The Groundtruth Project

There were two seismic events last week with the release of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange after a plea deal with the United States and the start of the proceedings against the Wall Street Journal’s correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who was falsely accused of espionage in Russia. They are like...

A double helix of free speech and press freedom

New York City, NY

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Cheryl E Preston

Yesterday was the third time this year that an ad stating Chelsea Clinton lives in a beautiful Virginia home popped up on my laptop. My computer did not warn me this was a dangerous site, so this time, I clicked on the link.

Chelsea Clinton is rumored to be living in Virginia but probably still in NYC

Chicago, IL

Foodie in Chicago

Shortly before 3 AM, people in the Chicago area may have felt their houses shake as a 3.4-magnitude earthquake occurred about 60 miles west of the city. (CHICAGO) The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 3.4-magnitude earthquake around Somonauk, IL. Somonauk is in DeKalb and LaSalle Counties, 64 miles west of Chicago.

Did You Feel the Earthquake?

Jacksonville, FL

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Jacksonville Today

A man died in police custody Sunday after he was arrested when he scuffled with firefighters and police, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. Joseph Lawson, 43, was the second person to die in the past week while in police custody. Both were hospitalized at the time they died, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Suspect dies in custody; he’s the second in six days

Virginia State

Virginia Wendy Williams fans, this is your July 2024 update on the former talk show host. Her best friend of 44 years, Regina Schell, has shared recent concerns with TV Show Aces and says she has not seen or talked to Wendy in more than a year.

Wendy Williams fans are worried after her best friend claims not to have heard from her in a year

Editor’s note: Report for the World host newsroom Convoca led a group of Latin American news organizations in a cross-border investigation of the gold trade and how illegal miners circumvent the governments’ oversight to sell their gold in international markets as if it had been extracted legally. You can find the entire series in Convoca and their partners’ sites.

Obscure mechanisms and failed oversight allow mass gold trafficking in South America

In Virginia, Drinking in public or offering another person alcohol in a public space is prohibited. This is a class 4 Misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $250.00. Under a new law that goes into effect on July 1, this will change to a degree.WDBJ7 reports that the prohibition on drinking or offering an alcoholic beverage to someone else in public will no longer apply under the following conditions.

Drinking in public will no longer be prohibited on private Campgrounds in Virginia beginning July 1

Coral Gables, FL

Edmond Thorne

Tragic End for South Florida Hispanic Building Tycoon Sergio Pino. Fort Lauderdale, FL - In a shocking turn of events, prominent South Florida homebuilder Sergio Pino was found dead in his Coral Gables home on Tuesday morning. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that Pino died from an apparent suicide.

South Florida Tycoon Dead After FBI Raids on Homes and Office

Missouri State

Fulton, MO

CJ Coombs

Updated on July 17, 2024, concerning two of the missing children listed below. Bringing them home: for 40 years, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has been helping to locate missing children.

Seven teenagers have been missing in Missouri since June 2024

Pennsylvania State

Bucks County Beacon

With an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, the U.S. experienced another violent episode in its increasingly polarized politics. Former President Trump, who’s about to formally become the GOP nominee for president in the 2024 election, survived the attempted assassination when, initial reports said, a bullet grazed his ear . But one rally attendee was killed , more spectators were injured and the suspected gunman is also dead. The Conversation’s politics editor, Naomi Schalit, spoke with University of Massachusetts, Lowell, scholar Arie Perliger after the event. Perliger offered insight from his study of political violence and assassinations. Given the stark political polarization in the U.S., Perliger said, “it’s not a surprise that eventually people engage in violence.”

‘One Inch from a Potential Civil War’? Trump Shooting a Close Call for American Democracy

New Jersey State

Morristown Minute

NEW JERSEY - Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced today that Walmart has agreed to pay $1.64 million to settle allegations of unlawful unit pricing practices across its 64 New Jersey retail stores. The settlement, which includes a $1.61 million civil penalty, marks the largest ever obtained by the Division’s Office of Weights and Measures (OWM).

Walmart Pays $1.64M Settlement for Unlawful Pricing in NJ

Aurora, CO

David Heitz

Aurora’s pallet shelters for people experiencing homelessness, which only allow a maximum 30-day stay, have been cycling the same individuals in and out, city staff told council members Thursday. Many return to street encampments when their time in the pallet shelter runs out, Jessica Prosser, homeless services director for the city, said. Then, the city sweeps the encampment again, and they get to come back to the shelter for another 30 days, Prosser explained. This process can repeat multiple times.

Aurora pallet shelters a revolving door for homeless

“Who sits there and thinks, with all the needs we have in America, of criminalizing the homeless?” wonders Pastor Robert Brown of Bristol’s Bible Evangelical Methodist Church after learning that the United States Supreme Court approved punishing those experiencing homelessness who have nowhere to sleep.

After SCOTUS OK’s Criminalization of Homelessness, Pennsylvania Democrats Plan Legislative Response to Protect Rights of the Unhoused

For more than 150 years, the day now known as Juneteenth has been sacred in many Black communities, a day to celebrate the promise of freedom and reflect on the challenges in America to live up to that promise. It marks June 19, 1865, the day when, more than two...

Juneteenth. A promise and America’s challenge to live up to it.

Wyoming State

Hyattville, WY

WyoFile

The increased cost of the proposed Alkali Dam near Hyattville has rendered the project “close to not making sense,” the speaker of the Wyoming House told state water developers earlier this year.

Lawmaker: Northern Wyoming dam cost ‘close to not making sense’

Savannah, GA

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Daily Coffee Press

Newly returned indictments in the Southern District of Georgia include felony charges for illegal firearms possession and drug distribution, while additional defendants have been sentenced to federal prison or await further proceedings after pleading guilty to federal gun charges.

Federal Charges in Southern GA: Indictments and Sentences for Firearms and Drug Offenses

Adel, GA

Last Friday, two men were arrested on charges following a joint investigation into drug trafficking in Adel, culminating in a search at their home. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the search took place on Friday, June 28, at the residence of 28-year-old Shyiem Marquon Banks and 36-year-old Roderick Dion Collins. Investigators discovered a substantial quantity of drugs, including 210 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 3.2 pounds of suspected marijuana, 13 grams of suspected alpha-PVP (Flakka/bath salts), over 90 suspected oxycodone tablets, and 2 firearms.

Two Arrested in South Georgia Drug Bust Uncovering Methamphetamine, Marijuana, and Firearms

Locust Grove, VA

The Battle of the Wilderness occurred in Locust Grove, Virginia, on May 5, 1864. According to History Facts, at one point, the Civil War c ceased so that soldiers could watch a fistfight between a soldier from the North and one from the South.

Union and Confederate soldiers allegedly called a ceasefire in Virginia to watch a fistfight

California State

Josue Torres

Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a collaborative effort with the state legislature to restrict students’ use of smartphones during school hours. This initiative follows a warning issued on Monday from Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy about the detrimental effects of social media on children’s mental health.

California governor moves to ban smartphone use in schools

Alameda Post

California regulators just stopped AT&T from pulling the plug. California’s Public Utilities Commission on June 20 rejected AT&T’s application to stop providing landlines and other services in areas where there is no other option.

Still Need Your Landline?

NewsBreak

Charles Sennott receives James W. Foley World Press Freedom Award

WASHINGTON — The GroundTruth Project’s founder and editor-in-chief, Charles Sennott, received the James W. Foley World Press Freedom Award last night during a fundraiser celebrating the...

Charles Sennott receives James W. Foley World Press Freedom Award

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