Welcome to the Full Auto News Podcast, here are the stories that you should know.
A massive storm system with severe winds and tornadoes cut a path across the US South, killing at least seven people in Georgia and Alabama. In Selma, Alabama, a city with a history of the civil rights movement, the tornado damaged buildings and tossed cars in the streets. Six deaths were recorded in Autauga County, Alabama, where an estimated 40 homes were damaged or destroyed. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency for six counties and the high winds and heavy rain damaged homes and left tens of thousands of customers without power in parts of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.
In more weather news:
After tidal surges and high winds from the remnants of a rare typhoon caused extensive damage to homes along Alaska's western coast in September, the U.S. government stepped in to help residents with Federal Emergency Management Agency paperwork. These documents were mistranslated with bizarre phrases, and the California company hired to translate them was fired. Alaska Native leader Tara Sweeney called for a congressional oversight hearing to investigate the practice, and U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who is Yup'ik, said she was disappointed but confident FEMA would make the necessary changes. The mistranslated passages were found to originate from a book of field notes collected on Russia's Chukotka Peninsula from the 1940s.
Bernice King, the daughter of the late civil rights icon, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, is hoping to spur progress by helping Americans personalize the ongoing struggle for racial equity and harmony. This year's celebration of MLK Day of Service includes events such as statue unveilings, symposiums, community service projects and more. There is also a National Day of Racial Healing on Tuesday, an event held by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which encourages communities to come together to talk about racism and healing.
On, to U.S. Politics,
In naming a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents at President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and former office, Attorney General Merrick Garland described the appointment as underscoring the Justice Department’s commitment to independence and accountability in particularly sensitive investigations. Even as Garland made a point Thursday of saying the department’s own “normal processes” can handle all investigations with integrity, the appointment seemed to nod to a reality that probes that involve a president — in this case, Garland’s boss — are different. Garland appointed Robert Hur, a former senior Justice Department official in the Trump administration, as special counsel. He joins Jack Smith, a former public corruption prosecutor who is investigating the documents found at Mar-a-Lago, and John Durham, who’s secured one guilty plea and lost two criminal trials in three and a half years investigating the Trump-Russia probe. The purpose of the special counsels is to ensure ultimate Justice Department oversight of sensitive investigations rather than vest them with an independent prosecutor who could operate unchecked and without supervision.
Donald Trump's company is facing a $1.6 million fine for tax crimes. Trump himself was not on trial and denied any knowledge of his executives evading taxes illegally. The criminal case involved financial practices and pay arrangements that the company halted when Trump was elected president in 2016. Trump faces several other legal challenges as he looks to retake the White House in 2024.
And that should be enough to make you dangerous.
