Domestic Glance
Ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have continued to plummet following Donald Trump’s takeover of Washington DC’s premier performing arts venue, with the prestigious Stuttgart Ballet expected to dance next month to houses less than 20% full.
Audiences are “voting with their feet to skip out” on shows that would once have been packed, in protest at the US president inserting himself into the center’s management and operations as its new chairman, amid discussions around the notion of renaming it after Trump, according to an analysis by the Washingtonian magazine.
The outlet said the Stuttgart Ballet’s series at the Kennedy complex’s Opera House in October is only “between 4 and 19%” full based on reservations so far, and BodyTraffic, a Los Angeles troupe booked for two performances in the smaller Eisenhower Theatre at the end of the month, is only booked so far at 12% capacity.
“Big yikes,” one current Kennedy Center staffer told the outlet, having been granted anonymity to speak for fear of retaliation by its new leadership team of Trump-installed loyalists and acolytes.
Kennedy Center ticket sales take a nosedive after Trump takeover
Mexican festivals in Chicago canceled amid Trump plans to deploy troops
Donald Trump’s plan to deploy national guard troops and federal immigration agents to Chicago is already having an impact on the city’s Mexican community.
Organizers have canceled several local events tied to Mexican Independence Day, which occurs on 16 September.
People of Mexican descent constitute about 21% of the city’s population, according to census data, and hold annual events around the holiday that attract thousands of people.
But Trump recently inaccurately described Chicago as “the most dangerous city in the world” and said: “We’re going in.”
The administration plans to send 230 agents, most of whom work for Customs and Border Protection, to Chicago from Los Angeles as part of an increased effort to make immigration arrests, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
At least three events connected to the holiday have been canceled or postponed. Organizers decided to cancel El Grito Chicago, an event that drew 24,000 people last year, and was scheduled for 13-14 September.
Trump, apparently misled by video of 2020 protests, threatens to send troops to Portland
Donald Trump told reporters that he might send national guard troops into Portland, Oregon, apparently because he was misled about the scale of small protests there by a TV report that incorrectly presented video recorded in 2020 as having taken place this summer.
“I will say this, I watched today, I didn’t know that was continuing to go on, but Portland is unbelievable, what’s going on,” Trump said. He then claimed, incorrectly, that he had seen video evidence of “the destruction of the city”.
Trump, apparently misled by video of 2020 protests, threatens to send troops to Portland
Donald Trump told reporters that he might send national guard troops into Portland, Oregon, apparently because he was misled about the scale of small protests there by a TV report that incorrectly presented video recorded in 2020 as having taken place this summer.
“I will say this, I watched today, I didn’t know that was continuing to go on, but Portland is unbelievable, what’s going on,” Trump said. He then claimed, incorrectly, that he had seen video evidence of “the destruction of the city”.
In fact, a handful of protesters have demonstrated outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in a remote area of Portland along the south waterfront this year, but the scale of the protests, which attract dozens at most, is nothing like the 2020 protests following the police killing of George Floyd that regularly drew thousands to tens of thousands of demonstrators to a central part of the city for months.
Minnesota man freed after 27 years in prison for murder he did not commit
A Minnesota man wrongly convicted of murder who spent nearly three decades in prison after being falsely implicated by a woman who has since confessed to the crime has been released.
State district court judge Marta Chou had vacated Bryan Hooper Sr’s first-degree murder conviction the day before. He was released on Thursday morning from Stillwater correctional facility, a Great North Innocence Project spokesperson said.
“Today, the courts have affirmed what Bryan Hooper, his family, his loved ones, and his advocates have always known: Mr Hooper is an innocent man,” Hennepin county attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “It is our duty as prosecutors to hold the correct individuals responsible for their actions, and that duty demands that we acknowledge our mistakes and make things right as quickly as we can.”
Hooper reunited with his children and planned to enjoy a meal with them and spend time with family, Project spokesperson Hayley Poxleitner said. He also plans to make his home for now in the Twin Cities area, where his children live.
Legendary Italian designer Giorgio Armani dies
The Italian fashion designer and billionaire brand owner Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91.
He was the archetype of Italian style and elegance, reimagining men's and women's suits for a modern audience.
His company Armani expanded from fashion into an empire spanning beauty, fragrance, music, sport and even luxury hotels, bringing in more than £2bn a year.
Donatella Versace paid tribute to the late designer on her Instagram page, posting a picture of him, saying: "The world lost a giant today, he made history and will be remembered forever."
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In a statement on the brand's Instagram page, it said Armani "worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing future projects".
It also said he was "indefatigable to the end" and "driven by relentless curiosity and a deep attention to the present and to people".
Rudy Giuliani seriously injured in car crash
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was seriously injured in a car crash on Saturday evening in New Hampshire, according to a statement from his security team.
Giuliani’s vehicle was “struck from behind at high speed,” Michael Ragusa, head of Giuliani’s security, said in an official news release.
Giuliani, who previously served as President Trump’s personal attorney, was transported to a nearby trauma center, according to the statement, “where he was diagnosed with a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg.”
Ragusa said Giuliani’s business partner Maria Ryan, a nurse practitioner, was contacted and arrived at the hospital shortly after the crash.
In a statement provided to The Hill, the New Hampshire State Police confirmed they were “investigating a crash that left three people injured, including a passenger identified as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”
Democrats seek ‘immediate answers’ after reported arrests of firefighters by US border agents
Patty Murray, the Washington senator, has called for the Trump administration to provide “immediate answers” about reports that two firefighters were detained by border agents as they were responding to a wildfire in the state.
Federal immigration authorities on Wednesday staged an operation on the scene of the Bear Gulch fire, a nearly 9,000-acre (3,600-hectare) blaze in the Olympic national forest, where they arrested two people who were part of a contract firefighting crew, the Seattle Times first reported. The fire is the largest currently burning in the state.
Authorities made the firefighters line up to show ID, the Seattle Times reported. One firefighter told the newspaper that they were not permitted to say goodbye to their detained colleagues.
“I asked them if his [co-workers] can say goodbye to him because they’re family, and they’re just ripping them away,” the firefighter said to the Seattle Times, adding that the federal agent swore and told the firefighter to leave.
The operation sparked widespread condemnation in the state. Murray in her statement released on Thursday morning demanded information about the whereabouts of the firefighters and the administration’s policy around immigration enforcement during wildfires.
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