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Posted on October 21, 2023 by Libby

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10/21/2023 Forecast

October 21, 2023

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October 21, 2023

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October 21, 2023

Actor Jonathan Majors in court for expected start of jury selection in New York assault trial
NEW YORK (AP) — The actor Jonathan Majors appeared in court in New York on Wednesday for the expected start of jury selection in a trial in which he is accused of injuring his then-girlfriend during an argument last spring. The trial could wind up playing a big role in what happens next with Majors, who had emerged as a breakout star with major roles in films including “ Creed III ” and who was being set up as the next great supervillain in the Marvel multiverse. The 34-year-old actor entered a Manhattan courtroom alongside his current girlfriend, the actress Meagan Good, carrying a Bible and his signature coffee cup. He did not speak during the start of the proceeding. Majors was arrested in March over a confrontation between the actor and Grace Jabbari, his girlfriend at the time, during a car ride in Manhattan. Prosecutors said Jabbari had grabbed a phone out of the actor’s hand after seeing a text, presumably from another woman, saying “Wish I was kissing you right now.” Majors tried to snatch the phone back. Jabbari said the actor pulled her finger, twisted her arm behind her back and hit her face. After the couple’s driver stopped the car and the pair got out, Jabbari said Majors threw her back into the vehicle. Police said Jabbari was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. Majors’ attorneys have maintained that Jabbari was the aggressor during the fight and had scratched and hit him. Jabbari was also briefly arrested by New York City police last month after Majors filed a cross complaint against her, but the district attorney’s office dropped all charges against her the next day. Majors, 34, is charged with misdemeanors including assault and could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted. Before jury selection could begin Wednesday, attorneys for Majors sought to bar the public and press from the courtroom in order to discuss evidence in the case that has not been made public. The attorney, Seth Zuckerman, warned the evidence could “taint the jury pool beyond repair for Mr. Majors,” adding that his client may face “trial by newspaper.” The Manhattan District Attorney did not take a position on the matter. An attorney hired to represent the press, Katherine Bolger, opposed the move to seal evidence, noting that the public had a right to know the evidence in the case. The judge, Michael Gaffey, said he would rule on the issue later in the day. Majors starred in the Marvel TV series “Loki” and the film “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” and was awaiting the release of another star vehicle, “Magazine Dreams,” which is now in limbo. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
Inheritance money in dispute after death of woman who made millions off sale of T-rex remains
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — For years, the the massive mostly-intact dinosaur skeleton that came to be known as Sue the T-rex was at the center of a legal battle. The latest dispute involves who inherits what’s left of the money created by the sale of Sue. Fossil hunters discovered the skeleton in 1990 on property owned by Maurice and Darlene Williams that sits on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. Because of the location on the reservation, the discovery led to years of court battles over ownership rights. Eventually, the couple was able to claim the rights, and they made $7.6 million from the auction of Sue — now on display at Chicago’s Field Museum. The museum’s website says that at more than 40 feet (12.2 meters) long and 13 feet (4 meters) tall at the hip, Sue is the largest Tyrannosaurus rex specimen discovered and the most complete. Maurice Williams died in 2011. Darlene Williams later moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she died in December 2020. The couple had four children and three of the siblings are involved in a court dispute over the estate, KELO-TV reported. At the center of the dispute: Darlene Williams had two wills, according to records filed in Lincoln County, South Dakota. The first one, signed in 2017, included all of her children and grandchildren, and listed daughter Sandra Williams Luther as the person in charge of settling the estate and making sure the will was carried out. But a second will dated Nov. 25, 2020 — less than three weeks before Darlene Williams died — designated Luther as the sole heir and executor. The document also cited Darlene Williams as saying that she had lived with her children at odds for too long, and she hoped that in her death they would find peace and become a family again. Another daughter, Jacqueline Schwartz, questioned whether the second will was legal. She said her mother was critically ill and in hospice care when she signed the document without witnesses in the room due to COVID-19 restrictions. Schwartz also contested the sale of her mother’s home in Spearfish, South Dakota, two weeks before her death. Court records show that $225,000 in proceeds went to Darlene Williams’ son, Carson Williams. No trial date has been set. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
US sanctions financial network tied to Iranian oil sales
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday said it imposed a new round of sanctions on a group of 20 people and firms allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network for the benefit of the Iranian military. The Treasury Department sanctions impact firms and people spanning Hong Kong to the United Arab Emirates. Included in the sanctions package are employees, brokers and purchasers from Iranian firm Sepehr Energy, which is also subject to sanctions. The U.S. alleges that Sepehr acts as a front company for the Iranian government’s oil sales, which “fund its destabilizing regional activities and support of multiple regional proxy groups,” including Hamas and Hezbollah, according to a Treasury statement. A representative from Sepehr Energy did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment. The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans. Iran engages in “illicit finance schemes to generate funds to fan conflict and spread terror throughout the region,” said Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “The United States remains committed to exposing elements of the Iranian military and its complicit partners abroad to disrupt this critical source of funds,” he said. The White House has said it has yet to uncover information that Iran, the principal financial and military sponsor of Hamas, was directly involved in the multipronged operation against Israel on Oct. 7. However, the U.S. has conducted strikes over the last several weeks against Iranian-tied weapons depots in Syria to retaliate for dozens of rocket and drone attacks that militant groups have launched since Oct. 7 against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
Biden to target Republican Boebert as he talks wind energy in Colorado
By Jeff Mason DENVER (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will tout his economic and clean energy policies on Wednesday in Colorado while taking on right-wing Republican U.S. lawmaker Lauren Boebert, a close ally of former President Donald Trump. Biden, who blamed Trump at a fundraising event in Denver on Tuesday for taking away women’s right to an abortion, will visit a wind tower manufacturer in Pueblo, part of Boebert’s congressional district. Biden, a Democrat running for reelection next year, has presided over a stronger-than-expected U.S. economy and big federal investments in infrastructure and clean energy, but the clean energy industry is now struggling with high costs. Facing weak opinion polls, Biden has turned to more directly taking on Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, as unfit for the presidency and a threat to American democracy. Boebert, who the White House calls a “self-described MAGA Republican,” referencing Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda, will serve as a surrogate target for those attacks on Wednesday. The second-term congresswoman, who was recently criticized by fellow Republicans after being ousted from a Denver theater for disruptive behavior, faces a tough reelection battle against Democrat Adam Frisch, who has outraised her. Boebert introduced a failed impeachment vote against Biden earlier this year, tried to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, and made a show of carrying a gun inside the U.S. Capitol in her early days in Congress. At the wind tower manufacturer, Biden will speak about clean energy investments and “highlight how self-described MAGA Republicans like Representative Lauren Boebert are threatening those investments, jobs, and opportunities,” the White House said. Biden, who will not attend a U.N. gathering on climate change later this year, set a goal of deploying 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind along U.S. coastlines this decade to fight climate change. That may be unattainable due to soaring costs and supply chain delays, Reuters reported in September. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
Opponents want judge to declare Montana drag reading ban unconstitutional without requiring a trial
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A group of people, organizations and businesses opposed to a law that restricts drag performances and bans drag reading events at public schools and libraries asked a federal judge to declare Montana’s law unconstitutional without requiring a trial. “Motivated by an irrational and unevidenced moral panic, legislators took aim at drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community,” Upper Seven Law argued in its motion for a summary judgment filed late Tuesday. Such motions argue there is no dispute about the key facts of a case. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law last month, saying it targets free speech and expression and that the text of the law and its legislative history “evince anti-LGBTQ+ animus.” “No evidence before the Court indicates that minors face any harm from drag-related events or other speech and expression critical of gender norms,” Morris wrote in the injunction. The law was passed by the Republican-controlled 2023 Montana Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte as several states passed laws targeting drag performances. Montana was the only state to ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries, even if the performance does not include sexual content. The plaintiffs argue that the law is an unconstitutional content- and viewpoint-based restriction on speech. They also argue it does not clearly define what actions are illegal, leading people to censor their own speech out of concern for violating the law. The state of Montana argued last week that the plaintiffs don’t have any legal claims to make because “the State Defendants have taken no action to enforce or implement,” the law and the plaintiffs haven’t suffered any harm. The law went into effect when it was signed on May 22. On June 1, the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library canceled a talk about the history of LGBTQ+ Montanans because the speaker is transgender. Butte-Silver Bow County officials said they weren’t sure if holding the speech in the library would violate the law. Plaintiffs have modified or canceled events, as well, in order not to violate the law, court records state. The law was first blocked by a temporary restraining order on July 28, in time for Montana Pride to hold its 30th anniversary celebration in Helena. The city had said it wasn’t sure it was able to issue a permit for the event because of the new law. The state argues the law is meant to protect children from “indecent and inappropriate conduct” that is harmful to them. Montana law already protects minors from exposure to obscenities. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com