TASK FORCE MARINES INTEGRATE WITH NAVY, PROVIDE SECURITY ABOARD USNS BURLINGTON

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. –

Ten U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Southern Command teamed up with the U.S. Navy for an upcoming deployment aboard the Spearhead-class USNS Burlington (T-EPF 10) at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia, September 26.

The SPMAGTF-SC Marines will provide the USNS Burlington, a noncombatant vessel, service as an embarked security team, providing force protection for the deployment.

“Naval integration is a big part of this mission,” said Maj. Drew Miller, embarked security team commander with SPMAGTF-SC. “It directly falls in line with the Commandant’s Planning Guidance to ensure the Marine Corps incorporates more training and operations alongside the U.S. Navy.”

The USNS Burlington, an expeditionary fast transport ship, is used to transport personnel and equipment in support of a variety of missions. The Burlington will support Planned Maintenance Availabilities of the Littoral Combat Ships deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations.

“SPMAGTF-SC leadership worked hard to move forward with the missions occurring in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility under the COVID-19 restrictions,” said Sgt. Andre Boyles, embarked security team training chief with SPMAGTF-SC. “We are all extremely grateful that we can assist.

The Marines quarantined themselves for 14 days and each received COVID-19 negative test results prior to arriving to JEB Little Creek. The isolation was to ensure that the task force is taking the appropriate mitigation measures to deploy a COVID-19-free team.

“We are excited about this opportunity to work with the U.S. Navy and execute a mission that not many Marines get to experience,” said Capt. Daniel Kent, embarked security team supervisor with SPMAGTF-SC. “As a prior enlisted Sailor, I’ve spent a lot of time onboard ships and it’s awesome that I’ll get to share my experiences and knowledge with the Marines on the team.”

https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2369913/task-force-marines-integrate-with-navy-provide-security-aboard-usns-burlington/

Judge sentences man to 600 years in prison in child sex case

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A man accused of getting two children to engage in sexual contact for years so he could record them was sentenced to 600 years in prison Friday, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler sentenced Matthew Tyler Miller, 32, of Cottondale to what amounted to a life term a year after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexually exploiting young children.

“The crimes for which Miller has admitted guilt are not only disturbing, they are sickening, and his actions robbed these children of their childhood,” FBI Special Agent Johnnie Sharp Jr. said in a statement.

Miller enticed children to have sexual contact between 2014 and February 2019, an indictment said. A statement from prosecutors said the two victims were as young as 4 when the incidents occurred.

An examination of electronic devices owned by Miller turned up 102 pornographic images that had produced of the children, prosecutors said. Miller pleaded guilty in October 2019.

Miller still faces a state sodomy charge that accuses him of having sex with a child younger than 12 last year, records show.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-sentences-man-600-years-prison-child-sex-73388782

Unlock Michigan turns in 539k signatures to limit Gov. Whitmer’s emergency powers

Unlock Michigan on Friday turned in more than half a million signatures on a petition to limit the governor’s emergency powers by repealing a 1945 law that allows her to continue declaring a state of emergency without legislative approval.

The signature total was 539,384, according to a social media post from the group.

The ongoing state of emergency has allowed Whitmer to issue unilateral orders governing things like business closures and movement limitations for Michiganders as the state grapples with the coronavirus.

Yvette Clark, a county coordinator for the Unlock Michigan effort, helped collect more than 500 of the signatures turned in on Friday, Oct. 2. She was one of about 100 people who came to show their support as the signatures were turned in.

She said many people who signed felt she Whitmer was using COVID-19 as a reason to act unilaterally.

“They want her out of office. They are sick and tired of her draconian, communistic agenda. And so that’s why they are working hard they want to keep our state moving in the direction that it was moving in and so they want her out of office,” Clark said.

While the petition wouldn’t get Whitmer out of office, it would limit her powers.

There are two laws governing how states of emergency are used in Michigan. One, from 1976, allows the governor to declare a 28-day state of emergency and then the legislature decides whether it’s extended. But that law didn’t repeal an older one from 1945, which doesn’t require legislative involvement and lets the governor declare ongoing states of emergency.

Unlock Michigan would do away with that 1945 law, meaning Whitmer would need approval from the Republican-controlled legislature to continue the state of emergency that gives her unilateral power as the state fights COVID-19.

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/10/unlock-michigan-turns-in-539k-signatures-to-limit-gov-whitmers-emergency-powers.html

OC Cities Battle Explosion Of Non-Native ‘Ankle-Biter’ Aedes Mosquitos

ANTA ANA (CBSLA) – Amid an explosion of non-native “ankle-biter” Aedes mosquitos across the Southland this summer and fall, Orange County is trying out a new treatment to combat the insects.

The O.C. Mosquito and Vector Control District Thursday was using an A1 Super Duty larvicide sprayer to spray out a mist with an organic bacteria at Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana.

“What we are doing tonight is a wide area larvicide spraying,” Heather Hyland with OCMVC told CBSLA Thursday.

Scientists hope the non-toxic larvicide will settle in outdoor vases where a newer breed of mosquito from Asia are thriving. The new breed is aggressive and it breeds indoors as well.

“We have our native species, the Culex, which comes out at dusk and dawn, and now we have the Aedes mosquito, which comes out to bite during the day,” Hyland said. “So we have our ankle-biter, the Aedes mosquito, and our barbecue biter, the Culex mosquito.”

The Culex can carry West Nile Virus. While the Aedes does not carry WNV, it does carry several other diseases.

“They (Aedes) do transmit diseases like chikungunya, dengue fever, yellow fever and Zika,” Hyland said.

While the mosquito season peaked in June, the numbers have not come down like OCMVCD would like. Next week the district will be spraying in Buena Park, Anaheim and Garden Grove.

“I’ve noticed they’re a little more aggressive and I’m seeing a larger number of them in my backyard especially,” Santa Ana resident Keith Sabala said.

According to the latest numbers, 261 samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus in O.C. so far this year. Nine people have been infected with WNV.

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/10/02/oc-cities-battle-explosion-of-non-native-ankle-biting-aedes-mosquitos/

Q&A: What happens if a candidate dies before an election?

Good Ole yahoo news…

What happens if Trump dies?

Trump is only showing minor symptoms at this point, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said. If the situation becomes dire, however, both the Democratic and Republican parties have rules for how to choose a new candidate if their nominee dies or withdraws prior to the election.

With just 31 days until election day, however, ballots have already been printed and early voting has begun, said UC Irvine law professor and voting expert Rick Hasen.

“What’s most likely [is] that the election would take place on time with the deceased or incapacitated candidate’s name on the ballot,” Hasen wrote in a post on his Election Law Blog, “and then there would be a question if legislatures would allow presidential electors of each state to vote for someone other than the deceased candidate.”

Not every state has laws addressing this possibility, leading to more uncertainty.

“If we are unfortunate enough to have a presidential candidate die or become incapacitated this close to the election, what happens next is likely to be uncertain and messy,” Hasen said in an interview. “It could leave room for political gaming as well under the arcane rules of the electoral college.”

https://news.yahoo.com/q-happens-candidate-dies-election-154226031.html