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- Volunteers and donations surge into Democratic campaigns with Harris atop the ticketon July 26, 2024 at 5:18 pm
The day after Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White House, Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee’s Michigan campaign office saw 650 people sign up to volunteer. The next night in Nevada, Rep. Steven Horsford had another 600 volunteers register in his Las Vegas-area district. Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean’s constituents were “fired up.” New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster felt “palpable” enthusiasm. And by week’s end, Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s team had 400 volunteers ready to “get on the bus” to campaign for Democrats in neighboring Michigan and Wisconsin. “The theory of the case is proving true: There’s a renewed enthusiasm within the Democratic Party for our candidate at the top of the ticket,” said Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, who had been among Democrats calling for President Joe Biden to step aside. Weeks of despair among Democratic lawmakers that Biden would not only lose the White House but take congressional candidates down with him disappeared in a blink. The 2024 campaign’s static inertia was transforming into kinetic political energy after Harris took hold of the party, stunned the establishment and shook up the race against Republican Donald Trump. Women, young people and voters of color started suddenly flocking to the Democratic campaigns. The congressional campaign committees for the House and Senate Democrats reported record-setting $1 million days for online donations, among the highest in history. Lawmakers said people showed up without prompting, asking what they could do to help. The turnaround, just over 100 days from the election, revives the party’s hope of winning back the House and fighting to hold its Senate majority. Rather than simply being seen as a last line of defense against Trump and the Project 2025 agenda, the potential for broader Democratic wins is coming into view, despite Republican assertions that the Harris boost is a blip that won’t prove lasting. Harris’ rise quickly quelled, for now, the painful party revolt that had thrown Democrats into weeks of anguished anxiety. “We’re sort of right on the cusp of both existential dread and excitement for making history,” said freshman Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico. The House in particular has been reeling from the chaotic turn of events. The party angst over Biden’s ability to lead the ticket spilled into the open after his disastrous debate performance called into question his age, 81, and his ability to serve another term. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, the first Democratic lawmaker to call for Biden to withdraw from the race, said, “I think we were on a path to lose this election, and now we have a fighting chance to win it.” For some, the energy and enthusiasm they are witnessing reminds them of 2008, when a young U.S. senator, Barack Obama, powered his longshot White House bid with a new coalition of Democrats, fueled partly by young millennials. Horsford, who was among Obama’s earliest backers in Nevada, remembers the throngs of young people who worked as part of a multiracial, multigenerational coalition. And that’s what he sees now “coming out of the woodwork” to help Harris. “It’s actually more than a campaign now,” Horsford said. “It’s a movement.” Both the House and Senate are fiercely contested this election year, with razor-tight majorities heading into November, which means just a single seat can determine which party holds power. In the House, some 40 seats are considered competitive, and any one of them could make or break the outcome, determining whether Republicans keep their slim majority or Democrats wrest control. The Senate is tougher for Democrats, a candidate-versus-candidate contest less beholden to the top of the ticket. Senate Democrats hold the majority by a single seat, and among the most endangered incumbents, Montana’s Sen. Jon Tester, has yet to back Harris. A 50-50 Senate would give power to the party in the White House because the vice president can cast tie-breaking votes. Republicans handling the House and Senate races are racing to redefine the presidential matchup with Trump, largely by defining Harris on their own terms. GOP strategists believe the sudden flurry of support for Harris will fade and the Republicans like the prospect of replacing “Scranton Joe” with a “San Francisco liberal” who will own the Biden administration’s record on border policy and inflation, which are tops on voters’ minds. “This whole, short-lived Harris honeymoon is over,” said Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Age was the issue for Biden. The issue for Kamala Harris will be her far-left policies,” Daines said. “The nation is not going to elect a far-left, San Francisco radical.” Jack Pandol, the spokesman for the House GOP’s National Republican Congressional Committee, said House Democrats are falling in line with Harris’ “extreme agenda to remake America in the image of San Francisco,” and they risk losing their elections over it. The dynamic is being put to the test in real time as lawmakers in competitive seats watch the political ground shake beneath them in the presidential race. “We have seen a night-and-day difference in every aspect of my campaign,” said Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, who was among some three dozen congressional Democrats who publicly called on Biden to pass the torch. Fundraising, grassroots support and volunteer energy all soared “through the roof” since the hand-off to Harris, he said. “This is really electrifying our campaign.” But in another competitive New York district, Republican Rep. Nick LaLota predicted when “the dust settles, my constituents will understand that life would be even worse under a Harris administration.” To be sure, not all Democrats in Congress wanted to see Biden end his campaign for a second term. Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she was disturbed by the calls for Biden to step aside after all she said he has done as president. In particular, some lawmakers worried that Harris would be thrust into the fray without adequate party support or simply be passed over as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats initially called for an open primary if Biden were to be replaced. But once Biden decided it was “in the best interest of my party and the country” to end his bid, even some of those most resistant to the change welcomed the outcome. Waters said there was such an outpouring of interest in Harris from her Los Angeles-area district that she was rushing home Friday to throw an organizing event. “We’re going to be jamming,” she said. “He endorsed a woman — a woman of color — and it drew everybody into a new kind of possibility that could happen in this country,” she said. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Powerful cartel leader ‘El Mayo’ Zambada was lured onto airplane before arrest in US, AP source sayson July 26, 2024 at 4:18 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada got on an airplane to the U.S. believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The official did not provide additional details, including who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going. Upon arriving in the El Paso area, Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo,” who was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in 2019, were immediately taken into custody by U.S. authorities, officials said. Zambada appeared in federal court in El Paso Friday morning and has entered a plea of not guilty to slew of drug trafficking charges, court records show. A lawyer listed for Zambada did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday. Zambada, one of the most powerful drug lords in the world, has been a key target for the U.S. government for years in its bid to take down leaders of the Sinaloa cartel that’s responsible for trafficking huge sums of drugs across the border. U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his capture. Zambada’s arrest “strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast,” said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram. “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday evening. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that Mexico was still awaiting details about the arrests and was not involved in the operation. He hailed the arrests, though he suggested others could step in to fill the vacuum. That’s why his administration has focused on addressing the root causes of drug use and the associated violence, he said. Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said the plane took off with only the pilot from the airport in Hermosillo, Mexico. The flight tracking service Flight Aware showed the plane stopped transmitting its altitude and speed for about 30 minutes while it was over the mountains of northern Mexico before resuming its course to the U.S. border. “It is a fact that one person went out from here, three people arrived there,” she said. Zambada is charged in a number of U.S. cases, including in New York and California. Prosecutors brought a new indictment against him in New York in February, describing him as the “principal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for importing enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States.” One of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, Zambada was considered the cartel’s strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than his flashier and better-known boss, “El Chapo.” Zambada is an old-fashioned capo in an era of younger kingpins known for their flamboyant lifestyles of club-hopping and brutal tactics of beheading, dismembering and even skinning their rivals. While Zambada has fought those who challenged him, he is known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking and avoiding gruesome cartel violence that would draw attention. In an April 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, he acknowledged that he lived in fear of going to prison and would contemplate suicide rather than be captured. “I’m terrified of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I’d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.” The interview was surprising for a kingpin known for keeping his head down, but he gave strict instructions on where and when the encounter would take place, and the article gave no hint of his whereabouts. Zambada reputedly won the loyalty of locals in his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his largess, sponsoring local farmers and distributing money and beer in his birthplace of El Alamo. Although little is known about Zambada’s early life, he is believed to have gotten his start as an enforcer in the 1970s. By the early 1990s, he was a major player in the Juarez cartel, transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana. Zambada started gaining the trust of Colombian traffickers, allegiances that helped him come out on top in the cartel world of ever-shifting alliances. Eventually he became so powerful that he broke off from the Juarez cartel, but still managed to keep strong ties with the gang and avoided a turf war. He also developed a partnership with “El Chapo” Guzman that would take him to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada’s detention follows some important arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one of his sons and another son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ovidio Guzmán López. Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested and extradited to the U.S. last year. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago in September. The Bureau of Prisons inmate locator showed Ovidio Guzmán López was released Tuesday, but Rodríguez said U.S. authorities informed Mexico he was not freed but just had his custody changed. In 2021, Zambada’s son pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego to being a leader in the Sinaloa cartel. In recent years, Guzman’s sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos,” that has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. market. Their security chief was arrested by Mexican authorities in November. ____ Verza and Sherman reported from Mexico City. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Autopsy findings confirm Sonya Massey, Black woman shot by deputy, died from gunshot wound to headon July 26, 2024 at 4:18 pm
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Autopsy findings released Friday on Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman fatally shot in her Illinois home by a now-fired sheriff’s deputy charged in her death, confirm that she died from a gunshot wound to the head. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon had previously disclosed initial findings on Massey’s July 6 death in Springfield and the full autopsy report released Friday confirmed those conclusions, including that her death was a homicide. The report states that in addition to the bullet striking her just beneath her left eye, Massey had “minor blunt force injuries” to her right leg and she weighed 112 pounds. The autopsy findings were released shortly before civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, was scheduled to hold a news conference in Springfield. Now-fired sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct charges in Massey’s killing. He was fired last week by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said Massey had called 911 to report a suspected prowler. Two deputies eventually showed up at her house in Springfield, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Sheriff’s body camera video released Monday confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson yelled across a counter at Massey to set down a pot of hot water. He then threatened to shoot the unarmed woman, Massey ducked and briefly rose, and Grayson fired his pistol at her. Massey was hit three times, with a fatal shot to her head. Records show that Grayson’s career included short stints as a part-time officer at three small police departments and a full-time job at a fourth department as well as working full time at two sheriff’s offices, all in central Illinois. James Wilburn, Massey’s father, called for Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell to resign. “I want to tell y’all the sheriff here is an embarrassment,” Wilburn said. “This man (Grayson) should have never had a badge. And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Oregon wildfire explodes to half the size of Rhode Islandon July 26, 2024 at 4:18 pm
By Rich McKay (Reuters) – Winds and lightning strikes have sparked and fanned wildfires across the Pacific Northwest this week, including the largest fire in the United States, near the Oregon-Idaho border, which grew rapidly on Friday, fire officials said. The Durkee Fire near Huntington, Oregon, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Boise, Idaho, has scorched 600 square miles (1,553 square km), an area more than half the size of Rhode Island’s land mass. It has threatened several towns. The blaze was sparked by lightning on July 17, and wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph) drove the flames across brush, timberland and ranches, killing hundreds of cattle. The fire was only 20% contained on Friday, officials said. Firefighters might get relief in the coming days, forecasters said. While there is zero chance of rain through next week, winds have dropped and cooler air is in store, said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the National Weather Service. “Hopefully it gives firefighters a break,” he said. As of Thursday, wildfires this year have burned almost 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) in Oregon and 125,900 acres in Washington, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, Oregon. In 2020, the worst year in recent memory, Oregon wildfires scorched more than 1.14 million acres, according to a tally by a CBS TV affiliate KOIN. In California, the Park Fire, believed to have been started by an arsonist, has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents in Butte County, about 100 miles northeast of Sacramento. A suspect was arrested on Thursday, accused of pushing a burning car down a bone-dry gully. The fire grew uncontrolled overnight from 125,000 acres on Thursday to 164,200 acres on Friday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “The biggest challenge with this fire is getting to it,” said Fire Captain Dan Collins. “It’s steep land with almost no roads. It’s hard to get our people and equipment to the fire lines.” Forecasters warned that winds would reach 30 mph on Friday and through the weekend. Combined with low humidity, it is a recipe for rapid growth, officials said. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Rod Nickel) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Kevin Spacey’s waterfront Baltimore condo sold at auction after foreclosureon July 26, 2024 at 4:18 pm
BALTIMORE (AP) — Kevin Spacey’s $5.6 million waterfront condominium in Baltimore has been sold at auction amid the disgraced actor’s financial struggles following a slew of sexual misconduct allegations. Last summer, a London jury acquitted Spacey on sexual assault charges stemming from allegations by four men dating back 20 years. That was his second court victory since he saw off a $40 million lawsuit in 2022 in New York brought by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp. But Spacey said in an emotional interview with British broadcast host Piers Morgan last month that he was millions of dollars in debt, largely because of unpaid legal bills, and facing foreclosure on the Baltimore property. Spacey moved to the Baltimore area when he started shooting the hugely popular political thriller “House of Cards” there in 2012. Speaking through tears during the interview, Spacey said he would have to go back to Baltimore and put all his things in storage. He said he nearly had to file for bankruptcy a couple times but managed to dodge it. His luxury condo on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor sold at auction Thursday morning for $3.24 million, according to the auctioneer’s website. It sits on a floating pier and boasts six bedrooms, seven full baths, an elevator, sauna, home theater, rooftop terrace, multiple verandas and a four-car garage. A small group of potential buyers gathered on the steps of the downtown Baltimore Circuit Court building and made their bids, according to local media reports. The suggested opening bid was $1.5 million. The winning bidder was acting as proxy for a real estate developer and local businessman whose identity hasn’t been disclosed, The Baltimore Sun reported. During tearful testimony in a London courtroom last summer, Spacey denied the allegations against him and told the jury how they had destroyed his acting career as the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the U.S. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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