SCOTUS Backs Trump, Dismisses Travel Ban Challenge

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The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s travel ban late Tuesday, concluding that the ban’s expiration in September effectively ended the controversy.

The development is a partial victory for the administration, which urged the high court to dismiss the case after the ban expired Sept. 24. Per the terms of the order, a ban on migrant entry from six countries with high instances of terror was applied for a 90-day period.

In an order issued just after 7:30 p.m., the justices remanded the case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Richmond-based appeals court which upheld an injunction staying the ban’s enforcement. The justices ordered the court to dismiss the case as moot, and directed the 4th Circuit to vacate — or wipe out — its ruling finding the order unlawful.

A legal rule called the Munsingwear doctrine requires the vacatur of all lower court rulings in a case that is mooted while awaiting Supreme Court review, with several exceptions. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the Court’s vacatur order, but agreed that the challenge should be dismissed. (Read more from “SCOTUS Backs Trump, Dismisses Travel Ban Challenge” HERE)

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Bannon Launching Decades-Long ‘War’ on GOP Establishment

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President Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon made it clear Monday night that his “war on the Republican establishment” is not a skirmish or a battle but a long-term campaign that could take decades.

“To take your country back – it’s not going to happen in just one election. This is something you’re going to have to grind out day in and day out for the next five, 10, 15, 20 years,” Bannon told the Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity.

“It took us a long time to get here. There’s no magic wand we can wave and drain the swamp. There’s no magic wand we can wave and blow up this establishment. I hate to tell people, you’re going to have to work,” he added.

“But you know what? The grit, determination and courage of the American working men and women – we are going to win.”

Bannon’s current focus is to challenge Republican incumbents in the 2018 midterm elections who do not support the agenda President Trump ran on in 2016, which “backs the working men and women of this country.” (Read more from “Bannon Launching Decades-Long ‘War’ on GOP Establishment” HERE)

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Scrapping Obama’s Plan Means Seniors Can Eat and Have Heat

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An Obama-era plan to drastically reduce carbon emissions is on its way to the regulatory scrap heap after the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday announced a repeal of the Clean Power Plan.

For Americans already struggling with much higher energy costs, the news will be welcome in many households trying to make ends meet.

“This was designed to cause electricity rates, according to [Obama] to necessarily skyrocket. So that won’t happen. The seniors, the poor on low and fixed income who had to choose between heating and eating will now, we hope, not have to,” said Christopher Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The Trump administration projects the move will result in $33 billion in avoided costs due to the proposed policy. Horner suspects the actual number is much higher.

Even though the plan was never implemented, Horner says Obama’s actions still exacted a heavy toll on blue collar America. (Read more from “Scrapping Obama’s Plan Means Seniors Can Eat and Have Eat” HERE)

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Black Actor: Top Hollywood Exec Groped Me

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In the wake of many female stars and employees coming forward about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment and assault, actor Terry Crews has a story of his own experience with sexual assault in Hollywood.

The “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star, 49, shared his story on social media because he wanted to let his followers know that Weinstein “is not the only perpetrator.”

“This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD. Why? Because this kind of thing happened to ME…” Crews tweeted Tuesday. “My wife n I were at a Hollywood function last year n a high level Hollywood executive came over 2 me and groped my privates” . . .

The “Expendables” star said he didn’t “kick his ass” because he thought of how the media would spin the story. (Read more from “Black Actor: Top Hollywood Exec Groped Me” HERE)

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Christian Congregation Sues City Over Getting Taxed

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A church in San Rafael, California, is suing the city for charging thousands of dollars through a special property tax from which religious facilities are supposed to be exempt.

The action was brought in Superior Court for Marin County by the Pacific Justice Institute on behalf of Valley Baptist Church.

The legal team explained voters in San Rafael approved a special tax in 2010 through a referendum.

It provides that the city can charge the owners of “non-residential structures” up to 14 cents per square foot each year.

But in California, churches and religious institutions are exempt from ad valorem taxes, which are assessed in proportion to the estimated value of the property. (Read more from “Christian Congregation Sues City Over Getting Taxed” HERE)

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Bad Marriage Tied to Bad Health in Men

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The ups and downs of married life take their toll on dads’ hearts, a new study found.

The roller-coaster relationship between spouses causes blood pressure, bad cholesterol and weight to rise and fall in men compared to those in stable relationships.

When things are bad and the relationship is deteriorating, men’s blood pressure soars.

But when they got along better with their wives, men saw their bad cholesterol and weight drop and generally saw cholesterol and blood pressure improve. (Read more from “Bad Marriage Tied to Bad Health in Men” HERE)

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Ex-Airport Security Employee Alleges Managers Recorded, Shared Co-Worker Sex Videos at JFK

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A female former security supervisor for the company that protects John F. Kennedy International Airport has filed a federal complaint alleging the outfit was “overrun with misogyny, racism and harassment.”

LaDonna Powell worked for four years at Allied Universal Security Services, which is contracted by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to secure the Queens airport. She claims in court papers filed Tuesday that she “was subjected to a shocking campaign of abuse and hazing.”

In an exclusive interview with the I-Team, Powell said male managers touched her inappropriately and made lewd comments about her body. Four of those managers are named as defendants in the federal lawsuit. The suit also names two Allied project managers and one executive for the company.

A spokesperson for Allied Universal Security Services, which bills itself as the largest security services company in North America, told the I-Team the company just received the lawsuit Tuesday morning and is reviewing it. She said Allied does not comment on pending litigation. (Read more from “Ex-Airport Security Employee Alleges Managers Recorded, Shared Co-Worker Sex Videos at JFK” HERE)

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Firefighter Fired for Bringing Watermelon to Station – Here’s the Crazy Reason Why

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Earlier this month, 41-year-old Robert Pattison went to introduce himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield in Detroit. Second Battalion Chief Shawn McCarty calls it a tradition for firefighters.

“It’s not mandatory, it’s voluntary,” he says. “You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts, but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in.”

And Pattison, a probationary firefighter, decided to bring a watermelon wrapped in a pink ribbon. We’re told some African-American firefighters were instantly offended, since 90 percent of the people who work at Engine 55 are black . . .

FOX 2 spoke to Pattison by phone, who claims it was not a joke – and he did not mean to offend his fellow firefighters. But he clearly did. Fire Commissioner Eric Jones says the Fenton native was officially discharged.

In a statement Jones says: “There is zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department. (Read more from “Firefighter Fired for Bringing Watermelon to Station – Here’s the Crazy Reason Why” HERE)

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Hillary Condemns Harvey Weinstein But Keeps His Cash

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Hillary Clinton broke six days of silence on the Harvey Weinstein scandal hours after he was alleged to have committed three rapes, saying she was ‘shocked and appalled’ – but saying nothing about returning his tainted donations.

The 2016 presidential loser issued a statement through her spokesman saying his behavior ‘cannot be tolerated’ – shortly after Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Joloie said they too were victims.

‘I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein,’ Clintoin said . . .

Her statement ended silence but left open the crucial issue of the vast amount of cash Weinstein donated directly to her and her family, and brought in frm his celebrity friends.

And it came after two public appearances in which she said nothing about her mega-donor friend’s sexual harassment scandal, even as she spoke atone, at UC Davis on Monday, about the ‘double standards’ faced by women running for president. (Read more from “Hillary Condemns Harvey Weinstein But Keeps His Cash” HERE)

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Commit a Crime? Your Fitbit, Key Fob or Pacemaker Could Snitch on You

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The firefighter found Richard Dabate on the floor of his kitchen, where he had made a desperate 911 call minutes earlier, court records show. Bleeding and lashed to a chair with zip ties, the man moaned a chilling warning: “They’re still in the house.”

Smoke hung in the air, and a trail of blood led to a darkened basement, as Connecticut State Police swarmed the large home in the Hartford suburbs two days before Christmas in 2015.

Richard, 41, told authorities a masked intruder with a “Vin Diesel” voice killed his wife, Connie, in front of him and tortured him. Police combed the home and town of Ellington but found no suspect.

With no witnesses other than Richard Dabate, detectives turned to the vast array of data and sensors that increasingly surround us. An important bit of evidence came from an unlikely source: the Fitbit tracking Connie’s movements.

Others from the home’s smart alarm systems, Facebook, cellphones, email and a key fob allowed police to re-create a nearly minute-by-minute account of the morning that they said revealed Richard’s story was an elaborately staged fiction. (Read more from “Commit a Crime? Your Fitbit, Key Fob or Pacemaker Could Snitch on You” HERE)

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