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An SUV packed with 25 people pulled in front of an oncoming tractortrailer on a two-lane highway early Tuesday, killing 13 and leaving bodies strewn across the roadway.
When police arrived some of the passengers were trying to crawl out of the crumpled 1997 Ford Expedition, the front end of the rig still pushing into its left side and two empty trailers jackknifed behind it. Other victims were wandering around farm fields.
Twelve people were found dead when first responders reached the highway, which winds through the southeastern corner of California about 125 miles east of San Diego. Another person died at a hospital, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said.
“It was a pretty chaotic scene,” said Watson, who also described it as “a very sad situation.”
The injuries ranged from minor to severe and included fractures and head trauma. Six people were being treated at El Centro Regional Medical Center. Four were flown to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where one person is in critical condition and the others were stable, spokesman Todd Burke said.
The deceased ranged in age from 20 to to 55. Among the injured, the youngest is 16 years old.
The 22-year-old driver of the Ford Expedition was killed. The 69-yearold driver of the big rig was hospitalized with moderate injuries.
In Haiti last month, a group attempted to carry out a coup against democratically elected President Jovenel Moïse. It capped off a period of small but sometimes violent rallies that allege that the president’s term in office ended on Feb. 7.
A few months ago, a handful of politicians in Haiti began to argue that Moïse’s term in office should end not after five years, as set out in our constitution, but after four years. They cited the nation’s troubled election cycle in 2015, marred by violence, then a re-run in 2016. These politicians, however, ignored the fact that Moïse was inaugurated in February 2017, which means legally and constitutionally, that his term ends in February 2022. Just like in America, Haiti’s president takes office — and the term begins — on inauguration day.
Months later, the U.S.
State Department, United Nations and Organization of American States all confirmed that Moïse’s term indeed ends in February 2022. All agree the Haitian people need to choose our next president on schedule.
Meanwhile, some politicians in opposing parties try to depict Moïse as a figure so universally disdained as to be on the verge of being toppled by people power. This is false. Like many countries, including the United States, Haiti is deeply polarized by tense partisan politics. In a recent poll, 57 percent of respondents reported unfavorable views of Moïse’s party. But standards need to be applied evenly. Moïse’s polling, despite being conducted amid high tension, still puts him in similar territory as several American presidents: Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter’s average approval rating were both 45 percent. Barack Obama’s average was just under 48 percent and at times as low as 38 percent.
Polling, no matter where, has its flaws, but even at their lowest points in popularity, none of those U.S. presidents would be characterized the way the media do Moise: a would-be despot scarcely clinging to power.
Protests in the streets are highlighted as proof that the bulk of the population is calling for Moïse to go but, demonstrably, protests have been habitually small in scale and limited to just one city: Port au Prince. No U.S. news outlet would conclude — based on sporadic, partisan protests in Washington — that the whole country wants President Biden gone.
Our legislature has been missing in action since January 2020. Under the 1987 constitution, Haiti’s branches of power are woefully imbalanced, marked by dysfunctional decisionmaking processes. Just a few legislators can block essential proceedings, including movement for elections.
Last year, the legislature failed to hold a vote on the budget needed to conduct legislative elections when the process was obstructed by a few fringe members.
In Haiti, the president has no ability to interfere, so legislative elections were postponed, and the body’s term expired without newly elected members, leaving the president to govern by executive order without parliamentary oversight. This has happened to five successive presidents since 1987 for the same reason. Clearly, there are fundamental flaws to our governing system.
These problems are the very reasons Moïse moved to reform the constitution, an effort supported by nearly 90 percent of Haitians, alongside the U.N., OAS and other international partners.
The new constitution was drafted by an independent commission with wide-ranging consultation and will be put to a national referendum for the voters’ approval in April. It strengthens our weak, unstable democratic structure and creates considerably more accountability, laying the groundwork for Haiti to have a functioning representative democracy — finally.
The referendum will be followed by local, state and national elections in which Moïse will not be a candidate, and for each of these we have actively sought and recruited international support and on-ground observation to help ensure transparency, security and credibility of results.
To make it possible for the next administration, and those thereafter, to govern effectively and deliver the positive change for which the people of our country have waited and suffered for far too long, we have to fix our faulty foundation. We have to prevent the same cycle from occurring again: political deadlock, chaos, instability, repeat.
Before leaving office next February, President Moïse is working to deliver constitutional change, and it will mean something. It will give our country a chance.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced punitive sanctions against senior Russian government figures for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the first of what is likely to be a series of actions designed to signal a tougher approach to Moscow than that taken by President Donald Trump.
The sanctions block access to financial and other assets in the United States for seven top figures around Russian President Vladimir Putin, though not Putin himself. The United States also reiterated its demand that Navalny be released from detention.
The largely symbolic penalties represent the first Biden administration action against Russia, and U.S. officials said it is a signal that Biden will treat Russia differently than his predecessor did.
“The U.S. government has exercised its authorities to send a clear signal that Russia’s use of chemical weapons and abuse of human rights have severe consequences,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable and contravenes international norms.”
He called Navalny’s prosecution and imprisonment “politically motivated” and said the Russian government must release Navalny immediately.
The Dolphins spent a lot of time with their scouts at their practice facility recently to discuss 2021 draft prospects, and perhaps the most important topic of conversation centered on wide receivers.
The Dolphins need at least one, and perhaps more, wide receivers from this draft.
The Dolphins understand the most NFL-ready receivers are likely to be available in the first round.
The Dolphins, like the entire earth, are debating DeVonta Smith versus Ja’Marr Chase.
Yes, Jaylen Waddle and my first-round back-to-back guy Rashod Bateman, who recently ran a 4.39 at the EXOS combine, were probably also part of the conversation, as were many others.
But the debate between Smith and Chase or Chase and Smith — depending on preference — is intriguing because it could decide what the Dolphins do with their highest scheduled pick, No. 3 in the first round.
If the Dolphins decide one or both of those guys are worthy of the No. 3 pick, receiver might be the direction they go with their top pick. They could also trade down and still hope to land one or the other.
If the Dolphins decide neither is a top-three pick, the team can obviously look for a trade-down and still hope to land one or the other in the exchange while picking up a valuable extra pick later.
And if the Dolphins fall in love with only one and that one becomes a “must have,” then the chances of a trade-down diminish.
So which is it, Miami Dolphins?
Oh, yeah, the Dolphins aren’t saying. The cancellation of the annual NFL Combine in Indianapolis, at which NFL general managers and coaches speak with the media, provided the Dolphins’ brass an opportunity to skip a news conference in which they intended to reveal their draft strategy.
Maybe next year.
But that doesn’t mean there is a
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paucity of opinions out there.
Today, for example, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. established himself squarely in the Smith camp. That makes sense since he slotted Smith to the Dolphins in his mock draft.
So why Smith, Mel? Does he have the edge over Chase, who is 200 pounds compared to 160and-change for Smith?
“No edge,” Kiper said during his annual media conference call. “There’s a feeling of, ‘Hey, you got Tua, do you want Tua’s former teammate?’ Bigger doesn’t always mean better.
“Look at Marvin Harrison and the great career he had. When he dropped, I was with him at the Hula
Bowl that year and he was about 178 pounds coming out of Syracuse. When you look at DeVonta, the ability, the work ethic, the passion for the game. DeVonta played and Ja’Marr didn’t. Ja’Marr Chase opted out.”
And here is a fact teams will discuss in this comparison because it has been mentioned to me over and over by NFL personnel people:
Last year Smith played through the pandemic. When Waddle, who was perhaps rated higher as a prospect when the season began, broke his ankle in October, Smith responded by playing better, producing more.
Chase, LSU’s No. 1 receiver in 2019 in a year they also had Justin Jefferson,
did not play in 2020. He opted out.
And that is affecting teams in different ways. Some teams don’t see it as a problem. Some teams might worry about a lack of information about the player. And some teams might wonder if it means Chase is already making business decisions, which is his right, but some teams don’t love.
“Teams could have no contact during the year with opt-outs,” Kiper said. “That’s why I have an edge [for Smith]. I had teams in the league tell me put Chase to Miami. I didn’t do it. I went with what I thought. I had a couple teams tell me
Chase should be the guy there.
“That’s a flip of the coin. Those two are interchangeable.You could put either one in Miami and drop the next one down to Philadelphia at 6.”
There is a difference of opinion within the ESPN staff.
NFL analyst Mike Tannenbaum, who formerly headed the New York Jets and Dolphins front offices,
is a big believer in Chase.
As someone who worked under Bill Parcells, Tannenbaum obviously defers to prototype size.
Dolphins GM Chris
Grier also worked under
Parcells in Miami. And his father, Bobby Grier, worked with Parcells as the vice president of player personnel in New England.
So Grier also likes prototype size.
But Grier drafted a 6foot quarterback at No. 5 overall last year, passing on the 6-6 guy. And he has drafted four Alabama players the past five years, including two — Minkah Fitzpatrick and Tua Tagovailoa — in the first round.
And yes, Smith played at Alabama and has a major seal of approval from coach Nick Saban, so he should not be dismissed from the Dolphins conversation because he needs to gain weight.
Thus the debate of Ja’Marr Chase or DeVonta Smith.
Additional residential is coming to Mid-Beach, just steps from the Broken Shaker and Miami Beach Edition.
The City of Miami Beach Planning Board is set to review a proposal for a 7-story residential building at 2901 Indian Creek Drive in March, according to plans submitted to the city. The site is owned by 29 ICD LLC, represented by Brooklyn-based brokerage firm Madison Estates &
Properties’ principal Gerard Longo, according to property records.
The 29 Indian Creek project would replace two of the three 2-story apartment buildings on the site with a 22-unit building, including a mechanical parking garage for 22 cars and a rooftop pool. The Miami Beach Planning Board will decide whether to approve a conditional use permit for the project and the parking garage.
Madison Estates proposes preserving one of the existing buildings, which was built in 1936 and houses four units. Robert
H. Morton, founder of the traveling Hamid Morton Circus and a real-estate investor, hired Carlos Schoeppl, a well-known architect of the time, and Arnold Southwell to design the walk-up.
The other two buildings on the site were built in 1938 and 1962.
Madison Estates would elevate the Morton-commissioned building to meet new flood criteria set by the March 2020 Buoyant City plan and gut its interior. It has hired the Miami Beach-based Urban Robot Associates to design the entire project.
Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin + Tapanes lawyer Graham Penn is representing the project. Penn did not respond to a request for comments.
Madison Estates acquired the site for $7.75 million in 2017 from another New York-based firm, JMH Development, which had planned a condo project for the site.
Mid-Beach continues the evolution launched by Alan Faena with the 2015 opening of the Faena Hotel and Faena House.
The most recent headlines came from luxury hotelier Aman, which has
received key approvals for a hotel and condo building that is a 10-minute walk to 29 Indian Creek.
8 PM _ Name That Tune Host
Jane Krakowski wraps up her first season at the helm of this gameshow reboot in tonight’s two-hour season finale, in which a lineup of contestants face off in a series of bouts to demonstrate their knowledge of popular songs, performed by the show’s live band led by Randy Jackson (“American Idol”). The player with the most money at the end of the game gets a chance to win additional cash and potentially the $100,000 grand prize in the climactic Golden Medley.
9 PM (HGTV) Farmhouse Fixer Best known as one of the New Kids on the Block, Jonathan Knight hosts this new makeover series, in which he offers his advice on meticulously restoring centuries-old New England farmhouses that deserve a second chance. Each of the six episodes in Season 1 features Knight, who has renovated more than 200 houses, preserving the home’s original craftsmanship and historic charm, while modernizing room layouts and updating interiors. In the premiere, designer Kristina Crestin helps Knight refurbish an 18th-century New Hampshire farmhouse.
9 PM (DIY) Restored In the new episode “1912 Transitional Victorian Arts and Crafts,” host Brett Waterman
focuses on a 1912 Transitional Victorian house that is a veritable hybrid of styles, combining Victorian flourish with “arts and crafts” simplicity. Applying both skill and ingenuity, he manages to restore the home, blend two different architectural styles and find space for a new bedroom for the daughter of the owners.
10 PM (FX) Snowfall When Franklin’s (Damson Idris) escalating troubles begin to extend well beyond the gangs, the volatile situation winds up putting Cissy (Michael Hyatt) in jeopardy in a new episode called “All the Way Down.” Elsewhere, Teddy and Gustavo (Carter Hudson,
Sergio Peris-Mencheta) embark on a quest for revenge. Isaiah John and Amin Joseph also star.
10 PM (SYFY) Resident Alien Having earned virtually across-the-board positive reviews from critics, this quirky and dark (but very funny) series adaptation of a Dark Horse comic book continues with the new episode “Sexy Beast,” as incognito extraterrestrial Harry Vanderspeigle (the dazzling Alan Tudyk) keeps struggling to master unfamiliar human emotions to protect his masquerade. In this case, it’s seething jealousy, after the mayor (Levi Fiehler) hires an annoyingly perfect new town doctor.