News N Things
Driver plows through holiday parade in Wisconsin; the Arbery case is set to wrap with closing arguments today; Hunter Biden's firm closed a nearly $4 billion deal with a Chinese company.
Happy Monday,
Last month I started a new job as an Associate Producer/Writer for Fox News Digital Originals. It has been an amazing first month and I have been traveling all over to cover some of the top news stories in the country.
From driving all over the Old Dominion for the Virginia Gubernatorial race to spending all of last week in Kenosha for the Rittenhouse trial, I have been on the go and living out a dream that I set forth for myself long ago.
It appears that I am finally a reporter. Mission accomplished.
For many of you who know me personally, this has been a dream of mine for a long time. Whether you watched me do morning announcements for my high school, watched my reporting for NewsWaves32 at Pepperdine, or watched my shortly lived Raasch Reports, thank you so much for your support.
News N Things has been the latest iteration of my desire to create a unique news product. This project has been more successful than I ever imagined it could be.
However, it also is very taxing and takes up a ton of time. Since the end of April, I have sent out News N Things every weekday. Unfortunately, I did miss one day two weeks ago due to a publishing error and the fact that I was in the field on assignment.
After over 120+ newsletters, 400 hours of writing, and over 13,000 + views, I must step away after 7 months.
This will be the last week of News N Things. I simply cannot sustain writing News N Things on the normal Monday-Friday schedule.
I am immensely proud of what I have been able to consistently accomplish and I am profoundly thankful for all of you who have invested, yet again, into another one of my news projects.
Thank you for your readership, your feedback, your support, and your willingness to learn a little extra about what is happening in the news.
The last edition of News N Things will be this Friday.
If you want to read any of my stories for Fox News, click here.
Thank you all so much - especially those who have sent me compliments and encouragement along the way.
I hope you have enjoyed this ride as much as I have,
JM
Top 3 Stories:
1) Some Killed and Dozens Injured in Wisconsin Parade:
“Authorities in a Milwaukee suburb continued overnight to deal with the aftermath after a red SUV plowed into Christmas parade marchers and spectators Sunday, striking more than 20 adults and children. Some fatalities occurred at the Waukesha event, police Chief Dan Thompson told reporters at an evening news conference, according to FOX 6 of Milwaukee. Waukesha city officials early Monday confirmed that at least five people had died and more than 40 suffered injuries. They warned that both numbers could change. More information was expected at a news conference later Monday. Chilling videos on social media showed the SUV plowing into parade participants, with loud screams audible from those who witnessed the horror. Other videos showed people running to the aid of the injured people. "Oh my God!" a woman shouts over and over in one video, after a group of girls in Santa Claus hats and waving white pompoms is struck. Another video shows members of a marching band being hit, The Associated Press reported.” (FOX NEWS)
2) Final Arguments Expected in Arbery Murder Trial:
“Attorneys were scheduled to give closing arguments Monday in the murder trial of three white men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, whose death became part of a broader reckoning on racial injustice in the criminal legal system. Prosecutors and defense attorneys were expected to spend hours making their final cases to the disproportionately white jury. The jurors heard 10 days of trial testimony that concluded last week, not long after the man who shot Arbery testified he pulled the trigger in self-defense. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael grabbed guns and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting the 25-year-old Black man running in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and recorded video of Travis McMichael opening fire as Arbery threw punches and grabbed for his shotgun. No one was charged in the killing until Bryan’s video leaked online two months later and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police. All three men face counts of murder and other charges.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
3) How Hunter Biden’s Firm Made a $3.8 Billion Deal:
“An investment firm where Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was a founding board member helped facilitate a Chinese company’s purchase from an American company of one of the world’s richest cobalt mines, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Biden and two other Americans joined Chinese partners in establishing the firm in 2013, known as BHR and formally named Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company. The three Americans, all of whom served on the board, controlled 30 percent of BHR, a private equity firm registered in Shanghai that makes investments and then flips them for a profit. The rest of the company is owned or controlled by Chinese investors that include the Bank of China, according to records filed with Chinese regulators. One of BHR’s early deals was to help finance an Australian coal-mining company controlled by a Chinese state-owned firm. It also assisted a subsidiary of a Chinese defense conglomerate in buying a Michigan auto parts maker. The firm made one of its most successful investments in 2016 when it bought and later sold a stake in CATL, a fast-growing Chinese company that is now the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles … It is unclear how the firm was chosen by China Molybdenum. Current executives at BHR did not return emails and phone calls seeking comment.” (NEW YORK TIMES)
Daily Verse:
1 John 2:22 NIV Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist -- he denies the Father and the Son.
The President’s Schedule:
6:00 p.m. E.T. - The President and The First Lady celebrate Friendsgiving with service members and military families as part of the Joining Forces initiative.
This Day in History
“John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible” (HISTORY)
Daily Quote:
“Where there is love there is life." - Mahatma Gandhi
Daily Joke:
The Earth is 70% uncarbonated water Therefore the Earth is flat.
Environment:
NORWAY’S STAIRWAYS TO HEAVEN: “Way up high – above the sky-blue fjord, the mountain lake, the evergreen trees and the escarpment – is a natural rock platform, rectangular in shape, raggedy in edge and made as if by a Norse God. The path to get there narrows from a broad plateau to an exposed extremity leading to an obvious, yet vertiginous, viewpoint that feels as if it could collapse at any moment. I gawped at the sight. Don't look down, my inner voice said. Don't fall off. "This view is insane!" someone shouted from behind me. I turned to greet the only other person on the cliff ledge, as a brutal wind threatened to blow us both clean off into the Lysefjord, some 600m below. It was a cold weekday in September and we were strangely alone. In many ways, the location and the sublime views from Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, near Stavanger in south-west Norway are irrelevant, because what is important is the journey to get there. It is a hike up an expertly engineered and well-maintained stone staircase that is as much of a marvel as the finale itself. There's an ancient beauty to the stairway and it comes from the fact that Preikestolen – like nearly 300 other natural stone staircase projects in Norway purpose-built over the past two decades – has been crafted by teams of Sherpas from Nepalese communities living in the shadows of Mount Everest.” (BBC NEWS)
Culture:
THE BAY AREA’S RAMPANT BURGLARIES: “Drivers blared their horns Saturday evening as dozens of thieves carrying luggage and bags darted from a Nordstrom department store near San Francisco and hopped into cars waiting for them outside. All but three of the 80 or so looters escaped, police said. Two store employees were assaulted, and one was pepper-sprayed by the intruders, according to officers in Walnut Creek, a city about 25 miles east of San Francisco. In a news release, police called the crime “clearly a planned event.” “Walnut Creek Police investigators are in the process of reviewing surveillance footage to attempt to identify other suspects responsible for this brazen act,” the department said. The spectacle Saturday night was one of several incidents of looting and shoplifting reported at high-end retail stores around the Bay Area over the weekend. On Friday night, thieves broke into at least 10 stores, including a Louis Vuitton in San Francisco’s Union Square. And on Sunday night, officers in Hayward, about a 30-minute drive from San Francisco, were investigating after a group of smash-and-grab burglars destroyed glass cabinets and stole merchandise from a mall jewelry store.” (WASHINGTON POST)
Sports:
COLTS RUNNING BACK IS THE NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: “Running backs have been devalued. Some say they don't matter anymore. The Indianapolis Colts would disagree. The Colts got a huge 41-15 upset at the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and Jonathan Taylor was the best player on the field. He's the best player in most of the Colts' games. On Sunday, Taylor became the first player in the long history of the Colts to score five touchdowns in a game, and finished with 204 total yards. If it was possible for a non-quarterback to win MVP anymore, Taylor would be a great pick. He might have to settle for NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Taylor is carrying the Colts, and now that Derrick Henry is out for the season, he (or a healthy Christian McCaffrey) might be the only running back who is the central focus of his team. It's an old-school notion, but Taylor fits the mold of an old-school workhorse back. Taylor got the Colts going early. He scored touchdowns on the Colts' first, second and fourth possessions. All three touchdowns were testaments to Taylor's ability, whether it was powering in on a 3-yard run to start the game, a nice catch and shifty moves on a 23-yard score where he spun into the end zone instead of going down on a tackle, or leaping over the top of the pile on a 2-yard run.” (YAHOO SPORTS)
Health:
COVID INFECTIONS SURGE BEFORE HOLIDAYS: “Coronavirus cases are rising once again, disrupting classrooms, overwhelming hospitals and alarming public health officials — even in areas with high vaccination rates — who warn the country is headed for a holiday surge that could leave thousands dead. Though nearly 70 percent of the country has had at least one shot and hospitalizations have fallen from their September highs, the news in many states remains grim and the trend lines portend a fresh wave in the coming weeks. Colorado, Idaho and New Mexico hospitals are operating under crisis standards of care. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin hospitals are at, or near, the brink as cases that had been steadily increasing since school began exploded once the weather turned cold … States across the country are also seeing a growing number of people with breakthrough cases end up in hospitals. In Michigan, for example, 28 percent of hospitalizations and 24 percent of deaths, between Oct. 7 and Nov. 5, were among fully vaccinated individuals.” (POLITICO)