Month: June 2021

At least three people are dead and as many as 99 are unaccounted for after a 12-story residential building partially collapsed early on Thursday in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in the small, beachside town of Surfside, about 6 miles north of Miami Beach, was reported around 1:30 a.m. A massive search and rescue operation was launched before dawn and crews are still carefully combing through the wreckage and remaining structure in hopes of finding survivors.

As of press time, crews have rescued 35 people who were trapped in the building and two others from beneath the rubble, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Raide Jadallah. Officials said 102 people have been accounted for. Miami-Dade county officials say it’s been difficult determining how many people were in that section of the complex partly because there isn’t an on-scene management company that keeps track. The condominium is a mix of full-time residents, seasonal residents, renters and short-term visitors, so authorities have been relying largely on neighbors and word of mouth. The oceanfront condominium has 136 units, and approximately 55 of them collapsed along the northeast corridor.

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President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators announced on Thursday that they’d reached a framework $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal. Speaking in the White House driveway, Biden said, “They have my word, and I’ll stick with what they proposed, and they’ve given me their word as well — and where I come from, that’s good enough for me. We made serious compromises on both ends. They did not — and I understand their position — the Republicans did not want to go along with the human infrastructure that I talk about, and we’ll see what happens in the reconciliation bill and the budget process. If we get some compromise there and if we can’t, see if I can attract all Democrats to the position where they can move it on the dual track.”

Biden said that while the deal isn’t exactly what he wanted, nor is it exactly what Republicans wanted, the fact that they did reach a bipartisan consensus makes their agreement all the more significant. The deal would see $1.2 trillion in spending over eight years, including $579 billion in new spending over the first five years.

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday there “ain’t” going to be an infrastructure bill in the House unless the Senate passes a broader reconciliation bill that includes progressive priorities. Pelosi said: “We will not take up a bill in the House until the Senate passes the bipartisan bill and a reconciliation bill.  If there is no bipartisan bill, then we’ll just go when the Senate passes a reconciliation bill.  Plain and simple. In fact, I used the word ‘ain’t.’ There ain’t going to be an infrastructure bill unless we have the reconciliation bill passed by the United States Senate.”  She did add that she’s “hopeful” for bipartisanship.

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A months-long probe of the presidential election led by Michigan Republican lawmakers found that claims by former president Donald Trump about widespread voter fraud were false.

According to a report released Wednesday, human error and lack of training were the only factors that contributed to inaccurate and unofficial vote counts, especially in Antrim County, where Trump and his supporters claimed votes were miscalculated in favor of Joe Biden. The report stated: “These errors were quickly discovered and rectified by the protective and redundant systems our state has built to verify and protect election integrity, including re-countable, paper ballots.  Even more significantly, the official vote count was never in doubt and was validated several times, including during a complete, hand recount.”

The four-person committee recommended that legislation strengthen the law regarding the conducting of “logic and accuracy” tests prior to the election, including prohibiting Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications. It also recommends Attorney General Dana Nessel consider investigating those who pushed false claims “to raise money or publicity for their own ends.”

Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes. Court decisions, canvassers and reviews by officials reinforced the outcome of the vote.

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President Joe Biden said that his administration will implement a “major crackdown” on illegal gun sales, unveiling a plan to slow the increase of gun violence in the United States. Biden announced on Wednesday that the plan included gun control measures, support for law enforcement and helping formerly jailed individuals re-enter society amid an increase in homicides in the country and an expected rise in violence in the summer months. “We are announcing a major crackdown to stem the flow of guns used to commit violent crimes,” the President said. “It is zero tolerance for those who willfully violate key existing laws and regulations.”

The President’s plan aims to hold “rogue” firearms dealers responsible for violating federal gun laws, give law enforcement resources to address traditional summer increases in crime, invest in community violence interventions, support unemployment and youth programs, and assist initiatives that help formerly incarcerated people successfully re-enter the community. Biden said: “If you willfully sell a gun to someone who is prohibited from possessing it, if you willfully fail to run a background check, if you willfully falsify a record, if you willfully fail to cooperate with the tracing requests or inspections, my message to you is this. ‘We will find you and we’ll seek your license to sell guns.’”

Gun violence has also risen significantly in the United States in 2021, with several mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo., in March and San Jose, Calif., last month.