VA. STATUE MAY COME DOWN
Legislative panel votes to remove statue of Virginia segregationist
RICHMOND, Va. – A panel of Virginia legislators advanced a bill Friday to remove a statue of Harry F. Byrd Sr., a staunch segregationist, from the state Capitol grounds.
The decision to advance the bill comes amid a yearslong effort to rethink who is honored in the state’s public spaces. Byrd, a Democrat, served as governor and U.S. senator. He ran the state’s most powerful political machine for decades until his death in 1966 and was considered the architect of the state’s racist “massive resistance” policy to public school integration.
“It is my deep belief that monuments to segregation, massive resistance, and the subjugation of one race below another, like this statue, serve only as a reminder to the overt and institutional racism has and continues to plague our Commonwealth,” the bill’s sponsor, Del. Jay Jones, said when introducing the measure.
The bill advanced from the House committee on a party-line vote of 13-5, with all Republicans voting against it. It still must pass both chambers of the General Assembly, but with Democrats controlling the statehouse and Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam backing the measure, it is almost certain to pass.
Petition seeks ouster of Kentucky AG over Taylor death probe
FRANKFORT, Ky. – A petition seeking the impeachment of Kentucky’s attorney general was filed Friday by three grand jurors who criticized his handling of an investigation into Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police.
The petition’s allegations against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron include breach of public trust and failure to comply with his duties as the state’s chief law enforcement official. They do not accuse him of any crimes, but impeachment is not considered a criminal proceeding.
The petition is the latest in a flurry of tit-for-tat efforts to impeach Kentucky elected officials. Four Kentucky citizens recently petitioned the state House of Representatives to impeach Democratic
Gov. Andy Beshear for executive actions he took in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the matter was assigned to a House committee for review.
Beshear’s actions had been upheld by the state Supreme Court, and the governor says there are “zero grounds” for his removal.
Prosecutor: Suspect in Capitol attack tried to flee to Switzerland
NEW YORK – A Colorado geophysicist accused of dragging a police officer down steps to be beaten by an American flag outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was ordered held without bail Friday after a prosecutor said the man afterward tried to flee to Switzerland and commit suicide.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Krause, based in White Plains, said he found the alleged actions by Jeffrey Sabol, a 51-year-old born in Utica, New York, “beyond the pale and it is troubling to a degree that is really ... shocking.”
Krause said Sabol needed to remain behind bars as a danger to the community and a risk to flee. Sabol was arrested Friday morning at the Westchester Medical Center.
The judge said he also saw video footage that showed Sabol going back up the stairs after the first officer was dragged down to possibly look for someone else to bring “down those stairs into the teeth of that mob that was at the Capitol that day.”
Oklahoma lawmaker proposes ‘Bigfoot’ hunting season
OKLAHOMA CITY – A mythical, apelike creature that has captured the imagination of adventurers for decades has now become the target of a state lawmaker in Oklahoma.
A Republican House member has introduced a bill that would create a Bigfoot hunting season. Rep. Justin Humphrey’s district includes the heavily forested Ouachita Mountains in southeast Oklahoma, where a Bigfoot festival is held each year. He says issuing a state hunting license and tag could help boost tourism.
“Establishing an actual hunting season and issuing licenses for people who want to hunt Bigfoot will just draw more people to our already beautiful part of the state,” Humphrey said in a statement.
Humphrey says his bill would only allow trapping and that he also hopes to secure $25,000 to be offered as a bounty.
Tire falls from small plane into Chicago neighborhood
CHICAGO – A tire fell from a small plane near homes in a Chicago neighborhood before the plane landed safely at O’hare International Airport.
No injuries were reported on the ground or among those on the plane, which sent up sparks on a runway as it landed Thursday evening without its left-side landing gear, the Chicago Department of Aviation said.
The single-engine plane was traveling to Chicago from Ironwood, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Two crew members and five passengers were on board.
Sen. Harry F. Byrd, who was also a Virginia governor, at Capitol Square in Richmond.
Belgium bans leisure travel for a month to combat pandemic
BRUSSELS – Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens as of next week and until March, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its virulent variants.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Friday that “when people travel, the virus travels with them.”
He said visitors from Britain, South Africa and South America will have to quarantine for 10 days to make sure they don’t bring dangerous variants into Belgium.
The move came one day after the 27 European Union leaders said that borders within the bloc needed to remain open to assure essential transport and movement of workers, but left it up to member states to take other measures they deemed necessary.