Steve Braunias’ Secret Diary of ...
the USA
MICHIGAN Shifting demand from cars to trucks and SUVs is forcing General Motors to lay off more than 2000 workers indefinitely at two assembly plants in Ohio and Michigan. The company said Wednesday it will suspend the third shifts at factories in Lordstown, Ohio, and in Lansing, Michigan, because of the market change, which is growing and shows no sign of abating. About 1250 workers will be furloughed at the Lordstown plant. Another 840 will be idled at the Lansing Grand River factory, which makes the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car. — Associated Press NEVADA The Nevada ballot measure that would expand background checks to private gun sales and transfers passed by a thin margin on Tuesday night. Opposition group Nevadans for Freedom pumped $ 6.5 million in advertising and ground- game work to fight the expansion of background checks. About $ 2 million of that came from the NRA’s national political arm. — Las Vegas Review- Journal KENTUCKY A Louisville man was charged Wednesday after police said he fired shots outside a west Louisville daycare while children were present. Jeffrey Wilhelm, 20, fired two shots toward a man in what started as a verbal altercation outside the Smiling Faces Daycare, according to an arrest citation. Court records show that Wilhelm was arrested on October 28 on charges of first- degree robbery and first- degree fleeing or evading police. — Louisville Courier- Journal FLORIDA Monroe County jail inmates will soon visit friends and family only through a video screen. Keys Sheriff Rick Ramsay is installing a digital system that for the first time will let people make virtual visits with inmates from their homes for about 40 cents per minute. All visits will be conducted through video and must be scheduled at least eight hours in advance. Monroe County is joining about 15 per cent of jails in the US shifting from in- person visits through glass and over telephone receivers to video- only visits. Inmates will stay in their dorms for visits, which are 25 minutes long each. A home video visit costs $ 9.95. — Miami Herald CALIFORNIA US warplanes probably killed 59 civilians and injured five over seven months this year during the daily bombardment of Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, where fighters are often mixed among civilians. The civilian death toll from US airstrikes now stands at 119, according to the Pentagon. Independent monitors say many more have been killed by errant bombs or poor targeting. — Los Angeles Times TEXAS Russia unveiled a new intercontinental ballistic missile that can reportedly destroy a geographic area as large as Texas. The debut of the RS- 28 Sarmat, nicknamed “Satan 2,” will replace the R- 36M Voevoda missile, the original “Satan”. According to reports, the Sarmat missile will be faster than any missiledefence system in existence. It will have an estimated range of more than 6000 miles. It will be equipped with a dozen warheads with a payload of between four to 10 tons. During the missile’s debut, a broadcaster on Russian news network Zvezda said Sarmat missiles could “wipe out” areas as large as Texas. — Dallas News ALASKA Empty storefronts scattered across Anchorage are about to be reincarnate as part of Alaska’s newest industry: marijuana. — Alaska Dispatch News TENNESSEE A transgender woman’s truck was spraypainted with the word “Trump” an torched in her driveway as she and her 3- year- old son were inside their Cookeville home early Saturday morning. A disabled veteran, Elle served eight years in the US Army. She was medically retired in 2007 after suffering from a severe brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder while on tour Iraq in 2004. Elle said she would like to ask the person or people who committe the crime why they did it. “I’m just trying to live my life,” she said. “I wouldn’t hurt anyone.” — The Tennessean