Month: May 2023

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the four-week moving average for jobless claims through the week ending May 6 was the highest it’s been since November 2021. First-time claims for unemployment insurance increased by 22,000 from last week to reach 264,000. The less-volatile, four-week moving average to the week ending May 6 was 245,250, an increase of 6,000 from last week.  The department reported: “This is the highest level for this average since November 20, 2021, when it was 249,250.”

However, the number of people who’ve filed over multiple weeks during the week ending April 22 was 1.7 million – a decline of nearly 64,000 from the prior week (at the same period last year, there were 1.44 million in continued-week claims).

The uptick in first-time claims may be good news towards fighting inflation. Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve, said last week that the 25 basis point rate hike was to ensure the labor market remains healthy while at the same time keeping prices stable. Economists say that last week’s surge could mark the start of an upward trend as the cumulative and lagged effects of the Fed’s rate hikes broaden out in the economy. Layoffs also appear to be spreading to other industries. Most were initially based in the technology sector; for example IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Twitter, Lyft and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months, and Amazon and Facebook have each announced two sets of job cuts since November. But now other industries including McDonald’s, Morgan Stanley and 3M have also recently announced layoffs.

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The Food and Drug Administration eased restrictions specifically for gay and bisexual men to donate blood. The agency said in a news release that blood donor eligibility will now be determined using a set of “individual, risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV.”

The recommendations ask that all donors answer individual risk assessment questions to screen for possible HIV exposure. Previously, guidelines required a three-month abstinence period for donations from men who have sex with men; now, that blanket rule is being eliminated. Peter Marks, M.D., PhD., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a news release announcing the finalization of the recommendations: “The FDA has worked diligently to evaluate our policies and ensure we had the scientific evidence to support individual risk assessment for donor eligibility while maintaining appropriate safeguards to protect recipients of blood products. The implementation of these recommendations will represent a significant milestone for the agency and the LGBTQI+ community.”  

The restrictions in place were opposed by gay rights groups and medical societies including the American Medical Association. The FDA said that the goal of the new guidelines is to expand the number of people eligible to donate blood while still “maintaining the appropriate safeguards” to keep the supply of donor blood safe, adding that the new policy is based on “the best available scientific evidence,” and mirrors policies in the United Kingdom and Canada.  The news release said: “The FDA is committed to working closely with the blood collection industry to help ensure timely implementation of the new recommendations and we will continue to monitor the safety of the blood supply once this individual risk-based approach is in place.” 

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A Louisiana man walked free after spending nearly three decades behind bars for a rape the victim herself insisted he did not commit.  Patrick Brown was convicted in 1994 of aggravated rape in a case involving his 6-year-old stepdaughter, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office in Louisiana said. The sexual assault survivor did not testify at Brown’s trial and, beginning in 2002, she repeatedly asked for the case to be reviewed, insisting Brown wasn’t her attacker. However, the district attorney’s office said that the case was not investigated again until recent years.

According to a statement from the Orleans Parish District Attorney, Brown’s conviction was based on adults testifying “to what they believed she had said.” District Attorney Jason Williams said in a statement that the now-adult woman has remained steadfast for over 20 years that Brown is innocent “and the evidence corroborated the victim’s account … Listening and engaging victims and survivors of sexual assault is a top priority in this office. It is incredibly disheartening to know that this woman was dismissed and ignored, no matter how inconvenient her truth, when all she wanted was the real offender to be held responsible.” Williams added: “When someone is wrongfully convicted, not only is it an injustice for the person who has years of their life stolen, but it is an injustice for the victim and the people of New Orleans because the real perpetrator is left to harm others.” Williams did not provide details on the exonerating evidence.

The district attorney’s office asked the court to vacate Brown’s conviction, and Judge Calvin Johnson presided over a hearing Monday, after which Brown was released. Prosecutors have not shared details regarding the man whom the woman says raped her as a child. District Attorney Williams said the state is “actively reviewing the viability charges against the actual perpetrator…but to say more on that at this time would not be prudent as it could jeopardize the case.”

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Rep. George Santos of New York pleaded not guilty to a 13-count federal indictment unsealed by the Justice Department at a Long Island courthouse on Wednesday. The 34-year-old Santos has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, according to the Justice Department.

Santos, who surrendered into custody Wednesday morning, pleaded not guilty at an 11-minute hearing and was released on $500,000 bond. Santos must submit to pretrial services, have random monitoring at his home and surrender his passport, and any travel outside New York state and Washington, D.C., must be approved by the court. He’s due in court again June 30. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Santos said he was confident that he would be able to clear his name, adding that he doesn’t plan to resign from Congress and that he still plans to run for re-election next year. Santos later tweeted that he was facing a “witch hunt.”

Santos was elected to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District last November and has spent the months since dealing with questions about his education and professional experience, as well as his finances and campaign spending. The Justice Department alleges that Santos used campaign contributions for personal expenses, falsely collected more than $24,000 in unemployment benefits by claiming to be unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic and lied to Congress on financial disclosure forms. The charges against Santos were filed by federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York; if convicted, Santos faces up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charges. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement: “Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives.”

Santos has only admitted to “embellishing” his resume, but has otherwise denied any other wrongdoing.
Calls for his resignation were reiterated after Santos’ arrest, with many lawmakers demanding Santos to step down from his House seat in light of the criminal charges filed against him.

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A Utah mother who published a children’s book on grief following her husband’s death last year has now been accused of poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl. Court documents show that 33-year-old Kouri Richins faces charges including aggravated murder in connection with the death of her husband, Eric Richins, 39, who was found dead at the foot of their bed on March 4, 2022. Prosecutors allege that Eric Richins was poisoned by a lethal dose of fentanyl on the night of March 3, 2022, according to the charging document. Kouri Richins has also been charged with three counts of possession of drugs with intent to distribute. Her next hearing is scheduled for May 19.

According to the probable cause statement, Kouri Richins allegedly told police following his death that they were celebrating her closing on a house for her business that night and she “made Eric a Moscow Mule in the kitchen and brought it to their bedroom where Eric consumed it while sitting in bed.”  She then said she went to sleep with one of their children, and when returning to the bedroom around 3 a.m. she found him “cold to the touch.”  An autopsy determined that Eric Richins died from a fentanyl overdose, and that the level of fentanyl in his system was five times the lethal dosage. The medical examiner indicated the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade, and that it was likely ingested orally.

Kouri and Eric Richins were married for nine years and had three young sons together, according to his obituary. While appearing on a “Good Things Utah” segment last month on Salt Lake City’s KTVX to promote her new children’s book, Kouri Richins said her husband died unexpectedly, and that his death “completely took us all by shock … My kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we’ve experienced last year. [I am] hoping it can kind of help other kids deal with this and kind of find happiness some way or another.”

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A Manhattan jury unanimously found former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation in the sexual assault case brought by E. Jean Carroll. The jury found, beyond a preponderance of evidence, that Trump unlawfully touch Carroll without her consent in a New York City department store in the 1990s. However, it did not reach a unanimous agreement that he raped Carroll. For Trump to face punishment, the jury had to unanimously determine that Carroll’s claims had been proven by a preponderance of evidence, a lower bar of scrutiny than beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to NBC News, after receiving instructions on the law and a 10-question verdict from by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, the jury entered deliberations shortly before noon. The six men and three women on the jury were charged with determining if Trump sexually assaulted Carroll or defamed her by publicly accusing her of lying about the alleged incident. The jury ruled that Trump must pay $2 million in compensation and $20,000 in punitive damages for battery. For defamation, the jury awarded Carroll $1.7 million for reputational repair and $1 million in compensatory damages and $280,000 in punitive damages.

Judge Kaplan had given Trump until Sunday afternoon to determine whether or not he would take the stand in the rape case, which he declined to do. Carroll had alleged that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Two witnesses for the prosecution testified that Carroll told them about the assault shortly after it happened; and Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff testified that Trump had similarly sexually assaulted them in separate incidents. Though Trump did not testify in the case, video of his deposition by Carroll’s attorneys was made public on Friday.

Trump’s defense team has repeatedly claimed that the case against the former president is politically motivated. In closing statements on Monday, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said the jury must disregard its feelings about Trump and focus on the facts of the case: “People have very strong feelings about Donald Trump. There’s a time and a secret place to do that. It’s called a ballot box during an election.” On his Truth Social social media page earlier on Tuesday, Trump reasserted his dismissal of the allegations against him:  “In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of rape, and is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”

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