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☆ FTX may have used corporate funds to buy homes for employees and advisors, its new CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Some of FTX's affiliates may have used corporate funds to buy homes, its new CEO has claimed. "In the Bahamas, I understand that corporate funds of the FTX Group were used to purchase homes and other personal items for employees and advisors," Ray wrote. Bankman-Fried and other FTX employees including CTO Gary Wang and director of engineering Nishad Singh all lived together in a penthouse in the Bahamas. He said that employees submitted payment requests through an on-line chat platform "where a disparate group of supervisors approved disbursements by responding with personalized emojis." In the declaration, Ray also cited FTX's "inexperienced" execs, auto-deleting messages, and "a complete failure of corporate controls."

☆ GOP Rep. Michelle Steel wins re-election in contentious House race between 2 Asian Americans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

After a contentious race in Orange County, California, Republican incumbent Michelle Steel will represent the redrawn 45th Congressional District. Steel defeated Democrat Jay Chen in a rare matchup between two Asian American candidates. Prior to serving in Congress, Steel was a supervisor and chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The political shift has been driven by the growth of the Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the area. On Monday, dozens of Asian American organizations, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC and the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, condemned candidates “using sinophobia, a fear or dislike of China” in a letter.

Control of the Senate - and the shape of President Joe Biden's next two years in office - will now hinge on contests in Nevada and Georgia. Democrats needed one more seat for control, since Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the tie-breaking vote. Political analysts anticipate a rush of campaign funds into Georgia as Republicans and Democrats gear up for the final battle of the 2022 midterm elections. In the fight for control of the House of Representatives, Republicans were inching closer to becoming the majority and ending four years of rule by Democrats. The Republican House leader, Kevin McCarthy, has already announced his intention to run for speaker if Republicans take over, an outcome he has described as inevitable.

Either Democrats or Republicans can capture a Senate majority by sweeping contests in both states. In the fight for the House of Representatives, Republicans were inching closer to wresting control of the chamber from Biden's Democrats. House control would give Republicans veto power over Biden's legislative agenda and allow them to launch potentially damaging investigations into his administration. The Republican House leader, Kevin McCarthy, has already announced his intention to run for speaker if Republicans take over, an outcome he has described as inevitable. Even a narrow Republican House majority would be able to demand concessions in exchange for votes on key issue such as raising the nation's borrowing limit.

[1/11] The sun rises over the U.S. Capitol, as control of Congress remained unclear following the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in Washington, U.S., November 9, 2022. The fate of the Senate, meanwhile, rests with a trio of fiercely contested states. (Live election results from around the country are here)Though Republicans remained favored to take over the House, their performance on Tuesday was seen as underwhelming. A Republican Senate would hold sway over Biden's judicial appointments, including any potential Supreme Court vacancies. VOTE-COUNTING CHUGGING ALONGAs ballots were tallied, Democrats expressed cautious optimism about both the Nevada and Arizona Senate races.

[1/11] The sun rises over the U.S. Capitol, as control of Congress remained unclear following the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in Washington, U.S., November 9, 2022. Either party can win a majority by sweeping the races in Nevada and Arizona, where counting late-arriving ballots is expected to last several more days. (Live election results from around the country are here)Though Republicans remained favored to take over the House, their performance on Tuesday was seen as underwhelming. A Republican Senate would hold sway over Biden's judicial appointments, including any potential Supreme Court vacancies. VOTE-COUNTING CHUGGING ALONGAs ballots were tallied, Democrats expressed cautious optimism about both the Nevada and Arizona Senate races.

[1/11] The sun rises over the U.S. Capitol, as control of Congress remained unclear following the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in Washington, U.S., November 9, 2022. "Women in America made their voices heard, man," President Joe Biden said at a political event in Washington. At the political event, Biden noted that many so-called "election deniers" had accepted their own losses. A White House official said Biden spoke by phone with Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, who announced on Wednesday his intention to run for speaker of the House if Republicans control the chamber. Republicans are expected to demand spending cuts in exchange for raising the nation's borrowing limit next year, a showdown that could spook financial markets.

☆ Remaking the River That Remade L.A.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Michael Kimmelman | Photographs Adali Schell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +33 min

Remaking the River That Remade L.A.February 1938 was a wet month in Los Angeles. Reservoirs overflowed, dams topped out and floodwaters careered down Pacoima Wash and Tujunga Wash toward the Los Angeles River. The Los Angeles River was never a storybook river of the kind that, like the Hudson or the Seine, we associate with great cities. Among the naysayers is a venerable organization called Friends of the Los Angeles River, founded by the Texas-born poet and performance artist Lewis MacAdams. “With all the problems L.A. is facing,” he said, “even if it costs $50 billion to fix the river, we should just effing do it.”The headwaters of the Los Angeles River aren’t easy to find.

☆ Midterm elections live updates: Pennsylvania races, New Hampshire Senate race too early to call
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Brandy Zadrozny | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +109 min

Share this -Link copiedWisconsin Senate and governor's races too early to call It is too early to call the Senate and gubernatorial races in Wisconsin, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedNew Hampshire Senate race too early to call The Senate race in New Hampshire is too early to call, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedPennsylvania Senate and governor races are too early to call After polls closed at 8 p.m. While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. According to the poll, 46% of voters said their family’s financial situation is worse than it was two years ago. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, filed a similar complaint Friday against state election officials. The app and portal had been down for part of the morning and the state's election hotline also briefly experienced issues. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a "hiccup," it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. An adjucation board reviews ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Tuesday in Phoenix. John Moore / Getty ImagesIn 2020, Joe Biden won Maricopa County by about 6,000 of the more than 2 million votes cast there. When Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema won her seat in 2018, she did so with 50% of the statewide vote, including the 51% she took in Maricopa County. Maricopa County election officials responded that the tweet was inaccurate and "all voters are being served."

By the end of Election Day, approximately 21,000 total interviews will be conducted. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, filed a similar complaint Friday against state election officials. The app and portal had been down for part of the morning and the state's election hotline also briefly experienced issues. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said. Share this -Link copiedSunny weather in most battleground states on Election Day It’s a bright and sunny Election Day in many battleground states!

How the midterm election outcome could impact Biden's agenda Nov. 8, 2022 02:02 Read the full story here. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, filed a similar complaint Friday against state election officials. The app and portal had been down for part of the morning and the state's election hotline also briefly experienced issues. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said. Share this -Link copiedSunny weather in most battleground states on Election Day It’s a bright and sunny Election Day in many battleground states!

The lawsuits, filed in states with key races, mark the tail-end of a months-long legal push by Democrats and Republicans to define the rules for voting in Tuesday's election. Cobb County has been overnighting ballots to affected voters and estimated on Monday that 276 voters had yet to receive a ballot. Lawyers aligned with both Democrats and Republicans have brought waves of lawsuits over the rules for the upcoming election. Judge Casey McGinley in Arizona, who blocked the Conchise County hand count on Monday, said he was presented "no evidence" that the machine tabulation of ballots is inaccurate. Another hand count in Nevada’s rural Nye County was shut down in favor of machine counting after the state supreme court struck down parts of the process.

☆ Cindy Chavez faces off against Matt Mahan in San Jose, California's mayoral election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Cindy Chavez is running against Matt Mahan in San Jose, California's mayoral race. 2022 General EmbedsAfter serving two consecutive four-year terms, Democratic Mayor Sam Liccardo is term-limited and is ineligible to run for a third time. While San Jose's mayoral election is nonpartisan, the city has a history of electing Democrats and Democratic-leaning politicians to fill the mayoral position. Mahan, a member of the San Jose City Council, is similarly running with a goal to lower housing prices in the city, housing the homeless, and "common sense solutions" for citywide safety. Liccardo endorsed Mahan for mayor in August, tweeting that "Matt is the common-sense Democrat we need to ensure that our government works as hard as our San Jose families."

Rep. Michelle Steel is running against Democrat Jay Chen in California's 45th Congressional District. The 45th District is home to Little Saigon, which contains the largest Vietnamese population in the nation. 2022 General EmbedsCalifornia's 45th Congressional District CandidatesSteel sits on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Education and Labor. Voting history for California's 45th Congressional DistrictCalifornia's 45th Congressional District straddles Los Angeles County and Orange County — the third largest in the state — and includes Little Saigon, home to the largest Vietnamese population in the United States. The pro-Republican Congressional Leadership Fund has alone accounted for more than half of that spending, with the National Republican Congressional Committee accounting for much of the rest.

☆ Four candidates face off in Santa Ana, California's mayoral election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Four candidates are running in Santa Ana, California's mayoral race: Sal Tinajero, Jose Solorio, Valerie Amezcua and Jesse Nestor. 2022 General EmbedsFirst-term Democratic Mayor Vicente Sarmiento stepped down to run for an Orange County Board of Supervisors seat, leaving his seat up for grabs. Tinajero, who is endorsed by the Orange County Democratic Party, leads the Santa Ana Unified School District's speech and debate program and previously served on the Santa Ana City Council for more than a decade. Amezcua is a retired county probation officer and a member of the Santa Ana Unified Board of Education. The fourth candidate, Nestor, is a 20-year-old self-described libertarian who currently attends Santa Ana College.

☆ Officials in key Arizona county combat misinformation, election security fears a day before midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Rocio Fabbro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Key county officials refuted misinformation about vote counting spreading on Twitter, among other platforms. "We're here in Maricopa County, we've got residents of Maricopa County that are trying to do the right thing and understand what the truth is, and a lot of this misinformation is being spread by people who don't even live here in Maricopa County," Gates said. For the past two years, Maricopa County has been ramping up efforts to combat misinformation, which has especially affected the area. Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said the county is "committed to protect the free vote in a republic." As of Monday morning, the Maricopa County recorder's office received 974,760 early voting packets and signature verified 965,000 of those, according to county Recorder Stephen Richer.

☆ Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger says she sought out Liz Cheney's endorsement in her nail-biter race against Yesli Vega
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger told Insider she sought out GOP Rep. Liz Cheney's endorsement. Spanberger faces a tight race against Yesli Vega, who has sympathized with January 6 rioters. "People are enthusiastic about it," Spanberger said of the high-profile endorsement in a phone interview with Insider on Saturday. In her statement announcing the Spanberger endorsement, Cheney said Vega was "promoting conspiracy theories, denying election outcomes she disagrees with, and defending the indefensible." "I have spent almost my entire adult life in service to this nation," Spanberger told the crowd of volunteers.

Los Angeles County officials have reached an $8 million settlement with the family of Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old who was shot five times in the back by a deputy in June 2020. The Los Angeles district attorney’s office has not yet decided whether to file charges against Vega and Hernandez. Guardado’s settlement was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors alongside four other settlements involving the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. All the settlements combined cost county taxpayers more than $47 million “with a range of extremely disturbing allegations,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said Tuesday. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, local election officials became frequent targets of supporters of former President Donald Trump who supported his false claims of election fraud. Election officials also said that the courts could inject chaos into the process if results are contested for weeks following the vote. Droves of election workers throughout Georgia quit their positions following the 2020 election. And in Pennsylvania, nearly 50 top election officials have left their post within the past two years. “Election workers and election officials leave or stop coming in, more errors can occur as a result, which in turn can fuel disinformation,” he said.

☆ Republican Rep. Michelle Steel faces off against Democrat Jay Chen in California's 45th Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rep. Michelle Steel is running against Democrat Jay Chen in California's 45th Congressional District. The 45th District is home to Little Saigon, which contains the largest Vietnamese population in the nation. California's 45th Congressional District CandidatesSteel sits on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Education and Labor. Voting history for California's 45th Congressional DistrictCalifornia's 45th Congressional District straddles Los Angeles County and Orange County — the third largest in the state — and includes Little Saigon, home to the largest Vietnamese population in the United States. The pro-Republican Congressional Leadership Fund has alone accounted for more than half of that spending, with the National Republican Congressional Committee accounting for much of the rest.

IllinoisIn Illinois, two candidates are looking to make history as the state's first Latina congresswoman: Democratic state Rep. Delia Ramirez in the state's 3rd Congressional District, and Republican newcomer Catalina Lauf in the 11th Congressional District. OregonIn Oregon, two candidates are looking to become the state’s first Latina congresswoman: Democratic state Rep. Andrea Salinas and Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former mayor of Happy Valley. Flores is on the ballot again in November to defend her newly won seat representing Texas’ 34th Congressional District. Among them are Jenny Garcia Sharon in the 37th Congressional District and Carmen Maria Montiel in the 18th District. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images fileSen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, made history as the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate and the first woman elected to the Senate from Nevada.

☆ San Francisco Reconsiders Business Ban That Targets States’ Social Values
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

San Francisco is considering softening a ban on publicly funded contracts and travel in 30 states that don’t share its liberal values on issues such as abortion and transgender rights, as officials question whether the prohibition is having any effect beyond likely costing the city tens of millions of dollars. Five of the 11 members of San Francisco’s entirely Democratic board of supervisors sent a letter to city administrator Carmen Chu last week asking her to study options to amend the law, which they said has resulted in significant administrative costs and limited competition among bidders for city contracts.

☆ In California, two Asian Americans fight for a seat in the House — and with each other
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

As the midterms loom, one key House race in California is drawing significant attention both to Asian Americans in the district, and from them. The race features a rare matchup between two Asian Americans, and the result hinges on Asian Americans, who make up about a third of the district’s voters. “I think here, we’re seeing a wake-up call,” Connie Chung Joe, chief executive of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, told NBC News. Within the electorate, almost half are of Vietnamese descent, one of the few Asian American groups that tends to lean right. It’s something, Joe said, that white candidates, for example, can “take for granted.”But Wong added that accusing another Asian American candidate of being disloyal “hurts the whole Asian American community.”As fiery as the race has been, it’s also reflective of a political maturation within the Asian American community, experts say.

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