Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Chicago Tribune: Why there was no pomp, circumstance or former president when Obama expressway signs went up on I-55 by Elvia Malagon
With little fanfare from officials, signs went up in recent months marking the newly named Barack Obama Presidential Expressway, a stretch of about 80 miles of Interstate 55 from the southwest suburbs to Pontiac.
While the March unveiling lacked the usual pomp and circumstance, state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said politics — the Illinois Department of Transportation is overseen by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner — didn’t play a role. Ford said they didn’t want to have a ceremony without the former president and couldn’t coordinate with his busy schedule.
“Because we’ve already got the dedication approval by the General Assembly, instead of sitting on it until we could get a dedication with the president, we just decided to mark the territory,” Ford said. “I think there will be a time when President Obama will be able to do a dedication.”
Ford led the charge last year to rename the stretch — starting on a part of the Tri-State Tollway in the southwest suburbs to mile marker 202 near Pontiac — after the nation’s first African-American president, who lived in Chicago for many years and launched his political career here. Ford also thinks Obama frequently traveled through that stretch of I-55 on his many trips to Springfield as a young state lawmaker.
Columbus Dispatch: Lawyers for Ohio State contradict Jim Jordan’s claim he’s not been contacted by Jennifer Smola and Jessica Wehrman
Congressman Jim Jordan denied hearing about Dr. Richard Strauss’ alleged sexual abuse while Jordan was assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan never witnessed abuse by the Ohio State University wrestling team’s doctor and he hasn’t been contacted by anyone investigating possible incidents that occurred while he was an assistant coach two decades ago, the Urbana Republican’s spokesman said Tuesday.
However, lawyers hired by OSU to probe the allegations said Jordan was contacted — both by phone and email — to request an interview, but he never responded.
And three members of the wrestling team under Jordan insist that he knew about the abuse but looked the other way.
Ian Fury, a spokesman for Jordan, said in a written statement that Jordan “never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a coach at Ohio State. He has not been contacted by investigators about the matter but will assist them in any way they ask, because if what is alleged is true, the victims deserve a full investigation and justice.”
Nashville Tennessean: Judge: Tennessee can't revoke driver's licenses from people who can't pay court costs by Dave Boucher
It's unconstitutional for the state of Tennessee to continue revoking driver's licenses from people who can't pay court costs, a federal judge determined Monday.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger will have broad national and state ramifications, said Claudia Wilner, a senior attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice in New York City who worked on the case.
Calling Trauger's ruling a "tour de force," Wilner said the order means more than 100,000 people in Tennessee can start the process today of regaining their driver's license.
"Practically speaking, this is going to be a huge benefit to the low-income people of Tennessee who are going to be able to drive to work, take their kids to school, go to the grocery store, visit the doctor, without fear of being arrested and prosecuted for driving without a license," Wilner said in an interview Tuesday.
Hartford Courant: From Whiskey To Lobsters, States Brace For Retaliatory Tariffs by Matthew Kauffman
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce – typically a reliable supporter of Trump administration economic policies – is pushing back against tariffs the pro-business group believes could spark a trade war, compiling state-by-state data on tens of billions of dollars of exports that may face retaliatory tariffs.
“Tariffs imposed by the United States are nothing more than a tax increase on American consumers and businesses — including manufacturers, farmers, and technology companies — who will all pay more for commonly used products and materials,” the chamber said in a rare break with President Trump. “Retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. exports will make American-made goods more expensive, resulting in lost sales and ultimately lost jobs here at home.”
Connecticut, with $134 million in exports potentially subject to tariffs — from millions in scrap metal to $4,595 in sleeping bags — is second only to Massachusetts among the six New England states. But most other states have far more at stake. At the top of the list is Washington state, which could see tariffs on more than $6 billion in exports — more than half of it aimed at sales of soybeans.
The president is holding firm on tariffs and efforts to renegotiate trade terms, tweeting Tuesday morning that the U.S. economy is strong, “and that’s prior to fixing some of the worst and most unfair Trade Deals ever made by any country.”
Sacramento Bee: More than 2,000 firefighters battling County Fire as blaze reaches 70,000 acres by Molly Sullivan
The state's largest wildfire gained even more ground by Tuesday morning, expanding to 70,000 acres with only 5 percent containment as crews enter their fourth day of firefighting, according to Cal Fire.
The County Fire burned actively throughout Monday, ripping through dry grass, oak stands and brush about 55 miles northwest of Sacramento between Highway 16 and Lake Berryessa. The blaze still has the potential to grow, Cal Fire said Tuesday. Crews are working to build containment lines to prevent the spread of fire, but the difficult terrain is posing a challenge.
Mandatory evacuations for areas of Yolo and Napa counties remain in effect. The Napa County Sheriff's Office also issued evacuation warnings for communities at the southern end of Lake Berryessa on Monday night. Residents of Berryessa Highlands, Markley Cove Resort and Pleasure Cove Resort should be prepared to evacuate in case a mandatory order is necessary, Cal Fire said in a news release.
Buzzfeed: The Defendants In The Deadly Ghost Ship Fire Have Pleaded No Contest To 36 Counts Of Manslaughter by Stephanie K. Baer
Two men pleaded no contest Tuesday to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Ghost Ship fire that killed 36 people at a warehouse party in Oakland, California, in December 2016.
Derick Almena, 48, and Max Harris, 28, have agreed to serve nine years and six years in county jail, respectively, according to Alameda County Assistant District Attorney and spokesperson Teresa Drenick. Almena was a tenant of the warehouse, known as the Ghost Ship, who converted the building into residential units and subleased space to other tenants, including Harris.
Almena will also serve three years of probation and Harris will serve four years of probation, both under county supervision, as part of a deal reached with prosecutors.
The two men were accused of knowingly creating a fire trap at the warehouse when the blaze broke out. Prosecutors said that in addition to letting people live in the warehouse and hosting large groups of people without permits, they blocked one of only two exits of the building on the night of the fire.
FiveThirtyEight: Justice Kennedy Wasn’t A Moderate by Amelia Thomson-Deveaux
President Trump is moving quickly to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose retirement announcement seems likely to create a solid conservative majority on the Supreme Court for the first time in decades. Although he was appointed by a Republican president, Kennedy earned a reputation as a moderate thanks to his willingness to join the court’s liberal wing in important rulings on gay rights, abortion, affirmative action and somecriminal-justice issues. This track record led many to see him as a crucial bulwark against the court’s growing ideological polarization. In an open letter published in April that begged Kennedy to postpone his retirement, The New York Times characterized him as an “equal-opportunity disappointer” for both liberals and conservatives.
Except that’s not really the case. His sweeping rhetoric on gay rights, combined with a handful of key votes with the liberals in controversial cases, overshadows his track record of conservative rulings on a wide range of other questions.
An analysis of Kennedy’s voting record during his three decades on the court shows that he voted with the court’s right wing in the majority of cases — including controversial, closely decided cases — throughout his career. And although he was likelier to side with the liberals once he became the court’s swing vote, legal experts say that he occupied the ideological middle ground on relatively few issues. “When you have an odd number of justices, someone is always going to be in the middle, and Kennedy was certainly in the middle a lot,” said Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. But on many topics, Kennedy was as far to the right as his conservative colleagues. “The reality is that in a lot of cases, we may not see much of a difference between Kennedy and his successor.”
Mother Jones: The Cop Who Killed Antwon Rose Violated the Civil Rights of Others, a New Lawsuit Claims by Brandon E. Patterson
A civil lawsuit filed Monday against Michael Rosfeld—the East Pittsburgh police officer charged last week in the fatal shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Antwon Rose—accuses him of violating the civil rights of three men arrestedduring Rosefeld’s prior stint as a cop at the University of Pittsburgh.
On December 9, 2017, Rosfeld responded to a fellow officer’s call for assistance at the Garage Door Saloon, a bar near campus where Rosfeld ended up arresting the men (one black, two white) on charges including assault and trespassing. (A fourth ran away and was not arrested.) In his arrest reports, Rosfeld parroted the bar owner’s account: He wrote that the men, who were at the bar celebrating one of their birthdays, were thrown out after picking a fight with other patrons. They had to be physically removed, the owner claimed, and one of them kicked and shattered a glass door in retaliation. The men, Rosfeld also wrote, assaulted an employee who tried to get them to leave. He claimed he watched surveillance footage from the bar’s security cameras that verified the owner’s story.
The
lawsuit filed on Monday notes that the Allegheny County DA’s Office
dismissed the charges against the men after determining that the surveillance footage “did not support” and, in fact, “contradicted,” Rosfeld’s reports. The owner had ejected the friends unprovoked, the suit claims, and the second officer on the scene was there only because one of the three men flagged him down for assistance.
Guardian: Trump's opponents have the moral high-ground. Let's not squander it by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In the 1941 noir potboiler movie I Wake Up Screaming, Betty Grable’s character asks a corrupt cop: “What’s the good of living without hope?” To which he replies, “It can be done.” The movie’s title is how I’ve been feeling lately when I snap awake each morning, grab the newspaper and read what new atrocities Trump has committed against the English language, common decency, and American ideals laid out in the constitution. Acts of corruption, racism, and public lying that have driven other politicians from office in shame are merely the outrage du jour for the Trump administration.
I wake up screaming because I’m afraid Americans are being herded to a place that is not the “shining city on the hill”, but a place without hope – and that we are slowly but inevitably getting used to it, the way a prisoner gets used to a tiny cell.
This is not a plea for civility. The country’s leadership has proven itself so arrogant and immune from reason, compassion, and democratic principles that we are way past civility and decorum. Asking people to be civil in these circumstances is like calling starving Oliver Twist rude for asking for more food. Frankly, there’s so much at stake, and the administration is so unresponsive, I’m shocked that there aren’t huge protests and boycotts every day across the country.
This is coming from a man that boycotted the Mexico City Olympics in 1968...he knows what he is talking about here.
BBC: Thailand cave: 'Zero risks' to be taken in rescue of boys
Rescuers will take no risks in freeing the 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand, an official said.
They have received their first food and medical treatment in 10 days.
Seven divers, including a doctor and a nurse, joined the group inside the caves in the north of the country after they were discovered alive on Monday.
Rescuers are now considering how best to bring the group to safety.
"We will not rush to take the lads out of the cave," the governor of Chiang Rai, Narongsak Osoththanakorn, told reporters, adding: "Whoever has zero risk first can leave the cave first."
More heavy rain could see water levels rise and threaten the air pocket where the group has taken refuge.
DW: Chilean judge convicts nine retired soldiers for 1973 murder of singer Victor Jara
A Chilean court on Tuesday convicted nine former soldiers for the 1973 murder of Chile's most famous folk singer, Victor Jara.
A statement from the judiciary in Santiago on Tuesday said eight of the accused were convicted as perpetrators and one as an accessory to the murder of Jara and a former prison director.
"Judge Miguel Vazquez Plaza convicted nine retired members of the army for their responsibility in the homicide of singer Victor Jara and the ex-director of prisons Littre Quiroga Carvajal, in September 1973 in Santiago," the statement read.
It is the first conviction in the case in Chile following an investigation lasting several years.
DW: Germany's SPD makes Angela Merkel wait for approval on migrant deal by Jefferson Chase
Anyone hoping for quick approval by Social Democrats was sorely disappointed. Talks between Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, and their junior coalition partner, the center-left SPD, over a new deal concerning migrants ended without a definitive result on Tuesday evening.
"We couldn't answer all the questions concerning migration that need to be answered, but we did make some important progress," said SPD Deputy Chairman and German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, after he, SPD Chairwoman Andrea Nahles and other leaders met with their conservative counterparts.
Scholz said that further discussions within the coalition would take place on Thursday.
On Monday, the CDU and CSU reached a last-minute agreement to head off a potential rebellion by Bavarian conservatives against Merkel. The deal centered on the establishment of so-called transit centers along Germany's border with Austria, which the CSU says would facilitate checks on migrants trying to enter Germany and accelerate deportations.
Guardian: Najib Razak charged over multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal by Kate Lamb and agencies
The former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak appeared in court in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday morning where he was charged with corruption-related offences over his alleged involvement in the multibillion-dollar 1MBD corruption scandal.
In a stunning fall from grace, the former prime minister was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of corruption in a prosecution led by attorney general Tommy Thomas. Between August 2011 and March 2015, Najib is accused of transferring 42m Malaysian ringgit ($10m) from SRC International, a 1MDB subsidiary, to his personal bank accounts. Each count carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Whipping is also a penalty but Najib, 64, would be exempt because of his age. The charges also carry a fine, which would be no less than five times the value of the funds in question.
The case against him will be transferred to the high court where Najib is expected to make his plea on Wednesday.
AlJazeera: Assassination of second Philippine town mayor caught on camera
A second town mayor in the Philippines was shot and killed by an unidentified man in a road attack, one day after the mayor of another city was gunned down in a daylight sniper attack.
Tuesday's killing prompted an opposition senator to call the country the "murder capital of Asia".
Mayor Ferdinand Bote of the General Tinio town was leaving a government compound in a sports utility vehicle in the northern Nueva Ecija province when a man on a motorcycle shot him repeatedly with a pistol. The gunman escaped, police said.
Similar to the assassination of a Philippine city mayor on Monday, the attack on Tuesday was captured on closed-circuit television monitors.
AFP: Poland's Supreme Court top judge defies retirement law
Poland's chief justice refused to step down Tuesday, defying a controversial new law by the right-wing government which requires her and other senior judges to retire early.
Chief Justice Malgorzata Gersdorf, in a heated showdown, branded the controversial Supreme Court reform lowering the retirement age of its judges from 70 to 65 as a "purge".
She said she was defying the reform that cuts short her constitutionally guaranteed six-year term, ending in 2020, and requires her to step down immediately.
"As for my status -- as the Supreme Court chief justice -- it has not changed after my talks with the president, because the constitution gives me a six-year term," Gersdorf told lawmakers in parliament after meeting with President Andrzej Duda.
People: Tina Turner's Oldest Son Craig Dies by Suicide at Age 59 by Alexia Fernandez
Tina Turner’s oldest son, Craig Turner, has died by suicide, PEOPLE confirms. He was 59.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner tells PEOPLE Craig was pronounced dead at 12:38 p.m. after being found dead in his Studio City, California, home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Tuesday.
His autopsy is pending. A rep for Tina did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Craig is the son of Tina — who was just 18 when she gave birth to him — and saxophonist Raymond Hill, who performed with Ike Turner’s band Kings of Rhythm. Craig was adopted by Ike after he and Tina married in 1962.
Hollywood Reporter: Jar Jar Binks Actor Says He Considered Suicide After 'Star Wars' Backlash by Ryan Parker
Ahmed Best faced such backlash after playing Jar Jar in the Star Wars prequels that he considered taking his life, the actor revealed Tuesday.
Even though he did not name the franchise, Best wrote in a social media post that it was coming up on 20 years since he faced a resentment "that still affects my career today."
Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace was released in 1999. It was Best's first major role in a film.
Along with a scenic picture in which he and his child appear, Best wrote Tuesday, "This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy is my gift for survival."
The goofy CG Jar Jar was loved by children, but for the most part was despised by fans of the original trilogy who felt the character was too out of place. In fact, they were downright brutal, Best told Wired last year.
Bleacher Report: England Beat Colombia on Penalties, Advance to World Cup Quarter-Finals by Gianni Verschuern
England qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday with a win over Colombia, needing penalties to advance. Harry Kane and Yerry Mina scored in regulation, leading to a 1-1 final score, and England won 4-3 in the shootout.
The result means the Three Lions will face Sweden on Saturday, as they continue their quest for a first title since 1966.
Here are the key takeaways from the final match of the round of 16.
England's young squad showed its inexperience by folding like a deck chair in the final minutes of regulation against Colombia and were completely overrun in the first period of extra time. They also showed a different side to this new squad, however—the mental fortitude to win a penalty shootout.
Before Tuesday, the Three Lions had the worst record in shootouts in World Cup history. In three attempts, the team had never advanced.
Guardian: Former champions Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova fall at the first hurdle by Simon Chambers
Sometimes you can just want things too badly. Late last night the former champion Maria Sharapova, struggling to reassert herself a year after returning from a doping ban, suffered her first ever defeat in the opening round at Wimbledon, ousted 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 by the Russian qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko, the world No 138. And Petra Kvitova, the pre‑tournament favourite after five titles in 2018 and near-perfect preparation, endured a shock first-round defeat as she was stunned 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 by the world No 50, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was one game from victory when she led by a set and 5-2 against the 27-year-old Diatchenko, who had lost in the first round in each of her previous two visits. But as the sun went down, the 31-year-old allowed Diatchenko back into the match. Again Sharapova had the edge in the decider, leading 4-3 with a break but Diatchenko broke for 5-4 and an eighth double-fault completed Sharapova’s misery.
Everyone have a great evening and a safe Fourth of July holiday!