washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Schools reopening in beach town hit by Hurricane Sally

GULF SHORES , Ala. ( AP ) - Public schools were reopening Monday in an Alabama beach town for the @ @ @ @ @ made landfall there nearly two weeks ago .
Gulf Shores city schools resumed classes two @ @ @ @ @ surrounding Baldwin County , located on the eastern side of Mobile Bay .
A social @ @ @ @ @ Akin said most issues at the system ’ s schools had been repaired , but @ @ @ @ @ still coping with storm cleanup .
Students can be excused because of hurricane-related absences , @ @ @ @ @ extensive damage when it blew ashore at Gulf Shores as a Category 2 hurricane on @ @ @ @ @ received nearly 30 inches of rain , forecasters said , and winds toppled trees and @ @ @ @ @ city .

GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) - Public schools were reopening Monday in an Alabama beach town for the first time since Hurricane Sally made landfall there nearly two weeks ago.
Gulf Shores city schools resumed classes two days ahead of schools in surrounding Baldwin County, located on the eastern side of Mobile Bay.
A social media message by Superintendent Matt Akin said most issues at the system’s schools had been repaired, but officials know some families are still coping with storm cleanup. Students can be excused because of hurricane-related absences, he said.
Sally caused extensive damage when it blew ashore at Gulf Shores as a Category 2 hurricane on Sept. 16. The coast received nearly 30 inches of rain, forecasters said, and winds toppled trees and knocked our power throughout the city.
Storm survivors in Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia counties have been approved for more than $11 million in federal disaster aid from the storm, Gov. Kay Ivey’s office said Monday. About $9 million went for home repairs or temporary housing, according to a statement, and about $2 million went for child care, medical expenses, moving and storage.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Person being booked into Omaha jail fires gun, injures self

OMAHA , Neb .
( AP ) - A person being booked into the Douglas County jail fired a gun @ @ @ @ @ strip search and wounded himself , the county Department of Corrections director says .
Department @ @ @ @ @ a statement that the incident occurred Sunday night when Omaha police officers were trying to @ @ @ @ @ .
After the gun was discovered during the strip search , the person threatened corrections @ @ @ @ @ , then fired .
The Omaha World-Herald reports that the person was taken to a @ @ @ @ @ and no other people were injured .
Myers said his agency and the local police @ @ @ @ @ “ to ensure we never have a repeat of this event .
”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A man being booked into the Douglas County jail fired a gun that officers discovered during a strip search and wounded himself, the county Department of Corrections director says.
Department Director Mike Myers said in a statement that the incident occurred Sunday night when Omaha police officers were trying to book the man into jail. After the gun was discovered during the strip search, the man threatened corrections officers and staff with it, then fired.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that the person was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and no other people were injured.
The man was identified Monday as Brandon Jennings, 22, of Omaha.
Myers said his agency and the local police will be analyzing the shooting “to ensure we never have a repeat of this event.”


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Crowd in Brandon celebrates life of teen killed in crash

BRANDON , S.D .
( AP ) - Several hundred people gathered at a church in Brandon Sunday night to @ @ @ @ @ 14-year-old boy killed in a rollover accident last week .
Many of those who attended @ @ @ @ @ Church were fellow students of Noah Kimball at Brandon Valley High School .
The event @ @ @ @ @ outdoors , but a steady rain canceled the candlelight portion of the vigil .
With @ @ @ @ @ filled , people also congregated in the aisles and the lobby .
Kimball ’ s @ @ @ @ @ held a poster that was signed with messages to Kimball by family and friends .
@ @ @ @ @ poster listed the school district ’ s motto of being respectful , kind , responsible @ @ @ @ @ , the Argus Leader reported .
Carson said Kimball , whose nickname was Bubbles , @ @ @ @ @ and he knew how to make people laugh .
A long line waited to greet @ @ @ @ @ stepfather , Kerry and Adam Hirsch .

BRANDON, S.D. (AP) - Several hundred people gathered at a church in Brandon Sunday night to celebrate the life of a 14-year-old boy killed in a rollover accident last week.
Many of those who attended the vigil at Celebrate Community Church were fellow students of Noah Kimball at Brandon Valley High School.
The event was originally scheduled to be outdoors, but a steady rain canceled the candlelight portion of the vigil. With every seat in the sanctuary filled, people also congregated in the aisles and the lobby.
Kimball’s classmate, Faith Carson, held a poster that was signed with messages to Kimball by family and friends. The other side of the poster listed the school district’s motto of being respectful, kind, responsible, safe and active leaders, the Argus Leader reported.
Carson said Kimball, whose nickname was Bubbles, was all of those attributes and he knew how to make people laugh.
A long line waited to greet Kimball’s mother and stepfather, Kerry and Adam Hirsch.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Swedish fuel company stops planned expansion of oil refinery

STOCKHOLM ( AP ) - Sweden ’ s largest fuel company said Monday that it has decided to stop a planned oil refinery expansion that would have made it the country ’ s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and was increasingly becoming a hot potato issue for Prime Minister Stefan Lofven ’ s minority government .
Preem said that “ the COVID-19 crisis and its effects on the world economy have contributed to the project no longer being commercially sustainable.
” Preem CEO Magnus Heimburg said in a statement that it was “ a commercial decision based on a balancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technical feasibility.
” He added that “ the economic downturn and declining demand for fuel have put pressure on the global refinery industry , including Preem.
” The Swedish government has promised to lower greenhouse gas emissions , but also to create more jobs .
It had been due to decide whether to allow the expansion of the refinery in Lysekil , in southwestern Sweden , which is already the country ’ s largest .
No date had been set for the decision .
Sweden ’ s Green Party , part of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Social Democrats , was against the expansion .
A Swedish court in June had given permission for the project , saying it adhered to European Union rules .
Environmental groups called the plan “ a threat to people ’ s health , the environment and our future.
” It was also opposed by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg , whose protests outside parliament helped inspire a global youth movement for climate protection .
“ What a huge victory for the climate and environmental movement , ” Thunberg tweeted .
Preem , whose parent company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi , had said the additional capacity would have been used to make biodiesel and wouldn ’ t mean more crude oil being processed at the plant .

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Sweden’s largest fuel company said Monday that it has decided to stop a planned oil refinery expansion that would have made it the country’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and was increasingly becoming a hot potato issue for Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s minority government.
Preem said that “the COVID-19 crisis and its effects on the world economy have contributed to the project no longer being commercially sustainable.”
Preem CEO Magnus Heimburg said in a statement that it was “a commercial decision based on a balancing of the project’s profitability and technical feasibility.” He added that “the economic downturn and declining demand for fuel have put pressure on the global refinery industry, including Preem.”
The Swedish government has promised to lower greenhouse gas emissions, but also to create more jobs. It had been due to decide whether to allow the expansion of the refinery in Lysekil, in southwestern Sweden, which is already the country’s largest. No date had been set for the decision.
Sweden’s Green Party, part of the two-party governing coalition with Lofven’s Social Democrats, was against the expansion. A Swedish court in June had given permission for the project, saying it adhered to European Union rules.
Environmental groups called the plan “a threat to people’s health, the environment and our future.” It was also opposed by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, whose protests outside parliament helped inspire a global youth movement for climate protection.
“What a huge victory for the climate and environmental movement,” Thunberg tweeted.
Preem, whose parent company Corral Petroleum Holdings AB is owned by Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, had said the additional capacity would have been used to make biodiesel and wouldn’t mean more crude oil being processed at the plant.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Lawyer: Driver who hit counterprotesters sought police help

LOS ANGELES ( AP ) - The organizer of a Southern California rally against racism who drove into a crowd of counterprotesters had asked police for help from a hostile crowd but was ignored , her lawyer said Monday .
Tatiana Turner was in fear for her life and never intended to harm anyone when she drove through a crowd that had surrounded her car Saturday in Yorba Linda , seriously injuring two counterprotesters , attorney Ludlow Creary II said .
“ She wasn ’ t trying to hit anybody , ” Creary said .
” She wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Department , however , said deputies did not think Turner was in danger when she accelerated into the crowd of people .
“ It did not appear from the video we ’ ve been able to see that there was a direct threat , ” spokeswoman Carrie Braun said .
“ I wasn ’ t there and wasn ’ t sitting in the vehicle .
I don ’ t want to say what she could , would or should have done .
Clearly any time an incident like this occurs it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turner , 40 , is being held on $ 1 million bail on suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon .
She faces her first court appearance Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court .
The incident that sent a man and woman to the hospital with major injuries occurred on a sunny afternoon when Turner and the Urban Organizers Coalition had planned a march against police brutality and systemic racism outside the Yorba Linda Library about 30 miles ( 48 kilometers ) southeast of Los Angeles .
A group of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and banners supporting the reelection of President Donald Trump and sporting garb with the president ’ s name , confronted Turner ’ s smaller group and the conflict eventually became heated and led to fights .
Turner , who witnessed counterprotesters with firearms , called 911 for help and “ got the runaround ” and then appealed to deputies who were patrolling the growing crowd , Creary said .
“ Sheriff ’ s deputies on scene didn ’ t do anything and the crowd of Trump supporters grew , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Braun said the sheriff ’ s department would look into those allegations .
“ I can ’ t speak to the validity of those claims , ” she said .
Eventually , deputies declared an unlawful assembly and told the groups , estimated at 250 people , to leave .
One video showed Turner getting in her small white sedan as its surrounded mainly by a group of people the sheriff ’ s office has described as the “ Trump supporters.
” A voice can be heard saying , “ Good luck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , the car moved forward into the crowd , pushing several people , including someone holding a sign saying “ Black Behavior Matters , ” and a man wearing a Trump hat and a U.S. flag .
As the car paused for a second , the crowd moved in from the sides .
Turner then accelerated and a man shattered her rear window .
The car lurched upward at one point as it rolled over someone and then kept going .
The district attorney ’ s office will review the investigation to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be brought .
Anthony Bryson , who helped Turner organized the march , said the charges she was booked on and the bail amount are ridiculous .
The group , which has expressed sympathy for those who were injured , postponed a news conference it planned to hold Monday to criticize the charges and point out the inconsistency with charges others faced who have driven into protesters in recent months .
On Thursday , a man driving a pickup truck who struck a woman protesting police brutality in Hollywood was not arrested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Police said it appeared the driver was surrounded by a crowd of protesters who struck his vehicle with sticks and attempted to open the driver ’ s door as he passed .
He plowed into a woman protester as he fled and she was hospitalized .
Jody Armour , a criminal law professor at the University of Southern California , said the different approach taken by law enforcement in the two counties could suggest different treatment for two people who feared for their safety .
“ What you have is bookend cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each claim some kind of self defense or duress as an excuse for what they did , ” Armour said .
“ It does seems the officers are giving more deference to the claim of the pickup truck driver and less to her .
”

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The organizer of a Southern California rally against racism who drove into a crowd of counterprotesters had asked police for help from a hostile crowd but was ignored, her lawyer said Monday.
Tatiana Turner was in fear for her life and never intended to harm anyone when she drove through a crowd that had surrounded her car Saturday in Yorba Linda, seriously injuring two counterprotesters, attorney Ludlow Creary II said.
“She wasn’t trying to hit anybody,” Creary said. ”She wasn’t trying to hurt anybody.”
The Sheriff’s Department, however, said deputies did not think Turner was in danger when she accelerated into the crowd of people.
“It did not appear from the video we’ve been able to see that there was a direct threat,” spokeswoman Carrie Braun said. “I wasn’t there and wasn’t sitting in the vehicle. I don’t want to say what she could, would or should have done. Clearly any time an incident like this occurs it’s tragic for everybody involved.”
Turner, 40, is being held on $1 million bail on suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. She faces her first court appearance Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court.
The incident that sent a man and woman to the hospital with major injuries occurred on a sunny afternoon when Turner and the Urban Organizers Coalition had planned a march against police brutality and systemic racism outside the Yorba Linda Library about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
A group of counterprotesters, with many holding American flags and banners supporting the reelection of President Donald Trump and sporting garb with the president’s name, confronted Turner’s smaller group and the conflict eventually became heated and led to fights.
Turner, who witnessed counterprotesters with firearms, called 911 for help and “got the runaround” and then appealed to deputies who were patrolling the growing crowd, Creary said.
“Sheriff’s deputies on scene didn’t do anything and the crowd of Trump supporters grew,” he said. “It essentially was a hostile environment.”
Braun said the sheriff’s department would look into those allegations.
“I can’t speak to the validity of those claims,” she said.
Eventually, deputies declared an unlawful assembly and told the groups, estimated at 250 people, to leave.
One video showed Turner getting in her small white sedan as its surrounded mainly by a group of people the sheriff’s office has described as the “Trump supporters.” A voice can be heard saying, “Good luck getting out of here.”
Three seconds later, the car moved forward into the crowd, pushing several people, including someone holding a sign saying “Black Behavior Matters,” and a man wearing a Trump hat and a U.S. flag.
As the car paused for a second, the crowd moved in from the sides. Turner then accelerated and a man shattered her rear window. The car lurched upward at one point as it rolled over someone and then kept going.
The district attorney’s office will review the investigation to decide what, if any, charges should be brought.
Anthony Bryson, who helped Turner organized the march, said the charges she was booked on and the bail amount are ridiculous.
The group, which has expressed sympathy for those who were injured, postponed a news conference it planned to hold Monday to criticize the charges and point out the inconsistency with charges others faced who have driven into protesters in recent months.
On Thursday, a man driving a pickup truck who struck a woman protesting police brutality in Hollywood was not arrested as Los Angeles police investigate the hit-and-run.
Police said it appeared the driver was surrounded by a crowd of protesters who struck his vehicle with sticks and attempted to open the driver’s door as he passed. He plowed into a woman protester as he fled and she was hospitalized.
Jody Armour, a criminal law professor at the University of Southern California, said the different approach taken by law enforcement in the two counties could suggest different treatment for two people who feared for their safety.
“What you have is bookend cases to compare when two alleged perpetrators can each claim some kind of self defense or duress as an excuse for what they did,” Armour said. “It does seems the officers are giving more deference to the claim of the pickup truck driver and less to her.”


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Ernst says court view 'consistent' in debate with Greenfield

DES MOINES , Iowa ( AP ) - Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Monday night she had been “ very consistent ” in her views on Supreme Court justices despite supporting a vote on President Donald Trump ’ s nominee while working with other Republicans to block a nomination by President Barack Obama .
Ernst was asked about her seemingly contradictory stands during a televised debate with Democrat Theresa Greenfield that touched on topics ranging from the Supreme Court and Trump ’ s tax returns to health care and racial justice .
Ernst said this nomination is different than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate and presidency , unlike in 2016 , so the GOP actions four years ago didn ’ t conflict with the party ’ s current stand .
“ I ’ ve been very consistent on this , ” Ernst said , adding that she wouldn ’ t let “ the radical left ” expand the number of Supreme Court justices to offset the current conservative majority as some progressive groups have supported .
Biden hasn ’ t said he supports expanding the number of justices , and Greenfield said she would oppose such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Supreme Court justice so close to the election , and Greenfield argued that as Republicans blocked a vote on Obama ’ s selection of Merrick Garland nine months before Obama left office , the GOP-majority Senate shouldn ’ t act on Trump ’ s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett fewer than 40 days before the presidential election .
“ Iowans are going to the polls in just a few days and I believe they ’ re independent voters , they ’ re independent thinkers and we should let them vote and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get seated and then process this nomination , ” Greenfield said .
Ernst easily won election to a first Senate term in 2014 but her race for re-election has been much tighter , with a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll showing Greenfield , the president of a a Des Moines real estate and development company , leading 45 % to 42 % among likely voters with little more than a month before the election .
The race is considered essential to the Republican efforts to hold onto their Senate majority .
Asked about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the president didn ’ t pay any federal income taxes in 11 years between 2000 and 2018 and paid only $ 750 in two other years despite claiming to be a billionaire , Ernst said she has long felt Trump should release his tax returns .
Ernst said , however , that she hadn ’ t had time to “ scrutinize ” the Times story .
“ We don ’ t know where that information came from , so more yet to be discovered .
But bottom line , we would like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including our hard-working Americans , ” Ernst said , noting that Greenfield has supported changes to tax cuts backed by Trump .
Greenfield said Trump should release his tax returns and argued the Times story pointed to the larger unfairness of the tax system .
“ The fact the president only paid $ 750 in 2016 , 2017 just really reflects how the system doesn ’ t work for hard-working people and everyday Iowans , and that the wealthiest and biggest corporations get the biggest benefits , ” Greenfield said .
Ernst and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debate , which took place at a round table divided by plastic barriers in a television studio .
However , it became more animated as it neared the midway point and moderator David Yepsen several times chided the candidates for speaking over each other .
On the question of health care , Greenfield called for expanding the Affordable Care Act and working to reduce costs , and she criticized Ernst for repeatedly voting to repeal the health care law .
Ernst said she had proposed measures that would reduce the cost of health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanting a Medicare for all plan that she argued would devastate rural hospitals .
Both candidates also said they supported efforts to improve racial justice in the country , but Greenfield interrupted Ernst when the senator said “ my opponent has accused our law enforcement officers of being racist.
” Ernst based her claim on Greenfield ’ s comment that there is systemic racism in U.S. law enforcement .
Greenfield , who repeatedly called Ernst ’ s comment “ a lie ” has said she believes there is systematic racism in many American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that doesn ’ t mean she thinks all police are racist .
“ I come from a long line of police officers and I ’ m absolutely offended that you would suggest that , ” Greenfield said .

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Monday night she had been “very consistent” in her views on Supreme Court justices despite supporting a vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee while working with other Republicans to block a nomination by President Barack Obama.
Ernst was asked about her seemingly contradictory stands during a televised debate with Democrat Theresa Greenfield that touched on topics ranging from the Supreme Court and Trump’s tax returns to health care and racial justice.
Ernst said this nomination is different than in 2016 because Republicans control both the Senate and presidency, unlike in 2016, so the GOP actions four years ago didn’t conflict with the party’s current stand.
“I’ve been very consistent on this,” Ernst said, adding that she wouldn’t let “the radical left” expand the number of Supreme Court justices to offset the current conservative majority as some progressive groups have supported.
Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, hasn’t said he supports expanding the number of justices, and Greenfield said she would oppose such proposals.
The Senate has never confirmed a Supreme Court justice so close to the election, and Greenfield argued that as Republicans blocked a vote on Obama’s selection of Merrick Garland nine months before Obama left office, the GOP-majority Senate shouldn’t act on Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett fewer than 40 days before the presidential election.
“Iowans are going to the polls in just a few days and I believe they’re independent voters, they’re independent thinkers and we should let them vote and let the next U.S. Senate and president get seated and then process this nomination,” Greenfield said.
Ernst easily won election to a first Senate term in 2014 but her race for reelection has been much tighter, with a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll showing Greenfield, the president of a Des Moines real estate and development company, leading 45% to 42% among likely voters with little more than a month before the election. The race is considered essential to the Republican efforts to hold onto their Senate majority.
Asked about a New York Times report on Sunday that the president didn’t pay any federal income taxes in 11 years between 2000 and 2018 and paid only $750 in two other years despite claiming to be a billionaire, Ernst said she has long felt Trump should release his tax returns. Ernst said, however, that she hadn’t had time to “scrutinize” the Times story.
“We don’t know where that information came from, so more yet to be discovered. But bottom line, we would like to see lower taxes for everybody, including our hard-working Americans,” Ernst said, noting that Greenfield has supported changes to tax cuts backed by Trump.
Greenfield said Trump should release his tax returns and argued the Times story pointed to the larger unfairness of the tax system.
“The fact the president only paid $750 in 2016, 2017 just really reflects how the system doesn’t work for hard-working people and everyday Iowans, and that the wealthiest and biggest corporations get the biggest benefits,” Greenfield said.
Ernst and Greenfield were usually polite during the hour-long debate, which took place at a round table divided by plastic barriers in a television studio. However, it became more animated as it neared the midway point and moderator David Yepsen several times chided the candidates for speaking over each other.
On the question of health care, Greenfield called for expanding the Affordable Care Act and working to reduce costs, and she criticized Ernst for repeatedly voting to repeal the health care law.
Ernst said she had proposed measures that would reduce the cost of health care, and she accused Democrats of wanting a Medicare for all plan that she argued would devastate rural hospitals.
Both candidates also said they supported efforts to improve racial justice in the country, but Greenfield interrupted Ernst when the senator said “my opponent has accused our law enforcement officers of being racist.” Ernst based her claim on Greenfield’s comment that there is systemic racism in U.S. law enforcement.
Greenfield, who repeatedly called Ernst’s comment “a lie,” has said she believes there is systematic racism in many American institutions, including law enforcement, but that doesn’t mean she thinks all police are racist.
“I come from a long line of police officers and I’m absolutely offended that you would suggest that,” Greenfield said.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Barrett tied to faith group ex-members say subjugates women

WASHINGTON ( AP ) - President Donald Trump ’ s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the “ head ” of the family and faith .
Former members of the group , called People of Praise , say it teaches that wives must submit to the will of their husbands .
Federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett has not commented publicly about her own or her family ’ s involvement , and a People of Praise spokesman declined to say whether she and her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 48 , grew up in New Orleans in a family deeply connected to the organization and as recently as 2017 she served as a trustee at the People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Inc. , according to the nonprofit organization ’ s tax records and other documents reviewed by The Associated Press .
Only members of the group serve on the schools ’ board , according to the system ’ s president .
The AP also reviewed 15 years of back issues of the organization ’ s internal magazine , Vine and Branches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photos and other mentions of Barrett and her husband , Jesse , whose family has been active in the group for four decades .
On Friday , all editions of the magazine were removed from the group ’ s website .
People of Praise is a religious community based in charismatic Catholicism , a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism , which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues .
The group organizes and meets outside the purview of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christian denominations , but its members are mostly Roman Catholic .
Barrett ’ s affiliation with a conservative religious group that elevates the role of men has drawn particular scrutiny given that she would be filling the high court seat held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , a feminist icon who spent her legal career fighting for women to have full equality .
Barrett , by contrast , is being hailed by religious conservatives as an ideological heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia , a staunch abortion-rights opponent for whom she clerked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s nomination Saturday , the Catholic mother of seven said she shares Scalia ’ s judicial philosophy .
“ A judge must apply the law as written , ” Barrett said .
“ Judges are not policy makers , and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.
” Barrett ’ s advocates are trying to frame questions about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings .
Asked about People of Praise in a televised interview last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.
” But some people familiar with the group and charismatic religious groups like it say Barrett ’ s involvement should be examined before she receives a lifelong appointment to the highest court in the nation .
“ It ’ s not about the faith , ” said Massimo Faggioli , a theology professor at Villanova University , who has studied similar groups .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the dynamic of a strong hierarchical leadership , and a strict view of the relationship between women and men .
Several people familiar with People of Praise , including some current members , told the AP that the group has been misunderstood .
They call it a Christian fellowship , focused on building community .
One member described it as a “ family of families , ” who commit themselves to each other in mutual support to live together “ through thick and thin.
” But the group has also been portrayed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ books , blogs and news reports , as hierarchical , authoritarian and controlling , where men dominate their wives , leaders dictate members ’ life choices and those who leave are shunned .
The AP interviewed seven current and former members of People of Praise , and reviewed its tax records , websites , missionary blogs and back issues of its magazine to try to paint a fuller picture of an organization that Barrett has been deeply involved in since childhood .
People of Praise was founded in South Bend , Indiana , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pentecostal movement , a devout reaction to the free love , secular permissiveness and counterculture movements of the 1960s and early ’ 70s .
Many of the group ’ s early members were drawn from the campus of nearby Notre Dame , a Catholic university .
The group has roughly 1,800 adult members nationwide , with branches and schools in 22 cities across the United States , Canada and the Caribbean .
All members are encouraged to continue to attend church at their own parishes .
After a period of religious study and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , people involved in People of Praise can choose to make a lifelong covenant pledging love and service to fellow community members and to God , which includes tithing at least 5 % of their gross income to support the group ’ s activities and charitable initiatives , according to a statement on the group ’ s website .
People of Praise ’ s more than 1,500-word covenant , a copy of which was reviewed by the AP , includes a passage where members promise to follow the teachings and instructions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and evangelists .
“ We agree to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through these ministries in full harmony with the church , ” the covenant says .
It ’ s unclear whether Barrett took the covenant .
But members of the organization and descriptions of its hierarchy show that members almost invariably join the covenant after three to six years of religious study or they leave , so it would be very unusual for Barrett to continue to be involved for so many years without having done so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s magazine includes a photo of her attending a People of Praise Leaders ’ Conference for Women .
The magazine also includes regular notices when members are “ released from the covenant ” and leave the group .
The AP ’ s review found no such notice of Barrett ’ s or her husband ’ s departure .
A request to interview Barrett made through the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago , where she currently serves as a judge , was declined .
The judge didn ’ t mention People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questionnaire , filled out prior to her confirmation for the bench .
Jesse Barrett did not respond to voicemail or email sent through his law firm in South Bend .
People of Praise spokesman Sean Connolly declined to discuss the Barretts or their affiliation with the group .
“ Like most religious communities , the People of Praise leaves it up to its members to decide whether to publicly disclose their involvement in our community , ” Connolly said by email .
“ And like most religious communities , we do not publish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the group told the AP that , unlike some other charismatic movements , People of Praise has a strong commitment to intellectualism , evidenced in part by the schools they have established , which have a reputation for intellectual rigor .
Barrett ’ s father , Michael Coney Sr. , has served as the principal leader of People of Praise ’ s New Orleans branch and was on the group ’ s all-male Board of Governors as recently as 2017 .
Her mother , Linda Coney , has served in the branch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ female leader assigned to help guide other women , according to documents reviewed by the AP .
“ One of the key principles of People of Praise is freedom , the exercise of our own freedom in following the Lord and in following our own - what we believe , what we think is right , ” Michael Coney , 75 , said Friday in an interview with the AP .
Joannah Clark , 47 , grew up in People of Praise and became a member as an adult .
She acknowledged that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men , but said that is not a reflection on the “ worth or ability of women , ” but rather the approach the group has chosen for that level of leadership .
“ In a marriage , we look at the husband as the head of the family .
And that ’ s consistent with New Testament teaching , ” said Clark , who is the head of Trinity Academy in Portland , Oregon .
“ This role of the husband as the head of the family is not a position of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really quite the opposite .
It ’ s a position of care and service and responsibility .
Men are looking out for the good and well-being of their families.
” Clark said she had previously served as a “ handmaid.
” The term was a reference to Jesus ’ mother Mary , who called herself “ the handmaid of the Lord.
” The organization recently changed the terminology to “ woman leader ” because it had newly negative connotations after Margaret Atwood ’ s dystopian novel “ The Handmaid ’ s Tale ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Clark said the woman leaders in People of Praise do things like provide pastoral care and organize help for community members , such as when people are sick or need other help .
“ They ’ re also in a role of advising , so the men will ask the women leaders ’ advice on issues that affect the patterns of life within the community , certainly issues that affect women and families , ” Clark said .
Barrett , in accepting Trump ’ s nomination at the White House on Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of her own marriage , saying she expected from the start the she and her husband would run their household as partners .
“ As it has turned out , Jesse does far more than his share of the work , ” she said .
“ To my chagrin , I learned at dinner recently that my children consider him to be the better cook.
” Though People of Praise opposes abortion , those familiar with the group said it would be a mistake to pigeonhole their politics as either left or right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of family and gender , some members are deeply committed to social justice in matters of race and economics , they said .
Barrett ’ s parents are both registered Democrats , according to Louisiana voter registration records .
Tax records and other documents show that as recently as 2017 Barrett sat on the board of Trinity Schools , a campus of which was recently designated by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as a National Blue Ribbon School .
The schools are coed , but most classes are segregated by gender .
The school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men and women “ created by God equal in dignity but distinct from one another.
” “ We seek to uphold both that equality and appropriate distinction in our culture , ” it goes on .
Similarly , at People of Praise the leadership structure is largely segregated by gender .
And as they become adults , members frequently live together in same-gender communal houses sometimes owned by the group , or they are invited to live with a family within the community .
Articles in the People of Praise magazine frequently note @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each other .
Multiple birth announcements often follow .
The group ’ s magazine also offers insights into the group ’ s views on marriage , community and members ’ finances .
A 2007 issue discusses how the 17 single women who live together in a household , called the Sisterhood , had their paychecks direct deposited into a single bank account .
One member said she had “ no idea ” what the amount of her paycheck was .
The pooled money was managed by one woman , who budgeted for everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including $ 36 weekly per person for food and basics like toilet paper .
All women were expected to give 10 % of their pay to People of Praise , another 1 % to the South Bend branch and additional tithes to their churches .
Married couples and their children also often share multifamily homes or cluster in neighborhoods designated for “ city building ” by the group ’ s leaders , where they can easily socialize and walk to each other ’ s houses .
As part of spiritual meetings , members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pray in tongues , where participants make vocal utterances thought to carry direct teachings and instructions from God .
Those utterances are then “ interpreted ” by senior male leaders and relayed back to the wider group .
A 1969 book by Kevin Ranaghan , a co-founder of People of Praise , dedicates a chapter to praying in tongues , which he describes as a gift from God .
“ The gift of tongues is one of the word-gifts , an utterance of the Spirit through man , ” Ranaghan wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the gift of tongues is used for prayer and praise .
Coupled with the gift of interpretation it can edify the unbeliever and strengthen , console , enlighten or move the community of faith.
” In a blog entry on the group ’ s website from March of this year , a mother described taking her children to pray in tongues as the coronavirus pandemic took hold .
While People of Praise portrays itself as a tightknit family of families , former members paint a darker picture of that closeness .
Coral Anika @ @ @ @ @ @ @ branch in Corvallis , Oregon , in 1979 , when she was a 24-year-old mother of 6-month-old twins .
“ My husband at the time was very drawn to it because of the structure of the submission of women , ” recounted Theill , who is now 65 .
Theill , who converted to Catholicism after getting married , said in her People of Praise community women were expected to live in “ total submission ” not only to their husbands , but also the other male “ heads ” within the group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her experience , Theill recounts that in People of Praise every consequential personal decision - whether to take a new job , buy a particular model car or choose where to live - went through the hierarchy of male leadership .
Members of the group who worked outside the community had to turn over their paystubs to church leaders to confirm they were tithing correctly , she said .
Theill says her “ handmaid , ” to whom she was supposed to confide her innermost thoughts and emotions , then repeated what she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would consult her husband on the proper correction .
“ There ’ d be open meetings where you just have to stand for the group and they ’ d tell you all that was wrong with you , ” Theill recounted to the AP last week .
“ And I would ask questions .
I was a critical thinker.
” When she told her husband she wanted to wait to have more children , Theill said , he accompanied her to gynecological appointments to ensure she couldn ’ t get birth control .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ brood mare , ” she said , using the term for a female horse used for breeding .
During her 20-year marriage , Theill had eight children from 11 pregnancies .
Theill , who says she declined to take the covenant , described being dominated and eventually shunned because of the doubts she expressed about the group .
Clark , a current member in Oregon , said she had never heard of members being shunned .
“ At any point , a community member can decide to leave and is free to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said she has friends who have left the community .
“ These are people I ’ ve maintained a good friendship with and people who ’ ve maintained friendships with other people in community.
” But Theill isn ’ t the only former member to describe forced subjugation of women within People of Praise or shunning of former members .
Among People of Praise ’ s very first members in South Bend were Adrian Reimers and his wife , Marie .
The couple was active for more than a dozen years before he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dismissed ” from the group in the mid-1980s .
Reimers , who teaches philosophy at Notre Dame , went on to write detailed academic examinations of the group ’ s inner workings and theological underpinnings .
In a 1997 book about People of Praise and other covenant communities , Reimers wrote that the fundamental principle of the group was St. Paul ’ s stipulation from the Bible that the husband is the “ head ” of his wife and that the wife is to “ submit in all things.
” “ A married @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact that she is under her husband ’ s authority , ” Reimers wrote .
“ This goes beyond an acknowledgment that the husband is ‘ head of the home ’ or head of the family ; he is , in fact , her personal pastoral head .
Whatever she does requires at least his tacit approval .
He is responsible for her formation and growth in the Christian life.
” Though women are allowed to serve in some administrative roles within the community , Reimers wrote that no woman is allowed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which she would oversee or instruct men .
“ People who leave these communities are often shunned by other members and are spoken of as no longer brothers and sisters in Christ or even no longer Christian , ” he wrote .
Reimers declined to expand on his experience with People of Praise , saying he doesn ’ t know Amy Coney Barrett and didn ’ t want to get drawn into a political fight .
But he said he stands by his prior account .
“ To quote Pontius Pilate , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ written , ’ ” he said last week , referring to the Roman official in the Bible who signed the order condemning Jesus to be crucified .
Lisa Williams said her parents joined the Minnesota branch of People of Praise in the late 1970s , when she was a fourth-grader .
She chronicled her experience in a blog called “ Exorcism and Pound Cake , ” a reference to how she knew as a child that it was a meeting night because of the smell of baked goods coming from the kitchen .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wife could never deny sex to her husband , because it was his right and her duty , ” said Williams , 56 .
“ Sex is not for pleasure .
It ’ s for as many babies as God chooses to give you .
… Women had to be obedient .
They had to be subservient.
” Corporal punishment of children was common , Williams told the AP .
When she was insufficiently obedient to her father , she was beaten with a belt and then required to kneel and ask forgiveness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
She recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents ’ living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor , rituals she described as exorcisms .
When her parents , from whom she is now estranged , decided to leave People of Praise when she was a junior in high school , she remembers the leaders said her family would be doomed to hell and they were shunned .
“ Nobody would talk to you , ” she recalled .
Steven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ works with people who have left fundamentalist authoritarian religious groups , said the culture within People of Praise as described by Theill and Williams , including the practice of shunning former members , creates fear so that people are dependent and obedient .
“ A person who is in one of these groups has to suppress their own thoughts , feelings , desires that doesn ’ t align with the dogma , ” Hassan said .
He cautioned , however , that Theill ’ s and Williams ’ experiences were from decades ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group now operates .
And current members of People of Praise interviewed by the AP strongly disputed those characterizations .
“ There ’ s a high value on personal freedom , ” said Clark , the Trinity School director in Oregon .
She said she had never heard of some of the practices the former members detailed to the AP , such as micromanaging finances or handing over paychecks .
She grew emotional when she recounted the sacrifices people in the group make for each other as part of their covenant , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helping his fellow members move , who was in turn cared for by group members as he died .
“ I ’ ve never been asked to do anything against my own free will , ” said Clark , a member of the group for 25 years .
“ I have never been dominated or controlled by a man.
” Thomas Csordas , an anthropology professor at University of California San Diego , has studied the religious movement that includes People of Praise .
He said such communities are conservative , authoritarian , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , in his view , the group ’ s leaders are unlikely to exert influence over Barrett ’ s judicial decisions .
Coney , Barrett ’ s father , said the culture of female submission described by some former members was based on misunderstandings of the group ’ s teachings .
“ I can ’ t comment on why they believe that .
But it is certainly not a correct interpretation of our life , ” he said .
“ We ’ re people who love each other and support each other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ follow the Lord.
” As a lawyer himself , he rejected the notion that his daughter ’ s religious beliefs will unduly influence her opinions if she is confirmed to the high court .
“ I think she ’ s a super lawyer and she will apply the law as opposed to any of her beliefs , ” he said .
“ She will follow the law.
” Smith reported from Providence , Rhode Island .
Associated Press reporters Mitch Weiss in Greenville , South Carolina , and Juliet Linderman in Baltimore , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michael Biesecker at http : //twitter.com/mbieseck and Smith at http : //twitter.com/MRSmithAP

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the “head” of the family and faith. Former members of the group, called People of Praise, say it teaches that wives must submit to the will of their husbands.
Federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett has not commented publicly about her own or her family’s involvement, and a People of Praise spokesman declined to say whether she and her husband are current members.
But Barrett, 48, grew up in New Orleans in a family deeply connected to the organization and as recently as 2017 she served as a trustee at the People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Inc., according to the nonprofit organization’s tax records and other documents reviewed by The Associated Press. Only members of the group serve on the schools’ board, according to the system’s president.
The AP also reviewed 15 years of back issues of the organization’s internal magazine, Vine and Branches, which has published birth announcements, photos and other mentions of Barrett and her husband, Jesse, whose family has been active in the group for four decades. On Friday, all editions of the magazine were removed from the group’s website.
People of Praise is a religious community based in charismatic Catholicism, a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism, which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The group organizes and meets outside the purview of a church and includes people from several Christian denominations, but its members are mostly Roman Catholic.
Barrett’s affiliation with a conservative religious group that elevates the role of men has drawn particular scrutiny given that she would be filling the high court seat held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a feminist icon who spent her legal career fighting for women to have full equality. Barrett, by contrast, is being hailed by religious conservatives as an ideological heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch abortion-rights opponent for whom she clerked as a young lawyer.
In accepting Trump’s nomination Saturday, the Catholic mother of seven said she shares Scalia’s judicial philosophy.
“A judge must apply the law as written,” Barrett said. “Judges are not policy makers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”
Barrett’s advocates are trying to frame questions about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings.
Asked about People of Praise in a televised interview last week, Vice President Mike Pence responded, “The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.”
But some people familiar with the group and charismatic religious groups like it say Barrett’s involvement should be examined before she receives a lifelong appointment to the highest court in the nation.
“It’s not about the faith,” said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University, who has studied similar groups. He says a typical feature of charismatic groups is the dynamic of a strong hierarchical leadership, and a strict view of the relationship between women and men.
Several people familiar with People of Praise, including some current members, told the AP that the group has been misunderstood. They call it a Christian fellowship, focused on building community. One member described it as a “family of families,” who commit themselves to each other in mutual support to live together “through thick and thin.”
But the group has also been portrayed by some former members, and in books, blogs and news reports, as hierarchical, authoritarian and controlling, where men dominate their wives, leaders dictate members’ life choices and those who leave are shunned.
The AP interviewed seven current and former members of People of Praise, and reviewed its tax records, websites, missionary blogs and back issues of its magazine to try to paint a fuller picture of an organization that Barrett has been deeply involved in since childhood.
——
People of Praise was founded in South Bend, Indiana, in 1971 as part of the Catholic Pentecostal movement, a devout reaction to the free love, secular permissiveness and counterculture movements of the 1960s and early ’70s. Many of the group’s early members were drawn from the campus of nearby Notre Dame, a Catholic university.
The group has roughly 1,800 adult members nationwide, with branches and schools in 22 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. All members are encouraged to continue to attend church at their own parishes.
After a period of religious study and instruction that lasts from three to six years, people involved in People of Praise can choose to make a lifelong covenant pledging love and service to fellow community members and to God, which includes tithing at least 5% of their gross income to support the group’s activities and charitable initiatives, according to a statement on the group’s website.
People of Praise’s more than 1,500-word covenant, a copy of which was reviewed by the AP, includes a passage where members promise to follow the teachings and instructions of the group’s pastors, teachers and evangelists.
“We agree to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through these ministries in full harmony with the church,” the covenant says.
It’s unclear whether Barrett took the covenant. But members of the organization and descriptions of its hierarchy show that members almost invariably join the covenant after three to six years of religious study or they leave, so it would be very unusual for Barrett to continue to be involved for so many years without having done so.
A 2006 article in the group’s magazine includes a photo of her attending a People of Praise Leaders’ Conference for Women. The magazine also includes regular notices when members are “released from the covenant” and leave the group. The AP’s review found no such notice of Barrett’s or her husband’s departure.
A request to interview Barrett made through the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, where she currently serves as a judge, was declined. The judge didn’t mention People of Praise in her 2017 Senate judicial questionnaire, filled out prior to her confirmation for the bench.
Jesse Barrett did not respond to voicemail or email sent through his law firm in South Bend.
People of Praise spokesman Sean Connolly declined to discuss the Barretts or their affiliation with the group.
“Like most religious communities, the People of Praise leaves it up to its members to decide whether to publicly disclose their involvement in our community,” Connolly said by email. “And like most religious communities, we do not publish a membership list.”
Several people familiar with the group told the AP that, unlike some other charismatic movements, People of Praise has a strong commitment to intellectualism, evidenced in part by the schools they have established, which have a reputation for intellectual rigor.
Barrett’s father, Michael Coney Sr., has served as the principal leader of People of Praise’s New Orleans branch and was on the group’s all-male Board of Governors as recently as 2017. Her mother, Linda Coney, has served in the branch as a “handmaid,” a female leader assigned to help guide other women, according to documents reviewed by the AP.
“One of the key principles of People of Praise is freedom, the exercise of our own freedom in following the Lord and in following our own - what we believe, what we think is right,” Michael Coney, 75, said Friday in an interview with the AP.
Joannah Clark, 47, grew up in People of Praise and became a member as an adult. She acknowledged that the board of governors consists of all men, but said that is not a reflection on the “worth or ability of women,” but rather the approach the group has chosen for that level of leadership.
“In a marriage, we look at the husband as the head of the family. And that’s consistent with New Testament teaching,” said Clark, who is the head of Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. “This role of the husband as the head of the family is not a position of power or domination. It’s really quite the opposite. It’s a position of care and service and responsibility. Men are looking out for the good and well-being of their families.”
Clark said she had previously served as a “handmaid.” The term was a reference to Jesus’ mother Mary, who called herself “the handmaid of the Lord.” The organization recently changed the terminology to “woman leader” because it had newly negative connotations after Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” was turned into a popular television show.
Clark said the woman leaders in People of Praise do things like provide pastoral care and organize help for community members, such as when people are sick or need other help.
“They’re also in a role of advising, so the men will ask the women leaders’ advice on issues that affect the patterns of life within the community, certainly issues that affect women and families,” Clark said.
Barrett, in accepting Trump’s nomination at the White House on Saturday, put particular emphasis on the equality of her own marriage, saying she expected from the start the she and her husband would run their household as partners.
“As it has turned out, Jesse does far more than his share of the work,” she said. “To my chagrin, I learned at dinner recently that my children consider him to be the better cook.”
Though People of Praise opposes abortion, those familiar with the group said it would be a mistake to pigeonhole their politics as either left or right. While socially conservative in their understanding of family and gender, some members are deeply committed to social justice in matters of race and economics, they said. Barrett’s parents are both registered Democrats, according to Louisiana voter registration records.
___
Tax records and other documents show that as recently as 2017 Barrett sat on the board of Trinity Schools, a campus of which was recently designated by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as a National Blue Ribbon School. The schools are coed, but most classes are segregated by gender.
The school’s website says the group sees men and women “created by God equal in dignity but distinct from one another.”
“We seek to uphold both that equality and appropriate distinction in our culture,” it goes on.
Similarly, at People of Praise the leadership structure is largely segregated by gender. And as they become adults, members frequently live together in same-gender communal houses sometimes owned by the group, or they are invited to live with a family within the community. Articles in the People of Praise magazine frequently note when young single members get married to each other. Multiple birth announcements often follow.
The group’s magazine also offers insights into the group’s views on marriage, community and members’ finances. A 2007 issue discusses how the 17 single women who live together in a household, called the Sisterhood, had their paychecks direct deposited into a single bank account. One member said she had “no idea” what the amount of her paycheck was.
The pooled money was managed by one woman, who budgeted for everyone’s clothing and other expenses, including $36 weekly per person for food and basics like toilet paper. All women were expected to give 10% of their pay to People of Praise, another 1% to the South Bend branch and additional tithes to their churches.
Married couples and their children also often share multifamily homes or cluster in neighborhoods designated for “city building” by the group’s leaders, where they can easily socialize and walk to each other’s houses.
As part of spiritual meetings, members often relay divine prophecies and are encouraged to pray in tongues, where participants make vocal utterances thought to carry direct teachings and instructions from God. Those utterances are then “interpreted” by senior male leaders and relayed back to the wider group.
A 1969 book by Kevin Ranaghan, a co-founder of People of Praise, dedicates a chapter to praying in tongues, which he describes as a gift from God.
“The gift of tongues is one of the word-gifts, an utterance of the Spirit through man,” Ranaghan wrote in “Catholic Pentecostals.” “Alone, the gift of tongues is used for prayer and praise. Coupled with the gift of interpretation it can edify the unbeliever and strengthen, console, enlighten or move the community of faith.”
In a blog entry on the group’s website from March of this year, a mother described taking her children to pray in tongues as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
___
While People of Praise portrays itself as a tightknit family of families, former members paint a darker picture of that closeness.
Coral Anika Theill joined People of Praise’s branch in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1979, when she was a 24-year-old mother of 6-month-old twins.
“My husband at the time was very drawn to it because of the structure of the submission of women,” recounted Theill, who is now 65.
Theill, who converted to Catholicism after getting married, said in her People of Praise community women were expected to live in “total submission” not only to their husbands, but also the other male “heads” within the group.
In a book she wrote about her experience, Theill recounts that in People of Praise every consequential personal decision - whether to take a new job, buy a particular model car or choose where to live - went through the hierarchy of male leadership. Members of the group who worked outside the community had to turn over their paystubs to church leaders to confirm they were tithing correctly, she said.
Theill says her “handmaid,” to whom she was supposed to confide her innermost thoughts and emotions, then repeated what she said to the male heads, who would consult her husband on the proper correction.
“There’d be open meetings where you just have to stand for the group and they’d tell you all that was wrong with you,” Theill recounted to the AP last week. “And I would ask questions. I was a critical thinker.”
When she told her husband she wanted to wait to have more children, Theill said, he accompanied her to gynecological appointments to ensure she couldn’t get birth control.
“I was basically treated like a brood mare,” she said, using the term for a female horse used for breeding. During her 20-year marriage, Theill had eight children from 11 pregnancies.
Theill, who says she declined to take the covenant, described being dominated and eventually shunned because of the doubts she expressed about the group.
Clark, a current member in Oregon, said she had never heard of members being shunned.
“At any point, a community member can decide to leave and is free to do so,” Clark said. She said she has friends who have left the community. “These are people I’ve maintained a good friendship with and people who’ve maintained friendships with other people in community.”
But Theill isn’t the only former member to describe forced subjugation of women within People of Praise or shunning of former members.
Among People of Praise’s very first members in South Bend were Adrian Reimers and his wife, Marie. The couple was active for more than a dozen years before he said he became disillusioned and was “dismissed” from the group in the mid-1980s.
Reimers, who teaches philosophy at Notre Dame, went on to write detailed academic examinations of the group’s inner workings and theological underpinnings. In a 1997 book about People of Praise and other covenant communities, Reimers wrote that the fundamental principle of the group was St. Paul’s stipulation from the Bible that the husband is the “head” of his wife and that the wife is to “submit in all things.”
“A married woman is expected always to reflect the fact that she is under her husband’s authority,” Reimers wrote. “This goes beyond an acknowledgment that the husband is ‘head of the home’ or head of the family; he is, in fact, her personal pastoral head. Whatever she does requires at least his tacit approval. He is responsible for her formation and growth in the Christian life.”
Though women are allowed to serve in some administrative roles within the community, Reimers wrote that no woman is allowed to hold a pastoral position of leadership in which she would oversee or instruct men.
“People who leave these communities are often shunned by other members and are spoken of as no longer brothers and sisters in Christ or even no longer Christian,” he wrote.
Reimers declined to expand on his experience with People of Praise, saying he doesn’t know Amy Coney Barrett and didn’t want to get drawn into a political fight. But he said he stands by his prior account.
“To quote Pontius Pilate, ‘What I have written, I have written,’” he said last week, referring to the Roman official in the Bible who signed the order condemning Jesus to be crucified.
Lisa Williams said her parents joined the Minnesota branch of People of Praise in the late 1970s, when she was a fourth-grader. She chronicled her experience in a blog called “Exorcism and Pound Cake,” a reference to how she knew as a child that it was a meeting night because of the smell of baked goods coming from the kitchen.
“I remember my mother saying a wife could never deny sex to her husband, because it was his right and her duty,” said Williams, 56. “Sex is not for pleasure. It’s for as many babies as God chooses to give you. … Women had to be obedient. They had to be subservient.”
Corporal punishment of children was common, Williams told the AP. When she was insufficiently obedient to her father, she was beaten with a belt and then required to kneel and ask forgiveness from both him and God, she said.
She recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents’ living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor, rituals she described as exorcisms.
When her parents, from whom she is now estranged, decided to leave People of Praise when she was a junior in high school, she remembers the leaders said her family would be doomed to hell and they were shunned. “Nobody would talk to you,” she recalled.
Steven Hassan, a mental health counselor who works with people who have left fundamentalist authoritarian religious groups, said the culture within People of Praise as described by Theill and Williams, including the practice of shunning former members, creates fear so that people are dependent and obedient.
“A person who is in one of these groups has to suppress their own thoughts, feelings, desires that doesn’t align with the dogma,” Hassan said.
He cautioned, however, that Theill’s and Williams’ experiences were from decades ago and not necessarily illustrative of how the group now operates. And current members of People of Praise interviewed by the AP strongly disputed those characterizations.
“There’s a high value on personal freedom,” said Clark, the Trinity School director in Oregon.
She said she had never heard of some of the practices the former members detailed to the AP, such as micromanaging finances or handing over paychecks. She grew emotional when she recounted the sacrifices people in the group make for each other as part of their covenant, like the case of a man known for helping his fellow members move, who was in turn cared for by group members as he died.
“I’ve never been asked to do anything against my own free will,” said Clark, a member of the group for 25 years. “I have never been dominated or controlled by a man.”
Thomas Csordas, an anthropology professor at University of California San Diego, has studied the religious movement that includes People of Praise. He said such communities are conservative, authoritarian, hierarchical and patriarchal.
But, he said, in his view, the group’s leaders are unlikely to exert influence over Barrett’s judicial decisions.
Coney, Barrett’s father, said the culture of female submission described by some former members was based on misunderstandings of the group’s teachings.
“I can’t comment on why they believe that. But it is certainly not a correct interpretation of our life,” he said. “We’re people who love each other and support each other in their Christian life, trying to follow the Lord.”
As a lawyer himself, he rejected the notion that his daughter’s religious beliefs will unduly influence her opinions if she is confirmed to the high court.
“I think she’s a super lawyer and she will apply the law as opposed to any of her beliefs,” he said. “She will follow the law.”
___
Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press reporters Mitch Weiss in Greenville, South Carolina, and Juliet Linderman in Baltimore, Maryland, contributed.
___
Follow Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck and Smith at http://twitter.com/MRSmithAP
___
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Tractor runs over, kills woman on California beach

OCEANSIDE , Calif. ( AP ) - A woman lying on a Southern California beach was crushed to death by @ @ @ @ @ in a harbor dredging project , police said .
The woman may have been asleep @ @ @ @ @ over her at about 10 a.m. near a jetty at Oceanside Harbor , north of @ @ @ @ @ .
The woman , who may have been homeless , was fully clothed rather than @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t have any identification , police spokesman Tom Bussey said .
The tractor @ @ @ @ @ pipes , police said .
The tractor driver felt a bump and at first thought @ @ @ @ @ but then turned around and saw the woman in the sand , Bussey said .
@ @ @ @ @ was doing the dredging , was cooperating with police , President John Holmes said in @ @ @ @ @ of us are devastated , ” he said of the accident .

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A woman lying on a Southern California beach was crushed to death by a tractor that was helping in a harbor dredging project, police said.
The woman may have been asleep when the Caterpillar tractor ran over her at about 10 a.m. near a jetty at Oceanside Harbor, north of San Diego, police said.
The woman, who may have been homeless, was fully clothed rather than being in a swimsuit and didn’t have any identification, police spokesman Tom Bussey said.
The tractor was being used to move pipes, police said.
The tractor driver felt a bump and at first thought he had hit a dip but then turned around and saw the woman in the sand, Bussey said.
The accident remains under investigation.
Manson Construction Co., which was doing the dredging, was cooperating with police, President John Holmes said in a statement.
“All of us are devastated,” he said of the accident.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--New California law prompted by crash that killed Kobe Bryant

SACRAMENTO , Calif. ( AP ) - Gov .
Gavin Newsom on Monday approved legislation prompted by the helicopter crash @ @ @ @ @ eight other peopls that makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos @ @ @ @ @ scene of an accident or crime .
Reports surfaced after the Jan. 26 crash that @ @ @ @ @ Gianna and the others that graphic photos of the victims were being shared .
Eight @ @ @ @ @ or sharing graphic photos of the scene , Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said @ @ @ @ @ had ordered the images deleted .
He said the department has a policy against taking @ @ @ @ @ , but it did not apply to accident scenes .
The measure that will take @ @ @ @ @ a misdemeanor with fines up to $ 1,000 per offense to take such photos for @ @ @ @ @ law enforcement purpose .
Bryant ’ s widow , Vanessa Bryant , has sued the @ @ @ @ @

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved legislation prompted by the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other peopls that makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the scene of an accident or crime.
Reports surfaced after the Jan. 26 crash that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the others that graphic photos of the victims were being shared.
Eight deputies were accused of taking or sharing graphic photos of the scene, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said then, adding that he had ordered the images deleted. He said the department has a policy against taking and sharing crime scene photos, but it did not apply to accident scenes.
The measure that will take effect Jan. 1 makes it a misdemeanor with fines up to $1,000 per offense to take such photos for anything other than an official law enforcement purpose.
Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, has sued the department over the photos.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Asia Today: South Korea's daily virus cases at another low

SEOUL , South Korea ( AP ) - South Korea ’ s daily coronavirus increase was the lowest in about 50 days Tuesday as new infections trend lower .
Many experts have warned , however , that the virus could spread again after this week ’ s traditional Chuseok autumn holidays , when people usually travel to visit their relatives .
Health authorities have urged people to refrain from traveling this year because of the risk of spreading the virus .
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the 38 cases added in the last 24 hours took the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 407 deaths .
South Korea had seen a viral resurgence , mostly in the densely populated Seoul area since early last month .
But its caseload has recently begun slowing after authorities enforced stringent social distancing rules .
The anti-disease agency says 17 of the new cases were reported in the Seoul area .
In other developments around the Asia-Pacific region : - The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus passed 1 million , nine months into a crisis that has devastated the economy , tested world leaders ’ resolve , pitted science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the way they live , learn and work .
The bleak milestone recorded by Johns Hopkins University is almost certainly a vast undercount because of testing and counting issues , and the number continues to grow , with about 5,000 deaths reported daily .

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - One southern Philippine province and its war-battered capital will be placed under a mild lockdown starting Thursday and the rest of the country will be under more relaxed restrictions to boost the battered economy of the country counting the most coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia.
President Rodrigo Duterte announced the quarantine restrictions for October in televised remarks Monday night. Lanao del Sur province and its capital, Marawi city, will fall under a lockdown starting Thursday due to infection spikes in recent weeks.
Most of Marawi’s commercial and downtown areas were destroyed after hundreds of Islamic State group-aligned militants laid siege to the mosque-studded city in May 2017 and the military launched a massive offensive and airstrikes to quell the five-month uprising. Many residents remain displaced, now staying with relatives or in government-constructed housing units.
Duterte and officials did not provide more specifics on Marawi, but a mild lockdown would restrict most residents at home except for medical emergencies and buying food and other essential trips. Shopping malls and other vital businesses can operate partially but leisure and entertainment centers, along with fitness gyms and movie theaters should be closed.
Metropolitan Manila and five other cities will remain under general quarantine restrictions with more businesses and public transport allowed to partially operate on condition people wear face masks and shields and stay safely apart.
Classes in public schools are scheduled to resume online belatedly on Oct. 5 due to the pandemic.
The Philippines has confirmed more than 307,000 cases of coronavirus infection and 5,381 people have died from COVID-19 as of Monday.
In other developments around the Asia-Pacific region:
- India’s Serum Institute, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, says it will produce 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for developing countries. In August, the vaccine alliance GAVI said it had agreed to a deal with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Serum Institute to speed the manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to developing countries in 2021. The Serum Institute now says it has agreed to produce an additional 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines. The collaboration gives upfront capital to the Serum Institute so that once any effective COVID-19 vaccine is licensed, the company can mass produce the shots at scale, as early as the first half of 2021. Countries including Britain, France and the U.S. have signed deals with pharmaceutical companies for access to COVID-19 vaccines even before they have been licensed. Activists have warned that rich countries hoarding limited vaccines could leave little for the developing world. The Serum Institute has entered manufacturing agreements for vaccine candidates from AstraZeneca and Novovax. GAVI heads an international plan to buy vaccines for lower income countries.
- India has registered 70,589 new coronaviruses cases in the past 24 hours, maintaining a noticeable decline in daily infections for the last two weeks. The Health Ministry raised India’s total to more than 6.1 million on Tuesday. It also reported 776 fatalities in the last 24 hours, which pushed the death toll to 96,318. India is still registering the highest number of daily cases globally as it inches closer to the U.S. tally, which is highest in the world. Health experts have warned about the potential for the virus to spread during the upcoming religious festival season and an election next month in eastern Bihar state, where about 72 million people will cast votes over three days.
- South Korea’s daily coronavirus increase was the lowest in about 50 days Tuesday as new infections trend lower. Many experts have warned, however, that the virus could spread again after this week’s traditional Chuseok autumn holidays, when people usually travel to visit their relatives. Health authorities have urged people to refrain from traveling this year because of the risk of spreading the virus. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the 38 cases added in the last 24 hours took the country’s total to 23,699 with 407 deaths. Seventeen of the new cases were reported in the Seoul area, which has seen a resurgence that forced more stringent social distancing rules.
- Authorities are concerned by a COVID-19 outbreak aboard a cargo ship off the Australian northwest coast. Eight more members of the Filipino crew tested positive, bringing the number of infections to 17 out of a crew of 21. Seven of the infected sailors remained aboard the bulk carrier Patricia Oldendorff, which is anchored off Port Hedland, a major iron ore export terminal, Western Australia State Health Minister Roger Cook said on Tuesday. The seven are part of an essential skeleton crew of nine. The other 10 infected crew members were in hotel quarantine at Port Hedland. Cook said he wanted to bring the skeleton crew ashore, but the ship would need a replacement crew and to undergo a deep clean before that replacement crew boarded. Health authorities have warned of potentially disastrous consequences if the virus spreads among the Port Hedland community, particularly surrounding Indigenous populations. The ship’s Germany-based operator Oldendorff said the crew were tested for COVID-19 in the Philippines before boarding the ship on Sept. 5. The ship arrived off Port Hedland on Sept. 16 when two crew members were reported ill.
- The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus passed 1 million, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work. The bleak milestone recorded by Johns Hopkins University is almost certainly a vast undercount because of testing and counting issues, and the number continues to grow, with about 5,000 deaths reported daily.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Lake Tahoe drowning victim pulled from 1,565-foot deep water

LAKE TAHOE , Nev. ( AP ) - The body of a man who apparently drowned last month has been @ @ @ @ @ in Lake Tahoe , according to authorities .
South Lake Tahoe Police Department officials said @ @ @ @ @ ever recorded in Lake Tahoe , which is the second-deepest lake in the United States @ @ @ @ @ at a maximum depth of 1,645 feet .
Police told the Reno Gazette-Journal that an @ @ @ @ @ in Glenbrook on Aug. 10 .
Investigators found that 29-year-old Ryan Normoyle had recorded himself @ @ @ @ @ the boat had been left in gear , moving away from him slowly .
They @ @ @ @ @ swim fast enough to catch up to the boat before drowning .
After several days @ @ @ @ @ body , Normoyle ’ s family sought the help of a nonprofit organization that specializes @ @ @ @ @ Normoyle ’ s body was located Saturday using GPS coordinates collected from his phone and @ @ @

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. (AP) - The body of a man who apparently drowned last month has been recovered from 1,565-foot deep water in Lake Tahoe, according to authorities.
South Lake Tahoe Police Department officials said the recovery was the deepest ever recorded in Lake Tahoe, which is the second-deepest lake in the United States and fourth-deepest in North America at a maximum depth of 1,645 feet.
Police told the Reno Gazette-Journal that an empty rented boat washed ashore in Glenbrook on Aug. 10.
Investigators found that 29-year-old Ryan Normoyle had recorded himself jumping off the boat and the boat had been left in gear, moving away from him slowly.
They said Normoyle was unable to swim fast enough to catch up to the boat before drowning.
After several days of unsuccessful searches for the body, Normoyle’s family sought the help of a nonprofit organization that specializes in underwater body recoveries.
Normoyle’s body was located Saturday using GPS coordinates collected from his phone and recovered Monday.


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--A viral march across the planet, tracked by a map in motion

On a Thursday night in early January , the disease that would become known as COVID-19 claimed its first victim , a 61-year-old man who succumbed to the newly identified coronavirus in the city of Wuhan , in the People ’ s Republic of China .
Nine months later , the pandemic took its millionth life .
And while the vagaries of record-keeping mean we may never know who that victim was , the fact remains : COVID has killed a million people .
Tens of millions of things undone .
Daughters and sons unborn , works of genius uncreated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Entire residential complexes filled with older people - ravaged .
Human contribution melted away , with no way of ever knowing or chronicling what was lost .
Accounting for what ’ s missing when people die is never an easy task ; now it is one multiplied by an entire million .
A new Associated Press interactive map of the coronavirus ’ spread - represented by the lives it has claimed - blends data and geography in a way that forces us to see what has happened to the world .
And what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so many things in the world , it started small .
At first , the map shows only one splash of color : China , the place where the coronavirus silently began its march .
As it began to move around , the map evolved .
Month by month , week by week , day by day , the coronavirus spread .
Pandemic was declared .
Hospitals girded .
Cities and countries , shut down .
The world changed so fast that its people could barely keep up .
How did something so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upend the routines and activities of huge chunks of human civilization ?
We all have watched it , lived through it , but the visual is striking .
From a world largely unsullied by the virus to one merely touched by it to an entire planet feeling its effects .
Choose a place to pause .
Each juncture offers a window into that moment .
- March 18 , 2020 .
China still leads the world in deaths .
In the United States , President Donald Trump has just declared a state of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 191 people .
The wide belief among Americans : This can still be contained .
- April 6 , 2020 .
Italy is being ravaged ; 16,523 have been lost .
China has dropped out of the top five when it comes to deaths .
The United States is second by now at 14,199 dead .
- May 22 , 2020 .
The United States has shot ahead of the rest of the world and sits on the cusp of 100,000 dead - 99,166 .
It , like the United Kingdom ( 35,440 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spain ( 28626 ) and France ( 28,292 ) , is rendered in a darker forest green , along with Brazil .
The march is accelerating .
- July 26 , 2020 .
In the heart of the summer , the United States remains the country with the most dead : 147,656 .
Brazil , whose president has just tested positive for coronavirus , is second at 87,004 .
Darker greens are starting to fill the map , including in India .
In China , blamed by Trump for the virus in terms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ light after strict and protracted containment measures .
- Sept. 27 , 2020 .
This past Sunday .
India is third in the world with 95,542 deaths .
The United States , still No .
1 and criticized for its haphazard efforts at containment , has just passed the 200,000 mark .
Brazil sits at 141,741 , with no apparent detrimental political effect on its leader .
Russia is now darker green .
Africa , Australia and much of Asia are lighter , though swaths of Southeast Asia are showing higher death rates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an invisible virus that upended the world .
It tells of first responses and fear and decisions good and bad .
Stories of valiant women and men who tried to stop it , and were sometimes claimed by their efforts .
It tells stories of leaders who measured up and leaders who didn ’ t .
And how simple human touch ended up killing .
Most of all , it tells of the 1 million dead and gone .
These are the stories of the human beings who , had they been able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things we ’ d all remember - or might have done things just as important that only a few people they loved would remember .
The map contains their stories , too , and even amid the elegant lines of the map and the illuminating contours of the data they should not be forgotten .
Ted Anthony , director of digital innovation for The Associated Press , oversees the news organization ’ s coverage of the pandemic ’ s ripple effect on society .
Follow him on Twitter at http : //www.twitter.com/anthonyted

On a Thursday night in early January, the disease that would become known as COVID-19 claimed its first victim, a 61-year-old man who succumbed to the newly identified coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, in the People’s Republic of China.
Nine months later, the pandemic took its millionth life. And while the vagaries of record-keeping mean we may never know who that victim was, the fact remains: COVID has killed a million people.
Tens of millions of things undone. Daughters and sons unborn, works of genius uncreated. Pieces of communities - excised. Entire residential complexes filled with older people - ravaged. Human contribution melted away, with no way of ever knowing or chronicling what was lost. Accounting for what’s missing when people die is never an easy task; now it is one multiplied by an entire million.
A new Associated Press interactive map of the coronavirus’ spread - represented by the lives it has claimed - blends data and geography in a way that forces us to see what has happened to the world. And what is still happening to it.
Like so many things in the world, it started small. At first, the map shows only one splash of color: China, the place where the coronavirus silently began its march.
As it began to move around, the map evolved. Month by month, week by week, day by day, the coronavirus spread. Pandemic was declared. Hospitals girded. Cities and countries, shut down. The world changed so fast that its people could barely keep up.
How did something so contained at first, so localized, upend the routines and activities of huge chunks of human civilization?
We all have watched it, lived through it, but the visual is striking. From a world largely unsullied by the virus to one merely touched by it to an entire planet feeling its effects. Choose a place to pause. Each juncture offers a window into that moment.
- March 18, 2020. China still leads the world in deaths. In the United States, President Donald Trump has just declared a state of emergency. The United States has lost 191 people. The wide belief among Americans: This can still be contained.
- April 6, 2020. Italy is being ravaged; 16,523 have been lost. China has dropped out of the top five when it comes to deaths. The United States is second by now at 14,199 dead.
- May 22, 2020. The United States has shot ahead of the rest of the world and sits on the cusp of 100,000 dead - 99,166. It, like the United Kingdom (35,440), Italy (32,616), Spain (28626) and France (28,292), is rendered in a darker forest green, along with Brazil. The march is accelerating.
- July 26, 2020. In the heart of the summer, the United States remains the country with the most dead: 147,656. Brazil, whose president has just tested positive for coronavirus, is second at 87,004. Darker greens are starting to fill the map, including in India. In China, blamed by Trump for the virus in terms some deem racist, the hue is light after strict and protracted containment measures.
- Sept. 27, 2020. This past Sunday. India is third in the world with 95,542 deaths. The United States, still No. 1 and criticized for its haphazard efforts at containment, has just passed the 200,000 mark. Brazil sits at 141,741, with no apparent detrimental political effect on its leader. Russia is now darker green. Africa, Australia and much of Asia are lighter, though swaths of Southeast Asia are showing higher death rates.
This map tells the story of an invisible virus that upended the world. It tells of first responses and fear and decisions good and bad. Stories of valiant women and men who tried to stop it, and were sometimes claimed by their efforts. It tells stories of leaders who measured up and leaders who didn’t. And how simple human touch ended up killing.
Most of all, it tells of the 1 million dead and gone. These are the stories of the human beings who, had they been able to stick around, might have done things we’d all remember - or might have done things just as important that only a few people they loved would remember. The map contains their stories, too, and even amid the elegant lines of the map and the illuminating contours of the data they should not be forgotten.
___
Ted Anthony, director of digital innovation for The Associated Press, oversees the news organization’s coverage of the pandemic’s ripple effect on society. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/anthonyted


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Andrew Wheeler, EPA chief, mocks Gavin Newsom bid to ban gas-powered cars in California

SACRAMENTO , Calif. — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler on Monday ridiculed California Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 , saying the proposal raises “ significant questions of legality.
” Last week , Newsom signed an executive order directing state regulators to come up with rules that would ban the sale of all new gas-powered passenger cars and trucks by 2035 .
He said the plan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 % .
On Monday , Wheeler sent Newsom a letter questioning how the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having “ a record of rolling blackouts.
” He said it “ begs the question of how you expect to run an electric car fleet that will come with significant increases in electricity demand , when you can ’ t even keep the lights on today.
” California had its first rolling blackouts in nearly 20 years last month when demand for electricity during a heat wave was so high the state ran out of power .
More than half a million homes and businesses lost power for about an hour .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few other times this year , but was able to avoid them .
“ The truth it that if the state were driving 100 percent electric vehicles today , the state would be dealing with even worse power shortages than the ones that have already caused a series of otherwise preventable environmental and public health consequences , ” Wheeler wrote .
The blackouts in August were complicated by a heat wave that blanketed much of the West , making it more difficult for California to purchase surplus power from other states .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ blackouts and has signed an emergency proclamation allowing more energy users and providers to tap into backup power .
Meanwhile , massive wildfires continue to burn across the state , aided in size and intensity by climate change .
Newsom has said the fires have strengthened his resolve to combat climate change .
“ While the Trump Administration tries to drive this country off a climate cliff , California is once again assuming the mantle of leadership in the fight against climate change , ” said Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from protecting our kids ’ health and the air they breathe .
”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler on Monday ridiculed California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, saying the proposal raises “significant questions of legality.”
Last week, Newsom signed an executive order directing state regulators to come up with rules that would ban the sale of all new gas-powered passenger cars and trucks by 2035. He said the plan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35%.
On Monday, Wheeler sent Newsom a letter questioning how the state could add millions of electric vehicles despite having “a record of rolling blackouts.” He said it “begs the question of how you expect to run an electric car fleet that will come with significant increases in electricity demand, when you can’t even keep the lights on today.”
California had its first rolling blackouts in nearly 20 years last month when demand for electricity during a heat wave was so high the state ran out of power. More than half a million homes and businesses lost power for about an hour. The state came close to mandatory power shutoffs a few other times this year, but was able to avoid them.
“The truth it that if the state were driving 100 percent electric vehicles today, the state would be dealing with even worse power shortages than the ones that have already caused a series of otherwise preventable environmental and public health consequences,” Wheeler wrote.
The blackouts in August were complicated by a heat wave that blanketed much of the West, making it more difficult for California to purchase surplus power from other states. Newsom has ordered an investigation of the blackouts and has signed an emergency proclamation allowing more energy users and providers to tap into backup power.
Meanwhile, massive wildfires continue to burn across the state, aided in size and intensity by climate change. Newsom has said the fires have strengthened his resolve to combat climate change.
“While the Trump Administration tries to drive this country off a climate cliff, California is once again assuming the mantle of leadership in the fight against climate change,” said Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar. “We aren’t going to back down from protecting our kids’ health and the air they breathe.”


washingtontimes--2020-09-28--Veterinarians refuse CDC request to deport bulldog puppies

CHICAGO ( AP ) - Veterinarians caring for 15 bulldog puppies rescued from a warehouse at Chicago ’ s O ’ Hare International Airport on Monday refused to send the dogs back to the Middle East country from which they came .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week ordered the animals back to Jordan .
However , the Chicago French Bulldog Rescue , which has been taking care of the animals since August , refused , saying they are concerned the dogs might be mistreated again .
“ Out of ongoing concern by Chicago French Bulldog Rescue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 puppies rescued from a warehouse at O ’ Hare International Airport , I have informed all relevant agencies of the government and Royal Jordanian Airlines earlier today that the rescue will not be turning over the 15 French bulldog puppies to anyone , ” R. Tamara de Silva , an attorney representing the rescue group , said in a statement .
Officials say the dogs were shipped to the United States from Russia with forged papers to get around limits on the number of dogs any one person can import .
Chicago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were discovered by an employee at the O ’ Hare cargo warehouse last month .
Officers found 16 French bulldogs delivered by Royal Jordanian Airlines in small cages , covered in feces and urine , without water or food , and one dead dog .
One dog died later .
The puppies were denied entry into the U.S. after a CDC representative judged they were below the age requirement of four months , Chicago French Bulldog Rescue spokeswoman Mary Scheffke said .
The bulldogs have received proper vaccinations and are able to be @ @ @ @ @

CHICAGO (AP) - Veterinarians caring for 15 bulldog puppies rescued from a warehouse at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Monday refused to send the dogs back to the Middle East country from which they came.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week ordered the animals back to Jordan. However, the Chicago French Bulldog Rescue, which has been taking care of the animals since August, refused, saying they are concerned the dogs might be mistreated again.
“Out of ongoing concern by Chicago French Bulldog Rescue for the health and welfare of the 15 puppies rescued from a warehouse at O’Hare International Airport, I have informed all relevant agencies of the government and Royal Jordanian Airlines earlier today that the rescue will not be turning over the 15 French bulldog puppies to anyone,” R. Tamara de Silva, an attorney representing the rescue group, said in a statement.
Officials say the dogs were shipped to the United States from Russia with forged papers to get around limits on the number of dogs any one person can import.
Chicago police say a total of 20 dogs were discovered by an employee at the O’Hare cargo warehouse last month. Officers found 16 French bulldogs delivered by Royal Jordanian Airlines in small cages, covered in feces and urine, without water or food, and one dead dog. One dog died later.
The puppies were denied entry into the U.S. after a CDC representative judged they were below the age requirement of four months, Chicago French Bulldog Rescue spokeswoman Mary Scheffke said.
The bulldogs have received proper vaccinations and are able to be quarantined, Scheffke said.