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: Nation's first strike at charter school comes as alternative movement slows in Chicago by Juan Perez Jr.
After years of growth, Chicago’s charter school movement is facing growing turbulence.
Illinois’ new governor has pledged to hold off on charter expansion, citing “challenges” the independently operated campuses have brought to the education ecosystem.
Chicago’s pro-charter mayor is stepping down, raising the prospect of a new direction for the city’s enormous school district. The Chicago Board of Education is expected to deny three new charter applications and close two low-performing schools this week.
Now hundreds of educators at the city’s Acero charter school network walked off the job Tuesday, halting classes for 7,500 predominantly Latino students and launching the nation’s first strike over a contract at the publicly funded schools.
The charter school strike offers a vivid illustration of
how growing union influence and new political leadership might signal big changes for how charter schools operate in Chicago.
Charlotte Observer: Robeson County sounded alarms last summer – now state is investigating election by Brian Murphy, Josh Shaffer, and Richard Stradling
“It wasn’t a single person,” Steve Stone, the board’s chairman, told The News & Observer on Tuesday in a phone interview. “There were several different players ... going door-to-door. They were getting paid to do that.”
Collecting and delivering applications for absentee ballots isn’t illegal. But the volume of applications in the summer — as many as 50 to 70 at a time in July — raised eyebrows at his office because “in 16 years, it was kind of unusual. Too heavy, too early.”
Stone said his office sent out approximately 2,300 absentee ballots. According to the state board, 1,197 were not returned.
Of those unreturned ballots in Robeson, 822 were sent to registered Democrats and 78 were sent to registered Republicans. In Bladen County, the numbers were 167 for Democrats and 121 for Republicans. Overall in the district, 1,873 unreturned absentee ballots were sent to Democrats and 519 unreturned absentee ballots were sent to Republicans, according to a News & Observer analysis of the data.
Voters in Robeson reported being told their voter registrations were no longer valid and that they had been removed from the rolls. Those coming to their doors wore a lanyard that said “Election Project” and offered to take in applications for absentee ballots at the same time as new registration forms, Stone said.
The Oregonian: Portland likely to withdraw from FBI anti-terror operation by Gordon R. Friedman
Portland is on a path to withdraw from the FBI’s anti-terrorism task force for a second time after Commissioner-Elect Jo Ann Hardesty is sworn into office early next year.
Hardesty has said forcing Portland’s removal from the Joint Terrorism Task Force is among her Day One priorities.
She likely has allies in that pursuit: Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Chloe Eudaly, both of whom told The Oregonian they lean toward pulling the city from the law enforcement pact.
Commissioner Dan Saltzman, whom Hardesty is replacing, on Tuesday bemoaned that Portland is all but certain to withdraw. “It’s almost a fait accompli,” Saltzman said.
Detroit News: Flint: Water line replacement won't be done till 2019 by Leonard N. Fleming
Flint has identified about 18,300 lead or galvanized steel water lines and has replaced nearly 7,000 of them, city officials announced Tuesday.
The city hopes to complete replacement of all service lines that could contribute to lead contamination of the city's water by the end of 2019, Mayor Karen Weaver announced at a press conference in Flint on Tuesday.
The Detroit News erroneously reported Tuesday that Flint officials planned to announce the completion of lead service line replacement at the press conference. In fact, they announced the completion of excavations that identify the type of service lines that carries water from the water system to individual homes.
State environmental regulators acknowledge there's more work to be done.
Boston Globe: Boston City Council questions Walsh administration over marijuana licensing by Dan Adams
Responding to mounting criticism of Boston’s system for licensing marijuana businesses, a top official in the mayor’s administration said Tuesday the city should consider approving equal numbers of larger investor-backed cannabis firms and those owned by local residents, people of color, and women.
The unexpected pronouncement by Martin J. Walsh’s economic development chief, John Barros, came during a four-hour hearing at which Boston city councilors sharply questioned Walsh officials over their handling of the roll-out of recreational pot sales in the city. It appeared to mark a new willingness by the mayor’s office to make major changes to its much maligned process for selecting prospective marijuana operators.
Councilors and small marijuana business owners testified Tuesday that the city’s current licensing process is slow, complex, and opaque, favoring wealthy — and white — operators who can afford to sit on prime properties and hire well-connected consultants and former officials to grease the wheels.
Washington Post: Justice Department charges 4 over Panama Papers tax schemes by Devlin Barrett
The Justice Department charged four people Tuesday with scheming for decades to hide tens of millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service — the first U.S. indictment over alleged tax evasion revealed in 2016 through the Panama Papers.
The four people charged include a former investment manager, a former U.S. resident, an American accountant and a Panamanian lawyer who once worked for the firm at the center of the case, Mossack Fonseca.
“Panama Papers” is the name given to a trove of more than 11 million documents from the Mossack Fonseca firm, which a consortium of journalists made public in April 2016, leading to criminal investigations throughout Europe into possible tax evasion and money laundering.
The 11-count indictment unsealed in New York marks the first time the U.S. government has charged anyone with tax crimes related to the firm — and authorities suggested others could soon be charged.
Buzzfeed: Not All Progressives Agree That Primarying Democrats From The Left Is A Good Idea by Molly Hensley-Clancy and Ryan C. Brooks
WASHINGTON — There’s a real divide in the progressive movement over the best way to shift the Democratic Party to the left after the 2018 midterms.
After they lost most of their biggest races, some progressives are arguing their energy is best spent on competitive primaries, like the one won by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — challenging centrist Democrats in safer, bluer districts.
Progressives spent much of 2018 focusing on winning in red and purple districts, where they argued their bold policies actually leaves them better positioned than moderates to take out Republican incumbents. But some think the results of the midterms are a sign that they need to shift that focus.
“The strategy of focusing on districts that lean Republican or are likely Republican, that’s been solidly debunked” for progressives in 2018, said Sean McElwee, the cofounder of the progressive think tank Data for Progress. “That’s been shown to be sort of a nonstarter. But winning blue to blue — that’s shown to be an amazing thing.”
Guardian: Theresa May staggers on after three Brexit defeats in single day by Heather Stewart, Jessica Elgot and Rajeev Saal
Theresa May has suffered an extraordinary three parliamentary defeats in a single day, as rebellious MPs at Westminster sought to wrest back control of Brexit.
The start of a five-day debate on May’s deal was delayed by several hours, as MPs passed a historic motion finding the government in contempt of parliament for failing to publish in full the legal advice on Brexit.
The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, called the defeat a “badge of shame” for the government.
“By treating parliament with contempt, the government has proved it has lost its majority and the respect of the house. The prime minister can’t keep pushing parliament away or avoiding responsible scrutiny,” he said.
MPs had already voted down a government compromise, which would have referred the dispute to parliament’s privileges committee, delaying it until after next week’s crunch vote on May’s deal.
With the prime minister still waiting to open the formal debate, MPs then inflicted a third defeat, passing a cross-party amendment tabled by MPs including Dominic Grieve aimed at strengthening the hand of parliament if the deal is voted down.
AFP: Macron retreats on fuel tax hikes in bid to calm French protests
The French government on Tuesday backed down on planned fuel tax hikes in a bid to draw the heat out of fierce protests that have escalated into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron's presidency.
The concessions, coming after an earlier 500-million-euro ($570 million) relief package for poorer households, mark the first time 40-year-old Macron has given ground in the face of public opposition.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced rollbacks on fuel taxes and electricity price increases in a rare televised address after France was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.
"This anger, you would have to be deaf and blind not to see it, nor hear it," Philippe said after more than a fortnight of demonstrations by so-called "yellow vest" protesters.
"No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger," he said.
Planned tax increases on petrol and diesel on January 1 will be suspended for six months, while hikes in regulated electricity and gas prices will be frozen during the winter.
Pressure has been mounting on the government after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades.
Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz (27), currently living in Canada, has filed a lawsuit against Israeli software company NSO Group, known for building state of the art spy tech which it sells to governments.
According to the lawsuit, Israel-based NSO Group sold spyware to the Saudi government, which was then used to spy on mobile communications between Abdulaziz and Jamal Khashoggi.
Once installed, the Pegasus spyware is able to listen in on calls, read messages, record keystrokes and track internet history. The phone's microphone can also be turned on remotely, allowing the spyware to listen in on conversations without the owner of the phone realising he or she is being listened to.
In the lawsuit, Abdulaziz claims the Saudi government spied on conversations Abdulaziz and Khashoggi had.
BBC: First baby born after deceased womb transplant by James Gallagher
A healthy baby girl has been born using a womb transplanted from a dead body.
The 10-hour transplant operation - and later fertility treatment - took place in São Paolo, Brazil, in 2016. The mother, 32, was born without a womb.
There have been 39 womb transplants using a live donor, including mothers donating their womb to their daughter, resulting in 11 babies.
But the 10 previous transplants from a dead donor have failed or resulted in miscarriage.
In this case, the womb donor was a mother of three in her mid-40s who died from bleeding on the brain.
The recipient had Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, which affects about one in every 4,500 women and results in the vagina and uterus (womb) failing to form properly.
However, her ovaries were fine. And doctors were able to remove eggs, fertilise them with the father-to-be's sperm and freeze them.
Reuters: Growing split in Seoul over North Korea threatens Korea detente, nuclear talks by Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) - When Seoul was preparing to open a liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong this summer after a decade of virtually no contact with its longtime enemy, South Korean officials had heated debates over whether they should seek approval from Washington.
Some top aides to President Moon Jae-in stressed it was an issue for the two Koreas alone and there was no need to involve their U.S. ally, two people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
But to the surprise of several officials at the meeting, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon argued Washington must be consulted because Seoul’s plans might run afoul of sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.
Two dozen countries including the Britain, Germany and Sweden already have embassies in Pyongyang, and other officials saw the proposed liaison office as a far lower-level of contact with the North.
College Football Playoff- Final Rankings
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. Oklahoma
5. Georgia
6. Ohio State
7. Michigan
8. Central Florida
9. Washington
10. Florida
The Semifinal match-ups will take place on December 29 with #1 Alabama v. #4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl and #2 Clemson v. #3 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer will coach his final game on January 1 in Pasadena, California at the Rose Bowl against #9 Washngton and #7 Michigan will play #10 Florida...yet again...on December 29 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta...and I am tired of Michigan playing Florida.
Don't forget that Meteor Blades is hosting an open thread for night owls tonight.
Everyone have a great evening and I will see you again this coming Saturday for...science.