Florida passes bill to ban left lane driving with few exceptions
The state of Florida is set to crack down on life in the fast lane. The Florida legislature has passed a bill that would ban motorists from cruising in the left lane of highways, sending it to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature. The bill passed unanimously in the state Senate 37-0. “If someone in the left lane is going slower, and you pass them (on the right), you are creating an infraction, and you can get ticketed,” bill sponsor state Sen. Keith Perry (R) said Thursday, according to The News Service of Florida. Under HB 317, drivers on a road, street or highway “with two or more lanes” where the speed limit is “at least 65 miles per hour … may not operate a motor vehicle in the furthermost left-hand lane, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle; when preparing to exit … or when otherwise directed by an official traffic control device.” TRAGIC FLORIDA SAND HOLE DEATH COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED: EXPERT The restriction would not apply to high occupancy lanes. The legislation was sponsored by Republican state Reps. Jenna Persons-Mulicka and Melony Bell in the House and Perry in the Senate. FLORIDA PAIR CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER SEX-FOR-HIRE CAR THEFT PLOT WENT AWRY: DEPUTIES Anyone found to be in violation of the law would face fines for a moving violation, with fines up to $158, according to the bill text. There is an exception for authorized emergency vehicles and vehicles “engaged in highway maintenance or construction operations.” FLORIDA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONFIRMS 6TH CASE OF MEASLES AMID OUTBREAK Perry said the measure is intended to improve highway safety. “Last year we had 247 instances where people were either incapacitated or deaths that happened from improper passing on the right-hand side on someone’s blindside,” he told Action News Jax last week. Should DeSantis sign the bill, Florida would join eight other states where it is currently illegal to drive in the left lane except for turning left or passing, according to AutoInsurance.org. States with those restrictions include Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and West Virginia. “Driving is a pretty uniform practice across the United States, so most of us don’t think twice before crossing new state lines. However, many states have their own traffic laws that pose legal penalties and physical dangers if not obeyed,” said Jeffrey Johnson, an insurance lawyer. For that reason, 27 states require drivers to stay right if they are moving slower than the cars surrounding them.
Wisconsin Assembly approves bill to hike hunting and fishing license fees for out-of-state residents
The Wisconsin Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would raise a variety of hunting, fishing and trapping license fees for out-of-state residents to help shrink a deficit in the state’s fish and wildlife account. The Assembly passed the legislation 97-0, sending it to the Senate. The state Department of Natural Resources estimated the changes would generate about $780,000 more annually for the account, which funds a variety of projects ranging from fish stocking to wildlife surveys. WISCONSIN GOV. EVERS SIGNS NEW LEGISLATIVE MAPS INTO LAW AFTER REPUBLICANS PASS THEM The account is built largely on license fee revenue. But years of waning interest in outdoor activities has led to a projected $16 million deficit in the account heading into the state’s next two-year budget period. Republican lawmakers raised nonresident deer hunting licenses by $40 to $200, nonresident hunting and fishing license fees by $5 and nonresident combination licenses by $20 in the state budget that Gov. Tony Evers signed in the summer. WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE PASSES LAWS RESTRICTING AI-PRODUCED DEEPFAKE CAMPAIGN MATERIALS The license increases in the bill range from a $1 increase on a nonresident two-day sports fishing license to a $5,750 increase for a nonresident commercial fishing license. The Assembly on Tuesday approved a bill that would raise nonresident bow and crossbow hunting license fees by $35 to $200, sending the measure to the Senate. The broader bill approved Thursday includes that increase as well.
Rep. Victoria Neave Criado launched a surprise bid against fellow Democrat Sen. Nathan Johnson. She said her time has come.
In a district composed mostly of communities of color, Neave Criado hopes to topple Johnson with her stances on immigration, domestic violence and women’s issues.
How Mexican citizens in Texas can vote in Mexico’s 2024 elections
About 240,000 Mexican citizens in Texas already are eligible to vote this summer, when voters could elect Mexico’s first female president.
Does UT Tyler Health Science Center’s deal with private equity shield doctors from malpractice suits?
A lawsuit claims UT Tyler Health Science Center is trying to pull the veil of governmental immunity over doctors who do all of their work for a for-profit, private equity-backed health care system.
Republicans losing faith in Johnson to score wins on conservative priorities during government shutdown fight
Some within the House GOP are growing increasingly doubtful that Republicans will score any conservative policy victories on issues like abortion, green energy, student loan forgiveness, and preventing biological males from competing against girls in high school sports. When House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., released the details of a bipartisan plan to fund the government earlier this year, he did so with the promise that it sets House Republicans up with more time to fight for the inclusion of conservative policies in whatever spending deal they reach. But Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital said the debate over including such policies is, at best, currently at an impasse. SENATE PASSES SHORT-TERM SPENDING BILL TO FUND GOVT UNTIL MARCH, SAYS THERE WILL BE NO SHUTDOWN “I think that that is what’s the sticking point right now, that we are fighting for those and the opposition is fighting just as hard against them,” one GOP lawmaker close to the appropriations process told Fox News Digital. When asked how he thinks negotiations are going, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., bluntly told Fox News Digital, “I don’t think it’s going well.” “My position with both Speaker McCarthy and Speaker Johnson was that we should cut spending as much as we can in the House…the Senate wants more money, so you’re buying policy,” Donalds said. “Securing the border, in my view, is the only possible policy victory attainable, and we should be doing everything we can to make that happen.” Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unveiled an agreement to have appropriators work toward FY 2024 funding levels at a maximum discretionary budget of roughly $1.66 trillion. CHIP ROY SAYS BOOTING MIKE JOHNSON FROM SPEAKERSHIP ‘ON THE TABLE’ In a Jan. 7 letter to House GOP colleagues, Johnson conceded that next year’s budget forecast was not for spending as low as members on his right flank wanted. But argued the plan “does provide us a path to: 1) move the process forward; 2) reprioritize funding within the topline towards conservative objectives, instead of last year’s Schumer-Pelosi omnibus; and 3) fight for the important policy riders included in our House FY24 bills.” It was always going to be an uphill battle for GOP leaders to deliver on those wins, with just a slim, three-seat House majority and Democrats controlling the Senate and White House. But Republicans are nevertheless pressuring Johnson to deliver, even on measures Democrats have deemed nonstarters. The House Freedom Caucus reminded Johnson of that promise in a Wednesday memo demanding more information on the status of those talks and outlining several policy demands, including reducing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary to $0 and banning the use of Pentagon dollars to fund travel to get an abortion. Other policy goals listed include blocking President Joe Biden’s progressive policy agendas push towards on green energy and student loan forgiveness – and culture war items like banning transgender youth born male from competing on girls’ sports teams. The memo to Johnson then cast doubt on the House GOP’s ability to attain those policy goals, with the conservative group warning, “If we are not going to secure significant policy changes or even keep spending below the caps adopted by bipartisan majorities less than one year ago, why would we proceed when we could instead pass a year-long funding resolution that would save Americans $100 billion in year one? “I don’t know if [House Republican negotiators] are really fighting,” a senior House GOP aide said. Calls placed to Johnson’s office seeking comment were not returned. Under a plan negotiated by Johnson late last year and extended in January, the last Congress’s government funding levels for some departments expires on March 1, while others run out on March 8. If a deal is not reached in time, the government risks falling into a partial shutdown.
US intelligence confirms some claims about UNRWA staff ties to Hamas: report
A new U.S. intelligence assessment found it is likely that some employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) participated in Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, but it also said the U.S. can’t verify Israeli allegations that many United Nations workers have links to militant groups, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The Biden administration recently paused funding to the controversial U.N. agency, which supplies aid to Palestinian refugees, after Israel shared findings alleging that at least 12 UNRWA employees were “involved” in the Hamas attacks and kidnappings that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. The U.S. government had earmarked $51 million for fiscal 2024 prior to the pause. “Israeli intelligence agencies said they concluded that 10% of all UNRWA workers had some kind of affiliation, usually political, with Hamas,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “A far smaller number had ties to the militant wings of Hamas and another group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. UNRWA employs around 12,000 people in Gaza.” In the new report, which the WSJ reported was completed last week, the U.S. National Intelligence Council said it assessed the allegations that 12 UNRWA staffers participated in the Oct. 7 attack as credible. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. BIDEN ADMIN CUTS FUNDING TO CONTROVERSIAL UN AGENCY AMID ALLEGATIONS MEMBERS ASSISTED IN HAMAS MASSACRE The new intelligence assessment, as described by the officials to the Wall Street Journal, “doesn’t dispute Israel’s allegations of links between some staff at UNWRA and militant groups, but it provides a more measured appraisal of Israel’s assertions than public statements by U.S. and Israeli officials.” A spokesperson for the U.N. told Fox News Digital that “in mid-January the Israeli Foreign Ministry communicated information verbally to our UNRWA colleagues in Jerusalem very serious allegations regarding 12 staff [members’] possible involvement in the 7 October Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.” PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT CAUCUS LOSES ANOTHER MEMBER OVER ANTI-ISRAEL POSITIONS “Immediate action was taken by UNRWA. Since then, the Israeli authorities have provided no further information to the United Nations regarding alleged activities of staff members. Should information be provided, it will be analyzed quickly, and action will again be taken swiftly,” the spokesperson said. An Israeli official told the Wall Street Journal that Israel wasn’t familiar with the U.S. assessment and said, “We share intimate intelligence with our U.S. partners in all areas.” The official, who was briefed on the matter, was unaware of American requests for additional intelligence. Fox News Digital reported this month that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched raids on Hamas facilities in Gaza, killing 120 terrorists, and discovered a “significant” amount of assets and weapons, including inside a United Nations-affiliated building. In a joint statement made with the Israel Security Agency (ISA), the Israeli military announced Saturday that the raids were conducted in northern Gaza over the past two weeks. “The forces operated in the areas of Shati and Tel al-Hawa in northern Gaza,” the joint statement from ISA and the Israeli military said. “Approximately 120 Hamas terrorists were killed, and 20 terrorist infrastructure sites were destroyed as part of the operation.” US OPPOSES UN’S TOP COURT’S ADVICE TO URGE ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW FROM PALESTINIAN-CLAIMED LANDS The IDF said the ISA initially led them to a tunnel shaft near a school run by UNRWA: “The shaft led to an underground terror tunnel that served as a significant asset of Hamas’ military intelligence and passed under the building that serves as UNRWA’s main headquarters in the Gaza Strip.” The Israeli military said it seized a “wide variety of intelligence assets” while raiding the 700-meter-long tunnel, but they did not specify what exactly was found. “The newly found intelligence will allow the forces to operate against additional Hamas targets,” the IDF said. “The dismantling of the tunnel weakens Hamas’ intelligence capabilities.” That discovery ultimately brought the military to UNRWA’s headquarters, where Israeli forces found that the UNRWA building supplied the Hamas tunnel with electricity. The State Department and Department of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The National Security Council also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A UNRWA spokesperson told Fox News Digital that they “have not been presented with any evidence from the Israeli authorities. But given the fact that there is an investigation underway by the highest investigative authorities in the U.N., we invite any country, party or institution with information – including information available in the public domain – to provide it to the Office of Internal Oversight Services at U.N. headquarters to help advance this investigation.” Fox News Digital’s Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.
House investigators heading to prison to interview ex-Hunter Biden biz associate amid impeachment inquiry
Congressional investigators are set to interview Hunter Biden’s ex-business associate, Jason Galanis, in prison on Friday to gather information on the Biden family’s business dealings and any “access” to then-Vice President Joe Biden. Staff from the House Oversight and Judiciary committees are expected to travel to an Alabama prison, where Galanis is serving a 14-year prison sentence for securities fraud. JAMES BIDEN SAYS HIS BROTHER ‘HAS NEVER HAD ANY INVOLVEMENT’ OR ANY ‘FINANCIAL INTEREST’ IN BUSINESS VENTURES House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan in November requested an interview with Galanis through the Bureau of Prisons. Comer cited a Wall Street Journal report that “discusses the allegation of the ‘access’ Hunter Biden could provide while his father was vice president, with Mr. Galanis writing in 2014 that Hunter ‘will change your access forever,’” Comer wrote in the letter, requesting that investigators have the chance to “question Galanis about his firsthand knowledge of Hunter Biden’s influence peddling.” “The committees’ investigation requires that we obtain this information,” Comer wrote. “Accordingly, we request the Federal Bureau of Prisons make Mr. Galanis available for a transcribed interview with Committee counsel.” Galanis formerly did business with both Hunter Biden and Devon Archer. DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED Galanis pleaded guilty to securities fraud based on bonds issued by a company affiliated with a Native American tribe in South Dakota. The funds were reportedly supposed to be used for certain projects but were instead used for his personal finances. He was sentenced in 2017 to 14 years. Devon Archer was tied to the scheme and convicted in 2018 for defrauding the Native American tribal entity and various investment advisory clients of tens of millions of dollars in connection with the issuance of bonds by the tribal entity and the subsequent sale of those bonds through fraudulent and deceptive means. Archer was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. BIDEN MET WITH CHAIRMAN OF CHINESE ENERGY FIRM HUNTER DID BUSINESS WITH IN 2017, EX-ASSOCIATE TESTIFIES Archer testified before the committees last year that Hunter put his father, then-Vice President Biden, on speakerphone while meeting with business partners at least 20 times, and he said Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell “the brand.” Archer was on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings along with Hunter Biden. Galanis’ expected testimony comes after James Biden testified that his brother, President Biden, “has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest” in his business ventures. James Biden’s testimony came days after his former business associate, Tony Bobulinski, testified before the committee, telling congressional investigators that Joe Biden was involved in the family’s business ventures and testifying that he personally met with him. Days before Bobulinski’s testimony, another former business associate, Rob Walker, testified that Joe Biden met with the chairman of the Chinese energy firm his brother and son did business with. After Walker’s testimony, the House Oversight Committee said it was able to “now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son.” Hunter Biden is expected to sit for his deposition on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, the president last week called for the House impeachment inquiry to be dropped, calling it “an outrageous effort from the beginning.”
PM Modi takes a dig at INDIA bloc, accuses alliance of working for ‘parivar’ not…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi targetted the opposition coalition, INDIA bloc while addressing a gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Friday.
When could Trump become the GOP nominee? Here’s what the numbers tell us
Donald Trump continues to dominate in the Republican primary. The former president notched support from an average of 75% of national GOP voters in polls released by NBC News, CNN and Quinnipiac University over the last four weeks. His opponent, Nikki Haley, received support from an average of 20% of Republican voters in the same polls. Still, this race isn’t over until a candidate wins 1,215 or more delegates. Haley reminded voters this week that she is “not going anywhere,” pledging to stay in until at least Super Tuesday. It could be longer. The former South Carolina governor faces an extremely steep climb to make this race competitive. She would need a much-stronger-than-expected showing in her home state this weekend and then use the momentum to win several more states between now and late March. That’s because late March is likely the earliest time when Trump could clinch the majority of delegates and, therefore, become the presumptive nominee. Trump currently has 63 delegates, Haley has 17. That’s after the former president’s wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the Virgin Islands – the four primaries or caucuses that have taken place so far. While Haley has not won a contest, the former governor put up a fight in New Hampshire and won nearly as many delegates in Iowa. Both those states allocate delegates proportionally, meaning that the number of delegates a candidate receives aligns with their relative vote share. HOW PRESIDENTIAL BATTLEGROUND STATES HAVE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS There are several contests before Super Tuesday with a total of 185 delegates on the line: Super Tuesday gets its name from the large number of states – and, therefore, the large number of delegates – on offer in one night. The total is 874. TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREDICTS ‘A**-KICKING’ FOR HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, BUT SHE SAYS ‘I REFUSE TO QUIT’ Here are those states and a summary of the key rules (in many cases, this is not an exhaustive list of all the rules for each state). The total possible delegates for each category of delegates are listed in brackets. Most of the Super Tuesday states have majority-take-all rules. In a race with two major candidates left, this means the candidate who wins is very likely to take all of those delegates. If Trump won every single delegate on offer between today and Super Tuesday, which is highly unlikely if Haley remains in the race, he would take a total of 1,122 delegates. That is still about a hundred delegates short of the 1,215 needed to win. There are two more “mini Super Tuesday” events as March rolls on, along with other contests. In summary: Then it’s on to Super Tuesday II on March 12 with 161 delegates total: These states have a mix of delegate rules that make it difficult for one candidate in a competitive race to win them all. FACING LONG ODDS AGAINST TRUMP, HALEY REMAINS DEFIANT If Trump were to sweep the March 12 contests, he would become the presumptive nominee with a total of 1,295 delegates by the end of March 12. A win on March 12 is very unlikely, though, given that Haley has made investments in several upcoming states. It’s more likely to take until at least March 19, when several more states with large delegate hauls have their primaries. The total number of delegates awarded ticks up again starting March 15: Then comes Super Tuesday III, on March 19, with 350 total delegates in one night: If Trump remains the leader of this race, then it is possible that he could win all 350 delegates on this night. That would hypothetically give him as many as 1,654 delegates by this point of the race. There is only one more contest in late March: If Haley is much more competitive by this point in the race, then Trump would have to wait until at least April 2 to reach 1,215 delegates. WHO’S ON TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE SHORT LIST And of course, in that scenario, Haley would have amassed a significant number of delegates of her own, making it possible for her to become the presumptive nominee late in the primary season. There are still many delegates on the table in April. In summary: These are all possible dates for Trump or Haley to prevail. The remaining states are split between May and June: No matter what, we will have a presumptive winner before June 5.