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WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president. Trump campaigned in Wilmington, along the state’s southern coast. In his first outdoor rally since the second apparent attempt to assassinate him, Trump argued women would be safer and more prosperous with him as president and would “no longer be thinking about abortion.” “I will protect women at a level never seen before. They will finally be healthy, hopeful, safe and secure,” Trump said. “Their lives will be happy, beautiful, and their lives will be great again. So women, we love you. We’re going to take care of you.” Trump also showed a gentler side, inviting two of his young grandchildren on stage. The former president lifted Carolina to the microphone, where she said “Make America great again” to cheers, followed by her older brother, Luke Trump, who said, “Vote for Grandpa.” They’re the children of Eric Trump, the former president’s second son, and his wife, Lara Trump, a North Carolina native who is now serving as co-chair of the Republican National Committee. Bulletproof glass surrounded Trump as he spoke, a new precaution for outdoor venues the Secret Service implemented after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. While more visits have been made by presidential contenders to the Rust Belt battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, both Harris and Trump have made multiple trips to North Carolina, highlighting the state’s importance. Following Biden’s departure from the race in July, Trump held his first large-scale rally there, turning his full focus toward Harris. Wilmington is home to New Hanover County, which Biden won in 2020. But his margin over Trump in the county was among his slimmest in the state. Julia Novotny, 55, of Wilmington, said she’s come around to supporting Trump after initial reservations. “He’s classy, he’s a gentleman, he looks good in a suit and he has strong values,” Novotny said. “Everybody makes mistakes, and whether he did or didn’t, I don’t know, but you know what? Leave him alone. He’s a good man. He wants to change this country. Our country is in the dirt, and the only man who pulls us out is Donald Trump.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
SEATTLE (AP) — Dan Evans, a popular three-term Republican governor of Washington state who went on to serve in the U.S. Senate before leaving in frustration because he felt the chamber was too rancorous and tedious, has died. He was 98. Evans died Friday, according to the University of Washington, where he had served as a regent and where the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance bears his name. “Dan Evans was an honorable, independent-minded public servant who put Washington state first and dedicated his life to protecting and investing in the places and people in our state,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said Saturday in a statement. “We were lucky to have him — and I have no doubt his legacy will live on for generations to come.” Evans was a dominant force in Washington politics for decades and, until current Gov. Jay Inslee, he was the only person to be elected governor three times. In a statement posted to the social platform X, the Democrat said it was difficult to think of another resident who had such a positive impact on so many aspects of the state. “We all, no matter our party, can feel fortunate for the progress he led during each of his three terms as governor,” Inslee said. Born in 1925 in Seattle, Evans was a civil engineer before entering politics. He was elected to the state Legislature in 1956 and won the governorship in 1964, beating incumbent two-term Democrat Albert D. Rosellini and prevailing in a bad year for his fellow Republicans, one which saw President Lyndon Johnson soundly defeat the GOP’s Barry Goldwater. Known as a moderate to liberal Republican, the avid outdoorsman helped add new recreation and park areas in the state and supported clean air and water legislation. He created the nation’s first state Department of Ecology, which President Richard Nixon used as a model for the Environmental Protection Agency. Evans also unsuccessfully pushed to create a state income tax. He opted not to run for a fourth term. “His legacy of coming together for the greater good, despite party lines, has inspired and will continue to inspire public servants and the Evans School community,” Jodi Sandfort, the school’s dean, said in a statement. Sandfort recalled a quote from Evans: “Accomplishing good things takes bipartisan effort, because often what we’re trying to accomplish isn’t partisan.” After leaving the governor’s mansion in 1977, Evans stayed in Olympia, serving as president of The Evergreen State College. Evans had helped create the state school when he signed an act authorizing the liberal arts college, and as governor he also backed founding the state’s community college system. He built a national profile during his time leading the state and was the keynote speaker at the 1968 National Republican Convention. He was mentioned as a possible running mate for President Gerald Ford in 1976. Never a fan of Ronald Reagan, Evans supported Ford in 1976 and initially backed George H.W. Bush in 1980. As a popular Republican in a predominantly Democratic state, it seemed that Evans would be a shoe-in had he decided to run for the U.S. Senate. He frequently spurned such talk, saying in 1972 that “I don’t like Washington, D.C., very well … and I could not stand to be in the Senate.” However, in 1983 Democratic Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson died in office, and Evans accepted an appointment to serve out his term. Evans opted not to stand for election in 1988, citing the “tediousness of getting decisions made.” At the time he said he was looking forward to returning home to enjoy the outdoors. In later years Evans served as a regent at the University of Washington, his alma mater. He also served on many nonprofit and corporate boards. “Dad lived an exceptionally full life,” his sons — Dan Jr., Mark and Bruce Evans — said in a statement quoted by The Seattle Times. “Whether serving in public office, working to improve higher education, mentoring aspiring public servants … he just kept signing up for stuff right until the end. He touched a lot of lives. And he did this without sacrificing family.” Evans’ wife, Nancy Bell Evans, died in January at age 90. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will skip this year’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, breaking with presidential tradition so she can campaign instead in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day. The dinner benefitting Catholic Charities traditionally has been used to promote collegiality and good humor, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and trading barbs. Harris’ team wants her to spend as much time as possible in the battleground states that will decide the election rather than heavily Democratic New York, a campaign official said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign plans and confirming a decision first reported by CNN. Her team told organizers that she would be willing to attend as president if she’s elected, the official said. Donald Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a question about whether he would attend the dinner. His 2016 appearance at the dinner invited boos when many in the audience felt he crossed a line when he called Democrat Hillary Clinton corrupt and claimed she hated Catholics. This year’s white-tie gala is scheduled for Oct. 17. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who plays a prominent role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed that carried the headline, “The Democrats Abandon Catholics.” The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party in 1928. He was handily defeated by Herbert Hoover. It raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally shown that those vying to lead the nation can get along, or pretend to, for one night. The event has become a tradition for presidential candidates since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban. Trump and Joe Biden, who is Catholic, both spoke at the fundraiser in 2020, when it was moved online due to concerns about large gatherings spreading COVID-19. Amid the pandemic and economic woes, there was no joking and both candidates instead used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters. In 2016, Trump began innocently enough. He joked that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., used to love Trump when he was a Democrat. He poked fun at plagiarism involving the Clinton. But Trump’s remarks soon devolved into bitterness and insults. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas. In a lawsuit filed this week at a Texas court, Cards Against Humanity alleges SpaceX has essentially treated the game company’s property — located in Cameron County — as its own for at least the past six months. The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, has placed construction materials, such as gravel, and other debris on the land without asking for permission to do so. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, had purchased the plot of land in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose former president Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall. The company said 150,000 people had each contributed $15 towards the effort. Over the years, Cards Against Humanity says the land has been maintained in its natural state. It also says it contained a “no trespassing” sign to warn people they were about to step on private property. The company is asking for $15 million in damages, which it says includes a loss of vegetation on the land. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
At least four times, tips were made to U.S. government agencies including the FBI and State Department that raised suspicions about the actions of a man now accused in the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. What was done in response to these reports that could have stopped Ryan Routh or at least put him under greater scrutiny is not entirely clear but some people are questioning whether enough was done. Nurse Chelsea Walsh says she never heard back after reporting Routh’s violent behavior in 2022 while he was recruiting foreign soldiers for the war in Ukraine. “The authorities have definitely dropped the ball on this,” she said. “They were warned.” Some key points from an Associated Press report: Walsh met Ryan Routh in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in 2022 when she was a nurse and aid worker and he was there to recruit foreign soldiers to fight the Russians. Walsh said she watched him grow increasingly angry and unhinged, kicking a panhandler, threatening to burn down a music studio that slighted him and speaking of his own children with seething hatred. Just as troubling, she said, was Routh’s obsessive, oddly specific plotting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing the various explosives, poisons and cross-border maneuvers that Routh would employ “to kill him in his sleep.” “Ryan Routh is a ticking time bomb,” she recalled telling U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in an hourlong interview upon returning to the United States at Dulles International Airport near Washington in June 2022. She says she later repeated her concerns in separate tips to both the FBI and Interpol, the international policing group. Walsh says she never heard back about her tips and she did not think much more about Routh until she saw him in the news last Sunday as the 58-year-old accused of stalking Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, in an apparent assassination attempt. Customs and Border Protection said it could not confirm Walsh had a meeting with one of its agents because it does not comment on individual cases. The FBI declined to confirm Walsh’s warning, citing a policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations. Interpol did not respond to a request for comment. Walsh’s account was one of at least four reports to the U.S. government that, while not direct threats to Trump, raised suspicions about Routh in the years leading up to his arrest. Others included a tip to the FBI in 2019 about Routh being in possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, an online report by an aid worker to the State Department last year questioning his military recruiting tactics, and Routh’s own interview about those efforts with Customs and Border Protection that prompted a referral for a possible inquiry by Homeland Security Investigations. What was done in response was not clear. The agencies involved either did not respond to queries from the AP, have no record of such a report or had questions about whether the report warranted further investigation. Now, some people are asking whether federal agencies are vigilant enough or equipped enough to deal with a growing number of potential threats that are brought to their attention every day. “Federal agencies ought to be on the highest alert to detect and combat these threats,” said Republican Sen Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sarah Adams, an ex-CIA officer behind the State Department tip, said she decided to act after learning Routh was trying to recruit former Afghan fighters with false promises of spots in the Ukrainian military. She said she drafted a bulletin urging the 50 humanitarian aid groups she was helping in Ukraine to keep Routh at arm’s length, and she had her company send a similar online report to the State Department. “There was plenty to look into,” said Adams, who lives in Tampa, Florida. “I don’t know if they even assigned someone to work it.” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said there is no record of any Routh complaints. He said he could not rule out that “someone didn’t have a communication with somebody somewhere.” In June 2023, Routh was pulled aside by Customs and Border Protection agents at the Honolulu airport when he returned from Ukraine, Poland and Turkey. He was asked about his activities overseas. As first reported by the website Just the News and confirmed in congressional testimony this past week, documents show Routh told them he had been recruiting as many as 100 fighters from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan, and that his wife was paying for his efforts. Routh also gave agents a business card that claimed he was the director of a group called the International Volunteer Center. The documents state that the agents referred Routh’s case to Homeland Security Investigations for further scrutiny but it declined to pursue the matter. In her congressional testimony Wednesday, that agency’s executive associate director, Katrina Berger, said the agency get hundreds of such requests a day and that Routh’s comments did not rise to the level to take him into “immediate custody.” Asked specifically to confirm whether a further investigation was declined, she said she was not sure and would look into it. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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