Open Thread For Night Owls: Ah, Thanksgiving, When Pie Fights Are Only About Who Gets The Last Slice

The challenge to secure jurors for Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan bumbled further on Thursday morning after two jurors were excused—one after prosecutors questioned their truthfulness and another, an oncology nurse, who expressed concerns that the media had effectively outed her. The latter dismissal follows several media reports that featured biographical information about selected jurors.

First lady Jill Biden plans to stop in Aurora this weekend to promote the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. First lady Jill Biden speaks next to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis at the Colorado Capitol on April 3, 2023, in Denver during a stop to highlight workforce training investments. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post) Biden is set to land at Denver International Airport on Friday night.

A bill that would have significantly grown taxes for thousands of short-term rentals in the state was killed in its first committee hearing late Tuesday even after the sponsor attempted to make changes to the legislation. In its original form, Senate Bill 33 would have required any property used as a short-term rental for more than 90 days per year to pay the state’s lodging tax.

NEW YORK — Two jurors in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial were dismissed Thursday, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair and impartial and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may not have been accurate. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The dismissals reduced to five the number of jurors who have been seated for the first-ever criminal trial of a former president. The setbacks in the selection process emerged during a frenetic morning in which prosecutors also asked for Trump to held in contempt over a series of social media posts this week, while the judge in the case barred reporters from identifying jurors’ employers after expressing privacy concerns. The seating of the full jury — whenever it comes — will be a seminal moment in the case, setting the stage for a trial that will place the former president’s legal jeopardy at the heart of the campaign against Democrat Joe Biden and for weeks of testimony about Trump’s private life before he became president. The jury selection process picked up momentum Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors.

Assuming the story is true (the district is currently denying it), the fact that it could easily be true reminds us that no school district, no matter how conservative the region, is safe.

It is time for the public to learn the truth about progressive Democrats’ economic policies and results.