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CONCORD, NC – One police officer is dead, another officer is injured, and a suspect is dead after a shootout in Concord, North Carolina, a city northeast of Charlotte. The shootout occurred just before 11:00 p.m. in aindustrial area on Gateway Lane near Speedway Boulevard. Officers with the Concord Police Department were initially called to an accident scene around 10:20 p.m. Wednesday night. Police found a vehicle that had been crashed into a guardrail and was unattended. One officer stayed at the scene with the wrecked vehicle, while an Alcohol Law Enforcement Agent and another Concord officer went to the Gateway Lane area where they saw a man matching the description given by the attempted carjacking victim. Police say the man pulled a gun and started shooting at the responding officers. Two additional Concord Police Department officers approached and saw two officers hurt. Police say the suspect got into an SUV and gunfire was exchanged. Police say the suspect was struck and killed. (Read more.)
Forwarded from MYTHVSREALITY (MYTHVSREALITY)
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A fight over a PS5 at a Walmart ends up in a KO....
SAN DIEGO, Calif - Two San Diego strip clubs can remain open and make their own determinations about providing a safe environment for dancers and patrons during the pandemic, a judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a setback to Gov. Gavin Newsom's health order that calls for such establishments to be shuttered.
The scope of San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil's preliminary injunction appeared to extend far beyond the two clubs that sued the state to potentially all of the thousands of restaurants in San Diego County, the state's second-largest county after Los Angeles.
Wohlfiel said it applies to "San Diego County businesses with restaurant services," including the strip clubs, and that it exempts them from shutdowns and "any related orders" that bar live adult entertainment and go beyond protocols "that are no greater than essential" to controlling the spread of COVID-19.
The judge noted that Pacers International Showgirls and Cheetahs Gentlemen's Club operated for five weeks during the pandemic under their own safety measures, which included keeping strippers 15 feet from tables, allowing no more than one stripper per stage and requiring them and other employees to wear masks.
Michael Workman, a spokesman for San Diego County, said county attorneys were meeting "to decipher the ruling and determine what's next. Stay tuned."
County supervisors last week vowed to appeal any extension of the exemption for strip clubs, which the judge initially granted last month. The state attorney general's office referred questions to Newsom and the California Department of Public Health.
The governor's office said its legal team was "reviewing options to determine next steps."
"While we are disappointed in the court's decision today, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the health and safety of all Californians," Newsom's office said in a statement.
Steve Hoffman, an attorney for Cheetahs, said he was "very pleased" with the ruling and had no comment on whether it extended to other strip clubs and restaurants.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a "cease-and-desist" order to both clubs last week that they were violating the state's new policy, which bars indoor and outdoor dining and prohibits social gatherings that bring together people of different households in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Becerra wrote that he was acting on behalf of Newsom, a fellow Democrat, and the state health department and that he will pursue legal action if the companies didn't comply.
Wednesday's ruling followed more than an hour of spirited argument about whether state authorities overreached or acted within the law to protect public health.
"What's going to happen next when there is some greater emergency? Are we all going to be under house arrest? Are we going to even have a Constitution?" said Saccuzzo, the Pacers lawyer. "I fear that we may end up in a country that we don't even recognize."
"It really is about the entire community, the entire state," Li said. "This is the most serious moment of this pandemic in the state, in the nation so far."
The clubs sued the state and county in October after they were ordered to close. Last month, a judge in another case denied a request to temporarily lift some restrictions on San Diego County restaurants and gyms.
The scope of San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil's preliminary injunction appeared to extend far beyond the two clubs that sued the state to potentially all of the thousands of restaurants in San Diego County, the state's second-largest county after Los Angeles.
Wohlfiel said it applies to "San Diego County businesses with restaurant services," including the strip clubs, and that it exempts them from shutdowns and "any related orders" that bar live adult entertainment and go beyond protocols "that are no greater than essential" to controlling the spread of COVID-19.
The judge noted that Pacers International Showgirls and Cheetahs Gentlemen's Club operated for five weeks during the pandemic under their own safety measures, which included keeping strippers 15 feet from tables, allowing no more than one stripper per stage and requiring them and other employees to wear masks.
Michael Workman, a spokesman for San Diego County, said county attorneys were meeting "to decipher the ruling and determine what's next. Stay tuned."
County supervisors last week vowed to appeal any extension of the exemption for strip clubs, which the judge initially granted last month. The state attorney general's office referred questions to Newsom and the California Department of Public Health.
The governor's office said its legal team was "reviewing options to determine next steps."
"While we are disappointed in the court's decision today, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the health and safety of all Californians," Newsom's office said in a statement.
Steve Hoffman, an attorney for Cheetahs, said he was "very pleased" with the ruling and had no comment on whether it extended to other strip clubs and restaurants.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a "cease-and-desist" order to both clubs last week that they were violating the state's new policy, which bars indoor and outdoor dining and prohibits social gatherings that bring together people of different households in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Becerra wrote that he was acting on behalf of Newsom, a fellow Democrat, and the state health department and that he will pursue legal action if the companies didn't comply.
Wednesday's ruling followed more than an hour of spirited argument about whether state authorities overreached or acted within the law to protect public health.
"What's going to happen next when there is some greater emergency? Are we all going to be under house arrest? Are we going to even have a Constitution?" said Saccuzzo, the Pacers lawyer. "I fear that we may end up in a country that we don't even recognize."
"It really is about the entire community, the entire state," Li said. "This is the most serious moment of this pandemic in the state, in the nation so far."
The clubs sued the state and county in October after they were ordered to close. Last month, a judge in another case denied a request to temporarily lift some restrictions on San Diego County restaurants and gyms.
FOX 11 Los Angeles
California judge extends strip club exemption from pandemic-related restrictions
Two San Diego strip clubs can remain open and make their own determinations about providing a safe environment for dancers and patrons during the pandemic, a judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a setback to Gov. Gavin Newsom's health order that calls for such…
Jupiter and Saturn will appear to touch in closest conjunction since 1623. We are now just a week away from what astronomers are calling a rare conjunction of the two largest planets in our solar system: Jupiter and Saturn. Just after sunset on December 21, the two planets -- although still 400 million miles apart -- will appear to touch, illuminating the night sky just days before Christmas. Great conjunctions are not that rare, occurring roughly every two decades based on the aligning orbits of the planets. Astronomers say binoculars or telescopes will enhance the viewing, making Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons more visible. Should skies remain clear, "you will be amazed,” Cotayo said. If you miss the conjunction this time around, Astronomers say it won’t be this close or this visible again until 2080.
MILWAUKEE, WI – The Common Council for the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin decided that they wanted to pass on a $9.7 million federal grant that would have brought thirty additional police officers over the next three years. The grant would have provided for all expenses for the additional officers, but required the agency to maintain those positions after the three years. Members of the city approached members of the council over the past few months while the matter was being debated. There were several that wanted the increased police presence, and of course, those who were against it. Those who were in support of the move, could see the landscape in terms of rising crime rates, the homicide rate, for example, that is the highest it has been since the 1990’s. They also notice that the agency will only have roughly 1,680 officers by the end of next year, almost 200 fewer than four years ago. (Read more.)
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BREAKING! You want to see this: Data science experts scrutinize the vote tallies and data from election night across the state of Arizona. Included is the raw data feed for this state, should you like to follow along and review for yourself.
BREAKING! The Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, have evidence that hackers accessed their networks as part of an extensive espionage operation that has affected at least half a dozen federal agencies, officials directly familiar with the matter said. On Thursday, DOE and NNSA officials began coordinating notifications about the breach to their congressional oversight bodies after being briefed by Rocky Campione, the chief information officer at DOE. They found suspicious activity in networks belonging to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation and the Richland Field Office of the DOE. The hackers have been able to do more damage at FERC than the other agencies, the officials said, but did not elaborate. (Read more.)
Blessed Are The Peacemakers
Police Officer Jason Shuping
Concord Police Department, North Carolina
EOW: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 💙 #RIP
Police Officer Jason Shuping
Concord Police Department, North Carolina
EOW: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 💙 #RIP
Shocking photos show what happened when a dozen tractor-trailers skidded out of control on snow-covered Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania during Wednesday night’s winter storm — killing one person and injuring a number of others. The 66-vehicle pileup, including 55 trucks and 11 passenger vehicles, over a mile span on the westbound side of the highway happened around 3 p.m. Wednesday in Clinton County, State Police said Thursday. The stretch remained closed Thursday afternoon with contractors trying to clear the vehicles, according to cops. A second passenger died during the incident due to a medical issue, but it was not connected to the crash, cops said.
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HO HO HO: Santa Claus braced the 2020 Nor’easter to bring some holiday cheer to Long Island. 🎅🏻
Homeland Security: Hacking campaign poses 'grave risk' to all levels of government, private sector.
A devastating cyber attack believed to be tied to Russia continues to pose a "grave risk" to government networks and the private sector, according to an ominous warning issued Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security.
The bulletin from DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), represented the most striking assessment yet of a cascading threat to federal, state and local networks.
"CISA has determined that this threat poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations," the bulletin stated.
"This... actor has demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex trade-craft in these intrusions," CISA said of the hackers, adding that the ongoing effort to eliminate the threat would "will be highly complex and challenging."
Networks at the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, also may have been compromised according to reports by the Washington Post and Politico.
The attacks, which have targeted major branches of the U.S. government, has put an untold number of Americans, agencies and government secrets at risk of compromise.
The attackers penetrated federal computer systems through a popular piece of server software offered through a company called SolarWinds.
The threat apparently came from the same cyberespionage campaign that has afflicted cybersecurity firm FireEye, foreign governments and major corporations.
The system is used by hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including most Fortune 500 companies and multiple U.S. federal agencies, which will now be scrambling to patch up their networks.
The attackers planted malware in computer networks after using what FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia has called “a novel combination of techniques not witnessed by us or our partners in the past.”
In its alert Thursday, CISA said that is "likely" that full scope of the campaign remains unclear as additional intrusions "have not yet been discovered."
"Due to the nature of this pattern of adversary activity—and the targeting of key personnel, incident response staff, and IT email accounts—discussion of findings... should be considered very sensitive, and should be protected by operational security measures," the CISA said.
The agency also indicated that some of the intrusions may have occurred as early as March.
Late Wednesday, the FBI, in a joint statement with CISA and the Director of National Intelligence, called the attack "a developing situation."
"While we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government," the agencies said.
President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that his transition team had been briefed on what he described on what "appears to be a massive cybersecurity breach affecting potentially thousands of victims."
"There’s a lot we don’t yet know, but what we do know is a matter of great concern," Biden said in a statement.
Tom Bossert, a former homeland security adviser to President Donald Trump, said the "magnitude of this ongoing attack is hard to overstate."
"The Russians have had access to a considerable number of important and sensitive networks for six to nine months," Bossert said in column published in the New York Times, adding that Russian intelligence officials have likely gained "administrative control over the networks it considered priority targets."
"For those targets, the hackers will have long ago moved past their entry point, covered their tracks and gained what experts call 'persistent access,' meaning the ability to infiltrate and control networks in a way that is hard to detect or remove."
Bossert said it could take years to learn the depth of the damage.
A devastating cyber attack believed to be tied to Russia continues to pose a "grave risk" to government networks and the private sector, according to an ominous warning issued Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security.
The bulletin from DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), represented the most striking assessment yet of a cascading threat to federal, state and local networks.
"CISA has determined that this threat poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations," the bulletin stated.
"This... actor has demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex trade-craft in these intrusions," CISA said of the hackers, adding that the ongoing effort to eliminate the threat would "will be highly complex and challenging."
Networks at the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, also may have been compromised according to reports by the Washington Post and Politico.
The attacks, which have targeted major branches of the U.S. government, has put an untold number of Americans, agencies and government secrets at risk of compromise.
The attackers penetrated federal computer systems through a popular piece of server software offered through a company called SolarWinds.
The threat apparently came from the same cyberespionage campaign that has afflicted cybersecurity firm FireEye, foreign governments and major corporations.
The system is used by hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including most Fortune 500 companies and multiple U.S. federal agencies, which will now be scrambling to patch up their networks.
The attackers planted malware in computer networks after using what FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia has called “a novel combination of techniques not witnessed by us or our partners in the past.”
In its alert Thursday, CISA said that is "likely" that full scope of the campaign remains unclear as additional intrusions "have not yet been discovered."
"Due to the nature of this pattern of adversary activity—and the targeting of key personnel, incident response staff, and IT email accounts—discussion of findings... should be considered very sensitive, and should be protected by operational security measures," the CISA said.
The agency also indicated that some of the intrusions may have occurred as early as March.
Late Wednesday, the FBI, in a joint statement with CISA and the Director of National Intelligence, called the attack "a developing situation."
"While we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government," the agencies said.
President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that his transition team had been briefed on what he described on what "appears to be a massive cybersecurity breach affecting potentially thousands of victims."
"There’s a lot we don’t yet know, but what we do know is a matter of great concern," Biden said in a statement.
Tom Bossert, a former homeland security adviser to President Donald Trump, said the "magnitude of this ongoing attack is hard to overstate."
"The Russians have had access to a considerable number of important and sensitive networks for six to nine months," Bossert said in column published in the New York Times, adding that Russian intelligence officials have likely gained "administrative control over the networks it considered priority targets."
"For those targets, the hackers will have long ago moved past their entry point, covered their tracks and gained what experts call 'persistent access,' meaning the ability to infiltrate and control networks in a way that is hard to detect or remove."
Bossert said it could take years to learn the depth of the damage.
USA TODAY
US under cyber attack believed to be tied to Russia: Private sector, infrastructure, all levels of government at risk
Officials reviewing compromises to Department of Energy — including nuclear administration — and other sectors in massive hacking campaign.