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    Biden hits campaign trail riding train of positive State of the Union reviews

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    Reveling in warm reviews for a fiery State of the Union speech, Joe Biden was set to hit the campaign trail on Friday, heading for Philadelphia as his re-election rematch with Donald Trump finally began in earnest.Three days after the former president dominated the Super Tuesday primaries and saw off the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, his last rival for the Republican nomination, Biden was set to speak at a middle school in Wallingford, the sort of suburb that has trended Democratic as Republicans have marched to the right.Pennsylvania is also a battleground state, won by Biden in 2020 but targeted by Republicans not only as they seek to take back the White House but as a step towards regaining the Senate majority.Public opinion that Biden is too old for a second term persists but the 81-year-old president was on his way to Philadelphia with a spring in his step.Heralding a pugilistic speech in which Biden attacked Trump without uttering his name, championed Democratic policies and parried Republican catcalls, the president’s campaign said he had “laid out his unifying vision for the nation”.That vision, the campaign said, meant “building an economy that gives everyone a fair shot, protecting reproductive freedom, standing with our allies, and defending democracy.“It’s a vision that could not be more different than Donald Trump’s plans to enact revenge and retribution, strip Americans of their fundamental rights, and spread hate and division.”The campaign also said voters watching the speech “overwhelmingly approved of the ‘fiery’, ‘strong’ and ‘powerful’ vision from President Biden”.Republicans naturally disagreed.The far-right Virginia congressman Bob Good attempted to keep a spotlight on Biden’s age, calling his delivery on Thursday night less presidential and more “like an angry old man with a poor memory shouting at people to get off his lawn”.But such complaints were undermined by two factors. First, the 42-year-old senator chosen to reply to Biden, Katie Britt of Alabama, delivered a bizarre and poorly received speech of her own. Second, at 77, Trump is just three and a half years younger than Biden and frequently muddles words and mixes up names.In his own response, Trump – who left office with the economy cratered by Covid, Congress reeling from an insurrection linked to nine deaths and more than 1,200 arrests, and who faces 91 criminal charges and multimillion-dollar civil penalties – accused Biden of being “on the run from his record”.Biden, Trump said, was “lying like crazy to try and escape accountability for the horrific devastation he and his party have created, all the while they continue the very policies that are causing this horror show to go [on]. We cannot take it any longer as a country”.On Friday, though, that “horror show” administration welcomed 275,000 jobs added in February and unemployment at 3.9%.“Job gains remain solid,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, a payrolls firm. “Pay gains are trending lower but are still above inflation. The labor market is dynamic.”Even Stephen Moore, an economist Trump tried to appoint to the Federal Reserve board and who is now part of Project 2025, a plan for a rightwing takeover of the federal government, celebrated economic conditions.“One thing Biden said last night was true,” Moore told Fox Business. “It is true that the United States today has the strongest economy. There is no question about it.”Contacted for comment, Moore said: “No I don’t credit Biden for the economy. It IS true that we have the strongest economy but as I said, we are the least rotten apple in the cart. Most of the rest of the world is in recession.”Asked who he credited for the strong economy, if not the man who has presided over it for three years, Moore did not immediately reply.As Biden headed for Pennsylvania, his campaign parried criticisms that did arise from his State of the Union address.Asked about Biden’s use of the word “illegal” to describe an undocumented migrant, which angered progressives, Michael Tyler, the communications director, turned the question back on Trump.“I know it may have been difficult to hear over the incessant heckling of Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Tyler told reporters, referring to the extremist Georgia Republican who prompted Biden’s remark, “but we should be very clear about what the president was saying when it comes to fixing our broken [immigration] system and to rejecting the cruelty in the hateful extremism being pushed by” Trump and Republicans.Biden was working to pass bipartisan reform, Tyler said, while Trump used migrants as a “political punching bag” and “peddl[ed] Nazi rhetoric”.Asked if Biden’s remark might hurt outreach efforts with Latino voters, Tyler said the campaign would “demonstrate the clear contrast” with Trump.“We are running against a man who was promising to rip kids away from their mothers again, who’s promising to erect mass deportation camps, who is promising to end birthright citizenship and is using hate as one of its chief political currencies,” Tyler said.Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager and the granddaughter of the great labor leader Cesar Chavez, said: “Our community knows Joe. They know who is fighting for our community.”Sources outside the campaign praised Biden too. Justin Wolfers, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, saluted “a muscular speech”. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, hailed “a home run”.Rick Wilson, a Republican operative turned co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said Biden’s performance “should settle this crapulous conventional wisdom media trope of ‘he’s too old’ once and for damn all”.Democrats, Wilson said, now have “a perfect way to shut this garbage talking point down: ‘You saw that State of the Union speech. Joe Biden is sharper than Donald Trump and ready for the fight.’” More

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      Abortion rights and historic wins: key takeaways from the US’s off-year elections

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      Voters across the US went to the polls on Tuesday for an array of key races that may set the tone for the general election next year.The night delivered some historic wins and some surprise outcomes. Here’s a roundup of the notable races that have been call so far.Virginia voters stave off Republican agendaIn Virginia, where all 140 state legislative seats were up for election, Democrats retained their majority in the state senate, crushing Republican lawmakers’ hopes of gaining control of the legislature.In a surprising victory, Democrats also flipped the house of delegates, the lower chamber of the state house. That means they will be able to effectively block the Republican governor Glenn Youngkin’s agenda, which includes a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies.Gaining control of both chambers would have allowed Republicans to swiftly move ahead with conservative policy priorities. Though not all of the races have been called, Democrats are already celebrating in what was seen as a bellwether for 2024.A pro-choice victory in OhioIn the nation’s only race where abortion was on the ballot, Ohio voters overwhelming decided to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitution.The vote to approve “Issue 1” passed with nearly 60% of the vote on Tuesday after months of campaigning that saw millions of dollars pour in from both sides.As Carter Sherman, reporting for the Guardian in Akron, Ohio, writes: “Abortion access has been embattled in Ohio since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year, sending the issue of abortion back to the states and leading 16 states to ban nearly all abortions. Ohio has a six-week abortion ban on the books, which briefly took effect until a court paused it. Tuesday’s results should prevent it from being reinstated.Democrat holds on to Kentucky governorshipFollowing a high-profile race that pitted two former law firm colleagues against each other, the Democratic incumbent, Andy Beshear, will retain his gubernatorial seat in the largely conservative state after Kentucky voters chose him over the Republican Daniel Cameron.Cameron, the state’s first Black attorney general, would have been the nation’s first Black republican governor of he were elected. During his campaign for the governor’s seat, Cameron faced criticism from the family of Breonna Taylor, who were angered at his handling of the the investigation into her killing.In Mississippi, a Republican governor keeps his jobBrandon Presley, a Democrat and relation of Elvis Presley, lost his race for governor, conceding to the incumbent Tate Reeves on Tuesday night. Reeves avoided what would have been a remarkable upset, calling his victory “sweet”, and congratulated Presley for “running hard all the way through”.It was a hard-fought contest that saw the candidates exchange verbal blows, writes the Guardian’s Adria Walker in Mississippi, “with Reeves alleging that Presley had been bought by out-of-state, liberal political interest groups. Presley hammered Reeves on his and his family’s alleged involvement in the state’s ongoing corruption scandal.”Election day was disrupted when polling places in the state’s largest county ran out of ballots and voters endured long lines in a key Democratic stronghold.Philly gets its first female mayorIn Philadelphia, voters elected Cherelle Parker as the 100th mayor, and first woman to lead the city. Parker beat out her Democratic opponents and was heavily favored over the Republican candidate David Oh. Parker ran as a moderate in Democratic stronghold where issues like crime, gun violence and blight are consistently top of mind. Parker has been involved in politics since she was a teenager and was a Pennsylvania state representative from 2005 to 2016 and a Philadelphia city council member from 2016 to 2022.Rhode Islanders are sending their first Black representative to CongressThe Democrat Gabe Amo, 35, defeated the Republican Gerry Leonard to win Rhode Island’s first congressional district. Amo, who grew up in Pawtucket as the son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants, claimed more than 32% of the vote and will fill the seat of fellow Democrat David Cicilline, who stepped down this summer to become president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.From the ‘Central Park Five’ to New York City councilYusef Salaam won a seat on the New York City council, completing a stunning reversal of fortune decades after he was wrongly imprisoned in an infamous rape case. Salaam, a Democrat, will represent a central Harlem district on the city council, having run unopposed for the seat in one of many local elections held across New York state.The victory comes more than two decades after DNA evidence was used to overturn the convictions of Salaam and four other Black and Latino men in the 1989 rape and beating of a white jogger in Central Park. Salaam was arrested at age 15 and imprisoned for almost seven years. The group became known as the “Central Park Five”.“For me, this means that we can really become our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” Salaam said in an interview with the AP before the election.A loss for an Uvalde mother turned campaignerKim Mata-Rubio, the mother of one the 19 children killed at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, has lost her mayoral bid. After her 10-year-old daughter was killed in May 2022, Mata-Rubio became an outspoken gun violence prevention advocate.She announced her bid for mayor of Uvalde in June and ran on the promise of making the city “a place where every citizen feels heard, where we honor our past while building a brighter future, and where tragedies like the one my family experienced catalyze positive change for all”, according to her campaign website.Ohioans vote to legalize recreational marijuanaIn another rebuke to the Republican leadership, Ohio voters have made the state the 24th in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The legislation’s approval comes after Republican officials, including Governor Mike DeWine, publicly denounced the legalization over fears it would negatively affect workplace and road safety.Under the new law, people who are at least 21 years old are allowed to buy marijuana and possess up to two and a half ounces of it. “Marijuana is no longer a controversial issue,” said Tom Haren, a spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which backed the Ohio proposal. More

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      Philadelphia museum faces backlash for hosting group with ‘oppressive views’

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      Historians, civil rights organizations and lawmakers are denouncing the Museum of the American Revolution for hosting an upcoming event with Moms for Liberty, a controversial campaign organization that has been called an extremist group by critics.Moms for Liberty (M4L), which the anti-hate watchdog Southern Poverty Law Center labeled as an extremist, anti-government group, will hold a summit in Philadelphia this weekend featuring several Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. In a decision that has generated widespread backlash, the Museum of the American Revolution has agreed to host a welcome event for the organization on Thursday.Despite M4L purporting to champion parental rights in education, numerous civil rights organizations have condemned the group for its “oppressive views”, and its attempts to ban books as well as restrict classroom conversations on race, sexual orientation and gender identity.Earlier this week, the American Historical Association (AHA) sent a letter to the Museum of the American Revolution’s president, R Scott Stephenson, voicing its opposition to the museum’s decision to host the group and urging him to reconsider.“Moms for Liberty is an organization that has vigorously advocated censorship and harassment of history teachers, banning history books from libraries and classrooms, and legislation that renders it impossible for historians to teach with professional integrity without risking job loss and other penalties,” the letter said.“For the AHA, this isn’t about politics or different understandings of our nation’s past; it’s about an organization whose mission is to obstruct the professional responsibilities of historians,” the AHA added.The Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History echoed similar sentiments in a statement, saying: “The Committee on LGBT History condemns the decision made by the Museum of the American Revolution to rent event space to Moms for Liberty … This organization consistently spreads harmful, hateful rhetoric about the LGBTQIA+ community, including popularizing the use of the term ‘groomer’ to refer to queer people and attacking the mere existence of trans youth. Giving Moms for Liberty a space to share their extremist, anti-LGBTQIA rhetoric is irresponsible and dangerous.”“It is shocking that an organization dedicated to documenting and preserving American history would enter into any relationship with an organization that is so intent upon distorting the American experience,” it added.In an op-ed published in Philadelphia Gay News, Naiymah Sanchez, the senior organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Pennsylvania branch, wrote: “My suggestion for this group: DON’T COME TO PHILLY.”“Banning books and outlawing trans people does not make schools safer or society any better. And such hateful policies are a far cry from fighting for ‘liberty’,” Sanchez added.Several lawmakers denounced the museum, with six Democratic senators penning a letter to Stephenson, asking him to cancel the upcoming event.“Moms for Liberty, put plainly, is a hate group … It is essential for cultural institutions, like the Museum of the American Revolution, to carefully consider the impact and implications of the organizations they choose to host,” they wrote.A handful of museum employees have also voiced their opposition to the museum’s decision.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer, despite Stephenson telling employees that they were not required to work that night if they did not feel safe, assistant curator Trish Norman said: “I don’t feel appreciated nor safe anymore.”“I don’t feel the museum necessarily has my back,” Norman, who is non-binary, added.Bee Reed, another museum employee who identifies as an LGBTQ+ community member, told Philadelphia Gay News: “I have very mixed feelings. I’ve been working for the museum for four or five years now, and I’ve always been grateful to work someplace that has been so supportive of me as a queer person. But with this – I feel a great sense of betrayal.”Comments criticizing the museum’s decision have also flooded the museum’s Instagram page.The museum defended its decision in a statement, saying: “The Museum of the American Revolution strives to create an inclusive and accessible museum experience for visitors with a wide range of viewpoints and beliefs … Because fostering understanding within a democratic society is so central to our mission, rejecting visitors on the basis of ideology would in fact be antithetical to our purpose.”This is not the first time Moms for Liberty sparked controversy. Last week, an Indiana chapter of the group prompted swift backlash after it published a quote from Adolf Hitler in its inaugural newsletter. More

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      Joe Biden rallies with union workers in Philadelphia: ‘You built America’

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      At his first political rally since announcing his re-election campaign for president in April, Joe Biden told a crowd of labor union supporters: “Wall Street didn’t build America – you did.”“If the investment bankers of this country went on strike tomorrow, no one would notice,” Biden said on Saturday during a speech which alluded to his blue-collar childhood roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Renewing his longstanding vocal support for labor unions, he continued: “If this room didn’t show up to work tomorrow, the whole country would come to a grinding halt, so tell me – who matters more in America?”Saturday’s rally was hosted by the AFL-CIO, a federation of 60 labor unions representing 12.5 million workers in the US, which has endorsed Biden and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, for re-election in 2024.Other unions that have endorsed Biden ahead of his rally included the American Federation of Teachers as well as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.“President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris are the most pro-labor, pro-public education leaders our country has seen in modern history,” the teachers federation president, Randi Weingarten, said.She added: “Joe and Kamala understand in their souls the challenges families face, and how important it is to their dignity to earn a decent living and have a shot at owning a home, or securing a retirement, or affording college. They know union membership can be transformative.”Lee Saunders, the state, county and municipal employees federation president, echoed similar sentiments, saying: “Joe Biden is the most pro-worker president of our lifetime. He respects and protects working people – especially front-line public service workers – and the essential work they do.”Saunders added, “Joe doesn’t just thank us for keeping our communities running; he prioritizes our issues and defends our freedoms – the freedom to organize, to earn a living wage, to build thriving communities and to have a seat at the table. And he will help us solve the staffing crisis that is pushing millions of public service workers to their breaking point.”Biden began the rally by mentioning that his wife, Jill Biden, belongs to the National Education Association union and that she is from the Philadelphia-area community of Hammonton, New Jersey.“There are a lot of politicians in this country who can’t say the word ‘union’,” Biden said. But on Saturday he declared himself the most pro-union president in history.Biden cited the jobs recovery under his administration and affirmed an end to trickle-down economics during his presidency.“All it had done was hollow out the middle class, blow up the deficit, ship jobs overseas, strip the dignity and pride and hope out of community one after another all across America has factories shut down,” Biden asserted.He continued by outlining his efforts to oppose Republican legislative policies such as social security cuts and what he called unfair tax codes and loopholes utilized by the largest corporation and the wealthy, including tax rates for billionaires that are low when compared to those levied on other workers.“Just pay your fair share man,” Biden quipped. “It’s about time the super wealthy start paying their fair share.”He concluded his appearance at the rally by enlisting the support of union members in his re-election campaign to fight against Republican efforts to reinstate tax cuts for the wealthy.“They’re coming for your jobs – they’re coming for your future,” he warned. “It’s time for everyone, no matter how rich or powerful they are, to start paying their fair share, you’ve carried this country on your back long enough, it’s time for millionaires and billionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share. I can get that done, but I need you badly.”Biden’s address Saturday echoed September 2021 remarks in which he said: “I intend to be the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history.”During his victorious 2020 presidential run, he had also said: “I’m a union man. Period.”In February, the Biden administration announced a new plan to encourage further union membership across the country. The plan includes 70 recommendations that would make it easier for federal employees to join unions and remove barriers for union organizers to talk with workers on federal property.Biden’s itinerary on Saturday included taking an aerial tour of the interstate 95 bridge collapse during the previous weekend in Philadelphia, according to reports. An elevated section of the bridge collapsed on 11 June after a vehicle caught on fire, prompting transportation officials to warn of extensive delays and street closures. More

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      Philadelphia Inquirer severely disrupted by cyber-attack

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      The Philadelphia Inquirer is scrambling to restore its systems and resume normal operations after it became the latest major media organization to be targeted in a cyber-attack.With no regular Sunday newspaper and online stories also facing some delays, the cyber-attack has triggered the worst disruption to the Inquirer in decades.The attack aimed at Philadelphia’s paper of record has been reported to the FBI.Disruption to the Inquirer, the most read daily in Pennsylvania and the third-longest continuously serving newspaper in the US, comes as the city prepares for a mayoral primary election on Tuesday. The Inquirer’s offices are closed through at least Tuesday, and the company is looking for co-working space to serve as a makeshift newsroom for election night.It is unclear when normal editorial services will be restored.News organisations are increasingly being targeted by sophisticated cyber-attacks – as have government agencies, hospitals, universities and the business sector.In December, the Guardian was hit by a ransomware attack in which the personal data of staff in the UK and US was accessed. The print edition continued uninterrupted but the incident, which was probably triggered by a “phishing” attempt in which the victim is tricked – often through email – into downloading malware, forced the Guardian to close its offices for several months.The Los Angeles Times in 2018 was affected by a major ransomware attack in which a kind of malicious software that essentially paralyses a system – holding it to ransom – and demands payment to free the system.Few details about the attack on the Inquirer have been released to staff members or readers. It is unclear whether any personal data has been exposed, exactly which systems had been breached, or who was behind the attack and what motivations they had.In an email, the Inquirer’s publisher, Lisa Hughes. said “we are currently unable to provide an exact timeline” on when operations will be fully restored. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we work to fully restore systems and complete this investigation as soon as possible.”Monday’s newspapers were printed albeit without any classified ads.The incident is the greatest publication disruption to the state’s largest news organisation since a blizzard shut operations down for two days in January 1996, the company said. More

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      Texas sends bus carrying 28 migrants, including sick child, to Philadelphia

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      Texas sends bus carrying 28 migrants, including sick child, to PhiladelphiaDehydrated 10-year-old sent to hospital after arrival, as Governor Greg Abbott sends thousands of migrants to Democratic-led areas A bus carrying 28 migrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday, including a 10-year-old girl suffering from dehydration and a high fever who was taken to a hospital for treatment.Title 42: judge orders Biden to lift Trump-era immigration ruleRead moreAdvocates who welcomed the migrants with coats and blankets before dawn on a cold and drizzly morning said the families and individuals came from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The city and several non-profit groups were ready to provide food, temporary housing and other services.“In general, people feel relieved,” said one Philadelphia city councilmember, Helen Gym, who accompanied several of the migrants onto a second bus taking them to a site where their needs could be assessed.“We want them to know that they have a home here. There’s a 10-year-old who’s completely dehydrated. It’s one of the more inhumane aspects that they would put a child who was dehydrated with a fever now, a very high fever” on the bus, Gym said. “It’s a terrible situation.”The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, announced on Tuesday that Philadelphia would be the next destination for migrants the state is transporting by the thousands to Democratic-led areas.Advocates who greeted the group in Philadelphia, which included 21 adults, said it was not clear how long the bus journey took. One said it would typically take about 40 hours.“The important thing is they got to Philadelphia, and they were received with open arms,” said Emilio Buitrago of the non-profit Casa de Venezuela. “The kids are frightened, they’re exhausted, they’re tired. They’re going to go to a place … where they’re going to have comfy, warm beds with a blanket, and warm food. From there, we’re going to work on relocation.”Some families hope to unite with relatives or friends in other locations, Gym said.US officials stopped more than 2m illegal border crossings in the last fiscal year, a record high that reflects deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries along with the relative strength of the US economy and uneven enforcement of Trump-era asylum restrictions.In the fiscal year that ended on 30 September, migrants at the US border were stopped 2.38m times, up 37% from 1.73m times the year before.Other buses have turned up in recent months in New York, Washington and Chicago. Texas has transported more than 13,000 migrants since April. Abbott has sent the buses to Democratic-led cities as a way to maximize exposure over what he says is inaction by the Biden administration regarding the southern border.Critics have called the buses a cruel political stunt, but last week voters rewarded Abbott with a record-tying third term as Texas governor in his race against the Democrat Beto O’Rourke. Abbott made a series of hardline immigration measures the centerpiece of his campaign.Nearly six in 10 Texas voters favored Abbott’s decision to send migrants to northern cities, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of almost 3,400 voters in the state.In a statement announcing the bus trips to Philadelphia, Abbott’s office said the Philadelphia mayor, Jim Kenney, “has long celebrated and fought for sanctuary city status, making the city an ideal addition to Texas’ list of drop-off locations”.Kenney said: “It is truly disgusting to hear today that Governor Abbott and his administration continue to implement their purposefully cruel policy using immigrant families – including women and children – as pawns to shamelessly push his warped political agenda.”Kenney said the city was working with more than a dozen local organizations to provide the migrants with shelter space, emergency health screening, food, water, language interpretation and more. Some will probably make their way to other states.Arizona and Florida have also sent migrants to northern US cities.Philadelphia has also welcomed waves of Ukrainians, Afghans and others in recent years. The people arriving from Texas are all in the US legally while they seek asylum, Kenney said.“It is our duty to welcome and support these folks as they face some of the most trying times of their lives,” the mayor said. “At its core, this is a humanitarian crisis, that started with instability and violence in South and Central America and is being accelerated by political dynamics in our own country.”TopicsUS immigrationTexasGreg AbbottUS-Mexico borderUS politicsPhiladelphianewsReuse this content More

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      Highland Park shooting death toll rises to seven with 46 injured – as it happened

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      Americans grappled with another wave of gun violence that left seven people dead after a shooting in a Chicago suburb while two new polls paint a grim picture of Americans’ views of President Joe Biden, his handling of the economy, and the country’s institutions in general.Here’s a rundown of what’s happened today:
      A Chicago Sun-Times journalist wrote a harrowing account of the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, that killed seven during an Independence Day parade.
      Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to four army veterans who fought in Vietnam.
      The head of Planned Parenthood talked to the Guardian about how the group will continue working to help women get abortions.
      Inflation and the overall cost of living remains Americans’ top concern, according to a poll released today that casts doubt on Democrats’ hopes that concerns about abortion and gun access will reverse Biden’s poor approval ratings.
      But if Biden is unpopular, he’s not alone. Americans’ confidence in almost all of their institutions has declined compared with last year, according to a different poll.
      Local authorities also announced the names of three more victims which had not been known yet. The identity of the seventh – and so far last – victim has not been released. The three new names are: Katherine Goldstein, 88 Irina McCarthy, 35 Kevin McCarthy, 37At a press conference police have detailed two previous incidents involving the alleged shooter Robert Crimo. The first happened in April, 2019 when police got a report from Crimo’s family that he had attempted suicide. The second occurred in September, 2019 when there was a report that Crimo had been making threats that he wanted to “kill everyone” and had a collection of knives.Police visited where Crimo was living and confiscated a collection of 16 knives, a dagger and a sword. The New York Times has some heartbreaking details on the third victim to be identified. The paper reports: Steve Straus, 88.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}A father of two, grandfather of four and a financial adviser who, at 88, still took the train every day from his Highland Park home to his office at a brokerage firm in Chicago, Steve Straus “should not have had to die this way,” his niece, Cynthia Straus, said in a phone interview.
      “He was an honorable man who worked his whole life and looked out for his family and gave everyone the best he had,” Ms Straus said. “He was kind and gentle and had huge intelligence and humor and wit.”
      He was devoted to his wife, she said, and intensely close with his brother, and extremely health conscious: “He exercised as if he were 50.”Biden has no plans yet to visit Highland Park, Illinois, site of Monday’s mass shooting that killed seven people, his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.“We don’t have any plans right now to go to Chicago”, the city of which Highland Park is a suburb, Jean-Pierre said. However vice-president Kamala Harris is scheduled to be in the city later today to to address the National Education Association, “and she will speak to the devastation that we that we all saw with our own eyes yesterday in Highland Park”, according to Jean-Pierre.Biden will travel to Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday for a speech regarding the economy.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is holding the daily press briefing, and reiterated the Biden administration’s efforts to get WNBA star Brittney Griner released from prison in Russia.“We believe she was wrongfully detained. We believe she needs to come home, she should be home,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that Griner’s wife spoke with national security advisor Jake Sullivan over the weekend, their second phone call in the past 10 days.Griner wrote a letter to Biden asking him to push for her release, which Jean-Pierre said the president had read. “He takes this to heart, he takes this job very seriously, especially when it comes to bringing home US nationals who are wrongfully detained,” Jean-Pierre said.This post has been updated to clarify that Griner’s wife, not Griner herself, spoke to Jake Sullivan.’I’m terrified I might be here forever’: Brittney Griner appeals to Biden in letterRead morePresident Biden has ordered flags flown at half-staff across the United States and its embassies abroad until the end of the day on July 9 in memory of the people killed at the mass shooting in Highland Park.Biden had previously ordered flags flown at half-staff in May after the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers.A seventh person has died following the July 4 shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, NBC Chicago reports.The death brings the toll of wounded in the shooting to 46, according to the broadcaster. Police have said the man suspected of carrying out the attack planned it for weeks and dressed as a woman in order to conceal his identity.Mississippi’s restrictions on abortion were at the center of the supreme court’s ruling last month overturning Roe v. Wade, but the litigation isn’t finished in the state.The Associated Press reports that Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the plaintiff in the supreme court case, is suing to stop a law that would ban almost all abortions in the state:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} The law — which state lawmakers passed before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling that allowed abortions nationwide — is set to take effect Thursday.
      The Jackson Women’s Health Organization sought a temporary restraining order that would allow it to remain open, at least while the lawsuit remains in court.
      The closely watched lawsuit is part of a flurry of activity that has occurred nationwide since the Supreme Court ruled. Conservative states have moved to halt or limit abortions while others have sought to ensure abortion rights, all as some women try to obtain the medical procedure against the changing legal landscape.
      If Chancery Judge Debbra K. Halford grants the clinic’s request to block the new Mississippi law from taking effect, the decision could be quickly appealed to the state Supreme Court.Twenty-six states are expected to outlaw abortion entirely following the supreme court’s decision, and according to the Guttmacher Institute, six states have already done so.Maryland’s governor announced today that his state will change its requirements for licensing concealed weapons in response to last month’s ruling by the supreme court expanding Americans’ ability to possess a gun outside their homes.In light of a recent Supreme Court ruling and to ensure compliance with the Constitution, I am directing the Maryland State Police to suspend utilization of the ‘good and substantial reason’ standard when reviewing applications for Wear and Carry Permits.My full statement: pic.twitter.com/0wi1dzD8Aw— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) July 5, 2022
      As its term came to a close in June, the court’s conservative majority overturned a New York law that had placed strict limits on carrying a firearm outside the home, which affected states with similar laws on their books, including Maryland.New York’s governor Kathy Hochul last week signed legislation designed to counter the supreme court’s ruling by prohibiting the carrying of weapons in certain locations such as bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, schools, government buildings and airports, as well as requiring owners to consent to people carrying guns on their property.US supreme court overturns New York handgun law in bitter blow to gun-control pushRead moreIn other January 6 news, Adam Kinzinger, one of only two Republicans sitting on the House committee investigating the insurrection, has released a compilation of threatening and profane phone calls his office has received.Threats of violence over politics has increased heavily in the last few years. But the darkness has reached new lows. My new interns made this compilation of recent calls they’ve received while serving in my DC office.WARNING: this video contains foul & graphic language. pic.twitter.com/yQJvvAHBVV— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) July 5, 2022
      Last year, Kinzinger announced he would retire from Congress, where he’s served since 2011.A Georgia grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election result in the state has issued subpoenas to a number of the former president’s attorneys and allies, including senator Lindsey Graham.The special grand jury empaneled in Fulton county, where the capital and largest city Atlanta lies, issued the subpoenas today, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} In addition to Giuliani, among those being summoned are John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesbro and Jenna Ellis, all of whom advised Trump on strategies for overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s wins in Georgia and other swing states.
      The grand jury also subpoenaed South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s top allies in the U.S. Senate, and attorney and podcast host Jacki Pick Deason.
      The subpoenas, were filed July 5 and signed off by Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who is overseeing the special grand jury. Unlike subpoenas issued to Georgians, the summons were required to receive McBurney’s blessing since they are for people who reside outside the state.Viewers of the January 6 committee’s hearings will remember Eastman, the lawyer who, according to testimony from witnesses before the lawmakers, worked with Trump on his plot to undermine the results of the 2020 election. Eastman is among those who asked Trump for a pardon before he left office.At the press conference, investigators said the suspect Robert E Crimo III, 21, had legally bought the rifle allegedly used in the shootings and recovered at the scene – a high-powered rifle styled after an AR-15 – along with at least one more, as well as some pistols.The attack had evidently been planned for weeks, said Covelli, though investigators had not been tipped off to the social media videos posted by the suspect before the shooting.Authorities have still not said what charges Crimo faces, though another press conference is scheduled for later today.All six people killed were adults, Covelli said, and more than 30 others went to hospitals with bullet wounds.Covelli said there is no indication targets were picked out based on race, religion or any other federally protected status.The suspect in the 4 July shootings in Highland Park pre-planned the attack for several weeks, according to officials, and wore “women’s clothing” in what investigators said they believed was an effort to conceal his identity.According to Chris Covelli, the leader of a police taskforce investigating major crimes in the Illinois county that includes Highland Park, local officers recognized the suspect in surveillance footage they reviewed after the shooting, which helped them track him down. The suspect has prominent facial tattoos. Details continue to emerge about the mass shooting in a Chicago suburb yesterday, while two new polls paint a grim picture of Americans’ views of President Joe Biden, his handling of the economy, and the country’s institutions in general.Here’s a rundown of what’s happened so far today:
      A Chicago Sun-Times journalist wrote a harrowing account of the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, that killed six during an Independence Day parade.
      Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to four army veterans who fought in Vietnam.
      The head of Planned Parenthood talked to the Guardian about how the group will continue working to help women get abortions.
      Inflation and the overall cost of living remains Americans’ top concern, according to a poll released today that casts doubt on Democrats’ hopes that concerns about abortion and gun access will reverse Biden’s poor approval ratings.
      But if Biden is unpopular, he’s not alone. Americans’ confidence in almost all of their institutions has declined compared with last year, according to a different poll.
      High inflation is just one reason why economists are worrying that the United States is poised to enter a recession.But if the economy does contract, The Wall Street Journal reports that it may not look like more recent downturns such as at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic or the global financial crisis. One key difference is that waves of layoffs that accompanied those downturns may not occur.From their article exploring the “very strange” situation the world’s largest economy finds itself in:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Today, something highly unusual is happening. Economic output fell in the first quarter and signs suggest it did so again in the second. Yet the job market showed little sign of faltering during the first half of the year. The jobless rate fell from 4% last December to 3.6% in May.
      It is the latest strange twist in the odd trajectory of the pandemic economy, and a riddle for those contemplating a recession. If the U.S. is in or near one, it doesn’t yet look like any other on record.
      Analysts sometimes talked about “jobless recoveries” after past recessions, in which economic output rose but employers kept shedding workers. The first half of 2022 was the mirror image—a “jobful” downturn, in which output fell and companies kept hiring. Whether it will spiral into a fuller and deeper recession isn’t known, though a growing number of economists believe it will.
      Some companies, especially in the tech sector, have given indications that they’re pulling back on hiring, though across the broad economy the job market has rarely looked stronger.Also unpopular with Americans: the country’s institutions.Gallup has today released a poll showing a decline in confidence for most of the 16 institutions they track, in particular the supreme court and the presidency.Americans’ confidence in major U.S. institutions has dropped to the lowest point in Gallup’s more than 40-year trend. https://t.co/G2frb7HXxk pic.twitter.com/OyWfUwXmjp— GallupNews (@GallupNews) July 5, 2022
      In the yearly survey, confidence in the supreme court dropped 11 percentage points from 2021 to 25 percent, while the presidency suffered a 15 point decline to 23 percent. The least popular institution was Congress, in which only seven percent of respondent had confidence, down five points from last year. Just above them was television news, in which only 11 percent of Americans had confidence. Small businesses were the most popular institution of those surveyed, with 68 percent confidence, a decline of only two percentage points from last year. The military was up next with 64 percent confidence, followed by the police, with 45 percent confidence. More

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      What you missed: results from five US races on Tuesday

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      US newsWhat you missed: results from five US races on TuesdayWhile Virginia’s gubernatorial election caught national attention, the results of these local votes across four states are worth noting Gloria Oladipo@gaoladipoWed 3 Nov 2021 18.35 EDTLast modified on Wed 3 Nov 2021 19.02 EDTTuesday was a busy day for voters across the country, as millions of Americans voted on local issues ranging from police reform to increasing voter accessibility.While some races garnered national attention – Glenn Youngkin’s win in the Virginia gubernatorial election, for example – other ballot questions remained more local.Here are five race results worth spotlighting from Tuesday.Republican Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia governor’s race in blow to BidenRead moreVoting reform referendums in New York StateIn New York, voters decided ‘no’ on two voting reform measures that would have allowed for same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting, a practice already implemented in dozens of states and during the coronavirus pandemic.On the question of same-day voter registration, 49% of people voted ‘no’ while 38.93% voted ‘yes’, according to City & State.While Democrats and voting rights groups were in favor of the proposals, Republicans, on the whole, opposed the attempts at increasing voter expansion, citing familiar claims of voter fraud from the 2020 presidential election, noted NPR.Alvin Bragg elected Manhattan DAAlvin Bragg, a former federal prosecutor, was elected the district attorney of Manhattan, the first Black person to be in the influential role, reports the New York Times.Bragg, who campaigned on ensuring fair treatment for all defendants while also maintaining public safety, was one of seven Democrats who ran for the nomination after incumbent Democrat Cyrus R Vance Jr did not run for reelection.A large feature of Bragg’s campaign was his experience with the criminal justice system, one that he said informed his career and differentiated him from other candidates.“Having been stopped by the police”, said Bragg in an interview with the Times. “Having a homicide victim on my doorstep. Having had a loved one return from incarceration and live with me”.‘Prop A’ Police Staffing Plan in Austin, TexasVoters in Austin, Texas overwhelmingly rejected ‘Prop A’ on Tuesday, a plan to hire hundreds of police officers despite city officials saying that significant budget cuts elsewhere would be needed to do so, reports the Austin American-Statesman.Of the more than 155,000 votes submitted, 68% voted against ‘Prop A’ with only 31% in favor of the proposition.The vast rejection of ‘Prop A’ came as a surprise to some who thought the results on the referendum would be tighter.Throughout the campaign, opposition came from multiple sides for the plan. Labor unions for Austin firefighters and EMS expressed their concerns about the plan, worried that jobs would be cut in those sectors to finance more police officers. Additionally, 10 out of 11 Austin council members were against the proposition.After the early voting election results, Austin mayor Steve Adler tweeted a statement of celebration about the measure’s failing.This election reaffirms our community’s belief that public safety for all requires a comprehensive system that includes properly staffing our police, but also our fire, EMS, and mental health responses as well.— Mayor Adler | Get vaccinated! (@MayorAdler) November 3, 2021
      State Senate President Race in New JerseyIn New Jersey, Edward Durr, a Republican truck driver who apparently spent approximately $153 to finance his campaign, will probably defeat incumbent Democrat state senate president Steve Sweeney, who has held the second most powerful political position in New Jersey for almost 12 years, reports NBC.While an official winner has not been called, with more than 99% of precincts reporting, Durr has received 52% of the vote while Sweeney received only 48%.In a YouTube interview, Durr said he entered the race after being denied a conceal carry permit despite having an unblemished record.Durr, who identifies as a “constitutional conservative”, said he was also sensed a growing distrust in Sweeney because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Sweeney’s inability to “challenge” New Jersey governor Phil Murphy’s Covid-19 executive orders, a shift in public opinion that Durr says contributed to his success as a candidate.In addition to opposing mask mandates and abortions, Durr also pledged to create a business friendly environment in New Jersey by cutting corporate, income, and other state taxes as well as property tax.Marijuana support in PhiladelphiaA referendum in Philadelphia that asked voters if they supported the legalization of marijuana overwhelmingly passed, signaling to Pennsylvania lawmakers where residents fall on the issue.With 96% of precincts reporting, about 72% of people voted ‘yes’ to urge the Pennsylvania state legislature to legalize marijuana, according to Philly Voice. The ballot question is not legally binding and doesn’t automatically make weed legal in the state, but symbolizes that the majority of voters want marijuana legalized.While Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf supports the legalization of recreational marijuana as a means of economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, drug legalization has faced opposition from Pennsylvania’s Republican legislature.Weed was decriminalized in Philadelphia in 2014, but recreational use of marijuana in Pennsylvania remains illegal. Two previous bills introduced in 2019 to legalize marijuana have failed.TopicsUS newsElections 2021US politicsPhiladelphiaNew YorkNew JerseyTexasnewsReuse this content More

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      'I'm proud of the city': the volunteers fighting voter suppression in Philadelphia

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      Joe Certaine arrived in the early morning chill Tuesday at a church.
      There would be a long week of uncertainty ahead, much that hinged on his state, but Certaine didn’t know that yet. For now, he and his “brigade” of trained volunteers were settling in to respond to acts of voter suppression on election day.
      In the days leading up to the election, violent protests against the Philadelphia police shooting death of a Black man, Walter Wallace Jr, deployment of the national guard and repeated taunting by Donald Trump had the city on edge. The city’s district attorney had fired back at the President that if his “goon squad” tried to disrupt the vote, he “would have something for you”.
      In that fraught atmosphere, thousands of election observers, from non-partisan groups like Common Cause and the city’s election commission, would roam the streets on Tuesday to try to keep voting from going off the rails, making it probably the most observed election in city history.
      Certaine and his group would be among them, ready to roll at Greater St Matthew Baptist church, in a predominantly Black neighborhood in the northern part of the city. This would be the 73-year-old’s “last rodeo”, as he put it, crowning a lifetime of activism in voting rights and politics. More