Month: February 2021

Four board members of Texas’ power grid operator will resign after last week’s blackouts left millions of people without electricity after a winter storm hit the area. More than 3 million people and businesses were left without power after a major winter cold front swept Texas last week, leaving Texans without power in below-freezing temperatures. Residents struggled to stay warm, and the lack of heating froze pipes, contributing to a water crisis in the state.

The board chairwoman and vice chairman of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) along with two other board members, issued a joint statement announcing their intention to resign at a meeting Wednesday. Their statement read: “To allow state leaders a free hand with future direction and to eliminate distractions, we are resigning from the board effective after our urgent board teleconference meeting adjourns on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.” The four members said in the letter that they have heard the concerns about “out-of-state” board leadership and want to acknowledge Texans’ “pain and suffering” during the past week. 

Gov. Greg Abbott said he welcomed the resignations, issuing a statement which read: “When Texans were in desperate need of electricity, ERCOT failed to do its job and Texans were left shivering in their homes without power,” Abbott said. “ERCOT leadership made assurances that Texas’ power infrastructure was prepared for the winter storm, but those assurances proved to be devastatingly false.”

4 ERCOT board members to resign amid backlash over Texas storm

Via www.cbsnews.com

The board members cited concerns of “out of state leadership,” as three live in other states,…

02/23/2021 8:08 PM

 

Editorial credit: John Blanton / Shutterstock.com

Tiger Woods was seriously injured Tuesday when his SUV rolled over and ended up on its side in suburban Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the news in a statement. According to the LASD, the 45-year-old  athlete had to be pulled from his vehicle with the “jaws of life” by firefighters and paramedics and was transported by ambulance to a hospital for serious injuries. Woods was the sole driver and occupant in the crash, which took place on the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. The vehicle sustained major damage. The sheriff’s department said it is conducting an investigation into the crash.

Woods underwent leg surgery, according to his manager, Mark Steinberg, who said in a statment: “Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries. He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support.”

Woods was in Los Angeles over the weekend as the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. He was to spend Monday and Tuesday filming with Discovery-owned GOLFTV; the TV shoot was on-course lessons for celebrities such as David Spade and Dwyane Wade at Rolling Hills Country Club.

Woods has been recovering from Dec. 23 surgery on his lower back. It was his fifth back surgery and first since his lower spine was fused in April 2017, allowing him to stage a remarkable comeback that culminated with his fifth Masters title in 2019.

Tiger Woods seriously injured in California car crash

Via www.pressherald.com

The golf star was undergoing surgery for leg injuries after being extricated from his vehicle…

02/23/2021 4:31 PM

 

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

Federal authorities said that the wife of the notorious Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera was arrested Monday on drug trafficking charges. 

The Justice Department said in a news release that Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, was taken into custody at Dulles International Airport near Washington, facing charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the U.S. She is alleged to have helped Guzmán escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. 

Guzmán was convicted in 2019 on 10 charges of engaging in a continual criminal enterprise and multiple counts of distributing tons of cocaine into the U.S.. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.

DOJ announces arrest of ‘El Chapo’s’ wife on international drug trafficking charges

Via abcnews.go.com

Prosecutors are accusing her of participating in a conspiracy to distribute drugs for import in…

02/22/2021 6:41 PM

 

Editorial credit: Octavio Hoyos / Shutterstock.com

President Joe Biden called on all Americans to remember the 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19 and to remain vigilant against the virus during remarks and a national moment of silence on Monday. Biden said, “The people we lost were extraordinary. They span generations — born in America, immigrated to America…But just like that, so many of them took their final breath alone in America. I ask all Americans to remember — remember those who were lost and those who were left behind,” the president said. “But as we remember, as we all remember, I also asked us to act, to remain vigilant.”

Biden ordered flags on federal property lowered to half staff for five days as he prepared to lead a moment of communal mourning for those lost to the virus, telling the nation he knows it’s hard but that “to heal, we must remember.”

The COVID-19 death total in the United States had just crossed 400,000 when Biden took the oath of office. An additional 100,000 have died in the past month. The milestone comes just over a year after the first confirmed U.S. fatality from the coronavirus. The pandemic has since swept across the world and the U.S., stressing the nation’s health care system and the economy.

Biden commemorates 500,000 U.S. lives lost to COVID-19

Via www.cbsnews.com

No country has lost more lives to the pandemic than the U.S.

02/22/2021 6:26 PM

 

Editorial credit: mccv / Shutterstock.com