Scheme involved fake electors, seizing voting machines, and pressuring officials in Georgia and other states to break the law

By Miriam Raftery

August 15, 2023 (Fulton County, GA) – In a sweeping 98-page indictment, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis filed indictments against former president Donald Trump and 18 others with violating the state’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)  Act. The indictments, recommended by a Grand Jury, accuse the defendants of willfully joining a “conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.”

41 counts in the conspiracy case include forgery, filing false documents, making false statement and writings, impersonating a public officer, pressuring public officials to violate their oaths of office to commit illegal acts in multiple states, and illegally accessing ballots on voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, among other things.

Trump faces 13 new criminal charges in Georgia, the fourth jurisdiction where he is under criminal indictment. The former president and current presidential candidate is charged with conspiracy to  impersonate a public officer (related to the slate of fake electors that cast votes and submitted them to official channels), conspiracy to commit forgery, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings (including in official proceedings), and conspiracy to commit filing false documents. He is also charged with pressuring public officials to violate the law for the purpose of stealing the 2020 presidential election.

The indictment alleges that after  Trump falsely declared victory following the Nov. 2020 election, Trump among other things personally committed the ofllowing illegal acts:

• Called Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers and pressured  Bowers to unlawfully appoint electors to vote for Trump, even though Biden won the state. Bowers declined and told Trump, “I voted for you… I campaigned for you.  I just won’t do anything illegal for you.”
• Joined a call to Pennsylvania legislators, made false statements and asked them to appoint electors for Trump, though Biden won Pennsylvania;
• Met with Mark Meadows and John McEntee to devise a scheme for Vice President Mike Pence  to count only half the electoral votes from some states and return others to state legislators, an illegal act which Pence refused to do;
• Solicited Georgia’s Republican Speaker of the House David Ralston (since deceased) to commit a felony by arranging for Georgia to appoint presidential electors for Trump, even though Biden won Georgia;
• Called the Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel and asked her to help get certain people to meet as fake electors and cast electoral votes for Trump in states won by Biden;
• Asked  U.S. Attorney General Jefrrey Rosen and Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue to make a false statement.  Trump urged them, “Just say that the election was corrupt,and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen.”
• Made false and harassing statements against officials who refused his demands to violate the law, such as “What a fool Governor@BrianKempGA of Georgia is…Demand this clown call a Special Session and open up signature verificfation NOW.”
• Submitted false documents in a lawsuit, Trump v.Kemp, which falsely claimed that thousands of votes were cast by felons, unregistered voters, underage people and dead people, without any evidence.
• Solicited Georgia’s Secretary of State,Republican Brad Raffensperger, to commit a felony by unlawfully altering  certified election results.
• Making false statements to  Raffensperger and other Georgia officials claiming pollworker  Ruby Freeman stuffed ballot boxes, that ballots were dumped,and numerous other claims found to be false.
• Was present at a January 4, 2021 meeting with Vice President Pence,  Eastman and others. After Trump pressured Pence to reject electoral voes or delay the joint session of Congress on January 6, Eastman “admitted both options violated the Electoral Count Act,” the indictment states.
• Made false statements asserting election fraud (despite losing 62 court challenges, some decided by Trump-appointed judges) in his speech at the Ellipse and urged the crowd to march to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, where violence ensued that resulted in several deaths and 140 injured  Capitol police officers.
  

By Miriam Raftery

August 22, 2023 (San Diego)—A recall is underway of Hyundai 2023-2024 Palisade, 2023 Tucson, Sonata, Elantra, and Kona vehicles due to an electric oil pump assembly that overheats and can cause a vehicle fire. Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete.

Two years after Kabul’s fall

by Ariana Figueroa, Kansas Reflector, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Photo (ticker) Getty Images (used under Creative Commons, courtesy Kansas Reflector)

Photo (story) Air Force One (used under model release)

 Author to hold booksigning Sept. 3 locally

Novel by Ken Schafer

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

August 21, 2023 (San Diego)-- Ken Schafer, a San Diego resident, started his professional writing career as a screenwriter, working for companies as diverse as Disney, Paramount and ABC, and on projects ranging from a prequel to "Sleeping Beauty" to "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and “ABC Night at the Movies.”

By Shauni Lyles, County of San Diego Communications Office

August 22, 2023 (San Diego) -- Lithium-ion battery fires are at an all-time high, according to the San Diego Fire Hazardous Materials Team.

Dates may change after the Mountain West broadcast partners select games they will broadcast

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

August 21, 2023 (San Diego) - San Diego State men's basketball released the initial version of its 2023-24 Mountain West Conference schedule on Monday: the first phase of a two-part scheduling process. The schedule features 18-games (nine home and nine road games) with each team in the conference playing eight opponents twice (home-and-home) and two opponents once.  For the Aztecs, league games are scheduled to begin on January 2 and wrap up on March 9.

August 20, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) –Michael Adam Cohen, award-winning entertainment reporter and photographer, shot these surreal images of a lightning storm over Cowles Mountain,  as Tropical Storm Hilary drenched our region.

The first image, viewed from  Mt. Helix,  makes Cowles Mountain appear to be an island floating in a foggy sea. In reality, those are clouds obscuring Interstate 8.

The second images shows  multilpe lightning bolts creating a dramatic light show in the skies above Cowles Mountain, which is located in  Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego.

August 20, 2023 3:55 p.m. -- A tornado warning has been issued by the National Weather SeErvice until 4 pm includes Locations impacted includes Alpine, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Descanso, Captain Gran

de Indian Reservation, Viejas Indian Reservation, Japatul Valley, and Boulder Creek. This is due to an extreme thunderstorm capable of producing tornados.

From the National Weather Service:

Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without  shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage
         to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree damage is  likely.

By Miriam Raftery

By Miriam Raftery

File photo of past spillover at Loveland Dam, via Sweetwater Water Authority

August 20, 2023 (Alpine) – Warning letters have been sent by Sweetwater Water Authority to residents downstream from Loveland Reservoir, in anticipation of “unplanned water release, or spills”  due to anticipated heavy rains from tropical storm Hilary. “These potential unplanned water release, together with expected abundant storm runoff, could cause flooding in areas downstream,” the district’s website cautions.

Residents downstream are urged to relocate livestock, equipment and materials out of the floodway, to inspect their properties, and clear critical culverts as soon as possible to reduce potential property damage.

Flooding could continue even after Monday, when rains are forecast to end, due to storm runoff into the river.

County Supervisors declare emergency as Hilary heads to San Diego

By Miriam Raftery

August 19, 2023 (San Diego) – The County of San Diego tonight issued an emergency declaration to deploy all available resources, following a state emergency declaration earlier today. Now a category one hurricane, Hilary is still on track to hit San Diego as a tropical storm Sunday in the late afternoon and early evening.

A flood watch and tropical storm warning are now in effect for all of San Diego County. A tropical storm, also known as a tropical cyclone, has sustained winds of 39 to 73 miles per hour; a hurricane has sustained winds of 74 mph or higher. 

The danger has prompted cancellation of everything from airline flights to a Padre game on Sunday, as well as closures of parks and beaches across the region.

Airlines have cancelled 73 flights Sunday that were scheduled at San Diego International airport, according to the tracking site  FlightAware.

By Miriam Raftery

August 19, 2023 (Ocotillo, CA) – An evacuation warning has been issued for the entire towns of Ocotillo as flash flooding has begun. Flooding is expected to worsen as Hurricane Hilary roars up from Mexico and is forecast to become a tropical storm when the eye hits our region late tomorrow.

Imperial County issued the warning due to heavy rain, flash flooding, high winds forecast to reach 82 miles per hour in the small desert town of Ocotillo, just over the county line. 

The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at the Imperial County Community Center,375 S. 1^st Street, El Centro.

By Miriam Raftery

August 19, 2023 (San Diego’s East County)— “We’re gearing up for widespread prolonged power outages,” Alex Welling with SDG&E told ECM today. The utility company is beefing up its preparations amid a countywide tropical storm warning. But he adds,  “We really want our customers prepared.”

He confirmed that SDG&E is not planning any proactive power shutoffs outages over fire concerns,since moisture levels arehigh.  But with Hurricane Hilary  slated to bring powerful tropical storm winds and rains across San Diego County, particularly Sunday and Monday, crews won’t be able to respond promptly to every downed power line or pole.

“We can’t even put a bucket up in the air when the winds are 35 miles per hour or more, because the entire bucket truck will tip over,” he explained.

With the safety of its customers, employees and local communities as its top priority, San Diego Gas & Electric has undertaken extensive preparations to respond to Hurricane Hilary, which will begin to impact our area tonight, with the heaviest rains and high winds Sunday afternoon through Monday.