Hurricane Lee: The area from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, through Maine is under a tropical storm watch as effects from Hurricane Lee already are being felt. The storm is projected to continue on its track off the Northeast Coast and could make landfall in Maine on Saturday. The last hurricane to make landfall in Maine was in 1969. What appears to be a tornado spawned in storm bands from the hurricane touched down last night in Glocester, Rhode Island. Beach erosion and high surf are concerns today and through the weekend for Long Island.
Bobert kicked out: Right-wing extremist Congresswoman Lauren Bobert and her companion were kicked out of a performance of “Beetlejuice – The Musical” at a theater in Denver after audience members complained about them creating a disturbance. Bobert insisted on continuing to talk and sing after several audience members asked her to be quiet. She also was accused of vaping even though no smoking is allowed in the theater.
UAW strike: United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain says the union and big three auto makers are far apart in their contract talks and the union is prepared to call strikes at a number of U.S. auto plants at midnight tonight when the current contract expires. The big three are Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Chrysler is now owned by Stellantis. He said a decision on whether union members will walk out is going to be announced at 10 p.m. Eastern time tonight. There are 146,000 members of the United Auto Workers. The companies have said the transition to electric vehicles makes it difficult to meet union demands for higher wages and better benefits.
Hunter Biden’s lawsuit: President Biden’s son Hunter has filed a federal lawsuit in California against a former official in the Trump White House. The lawsuit alleges that Trump’s aide Garrett Ziegler illegally hacked into Hunter Biden’s iPhone and illegally obtained a copy of data from Biden’s laptop computer. Ziegler worked in the Trump White House from 2019 until the end of Trump’s term. At one point he worked directly with Peter Navarro, who was convicted earlier this month of contempt of Congress in connection with its investigation of the attempt to stage a coup and keep Trump in power.
Trips for DeSantis: The Washington Post reports that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken at least a half dozen trips on private jets and accepted gifts of free hotel stays and dinners that were not disclosed as required. The Post says that a trip to the Augusta National Golf Club included transportation, food and lodging and was paid for by a wealthy businessman who subsequently received $92 million in federal money that was being administered by the state of Florida. Meanwhile, DeSantis has told Florida residents not to take the new Covid vaccine that has been designed to combat the newest strains of the virus.
Santos delays again: New York Congressman George Santos has missed another deadline to file his latest required financial disclosure report. The 30-day grace period for filing ran out yesterday, with Santos having missed the actual deadline in May. A 90-day extension Santos had received ran out in August. Santos said that he doesn’t plan to file the required financial disclose report with the House Ethics Committee until at least November and has delayed the filing because he didn’t want to be rushed and make mistakes.
