Two South Carolina teenagers stole from a store at a mall in Greenville, but the business elected to turn the incident into a learning opportunity and a chance to give back to the community instead of pressing charges against the shoplifters.
The teenage boys were caught by Greenville Police on surveillance video on March 13 stealing from Palmetto Moon in Haywood Mall.
But Palmetto Moon president Amber Dube said that when the clothing store learned the shoplifters were teenagers, they wanted to work with the families on resolving the issue without pressing charges. As a result, the boys will work for Palmetto Moon.
DECORATED ARMY SOLDIER KILLED IN SOUTH CAROLINA SHOOTING
Two South Carolina teenagers stole from a store at a mall in Greenville, but the business elected to allow them to work instead of pressing charges. (Palmetto Moon via Facebook)
“I think this is a situation where teenagers do stupid things, and we know that,” Dube told FOX Carolina. “So I think it’s important for us to think about what they did and really judge on the merits of who they are and what they can contribute back to the community.”
Dube said the teenagers’ parents were heavily involved in finding a solution to the shoplifting incident and that the boys went back to the store to return the stolen items, apologize and pay for the items.
“These kids are smart kids, they’re athletes, they have a strong future,” she said. “So we wanted to make sure that they learned a lesson, and they were held accountable for their actions, and felt that this was the best way for them to learn their lesson and also to give back to the community.”
TOP SC ACCOUNTANT, IN OFFICE 20 YEARS, TO RESIGN AFTER OVERSTATING BUDGET BY $3.5B
The teenage boys were caught by Greenville Police on surveillance video on March 13 stealing from Palmetto Moon in Haywood Mall. (Greenville Police)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The teenagers will work in the back of Palmetto Moon to learn what the workers do to prepare the store for customers. The boys will donate the wages they receive to the Greenville Police Department and will also do volunteer work for the agency.
“I’m hoping really that this is a message of community, of giving back, of partnership in a parent’s involvement,” Dube said. “I’m hoping that this message is really resonating with the community to say, we’re all in this together, and we can make our communities much better and more positive.”
With the banking system seemingly stabilized, President Joe Biden is hoping he can return to pitching his economic credentials to the public.
But his “Investing in America” tour, an apparent precursor to a 2024 reelection campaign and a political counterpoint to former President Donald Trump‘s legal problems, comes amid persistent inflation, another interest rate hike, the surprise collapse of two regional banks, and the potential that his administration will not be able to avoid a recession.
BIG DEAL: BIDEN BETS ON HEALTHCARE AS 2024 BOON YEARS AFTER OBAMACARE ‘SHELLACKING’
The country will reject Biden’s overtures regarding the economy, his “reckless” budget underscoring “how out of touch his administration is with reality,” according to the Republican National Committee.
“Paychecks are worth less, the cost for everything is up, and Biden’s $6.9 trillion tax-and-spending spree will only worsen the economic burden on families,” RNC spokesman Nainoa Johsens told the Washington Examiner.
Biden’s average economic job approval tends to be lower than when pollsters ask respondents about his overall performance, according to RealClearPolitics. Biden’s average economic approval is net negative 20 percentage points, 38% to 58%. The statistical spread for his overall rating is a narrower net negative 9 points, 43% to 52%. An average of 27% of respondents tell pollsters they consider the country to be heading in the right direction, while 63% say it is on the wrong track, a net negative 36-point differential.
Biden had sought to change public perception about his economic management in January when December inflation data indicated consumer prices had eased the most during any month since the start of the pandemic. But then sticker shock during the first four weeks of the year, published in February, was higher than economists expected, interest rates continued to rise, and there was a run on deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Some Democrats contend “extreme,” “radical” MAGA Republicans” could mitigate economic concerns as, they claim, it did during last year’s elections after the Supreme Court overturned abortion precedent Roe v. Wade through its opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. House GOP candidates were anticipated to sweep the chamber as they did during former Presidents Bill Clinton‘s and Barack Obama‘s first midterm cycle. Instead, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) only has a four-seat majority.
The economy is always important in presidential elections, not the only factor but an important one, according to Democratic strategist and pollster Mark Mellman.
“If it’s going well, the incumbent party is rewarded,” the Mellman Group president and CEO said. “If it’s going poorly, the incumbent is punished. But again, it’s far from the only factor — especially if Trump is on the ballot.”
That comparison will be even more pronounced next week as the New York grand jury impaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reconvenes on Monday to discuss whether Trump should be indicted with a misdemeanor or felony charge for falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her discretion concerning their sexual encounter.
For Third Way think tank co-founder and Clinton administration alumnus Matt Bennett, there is “zero doubt” the economy will be the “most important” issue next year, at least according to polls.
“But voters don’t act like robots — they don’t make purely optimized decisions based on issue preference,” Bennett said. “Instead, they vote on a feeling — which candidate do I trust? Which shares my values and understands my life?”
“The candidate and their party’s approach to the economy will play a big role in that but so will other things — fears about access to abortion, gun violence, etc.,” he added. “In 2022, voters in most close races chose the candidates they viewed as mainstream over the one they felt was extreme. If Republicans nominate a bunch of radicals again in 2024, and especially if a MAGA radical leads their ticket, that will be a big part of the calculus.”
Biden will roll out the three-week 20-state administration-wide Investing in America tour next Tuesday, with the president traveling first to a North Carolina chips manufacturer.
“The tour will reinforce what’s at stake for hardworking families across the country if Republicans in Congress get their way and repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and slash funding for manufacturing, research, and innovation,” a White House official said. “The tour will also coincide with the two-week April recess in Congress, and many of the stops on the Investing in America tour will include stops with members of Congress who were instrumental in getting these bills passed.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Biden still has not announced his reelection bid despite speculation he will in April based on historical precedent and fundraising disclosure deadlines.
“The president has said many times that he intends to run,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week. “I’m not going to go beyond that. That is for the president to decide, clearly.”
The first week of the trial involving Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski accident in Utah has come to a close.
Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages from the Goop founder after a collision at the Deer Valley ski resort.
According to Sanderson’s lawsuit, Paltrow collided with Sanderson and skied off, leaving him with a “permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life,” and emotional distress and disfigurement.
“Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured,” the complaint filed in 2019 says. “A Deer Valley ski instructor, who had been training Ms. Paltrow, but who did not see the crash, skied over, saw the injured Sanderson and skied off, falsely accusing Sanderson of having caused the crash.”
GWYNETH PALTROW DEFENDS WELLNESS TIPS AFTER BEING SLAMMED FOR ‘STARVATION DIET’
Gwyneth Paltrow sits in court during an objection by her attorney during her trial Friday, March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Paltrow has maintained Sanderson actually skied into her and claims she stuck around until given the OK to leave by the Deer Valley Resort ski instructor. The 50-year-old actress also said Sanderson previously admitted he didn’t have a clear memory of the accident.
The “Shakespeare in Love” star countersued for attorney’s fees and $1.
The jury trial began last week in Park City, Utah.
Here are the biggest bombshells from the first week of the trial.
Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom for her trial Friday, March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Paltrow took the stand Friday and testified she initially thought the collision she experienced was a sexual assault.
“So that was a quick thought that went through my head when I was trying to reconcile what was happening,” Paltrow explained. “Two skis came between my skis forcing my legs apart and then a body pressed against me.
“My brain was trying to make sense of what is happening,” she added. “I thought, ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted?’ My mind was going very, very quickly, and my mind was trying to ascertain what happened.”
Paltrow noted it felt like they were “spooning” when the two fell to the ground. She also emphasized that she’s not claiming she was sexually assaulted, that’s just “what went through [her] mind when it happened.”
Dr. Wendell Gibby describes an MRI showing the brain of the man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
One of the chief complaints from Sanderson’s legal team is a dramatic shift in the plaintiff’s personality, allegedly resulting from the traumatic brain injury he claims to have suffered in the crash.
On day two of the trial, Dr. Wendell Gibby, an expert witness, was called to the stand to speak on Sanderson’s personality.
“Terry had been a very high-functioning, high-energy person,” Gibby said. Every day he was doing lots of things. Meeting groups, wine tasting, skiing, volunteering.
“But, after his accident, he deteriorated abruptly, and many of the activities that he used to do, he stopped doing, like, for the most part. … He normally could, you know, handle multiple projects at once, but he would have to sit there and focus very hard on one task. He would go to a Home Depot, for example, and forget why he was there.
“He also experienced a worsening of his depression. And, so, those are very typical hallmarks of someone who has had a traumatic injury.”
Dr. Wendell Gibby testified in support of plaintiff Sanderson. (Rick Bowmer)
Attorney Lawrence D. Buhler claimed during witness testimony that Sanderson’s relationships with his girlfriend at the time and his daughters changed after the accident. Sanderson’s attorney noted that, following the ski collision, the retired optometrist got quickly irritated with his grandchild.
Sanderson’s daughter, Polly Grasham, testified that she realized something was “terribly wrong” with her father more than one year after the collision.
“His processing speeds,” she said, were slower and “the effort that it took, definitely when we were in person … I felt like, wow.
“I almost expected drool to be coming out of his mouth because he was not engaged with anyone and had taken himself to a remote corner.”
Shae Herath, the daughter of a man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision, testifies about her father’s health Friday, March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
On Friday, before Paltrow testified, Shae Sanderson Hareth, another daughter of Sanderson, took the stand to address the incident with her daughter and Sanderson that served as an indicator of the plaintiff’s change in personality.
Hareth explained that her father belittled her daughter while attempting to close the door of her Honda Odyssey as they were taking children to a dance shop. The door wouldn’t close, and Hareth’s daughter tried to explain to Sanderson that her mom could fix the issue. He screamed at the child.
The oldest daughter of Sanderson claimed the experience “damaged” her father’s relationship with his granddaughter.
“I got in the front door and I looked back at my little, my little daughter, and she’s just red cheeked and her tears are streaming down her eyes. And she is just so belittled and made to feel like she’s stupid,” Hareth recalled on the stand.
“It was so awful. Awful experience,” she added. “And I have never known my dad to raise his voice or scream or belittle or do those of things. It was just very uncharacteristic of him.”
Terry Sanderson arrives in court Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (Rick Bowmer)
The first witness, Craig Ramon, a friend of Sanderson’s, took the stand Tuesday but appeared to struggle with his recollection of the incident.
Ramon was skiing nearby and allegedly heard a scream just before the collision happened.
“We were skiing down the run, and then I heard this yell, this scream,” he said. “I looked over … and then I see this skier just slam into the back of Terry, very hard. She hits him right directly in the back. His skis, the tips go out like this, and he falls face down, kind of spread eagle.”
Ramon seemingly struggled with his memory of the incident, and Owens referred the witness to the nearly 300-page deposition the witness had previously given.
“Terry was wearing a helmet,” Owens said. “The person he collided with was not wearing a helmet.” Ramon answered, “I don’t know.”
“Did you tell me she was not wearing a helmet?” he asked, to which Ramon said, “I don’t remember what she was wearing.”
Owens continued, “Did you previously tell me under oath that she was not wearing a helmet?”
Ramon answered, “I can’t answer that. I wasn’t really paying attention to what she was wearing.”
Paltrow’s lawyer reminded Ramon he “previously testified this under oath” before proceeding with further questions.
Paltrow testified that Ramon is color blind and was 40 feet away and claims “what he said is not happened.”
Gwyneth Paltrow shields her face with a blue notebook as she exits a courtroom Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Due to Paltrow’s fame, cameras have been swarming the Park City, Utah, courthouse inside and out, to the point her attorney asked for some reprieve.
On day two of the trial, a camera placed directly in front of Paltrow and her lawyer was found to be in violation of court decorum. It was removed, and Owens emphasized there are criminal sanctions that go along with court rules.
“I want it to stop,” Owens said shortly after the start of court. “I don’t want to have to be the one raising it. I want [the photographer] to comply.”
“Court has permitted coverage of the proceeding. If you’re speaking into a microphone, expect an image to be captured,” the judge responded. “I do see this as a violation, and I’ve asked that the reporter be told that this is now interrupting our proceeding. If it happens again, the reporter will be asked to leave.”
Paltrow’s legal team also noted reporters had been in front of Paltrow’s car Tuesday and had a camera “inches away” from her face.
The trial is being livestreamed by multiple outlets, and an Associated Press photographer has been stationed in the courtroom.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk attend “The Politician” premiere in New York at DGA Theater Sept. 26, 2019, in New York City. ( John Lamparski)
During the first day of the trial, Paltrow’s lawyer revealed her husband Brad Falchuk and two children, Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, will testify on her behalf. Falchuk and the children were with her at the time of the accident but did not actually witness it.
Her lawyer claims Moses, then 9, came over with his instructor to find his mother on the ground yelling, adding, “He was worried.”
Owens also claimed Falchuk had heard Paltrow scream from farther down the mountain and looked up to see her in the snow.
According to Owens’ opening argument, the ski trip marked the couple’s first getaway to test out blending their families. Falchuk has two children from a previous relationship. It is unclear if Falchuk’s children will testify.
“And this was really their first trip to sort of a have a mixed, see-if-this-might-work,” Owens said. “So it was a special time, and it was a lovely day.”
BRAD FALCHUK ON WHY MOVING IN WITH GWYNETH PALTROW TOOK SO LONG: ‘DIVORCE IS TERRIBLE’
Gwyneth Paltrow sits in court Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
One issue under scrutiny in the trial is Paltrow’s celebrity status, which can lead people to pursue litigation, said health care attorney Harry Nelson, founder and managing partner of Nelson Hardiman.
“The unfortunate reality is that there are many plaintiff attorneys and plaintiffs out there who view personal injury litigation opportunistically and will see a defendant’s deep pockets or fame as a reason to sue or to seek much higher amounts than they would otherwise. It’s part of the price of celebrity and wealth,” Nelson, who is not involved with the case, told Fox News Digital.
The issue came up when Polly Grasham was cross-examined by Paltrow’s attorney.
Owens asked Grasham, Sanderson’s daughter, about an email circulated by Sanderson to his daughters on the day of the collision.
“Here’s what happened from my friend and eyewitness … headline I’m famous” with a link to a meetup group Sanderson had used for the ski outing, Owens said, reading from the email.
“I think I wasn’t able to access that information,” Grasham said in response. “I don’t recall what it was. In my memory, it was a dead end. I do not recall what this link was.”
GWYNETH PALTROW SKI COLLISION TRIAL: LEGAL EXPERTS ANALYZE IF CELEBRITY STATUS MADE HER A TARGET
Gwyneth Paltrow heard testimony Thursday from doctors claiming Terry Sanderson had permanent brain damage from a 2016 ski collision. (Jeff Swinger)
On Thursday, Paltrow’s attorney requested if “treats” could be brought in for the court bailiffs as thanks for their work.
“The private security for my client wanted to bring in treats for the bailiffs for how helpful they’ve been, so I wanted to do that transparently and see if there are any objections,” Owens told the court.
Sanderson’s legal team objected, and the judge denied the request, leading to a back-and-forth between the lawyers.
“He should have asked us first, frankly,” Buhler said of the motion.
“It hasn’t been done,” Owens responded.
“I know, but he should have asked us first. He talked about it, but he just sprung it on us now,” Buhler added. “So we object.”
Paltrow’s lawyer also found himself in a contentious exchange Thursday with Polly Grasham, Sanderson’s daughter, when she took the stand on behalf of her father.
After a heated cross-examination that morning, Owens told Grasham, “I need to apologize. I was being an a– earlier. You love your dad.”
Polly Grasham, daughter of Terry Sanderson, reacts to questioning in court Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Jeff Swinger, Pool)
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
By the end of the cross-examination, Owens and Grasham were verbally sparring once again. He asked about Grasham’s sister Jenny describing Sanderson as “anal-retentive.
“I’m thinking that word came up with my older sister because I don’t even know what anal-retentive means … if you’re talking type A? I would not call him anal-retentive, no,” Grasham said.
Owens attempted to clarify his words, saying, “It has nothing to do with our butts.”
Grasham ended her testimony with, “Yeah, let’s move on.”
Paltrow, on the other hand, has gone viral for her courtroom looks, both fashion and facial.
In the first few days, Paltrow’s multiple facial expressions drew attention online, with one social media user describing the the actress as “Gwyneth pout-trow.”
On Thursday, Paltrow’s attorney requested if “treats” could be brought in for the court bailiffs as thanks for their work. (Pool Video via AP)
The Oscar winner also wore sweaters and slacks, along with larger glasses, before donning a multi-piece suit for the third day of testimony Thursday. When she took the stand Friday, she was dressed in a simple black button-down.
Of the sweater outfit, one commenter joked, “I do unfortunately love gwyneth’s court outfit like if you get sued for a skiing crime that is exactly the kind of outfit you should wear.”
Gwyneth Paltrow wore a cream sweater and glasses for her first court appearance Tuesday at her trial. Some on social media compared her oversize glasses to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s. (Rick Bowmer)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Others compared her oversize glasses to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s. The Netflix show “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” debuted last year.
The trial will resume Monday morning at 9 a.m. MT.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz, Tracy Wright, and Caroline Thayer contributed to this report.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos reflected on how they kept their marriage together despite being separated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a recent episode of her “Let’s Talk Off Camera” podcast, the 52-year-old “Hope & Faith” alum recalled that she and Consuelos, 51 stayed connected through “rituals” when they were working on projects in different cities.
“We had sexual rituals that were so ludicrous over FaceTime,” Ripa said in the episode, in which she was joined by Consuelos and their marriage counselor Dr. Linda Carter.
Kelly Ripa opened up about the “ludicrous” sexual rituals that she had with husband Mark Consuelos during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images )
She continued, “But I became so alarmed at my appearance over FaceTime that I started rigging the computer to hang from a ladder I’m not kidding, I hung the computer over a ladder so that I could look up to Mark, so he did not have to see what gravity was actually doing.”
“You get really close to yourself in situations where you’re separated from your husband for long periods of time.”
Ripa recounted how she bought special electronic bracelets for herself and Consuelos through the company Bond Touch so that they could stay connected. “Any time I touch my bracelet, his bracelet in Vancouver would touch him, would vibrate,” she said.
“It was really nice,” Consuelos remembered.
During his appearance on the podcast, Consuelos said that if Ripa ever cut him off sexually, it “could be a potential dealbreaker.”
Ripa and Consuelos have been married for over 26 years. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
“If you just decided like, ‘Yeah, we aren’t having sex anymore,’ I’d probably have a problem with that,” Consuelos told Ripa. Then added that the exception would be if she “had some type of medical condition where, like, you lost the use of [your body].”
He went on to say that there were never “months without sex” in their marriage unless he was in another country.
The “Riverdale” alum also admitted that he isn’t a fan of makeup sex. “I don’t like drama,” he said. ” I would go towards boring any day of the week.”
Consuelos and Ripa first met in 1995 when they co-starred in the long-running soap opera “The Young And The Restless.” (Getty Images)
Consuelos and Ripa first met in 1995 when they co-starred in the long-running soap opera “The Young And The Restless.” The two eloped a year later and share sons Michael, 24, Joaquin, 20, and daughter Lola, 21.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
In February, Ripa announced that Consuelos would join her full-time as the co-host of her live ABC talk show following Ryan Seacrest’s departure.
“OK NOW we’re empty nesters. When your friends become work mates become family. ♥️,” Ripa wrote on Instagram.
She continued, “Congratulations @ryanseacrest on surviving six winters in NYC! I’m proud of you and am forever in your corner. And @instasuelos welcome home, or to the contractual obligation phase of our relationship.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga., and Matt Gaetz, Fla., joined former President Trump’s first official campaign rally on Saturday and took turns delivering blows to presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
The rally was in Waco, Texas, during the 30th anniversary of federal agents burning down the compound belonging to the religious cult Branch Davidians. The federal law enforcement siege killed more than 80 people, including nearly 30 children. But Trump’s team says the location and timing of the rally have nothing to do with the siege.
Greene and Gaetz, both of whom are allies of Trump, delivered remarks in support of the former president during the rally on Saturday.
The representatives both hit at Haley, a former South Carolina governor and former United Nations ambassador under Trump, over her foreign policy agenda while also questioning whether she is a serious presidential contender.
NIKKI HALEY UNLOADS ON BIDEN PROJECTING ‘AMERICAN WEAKNESS’ ON WORLD STAGE: ‘WE HAVE TO WAKE UP’
Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga., and Matt Gaetz, Fla., criticized presidential candidate Nikki Haley during a Trump campaign rally on Saturday. (Getty)
The Georgia congresswoman knocked Haley as a legitimate presidential opponent to Trump, saying nobody has a “list of names” like the former president does to “clean out the swamp.
“Here’s what we know about President Trump,” she said in an interview with the conservative outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network. “President Trump has a list of names, and no one else has that. Ron DeSantis doesn’t have that. Nikki Haley, or whoever she is, she doesn’t have anything like that. No one else knows how to clean out the swamp like President Trump.”
Greene’s dig at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes despite him not declaring a run for president, although he is expected to enter the race in the coming months. Trump has made repeated attacks on the Florida governor, who is widely viewed as the ex-president’s biggest threat for the GOP nomination in 2024.
Greene and Gaetz hit at Nikki Haley over her foreign policy agenda and legitimacy as a presidential contender. (Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
TRUMP WELCOMES NIKKI HALEY INTO THE 2024 RACE: THE MORE THE MERRIER’
In Gaetz’s speech targeting Haley, he mocked her previous comments in a campaign video in which she said, “I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you are wearing heels.”
“Nikki Haley says that we must kick all of the world’s bullies with heels,” Gaetz said at the rally. “But we cannot go kicking and screaming around the globe, starting new wars behind every Middle Eastern sand dune as Nikki Haley would have us do.”
“So, Nikki Haley can keep clicking her heels,” he continued. “What we know is that President Donald Trump will bring America’s enemies to heel.”
The comments from Greene and Gaetz were made during former President Trump’s first official campaign rally. (Associated Press)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
And while Trump has ramped up his attacks on DeSantis in recent months, he has not taken the same approach toward Haley, who he welcomed to the presidential race last month by saying, “the more the merrier.”
“I’m glad she’s running,” Trump told FOX News Digital at the time. “I want her to follow her heart — even though she made a commitment that she would never run against who she called the greatest president of her lifetime.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has also declared that he is running for president and other Republicans are mulling a White House run, including DeSantis, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Vice President Mike Pence.
A growing chorus of interest groups is calling for a pause in offshore wind activities to allow further assessment of the sector’s impacts on the marine ecosystem.
Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, a Republican, introduced a congressional resolution on March 21 to halt work on east-coast offshore wind projects until investigations into its possible impact on marine mammals can be done.
Fishing groups and local residents have filed five lawsuits against proposed or under-construction wind projects along the Atlantic seaboard.
A leading body for the U.S. Pacific fishing industry is urging the federal government to call off its proposed auction for offshore wind off the Oregon coast.
And the United States’ largest lobbying group for Native Americans recently called for a halt to all offshore wind scoping and permitting.
Wind energy is a key component of the Biden Administration’s climate agenda. Its goal is to generate 30 gigawatts of energy from fixed-bottom offshore wind farms by 2030, which it says could power 10 million homes, as well as 15 gigawatts from floating offshore wind infrastructure by 2035, potentially providing power to 5 million homes.
An uptick in marine mammal deaths along the north Atlantic has been cited as reason for concern.
Since December, 29 whales have died on the east coast, and 14 dead dolphins have washed ashore in New Jersey in the past month, including eight on March 21.
Van Drew believes the survey and construction work associated with wind farms, which can reportedly damage dolphin and whale hearing, may be to blame.
NOAA has said its marine mammal stranding network has not linked any of the whale deaths to offshore wind technology.
Van Drew said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have approved “these massive construction projects right in the middle of whale feeding and breeding grounds, as well as migration routes.”
BOEM has already leased 2.3 million acres and plans to lease another 1.7 million to install an estimated 3,500 turbines on the Atlantic coast.
“We are not even in the construction stage of these industrial wind turbine grids, yet we are already witnessing a highly unusual mortality rate of these intelligent marine animals,” he told The Epoch Times.
“We need a moratorium on all offshore wind projects before this gets worse, and I have introduced a resolution calling on Congress to do just that,” he added.
House Resolution 239 states that the Atlantic offshore wind leases represent an industrialization of the oceans that has not been thoroughly evaluated and asks Congress to declare an “immediate moratorium on development” until it can “conduct investigations to determine [its] true impacts.”
“Lease areas sit along known migration routes and foraging areas of North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, and economically important commercial and recreational fish species,” it added of concerns about the cables that will require dredging along hundreds of miles of ocean floor.
Congressman Andy Harris, a Republican from Maryland, supports Van Drew’s resolution.
“Since BOEM began authorizing testing for offshore wind project developments, we have witnessed an uptick in whale deaths,” including one recent whale death on Assateague Island in Maryland, Harris told The Epoch Times in an email.
“We need to take the time to gather proper scientific data, act in full transparency, and not rely upon platitudes for these projects, their construction, and the impact they may have upon our environment.”
Agency officials have since said an initial necropsy indicates the whale death on Assateague Island is consistent with a vessel strike, after observing blunt force trauma on the 33.8-foot female.
According to NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program coordinator Sarah Wilkin, there has been an “unusual ongoing mortality event since 2016 that is specific to the humpback whales,” and that a similiar increase in deaths have been observed for the endangered North Atlantic right whales. Researchers are unsure of the cause of the spike in mortalities.
While no deaths have been linked to the offshore wind farms, according to NOAA, a better understanding of the potential impacts from the wind projects planned off southern New England will be crucial to protecting the endangered right whale that is increasingly using the same waters as habitat.
“Increased noise from wind turbine construction and operations and vessels could … directly impact important whale behaviors and interfere with the detection of critical acoustic cues. These types of impacts may also be associated with physiological stress and could affect the whales’ use of the region,” an agency news release said.
“The presence of wind turbine foundations may impact oceanographic and atmospheric conditions including potential changes in ocean stratification. This might alter the formation of plankton aggregations and thus foraging opportunities for right whales.”
The Pacific Fishery Management Council is urging BOEM to rescind the current Oregon lease areas designated for floating offshore wind energy development in the Pacific.
The Council passed a resolution at its March 10 meeting recommending that BOEM restart the process for identifying suitable areas for installing offshore wind turbines to account for the needs of the fishing industry.
BOEM announced in April 2022 that it would lease two areas for offshore wind development off the Oregon coast. In the coming year it plans to auction 1.15 million acres starting 12 miles offshore along the south-central and southern Oregon coast.
Acknowledging the risk to marine life—including that of whales becoming tangled in the moorings and cables associated with floating wind platforms— federal agencies have commissioned more than a dozen studies of the environmental, economic, and social impact of large-scale development along the Pacific Coast.
But the Pacific coast leasing areas were selected before the studies were complete.
The council recommended BOEM start the siting process over using a spatial mapping tool focused on identifying areas suitable for wind energy development that will not negatively impact west coast fisheries.
Meanwhile, Native American tribes claim they have been left out of the process.
The nation’s oldest association of American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes has called for a moratorium on offshore wind development along U.S. coasts, insisting the Biden administration do a better job protecting tribal interests.
The National Council of American Indians (NCAI) issued a resolution on Feb. 24, asserting “shared tribal jurisdictional authority over and tribal management of offshore renewable energy activities, aimed at empowering Native communities through socio-economic benefits such as job opportunities, revenue sharing, and support for tribal energy development projects.”
It urged the Department of the Interior and BOEM to “halt all scoping and permitting for offshore wind projects until completion of a comprehensive and transparent procedure adequately protecting tribal environmental and sovereign interests is developed and implemented.”
An off-duty Orlando firefighter was in the right place at the right time Saturday morning after witnessing a fiery collision involving a sheriff’s deputy.
The Orlando Fire Department said Lt. Ben Wootson was taking his son to a soccer game when he saw a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office vehicle crash into an overpass bridge. The deputy was not responding to a call before the incident.
Wootson ensured his son was safe before leaving his car to check on the deputy.
Shortly after the incident, the SCSO vehicle caught fire, and Wootson was able to pull the deputy, who was trapped, from his patrol car before it was engulfed in flames.
OREGON GOOD SAMARITAN SAVES GRANDMOTHER FROM HOUSE FIRE: ‘ANGEL CAME OUT OF NOWHERE’
Orlando fire Lt. Ben Wootson pulls a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputy from a burning patrol vehicle. (Orlando Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 1365/Facebook)
After pulling him to safety, Wootson used the deputy’s radio to notify dispatch there was an officer down and provided their exact location, a Facebook post by the OFD’s union stated. He also requested the fire department for medical assistance.
FOX 35 Orlando reported the deputy was taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital. He was in stable condition as of Saturday evening.
“Lt. Wootson’s bravery and sacrifice is a reminder of how firefighters are NEVER off-duty and that training and preparing for situations like this can make a difference when seconds count,” the OFD wrote on Facebook.
A Seminole County Sheriff’s Office (FL) patrol vehicle after it caught fire. (Orlando Fire Department/Facebook)
A Seminole County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle caught fire after crashing into a bridge. (Orlando Fire Department/Facebook)
PORTLAND FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE 14-YEAR-OLD DOG THAT FELL 23 FEET DOWN OPEN MANHOLE
The department’s union commended Wootson his “quick thinking and sound judgment” that saved the deputy’s life.
“His actions [exemplify] what it is to be an Orlando Fire Fighter. We are never off duty and are always willing to step in and assist however possible,” the post read. “I know you will be as proud of him and his heroic actions as we are.”
Lt. Ben Wootson (middle) is recognized for saving the life of a Seminole County Sheriff’s deputy following a fiery collision. (Orlando Fire Department)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
George Mason University announced that Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will be the commencement speaker at the institution’s 2023 graduation ceremony in May, and some students are pushing to cancel his speech.
Students at the university started a petition on Thursday, the same day Youngkin was announced as the speaker, demanding Younkgin not be permitted to speak or even attend the commencement ceremony on May 18.
“As a Patriot and prospective alumna of George Mason University, I and my peers do not want the memories of our graduation day to be tainted by an individual who has harmed and continues to harm the people he serves,” senior Alaina Ruffin wrote on the petition. “On behalf of the GMU Class of 2023, we call on you to sign this petition and demand that George Mason University administration take appropriate action to ensure Governor Youngkin does not attend or speak at the Spring 2023 Commencement Ceremony.”
Ruffin appeared to take particular issue with the governor’s record in approving legislation on transgender issues and controversial school curricula. His administration’s proposals have included prohibiting transgender students from using bathrooms or participating on sports teams that do not correspond with their biological sex and banning critical race theory and sexually explicit books in schools.
MINNESOTA ADVANCES ‘TRANS REFUGE’ BILL OPPONENTS SAY WOULD STRIP CUSTODY FROM NON-CONSENTING PARENTS
George Mason University announced that Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will be the commencement speaker at the institution’s 2023 graduation ceremony in May. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Selecting a speaker that has passed anti-trans legislation, promoted the abolishment of racial equity curricula, and restricted the availability of literature in public schools is an intentional target towards historically marginalized communities comprising Mason,” Ruffin wrote. “It is harmful and disrespectful to the many students who continuously shape GMU’s community to bring in an individual who has also neglected the needs of Virginians.”
“George Mason University prides itself on being one of ‘the most diverse institutions in the Commonwealth.’ Yet by having Governor Youngkin as this year’s Commencement speaker, we believe that the University compromises its supposed values of centering students’ experiences and overall well-being,” she continued. “When satiating its own desire to appease the powerful few, the University, once again, has abandoned these principles.”
More than 5,100 people have signed the petition as of early Sunday morning.
The university’s student government similarly said it is “deeply saddened and concerned” by the decision to host Youngkin as commencement speaker.
PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT CALLS ON UNIVERSITY TO ‘CANCEL’ SPEAKERS WHO QUESTION TRANSGENDER IDEOLOGY
George Mason University students started a petition demanding Younkgin not be permitted to speak or attend the commencement ceremony on May 18. (Getty)
“The Youngkin administration has supported and created policies attacking transgender youth, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ individuals,” the student government’s leadership wrote in a press release. “George Mason University’s current motto stands as, ‘fostering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’; however, the actions of the Youngkin administration demonstrate their commitment to the opposite. To host Glenn Youngkin at our spring commencement is not only a betrayal towards every minority group on campus, but it also amplifies their hypocrisy and dishonesty from Mason’s administration itself.”
BLACC Mason, the university’s black, African-heritage, and Caribbean coalition, also released a statement opposing Youngkin as commencement speaker.
“It is our responsibility as members of this community to stand up against bigotry and intolerance,” the group wrote on Instagram. “We must demand that our administration acts and removes Youngkin as the commencement speaker. We cannot allow our university to provide a platform for someone who actively promotes discrimination and hate.”
Some students at George Mason University are pushing to cancel his commencement speech over his record on transgender issues and race in education. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Youngkin is scheduled to speak to the university’s class of 2023 at EagleBank Arena on May 18, becoming the latest sitting Virginia governor to address Mason graduates, joining former governors Jim Gilmore, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Terry McAuliffe.
“Governor Youngkin’s drive for lifelong learning and his entrepreneurial mindset is what we cultivate in all of our graduates,” Mason University President Gregory Washington said in a statement.
Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders did not mince his words when he laid out his expectations for his players when they spend time away from the team.
Sanders successfully built a winning culture at Jackson State and is looking to replicate that in Boulder. The Pro Football Hall of Famer immediately started to lay a foundation after he was named Colorado’s new head coach in December.
The student-athletes are set for a break, but Sanders warned players not to let the time away make them forget about the rules they have to follow once they return to campus.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Colorado Buffaloes head football coach Deion Sanders speaks to members of the media about National Signing Day during a press conference at the Dal Ward Athletic Center in Boulder on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Sanders spoke about signing new players to the football team for the upcoming season. (Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)
“You have a meeting [Monday morning]. If you late to that meeting, there’s going to be consequences. Your locker will be cleaned. It will be cleaned, and I’m not threatening you. It’s just reality,” Sanders told his players.
From there, he emphasized the importance of the players being aware of their surroundings during the break.
“Fellas, be careful on your break. Be careful on your comings and goings. Everyone ain’t for you, everyone ain’t with you, everybody don’t love you, everybody don’t appreciate you, everybody don’t want you to be that guy you plan on being, and your life is of value.
Deion Sanders holds up a jersey before speaking after being introduced as the new head football coach at the University of Colorado during a news conference Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, in Boulder, Colo. Sanders left Jackson State University after three seasons at the helm of the school’s football team. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
He also encouraged the players to remember how valuable they are.
“Your life is of essence. You are somebody. You are important. So, be careful please. We don’t want to put on all black and go to a funeral. We want to put on all black and go out there and whoop somebody,” he passionately said.
Colorado Buffaloes head football coach Deion Sanders speaks to members of the media about National Signing Day during a press conference at the Dal Ward Athletic Center in Boulder on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Sanders spoke about signing new players to the football team for the upcoming season. (Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)
Sanders guided the Jackson State Tigers to consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and an undefeated regular season in 2022 before losing in the Celebration Bowl.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Colorado is coming off an abysmal 1-11 season. Sanders is hoping to make the Buffaloes contenders in the Pac-12 conference. Setting the tone appears to be the first part of his team building philosophy.
Poetry great Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco, California, on this day in history, March 26, 1874.
Frost spent the first 11 years of his life in San Francisco until his father, journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr., died of tuberculosis, according to Biography.com.
After his death, Frost, his mother and his sister moved in with his grandparents in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 25, 1911, A FIRE AT THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY KILLS 146
The move was actually a homecoming for the Frosts, since their ancestors originally hailed from New England, according to Poetry Foundation.
In 1892, Frost graduated from Lawrence High School. He was named “class poet” and served as co-valedictorian with his future wife, Elinor White.
Portrait of Pulitzer Prize-winning American Poet Laureate Robert Frost in the 1960s. When he was 86 years old, Frost was asked to write and recite a poem for John F. Kennedy’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 1961. (Bachrach/Getty Images)
Two years after his high school graduation, Frost’s poem “My Butterfly” was accepted by the New York Independent.
He was paid $15.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 14, 1879, ALBERT EINSTEIN BORN IN GERMANY
In celebration, Frost printed two copies of a book of six poems called “Twilight” — one copy for himself and one for his wife.
Throughout the next eight years, Frost only had 13 additional poems published, according to Biography.com.
Portrait of Robert L. Frost, American poet who wrote “North of Boston” and “A Boy’s Will,” circa 1910s. (Getty Images)
The poet attended Dartmouth College for several months before returning home to work at a number of “unfulfilling jobs,” the website reports.
In 1897, Frost attended Harvard University. He dropped out after two years due to health concerns, returning to his wife in Lawrence.
Frost, along with his wife and two children, moved to Derry, New Hampshire, in 1900, onto a property purchased by Frost’s grandfather.
Frost’s firstborn, Elliot, died of cholera in 1900. White went on to give birth to four more children.
The youngest Frost child, Elinor, born in 1907, tragically died just weeks after birth.
The Frosts attempted to build a life on the New England farm for the next 12 years, pursuing a variety of unsuccessful endeavors including poultry farming, Biography.com reports.
Frost had two poems — “The Tuft of Flowers” and “The Trial by Existence” — published in 1906.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 1, 1872, MAJESTIC YELLOWSTONE BECOMES AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL PARK
In 1912, Frost moved his family to the U.K. after American magazines consistently rejected his work, Poetry Foundation reports.
While Frost continued to write about New England even when living across the pond, he published two poetry books, “A Boy’s Will” (1913) and “North of Boston” (1914).
The poem “Mending Wall” (1914) by Robert Frost, as shown in “A Treasury of Classic Poetry” from Barnes & Noble. (Angelica Stabile/Fox News Digital)
“North of Boston” featured two of Frost’s most notable poems, “Mending Wall” (1914) and “After Apple-Picking” (1914).
These publications allowed Frost to move back, in 1915, to the U.S. — where he was celebrated as a literary figure.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, FEB. 18, 1931, AMERICAN AUTHOR TONI MORRISON IS BORN IN OHIO
Frost met with fellow poets Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas during this time.
They reportedly influenced Frost to write “The Road Not Taken” (1916).
This poem, as well as “Birches” (1915), was published in his book “Mountain Interval” in 1916.
Robert Frost, poet, taught at Amherst College until 1938, when his wife died of cancer. (Getty Images)
Frost’s reputation grew for writing poems about nature while receiving praise for his traditional lyric and meter, Poetry Foundation reports.
His next book, “New Hampshire” (1923), featured classic poems such as “Stopping by Woods on a Snowing Evening,” which earned him his first Pulitzer Prize.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
In addition to writing, the poet pursued a teaching career at several colleges, including Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan and Amherst College in Massachusetts, according to Biography.com.
He taught at Amherst until 1938, when his wife died of cancer. The college’s main library is named in Frost’s honor.
Poet Robert Frost (center) reads one of his poems during John F. Kennedy’s inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 1961. (Getty Images)
Frost went on the win four Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry, as well as 40 honorary degrees.
In 1960, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by Congress.
At 86 years old, Frost was asked to write and recite a poem for John F. Kennedy’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 1961.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
On Jan. 29, 1963, Frost died due to complications from previous prostate surgery.
He was survived by two daughters, Lesley and Irma.