Linkee-poo First of May

Naomi Judd, and so it goes.

"Jupiter and Venus, two of the solar system’s brightest planets, will appear to almost touch in a rare celestial spectacle this weekend."

"Bill Murray discussed the 'inappropriate behavior' allegation against him on the set of Being Mortal for the first time Saturday… Speaking to CNBC at the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, the actor spoke at length about the situation that suspended production on the film amid an investigation into the incident."

"Bird flu has been confirmed in a backyard poultry flock in south central Michigan’s Branch County, the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said Saturday."

"The USDA has confirmed the first case of avian influenza in Vermont… Authorities say the highly contagious disease was reported in a non-commercial backyard flock of poultry in Caledonia County. Samples were then confirmed at federal labs. State officials quarantined the property."

"At least four children in Wisconsin, including one who died and one who required a liver transplant, have come down with mysterious hepatitis cases that appear to be part of a worldwide outbreak linked to an adenovirus."

"Coronavirus infections are back on the rise in Los Angeles County with a 40% increase in cases over the past week, officials said Thursday… Local health officials have been continuing to monitor community-wide indicators for early alerts that transmission and risk may be increasing. And although the county remains at a “low concern” level this week, many metrics are trending in the wrong direction, the Public Health Department said Friday."

"More than 50 people who had been sheltering under a steel plant that is the last redoubt for Ukrainian forces in the destroyed city of Mariupol have managed to get out, as the United Nations announced an evacuation operation was underway."

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv… Pelosi is now the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine during the war, with the surprise visit adding to the growing momentum behind the West’s support for the country's fight against Russia."

"A 15-year-old student at the Latin School of Chicago was “tormented on a regular basis” by students at the prestigious school until he died by suicide in January, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges… The suit, filed by the boy’s parents, Robert and Rosellene Bronstein, accuses administrators at the school of 'willful failure' to do anything about the bullying, even though they received numerous complaints from the boy and his family. The complaint, filed in Cook County, names the school, a number of employees and parents of the alleged bullies."

"One person was killed and four people were wounded in a shootout and subsequent law enforcement response at a Mississippi festival Saturday night, the Hinds County sheriff said… Gunfire erupted just before 10 p.m. at the Mississippi Mudbug Festival at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson, Sheriff Tyree Jones said at a late-night news conference." Just another day of freedom in the US.

"According to Atlanta Police Department, Pedal Pub Atlanta was involved in an accident on 14th Street and West Peachtree… Police said a Pedal Pub with multiple passengers was trying to turn, but they were going too fast and turned over."

"A manhunt is underway for Vicki White, a corrections officer in Lauderdale County Alabama, and Casey White, an inmate charged with capital murder."

"An Ohio lawmaker who has proposed a bill that would outlaw all abortions in the state is coming under fire for her comments about sexual assault… 'It is a shame that it happens, but there is an opportunity for that woman no matter how young or old she is,' (State Rep. Jean) Schmidt said." (Grokked from John)

"Ticketing students violates the intent of an Illinois law that prohibits schools from fining students as a form of discipline. Instead of issuing fines directly, school officials refer students to police, who then ticket them for municipal ordinance violations, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica has found."

"The text exchange, in an April 22 court filing from the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot, is in a batch of startling evidence that shows the deep involvement of some House Republicans in Trump’s desperate attempt to stay in power. A review of the evidence finds new details about how, long before the attack on the Capitol unfolded, several GOP lawmakers were participating directly in Trump’s campaign to reverse the results of a free and fair election."

"Lawyers for voters seeking to bar the far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress over her support for the January 6 insurrection have accused her of lying in a hearing in the case… In a filing Friday, lawyers for groups challenging Greene said a text from the Georgia congresswoman to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, released by the House committee investigating January 6, shows she lied in testimony."

"As the political calendar inches towards the midterm elections in November, a run of recent polling all points to one thing: President Biden has a problem with young voters… The new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found support for the president had plummeted 16 points among Gen Z and millennials in the past year, to sit at 37% — the lowest of any age group in the U.S."

"Today, McCarthy dismisses all that he said at that time as hypothetical strategizing. He tells his troops in the House Republican Conference that he never called on Trump to resign. And so far, Trump himself has accepted this story from McCarthy as an apology and 'a compliment to me, frankly.'"