HAWLEY DRAWS REBUKE
St. Louis protesters call on Hawley to resign from Senate
ST. LOUIS – Several hundred protesters gathered in downtown St. Louis to call on Republican Sen. Josh Hawley to resign over his continued rejection of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory – even after supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Those at the Saturday demonstration outside the historic Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis. chanted “No Hawley. No KKK. No fascist USA,” and held signs calling on the first-term Missouri senator to resign.
They also painted “RESIGN HAWLEY” in large yellow block letters in the middle of the street.
Many of Trump’s allies, including members of his Cabinet, have distanced themselves from him since Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building Wednesday following a rally in which Trump riled them up.
Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol Police officer who was struck in the head by a fire extinguisher.
Hawley has rejected the calls for him to resign and said repeatedly that he will not apologize for giving voice to millions who question the results of the election.
Savannah reports no 2020 fire deaths, first time in a decade
SAVANNAH. Ga. – Authorities in Georgia’s oldest city say they saw no deaths from fires in 2020, the first time that’s happened in a decade.
The Savannah Fire Department said in a news release it responded to 920 fires last year, but nobody died. Savannah wasn’t so fortunate during the previous nine years. The department says 41 people died as a result of fires between 2011 and 2019.
“Despite the increased number of people working and studying from home in 2020, fire incidents are down, and we made it through a tumultuous year without a single fire-related death,” Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard said.
He credited not only his department’s effectiveness at fighting fires, but also its efforts toward fire prevention and education.
Anti-abortion faith leaders support use of COVID-19 vaccines
In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the leading vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses.
One outspoken foe of abortion based in Dallas, Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, has called the vaccines a “present from God.”
The Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, also has celebrated the vaccines’ development.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which says fighting abortion is its “preeminent” priority, said last month that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus “ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community,” according to a statement by the chairmen of its Committee on Doctrine and Committee on Pro-life Activities.
San Diego sees clash of Trump supporters, counterprotesters
SAN DIEGO – Supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with counterprotesters in San Diego on Saturday, prompting police to declare the gathering an unlawful assembly because of acts of violence.
Officers were hit with rocks, bottles and eggs, police said, and the crowd directed pepper spray at them.
KSWB-TV tweeted video of counterdemonstrators, most of them dressed in black and waving an antifa flag, throwing a folding chair and spraying a chemical irritant at a smaller group of people participating in the march on the Pacific
Beach boardwalk.
The station said in other instances, members of both groups shoved and threw objects at one another.
Police sent in dozens of officers in riot gear to separate the two groups. Police asked residents to stay away from the area and warned that those who refused to disperse may be cited or arrested.
Average US price of gas up 9 cents a gallon to $2.35
CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 9 cents a gallon over the past three weeks to $2.35.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday a rise in crude oil prices spurred the increase.
The price at the pump is 30 cents less than it was a year ago.
The highest average price in the nation is $3.40 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lowest average is $1.90 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The average price of diesel spiked 7 cents over the past three weeks to $2.65. The survey was conducted Friday.
South Korean diplomat in Iran over seized ship, frozen funds
downtown St. Louis on Saturday.
TEHRAN, Iran – A South Korean diplomatic delegation arrived in Iran on Sunday to negotiate the release of a tanker and its crew seized by Iranian forces amid an escalating financial dispute between the countries, Iranian state-run media reported.
Iranian officials have been pressing South Korea to release some $7 billion in assets tied up in the country’s banks due to American sanctions. It appeared the Islamic Republic was seeking to increase its leverage over Seoul ahead of South Korea’s pre-scheduled regional trip, which included a stop in Qatar.
Iran maintains the tanker and its 20member crew were stopped in the mouth of the Persian Gulf because of the vessel’s “environmental pollution,” a claim rejected by the vessel’s owner. The crew, including sailors from Indonesia, Myanmar, South Korea and Vietnam, remain in custody at the port city of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz.