UNITED STATES-RUSSIA-UKRAINE
US secret service notes that Russia is planning an offensive against Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has promised to make it “very, very difficult” for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine, as US intelligence agencies have determined that Russian plans for a possible military offensive are underway which could start so soon in early 2022. The new intelligence report estimates the Russians are planning to deploy an estimated 175,000 soldiers, nearly half of whom are already stationed near the Ukrainian border. This was said by an administrative officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the findings. Russia has taken up his demands on Biden to guarantee that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO.
AP-US-SCHOOL-SHOOTING-MICHIGAN-EXPLAINER-CHARGING-PARENTS
PURPOSE: How unusual is it to incriminate parents in school shootings?
Experts say guns used in U.S. school shootings often came from the homes of young perpetrators. But parents are rarely charged for the violence that occurs. That makes the case against the parents of Ethan Crumbley unusual after the fatal shooting of four students at Oxford High School in southeast Michigan. Jennifer and James Crumbley are charged with negligent homicide, while their son is charged with murder, terrorism and other crimes. Oakland County Attorney Karen McDonald said the Crumbleys ignored opportunities to intervene just hours before the bloodshed.
SCHOOL SHOOTING MICHIGAN SCHOOL HANDLING
Expert: School should have reported behavior prior to shooting
PONTIAC, Michigan (AP) – The warning signs were there: a cell phone search for gun ammunition, blood drawn from a school desk, and a written request for help. But on Tuesday, about 30 miles north of Detroit at Oxford High School, the student in question was sent back to the classroom after a school meeting with his parents. Three hours later, four students were shot dead and six other students and a teacher were injured. An expert and parents of students killed in a school shooting in Florida in 2018 say police should have been alerted ahead of Tuesday’s killing spree.
AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-US
Contact tracing is increasing in some states as Omicron hits the United States
The arrival of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has prompted health officials in some U.S. communities to revive contact tracing operations to help slow down and understand the spread. In New York City, officials quickly reached out to a man who tested positive for the variant and who had attended an anime convention with more than 50,000 people last month. Urgent searches are ongoing from Nebraska to Philadelphia to Baltimore. So far, the variant has been detected in a handful of states, including California, Hawaii, and Colorado. Scientists are still investigating how contagious Omicron is and whether it can thwart vaccines.
AP-US-CAPITOL-BREACH-CONTEMPT
The January 6 panel postponed the testimony with the former DOJ official
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House of Representatives committee investigating the Capitol uprising on January 6th postponed a testimony to a former Justice Department official on Saturday to December 16 because “there is an illness that precludes his participation.” Jeffrey Clark had allied himself with former President Donald Trump last year when he tried to undo his defeat. The committee had scheduled the second interview with Clark after he refused to answer questions when he made his first testimony in November. The panel voted Wednesday to recommend contempt charges against Clark but said it would be put on hold in a whole House vote and give him a second try.
BAD ISU GRADUATE STUDENT
The mother of an Illinois state student wants the FBI to investigate the death
CHICAGO (AP) – A civil rights attorney joined Jelani Day’s mother to request that the FBI investigate why the Illinois State University graduate student disappeared in August and was later found dead in a river. Ben Crump became famous for representing the family of George Floyd and others who have been victims of police brutality and vigilante groups. He said at a press conference in Chicago on Friday that the Justice Department must make Day’s death a priority. Authorities said his death is still under investigation. But Day’s mom, Carmen Bolden Day, said law enforcement as well as told her her son died of suicide, which she fired.
HAWAII CONTAMINATED WATER
The Honolulu utility closes well to prevent fuel contamination
HONOLULU (AP) – The Honolulu water company is shutting down one of its wells to prevent it from drawing petroleum from an underground aquifer it shares with the Navy and supplying it to its own customers. The move comes as the Navy grapples with an ongoing fuel crisis that has contaminated its tap water in Pearl Harbor. Almost 1,000 military households have complained that their tap water smells like gasoline or that they have physical ailments such as stomach cramps and vomiting. The aquifer that the Navy and utility rely on is near a huge underground fuel tank complex dating back to WWII, which has been the source of several fuel leaks over the years.
AP-US-OSTEEN-CHURCH-THEFT
Plumbing discovery may be related to the theft of the Texas mega-church in 2014
HOUSTON (AP) – Authorities are investigating whether cash and checks discovered during repair work at Pastor Joel Osteen’s mega-church in Houston are linked to $ 600,000 stolen from a church safe more than seven years ago. The revived investigation comes after a plumber called a Houston radio station morning broadcast during a section on the strangest things of value people have ever found and described finding 500 envelopes full of money behind a wall while getting a leak Repaired toilet in Lakewood Church. The Church did not verify the plumber’s account, but said in a statement that an unknown amount of cash and checks were recently found during repair work and the Church is assisting the Houston Police in their investigation.
AP-US-CONDOS-EVACUATED-WISCONSIN
Condominiums in Wisconsin evacuated due to structural problems
WAUKESHA, Wisconsin (AP) – A six-story condominium building was evacuated in suburban Milwaukee that was the subject of structural complaints until June 2020 after engineers determined the building was in imminent danger of collapsing. Police and firefighters vacated the 48-unit Horizon West condominium in Waukesha on Thursday evening after a technical report said its structural pillars were compromised. A total of 65 people were evacuated. Waukesha Police Lt. Kevin Rice said the collapse of a condo in Surfside, Florida, killing nearly 100 people in June, was on his mind. City officials said 23 rooms had been provided by the Waukesha Salvation Army. Two properties near the building have also been evacuated as they are in a possible collapse zone.
TEXAS FIRE OFFICER KILLED
Police officer killed, suspect injured in Dallas shootout
MESQUITE, Texas (AP) – A police officer died and a suspect was injured in a gunfight outside a supermarket in suburban Dallas. Mesquite police say it happened outside an Albertson supermarket around 1:40 p.m. Friday. Mesquite Police Chief David Gill said the officer responded to a report of a disturbance in the store’s parking lot when the suspect drew a gun and opened fire and hit the officer twice. The officer returned fire and injured the suspect once. Both were taken to a Dallas hospital where the officer died. Gill said the suspect was being treated. Its condition is unknown.
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