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Joy Reid dismisses Byron Donalds nomination as ‘troll’ move that he was willing to ‘go along with’

January 5, 2023 Published by

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MSNBC’s Joy Reid became the latest liberal figure to attack Florida Rep-elect Byron Donalds’ nomination to become Speaker of the House on Wednesday.

For the second day in a row, the House of Representatives failed to secure enough votes to elect a House speaker with over 20 Republicans refusing to vote in favor of Rep-elect Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. One of the alternative nominations for a GOP leader included Donalds, who was pushed by Rep-elect Chip Roy, R-Texas.

Though many celebrated the move with Donalds becoming the second Black congressman to be nominated to the position behind Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Reid criticized the nomination on “The ReidOut” as a “troll” move by Roy and lamented Donalds being a willing participant.

“Their plan is to just keep switching from alternative to alternative. They first tried to go with Jim Jordan, but Jim Jordan is in with McCarthy. And today they did this sort of, not in a surprising move, went with a Black guy with Chip Roy standing up and saying all sorts of things about Martin Luther King quotes and some of them were talking Frederick Douglass. This to me felt like a full troll and this guy was willing to go along with it,” Reid said.

CORI BUSH’S TWEET ATTACKING BYRON DONALDS AS A ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ PROP DUBBED ‘RACIST’ AND ‘PATHETIC’ 

She added, “So now that they’ve done that, maybe tomorrow they’ll come up with a different person and have a whole new theme of a person that’s not Kevin McCarthy.”

Reid has in the past criticized Black conservatives for their policy positions and participation in the Republican Party.

In 2021, she accused Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., of being a diversity prop for Republicans. 

“You’ve got to love Tim Scott standing there to provide the patina of diversity over that round of words, that basket full of words,” Reid said at the time.

In 2012, Reid wrote an “open letter” to Scott upon his appointment to the U.S. Senate, urging him not to become a “token” for conservatives.

Reid also used a slur against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is African American, calling him “Uncle Clarence,” a reference to the ‘Uncle Tom’ stereotype, during her election coverage back in November and subsequent tweets.

Rep-elect Cori Bush, D-Mo., similarly dismissed the idea of Donalds’ nomination, claiming that his candidacy is not historic because he was being used as a “prop” to promote “White supremacy.”

“[For what it’s worth], [Donalds] is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop,” Bush tweeted. “Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress—it’s pathetic.”

In a separate segment of the show, Lincoln Project advisor Stuart Stevens advised Republicans to support a Democratic candidate for Speaker of the House.

LIBERALS CACKLE OVER REPUBLICAN STALEMATE IN HOUSE SPEAKER VOTE: ‘THIS IS SO GREAT TO WITNESS’ 

“So, look, I think that where we are now is when people that want to save the Republican Party for what it is, they have to sort of come to grips with reality and have to be willing to vote for Democrats who may disagree with them on certain issues because otherwise this insanity is going to continue. It is only going to stop when they feel pain, and pain is loss in politics. You have to beat these people. You can’t convert them, can’t speak logic to them in that sense because they don’t care about anything, so these are people that you have to just burn this to the ground,” Stevens said.

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So far, all House Democrats have stood firm in voting for Jeffries as their candidate for House speaker. 

Fox News’ Nik Lanum contributed to this report. 

 

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House speaker race: Rep-elect Byron Donalds responds to ‘retribution’ for running against Kevin McCarthy

January 5, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Republicans are still deciding who will be the House speaker for the 118th session of Congress, but as Rep-elect. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says he is getting closer to the gavel some members are starting to wonder about potential retribution for voting against him.

One member who is not worried is Rep.-elect Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who has received votes for the speakership and has held out against McCarthy in four of the six votes. 

“I’m 6’2″ 275 [pounds], I am not worried about that,” Donalds said outside the Capitol when asked by NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Ryan Nobles if he was worried about potential retribution.

Donalds initially backed McCarthy’s speakership but after the California Republican failed to reach the 218-vote threshold in two votes on Tuesday, the Florida lawmaker shifted gears. 

THE VOTE FOR HOUSE SPEAKER

“The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have the votes,” Donalds tweeted after changing his vote against McCarthy during the third speakership vote Tuesday. “I committed my support to him publicly and for two votes on the House Floor. 218 is the number, and currently, no one is there. Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next steps.”

Donalds became the 20th Republican to vote for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who has said he does not want the speakership and has endorsed McCarthy. The failed speaker votes were the first since 1923.

“These continuous votes aren’t working for anyone,” Donalds added. “When the dust settles, we will have a Republican Speaker, now is the time for our conference to debate and come to a consensus. This will take time, Democracy is messy at times, but we will be ready to govern on behalf of the American people. Debate is healthy.”

During an interview on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning, Donalds said after the second vote showed the leadership tally was “deadlocked” that Republicans should have convened privately and found a new candidate. 

JORDAN NOMINATES MCCARTHY FOR SPEAKER ON SECOND BALLOT AS GAETZ TAPS JORDAN TO TAKE GAVEL

He also addressed the perception that Republicans are wasting time by not choosing to back McCarthy, saying the “bout over House leadership” was important as it will determine how Republicans will “get Washington back on track.”

“For too long in the nation’s capital, people have gone along with the next wave of leadership. And that’s not an anti-Kevin McCarthy statement. That is a statement about what a deliberative open process means for the constitutional republic that is the United States of America.”

The Floridian struck an optimistic tone, saying Republicans would “find a way to make it happen.”

Part of the contention behind Donalds and the 19 other Republicans, including the House Freedom Caucus led by Rep-elect. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. and Rep.-elect Scott Perry, R-Penn., includes McCarthy not wavering on a few demands. 

BYRON DONALDS SETS HOUSE FLOOR ABUZZ BY SWITCHING VOTE FROM MCCARTHY TO JORDAN

Defectors want to ensure they are not forced to give up committee assignments, they want investigative inquiries into the FBI and others and they want to reinstate the motion to vacate — a process of the majority party voting out the current speaker, should they lose faith in his or her leadership. 

The motion to vacate can be initiated by any single majority member — a figure well under the 20 defectors McCarthy is currently facing. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., previously abolished the longstanding process.

“Any member that wants to be a leader should not be afraid of that,” Donalds added.

“The rules matter in how you govern this place,” he told “Fox & Friends” anchor Brian Kilmeade Wednesday. “Once we elect a speaker, the rules are going to dictate how the House functions and that goes directly to the ability of us accomplishing solutions that everybody wants to see here on Capitol Hill.”

Following the interview, Donalds voted against McCarthy in the fourth, fifth and sixth speaker votes. The House narrowly voted 216-214 to adjourn until Thursday, when members will continue to vote on the next Speaker. 

MATT GAETZ CHALLENGES KEVIN MCCARTHY’S USE OF HOUSE SPEAKER OFFICE AFTER FAILED ELECTION VOTES

Just before the vote, McCarthy said some progress had been made in negotiations with those voting against him, and said private discussions would be more productive than forcing more votes.

“I crawl before I walk, I walk before I run,” McCarthy said after the House adjourned. “I felt as though we had a very good discussion.”

McCarthy has failed six total times to get the 218 votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel: three times on Tuesday and three times on Wednesday. His most was 203 votes on Tuesday, and 201 on Wednesday.

Electing a speaker must be the first action of a new session of Congress, even before swearing-in ceremonies for new members. 

Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

 

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California braces for rain, winds, flooding amid emergency

January 5, 2023 Published by

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Officials in California ordered evacuations in a high-risk coastal area where mudslides killed 23 people in 2018 as a huge storm barreled into the state on Wednesday, bringing high winds and rain that knocked out power and threatened to flood roadways.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to allow for a quick response and to aid in cleanup from another powerful storm that hit just days earlier. The new storm already left more than 76,000 customers in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearly 19,000 more along the Central Coast without power. Dozens of flights out of San Francisco were canceled, and schools in one of the city’s suburbs preemptively canceled Thursday classes.

Officials warned people throughout Northern California to stay off the roads.

“We anticipate that this may be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years,” said Nancy Ward, the new director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

The storm, which brought howling winds to Northern California on Wednesday evening, is one of three so-called atmospheric river storms in the last week to reach the drought-stricken state.

In Southern California, the storm was expected to peak in intensity overnight, with Santa Barbara and Ventura counties likely to see the most rain, forecasters said.

The first evacuations were ordered for those living in areas burned by three recent wildfires in Santa Barbara County, where heavy rain forecast for overnight could cause widespread flooding and unleash debris flows. County officials did not have a firm number for how many people were under evacuation orders, but Susan Klein-Rothschild, a spokesperson in the county’s emergency operations center, estimated it was in the hundreds.

Among the towns ordered to evacuate was Montecito, where five years ago huge boulders, mud and debris swept down mountains through the town to the shoreline, killing 23 people and destroying more than 100 homes. The town is home to many celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.

“What we’re talking about here is a lot of water coming off the top of the hills, coming down into the creeks and streams and as it comes down, it gains momentum and that’s what the initial danger is,” Montecito Fire Department Chief Kevin Taylor said.

Elsewhere, a 45-mile (72-kilometer) stretch of the coastal Highway 1 that runs through Big Sur was closed Wednesday evening in anticipation of flooding and rock falls. Further north, a 25-mile (40-kilometer) stretch of Highway 101 was closed due to several downed trees.

Officials asked drivers to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary — and to stay informed by signing up for updates from emergency officials about downed trees and power lines, and flooding.

The storm was forecast to drop up to 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain on an area where the hills have already been saturated over the past month.

The storms won’t be enough to officially end the state’s ongoing drought, now entering its fourth year. The U.S. Drought Monitor showed that most of California is in severe to extreme drought. Since the state’s major reservoirs are low, they have plenty of room to fill with more water from the storm, officials said.

Still, trees are already stressed from years of limited rain. Now that the grounds are suddenly saturated and winds are heavy, trees are more likely to fall. That could cause widespread power outages or create flood hazards, said Karla Nemeth, director of the state’s Department of Water Resources.

“We are in the middle of a flood emergency and also in the middle of a drought emergency,” she said during an emergency briefing.

The storm comes days after a New Year’s Eve downpour led to the evacuations of people in rural Northern California communities and the rescue of several motorists from flooded roads. A few levees south of Sacramento were damaged. On Wednesday, authorities in south Sacramento County found a body in a submerged car — one of at least four victims of flooding from that storm.

By Wednesday evening, nine Northern California counties were under flood watches or advisories.

Evacuation orders were in place in Santa Cruz County’s Paradise Park along the swiftly moving San Lorenzo River, as well as in areas along the Pajaro River. Residents who fled wildfires in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2020 were packing their bags as the towns of Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and Felton were all warned they should be prepared to evacuate.

Sonoma County authorities issued an evacuation warning for residents along a stretch of the Russian River.

Meanwhile, 8,500 sandbags distributed by officials weren’t enough to meet demand as forecasters warned of imminent flooding.

Robert O’Neill, an insurance broker who lives and works just south of San Francisco, said he lined up to get sandbags for his garage and for a co-worker’s home to prepare for the storm.

As president of Town & Country Insurance Services, he gave employees the option of working from home Wednesday, which many did, he said. He planned to leave the office early and head home where he has water and food and go-bags packed with clothes, medicine, electronic chargers and important papers.

“We’re in a big city, so we wouldn’t be too stranded too long, but you never know,” he said.

Storms were taking a toll elsewhere in the U.S. as well. In the Midwest, ice and heavy snow this week closed down schools in Minnesota and western Wisconsin and caused a jet to go off an icy taxiway after landing in a snowstorm in Minneapolis. No passengers were injured, Delta airlines said.

To the south, a possible tornado damaged homes, downed trees and flipped a vehicle on its side in Montgomery, Alabama, early Wednesday.

In Illinois, staff from the National Weather Service’s Chicago office planned to survey storm damage on Wednesday following at least six tornados, the largest number of rare January tornadoes recorded in the state since 1989.

___

Associated Press writers Janie Har in San Francisco, Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California, Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

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Man accused of intentionally driving off a cliff with his wife and 2 children faces attempted murder charges

January 5, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

A 41-year-old California man faces multiple charges after he allegedly drove off a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway with his wife and two children, authorities said.

All four occupants of the Tesla survived the crash Monday after the car plunged 250 to 300 feet into a rocky beach area known as Devil’s Slide, about 20 miles south of San Francisco, California Highway Patrol said.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Mark Andrews said the car’s three passengers were the driver’s wife and two children. Their names are not being released.

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office initially said in a social media post that the children were “unharmed.” But the California Highway Patrol said occupants of the car were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

The four-door, white Tesla was traveling south on Highway 1 just south of the Tom Lantos Tunnel between Pacifica and Montara on Monday morning when it veered off the road. It plunged at least 250 feet below that road, and a dramatic rescue mission ensued.

“The damage to the vehicle would indicate that it hit, and then flipped several times,” said Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief for Cal Fire’s Coastside Fire Protection District. He said the car came to rest on its wheels.

This image from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office shows the Tesla on a rocky beach below the cliffs, in an area called Devil's Slide.

Based on the evidence collected, “investigators developed probable cause to believe this incident was an intentional act,” the state’s highway patrol said Tuesday.

The driver, from Pasadena, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and child endangerment, according to an arrest report. He will be formally booked into San Mateo County Jail after his hospital treatment, the highway patrol said.

On Tuesday, the highway patrol said the Tesla’s high-tech driving features did not contribute to the crash.

“There has been no determination as to what driving mode the Tesla was in; however, that does not appear to be a contributing factor in this incident,” the highway patrol said.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter navigated the rugged coastline to rescue occupants.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating.

The highway patrol was alerted about the crash around 10:50 a.m. on Monday.

When first responders arrived, all four occupants were conscious, and the two children were secured into their car seats that remained intact, Pottenger said. All were trapped inside the smashed car.

The agency posted video of the helicopter lowering a rescuer on a cable to the crash site while surf crashed against the rocks below.

As firefighters rappelled down the cliff to the car, other first responders watched through binoculars.

“As we were doing that, we were able to notice movement in the front seat through the windshield,” Pottenger said. “So we knew that we had at least one person that was alive.”

Crews freed the two children and used a rope to lift them up the cliff in baskets. Later, a California Highway Patrol helicopter hoisted the two adults to safety.


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BMW i Vision Dee Concept Has Color-Changing Paint And A Full-Width Head Up Display

January 5, 2023 Published by

Carscoops 

BMW has surprised attendees at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas with the unveiling of the i Vision Dee, a futuristic mid-size sedan that aims to provide a Digital Emotional Experience (DEE, hence the name).

The German car manufacturer’s latest concept has an exterior that has been pared down to focus attention on the digital experience that it provides. It adopts a three-box sedan shape and features a number of characteristic BMW design elements that have been revised, including the kidney grille, twin circular headlights, and the Hofmeister kink.

This simple design philosophy continues into the cabin of the car where there is an intriguing steering wheel with a central vertical spoke with touchpoints that can be operated by moving the thumb. BMW says the cabin has been designed in such a way as to “ensure nothing distracts from the digital experience and the new feeling of enhanced driving pleasure.”

An innovative new Head-Up Display has debuted on the i Vision Dee. It projects across the entire width of the windshield and previews a full-width Head-Up display that will be used by BMW models based on its Neue Klasse platform from 2025 onwards.

An intriguing ‘Mixed Reality Slider’ is also present. It uses shy-tech sensors on the instrument panel to allow drivers to decide how much information they want to see on the Head-Up Display. Dimmable windows have also been fitted.

Read: BMW’s Neue Klasse Platform Can Support A Quad-Motor Setup With Up To 1,341 HP

BMW has also implemented the latest iteration of its E Ink technology. First showcased on an iX presented at CES 2022 in black and white, this new version of E Ink is colored and allows for a fully variable and individually configurable exterior color. It can display up to 32 colors with the surface of the i Vision Dee divided into 240 distinct segments.

“With BMW i Vision Dee, we are showing how the car can be seamlessly integrated into your digital life and become a trusty companion,” head of BMW Group Design Adrian van Hooydonk said in a press release. “The vehicle itself becomes your portal to the digital world – with the driver always in control. Implemented the right way, technology will create worthwhile experiences, make you a better driver and simply bring humans and machines closer together.”

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Mastermind of ‘Varsity Blues’ college admissions scheme sentenced to more than 3 years in prison

January 5, 2023 Published by

William “Rick” Singer leaves the federal courthouse after facing charges in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., March 12, 2019.

Bryan Snyder | Reuters

William Rick Singer, the mastermind of a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and supervised release Wednesday afternoon in Boston.

Singer, 62, pleaded guilty in March 2019 to charges including racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy in connection with the scandal, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. He cooperated with the government’s investigation and wore a wire for the FBI.

In addition to 42 months served in prison, Singer will have three years of supervised release.

The operation involved bribes, cheating on entrance exams and unqualified applicants using bogus claims to get into schools as elite recruited athletes.

Prosecutors had sought a six-year sentence, while defense attorneys requested three years of probation or a maximum of six months behind bars. 

Singer’s sentence is the longest handed down in the case so far, followed by former Georgetown University tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who got 2 1/2 years in prison for pocketing more than $3 million in bribes.

So far, more than 50 people, including parents and coaches, have been convicted in the case. The cheating scheme ensnared Hollywood with actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman charged in the case.

Singer allegedly raked in more than $25 million from his clients, paid bribes totaling more than $7 million and used more than $15 million of his clients’ money for his own benefit, prosecutors said. 

In a letter filed Dec. 29 along with his defense’s sentencing memorandum, Singer said he now lives in a trailer park and can’t get a job, despite more than 1,000 attempts, because of his role in Operation Varsity Blues. 

“For most of my life, if not all of it, I have thrived on winning at all costs,” he wrote. “My moral compass was broken and, increasingly over time, choosing right over wrong became less important than doing whatever had to be done to be recognized as the ‘best.'”

By getting caught, he has been provided “the opportunity for insight, atonement, and redemption,” he wrote.

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[World] A chaotic day in US House… frayed tempers, frustration and popcorn

January 5, 2023 Published by

BBC News world 

Getty Images

Lawmakers have grown visibly weary after a second day of voting
By Holly Honderich
BBC News, Capitol Hill

By the time the House of Representatives adjourned late on Wednesday after Republicans failed on their sixth attempt to elect a new speaker, tempers had flared, a chorus of booing had erupted, and gleeful Democrats munched popcorn as turmoil engulfed the other side of the aisle.

After two days of backroom dealings, Republicans and Democrats could not even agree on whether to call it a night – the knife-edge vote to adjourn prompted shouts and confusion. On CNN, an anchor pondered: “Is this normal?”

What should have been a straightforward vote for Republicans, who hold a majority in the lower chamber, has turned into a political drama that has paralysed the third branch of American government.

Wednesday was day two of the chaotic saga, as a group of hard-line Republicans refused repeatedly to support party leader Kevin McCarthy, denying him his long-coveted speaker position and bringing all other House business screeching to a halt.

“Well, it’s Groundhog Day. Again,” congresswoman Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican, said from the floor as she again nominated Mr McCarthy to lead the chamber.

Now the deadlock in the 118th Congress will drag on into Thursday – the longest vote for a speaker in a century.

Getty Images

Children are seen on the House floor during a vote

Nappy changing

When the members of the House entered the chamber on Tuesday, there was a sense of celebration in the air.

The first day of a new Congress is typically a family affair. Parents, spouses and children crowded the chamber and surrounding hallways, hoping to see their loved ones take the oath of office.

Three ways House speaker stalemate could finally endWhat Republican rebels opposing McCarthy want

For four-month-old Hodge Gomez, that meant naps and nappy changes in the US Capitol while his father, California Representative Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat, took part in the first rounds of ballots. Network cameras at one point captured a chubby-cheeked Hodge wriggling in a sling strapped to his father’s chest as the congressman cast his vote.

“He loved it,” Mr Gomez said.

But as the first ballot became a second, then a third, that initial enthusiasm faded. Members paced back and forth in the chamber, some letting their heads loll back over their chairs. Pennsylvania Democrat Madeline Dean handed out chocolate to a bored-looking Representative Jerry Nadler.

Mr McCarthy sat placidly in his chair, managing to laugh ruefully amid the dysfunction around him.

‘It looks messy’

After a long night of negotiations, the lawmakers returned on Wednesday.

Speaking from the House floor to nominate Mr McCarthy, Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin attempted something of a pep talk, reminding his colleagues how lucky they were to be there.

“It looks messy,” he said. “But democracy is messy.”

Indeed, over the next nine hours and three roll-call votes, it kept looking messier.

Throughout the day, increasingly weary-looking Republicans navigated the chamber, gathering for huddles and increasingly animated debate as Democrats looked on.

Florida’s Matt Gaetz – a leader of the anti-McCarthy group – held court with as many as 15 Republicans at one time, including some of Mr McCarthy’s allies. At one point, he cornered Steve Scalise, Mr McCarthy’s deputy, gesticulating animatedly while Mr Scalise simply shook his head, covering his face with his hands.

“He’s a desperate guy,” Mr Gaetz said of Mr McCarthy. “I’m ready to vote all night, all week, all month and never for that person.”

Rebels reject Trump’s call to back McCarthyIf not McCarthy for US House Speaker, who else?

The calm exterior that Mr McCarthy had managed to present a day earlier slipped slightly on Wednesday. Looking increasingly agitated, the California Republican fidgeted with his glasses, stared at his phone and left his seat repeatedly for discussions outside the chamber.

With each passing vote, tension seemed to build. In a speech nominating Mr McCarthy for a sixth ballot, Ms Cammack, the Florida Republican, claimed that Democrats had been drinking alcohol on the House floor, a baseless allegation that drew furious boos and shouts from the other side of the aisle.

Getty Images

Republican Matt Gaetz has maintained his vocal opposition to Kevin McCarthy as speaker

As Democrats, the minority party, tried to put forward their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, for speaker, the Republican rebels countered by nominating another black congressman, Byron Donalds.

One of the Republican dissidents, Texas congressman Chip Roy, noted it was the first time in history that two African Americans had been nominated for the high office. Lawmakers from both parties rose to applaud.

But such flashes of bipartisanship were rare.

Some Democrats could not hide their delight at the Republican disarray. Several tweeted pictures of themselves bringing buckets of popcorn to the chamber floor. President Joe Biden, departing the White House for an event in Kentucky, described the congressional deadlock as “really embarrassing”.

Increasingly, too, there was a feeling of disbelief that a typically ceremonial vote had come to this. Each time a rebel Republican rose to nominate a challenger to McCarthy the sound of groans grew louder, as members prepared for another futile round of voting.

Despite all the horse-trading, little has changed. Mr McCarthy has vowed to keep fighting, meaning another day of political disarray is probably in store.

Additional reporting by Kayla Epstein in New York.

 

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On this day in history, Jan. 5, 1933, construction begins on Golden Gate Bridge amid great fanfare

January 5, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, an American engineering treasure and widely recognized symbol of the grandeur of the United States, began amid civic pride, pomp and circumstance on this day in history, Jan. 5, 1933. 

“The start of construction was met with great delight,” the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District website notes.

“A celebration at nearby Crissy Field went on for hours with at least 100,000 people in attendance. A festive parade through the Marina District began at 12:45 p.m. Navy planes flew in formation and engineering students carried an 80-foot replica of the bridge.”

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JAN. 4, 1965, LJB TOUTS UTOPIAN ‘GREAT SOCIETY’ IN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

The suspension bridge spans the Golden Gate, the narrow strait of turbulent water that separates the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay. It connects the City of San Francisco in the south with Marin County to the north. 

The Golden Gate Bridge boasted the world’s longest bridge span (4,200 feet) and tallest bridge towers (746 feet) upon its completion. Its length was surpassed by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City in 1964 and by other bridges since. 

The Golden Gate Bridge opened, remarkably, in May 1937, little more than four years after San Francisco Mayor Angelo Rossi and Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District board president William P. Filmer turned the first pile of dirt with ceremonial golden spades.

President Herbert Hoover sent a telegram of congratulations to celebrate the occasion. 

Built during the Great Depression, the Golden Gate Bridge symbolized the audacious daring of American spirit even amid global economic calamity. 

Cincinnati native, part-time poet and bridge enthusiast Joseph Baermann Strauss was the chief engineer of the colossal project. 

MEET THE AMERICAN WHO INVENTED THE HARD HAT, A PROUD SYMBOL OF OUR NATION’S WORKING CLASS

He was a diminutive powerhouse of a man, slightly built and standing just 5 feet 3 inches tall. Still, he tried out for the University of Cincinnati football team, where he was injured badly, while being voted class president and class poet by his college classmates.

“Strauss was a prolific engineer, constructing some 400 drawbridges across the U.S. He dreamed of building ‘the biggest thing of its kind that a man could build,” PBS American Experience writes.

“In 1919, San Francisco’s city engineer, Michael O’Shaughnessy, approached Strauss about bridging the Golden Gate. Strauss caught fire with the idea, campaigning tirelessly over the next decade to build the bridge.”

PBS adds, “In November 1930, a year into the Great Depression, voters at last supported a bond issue for Strauss’ bridge. The ambitious project finally had its green light.” 

His plans included an innovative life-saving measure: a safety net suspended under the floor of the bridge.

“The net proved an invaluable precaution as it saved the lives of 19 men,” notes History.com. “These men became known as members of the ‘Half-Way-to-Hell Club.’ Despite such safety measures, 11 men died during the bridge’s construction.”

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, DEC. 5, 1848, PRESIDENT POLK IGNITES CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH WITH ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

The Golden Gate Bridge is just one of several of America’s most incredible feats of art, architecture and engineering built during the Great Depression.

It’s joined on that list by the Empire State Building, Hoover Dam and Mount Rushmore, among other structures that help define the American landscape today. 

The Golden Gate Bridge combines, perhaps better than any other bridge in the world, stunning architectural beauty with critical transportation necessity.

It’s stunning golden-orange color is officially known as International Orange. It reflects the dual meanings the color gold in The Golden State. 

The strait now known as the Golden Gate earned its name from explorer and U.S. Army officer John C. Fremont in 1846, who considered the passage “a golden gate to trade with the Orient.”

Just two years later, gold was discovered in Sutter’s Mill, near Sacramento, about 140 miles northeast of the Golden Gate. The precious metal find inspired the California Gold Rush and fueled San Francisco’s rise as a major American city.

The non-native population of California grew from about 1,000 to 100,000 in 1849 alone. 

The San Francisco Bay Area today boasts a population of nearly 8 million people, making it one of the five largest metropolitan areas in the United States. 

The metro area includes Oakland to the east of the bay and San Jose to the south of the bay.

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The Golden Gate Bridge forms a critical transportation viaduct for the region. The bridge is a segment of both U.S. Highway 101, the longest remaining pre-Interstate U.S. route in the nation, and California Route 1, known popularly as the Pacific Coast Highway. 

The bridge itself is a major American tourist attraction, drawing about 10 million visitors annually.

Strauss died on May 16, 1938 — just 11 days shy of the one-year anniversary of the bridge’s opening to the public.

He wrote a poem in tribute to the bridge, “The Mighty Task is Done,” soon after its completion. 

“On its broad decks in rightful pride/The world in swift parade shall ride/Throughout all time to be/Beneath, fleet ships from every port/vast landlocked bay, historic fort/And dwarfing all — the sea.”

 

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Justice Jackson working on a memoir, titled ‘Lovely One’

January 5, 2023 Published by

Top News: US & International Top News Stories Today | AP News 

FILE – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is a U.S. Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, poses for a portrait, Feb., 18, 2022, at the court in Washington. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.” “Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, by Random House. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.”

“Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday by Random House.

“But the path was paved by courageous women and men in whose footsteps I placed my own, road warriors like my own parents, and also luminaries in the law, whose brilliance and fortitude lit my way. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. It will be a transparent accounting of what it takes to rise through the ranks of the legal profession, especially as a woman of color with an unusual name and as a mother and a wife striving to reconcile the demands of a high-profile career with the private needs of my loved ones.”

No release date has been set for “Lovely One.” Jackson, 52, was born Ketanji Onyika Brown. The book’s title comes from the English translation of Ketanji Onyika, the name suggested by an aunt who at the time was a Peace Corps worker in West Africa.

Jackson joined the court last year after President Joe Biden named her to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer. She had previously been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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“My hope is that the fullness of my journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, litigator, and friend will stand as a testament for young women, people of color, and dreamers everywhere,” Jackson added, “especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and believe in the possibility of achieving them.”

“Lovely One” is Jackson’s first book, but not the first by a current member of the Supreme Court. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor are among those who have released books in recent years. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a deal with the Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel.

Financial terms for “Lovely One” were not disclosed, although interest in her makes it likely her advance is at least comparable to the 7-figure deals negotiated in the past for memoirs by Sotomayor and Justice Clarence Thomas.

In announcing Jackson’s book, Random House called it a story she tells with “refreshing honesty, lively wit, and warmth.”

“Justice Jackson invites readers into her life and world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her,” the announcement reads in part, “from growing up in Miami with educator parents who broke barriers during the 1960s to honing her voice as an oratory champion to performing improv and participating in pivotal student movements at Harvard to balancing the joys and demands of marriage and motherhood while advancing in Big Law — and, finally, to making history upon joining the nation’s highest court.”

 

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