News Roundup 11/22/19
Biden files papers for South Carolina presidential primary
Joe Biden has made it official, he is in the running for Democratic president. He has made his South Carolina presidential bid. Former VP Biden filed his paper work as a candidate in next year’s Democratic primary during a stop Friday at a soul food restaurant in Abbeville. He maintains high popularity among the heavily black Democratic electorate. Polls have shown him to be leading his rivals in South Carolina.
Source: Associated Press
Pennsylvania to fund research into fracking health dangers
On Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said his administration will be spending $3 million on studies to explore the potential health effects of the natural gas industry. After months of pleas by the families of pediatric cancer patients who live in the most heavily drilled region of the state, action is being taken. There have been dozens of children and young adults who have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other forms of cancer in a four-county area outside Pittsburgh, a place where energy companies have drilled more than 3,500 wells since 2008. Janice Blanock, whose 19-year-old son, Luke Blanock, died of Ewing in 2016, said she was ecstatic over the new research funding. Each study is projected to last three years.
Source: Associated Press
FBI lawyer suspected of altering Russia probe document
On Friday, President Trump publicized reports that a former FBI lawyer is suspected of altering a document related to surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. The Associated Press has confirmed reports by CNN and The Washington Post that the finding is part of a Justice Department inspector general investigation into the FBI’s probe of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The release of the inspector general report is likely to revive debate about the politically-charged Russia investigation that has shadowed Trump’s presidency since the beginning. Spokespeople for the FBI and the inspector general declined to comment Friday.
Source: Associated Press
Woman charged in boyfriend’s suicide pleads not guilty
On Friday, former Boston College student made her first court appearance to face charges for encouraging her boyfriend to take his own life. 21-year-old Inyoung You, has pleaded not guilty for involuntary manslaughter in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston after prosecutors say she voluntarily returned to the U.S. from South Korea, where she fled after the charges were announced in October. After being taken into custody the judge set her bail at $5,000. You was ordered to surrender her passport. Her trial date is set for November 2020 and also has a court date in January.
Source: Associate Press
Column: MLB ignores grassroots with plan to whack minors
Major League Baseball is pushing a proposal to strike 42 minor league teams and several entire leagues from its vast network of affiliates that bring the game to every corner of country. This includes Chattanooga, Tennessee, home of the Double-A Lookouts and a city where professional baseball was first played in 1885. MLB wants to cut its development costs, especially in light of a class-action lawsuit stating many minor league players are getting paid less than minimum wage. This proposal would supposedly save about $20 million a year. But the fallout could be devastating to both local communities and baseball’s long-term popularity.
Source: Associated Press