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Author: Mary Chastain

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Mary Chastain

Mary is the resident libertarian. She covers stories in every vertical, but her favorite thing to do is take on the media. She saw its bias against the right when she was a socialist.

Mary loves the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, tennis, cats, Oxford comma, Diet Coke, and needlework.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Shuettte has filed charges against Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon and Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells in the Flint water probe. Lyon faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office while Wells faces obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. These charges stem from the "Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the Flint area that led to 12 deaths after the city's water supply was switched to the Flint River in April 2014."

Gunman James Hodgkison, a Bernie Sanders supporter, opened fire on GOP lawmakers as they practiced for the annual Congressional baseball game Wednesday morning. He shot Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), two Congressional aides, and two members of the Capitol Police force were also shot. Scalise remains in critical condition. Rather than reflect on how we landed at this juncture, these individuals rolled out the gun control mantra.

Attorney Cynthia Nunez, the guardian of the children of one of the doctors accused of performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on girls in Michigan, has claimed that a local mosque paid for the surgeries. The court held a hearing on Tuesday "in which the state is seeking to terminate the parental rights of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, the lead defendant in Detroit's historic genital cutting case." Nagarwala and her attorney Shannon Smith denied Nunez's allegations.

A gunman opened fire on the GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, VA. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and numerous aides were shot. From Fox News:
The shots were reported on East Monroe Street in Del Ray, Alexandria police said on Twitter at 7:30 a.m. The location was near a YMCA.

Reuters has discovered that Canada has detained at least five times as many Mexicans than in the previous two years due to new visa requirements. This stat is interesting considering the fact that Canada has portrayed itself as welcoming and America as a bad guy to Mexicans. From Reuters:
Canada's detention of Mexicans surged more than tenfold from 24 in November to 331 in April, the data show. The number of Mexicans filing refugee claims more than quadrupled from November to March.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced that he would like to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. From CBS News:
In a release following the call, Zinke said, "Designating a monument that - including state land - encompasses almost 1.5 million-acres where multiple-use management is hindered or prohibited is not the best use of the land."

President Donald Trump sure loves Twitter! This is why Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act, which would preserve all of Trump's tweets as presidential record. Yes, the acronym is COVFEFE to mock Trump's infamous tweet when he wrote "Despite the constant negative covfefe." The word took off online.

More retailers have decided to close stores while Gymboree has filed for bankruptcy. Ascena Retail Group has decided to close "between 250 and 650 locations over the next two years." This group owns Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, and Justice stores among others. CEO David Jaffe did not specify which brands the closures will affect. But he guaranteed that 250 stores will close. 400 others will definitely close "unless the company can negotiate lower rents at these locations."

Cook County in Illinois, home to Chicago, has decided that its soda tax will not apply to food stamps. Purchases made with food stamps cannot have state and local taxes tacked onto them, according to federal law. Cook county tried to bypass that law, but none of the options officials used took off. So this means that the 827,000 people in Cook County who have food stamps will not have to pay the tax. This is the second reversal of the tax, which has caused massive confusion as the bankrupt county and state have tried everything to raise revenue.

Puerto Ricans went to the polls today to vote on possible statehood with America. The majority of people voted yes, but only 23% of the people voted, which could call into question the validity "of the nonbinding referendum." From The Wall Street Journal:
According to early results on a government website, statehood drew 97% of support with more than 90% of votes counted Sunday afternoon, but a turnout of about 23% reflected the success of a boycott effort led by opponents.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) and other members have showcased their ambitions:   the caucus wants to add welfare, health care, and tax reform all into one bill and pass it all by the end of the summer. The biggest stars of reform, health care and taxes, have caused the White House and members of Congress to butt heads. The White House wants to accomplish health care reform in the summer and take tax reform into the fall.

In May, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling before members take their summer recess in order for America to pay its debts. The ability to borrow money expired on March 16. Now Mnuchin has said that he and the department have started to formulate plans to fund the government until September if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. From The Wall Street Journal:

Batman star Adam West passed away at the age of 89 after he battled leukemia. From Vanity Fair:
“Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ lives. He was and always will be our hero,” his family said in a statement. West died peacefully in his home Friday night after a battle with leukemia, and is survived by his wife Marcelle, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

They did it! The House passed the Financial CHOICE Act, which would roll back regulations established in Dodd-Frank, one of former President Barack Obama's biggest pieces of legislation. From The Hill:
Sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the CHOICE Act is the most ambitious Republican effort to roll back the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in 2010. Republicans have long targeted Dodd-Frank, saying it has created a crushing regulatory burden that suffocates small businesses and banks while empowering unaccountable bureaucrats.

The Department of Justice has announced the arrest of two Hezbollah men, one in New York and another in Michigan, for allegedly plotting attacks in New York and the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Panama. DOJ officials released these statements:
Acting U.S. Attorney [Joon H.] Kim said: “Today, we announce serious terrorism charges against two men who allegedly trained with and supported the Islamic Jihad Organization, a component of the foreign terrorist organization Hizballah. Recruited as Hizballah operatives, Samer El Debek and Ali Kourani allegedly received military-style training, including in the use of weapons like rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machine guns for use in support of the group’s terrorist mission. At the direction of his Hizballah handlers, El Debek allegedly conducted missions in Panama to locate the U.S. and Israeli Embassies and to assess the vulnerabilities of the Panama Canal and ships in the Canal. Kourani allegedly conducted surveillance of potential targets in America, including military and law enforcement facilities in New York City. Thanks to the outstanding work of the FBI and NYPD, the allegedly destructive designs of these two Hizballah operatives have been thwarted, and they will now face justice in a Manhattan federal court.”