Month: July 2020

President Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was taken back to a federal jail on Thursday after refusing to agree to a gag order as a condition of serving his criminal sentence under home confinement. Cohen’s lawyer, Jeffrey Levine, said that his client was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.  

Cohen, 53, had been released from a federal prison in upstate New York in May due to concerns over possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. He had completed about a year of a three-year sentence for his role in hush money payments to two women, as well as for financial crimes and lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen had originally been eligible for release in November 2021.

On Thursday, he was ordered to a federal courthouse in Manhattan to convert his furlough to home confinement. Levine said they were presented with an agreement that barred Cohen from having any contact with news media organizations, TV, film or book publishing outlets, or from posting on social media. After objecting, Levine said the U.S. Marshals Service came with “shackles” and ordered Cohen remanded to the jail in Brooklyn because he failed to agree to the terms.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen back in custody in dispute over release conditions

Via www.msn.com

President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is back in federal custody in an…

07/09/2020 7:24 PM

 

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Tropical Storm Fay has developed off the coast of the Carolinas, adding to an already busy start of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. In an update late last evening, the National Hurricane Center said Fay was located about 70 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and about 140 miles south-southeast of Ocean City, Md. The storm was traveling north at 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast, from Cape May, N.J., to Watch Hill, R.I., including Long Island and Long Island Sound.

Already the sixth named storm in the Atlantic this year, Fay also holds the record as the earliest named “F” storm to form in the basin in the satellite era, which dates back to the 1960s. “Fay will be a mostly heavy rain producer but could still bring wind gusts of 50-60 mph along coastal areas of eastern Long Island and over eastern coastal areas of New England,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist and lead hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said.

Story developing….

Tropical Storm Fay sets sights on mid-Atlantic coast, New England

Via www.nbcnews.com

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Fay was about 70 miles east of Cape Hatteras in…

07/09/2020 10:26 PM

 

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that public schools will reopen for fall with reduced in-person classes, while Vice President Mike Pence said the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) would provide “more clarity” on school guidelines.

Mayor de Blasio said that students at New York’s 1,800 public schools will attend physical classes for one to three days a week and will do the rest of their work remotely. The partial reopening plan is meant to allow more space for the city’s 1.1 million students — the United States’ largest school district — and keep in line with social distancing recommendations of 6 feet surrounding each child.  Most students will be in class two to three days a week, while others at more crowded schools may be present for just one day a week, de Blasio added. Families may also choose a fully remote schedule at any time.

Vice President Pence said the CDC will soon release new guidance on reopening schools, after President Donald Trump voiced disagreement in a tweet with existing guidelines. CDC guidance issued in May called for 6 feet of distancing between desks, in-classroom lunch, staggered arrival times, mask requirements and daily temperature screenings. CDC Director Robert Redfield said the guidance was not required, but recommended.

NYC mayor unveils plan to reopen schools in fall

Via abcnews.go.com

Most New York City students will return to their physical schools two or three days a week and…

07/08/2020 6:10 PM

 

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On Wednesday, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT”) sued to block new immigration restrictions that would prevent students in the United States on visas from taking classes at institutions that offer fully online courses. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction against the policy decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would require international students whose universities move to fully online instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic to transfer or face deportation.

On Monday, ICE announced that students on non-immigrant F-1 and M-1 visas who attend universities that operate entirely online “may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States” and that the State Department will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools that are fully online for the fall semester.

Harvard, MIT sue to block ICE rule on international students

Via abcnews.go.com

Colleges and universities are pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to…

07/08/2020 5:39 PM

 

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PGA golf pro Sean Fredrickson, his son Hayden Fredrickson and his stepchildren Sofia and Quinn Olsen were among those who were killed on Sunday after two planes collided and fell into a lake in Idaho. The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a press release on Tuesday that two planes crashed into each other above the lake around 2:20 p.m. on Sunday. Multiple units and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene, though the sheriff’s office’s sonar team eventually located both planes at about 127 feet and recovered two victims’ bodies from the water.

A third victim was later recovered by dive teams and the location of two additional victims had been determined on Monday, with technical divers expected to begin recovery efforts for their bodies, Sheriff’s Lt. Ryan Higgins announced during a press conference. Higgins also said that one of the aircraft involved was a charter plane operated by Brooks Seaplane and a pilot and five passengers — four of whom were related — were aboard, while the other plane was a Cessna 206G registered to Lewiston, Idaho

Officials have not yet formally released the identities of the victims, but believe there was a total of eight passengers and crew involved and that none survived. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are currently investigating the crash.

PGA member and his 3 children are among the dead in Idaho plane collision

Via www.nbcnews.com

Six bodies have been recovered from the Sunday collision, although not all have been publicly…

07/07/2020 7:47 PM

 

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Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden won primaries in New Jersey and Delaware on Tuesday. Both states had postponed their elections from their original scheduled dates due to COVID-19.

Biden received 88.5 percent of the vote in New Jersey with 2 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. In Delaware, Biden’s home state, Biden received 90.4 percent of the vote with less than 1 percent of precincts reporting. Delaware will allocate 21 pledged delegates while New Jersey will allocate 126 delegates. Biden has already received 2,144 delegates during the 2020 primaries. A candidate only needs 1,991 delegates in order to qualify to win the party nomination.

Although Biden is the only Democrat left in the Presidential race, the names of former candidates remain on the ballot. In New Jersey, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders garnered 11.5 percent of the vote. Sanders only received 6.5 percent of the votes in the Delaware primary.

Biden coasts to victory in New Jersey, Delaware primaries, NBC News projects

Via www.nbcnews.com

Amy Kennedy won the chance to run against Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who changed his party…

07/07/2020 10:06 PM

 

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