Author: Staff

During an appearance at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Wednesday, President Biden announced that the White House is expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure, by announcing funding for 35 states to build their own charging stations. The White House said in a statement: “The future of transportation is electric. The president’s economic plan has generated an American electric vehicle boom that is creating new economic opportunity and tens of thousands of good-paying and union jobs across the country.”

Biden detailed his administration’s efforts to promote electric vehicle manufacturing and reduce the need for fossil fuels: “Y’all are going to be part of a network of 500,000 charging stations … throughout the country installed by the [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers].” Biden detailed plans for approval of about $900 million in federal funding to build the first EV chargers across the 35 states. The money will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed last year. which provides $7.5 billion to build the national network of 500,000 EV charging stations and another $17 billion for EV battery production and clean transit and school buses.

Biden said his plan will make electric vehicles accessible for everyone, and pledged that charging stations would be available on major roadways such as I-10 and I-75.  Companies including Toyota, Honda, Ford, General Motors and Panasonic have announced tens of billions of dollars in investments in electric vehicles.

Biden’s speech at the Detroit Auto Show is part of the White House’s agenda to accelerate EV production and wean off fossil fuels, for the benefit of the environment and to become less reliant on oil imports.

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A somber procession through central London was held on Wednesday in which the coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II was moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the late monarch will lie in state for four days until her funeral is held on Monday. The coffin was topped with the Imperial State Crown — encrusted with almost 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and plants, including pine from the Balmoral Estate, where Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96.

Massive crowds gathered early Wednesday morning to view the procession, and a line had begun to form of people waiting to file past the queen’s coffin. The most senior members of the Royal Family taking part in the 40-minute walk from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, including the new monarch King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew. William, Prince of Wales and Harry, Duke of Sussex, also walked in a row behind the queen’s children.

The procession included the tolling of the bells of Big Ben, and a gun salute at Hyde Park nearby. After the coffin reached Westminster Hall, a short service began – conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury – in which the royal family, including the Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were in attendance.

Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin rests on a raised platform that will be guarded around the clock for the full four-day lying in state period. Four officers from the Household Cavalry -– two from the Life Guards and two from the Blues Royals -– began the vigil, taking their places at each corner and bowing their heads.

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Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation of former President Bill Clinton led to the second-ever impeachment trial in American history, has died at age 76. His family said in a statement that Starr died in Houston of complications from surgery.

Starr was best known for leading the investigation that ultimately led to the impeachment in which Clinton was acquitted. Starr was also a Reagan judicial appointee and Solicitor General under President George H.W. Bush. More recently, Starr joined the legal team defending former President Donald Trump in his first Senate impeachment trial in early 2020; Trump was acquitted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Starr served as president of Texas’ Baylor University from 2010 until 2016. Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone said in a statement: “Judge Starr was a dedicated public servant and ardent supporter of religious freedom that allows faith-based institutions such as Baylor to flourish. Ken and I served together as Deans at Pepperdine University in the 2000s, and I appreciated him as a Constitutional law scholar and a fellow academician who believed in the transformative power of higher education”

Randall P. Starr, Ken Starr’s son, said of his father: “The love, energy, endearing sense of humor, and fun-loving interest Dad exhibited to each of us was truly special, and we cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to experience with him. He is now with his Lord and Savior.” Starr will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

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Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced legislation on Tuesday that would ban abortion after 15 weeks nationwide, with some exceptions. Graham said at a news conference: “I think we should have a law at the federal level that would say, after 15 weeks, no abortion on demand except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.”  The bill is unlikely to receive a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but Graham said that if Republicans took back the House and Senate in the midterm elections, there would be a vote on his bill:  “Abortion is a contentious issue. Abortion is not banned in America. It is left up to elected officials in America to define the issue.” 

However, many Republicans attacked the bill as a distraction that divides the GOP and reminds voters that most of them see the party as too extreme on abortion. Republican leaders, rank-and-file lawmakers and political strategists are distancing themselves from Graham.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement: “President Biden and congressional Democrats are committed to restoring the protections of Roe vs. Wade in the face of continued radical steps by elected Republicans to put personal health care decisions in the hands of politicians instead of women and their doctors, threatening women’s health and lives.” The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe vs. Wade in June, eliminating the federally protected right to abortion procedures, causing multiple states to move quickly to criminalize it.

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