“Nashville’s ‘Choose How You Move’ $3.1 billion transit plan is moving forward. Voters on Tuesday gave the overwhelming green light for a major overhaul of the city’s bus systems, sidewalks and traffic signals with 66% of the city voting to approve the plan. The approval means Davidson County’s sales tax will increase by half a cent, which will go directly to funding the transit plan. The increase will go into effect Feb. 1 and put Davidson County in line with surrounding countries like Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford, Dickson and Maury, which all have a combined 9.75% sales tax. Passage marks a major win for Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who has made the referendum a hallmark of his administration since he took the helm last year.” [editor’s note: Even some of my “progressive” local friends saw through this debacle, which raises the cost of groceries and clothing for everyone, to produce a long term screwup of the city – SAT] (11/06/24)
“Ukrainian troops have clashed with North Korean forces for the first time, senior Ukrainian officials said — a development that would open a ‘new page of instability in the world,’ President Volodymyr Zelensky said. … A Ukrainian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed Wednesday there had been ‘small-scale clashes’ between Ukrainian and North Korean soldiers, but he did not provide further details. Biden administration officials said on Thursday that Russia had deployed some 8,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces seized territory in a surprise attack over the summer.” (11/06/24)
“California voters have rejected Proposition 33, a ballot measure that would have allowed cities to dramatically expand rent control protections. With 94.9% of precincts reporting at least partial results, ‘no’ votes were winning with 61.6% (5.7 million voters). About 3.5 million people voted in favor of the measure. The ballot measure needed only a simple majority (50% plus one vote) to pass. The proposition would have repealed the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a 1995 state law that set limits on how cities and counties could apply rent control — sets of laws that allow governments to regulate how much landlords can charge tenants.” (11/06/24)
“A homeowner shot an intruder who was assaulting him late last night in northeast Houston, according to police. Police said that the intruder was a man who used to live in the home. It happened on Jay Street, which is near Homestead north of the 610 Loop. Police got the call just after 11:30 p.m. When they arrived at the home, police found a man in his 30s who they said broke in. They said the man had assaulted the homeowner, a man they said was nearly 70 years old. That homeowner fought back. ‘The homeowner fired multiple shots at the individual who forced himself in his home striking him multiple times,’ said Lt. Horelica with the Houston Police Department. ‘He was transported to a local area hospital by the Houston Fire Department.'” (11/05/24)
“Former President Trump has secured a return to the White House, according to a Decision Desk HQ projection. The call came shortly after DDHQ projected Trump as the winner in Pennsylvania, marking a victory in a coveted battleground state that was increasingly seen as the center of gravity in the presidential election. Around 2:30 a.m., Trump took the stage at a party in West Palm Beach, Fla., to thank supporters.” [editor’s note: The Hill’s projection is not an outlier, just the one I happened to select for linking; I’m not seeing any media outlets projecting a Harris win – TLK] (11/06/24)
“Protests have erupted in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired the country’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu said a ‘crisis of trust’ between the two leaders led to his decision, adding that his trust in Gallant had ‘eroded’ in recent months and Foreign Minister Israel Katz would step in to replace him. Gallant said his removal was due to disagreement on three issues, including his belief that it is possible to get the remaining hostages back from Gaza if Israel makes ‘painful concessions’ which it ‘can bear.’ Many protesters on the streets were calling for Netanyahu to resign, and demanding the new defence minister prioritise a hostage deal.” (11/05/24)
“Bitcoin jumped to a record high, part of a wave of trades across global markets in response to Republican nominee Donald Trump’s push toward victory over Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the US presidential election. The largest digital asset rose as much as 9% to $75,372, before changing hands at $73,620 as of 7:53 a.m. Wednesday in London. The last peak was in March, when investors were cheered by inflows into US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. … Bitcoin is viewed by many as a so-called Trump trade because the former president embraced digital assets during his campaign after a major push by the industry.” (11/06/24)
“Police in Germany have arrested eight suspected members of a far-right terror cell alleged to have been plotting the armed takeover of eastern regions to establish a Nazi-inspired regime that would carry out ‘ethnic cleansing,’ federal prosecutors said. Amid a crackdown on neo-Nazi militants, the German nationals calling themselves Sachsische Separatisten (Saxonian Separatists) were taken into custody on Tuesday in pre-dawn raids on 20 premises in eastern Germany and the Polish border city of Zgorzelec, with another seven suspects in investigators’ sights. Spiegel magazine reported that three of the suspects were politicians who had held local office for the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party.” (11/05/24)
“U.S. Capitol Police announced Tuesday that officers arrested a man who ‘smelled like fuel’ and had a torch and a flare gun at the U.S. Capitol. Capitol police said the man, whose name was not immediately released, was stopped during the security screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). … Fox is told the suspect also wrote a 25-page manifesto and indicated that on Tuesday he intended to deliver it to Congress. … At a press conference, Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said ‘some’ of the suspect’s clothing smelled like gasoline, ‘but not all of it,’ so ‘it’s really unknown at this point what his intention was.’ ‘There’s no indication right now that it had anything to do with the election,’ Manger said …” (11/05/24)
“Hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed at polling locations in three battleground states — Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin — as Election Day voting was underway, the FBI said on Tuesday. ‘None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,’ the FBI said in a statement, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities. At least two polling sites targeted by the hoax bomb threats in the election battleground state of Georgia were briefly evacuated on Tuesday. Those two locations in Fulton County both re-opened after about 30 minutes, officials said, and the county is seeking a court order to extend the location’s voting hours past the statewide 7 p.m. deadline. Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed Russian interference for the Election Day bomb hoaxes.” (11/05/24)
