Month: March 2025

Per NBC News: at least 36 people have died across Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama and Mississippi as powerful storm systems swept through the Midwest and South, with Sunday marking the third day of the damaging storm system.

Millions of Americans across the country remain on alert for severe weather outbreaks as tornadoes and hail are expected across the Midwest and South, with the cross-country storm moving east. The storms have left hundreds of thousands of customers without power, injured dozens in Arkansas and caused fatalities linked to wildfires in Oklahoma.

The same storm system also led to wildfires and severe dust storms that left more than a dozen people dead in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.  In addition, nearly 9 million people are under tornado watches, including in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Another 82.8 million are covered by wind advisories, particularly in the middle of the country.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, more than 50 cars were involved in a pileup, which led to the deaths of at least 8 people, with multiple others injured and transported to medical care facilities.

The Dallas Morning News reported that dust storms also caused car accidents in the Texas Panhandle that killed at least 3 people, with the Texas A&M Forest Service saying it responded to 13 wildfires that burned 27,717 acres across the state.

The Oklahoma State Highway patrol said in a statement that it assisted the Enid Police Department with responding to a fatal crash tied to the weather and otherwise responded to 42 injury-causing crashes and 36 fires.

The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency posted on social media that there were “at least 12 confirmed confirmed weather-related fatalities,” with Gov. Mike Kehoe calling the devastation “heartbreaking.”

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement that his state has counted six deaths — one in Covington County, two in Jeff Davis County, and three in Walthall County. Three additional people are currently missing, and 29 people have been injured statewide. Reeves said that there was damage from the storm system in 21 of the state’s 82 counties while as many as 30,000 customers were initially without power.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said at least two people were killed in her state, one in Plantersville and one in Winterboro, with the state suffering damage in 52 of its 67 counties:  “We pray for those lives we lost, as well as those who were injured, and we pray for our first responders, emergency management officials and linemen who are doing incredible work on the ground right now.”

Editorial credit: Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com

A California man was awarded $50 million in damages in a lawsuit against Starbucks, due to burns that he suffered while being handed a tray of hot drinks at a Starbucks location in southern California in 2020.

Postmates driver Michael Garcia sued the cafe chain after being burned on Feb. 8, 2020 when a “scalding hot” cup of tea spilled into his lap after a Starbucks worker handed him a tray containing three venti-sized hot-tea drinks through the drive-through window of the Exposition Park Starbucks at 1789 W. Jefferson Blvd. Video provided by Rowley’s firm shows the Starbucks employees preparing the drinks and the moment the tea spills into Garcia’s lap.

Garcia said a Starbucks barista acted negligently by not properly securing the drink and its lid in the drinks tray, which he said caused the drink to spill and burn him within 1.4 seconds of receiving it.  The plaintiff said he suffered life-changing third-degree burns, nerve damage and permanent injuries to his genitals and has PTSD following the mishap.

Garcia said he sought treatment from the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles six days later, with treatments including skin grafts that caused Garcia to permanently lose feeling in affected body parts. The jury deliberated Friday for 40 minutes before delivering its verdict and awarding Garcia $50 million in damages.

Starbucks offered originally offered to settle the matter for $3 million prior to the trial and afterward increased the settlement offer to $30 million, which Garcia accepted.  However, Garcia also demanded Starbucks apologize, change its policies and notify all Starbucks locations to ensure all drinks are secure before giving them to customers — when Starbucks refused to abide those terms, the case went to trial.

Garcia’s attorney, Nicholas Rowley, told jurors Garcia has undergone several surgeries and experiences pain every day. He said after the verdict:  “Michael Garcia’s life has been forever changed. No amount of money can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility.”

A Starbucks spokesperson said that the coffee chain disagrees with the jury verdict and intends to file an appeal: “We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive. We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”

Editorial credit: JRomero04 / Shutterstock.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public remarks on the proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, saying that while he is “for it,” he has concerns and wants his own security guarantees. During a press briefing in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said that Russia was ready for a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, but added that the ceasefire would only work provided that it offered lasting peace that addressed the root causes of the conflict.

Putin thanked President Trump “for his attention to Ukraine’s settlement. We believe that this ceasefire should lead to a long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis.”  He added: “We agree with the proposals to stop the hostilities.. but there are issues that need to be discussed .. It seems to me, it would be very good for the Ukrainian side to reach a truce for at least 30 days. And we are for it. But there is a nuance … If we stop the hostilities for 30 days, what does it mean? Does it mean that everyone who is there will leave without a fight? Or the Ukrainian leadership will give them an order to lay down their arms and just surrender? How will it be? It is not clear.These are all issues that require careful investigation from both sides.”

Putin said he also wants guarantees that during a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine will not regroup, and questioned who would determine if there were any violations of a ceasefire; suggesting that Russia should talk with President Trump to discuss his concerns, while adding, “But the idea itself is to end this conflict with peaceful means. We support it.”

Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov called the outlined plan “nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” adding that the country’s “goal is still a long-term peaceful settlement… [that] takes into account the legitimate interests of our country. Steps that imitate peaceful actions, it seems to me, are of no use to anyone.”

Meanwhile, President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff landed in Moscow on Thursday morning for discussions on the ceasefire, with Ushakov telling the Russian news outlet Izvestia that Putin and Witkoff would have a closed-door meeting later in the day.

Editorial credit: miss.cabul / Shutterstock.com

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of fired federal employees across six agencies.

The preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge William Alsup requires the Trump administration to reinstate employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and the Department of Treasury. The judge said that he might extend the order to cover other federal agencies at a later time; and also prohibited the Office of Personnel Management from issuing any guidance about whether employees can be terminated.

Alsup, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, also ordered the immediate discovery and deposition of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) senior adviser Noah Peters, who is aligned with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Attorney Danielle Leonard, who represents unions and interest groups, asked Alsup to immediately reinstate thousands of probationary government employees who had been terminated allegedly at the direction of OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell: “There is a mountain of evidence before the court that OPM directed it. OPM’s actions were unlawful. The plaintiffs have standing, and there is an irreparable harm that is occurring every minute, and it is snowballing.” 

Alsup said in his injunction: “The words that I give you today should not be taken as some kind of wild and crazy judge in San Francisco has said that the administration cannot engage in a reduction in force. The reason that OPM wanted to put this ‘based on performance’ was, at least in my judgment, a gimmick to avoid their Reduction in Force Act because the law always allows you to fire somebody for performance.”

The judge also suggested the possible ‘need’ for an injunction ordering the reinstatement of the employees based on the government’s recent conduct: “You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so, because, you know, cross examination would reveal the truth. This is the U.S. District Court. I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth.”

The judge also criticized the attorney representing the Justice Department for refusing to make OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell available for cross examination and for withdrawing his sworn declaration:  “The government, I believe, has tried to frustrate the judge’s ability to get at the truth of what happened here, and then set forth sham declarations. That’s not the way it works in the U.S. District Court … You withdrew his declaration rather than do that. Come on, that’s a sham. It upsets me. I want you to know that I’ve been practicing or serving in this court for over 50 years. And I know how that we get at the truth, and you’re not helping me get to add to the truth. You’re giving me press releases — sham documents.”

Editorial credit: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com