August 3, 2020

Dunkin' Donuts to Require Masks After Trump-Loving Pastor Made Violent Threat Toward Employee

Dunkin’ Donuts announced Thursday that it will require all guests to wear masks in its stores.

The announcement came a few days after Trump-loving, gay-hating pastor Greg Locke posted a video rant on social media in which he said he had threatened to knock a Dunkin’ Donuts employee’s teeth down his throat. It’s unclear whether the mask requirement is related to Locke’s 13-minute rant, which has racked up nearly 6 million views on Facebook. According to Locke, the employee — whom he referred to as “Nazi Skippy” — asked him to wear a mask the next time he’s in the store. After Locke pushed open the door with his foot on the way out, the employee falsely accused him of trying to break out the glass, he said in the video.

“I said, ‘If you call me a liar one more time, I’m going to take these work boots and I’m going to kick your teeth down your throat,'” Locke said in his rant, confessing to a possible crime.

Earlier in the video, Locke said that after the employee initially asked him to wear a mask, “I was doing everything I could, spiritually, not to come over the counter, and still be a pastor in public, because I’m sure there are cameras everywhere, because people recognize me all over the place.”

Locke, a staunch anti-masker and full-fledged COVID-19 denier, said in another video this week that he will go to jail before halting services at Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which he calls a hoax. In his video about the Dunkin’ Donuts incident, he said he’s also willing to go to jail over mask requirements.

Read more: https://www.towleroad.com/2020/07/dunkin-donuts-to-require-masks-after-trump-loving-pastor-made-violent-threat-toward-employee-watch/

Lock him up!

August 3, 2020

CEO of Puerto Rico's power company to resign amid outages

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The CEO of Puerto Rico’s state-owned power company is resigning as thousands of clients remain without electricity since last week’s tropical storm that further weakened a grid still trying to recover from previous hurricanes and earthquakes, officials said Monday.

José Ortiz is expected to step down on Wednesday amid widespread anger and impatience with ongoing power outages that are occurring during a pandemic, at the height of what is expected to be an unusually active hurricane season as hundreds of thousands of parents prepare for the start of a virtual school year.

“It’s irresponsible and a lack of respect that a simple storm unleashed the chaos we have now,” said Natalia Núñez, who lives in San Juan and has been without power since Thursday.

Many Puerto Ricans also are dissatisfied with how the Electric Power Authority handled recent outages including one last week that was not storm-related and left more than 300,000 customers without power. Then Isaias swiped the island as a tropical storm, leaving more than 400,000 more clients in the dark. By Monday afternoon, more than 20,000 customers were still without power.

Read more: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/CEO-of-Puerto-Rico-s-power-company-to-resign-amid-15454896.php

August 3, 2020

Despite promising to step aside after racist Facebook post, Keith Nielsen becomes Harris County GOP

Despite promising to step aside after racist Facebook post, Keith Nielsen becomes Harris County GOP chair

by Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune


Keith Nielsen has taken office as the chairman of the Harris County GOP, despite saying he would not do so earlier this summer after facing backlash to an image he posted on Facebook juxtaposing a Martin Luther King Jr. quote with a banana.

Nielsen, elected in March, was set to automatically take over as the party leader in Texas' biggest county, home to Houston, at 12 a.m. Monday. To forfeit the office, he would have had to notify the party secretary prior to midnight, which he did not do, according to party spokeswoman Genevieve Carter.

By Sunday night, over 120 precinct chairs had signed on to a statement reminding Nielsen of his early June "declination to take the office."

In recent weeks, all signs pointed to Nielsen reneging on his promise to not take office. He showed up to a meeting with state Senate district chairs last month and left the impression that he was reversing himself, and last week, he announced an Aug. 18 meeting with precinct chairs in an email that he signed as the "chairman-elect."

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/03/keith-nielsen-harris-county/

August 3, 2020

Joe Biden's campaign names first Texas hires for general election

by Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune


Joe Biden's campaign is naming its first hires for the general election in Texas, where polls continue to show a close contest between the presumptive Democratic nominee and President Donald Trump.

Biden's state director will be Rebecca Acuña, a veteran of the Texas Capitol and Democratic campaigns in the state. The deputy state director will be Jennifer Longoria, who led Elizabeth Warren's campaign in Texas during the primary. Biden's communications director in the state will be Tariq Thowfeek, a former Texas Democratic Party spokesman who has since worked for Facebook.

The team also includes two advisers who were involved early with Biden's campaign in Texas during the primary. Mike Collier, the 2018 nominee for lieutenant governor, will serve as senior adviser, while Jane Hamilton, Biden's Texas state director during the primary, has been named strategic adviser.

The initial round of hires is rounded out by Houston political consultant Shekira Dennis, who will be director of coalitions.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/03/joe-biden-texas-election/

August 3, 2020

Obama issues first wave of 2020 Texas endorsements ☑️

Barack Obama is throwing his weight behind more than a dozen Texas Democratic candidates vying to flip congressional and state House seats.

The former president released his first wave of 2020 endorsements on Monday in a Medium post that included endorsements for candidates around the country.

In Texas, eight congressional candidates were endorsed. They include Sima Ladjevardian (TX-02), Wendy Davis (TX-21), Candace Valenzuela (TX-24), Gina Ortiz Jones (TX-23), Sri Preston Kulkarni (TX-22), Adrienne Bell (TX-14), and incumbents Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and Colin Allred (TX-32).

Obama also endorsed 19 candidates running in the Texas House, now only nine seats away from a Democratic majority.

Read more: https://texassignal.com/obama-issues-first-wave-of-2020-texas-endorsements/

August 3, 2020

Koch-funded super PAC backing Chip Roy tells voter to 'find a job'

A screenshot of a short text conversation between a Texas voter and someone with Americans for Property Action, a Koch-funded super PAC supporting Rep. Chip Roy, is making the rounds on social media.

It shows the super PAC making a basic canvassing text on behalf of Roy, boasting about his fight for greater access to quality health care.

When the voter on the receiving end responds, telling the super PAC they’re currently out of work and asking how Roy suggests they should get quality health care, the reply is short: “find a job.”



The Texas voter who spoke to the Signal, and lives in Texas’ 21st congressional district where Democratic candidate Wendy Davis is challenging Roy, asked to remain anonymous in our reporting.

Read more: https://texassignal.com/koch-funded-super-pac-backing-chip-roy-tells-voter-to-find-a-job/

August 3, 2020

Liberal Justice Jill Karofsky Sworn Into Wisconsin Supreme Court

Liberal Justice Jill Karofsky was sworn into the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Saturday, shifting the partisan balance of the court at a time when many high-profile issues, from voter rolls to the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, could come before it.

Karofksy’s swearing-in narrows the court’s conservative majority from 5-2 to 4-3.

The liberal justice joined the court in an usual ceremony that took place as she was completing a 100-mile ultramarathon. Karofsky stopped about 35 miles into her run to be sworn in.

"I am so deeply moved and honored to have the confidence of the people of Wisconsin," Karofsky told a small crowd at the event.

She warned attendees they may not always agree with her decisions, because she will be committed to upholding the law, not issuing opinions based on personal or partisan convictions.

Read more: https://www.wpr.org/liberal-justice-jill-karofsky-sworn-wisconsin-supreme-court

August 3, 2020

Proposed mine faces mounting troubles

The controversial proposed Back Forty open pit metallic sulfide mine on the Michigan-Wisconsin border has suffered major financial and permitting setbacks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and increasing public concerns over the safety of tailings dams to store mine waste. The proposed mine, would be located next to the Menominee River, which flows into Lake Michigan, and has raised concerns about potential pollution.

The COVID-19 pandemic has so far wiped $282 billion from the value of the top 50 mining companies worldwide, according to figures published by Mining.com. These huge losses suffered by the world’s largest mining companies has made it extremely difficult for junior mining companies, like Aquila Resources, the owner of the Back Forty Project, to raise sufficient funds to take the project through exploration, development and final permitting of a mine and tailings dam next to the Menominee River.

To attract desperately needed financing from worried investors, Aquila has provided inaccurate information about the status of the Back Forty Project in its most recent financial report. The company’s March 2020 report states “Aquila has received all State and Federal permissions required for the construction and commencement of operations at the Back Forty Project.”

In fact, the company has not yet submitted a revised Dam Safety Permit application since Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) rejected Aquila’s original Dam Safety application as incomplete and requested additional information. Local citizens and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin strongly opposed the permit at a public hearing because a tailings dam failure could cause massive pollution of downstream communities and Lake Michigan. According to EGLE, “Aquila is not authorized to begin construction of the mine and will not be able to proceed until all permits, including the Dam Safety Permit have been approved by EGLE.”

Read more: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/08/03/proposed-mine-faces-mounting-troubles/

August 3, 2020

What Trump's collapse means for America

Reality is finally catching up with our reality TV star president. Faced with an unprecedented economic collapse triggered by his own clear failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic (something other industrialized nations have managed to pull off) the Donald tweeted hopefully last week that the November election might need to be rescheduled.

No one really knows if Trump is hoping to emulate the strongmen he admires and name himself president-for-life, or if he was just trying to create a distraction from the awful jobs numbers that show what a mess he’s made of the U.S. economy.

Either way, it’s clear he sees the writing on the wall. The American people have had enough of malignant narcissism and feckless governing. They are tired of living with the disastrous results of this president’s non-leadership. Joe Biden is ahead of Trump by double digits, and is leading in swing states including Wisconsin. Unless the Republicans up their voter suppression game to previously unimagined heights — or, as Trump suggested, call off the election — Trump is toast.

As terrible as these times are — and as terrifying as it is to see things devolve so far so fast — there is something hopeful about Trump’s failure.

Read more: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/08/03/what-trumps-collapse-means-for-america/

August 3, 2020

Construction workers find noose-like item at job site

EVANSVILLE -- A length of rope-shaped foam insulation found tied in a loop and left hanging from a piece of construction equipment is being investigated as a possible hate crime, said Evansville Police Chief Patrick Reese.

Police received reports of two such incidents last month at the site where workers are building the new JC McKenna Middle School.

The reports refer to the loops—which some believed were meant to be nooses. One was found dangling from a lift used to raise workers into the air.

JP Cullen & Sons of Janesville is the general contractor on the project, employing a variety of subcontractors at the site.

Read more: https://www.gazettextra.com/news/crime/construction-workers-find-noose-like-item-at-job-site/article_0131eee2-954a-58ca-baf4-5882d4cf63bc.html
(Janesville Gazette)