Gas explosion rocks NYC building

An apparent gas explosion rocked a three-story Bronx apartment building Thursday afternoon, injuring six adults and three young children — including a critically injured 3-year-old.

The other two injured children were a baby and a 5-year-old, sources told The Post.

An adult civilian was also critically injured; one firefighter suffered minor injuries, officials said.

Eight of the injured were rushed to hospitals. The ninth, a civilian, declined medical attention, fire officials said.

The blast, which was believed to have been caused by gas, was reported just after 3:20 p.m. at 1520 Paulding Ave. in Morris Park, fire officials said.

The force blew a front door clear across Paulding Avenue and onto overhanging power lines, in which it remained twisted and entangled at nightfall.

It took an hour for some 60 firefighters to extinguish the flames.

A spokesperson for Con Ed and the NYC’s Department of Buildings could not immediately comment on the cause of the blast.

https://nypost.com/2021/02/18/gas-explosion-rocks-nyc-building/

Convicted Murderer Turned Activist in Baltimore Wants the City to Pay Criminals Not to Kill

A convicted murderer who is now a leftist community activist in Baltimore has proposed that the city pay criminals not to kill people.

Tyree Moorehead, who was convicted of second degree murder when he was 15, has become a well known activist in the city where the murder rate is sky rocketing.

Moorehead has repeatedly said that he shot about 20 people when he was a teenager, between the ages of 13 and 15 years old.

To stop the deaths, Moorehead told local news that the city should just start paying people to stop killing.

“I can relate to the shooters,” the activist told Fox 45. “Guess what they want? They want money.”

“I’ve talked to these people, I’ve seen the shooters, it’s a small city, I know who the hustlers are,” he added.

“I can relate to the shooters,” the activist told Fox 45. “Guess what they want? They want money.”

“I’ve talked to these people, I’ve seen the shooters, it’s a small city, I know who the hustlers are,” he added.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/02/convicted-murderer-turned-activist-baltimore-wants-city-pay-criminals-not-kill/

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Not Invited to CPAC – Will Crash the Conference with Appearance Down the Street from Arena

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-FL) was not invited to speak at the CPAC Conference this year in Florida.

Several freshmen Republican lawmakers were invited to speak at the annual conference but Taylor Greene was left off the invitation list.

Instead, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will be speaking down the street from CPAC.

You better reserve your spot before the event if filled up.

The National File reported:

Pro-Trump firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is set to crash the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), despite not being invited by the event organizers.

Sources close to the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC, the leading right-of-center political conference in the United States, confirmed to the National File that Rep. Greene had been left off the invited speaker list for the conference.

Other leading members of the Republican freshmen class in the House of Representatives were given speaking slots at the prestigious conference, including Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM) and Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC). Surprisingly, however, Rep. Greene was not included, despite her immense national following.

It is unclear what the rationale was for not inviting such a well known member of the House of Representatives. The American Conservative Union did not respond to a request for comment

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/02/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-not-invited-cpac-will-crash-conference-appearance-street-arena/

Texas Democrat Mayor Urges Biden to Stop Releasing Migrants During Power Grid Outage

The mayor of a small Texas city along the border between the United States and Mexico is “pleading” with the Biden administration to stop releasing illegal aliens into his city while the state’s power grid remains down.

Bruno Lozano, the Democratic mayor of the city of Del Rio, Texas, made the request on Wednesday via a video uploaded to his municipality’s YouTube page. In the video, which is meant to be a candid and direct appeal to President Joe Biden, Lozano argues that his city cannot accommodate further illegal aliens.

“I am pleading and requesting with you to please put a halt to any measures regarding the release of immigrants awaiting court dates into the city of Del Rio and surrounding areas,” the mayor states. “We do not have the resources available to house and accommodate these migrants within our community.”

“If you do send these individuals into our community, we will be forced to make a decision to leave them without resources under these dire circumstances,” Lozano adds. “I am asking to please stop, please make another plan for this federal issue.”

The mayor’s plea comes as below-average winter temperature across the Southwest have impacted Texas’s power grid. As such, most of the state has been dealing with power outages that have affected everything from grocery stores to municipal water services. Nowhere has the impact been more felt than in rural communities, especially those along the Rio Grande River.

In Del Rio, alone, the power has remained out since at least Tuesday. The outage has prevented the city from being able to replenish its water system, leaving most residents without not only power but also running water.

Texas’s power outage has only exacerbated the immigration issues that have long plagued the towns on the U.S.-Mexico border. One particular issue that became most notable during the Obama era was the practice of “catch and release.” The practice essentially means that captured illegal immigrants are released into U.S. communities while they await a hearing in immigration court. The concept has long been favored by many on the left as an alternative to immigration detention and deportation.

With border communities already under immense strain, mayors like Lozano are calling for a pause in the practice.

“If you’re going to allow these individuals into our community, I respectfully ask that you provide the means and the supplies necessary to accommodate them safely under these extreme circumstances,” Lozano said Wednesday. “Do to the crisis we can not provide these supplies.”

It is unclear if the Biden administration, however, will comply with the request. The White House did not return requests for comment on this story.

Lozano’s plea comes as the president and his staff have begun preparing their immigration agenda for congressional action. On Thursday, the White House unveiled the final version of its comprehensive immigration bill, which includes a pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing within the U.S.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/02/18/texas-democrat-mayor-urges-biden-to-stop-releasing-migrants-during-power-grid-outage/

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Political Donor Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Lobbying and Campaign Contribution Crimes, Tax Evasion, and Obstruction of Justice

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/political-donor-sentenced-12-years-prison-lobbying-and-campaign-contribution-crimes-tax

BIDEN ADMIN. READY TO HOLD TALKS WITH IRAN

WASHINGTON — The United States is willing to hold talks with Iranian leaders and would do so immediately if the European Union extends an invitation.

“The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

The remarks came following a conversation between American, British, French and German foreign leaders.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been devastated economically after former President Trump canceled the Obama-era Iran deal and imposed very tough sanctions on the country.

https://breaking911.com/breaking-biden-admin-ready-to-hold-talks-with-iran/

NJ Governor Phil Murphy, Wife Implicated in Federal Immigration Fraud Scheme

TRENTON, NJ – It’s no secret that New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wants open borders, sanctuary and equal, if not more rights for illegal aliens in his state, but just how far the Governor and his wife Tammy will go to violate U.S. immigration law to provide those opportunities is now being questioned.

The Murphys are the owners of the Sky Blue FC professional women’s soccer team and in the past have been accused of mistreatment of players. Now, they are being accused of being part of a wide-scale immigration fraud scheme by the Department of Justice.

On Friday, the former Chief Operating Officer of Global Premier Soccer (GPS), a now-defunct youth soccer organization formerly based in Waltham, Mass., was charged today in connection with a wide-ranging visa fraud conspiracy.

Justin Capell, 39, of Southborough, Mass., was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the court.

Capell, feds charge and his co-conspirators arranged to file fraudulent visa petitions on behalf of at least seven professional soccer teams in order to secure visas for GPS’s foreign coaching staff. One of those teams was Murphy’s Sky Blue FC.

A Rhode Island news site, Golocalprov released emails that directly implicate Murphy and his wife Tammy in the fraudulent immigration scheme.

https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2021/02/13/nj-governor-phil-murphy-wife-implicated-in-federal-immigration-fraud-scheme-with-sky-blue-fc/

South Dakota AG charged with three misdemeanors over crash that killed pedestrian

Prosecutor says, 'I don't feel good about it but it's the right decision'

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) has been charged with three misdemeanors stemming from a fatal accident that occurred five months ago, when he struck and killed a pedestrian with his vehicle on a highway late at night.

On Sept. 12, Ravnsborg was driving home from a political event when he ran into 55-year-old Joseph Boever. The attorney general called 911 at around 10:30 p.m. to report that he "hit something" that "was in the middle of the road."

According to the call transcript, a dispatcher asked Ravsnborg, "Do you think it was a deer or something?" to which he replied, "I have no idea. Yeah, it could be, I mean it was right in the roadway…"

Ravnsborg returned to the scene of the accident the next morning along with authorities, when Boever's body was discovered. The attorney general put out a statement that night saying he was "shocked and filled with sorrow" over the incident, and that was "fully cooperating with the investigation."

The Argus Leader reported that Thursday, Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors in connection with the crash: operating a vehicle while using a mobile or electronic device, a lane driving violation for driving outside of his lane, and careless driving. The announcement was made by Hyde County deputy state's attorney Emily Sovell.

If convicted, Ravnsborg could face up to 30 days in jail and fines of $500 for each offense, but he was spared from being charged in connection with Boever's death.

Prosecutors said the facts in the case simply did not warrant manslaughter or vehicular homicide charges over the incident, given that there was no evidence that Ravnsborg was under the influence, and that driving outside one's lane does not meet the legal definition of "reckless."

Beadle County State's Attorney Michael Moore explained to reporters, "Recklessness is an extremely high burden for us to establish and in this case we don't have it. I don't feel good about it but it's the right decision."

A spokesman for Ravnsborg told the Rapid City Journal that the attorney general does not plan to resign, and will not speak with the media until he has had a chance to review the charging documents and evidence.

Meanwhile, Boever's family members have been highly critical of authorities over how long the investigation has taken. Boever's widow, Jenny Boever, plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Ravnsborg over her husband's death.

Following the news of charges against the attorney general, Gov. Noem tweeted, "My heart goes out to Joseph Boever's family. I am not going to comment on the specifics of Ms. Sovell's decision. I am directing the Department of Public Safety to share additional details of the investigation with the public within the next week."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/south-dakota-ag-charged-with-three-misdemeanors-over-crash-that-killed-pedestrian