Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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Chicago Sun-Times: Suspect charged with killing 4 in Blue Line shooting rampage — 'This is so f----- up,' aunt says by Tom Schuba, Matthew Hendrickson, Sophie Sherry, Emmanuel Camarillo, and Kate Heather
Before Rhanni Davis allegedly went on a deadly Labor Day shooting rampage on a Blue Line train, the 30-year-old had been arrested repeatedly and had struggled to pay rent — all while continuously changing their name.
Flashpoints in Davis’ life are laid out in a tangled web of court documents, none of which offersw any clear indication that Davis was capable of killing four Blue Line riders in cold blood, as Cook County prosecutors allege.
Facing four counts of first-degree murder, Davis is expected to appear for an initial court hearing Wednesday.
Cook County State’s Atty. Kim Foxx called the shootings a “horrific, heinous, inexplicable act of violence.”
A motive remains elusive as the circumstances of the shooting — and Davis’ background — continue to come into focus. Sources said Davis fatally shot three Blue Line riders as they slept, while a fourth person raised their hand in defense before being gunned down.
Texas Tribune: Bexar County will mail voter registration forms, defying Ken Paxton’s threat to sue by Jasper Scherer
Bexar County officials moved forward Tuesday with a plan to mail county residents voter registration forms, defying Attorney General Ken Paxton’s threat to use “all available legal means” to quash the effort.
The 3-1 Commissioners Court vote escalates a brewing fight between Texas Republicans and some of the state’s largest counties over initiatives to proactively send registration applications to people who are eligible but unregistered to vote. Harris County leaders are weighing a similar plan, and Paxton warned the two counties against such efforts Monday evening, claiming they would run afoul of state law and risk adding noncitizens to the voter rolls.
Rebuffing those claims, Bexar County Commissioners Court approved a $393,000 outreach contract with Civic Government Solutions following three hours of fervent discussion at Tuesday’s court meeting. Local GOP activists spent more than an hour blasting the deal as an illegal waste of taxpayer money and insisting it would be used to disproportionately register Democrats, citing past comments from the firm’s leaders indicating support for Democratic candidates.
Boston Globe: Hotel strikes a headache for guests, hotels, and workers alike by Katie Johnston and Stella Tannenbaum
Room service was suspended and housekeeping was by request only at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. At the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, UPS drivers refused to cross the picket line and requests to the front desk went unfulfilled for hours.
But for guests at both hotels, it was mostly about the noise: Workers chanting “Make them pay,” shouting into bullhorns, and banging on buckets from early morning until night.
“It’s a little inconvenient, it’s a little loud,” said Park Plaza guest Emily Storc.
But they also empathized with the workers’ situation.
“I understand they have their rights,” said Sarah Albadawi, who was also at the Park Plaza. “They’re not doing it for fun.”
Nearly 900 workers at four properties in Boston, including the Hilton Boston Logan Airport and the Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston Seaport District, remained on strike Tuesday after walking off the job early Sunday morning. They were set to go back to work at 11 p.m. Tuesday, but other workers are prepared to take to the picket lines as part of a citywide strike authorized at 35 properties in Boston and Cambridge. The union hadn’t announced a second wave of actions as of Tuesday night.
Seattle Times: In Seattle, few people of color, women are building multifamily housing by Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks
Only about 1 in 5 multifamily developers in Seattle are led by a person of color and less than 1 in 6 are led by women, a new analysis found.
The analysis of 10 U.S. cities, released by the Urban Institute last week, puts into sharper focus the continued lack of diversity within the real estate development industry nationwide. The study found structural barriers are hindering potential developers of color and female developers, “stifling their potential to contribute to the housing stock and create wealth for themselves and their communities.”
“They get told ‘no’ a lot, they get told your balance sheet isn’t big enough, you don’t have enough experience,” said Darryl Smith, executive director of HomeSight, a local nonprofit developer and lender. Some up-and-coming developers will max out five credit cards just to determine the feasibility of a project, he said.
Limited access to capital, industry connections and intergenerational wealth are contributing factors to the dearth of representation, researchers found, as well as complicated government processes and bureaucratic red tape.
Michigan Advance: Michigan Supreme Court won’t hear appeals on COVID-19-related compensation lawsuits by Anna Liz Nichols
Lawsuits from students at Michigan universities and gyms and owners of restaurants and catering businesses all seeking compensation for the impacts of mandated shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic were thrown out last week by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Michigan confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 on March 10, 2020, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer immediately issued a state of emergency. Many students had their last day of in-person classes for at least the remainder of the school year.
The lawsuit raised by students at Lake Superior State University, Central Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University asserted that due to the disruption in education, students should receive partial reimbursement for costs like tuition, room and board and other related costs for attendance.
Students argued that they signed up for classes and housing under the pretense of an in-person learning environment and the schools deprived them of a complete learning experience in breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
The Washington Post: John McCain’s son says he will support Kamala Harris in November by Maegan Vazquez and Marianna Alfaro
The late senator John McCain’s youngest son, Army 1st Lt. Jimmy McCain, told CNN on Tuesday that he’s changed his voter registration to Democrat and plans to support Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
McCain’s endorsement — which the Harris campaign promoted in a news release and on social media Tuesday — is the latest in a long line of Republicans who have come out against voting for Donald Trump. As Democrats make the case for Harris with independent voters and disaffected Republicans, the push for the party’s big tent was recently on display at the Democratic National Convention, which included several Republicans and former Trump officials in the lineup of speakers.
NBC News: Judge rejects Trump's second bid to move New York hush money case to federal court by Lisa Rubin, Adam Reiss, Laura Jarrett, Dareh Gregorian, and Raquel Coronell Uribe
A federal judge on Tuesday denied former President Donald Trump's second and last ditch bid to transfer his New York hush money caseto federal court.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York found that there was no good cause to grant Trump’s lawyers permission to even file a motion.
The judge's order said that in arguing “good cause” to move the case, Trump primarily argued that the state judge presiding over the criminal case, Juan Merchan, is biased against him and that the U.S. Supreme Court’s immunity ruling from July presents a valid federal defense for the hush money case.
Hellerstein rejected both arguments, finding first that a state court judge’s alleged bias does not present a federal question that would justify jurisdiction in a federal court, and was an issue for a state appeals court to decide.
The New York Times: N.Y. Official Charged With Taking Money, Travel and Poultry to Aid China by Hurubie Meko and William K. Rashbaum
In July 2021, six Nanjing-style salted ducks, prepared by a Chinese consulate official’s private chef, were delivered to the parents of an aide to New York’s then governor, Andrew M. Cuomo. About four months later, another six ducks arrived at their home. Another four months later, there were more salted ducks. Eight months after that: still more salted ducks.
Prosecutors say that the poultry shipments, described in a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday, were just a small part of a yearslong series of payoffs to the aide, Linda Sun, in exchange for actions that benefited the People’s Republic of China and its Communist Party. The 65-page indictment also described travel benefits, event tickets and the promotion of a close friend’s freight business with a headquarters in Queens.
Prosecutors say that Ms. Sun blocked Taiwanese officials from having access to the governor’s office, eliminated references to Taiwan from state communications and quashed meetings between Taiwanese officials and state leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who succeeded Mr. Cuomo and who promoted Ms. Sun to deputy chief of staff.
AlJazeera: Major political shake-up starts in Ukraine; arms chief, ministers quit
A major shake-up of the government is under way in Ukraine after at least six ministers resigned and a presidential aide was fired.
Among those who quit late on Tuesday was Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin who was in charge of weapons production. He said he expected to take another role in defence.
Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna as well as the justice, environment and reintegration ministers also resigned, as did the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund, Vitaliy Koval.
About a third of the positions in the cabinet are now vacant.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was elected in 2019, signalled last week he planned a major reshuffle.
In his regular evening address, he reiterated the need for change.
BBC News: India’s Bangladesh dilemma: What to do about Sheikh Hasina? By Anbarasan Ethirajan and Vikas Pandey
It’s been nearly a month since former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina hurriedly landed at a military base near Delhi after a chaotic exit from her country.
Ms Hasina’s dramatic ouster on 5 August followed weeks of student-led protests which spiralled into deadly, nationwide unrest. She was initially expected to stay in India for just a short period, but reports say her attempts to seek asylum in the UK, the US and the UAE have not been successful so far.
Her continued presence in India has generated challenges for Delhi in developing a strong relationship with the new interim government in Dhaka.
For India, Bangladesh is not just any neighbouring country. It's a strategic partner and a close ally crucial to India's border security, particularly in the north-eastern states.
DW: Russian propaganda celebrates German far right by Sergei Satanovskii
The German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has long been a Russian propaganda darling.
The party's win in Thuringia and its second place in Saxony have led to celebrations on Russian state television.
In Russia, propagandists and state television pundits seem to see the results for the far right and far left in Thuringia and Saxony as also being somewhat a win for Moscow.
The massive gains of the AfD and the good results of the populist leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) have been one of the most discussed topics in the Russian state media over the past days.
TV reports framed the story as if the results were almost entirely due to Germany's Russia policies. The parties that make the governing coalition on the national level, all saw heavy losses in the two regional elections. According to one reporter, this is because of Berlin arming Kyiv, and because of the consequences of sanctions, the rejection of Russian energy, and the muted response to the Nord Stream pipelines explosions.
College Football AP Top 10
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Notre Dame
6. Ole Miss
7. Oregon
8. Penn State
9. Missouri
10. Michigan
The game of the week, of course, is #3 Texas @ #10 Michigan. Personally, I think that Texas has too much firepower for a rebuilding Michigan team and I think Texas wins at The Big House 28-13...or something like that.
Have the best possible evening everyone!
