3 Florida voters arrested after casting multiple ballots in 2020
ORLANDO, Fla. — Three residents of The Villages were recently arrested and face charges of casting more than one vote during the 2020 election, according to affidavits.
Joan Halstead, Jay Ketcik and John Rider all face felony charges of casting more than one ballot in an election, arrest reports provided by the office of Ocala-based State Attorney Bill Gladson show.
The complainant against the three was listed as the office of Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Bill Keen. When reached by the Orlando Sentinel, the office declined to comment, citing “an active investigation.”
It is unclear whom the three voted for. A spokesperson for Gladson’s office declined to release more details on the allegations Tuesday.
“Until we complete initial discovery on the cases that is all I am able to release,” Chief Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie said.
State voter records show Halstead, 71, and Ketcik, 63, are registered Republicans. Rider, 61, has no party affiliation.
However, posts in support of former President Donald Trump can be found on Facebook pages appearing to belong to Halstead and Rider. WKMG-TV reported that a Facebook page appearing to belong to Ketcik also had pro-Trump posts, although the page seems to have been deleted.
—Orlando Sentinel
Chicago schools introduce ‘boys+’ and ‘girls+’ bathrooms
CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools has directed school leaders to post signs the district says make it “clear that our restrooms are open for use to anyone who feels comfortable in that space.”
CPS officials and health professionals answered questions about the new signs — which have drawn criticism from some parents — in an hourlong online session Tuesday. “Boys+” facilities have stalls and urinals, while “girls+” restrooms just have stalls. All who “feel comfortable” can use those bathrooms, but one CPS principal noted Tuesday that it’s “not a free-for-all.”
Schools must also offer single-stall restrooms for any student. Staff members continue to have separate restrooms.
“I understand that people are interpreting this as like, ‘Oh, anyone can use any bathroom now.’ That’s not the case. That is not what’s happening,” said Booker Marshall, LGBTQ+ and sexual health program manager in the CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness.
CPS representatives say the signage aligns with guidance published in June by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights affirming the rights of transgender students.
—Chicago Tribune
Ex-Gov. Cuomo has to hand over $5 million in book earnings
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been ordered to give back the millions of dollars he earned from his 2020 memoir "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic."
It's the latest hit for the embattled Democrat, who was a sobering figure during the unprecedented public health crisis until his good fortune turned amid a number of political scandals, leading to his resignation as governor in August over sexual misconduct allegations.
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics last month rescinded its approval of "American Crisis" after deciding that Cuomo ran afoul of state ethics laws to publish it. On Tuesday, the board directed the embattled politician to relinquish roughly $5.1 million in earnings to the state attorney general's office within 30 days and authorized the office to enforce the collection, the L.A. Times has confirmed.
The 64-year-old public figure has been criticized for using public resources, including state workers, to write the book, according to Bloomberg. His lucrative book contract also increased his net income from just over $280,000 in 2019 to $1.5 million in 2020, according to tax documents, Bloomberg said.
In a statement released by his lawyer Jim McGuire to the New York Times and Associated Press, McGuire argued that the commission's "actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law."
"American Crisis" briefly topped the bestseller list upon its release in October 2020, but sales flagged when public opinion turned on Cuomo as scandals mounted.
—Los Angeles Times
DC sues Proud Boys, Oath Keepers over Jan. 6 Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia sued the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers right-wing groups for allegedly conspiring to terrorize the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.
“Would-be insurgents” and their leaders “worked together to plot, publicize, recruit for, and finance their planned attack,” D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, a Democrat, said in a complaint filed Tuesday.
The attack “was not a protest or a rally,” Racine said. “It was a coordinated act of domestic terrorism.”
The District of Columbia is seeking financial damages against the right-wing groups and their leaders, alleging their actions left the Capitol “in shambles” on a day that should have seen a peaceful transition of power.
Trump drew bipartisan criticism when he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during a presidential debate with Biden rather than unambiguously condemn the militant group. Trump, who is weighing a 2024 run for the White House, continues to falsely claim the election was rigged.
About 700 people have been charged in connection with the assault on the Capitol, including members of the two groups.
—Bloomberg News
