painkiller that was among several medications police say were found in the hotel room of Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day, including blood pressure medication.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report leaves the question of whether President Trump obstructed justice up to Congress, says ‘Fox News Sunday’ anchor Chris Wallace.
Attorney General Bill Barr will be a no-show at a long-awaited hearing on Thursday before the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee based on current negotiations over his appearance, a source on the committee told Fox News on Sunday.
The emerging spat comes after Barr has endured withering attacks from congressional Democrats, who have outright accused him of sacrificing his integrity to appease President Trump. Barr shepherded the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report in recent weeks, and he has largely become a punching bag for progressives frustrated that Mueller’s probe found no evidence to back up claims that the Trump team colluded with Russians.
Fox News has learned that Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., wants to have Judiciary Committee staff — rather than members of Congress — question Barr on his handling of Mueller’s report. But DOJ officials say members should conduct the inquiry.
“The attorney general agreed to appear before Congress; therefore Congress does the questioning,” a DOJ official told Fox News.
Justice officials also told the committee that they are opposed to the panel’s plan to go into a closed session if members want to discuss redacted portions of Mueller’s report, a Democratic senior committee aide told The Associated Press.
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chair of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks during a news conference, Thursday, April 18, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Discussions about Thursday’s hearing are ongoing, and expected to resume again Monday. Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and the House panel on Thursday. The GOP-led Senate committee is expected to have normal rounds of member questioning.
“Attorney General Barr wasn’t asked to testify before the committee—he offered,” a spokesperson for House Judiciary Committee Republicans told Fox News. “He provided the Mueller report voluntarily. He invited Democrat leaders to view the less redacted report in person. Yet the only thing, apparently, that will satisfy Democrats, who refuse to read the less redacted report, is to have staff pinch hit when a cabinet-level official appears before us.”
The spokesperson added: “What actual precedent is there for our committee making such demands of a sitting attorney general as part of our oversight duties? The attorney general isn’t a fact witness, and this committee’s investigations—as Democrat leadership reminds us daily—don’t constitute impeachment, so Democrats have yet to prove their demands anything but abusive and illogical in light of the transparency and good faith the attorney general has shown our committee.”
It is unusual for committee counsels to question a witness. But committees can generally make their own rules, and other panels have made similar exceptions. In a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year, for example, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee hired an outside prosecutor to question a witness who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
At a fiery House hearing earlier this month — prior to the release of the complete Mueller report with only limited redactions — Barr faced a grilling from Democrats, who said it was “unacceptable” that he had released a 4-page summary of Mueller’s findings.
FILE – In this Sept. 27, 2018, file photo, White House counsel Don McGahn listens as Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed McGahn for testimony following the release of the report from special counsel Robert Mueller. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP, File)
The new dispute comes as tensions have escalated sharply between House Democrats and the Trump administration over full access to Mueller’s report and government witnesses who have defied congressional subpoenas to testify. Democrats have been eagerly anticipating the hearing with Barr as they try to build on Mueller’s findings with their own investigations into the president.
House Democrats have subpoenaed the Justice Department for the unredacted version of the Mueller report and underlying material gathered from the investigation. In response, the Justice Department has said they will make the full report, minus grand jury material (which legally must be withheld), available to a limited group of members — an offer that Democrats have so far refused. The dispute could eventually end up in court.
Democrats have criticized Barr for drawing his own conclusion that Trump did not obstruct justice after Mueller found he couldn’t exonerate the president on that point, and punted to Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Barr is involved in a “staggering public effort” by the Trump administration to put a positive face on Mueller’s findings.
Nadler has also invited Mueller to testify and subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn. McGahn was a vital witness for Mueller in the report, which recounted the president’s outrage over the Mueller investigation and his efforts to curtail it. The White House has asserted it will fight the McGahn subpoena.
Trump, for his part, told Fox News last week that he didn’t assert executive privilege to shield any aspect of the Mueller report — and that now, it’s time to move on.
Even liberal comedian Bill Maher seemed to agree on that point, telling Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., that Democrats appear to be “stalking” Trump by fixating on a discredited narrative that his campaign colluded with Russians.
Meanwhile, a former White House staffer who was at risk of being held in contempt of Congress has agreed to testify, potentially averting a separate showdown between Democrats and the White House.
The House Oversight Committee has scheduled an interview for Wednesday with Carl Kline, who worked as the White House’s personnel security director.
The panel subpoenaed Kline after a former subordinate told the panel that dozens of Trump administration officials were granted security clearances despite “disqualifying issues” in their backgrounds. Kline defied a subpoena to appear, prompting Democrats to threaten contempt action against him. The White House then said Kline could appear voluntarily on May 1 to discuss “personnel security policies and practices.”
Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings suggested contempt action against Kline is still possible if he refuses to answer questions.
Fox News’ Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Malas noticias para el presidente Mariano Rajoy desde la celebración de la protesta en modo consulta que tiene lugar hoy en Cataluña. Además de la asistencia masiva, lo que sorprende es que el NO también se ha movilizado y está acudiendo a votar. En este sentido la prohibición del Tribunal Constitucional (TC) parece haber tenido un efecto contraproducente. No hay nada como prohibir algo para que esto sea todavía más tentador.
“La mejor noticia para nosotros sería que el NO también participase”, ha valorado el secretario general de la Generalitat, Jordi Vilajoana, desde el colegio electoral de Sarriá al que ha acudido a votar. “Cien mil noes o más sería lo mejor para nosotros”, señala este alto cargo y persona muy próxima al presidente catalán Artur Mas.
La prueba de lo que explica se encuentra en la misma cola del Polideportivo Lasalle, en el barrio de Sarrià de Barcelona. La cola da la vuelta a la manzana y en ella espera tranquilo, Alfred Pastor. Pastor, economista, profesor del IESE y antiguo secretario de Estado de Economía con los socialistas, sería la última persona que uno esperaría ver en la cola, ya que desde sus artículos en La Vanguardia ha advertido por activa y por pasiva de los problemas económicos que acarrearía la independencia.
Artur Mas, depositando su voto al mediodía en Barcelona. (Reuters)
“Yo siempre he defendido que tenía que hacerse una consulta. Debería haberse hecho hace dos años. Sé que no tiene validez jurídica pero es un acto cívico de protesta”, valora este economista justo antes de votar.
Alex, un joven padre, explica en la misma cola que después de votar irá a comer con sus hijos a casa de su madre, como otro domingo cualquiera. Como en otros barrios de Barcelona, por ejemplo, Les Corts, en este colegio de Sarrià, quizás el barrio menos independentista de Barcelona, las colas están durando una media de 15 minutos.
En este punto electoral con ilustres votantes el que tenían más morbo era Oleguer Pujol, el hijo de Jordi Pujol, que ya era independentista en 1992, cuando participó en algún acto de protesta sonado en las Olimpiadas. Pero Oleger, actualmente investigado por sus operaciones inmobiliarias, a las 11,00 h.. todavía no había acudido a votar.
Las clases populares
Lejos de Sarrià la situación no era muy diferente. Diego vive en Cornellà, habla en castellano y va a ir a votar esta tarde. Explica que “mis padres son andaluces y voy a votar ‘SÍ’ porque cuando hace dos años vi que nos prohibían votar me di cuenta que esto no podía ser. ¿Qué va a ser lo siguiente? Mis padres viven en Tarragona y no quieren ir a votar. Pero yo les he dicho que vayan. Que voten ‘NO’, si quieren, pero que vayan“.
En L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, tradicional feudo socialista metropolitana, las colas para votar eran enormes esta mañana. Más que en Les Corts, donde la media de cola era de cuarto de hora y donde también había votantes de ‘NO’ y del ‘SÍ-NO’ participando.
Carod-Rovira deposita su papeleta en el Instituto Pons d’Icart en Tarragona. (Efe)
El ‘NO’ legitimador
A pesar de la campaña por el ‘SÍ’ y que el resultado en una consulta sin validez legal y nada vinculante es mucho menos importante que la participación, lo que legitima el proceso en que se ha embarcado el soberanismo es más el ‘NO’, que el ‘SÍ’. Paradójicamente, un resultado a la búlgara con más de un 90% de síes favorecería a Rajoy. En cambio, si el resultado está mucho más repartido, es Mas quien se refuerza políticamente.
Está previsto que la vicepresidenta Joana Ortega ofrezca datos definitivos de participación sobre las 22,30 h. de hoy. Los resultados propiamente dichos se sabrán mañana. Pero para entonces la ANC y ERC ya estarán usando la afluencia masiva a las urnas para exigir elecciones anticipadas, según apuntan diversas fuentes políticas. Y el debate ya será otro. Uno de los signos de identidad de lo que los independentistas denominan el “proceso” es que se queman etapas con una gran facilidad.
One person was reportedly arrested for possession of a weapon at a protest after officers found a firearm in their possession. At least three others were arrested for assaulting police and refusing lawful orders, authorities said.
Pepper spray was used in several instances, according to police, including one incident in which a protester allegedly approached police threateningly while brandishing a pipe.
Demonstrators were heard chanting “no RNC in CLT,” using an acronym to refer to the city, as well as repeating “Black Lives Matter.”
Several people were also arrested during Friday’s protests, according to the AP.
GOP figures are not scheduled to speak from the city directly due to ongoing concerns across the country about the spread of COVID-19, and will instead deliver addresses remotely. Trump plans to accept the nomination on Thursday at The White House.
“My heart goes out to the family of Timmothy Pitzen,” Benjamin C. Glassman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said, announcing the charge against Mr. Rini, which can carry up to eight years in prison. “I can only imagine the kind of pain that they have been through and that this episode has caused for them.”
Image
Timmothy Pitzen, of Aurora, Ill., has been missing since May 11, 2011, when he was 6 years old.CreditNational Center for Missing and Exploited Children, via EPA, via Shutterstock
A lawyer for Mr. Rini did not respond to phone and email messages.
The odd events, which played out over two days amid intense media attention, at first raised the possibility of a happy ending for Timmothy’s extended family, which had waited years for just such a moment. But it soon spiraled into a new layer of misery, as word of a hoax filtered out and the police and relatives in Illinois, where Timmothy had lived, were sent reeling once more. “It’s been awful,” Alana Anderson, Timmothy’s grandmother, said.
All along, parts of Mr. Rini’s story were peculiar.
On Wednesday, he emerged, agitated and bruised, along a Newport, Ky., street, seeking help from passers-by and saying that he was Timmothy, the missing boy, and that he had escaped from captors and was trying to get home. The authorities soon took him to an emergency room at a children’s hospital in Cincinnati, court documents say, but he declined to let the authorities take impressions of his fingerprints, raising early suspicions and complicating efforts to quickly identify him.
Mr. Rini’s age might have seemed to be a tipoff: He is 23, far from the 14 years of age that Timmothy would now be. Images of Mr. Rini suggest someone beyond adolescence, with a 5 o’clock shadow.
“One can imagine that if you were actually a child who had been abducted since 2011 and subjected to who knows what — if those allegations were true — who knows what kind of condition that person would be in?” Mr. Glassman said. “So it’s incumbent on law enforcement in doing the investigation, this one or any others, to make sure that if this person does turn out to be the victim, you’re giving them the care that they need.”
Noticias Telemundo’s “Inmigración, Trump y los Hispanos” (Immigration, Trump and the Hispanic Community) Town Hall broadcast on Sunday, February 12 at 7PM/6 C, ranked # 1 in Spanish-language TV in primetime across all key demographics, averaging 1.57 million total viewers, 708,000 adults 18 to 49 and 325,000 adults 18 to 34, according to Nielsen. The news special moderated by Noticias Telemundo News Anchor José Díaz-Balart also positioned Telemundo as the #1 Spanish-language network during the entire primetime on Sunday, across all key demos.
“Noticias Telemundo is empowering millions of Latinos with reliable and TRANSPARENT information at a time of change,” said José Díaz-Balart. “Viewers trust us because they know our only commitment is to present the facts the way they are, with professionalism and a total commitment to our community.”
“Immigration, Trump and the Hispanic Community” also reached 1.6 million viewers on Facebook, generating 23,000 global actions on the social network.
The Town Hall answered viewers’ questions about the impact of President Trump’s immigration policy on the Hispanic community. The news special featured a panel of experts, including immigration lawyer and Telemundo contributor Alma Rosa Nieto; Telemundo conservative political analyst Ana Navarro; the Deputy Vice President of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Clarissa Martínez, and CHIRLA’s Executive Director, Angélica Salas. In addition, “El Poder en Ti”, Telemundo’s robust community initiative, launched an Internet site for Hispanics looking for information, tools and resources on immigration in parallel to the Town Hall.
“Inmigración, Trump y los Hispanos” is part of a series of Noticias Telemundo specials, including “Trump en la Casa Blanca,” produced the day after the elections, and “Trump y los Latinos,” which aired on Inauguration Day. All of these programs share an emphasis on allowing audiences to express their views and empower them by giving them access to trustworthy, rigorous and relevant information presented under Noticias Telemundo’s banner “Telling It Like It Is” (“Las Cosas Como Son” in Spanish).
Noticias Telemundo is the information unit of Telemundo Network and a leader provider in news serving the US Hispanics across all broadcast and digital platforms. Its award-winning television news broadcasts include the daily newscast “Noticias Telemundo,” the Sunday current affairs show “Enfoque con José Díaz-Balart” and the daily news and entertainment magazine “Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste.” The rapidly-growing “Noticias Telemundo Digital Team” provides continuous content to US Hispanics wherever they are, whenever they want it. Noticias Telemundo also produces award winning news specials, documentaries and news event such as political debates, forums and town halls.
Emissions rise from three large smokestacks at a coal-fired power plant in Castle Dale, Utah, in 2017. Democratic presidential candidates are releasing plans to reduce U.S. emissions in order to head off the most dangerous consequences of global warming.
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Emissions rise from three large smokestacks at a coal-fired power plant in Castle Dale, Utah, in 2017. Democratic presidential candidates are releasing plans to reduce U.S. emissions in order to head off the most dangerous consequences of global warming.
George Frey/Getty Images
The past few presidential campaigns, environmental activists have “been left begging for there to be a single question at a campaign debate about climate change,” longtime climate change activist and author Bill McKibben recently told NPR.
“This time around I’m not worried in the least. I think it’s going to be one of the central topics in the primary,” McKibben said, “and then I think whoever wins the Democratic nomination is going to try and ram the issue straight down Trump’s throat.”
Indeed, Democratic voters told a CNN poll this week that aggressively addressing climate change is more important than any other policy position.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee talks about climate change more than any other candidate in the race. It’s essentially the entire focus of his presidential campaign. But until now, Inslee has been a bit vague about how he’d tackle lowering greenhouse gas emissions, arguing the focus itself was what mattered.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced his presidential bid at A&R Solar on March 1 in Seattle. Inslee has made fighting global warming his top policy issue, and he released a major policy proposal on the issue on Friday.
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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced his presidential bid at A&R Solar on March 1 in Seattle. Inslee has made fighting global warming his top policy issue, and he released a major policy proposal on the issue on Friday.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images
“Defeating climate change has to be the No. 1 priority of the United States,” Inslee told New Hampshire Public Radio. “If it is not job one, it won’t get done. And we need to make it the first and foremost priority of the next president.”
Inslee’s campaign is now filling in the details on how he’d transition the United States to a carbon-free economy. An Inslee administration would set new regulations mandating zero greenhouse gas emissions in new cars, trucks and buses; and push states toward new construction codes to zero out emissions from new buildings.
The centerpiece of the plan: urging Congress to pass a major law steering the United States to “all clean, renewable and zero-emission energy in electricity generation by 2035.” That would require a major overhaul of the current electricity grid. Right now fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas account for about 60 percent of American electricity.
The aggressive approach is modeled on a Washington bill Inslee recently signed into law. It’s as economically, politically and technologically challenging as the proposed Green New Deal that has dominated the climate change debate on the 2020 presidential campaign so far. Most Democratic candidates have backed the broad goals, first put forward by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“The 100 % Clean Energy For America Plan will require a massive, full-scale mobilization of our federal government that will spur major innovation and deployment of clean energy,” the Inslee campaign argues in the policy paper released Friday, noting the proposal would shutter every coal-fired power plant.
Other candidates also weighing in on climate change
Inslee is the second presidential candidate to unveil an ambitious climate change proposal this week. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke rolled out his plan during a visit to Yosemite National Park.
O’Rourke wants to zero out national net carbon emissions by 2050, and do that by spending $5 trillion on new clean energy technology and other infrastructure investments. He’d also push Congress to pass a law shifting electricity production toward clean and renewable energy – something an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress wasn’t able to accomplish in 2009 and 2010.
It’s not just Inslee and O’Rourke. As part of a recent policy proposal for public lands, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested banning drilling on federally owned lands and then building enough new wind and solar projects on them to produce 10 percent of the country’s electricity. Every Democrat running for president would rejoin the Paris climate accord, the international pledge to lower carbon emissions that President Trump took the United States out of.
A parade of government and United Nations reports have laid out increasingly dire warnings about the coming decades if the world doesn’t begin drastically reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Increased flooding, fires, droughts and refugee crises are just some of the consequences of rising global temperatures, according to experts.
Still, up until now climate change has remained a lower-level concern for voters more worried about immediate economic concerns. “It doesn’t rise to the top tier of issues like health care or the economy,” said Mulhenberg College professor Christopher Borick, who’s been polling on climate change questions for more than a decade.
But those attitudes are slowly beginning to change.
“I think that is in part driven by individual experiences with climate change,” Borick said. “As they see it in their daily lives it’s starting to become a bigger priority, in terms of their voting strategies.”
And as the early months of the 2020 presidential campaign indicate, voters are now hearing much more about it from political candidates – at least on the Democratic side of the aisle.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — One person has died and more than a dozen others are hurt after a shootout inside a bar on the 200 block of West Seventh Street in St. Paul.
The shooting started just after midnight early Sunday morning at the Seventh Street Truck Park. Police said multiple 911 callers “frantically begged for help” moments after the attack.
(credit: CBS)
One woman who police said was in her 20s died. Fourteen other people were taken to area hospitals for treatment. All of them are expected to survive. Good Samaritans worked with police to help victims while paramedics made it to the scene.
“I can only describe it as hellish,” St. Paul police spokesperson Steve Linders said. “I think about the young woman who died. One minute she’s having a good time, the next minute she’s lying in her friends’ arms who are trying to save her life, and she didn’t make it. I can’t think of anything worse.”
Police said early Sunday that no suspects have been arrested, but preliminary information indicates there were several shooters. A motive has yet to be determined.
“My heart breaks for the woman who was killed, her loved ones and everyone else who was in that bar this morning,” said St. Paul Chief of Police Todd Axtell. “In an instant, they found themselves caught in a hellish situation. I want them to know that we have the best investigators in the country, and we won’t stop until we find the people responsible for this madness. We will do our part to hold them accountable.”
Later, Axtell tweeted that he spoke with the family of the woman who was killed and they are “absolutely devastated.”
“We will bring justice to the victims,” he said.
Mayor Melvin Carter released a statement via Twitter.
“Our community is devastated by the shocking scenes from last night,” Carter said. “As our Saint Paul officers work to bring those responsible for these senseless acts into custody, our work to build more proactive and comprehensive public safety strategies is more urgent than ever. We will never accept violence in our community.”
Investigators have not yet publicly identified the woman who died. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy and release her name and cause of death.
Police would like anyone who has information about the shooting to call 651-266-5650.
Video from YouTube channel Minnesota News Now showed the aftermath outside of the Seventh Street Truck Park.
WARNING: This video from an eyewitness contains material that some viewers might find disturbing.
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