NORRISTOWN A Philadelphia man was sent to prison after he admitted to purchasing eight firearms for the ringleader of a multi-county gun trafficking network who illegally obtained and put nearly 100 guns on the streets. Malik Keyon Rowell-Jernigan, 26, of the 1900 block of East Pacific Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, making false written statements on federal firearms paperwork, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between 2022 and 2023. Judge Steven T. O’Neill said gun violence is ravaging communities and that those who put guns in the hands of others who are prohibited from having them are helping to promulgate the violence. “We are in a society that lives in worship of guns. It is particularly troubling that the population gaining access to these guns is getting younger and younger and younger. They are killing members of our community,” said O’Neill, adding a state prison term was appropriate for Rowell-Jernigan. “Protection of the public has to start somewhere.” The five-year sentence was a mandatory term allowable under state law for one of the illegal gun transfers. The judge imposed concurrent five-year sentences for the other seven illegal gun purchases. Rowell-Jernigan did not address the judge before learning his fate and did not comment to a reporter as he was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving the sentence. Rowell-Jernigan was among eight people charged in 2023 with participating in the gun trafficking network led by Larry B. Williams of Philadelphia. Prosecutors said participants used straw purchase schemes to arm the organization. A straw purchase occurs when someone who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm purchases one and then gives it illegally to someone who is not permitted to purchase that firearm. With the charges, detectives specifically alleged Rowell-Jernigan purchased eight firearms “in furtherance of this gun trafficking organization.” The weapons included Taurus 9mm handguns, Glock . 40-caliber handguns and Glock 9mm handguns, according to court documents. “Those eight firearms were then handed over to Larry Williams as part of this overarching organization,” said Assistant District Attorney William Harry Highland III, who sought a mandatory sentence for Rowell-Jernigan. “The danger of these straw purchase cases is that individuals who cannot own or possess firearms are now able to get guns in their hands. “It presents a serious problem on the streets. When people are buying guns for those who cannot have them the ramifications of what could happen are endless,” said Highland, adding some of the illegal guns linked to the organization were used in other crimes. Some of the firearms were recovered during investigations of other crimes including in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and during an October 2021 gunpoint robbery in Wolcott, Conn., according to court documents. Members of the network allegedly purchased 94 firearms and attempted to purchase an additional 23 firearms in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh, Philadelphia, Columbia, Northampton and York counties. Previous testimony revealed about 52 of the firearms are still on the streets. Authorities said about half of the illegal gun purchases and attempted purchases were completed at gun shows statewide, including at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks in Upper Providence Township. Seven of the eight firearms that were purchased by Rowell-Jernigan have been recovered by authorities. Defense lawyer Francis John Genovese was pleased the judge sentenced Rowell-Jernigan to only one five-year mandatory sentence. “He came in early on and admitted to what he had done, took responsibility for it. He was just hoping for the best sentence possible which is what the judge ultimately gave him, the 5 to 10 year mandatory sentences all running concurrently, so he was satisfied with that outcome,” Genovese said on behalf of Rowell-Jernigan. “When he initially got involved in this at the request of Mr. Williams he didn’t realize the consequences that came along with the straw purchases. He did it to make a couple of bucks because he really wasn’t working at that point in time. He made a couple of bucks but obviously it wasn’t worth the ultimate penalty he just paid with a 5- to 10-year prison sentence,” Genovese added. Authorities said Williams was prohibited from buying, owning or possessing firearms because of previous felony convictions for drug crimes, so he recruited other people who lived in Philadelphia to buy firearms for him. The investigation found that oftentimes Williams accompanied the straw purchasers to gun stores and helped choose the weapons or he directed the purchases from afar using text or phone conversations. “Law enforcement identified multiple members of this gun trafficking organization with different roles and responsibilities,” detectives wrote in a criminal complaint. “We know through our training and experience individuals involved in this illegal activity operate in attempt to conceal the true identity of the ultimate possessor of the firearm.” For each purchase made on behalf of the organization the purchasers indicated on the record of sale paperwork that they purchased the firearms for themselves and not another individual, detectives said. “The purpose of this corrupt organization was to illegally obtain and distribute firearms to others,” detectives alleged. In April, Williams, 42, of Jasper Street in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 22½ to 45 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, making materially false written statements or illegal transfer of firearms, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy. In June 2022, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau initiated an investigation into illegal activities associated with the gun trafficking organization. Members of the county’s Violent Crime Unit followed the multiple purchases of firearms by the defendants through the state’s Electronic Record of Sale (EROS) system and through hard copies of ATF and Pennsylvania State Police forms at gun stores. Detectives used surveillance, interviews, information from law enforcement agencies, call detail records and cellphone downloads, social media analysis, records of cash transfers, inspection of forms used in purchasing firearms and other methods of investigation. Collaboration between law enforcement agencies and increased data sharing through initiatives like Track and Trace aided in uncovering the scale of the widespread operation. The following law enforcement organizations participated in the investigation: the Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force; Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit; Bucks County District Attorney’s Drug Strike Force; U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Pennsylvania State Police; Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole; FBI Bucks Montgomery Safe Streets Task Force; U. S. Marshal’s Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force; New York State Police and multiple police departments including Abington Township Police, Philadelphia Police, Middletown Township Police, Wolcott, Conn., Police, Darby Police, New York City Police and the Pittsburgh Police.
https://www.pottsmerc.com/2025/11/20/philadelphia-man-draws-prison-for-role-in-southeast-pa-gun-trafficking-network/
Author: admin
Joe Biden’s Sad Last Days: Ex-Prez, 83, Sparks ‘Dementia’ Fears as He Appears Confused and ‘Struggles to Walk’ at Former Veep Dick Cheney’s Funeral
Nov. 20 2025, Published 2:00 p.m. ET Former President Joe Biden has sparked dementia fears after he appeared “confused” at ex-Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral in Washington, D.C., RadarOnline.com can reveal. Biden spent his 83rd birthday attending the prominent Republican’s funeral on Thursday, November 20. The ex-president, who is currently battling cancer, stiffly walked into the National Cathedral holding his wife Jill’s hand as she led him to their seats. Biden Spends 83rd Birthday at Dick Cheney’s Funeral Instead of following the former first lady down their row, Biden shuffled past her and greeted a row of guests seated behind them, including Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao. After exchanging handshakes and pleasantries, Biden returned to Jill and extended a hand to his former Vice President Kamala Harris, as former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, filed in next to him. Viewers took to social media to call out how disoriented Biden appeared before the service started. A critic on X remarked he looked “around like a lost, demented fool trying to figure out how to sit in his chair.” Others cruelly mocked Biden “might think it’s his funeral,” while others claimed he “didn’t know where he is.” “Am I in the casket, or do I sit here? – Joe Biden,” wrote an X user as another said, “Biden looks like he is about to clobber someone or smelling something?” Biden’s appearance at Cheney’s funeral comes amid his cancer battle. In May, he announced he had been diagnosed with “aggressive,” hormone-sensitive prostate cancer “with metastasis to the bone.” While he’s taken a step back from public life, Biden was spotted out to dinner in Arlington in early November. He slowly made his way inside the Italian restaurant as Secret Service agents surrounded him. Once again, social media users called out how “lost” the octogenarian appeared during the rare outing. “He looks absolutely lost,” one observer wrote at the time, as another echoed, “He is not sure where he is.” Biden Health Fears Ramp Up Since leaving office, Biden has been holed up at his Delaware home working on a book in-between cancer treatments. He’s said to have one or two aides and a few Secret Service members watching over him as he works with a ghostwriter on his memoir. In August, concerns for his health amid his cancer battle ramped up when he was seen in public with a large bandage on his head after undergoing Mohs surgery, a procedure to detect how deep skin cancer has spread. His spokesperson, Kelly Scully, attempted to downplay the procedure, which removed a potentially deadly malignant lesion and surrounding tissue. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump have been hellbent on exposing Biden’s use of the “autopen,” claiming there was a “cover-up” among his staffers to conceal his cognitive decline.
https://radaronline.com/p/joe-biden-dementia-dick-cheney-funeral-confused-struggling-to-walk/
Cook County budget for 2026 holds line on taxes and fees, prepares for federal cuts
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle won swift approval of her $10. 12 billion 2026 budget on Thursday, calling its passage a protection against President Donald Trump’s cuts. Preckwinkle made special note of the fact there is money in the budget to expand county Public Defender Sharone Mitchell’s immigration unit, which will get seven more positions next year, bringing it to 15. By adding more lawyers, county officials expect to be able to represent more clients who are in the midst of the immigration process or facing criminal prosecution and deportation. The unit, Mitchell said Wednesday, has so far represented 190 clients. Like the last several years, the 2026 budget does not include any layoffs or new taxes, fines or fees. The county has not raised its base property tax levy in nearly three decades. Avoiding those unpopular moves is a political boost for Preckwinkle and board members who are facing primary elections in March. The budget remains largely unchanged from Preckwinkle’s initial proposal in October. Commissioners will give themselves pay raises, to $102, 170 per year from $99,194, the latest such increases tied to inflation that they voted to enact starting in 2022. Finance Chairman John Daley’s salary goes up from about $105, 000 to $108, 198. Recent tweaks include roughly two dozen new positions at State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s office and new mental health and domestic violence programs. And thanks to the city’s planned record surplus of special taxing district funding, there will be nearly $20 million in new spending on homelessness, food benefits, and help for renters. Its easy passage and the “collegiality” board members celebrated stood in stark contrast to the budget struggles swirling on the other side of the City-County building, which several commissioners alluded to after quickly approving a series of amendments in the Finance Committee. Even Sean Morrison, the board’s lone Republican, supported the budget, estimating the county was in the “best fiscal position” in the state thanks to difficult pension fixes funded by a sales tax hike approved in 2015, the decision to refinance hundreds of millions in debt, and a flood of federal dollars hitting Cook County Health. The county has received a ratings upgrade every year for the last four years. But many expect the following budget to be more difficult. The 2026 spending plan will tap reserves to weather what county officials think will be stormy conditions in 2027 and beyond. Health officials predict state and federal changes could result in an estimated $400 million “negative impact” on Cook County Health. Reductions in federal Affordable Care Act tax credits could lead to more uninsured patients with limited ability to pay their bills coming to county facilities for care. New Medicaid work requirements that kick in starting in 2027 could lead to an estimated 10% of current enrollees losing coverage. Eligibility checks for Medicaid patients will also happen twice a year instead of annually, which could lead to another 5% to 12% drop in coverage. Other stresses to the safety net hospital system could also bring in more uninsured patients, leaders have warned. The county expects to lose nearly 29, 000 members in its Medicaid managed care program, CountyCare, next year. To prepare for that and other looming cuts, the board agreed to move some of the nearly $1 billion sitting in the county’s “unassigned” reserves. $65 million will go into a “grant risk mitigation fund” in case the Trump administration scales back federal grants and $55 million would go to a pension reserve. Nearly $200 million will help make up for money the county expects to lose thanks to a lawsuit first brought by the Illinois Roadbuilders in 2018. A judge is scheduled to rule in early December about whether the county improperly spent money that should have been used on transportation projects. The county spent some of that money on public safety offices they argued helped enforce traffic laws. Elsewhere in the budget, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke won budget tweaks to add ten positions to an “in-house digital forensics unit” she argued was sorely needed for attorneys to skim through reams of video evidence. That is paid for with a reroute of money set aside for capital projects. Six other new technology positions and eight victim witness specialists assigned to domestic violence cases in the office were also added in amendments. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plans to sweep roughly $1 billion from the city’s tax increment financing districts would deliver an additional $19. 9 million windfall to the county. If that money comes through, commissioners voted to spend $5. 8 million on help for renters in court; $4. 1 million on homeless services and $10 million on food access. Another half a million dollars from Stroger Hospital’s budget will go to hosting community mental health forums for young people in suburban districts.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/20/cook-county-budget-2026-holds-line-taxes-fees-federal-cuts/
Existing home sales up 1.2% in October
Year-over-year, existing home sales were up 1. 7%. Prices were also up. The median sales price increased 2. 1% to $415,200. “Home sales increased in October even with the government shutdown due to homebuyers taking advantage of lower mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. Sales shrank at the low end of the market, with home sales below $100,000 falling 2. 8%. For homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000, sales climbed less than 1%. Sales of homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000 gained 5%. Realtors reported even bigger gains at the upper end of the housing market. For homes priced between $500,000 and $750,000, the increase was 6. 3%. Sales increased 10. 2% for homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million. And home sales above $1 million jumped 16. 4%. DAVID HARSANYI: DON’T BUY THE NOSTALGIA, GENERATION Z. LIFE IS BETTER THAN YOU THINK Earlier this month, the median age of a first-time home buyer reached a record high of 40, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. The median age of first-time buyers increased to 40 this year from 38 the previous year. In the 1980s, the typical first-time home buyer was in their late 20s,” according to NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/3894133/existing-home-sales-up-october/
Frederick: No, Anthony Edwards is not an MVP candidate. This week reminds us why
“MVP and a championship.” Those were Anthony Edwards’ stated goals entering the 2025-26 season. There was little reason to doubt his pursuit of either. The Timberwolves guard had made massive strides each season, dragging the franchise along with him in the process. Why couldn’t he ascend to the sport’s ultimate individual and team heights this year? This week, he showed us why. Being the best player in the world, or something very close to it, requires a robotic level of dominance. You walk onto the court, you take over the game. Rinse, repeat for the 70-plus times you take the floor in the regular season and beyond. There’s no room for duds like the one Edwards delivered in Minnesota’s home win Wednesday over Washington. The guard was aggressive in the first quarter, logging 12 points, two steals, a rebound and a blocked shot. But when the shots stopped falling, Edwards stopped making an impact in any way, shape or form. Minnesota fell off the tracks in the second half, allowing a 27-point lead to be trimmed to five by the one-win Wizards with fewer than five minutes to play. “Really (we just lost) our edge and our activity and our aggressiveness,” Wolves forward Julius Randle explained. “All that stuff, we kind of just left it in (the locker room) at halftime.” Edwards led the charge on Minnesota’s relative indifference. He played all 12 minutes in a third frame in which the Wolves were outscored 36-23. In that quarter, he scored two points on 1-for-7 shooting. On top of the misfires, he accrued a total of zero assists, rebounds, steals or blocks. It was more of the same in the closing quarter: two points, an assist and a turnover. Edwards was invisible on offense and a non-factor in every other phase of the game. If your shots aren’t falling Edwards has hit just 3 of his 30 3-point attempts over the past four games then do something else. Instead, Edwards, who declined to speak after Wednesday’s win, occasionally disengages entirely. He finished with 18 points on 30% shooting to go with two rebounds and two assists against Washington. MVP? MVP? Edwards’ highs are higher than most. The lows while infrequent are far too low. Hey, there are 82 games. You’re bound to be at less than your best at various points throughout the course of a regular season. But the game’s best, the ones who legitimately contend for the ultimate awards, make their presence felt every night. Shooting 30% or worse from the field on a night you also grab two or fewer rebounds and dish out two or fewer assists in 30-plus minutes of action has never been replicated even once by any of the following players: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard. And many, many more. That includes Randle, who has given Minnesota the consistent production it has desperately needed all season. Without it, the Timberwolves wouldn’t be 10-5 at this point in the campaign. Forget League MVP; Edwards isn’t carrying the bulk of his own team’s burden right now. Perhaps he’s not at 100% or something is going on that we don’t know about. But that’s true for a lot of players at various points of a season and career. Even as a one-off, Edwards’ game on Wednesday is simply not a performance those other names would accept from themselves. And this clunker came directly off the heels of another. Against Dallas on Monday, Edwards shot 35. 7% from the field while recording four rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. The 24-year-old has now shot 36% or worse with four or fewer rebounds and three or fewer assists in 28-plus minutes in consecutive games. Here’s how many single games in which that’s happened throughout the careers of Doncic and Jokic: Zero. LeBron James has done it one time in 1, 563 career contests. It hasn’t happened to Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum since they were 22 years old, and Gilgeous-Alexander since he was 23. Those players represent a high bar, but that’s supposedly the air Edwards hopes to occupy. It’s not the stratosphere in which he currently resides. That realm is reserved for those who deliver consistent excellence on a game-to-game basis, no sleepwalks allowed. It’s something Minnesota’s All-NBA guard is still either unwilling or unable to achieve. Those are the guys who are able to bear heavy loads deep into the postseason and lift trophies in late May and June. They build up those muscles throughout the season to the point where elite production becomes second nature. Even the exhausted versions of themselves can deliver it, because it’s all they know. Edwards will bounce back at some point. It would shock no one if he scored 40 points on Friday in Phoenix. But if he can’t match his peers’ consistency, his current preseason goals feel unreachable.
https://www.pineandlakes.com/sports/pro/frederick-no-anthony-edwards-is-not-an-mvp-candidate-this-week-reminds-us-why
HSBC Analysts Announce Surprise Forecast for Fed’s December and 2026 Interest Rate Decisions!
The US federal government shutdown canceled the October employment report, a key indicator for interest rate decisions. This has lowered market expectations for a December rate cut to around 30% from 100% a month ago. According to CME FedWatch, the probability of a December rate cut has fallen to 31. 8%, while the probability of leaving rates unchanged is priced in at 68. 2%. According to the FOMC minutes released yesterday, the majority of Fed officials stated at last month’s monetary policy meeting that it would be appropriate to keep the policy rate steady in December. Although the likelihood of a December interest rate cut is diminishing day by day due to the lack of data, HSBC analysts predicted that the Fed will cut interest rates once again at its December meeting. However, HSBC analysts presented a negative outlook for 2026 and stated that additional reductions were not expected in 2026. Analysts also added that the US dollar could bottom out in the first quarter of 2026 or earlier and then recover. The comments come as investors await the release of key U. S. economic data, which has been delayed by the record-length government shutdown. *This is not investment advice.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/tech/hsbc-analysts-announce-surprise-forecast-for-feds-december-and-2026-interest-rate-decisions/
Griffin heads EMCC football honorees as MACCC North Division Offensive Player of the Year
JACKSON East Mississippi Community College running back Gavin Griffin has been named the MACCC North Division’s Offensive Player of the Year to highlight the Lions’ 13 selections to the 2025 All-MACCC football teams. Chosen by a panel of the MACCC’s head football coaches, the conference’s first-team, second-team and honorable mention football selections from the league’s North and South Divisions were announced Wednesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office. Along with Griffin, head coach Buddy Stephens’ 7-3 EMCC Lions placed Ole Miss bounce-back Noreel White on the MACCC North Division First Team as both a wide receiver and return specialist. Also earning first-team honors for the division co-champions were offensive lineman Kison Shepard, defensive lineman Kevin Norwood Jr., along with defensive backs Donald Passmore III and Jathan Hatch. Second-team accolades for the Lions went to the offensive line tandem of Mike Wallace Jr. and Julian Jakobe, as well as the defensive line duo of Davier Bishop and Darrell Gross. A pair of EMCC freshmen, wide receiver Christian Thomas and linebacker Ja’Cari Owens, earned honorable mention recognition for the Lions. As EMCC’s lone repeat all-conference performer from a year ago, Griffin was twice selected the NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week this season on the way to currently topping the NJCAA Division I statistical ranks in rushing yards (1, 168), rushing touchdowns (22) and rushing attempts (207). Griffin’s 134 points scored this season presently lead the NJCAA Division I ranks by 47 points, while his 22 rushing TDs are nine more than his nearest competitor. During the Buddy Stephens coaching era (since 2008), both totals rank only behind Tyrell Price’s 24 rushing touchdowns and 150 points scored during the Lions’ 2017 national championship season. On EMCC’s single-season statistical leaders list during the Stephens era, Griffin’s 1, 168 rushing yards (in 10 games this year) rank only behind 2025 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Rod Moore (1, 303 in 2011) and Lakenderic Thomas (1, 334 in 2013). Both Moore and Thomas had the luxury of playing two additional games during their respective national championship seasons with the Lions. In addition, Griffin’s 207 rushing attempts this season are the most by an EMCC player during the Stephens era, breaking the mark of 200 carries previously held by Deon McIntosh during the Lions’ 2018 national championship season. On EMCC’s career statistical leaders chart during the Stephens era, Griffin’s 1, 722 career rushing yards rank only behind Lakenderic Thomas (1, 724) and Rod Moore (2, 211). Griffin’s 30 career rushing touchdowns tie Tyrell Price for the most during the Stephens era. Along with Griffin’s 66 points scored (8 rush TDs & 3 TD catches) as an EMCC freshman by way of Velma Jackson High School, the 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football also became just the second EMCC player of the Stephens era to reach 200 career points scored. Kicker Drew White tallied 204 total points during the Lions’ back-to-back national championship seasons of 2013 and 2014. Noreel White, out of St. Martin High School, currently ranks third in the MACCC with 52 receptions on the year in addition to standing second in punt return yardage (15. 0 yds/ret) and sixth in kickoff return yardage (24. 5 yds/ret). Among his 12 punt returns on the year was an 83-yard touchdown return against Itawamba. Kison Shepard, a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, anchored an EMCC offensive line that has helped the Lions rank fifth nationally in total offense yards (428. 5 yds/gm) as well as rushing yards (217. 3 yds/gm). The 6-foot-7 left tackle prepped at Memphis’ Germantown High School. On the defensive side of the ball, Kevin Norwood Jr., out of Theodore High School in Alabama, made an immediate impact along EMCC’s defensive front following a redshirt season at Troy University. In the secondary, Donald Passmore III, a Terry High School product, was the Lions’ second-leading tackler on the year with 58 total stops along with his team-leading eight pass breakups and two blocked kicks. Jathan Hatch, a bounce-back from the University of Louisville by way of Biggersville High School, was EMCC’s No. 3 tackler this past year with 51 stops. EMCC’s second-team quartet earning all-conference honors was evenly distributed between the offensive and defensive lines. Davier Bishop, a product of Notre Dame College in his home state of Ohio, topped EMCC with nine tackles for loss, including six quarterback sacks, this past season. Darrell Gross, a Madison native out of Germantown High School, was credited with six tackles for loss as an EMCC sophomore. From the Lions’ offensive line, sophomore Mike Wallace Jr., out of Itawamba Agricultural High School, benefitted from moving over to the starting center position and was joined on the division’s second-team unit by freshman right tackle Julian Jakobe from Tupelo High School. Honorable mention recognition for the Lions was earned by freshman receiver Christian Thomas, who ranks sixth in the MACCC with 43 catches after having bounced back from Jacksonville State by way of Shades Valley High School in Alabama, and freshman linebacker Ja’Cari Owens, a Louisville High School product who led EMCC with 61 total tackles, including 6. 5 stops behind the line of scrimmage, this past year.
https://meridianstar.com/2025/11/20/griffin-heads-emcc-football-honorees-as-maccc-north-division-offensive-player-of-the-year/
Fiery dissent in Texas redistricting case paves path for Supreme Court appeal
“In 37 years as a federal judge, I’ve served on hundreds of three-judge panels. This is the most blatant exercise of judicial activism that I have ever witnessed,” Smith said in his dissent. “The opinion is caught in an illogical straitjacket from which it cannot escape,” he later added. Brown had written in his Tuesday majority opinion that the map passed by the Texas legislature earlier this year, which would net Republicans up to five additional House seats, amounted to an unlawful racial gerrymander. The panel ordered the state to use its existing maps for the 2026 elections. Smith issued a sharp rebuttal to that finding, stressing repeatedly that “the most obvious reason for mid-cycle redistricting, of course, is partisan gain,” and detailing why the panel reached the wrong conclusion in issuing a preliminary injunction. Texas officials said they would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, with state Attorney General Ken Paxton saying he expects the high court to “uphold Texas’s sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting.” The forthcoming appeal at the Supreme Court comes as the justices are set to rule on a case that could overrule how racial gerrymandering cases are decided and when they can be brought. Louisiana v. Callais, which centers on a challenge to Louisiana’s congressional map, could see the justices strike down the high court’s current Voting Rights Act precedent, which mandates the creation of minority-majority districts if a minority group is compact geographically and makes up a significant portion of the state’s population. Smith pointed to the pending case as a reason why the injunction should be paused pending the outcome of the Louisiana case. “The fact that Callais may fundamentally change the nature of this case also weighs in favor of a stay. It is reckless for this court to proceed with opining on the merits, which amounts to nothing more than a general guess as to whether existing voting-rights jurisprudence will survive Callais,” Smith wrote in his dissent. The circuit judge concluded his 104-page dissent by imploring the high court to reverse the panel’s ruling. REDISTRICTING SETBACKS IN COURT SLOW GOP MAP PUSH AHEAD OF 2026 “This order, replete with legal and factual error, and accompanied by naked procedural abuse, demands reversal,” Smith concluded. Texas officials are expected to appeal the ruling in the coming days, hoping to restore the recently passed map for use in the 2026 election as deadlines for next year’s races approach. The filing deadline for the 2026 elections in Texas is Dec. 8.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3893428/fiery-dissent-texas-redistricting-case-paves-path-supreme-court-appeal/
Historic Colorado River deal to conserve flows advances after winning key approval from state water board
A yearslong effort to purchase two of the most powerful water rights on the Colorado River has cleared another hurdle after the state water board agreed to manage the rights alongside Western Slope water officials. The Colorado Water Conservation Board voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept the two water rights tied to the Shoshone Power Plant into its environmental flow program. The approval is a critical piece in the Colorado River District’s $99 million deal with the owner of the aging plant in Glenwood Canyon Xcel Energy but the deal has faced pushback from Front Range water providers that fear the change could impact their supplies. Backers of the deal aim to make sure the water now used by the small hydroelectric plant and then put back in the river will always flow westward. “The importance of today’s vote cannot be overstated as a legacy decision for Colorado water and the Western Slope,” Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, said in a news release. “It secures an essential foundation for the health of the Colorado River and the communities it sustains.” Colorado water officials hailed the decision as a monumental achievement for the state that will help protect the river and its ecosystem. The state’s instream flow program allows the Water Conservation Board to manage dedicated water rights for the health of rivers, streams and lakes. “Acquiring the Shoshone water rights for instream flow use is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve and improve the natural environment of the Colorado River,” Dan Gibbs, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said in a news release. One of the main sticking points during the hourslong meeting Wednesday was whether the board should manage the water rights with the River District. That would include decisions on how and when to require upstream users like Front Range utilities to send more water downstream. Generally, the board is the sole manager of water rights in its instream flow program, which the Shoshone rights are now a part of. Several Western Slope entities said they would withdraw their financial support from the purchase if the Colorado River District was not allowed to co-manage the right with the board. Local governments and other organizations across the Western Slope promised more than $16 million toward the purchase. Front Range water providers argued that the statewide board is the sole authority that can manage such rights and should have final decision-making power. The water board instead approved the co-management strategy, which means that the two authorities will decide together how to act when there is not enough water to meet the right’s obligations. The Colorado River District a taxpayer-funded agency that works to protect Western Slope water wants to purchase the Shoshone rights to ensure that water will continue to flow west past the plant and downstream to the towns, farms and others who rely on the Colorado River, even if the century-old power plant were decommissioned. A stream of Western Slope elected officials, water managers and conservation groups testified in support of the deal and the rare opportunity it presented. “The Shoshone call is one of the great stabilizing forces on the river a heartbeat that has kept our valley farms alive, our communities whole and our economies steady even in lean years,” Mesa County Commissioner Bobbie Daniel said, urging the board to approve the plan. The meeting on Wednesday came after weeks of extensive mediation between the River District and Front Range entities. However, the representatives from opposite sides of the Continental Divide could not come to a consensus on a way forward. Representatives from Front Range utilities have said repeatedly that they supported the purchase as a whole, but they stated concerns about the purchase changing the status quo on the river. The water rights connected to the plant are the oldest major water rights on the main stem of the Colorado River, which means that they must be fulfilled before any rights established afterward. Those include more junior rights held by Front Range utilities to divert water from the river and bring it under the Continental Divide to their customers. The plant’s rights can command up to 1, 408 cubic feet of water per second year-round, or about 1 million acre-feet a year enough water for 2 million to 3 million households’ annual use. The Water Conservation Board’s approval is one of several that must be acquired by the River District. The deal now must go through the state’s water court and its Public Utilities Commission. Along with the $16 million coming from Western Slope entities, the district will pay $20 million and the Water Conservation Board allocated another $20 million. The financial plan also includes $40 million awarded under the federal Inflation Reduction Act by the Biden administration, but that money remains frozen as part of the Trump administration’s broad halt to spending by the previous president.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/11/20/colorado-river-shoshone-water-rights-vote/
Kim Kardashian reclaims her late father’s gift to O.J. Simpson through NFL legend’s auction
During O. J. Simpson’s murder trial in the 1990s, Kim Kardashian’s father, Robert Kardashian, was part of the defense of the controversial NFL legend.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-kim-kardashian-reclaims-late-father-s-gift-o-j-simpson-nfl-legend-s-auction