Category: News Daypop

On Wednesday, the Virginia Senate approved legislation to abolish the death penalty, bringing the state one step closer to becoming the 23rd state to do so. The upper chamber of the General Assembly voted 21-17 on the bill along party lines. The Virginia House of Delegates must still vote on the legislation — and the two chambers must agree on a matching bill — before it can be sent to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam for signature. 

Gov. Northam, called for the repeal of the death penalty during his State of the Commonwealth address last month, saying, “It’s time to change the law and end the death penalty in Virginia. We’re taking these actions because we value people, and because we believe in treating people equitably. That matters in policy, and it matters in symbols.”

Twenty-two states have abolished the death penalty and three have moratoriums on the practice. President Joe Biden has promised to work toward repeal at the federal level.

Virginia Senate passes death penalty abolition bill

Via abcnews.go.com

The Virginia Senate has passed a bill that would abolish the death penalty

02/03/2021 8:19 PM

 

Prosecutors said on Wednesday that a former Ohio police officer has been indicted in the fatal shooting of a black man last month. Adam Coy, the white officer who served with the Columbus Police Department, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in the shooting death of Andre Hill, 47. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Coy was indicted on charges of murder, felonious assault and dereliction of duty.

The shooting occurred on Dec. 22, when Coy and another officer, Amy Detweiler, responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle. Police body camera footage showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand, seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy, Coy had not activated the body camera, but an automatic “look back” feature captured the shooting without audio. Detweiler told investigators that Coy yelled, “There’s a gun in his other hand” before opening fire. Hill was on the garage floor for several minutes before an officer came to his aid, and was taken to an area hospital where he later died.

Former Ohio police officer indicted in fatal shooting of Andre Hill

Via www.nbcnews.com

Adam Coy, a 19-year-veteran, had been fired from the Columbus police department. He was indicted…

02/03/2021 8:00 PM

Editorial credit: Picture This Images / Shutterstock.com

Prosecutors said on Wednesday that a former Ohio police officer has been indicted in the fatal shooting of a black man last month. Adam Coy, the white officer who served with the Columbus Police Department, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in the shooting death of Andre Hill, 47. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Coy was indicted on charges of murder, felonious assault and dereliction of duty.

The shooting occurred on Dec. 22, when Coy and another officer, Amy Detweiler, responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle. Police body camera footage showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand, seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy, Coy had not activated the body camera, but an automatic “look back” feature captured the shooting without audio. Detweiler told investigators that Coy yelled, “There’s a gun in his other hand” before opening fire. Hill was on the garage floor for several minutes before an officer came to his aid, and was taken to an area hospital where he later died.

Former Ohio police officer indicted in fatal shooting of Andre Hill

Via www.nbcnews.com

Adam Coy, a 19-year-veteran, had been fired from the Columbus police department. He was indicted…

02/03/2021 8:00 PM

 

Editorial credit: Picture This Images / Shutterstock.com

Amazon announced Tuesday that founder Jeff Bezos will step down from his position as CEO. The 57-year-old Bezos will transition to the role of executive chair in the third quarter of 2021; Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, will be the company’s new chief executive, the company said.

Bezos said in a letter to Amazon employees,, “In the exec chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader and he has my full confidence.”

Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, expanding into a massive online retail platform worth $1 trillion by 2018. Tuesday’s announcement came as the Federal Trade Commission voted to approve an agreement in which Amazon would pay $61.7 million to settle allegations it failed to pay Flex delivery drivers their full tips.

Jeff Bezos steps down as Amazon CEO

Via www.nbcnews.com

Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazon Web Services, will take over as CEO of Amazon.

02/02/2021 5:27 PM

 

Editorial credit: Christos S / Shutterstock.com

A major storm hit the mid-Atlantic coast and northeast with a snow accumulation of more than a foot in some areas on Monday, and is expected to intensify Tuesday overnight. The National Weather Service said that areas from the northern Mid-Atlantic to southern New England experienced heavy snow and increasingly strong winds together with increasing waves along the coast that were predicted to cause coastal flooding overnight during high tides. 

The NWS also said in a Monday afternoon briefing that more than 2 feet of snow could cover the region from Pennsylvania to Maine, including the metro areas of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Unnecessary travel was discouraged by local emergency departments. On the coast, the NWS warned of flooding between 2 and 3 feet above ground level at high tide in and around Long Island. Strong winds gusting between 35 to 55 mph were predicted, causing near blizzard conditions. Courts and schools were closed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

New York City and New Jersey issued states of emergency and New York City put travel restrictions in place to keep nonessential personnel off the roads. Boston and area municipalities imposed parking bans, and most flights in and out of New York City and Boston airports Monday were canceled due to the heavy snow.

Major storm hits millions in Northeast, bringing travel, schools and vaccine centers to a halt

Via www.nbcnews.com

The National Weather Service warned that travel conditions will be “difficult to…

02/01/2021 7:13 PM

 

On Monday, SpaceX announced plans for the first all-civilian mission to space in late 2021.  The mission will be a days long orbit of the Earth, to be led by finance company executive and pilot Jared Isaacman. Isaacman has purchased a four-person mission in the SpaceX Dragon capsule Resilience to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. He expects a mission duration ranging from two to four days. Isaacman pledged to donate $100 million to Memphis-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in connection with the space flight. Isaacman also promised to hold a raffle for one of the four seats on the Dragon mission — to prompt efforts to raise $200 million for the hospital.

Elon Musk said during a news conference Monday evening that the mission is “an important milestone toward enabling access to space for everyone because at first things are very expensive, and as only through missions like this that we’re able to bring the cost down over time and make space accessible.”

SpaceX to launch all-civilian crew to space, and 1 seat is up for grabs

Via abcnews.go.com

SpaceX announced Monday it will launch the first mission to space with an all-civilian crew.

02/01/2021 6:08 PM

 

Editorial credit: L Galbraith / Shutterstock.com

Just one day after CNN first reported that five members of former President Trump’s defense team had departed, his office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial. 

Trump faces an article of impeachment charging incitement of insurrection, and the trial is slated to begin next month after Senate leaders agreed to wait until Feb. 9 to give the former president enough time to form a defense.

Schoen, a federal criminal defense lawyer, called it “an honor” to represent Trump “and the United States Constitution” in a press release. Castor, the former acting attorney general in Pennsylvania, similarly labeled his joining the team “a privilege.” “The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history,” Castor said. “It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always.”

The new legal team members were announced following reports that Butch Bowers, the former lead attorney expected to defend Trump, left the defense team. Four other members also departed the team, including Deborah Barbier, Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris.

Trump announces legal team for Senate impeachment trial

Via www.nbcnews.com

He says lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor will lead his defense and came after a…

01/31/2021 6:43 PM

 

Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com

A major nor’easter traveling toward the East Coast is expected to affect approximately 110 million people on the East Coast with blizzard-like conditions including heavy snow, rain and high winds.

The storm, which forecasters predicted will last until at least Tuesday, had already dumped a half-foot of snow in the Midwest by Sunday into parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as the system travels east.

Forecasters predicted that New York City should expect snow all day Monday. New Jersey declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon as forecasters predicted that much of the region will get 18 to 24 inches of snow. The Poconos, the lower Hudson Valley, eastern Pennsylvania and parts of Long Island and western Connecticut should also expect around up to 2 feet of snow.

By Tuesday, the snow is expected to move north affecting more of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Major winter storm moves from Midwest to East Coast to start week

Via abcnews.go.com

Over 100 million Americans are under winter weather alerts this morning from Minnesota to Maine…

01/31/2021 4:33 PM

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 300.19 points while the S&P 500 climbed 0.98% and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.50% as U.S. markets rebounded on Thursday.  Brokerage firms took steps to restrict an influx of transactions on heavily shorted stocks, after the stock trading app Robinhood restricted trades involving GameStop, AMC, Blackberry, and Nokia. 

All four stocks plummeted Thursday; they were popular on Reddit r/WallStreetBets, where users banded together to drive up prices of such stocks despite traditional hedge funds that had shorted them. AMC fell 56.63%, GameStop dropped 44.29%, Blackberry fell 41.63% and Nokia slipped 28.4%.

Robinhood said it restricted trading in the stocks “in light of recent volatility” and also updated its instructional tools to help people “educate themselves, including how to make sense of a volatile market.”

Stocks soar as GameStop, AMC get pounded

Via www.foxbusiness.com

U.S. equity markets rallied Thursday as heavy trading in shares of GameStop, AMC and others…

01/28/2021 5:30 PM

 

Health officials in South Carolina announced Thursday that they have identified two cases of a COVID-19 variant that emerged recently in South Africa. The two cases are the first found of the mutated virus in the United States. According to South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, federal officials identified the B.1.351 variant in adults from the state’s Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions. The patients have not traveled internationally and did not know each other.

Interim DHEC Public Health Director Dr. Brannon Traxler said in a statement, “The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder to all South Carolinians that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over. While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Every one of us must recommit to the fight by recognizing that we are all on the front lines now. We are all in this together.”

New variants first reported in Britain and South Africa are said to be more transmissible, but most experts have said the available vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna should also be effective against the mutated strains.

First U.S. cases of COVID-19 variant from South Africa found in South Carolina

Via www.cbsnews.com

A new and highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has been found…

01/28/2021 1:29 PM