Author: The Associated Press

Kentucky Governor Beshear Participates in Jefferson Davis Statue Removal from State Capitol

The Associated Press

  FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) — Having led the push to take down a statue of Jefferson Davis from the Kentucky Capitol, the state’s governor had a ceremonial role Saturday in its removal from the place it stood for generations. Gov. Andy Beshear pushed the button to a rig that lifted the 15-foot (4.5-meter) marble statue off its pedestal in the ornate Capitol Rotunda. The governor tweeted a photo showing the memorial to the Confederate president being hoisted for removal. “Today I pressed the button to bring it down,” the Democratic governor said in his tweet. “Now, every child who walks into their Capitol feels welcome. Today we took a step forward for the betterment of every single Kentuckian.” Joining Beshear for the historic event were two leading members of his administration — J. Michael Brown and La Tasha Buckner, who are black. In a quintessentially Kentucky twist, workers discovered an empty bourbon bottle in the base after the statue was hoisted. Also found was a newspaper front page. Later in the day, Beshear posted a photo showing the statue — secured in a crate — being loaded by crane onto a truck outside the statehouse. The governor tweeted that the…

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Warner Bros. Sets Late July Theatrical Release for Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Tenet’

The Associated Press

The closely watched arrival of Christopher Nolan’s big-budget sci-fi espionage film “Tenet” will finally happen on July 31, Warner Bros. announced Friday.
The studio said it would delay the release by two weeks and instead re-issue Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi blockbuster “Inception” in mid-July.

The release date for “Tenet” has been closely watched in all corners of the film industry, which has faced shuttered theaters due to the coronavirus since mid-March. Movie theaters plan to reopen in July for a vastly different summer season than the one the industry had planned.

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Ohio Legislator’s Questions About the Rate of COVID-19 Infection in Minorities Draw Fury

The Associated Press

A Republican lawmaker questioned during a meeting of the Ohio Senate Health Committee if “the colored population” is contracting coronavirus at disproportionate rates because they do not wash their hands “as well as other groups.”

The American Civil Liberties Union called for state Sen. Steve Huffman to step down from office Thursday following his comments that were made during a hearing for a resolution to declare racism a public health crisis.

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Floridians Mark President Trump’s Birthday with Flotillas, Caravans

The Associated Press

Trump supporters in Florida were celebrating the president’s birthday Sunday with caravans, flotillas and parades throughout his adopted home state.

In Palm Beach County — home of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — separate caravans of trucks, motorcycles and boats were riding along highways and the intercoastal waterway at various times in the morning. The organizers were part of the president’s Florida re-election effort.

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Starbucks Creates Own Black Lives Matter Shirt for Employees

The Associated Press

Starbucks is creating its own Black Lives Matter shirt for employees to wear if they choose. The move comes after the coffee chain reportedly banned employees from wearing Black Lives Matter gear.

The T-shirt depicts protest signs with phrases including “Black Lives Matter,” “Speak Up” and “Time for Change.” One sign shows a raised black fist. “It’s not a moment, it’s a movement,” the shirt reads.

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Trump Honors Request from Black Supporters, Reschedules Tulsa Campaign Rally to June 20

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump said Friday that he is rescheduling his first campaign rally in months to a day later so it won’t conflict with the Juneteenth observance of the end of slavery in the United States.

Trump had scheduled the rally — his first since early March — for June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Black leaders said it was offensive for Trump to pick that day and that place, a city that in 1921 was the site of a fiery and orchestrated white-on-black attack.

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Stocks Bounce Higher on Wall Street a Day After Big Rout

The Associated Press
New York Stock Exchange

Stocks moved higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Friday, recouping some of their losses a day after the market had its biggest rout since mid-March.

The S&P 500 was up 0.7% a day after dropping 5.9%. The benchmark index is still headed for a weekly loss following three weeks of solid gains. Small-company stocks and bond yields moved broadly higher, signs that pessimism about the economy was easing.

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Fed Says ‘Full Range of Tools’ in Play to Counter Pandemic

The Associated Press

The Federal Reserve is promising to use its “full range of tools” to pull the country out of a recession brought on by a global pandemic, signaling that it would keep interest rates low through 2022.

In its semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress, the central bank said Friday that the COVID-19 outbreak was causing “tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world.”

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Minneapolis Police Chief Withdraws from Negotiations with Police Union

The Associated Press

The Minneapolis Police Department will withdraw from police union contract negotiations, Chief Medaria Arradondo said Wednesday, as he announced initial steps in what he said would be transformational reforms to the agency in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Faced with calls from activists and a majority of City Council members to dismantle or defund the department, Arradondo also said he would use a new system to identify problem officers and intervene if there are early warning signs of trouble.

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Fed to Keep Providing Aid and Sees No Rate Hike Through 2022

The Associated Press

Confronted with an economy gripped by recession and high unemployment, the Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it expects to keep its key short-term interest rate near zero through 2022.

At the same time, the Fed said it will keep buying about $120 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds each month to maintain low longer-term borrowing rates in an effort to spur spending and growth.

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Judge Issues Order Halting Lee Statue Removal for 10 Days

The Associated Press

A judge in Richmond has issued an injunction preventing Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration from removing an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee for 10 days.

The temporary injunction order issued Monday says the state is a party to a deed recorded in March 1890 in which it accepted the statue, pedestal and ground they sit on and agreed to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” them.

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Amid US Tension, Iran Builds Fake Aircraft Carrier to Attack

The Associated Press

As tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S., the Islamic Republic appears to have constructed a new mock-up of an aircraft carrier off its southern coast for potential live-fire drills.

The faux foe, seen in satellite photographs obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, resembles the Nimitz-class carriers that the U.S. Navy routinely sails into the Persian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz, its narrow mouth where 20% of all the world’s oil passes through.

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California Sheriff: Gunman ‘Very Intent’ on Killing Police

The Associated Press

An Air Force sergeant and leader in an elite military security force was armed with homemade bombs, an AR-15 rifle and other weapons and had a desire to harm police when he launched a deadly attack on unsuspecting officers, a Northern California sheriff said Monday.

Gunfire and explosives rained down from a hillside Saturday afternoon as Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo fired from the high ground onto police who scrambled to find cover and defend themselves, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said.

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Federal Court Upholds Enbridge’s Great Lakes Spill Plans

The Associated Press

Enbridge has produced legally acceptable plans for dealing with a potential spill from oil pipelines that cross a Michigan channel linking two of the Great Lakes, according to a federal appeals court.

A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week overruled a district judge who had agreed with an environmental group that the pipeline company’s plans failed to adequately consider potential harm to fish and wildlife in the Straits of Mackinac.

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Crews Inspect, But Won’t Yet Remove, Richmond’s Statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee

The Associated Press

Workers for the state of Virginia inspected Richmond’s huge statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monday before its planned removal. While protesters have toppled some other Confederate statues and some cities have moved swiftly to remove what critics see as symbols of white supremacy, this monument won’t be so easy to take down.

Virginia’s Department of General Services said in a statement that it plans to remove the statue of the Confederate general on a date to be determined, as soon as possible. But officials said it must be done safely, given the memorial’s weight and height.

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Wall Street Tilts Higher Again on Economic Recovery Hopes

The Associated Press

Wall Street’s rally is spilling into a new week as most stocks continue to ride the high supplied by Friday’s surprisingly encouraging report on the U.S. jobs market.

The S&P 500 was up 0.5% in midday trading on Monday, bringing it back within 5.3% of its record set in February, as optimism strengthens that the worst of the coronavirus-induced recession may have already passed. Stocks that would benefit most from an economy that’s growing again were rising the most, but pullbacks for a handful of big tech stalwarts were keeping the market’s overall gains in check.

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Cristobal Now a Depression Drenching Mississippi River Basin

The Associated Press

Tropical Storm Cristobal weakened into a depression early Monday after inundating coastal Louisiana and ginning up dangerous weather along most of the U.S. Gulf Coast, sending waves crashing over Mississippi beaches, swamping parts of an Alabama island town and spawning a tornado in Florida.

Heavy rainfall and a storm surge continued posing a threat across a wide area of the coast after Cristobal made landfall Sunday afternoon packing 50-mph (85-kph) winds between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the since-evacuated barrier island resort community of Grand Isle.

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Legendary Treasure Hunter Forrest Fenn Confirms: Trove of Riches Hidden in Rocky Mountains Finally Found

The Associated Press

A bronze chest filled with gold, jewels, and other valuables worth more than $1 million and hidden a decade ago somewhere in the Rocky Mountain wilderness has been found, according to a famed art and antiquities collector who created the treasure hunt.

Forrest Fenn, 89, told the Santa Fe New Mexican on Sunday that a man who did not want his name released — but was from “back East” — located the chest a few days ago and the discovery was confirmed by a photograph the man sent him.

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Steven Carrillo, the Suspect in Santa Cruz County Sheriff Deputy Damon Gutzwiller, Was Member of Elite Military Team

The Associated Press

An active-duty U.S. Air Force sergeant accused of killing a Northern California sheriff’s deputy in an ambush-style attack was a leader for a military base’s elite security force, officials said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo has been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting Santa Cruz County sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and wounding two other officers Saturday. He is expected to be charged with first-degree murder.

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Democrats Bow to Progressives, Propose Sweeping Police Overhaul Measures

The Associated Press

Democrats proposed a far-reaching overhaul of police procedures and accountability Monday, a sweeping legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans in the hands of law enforcement.

The political outlook is deeply uncertain for the legislation in a polarized election year. President Donald Trump is staking out a tough “law and order” approach in the face of the outpouring of demonstrations and demands to re-imagine policing in America.

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Officer Charged in Floyd’s Death Makes First Court Appearance, Held on $1 Million Bail

The Associated Press

A judge on Monday kept bail at $1 million for a former Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree murder in George Floyd’s death.

Derek Chauvin, 44, said almost nothing during an 11-minute hearing in which he appeared before Hennepin County Judge Denise Reilly on closed-circuit television from the state’s maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights.

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OPEC, Allied Nations Extend Nearly 10M Barrel Cut by a Month

The Associated Press

OPEC and allied nations agreed Saturday to extend a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day through the end of July, hoping to boost energy prices hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Ministers of the cartel and outside nations like Russia met via video conference to adopt the measure, aimed at cutting out the excess production depressing prices as global aviation remains largely grounded due to the pandemic. It represents some 10% of the world’s overall supply.

However, danger still lurks for the market. Algerian Oil Minister Mohamed Arkab, the current O

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California Sheriff Deputy Damon Gutzwiller Killed, Two Others Injured in Ambush-Style Attack by Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo

The Associated Press

A Northern California sheriff’s deputy was killed and two law enforcement officers wounded Saturday when they were ambushed with gunfire and explosives while pursuing a suspect, authorities said.

The U.S. Air Force confirmed Sunday that the suspect was an active duty sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base.

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Protesters Topple Statue of Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham in Virginia Capital

The Associated Press

A small group of demonstrators toppled a statue of a Confederate general in the the former capital of the Confederacy late Saturday, following a day of largely peaceful protests in the Virginia city.

The statue of Gen. Williams Carter Wickham was pulled from its pedestal in Monroe Park, a Richmond police spokeswoman said. She said she did not know if there were any arrests or damage done to the statue.

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NY Times Editorial Page Editor James Bennet Resigns Amid Backlash Over Running Conservative Senator’s Op-ed

The Associated Press

The New York Times’ editorial page editor resigned Sunday after the newspaper disowned an opinion piece by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton that advocated using federal troops against protesters, and it was later revealed he hadn’t read the piece prior to publication.

James Bennet resigned and his deputy, James Dao, is being reassigned at the newspaper, the Times said Sunday.

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Criminals Stealing Unemployment Benefits as Claims Surge

The Associated Press

Criminals are seizing on a surge in job losses to steal unemployment benefits from Americans nationwide. This complicates an already tough situation for millions of financially strapped Americans and overwhelmed state unemployment offices.

While there’s no exact measure of how many fraudulent claims have been made, states from Washington to Maine say they’ve seen an increase and numerous federal agencies are working to fight it.

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California Governor Ends Police Training in ‘Sleeper Hold’

The Associated Press

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered the state’s police training program to stop teaching officers how to use a neck hold that blocks the flow of blood to the brain and endorsed legislation that would ban the practice statewide.

It marked his first action on police use of force following more than a week of protests across the country over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd died on Memorial Day after a police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed and lying on the ground.

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Faced with Making Food for State Troopers, Workers Walk Out

The Associated Press

Forced to choose between their beliefs and their jobs, four restaurant workers say, they walked out after they were threatened with being fired for refusing to help fill an order for a law enforcement agency that was policing nearby race protests.

The employees at a Columbus location of Condado Tacos, a regional Mexican chain, walked out this week over a catering order for 250 Ohio Highway Patrol officers who were working the protests of the Minnesota death of George Floyd.

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More Active-Duty Troops Leaving D.C., Others Remain on Alert

The Associated Press

Nearly 500 of the active-duty troops brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nation’s capitol have been given orders to leave Washington after a fourth day of largely peaceful protests, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and other officials said Friday.

But a number of other active-duty soldiers remain on alert in the region, prepared to respond if needed.

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Twitter Disables Trump Campaign’s George Floyd Video Tribute

The Associated Press
Jack Dorsey

Twitter has blocked a Trump campaign video tribute to George Floyd over a copyright claim, in a move that adds to tensions between the social media platform and the U.S. president, one of its most widely followed users.

The company put a label on a video posted by the @TeamTrump account that said, “This media has been disabled in response to a claim by the copyright owner.” The video was still up on President Donald Trump’s YouTube channel and includes pictures of Floyd, whose death sparked widespread protests, at the start.

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Kanye West Attends Chicago Protest, Donates $2M to Victims

The Associated Press

Kanye West has donated $2 million to support the families and legal teams for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

A representative for the rapper confirmed that some of the money donated would fully cover college tuition costs for Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna. Floyd died last month after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes as he pleaded for air.

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Chinese Dissident Xu Zhiyong to be Honored by PEN America

The Associated Press

Xu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese activist and legal scholar detained by the government since earlier this year, is being honored by PEN America.

The literary and human rights organization announced Thursday that Xu is this year’s winner of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, which recognizes those imprisoned for free expression and previously has been given to dissidents everywhere from Cuba to Turkey. Xu’s award comes on the 31st anniversary of the so-called Tiananmen Square Massacre, when Chinese soldiers shot and killed pro-democracy demonstrators.

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Judge: Tennessee Must Allow Vote by Mail for All Amid Virus

The Associated Press

Tennessee must give all of its 4.1 million registered voters the option to cast ballots by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, a judge ruled Thursday.

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that the state’s limits on absentee voting during the pandemic constitute “an unreasonable burden on the fundamental right to vote guaranteed by the Tennessee Constitution.” The judge wrote that any eligible voter can get an absentee ballot to avoid contracting or passing on COVID-19 in the “upcoming elections during the pendency of pandemic circumstances.”

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Districts Jettison School Police Officers Amid Protests

The Associated Press

An increasing number of cities are rethinking the presence of school resource officers as they respond to the concerns of thousands of demonstrators — many of them young — who have filled the streets night after night to protest the death of George Floyd.

Portland Public Schools, Oregon’s largest school district, on Thursday cut its ties with the Portland Police Bureau, joining other urban districts from Minneapolis to Denver that are mulling the fate of such programs. Protesters in some cities, including Portland, have demanded the removal of the officers from schools.

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Minneapolis Bans Police Chokeholds, Neck Restraints in Wake of George Floyd Death

The Associated Press

Minneapolis agreed Friday to ban chokeholds by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they see using improper force, in the first concrete steps to remake the city’s police department since George Floyd’s death.

The changes are part of a stipulation between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which launched a civil rights investigation this week in response to the death of Floyd. The City Council approved the agreement 12-0.

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Supreme Court Delays Federal Prison Inmates’ Release in Ohio

The Associated Press

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the federal government’s request to delay the release of medically vulnerable inmates at a federal prison in eastern Ohio where hundreds have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued the brief order Thursday evening — staying an order from a lower court to speed up the inmates’ release — until the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules in the matter.

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Wall Street’s Rally Zooms Higher After Surprise Gain in Jobs

The Associated Press

Stocks are rushing higher in morning trading Friday after a much better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market gave Wall Street’s recent rally another shot of adrenaline.

The S&P 500 was up 2.2% after the government said that U.S. employers added 2.5 million workers to their payrolls last month. Economists were expecting them instead to slash another 8 million jobs amid the recession caused by the coronavirus and the shutdowns put in place to stem it.

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Senate Confirms Trump’s Pick to Lead Voice of America

The Associated Press

A divided Senate voted along party lines Thursday to confirm President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded international broadcasters that have been the subject of harsh criticism from the White House.

Despite significant Democratic opposition and concerns over his fitness for the job, the Senate voted 53-38 to confirm Michael Pack to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA and its sister outlets including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Cuba-oriented Radio and Television Marti.

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Leading Study on Malaria Drug for Coronavirus Retracted: ‘Based on This Development, We Can No Longer Vouch for the Veracity of the Primary Data Source’

The Associated Press

Several authors of a large study that raised safety concerns about malaria drugs for coronavirus patients have retracted the report, saying independent reviewers were not able to verify information that’s been widely questioned by other scientists.

Thursday’s retraction in the journal Lancet involved a May 22 report on hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, drugs long used for preventing or treating malaria but whose safety and effectiveness for COVID-19 are unknown.

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Fargo Leaders Ask for Peace as Walz Sends National Guard to Clay County

The Associated Press

Black leaders in North Dakota’s largest city pleaded for calm Thursday in the face of violent threats to disrupt a gathering in memory of George Floyd and advertised the event as a celebration, not a protest.

The OneFargo event is scheduled Friday afternoon at a downtown Fargo park. Organizers had planned to march from Island Park to City Hall for a sit-in, but have scrapped that idea after social media threats surfaced to burn down the city offices and commit other violent acts.

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