Category Archives: News you should know

Delaware’s senior US Senator Tom Carper, a longtime ally of President Joe Biden, is supporting an elimination og the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation after Republicans again blocked it. In a Thursday op-ed in his home-state paper, Carper noted that 19 Republican-controlled states have passed laws making voting more difficult while manyContinue reading “Filibuster loses support in Senate”

An woman was arrested today when she arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, for allegedly murdering her mother on Aug. 12, 2014, while on vacation in Bali, Indonesia. Heather Mack, 26, is alleged to have conspired with her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 28, to kill her mother, Sheila Von Weise, while Mack and VonContinue reading “Woman arrested for murdering her millionaire mother in Bali”

While brave and wildly out-numbered law enforcement officers were fighting for their lives in an effort to protect members of Congress from an angry mob intending to mount coup d’etat and his advisers were begging him to act, then-President Donald Trump just sat back and watched it all play out on TV. “For 187 harrowingContinue reading “Bombshell report details how Donald Trump spent January 6th”

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has recommended that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine be given to children who are 5 to 11 years old. Once a panel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives an official go-ahead, doses will be widely available to young children across the nation. The number dosesContinue reading “Children are now vaccine-eligible”

While semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 are a major flashpoint in the gun control debate and are often the focus of attention following mass shootings, there are only about 20 million assault rifles in the United States, a fraction of the estimated 400 million guns in the country. According to former FBI agent Brad Garrett, handgunsContinue reading “Handguns are used in nearly two-thirds of the nation’s gun murders”

Responding to news that Pfizer reported $14 billion in third-quarter revenue for vaccines and is set to earn $36 billion from vaccine sales by the end of the year on the back of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, Amnesty International’s Head of Business and Human Rights Patrick Wilcken said there’s no good reason the company shouldContinue reading “Amnesty International slams Pfizer for greed, profiteering & monopolies”

The U.S. Commerce Department added NSO Group and three other firms to the “entity list,” which limits their access to U.S. components and technology by requiring government permission for exports. The department said putting these companies on the entity list was part of the Biden administration’s efforts to promote human rights in U.S. foreign policy. Continue reading “Israeli firm behind Pegasus spyware is blacklisted by Commerce Department”

In Washington, DC today, the Supreme Court heard the most consequential Second Amendment case since 2010, which could have an impact on roughly a quarter of all Americans or about 80 million people who may be affected by the ruling. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, a local affiliate of the National RifleContinue reading “Top Court weighs New York’s gun law”

The closest gubernatorial election in history occurred in Washington on November 2, 2004, when Republican Dino Rossi was declared the winner in the initial automated count and again in a subsequent automated recount, but after a second recount done by hand, Democrat Christine Gregoire took the lead by a margin of 129 votes. The NewContinue reading “Gap is 1,193 with 88 percent counted”

by Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor A flurry of bill signings and vetoes is expected from Gov. Phil Murphy before noon on Thursday, when a procedural deadline could make dozens of bills law without his signature. In New Jersey, bills that sit on the governor’s desk for more than 45 days become law when theContinue reading “Governor expected to sign, veto more than 40 bills by Thursday”

While there were warnings for a potential Democratic defeat in Virginia, one of only two states voting for governor in this off year election, polls showed the incumbent Democrat coasting toward re-election in deep blue New Jersey. Instead, Tuesday’s election was a nail biter with the race for governor undetermined as most residents went toContinue reading “Nail biter election results”

The US Supreme Court will hear arguments today in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a challenge to New York’s law restricting the carrying of concealed handguns in public places. The briefing from both parties focused extensively on history, but the Petitioners, led by the NRA’s New York affiliate, placed significant weight onContinue reading “Top court weighs obliteration of all gun laws”

Drivers in New Jersey and around the nation are still seeing prices at the pump go up amid increasing demand as supplies remain low due to shutdowns around the globe, but while spin doctors on both sides of America’s vast political divide are pointing fingers the real cost of fuel is not above historic levelsContinue reading “Prices at the pump prompt political posturing”

by Justin Elliott, Patricia Callahan and James Bandler | ProPublica Legislation currently making its way through Congress would take a sledgehammer to the massive individual retirement accounts built up tax-free by a select group of the ultrawealthy. The proposal, which is part of the infrastructure and tax package advancing in the House, targets the jaw-droppingContinue reading “House Bill Would Blow Up the Massive IRAs of the Superwealthy”

A federal grand jury in Oxford, Mississippi, returned an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday, charging a Mississippi podiatrist with a scheme to defraud Medicare and other health care benefit programs by prescribing unnecessary medications and tests in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. According to court documents, Carey “Craig” Williams, 63, of Water Valley, owned andContinue reading “One foot washes the other? Flim-flam foot doctor fleeced taxpayers, insurers”

A Union County man was sentenced today to 17 months in prison for offering bribes to a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee to steal checkbooks and credit cards from the mail. Jabre Beauvoir, 23, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to an information charging him withContinue reading “Elizabeth man sentenced to 17 months in prison for U.S. Postal Service bribes”

A Union County man was sentenced on Friday to 97 months in prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine and laundering narcotics proceeds. Jose Rivera, Jr., 48, of Union, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before Senior U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to possessContinue reading “Union County cocaine dealer sent to prison”

The World Health Organization issued new guidelines for improving global air quality, which it says could save many of the lives that are lost each year to air pollution, one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. WHO estimates that around 7 million premature deaths every year are due to theContinue reading “Air pollution kills more than 500,000 yearly”

The Biden administration today released companion memos to re-terminate the ill-named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or “Remain in Mexico,” a Trump-era policy that endangers the lives of people seeking asylum. Human Rights First commended Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for issuing a re-termination memo and welcomes a government filing to vacate a court ruling that hadContinue reading “Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy is finally coming to an end”

Governor Phil Murphy holds onto a solid lead against former New Jersey Assemblyman and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Fifty percent of registered voters in New Jersey say they will – or already have – cast their vote for the governor, versus 42 percent who side with his opponent. LikelyContinue reading “Rutgers-Eagleton Poll says “Murphy holds onto a solid lead” as clock ticks”