Month: September 2024

Boeing and its largest union said Sunday they reached a tentative agreement on a new contract; if ratified, it will avoid a strike scheduled for Friday among production workers which threatened to shut down the aerospace company.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents 33,000 workers, who build the commercial jets. Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751, the machinists’ union outpost at Boeing, shared in a statement on its website: “You sent us here to stand strong for your priorities, and we are proud to have done so .. Negotiations are a give and take, and although there was no way to achieve success on every single item, we can honestly say that this proposal is the best contract we’ve negotiated in our history.” 

Boeing said 33,000 workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, who build the commercial jets, would get pay raises of 25% over the four-year life of the contract, with average wages rising 33% due to seniority step increases.  There will be a $3,000 lump sum payment within 30 days for everyone, with the new minimum pay grades range from $21 per hour to $37 with an average 31% rate increase over four years. The maximums range from $43.58 to $57.43 with a 12% average increase over four years. The contract also includes improved contributions to 401(k) plans, reduced employee contributions for health insurance and more time off.

Stephanie Pope, the president of Boeing’s commercial airplanes division, said Sunday in a video for employees that the proposed contract includes the company’s largest-ever general wage increase, and added that the promise to build Boeing’s next new airliner in the Puget Sound, Washington area means job security for generations to come. Said Pope: “We’ve heard what’s important to you for the new contract, Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplane unit. And we have reached a tentative agreement with the union on a historic offer that takes care of you and your family.”

The proposed contract is contingent on union members ratifying it by late Thursday night Pacific time. The union has scheduled a two-part election for Thursday, with workers voting whether to accept the contract, and whether to authorize a strike if they reject the offer. Voting will occur at about a half-dozen locations in Washington state and one in California.

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Authorities are continuing the manhunt for an “armed and dangerous” person of interest involved in the shooting of nine cars on Interstate 75 in a rural area of southeastern Kentucky (about 76 miles south of Lexington), which seriously injured five people. The shooting on Saturday happened around 5 p.m. local time, with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office reporting that “numerous people were shot” near the highway.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said they are looking for a ‘person of interest’ identified as 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch of Woodbine, Ky., who is described as 5-foot-10 and 154 pounds.  Authorities are searching for him in a remote area north of London, a community of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles south of Lexington.

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesperson for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters Sunday: “We’re going to go in and we’re going to find this guy.” Five people were shot and all were in stable condition early Sunday, although some of the victims had “very serious” injuries, including one person who was shot in the face, according to Acciardo.  Authorities told local Kentucky news outlet WKYT that the five victims were stable after being flown out of St. Joseph Health in London for treatment, with ABC News later confirming at least two were taken to University of Kentucky HealthCare in Lexington.

Acciardo said that authorities believe there was only one shooter, and they do not think the shooting was sparked by road rage. A photo of Couch was released with a warning to residents to be on the lookout. Acciardo said when troopers arrived at the scene they found numerous vehicles on the side of the highway at Exit 49. An individual who was “off that exit” fired multiple rounds into the northbound and southbound lanes, striking nine vehicles and wounding five people, he said. The shooter was not in a vehicle at the time.

In a video update on Facebook late Saturday night, London Mayor Randall Weddle urged residents to call 911 if they hear or see anything suspicious near their homes: “We’re asking folks please do not go outside your home shooting because we might have first responders in that area. It’s important to know you are safe. We have multiple agencies in this community, in the city of London and in Laurel County.”

On Sunday afternoon, authorities found an AR-15 and fully loaded magazine in a wooded area; and earlier in the day, a vehicle registered to Couch was found nearby. Acciardo told the Courier Journal that Couch could potentially be hiding underneath some road cuts that are blocked from view and the aerial infrared detector.

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Attorneys for Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, offered to settle a range of federal tax charges against him with an “Alford plea” during a court appearance Thursday in Los Angeles. ABC News reported that the surprise offer came as proceedings began on Day 2 of Hunter Biden’s trial on nine felony and misdemeanor charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes from 2016 through 2019.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi temporarily adjourned the trial (which is in the pre-jury selection phase) after Biden’s attorneys surprised prosecutors with the offer of an Alford plea. Under such a plea, defendants can admit that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction yet maintain they are innocent of the charges (per The Washington Post.) Prosecutors said they were not informed in advance after Biden attorney Abbe Lowell announced the plea deal offer.

The latest legal move comes after Biden’s attorneys unsuccessfully sought to dismiss the tax case by citing a recent decision by a federal judge in Florida who throw out the classified documents case against Trump on the grounds that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional.  Last month, Scarsi shot down that argument for being untimely and an attempt to re-litigate an earlier decision quashing a previous attempt by Biden to have the case dismissed. Biden last year was poised to plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses, but the deal fell apart in July when the two sides could not agree on a separate gun offense.

Biden is also awaiting sentencing on three gun-related charges. He found guilty in June on charges stemming from his purchase of a handgun in 2018 when he was allegedly struggling with drug addiction. He faces up to 25 years’ imprisonment and hefty fines when sentenced.

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According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (‘GBI’), the 14-year-old Georgia school shooting suspect has been charged with four counts of murder. Two students and two teachers were killed in the shooting on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga, with nine others hospitalized with injuries

Per the Atlanta Journal, the suspect, Colt Gray, is set to appear in Barrow County Superior Court for his first appearance Friday morning. Per Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice spokesperson Glenn Allen, the 8:30 a.m. Friday hearing will be virtual. Gray is expected to be tried for murder as an adult in the mass shooting at Apalachee High School.

The GBI wrote on X: “Gray has been charged with 4 counts of felony murder in connection to the shooting at Apalachee HS yesterday. He was taken to the Gainesville RYDC. Additional charges are expected. Gray’s first appearance will be tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. — The investigation into the shooting at Apalachee HS is still active & ongoing. This is day 2 of a very complex investigation & the integrity of the case is paramount. We ask for the public’s patience as we work to ensure a successful prosecution & justice for the victims.”

The GBI has identified those killed as 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, math teacher and assistant football coach RIchard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and math teacher Christina Irimie, 53. The nine wounded victims were expected to recover.

The FBI said that the teenage suspect, who used an AR-style weapon in the shooting, surrendered immediately and was taken into custody within minutes. On Thursday night he was taken to a youth detention center in Gainesville. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said that the suspect was a new student at the school, having only been there for a partial day; the day of the shooting was his first full day at the school.  Gray was previously investigated in May 2023 after anonymous tips regarding threats he allegedly made to commit a school shooting. At the time, Gray denied making the online threats and the FBI said there was no legal basis for charging him for any crime.

During the shooting, the school used a new Crisis Alert System made by the Atlanta-based private company Centegix. In that system, teachers wear badges with the ability to press a button to notify law enforcement if a shooting is happening.

GBI Director Chris Hosey said that investigators are looking into how Gray got the weapon he allegedly used in the school shooting and are also looking for a possible motive. Hosey added that investigators know about previous contacts between Gray’s family and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services, and are also looking into that.

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (“GBI”) has confirmed that at least four people were killed, and nine hospitalized after a shooting at a Georgia high school.  A post on X from the GBI noted that a suspect is in custody.

The Wednesday morning shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, located in Barrow County roughly 50 miles east of the state’s capital in Atlanta, saw multiple of law enforcement agencies respond before 10:30 a.m. local time. The Georgia high school was under lockdown until a little before 11:30 a.m., when the site was cleared and students released to families.

CNN reported that the suspect in the fatal mass shooting has been identified as Colt Gray. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at an afternoon news conference that Gray is a student at the school, and will be charged with murder and handled as an adult as he moves through the criminal justice system.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said the shooting was reported at 10:23 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School, with the school  put on lockdown in the aftermath of the shooting. Two teachers and two students were killed, authorities said, with nine other victims were taken to hospitals with injuries.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a post on X he has “directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state. We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement shared by the White House Wednesday afternoon that he is “mourning the deaths” of those killed in the shooting and that he is “thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed.  What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart. Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal. We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life.”

At a separate news conference on Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was “devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy.  We are still gathering information, but the FBI and ATF are on the scene working with state, local and federal partners. The Justice Department stands ready to provide any resources or support that the Winder community needs in the days ahead.”

Winder, GA is located about 50 miles outside Atlanta. Schools in Barrow County will be closed the rest of the week.

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On Wednesday, the Departments of Justice and Treasury announced sanctions targeting Russian government-sponsored attempts to manipulate U.S. public opinion ahead of the November election. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the sweeping crackdown of efforts by the Russian government to influence the upcoming 2024 election through covert networks aimed at spreading disinformation to American voters (per ABC News).

Garland stated: “That law enacted nearly a century ago, was enacted to ensure that the American people were informed when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse. The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda.”

Garland said the State Department would also take separate actions, announcing that the DOJ had unsealed an indictment in the Southern District of New York that charges two employees of the Russian-backed media network RT with conspiring to commit money laundering and to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The defendants — Konstantin Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27 — are accused of implementing a nearly $10 million scheme to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate content that was considered favorable to the Russian government. The company then contracted with U.S.-based social media influencers to share that content on their platforms.

FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted both foreign and domestic incidents of attempts to influence voters: “RT has used people living and working inside the U.S. to facilitate contracts with American media figures to create and disseminate Russian propaganda here. The content was pitched as legitimate independent news when, in fact, much of it was created in Russia by RT employees who work for the Russian government. The second operation reveals even more malign activities by companies working under the direction and control of the Russian government, companies that created media websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda.”

Garland shared that information was “often consistent with Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Russian interests, particularly its ongoing war in Ukraine.”  Kalashnikov identified himself as RT’s “Deputy Chief of the Digital Media Projects Department,” and Afanasyeva has identified herself on social media as a “producer at RT, dealing with overseas affairs and news.”  Said Garland: “The company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers as ties to RT and the Russian government. Instead, the defendants and the company claimed that the company was sponsored by a private investor, but that private investor was a fictitious persona.”

The Treasury Department also announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control had designated 10 people and two entities as part of a “coordinated U.S. government response to Moscow’s malign influence efforts targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”  The Treasury Department shared in its announcement of sanctions that RT  “used a front company to disguise its own involvement or the involvement of the Russian government in content meant to influence U.S. audiences.” Under the new actions, all property and interests in property of the designated people that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of Americans are blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

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