January 1, Houston Man Arrested For Alleged Illegal Voting

Hervis Rogers went viral on social media for being the last person in line to cast a vote on Super Tuesday in March 2020. Now, he is being prosecuted by the Texas Attorney General’s office for allegedly voting illegally. In 1995, Rogers was sentenced to 25 years for burglary and intent to commit theft. He was out on parole in 2004, with his parole set to end in June of 2020. Formerly convicted felons are prohibited from voting in Texas. Rogers was arrested this week for two counts of illegal voting, and his bail is currently set at $100,000. “Mr. Rogers is being held in jail on an extremely high bail amount that he cannot afford for what amounts to simply attempting to fulfill his civic duty. This is not justice,” said ACLU of Texas legal director Andre Segura.

The grizzly bear that pulled a woman from her tent and killed her earlier this week was fatally shot by wildlife officials. Officials set a trap near the chicken coop that the bear raided near Ovando, Montana. Bear attacks on humans are rare, especially within inhabited areas. “Everybody recognizes this as really abnormal behavior to actually attack somebody sleeping in a tent in town,” local resident Dona Aitken said. “I think we still don’t have a good answer for why he did that.” Authorities hunted the 400-pound animal for over three days with the aid of helicopters, search crews, and large traps baited with roadkill.

The Biden administration is sending 3 million Covid-19 vaccines to Indonesia, marking the largest single shipment yet. The White House is also sending 1.5 million vaccines to Nepal, 500,000 to Moldova, and 500,000 to Bhutan. “We recognize the difficult situation Indonesia currently finds itself in with a surge of Covid cases and our thoughts are with those in Indonesia who are affected family,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. Indonesia is currently experiencing a record number of daily deaths from the coronavirus as the Delta variant continues to circulate.

In a bizarre case of evidence tampering, a man panicked and swallowed a bag of marijuana during a traffic stop. He then choked on it and the state trooper who pulled him over had to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Dashcam footage released by the Ohio State Patrol shows Trooper Charles Hoskin asking the driver if he was able to breathe as he exited the vehicle. The two walked to a safe area behind the vehicle, where the officer performed the Heimlich maneuver and a plastic bag is dislodged. “I had a gram of weed on me, sir,” the suspect said.

Amid another series of ransomware attacks, President Biden told Vladimir Putin that Russia must crack down on cybercriminals. “I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it’s not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is,” Biden said. Putin was warned by Biden that the US will take “any necessary action” to defend American infrastructure. According to the White House, only time will tell how Russia will respond.

The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has asked people in his state to voluntarily curtail their water use by 15% amid the drought in the Western US. “This is jaw-dropping, what’s happening in the West Coast of the United States,” said Newsom. California’s most significant reservoirs are at dangerously low levels: 30% and 34% capacity. Some other states have already imposed mandatory water restrictions. Oregon Governor Kate Brown instructed state agencies to stop watering lawns and washing windows. A new law in Nevada bans approximately a third of grass in the Las Vegas area, excluding single-family homes, parks, and golf courses.

Stay safe,

Fraser Dixon

Sources

• A Houston Man Is Arrested For Alleged Illegal Voting As Texas GOP Seeks Tighter Laws
• Grizzly shot, killed after fatal attack of California woman
• Biden administration will send 3 million vaccines to Indonesia amid Covid-19 surge
• Man swallows bag of pot during traffic stop, cop saves him from choking
• Biden tells Putin to ‘disrupt’ ransomware groups operating out of Russia
• Governor asks Californians to voluntarily cut water use