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Election Officials Call Out USPS

Your unbiased daily news brief

Author

James Kratch
September 12, 2024

Good Thursday morning. Campbell Soup Co. wants to be known for more than the obvious, so it is changing its name. Have a great day!

In Today’s Brief

  • House: Spending bill yanked

  • Israel: Artifact restored

  • Trump: Debate doubt

  • Inflation: More cooling

  • Justin Timberlake: Plea deal

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Sounding the alarm

There are concerns about the U.S. Postal Service's ability to handle mail ballots this fall.

  • The news: Groups representing local and state election officials in all 50 states sent a letter to Postmaster Louis DeJoy, warning that mail service issues could disenfranchise voters. They urged USPS to address these chronic deficiencies in the lead-up to Election Day.

  • Ongoing problems: "Over the course of the last year, election officials across the country have raised serious questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting USPS’ ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner," the letter said. "Despite repeated engagement ... we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns."

  • The response: USPS said it delivered 98% of mail ballots to election officials within three days in 2020 and 99% in 2022, and it is better equipped to push toward 100% this year. But officials said a significant amount of mail ballots arrived well after Election Day and various deadlines in past years.

  • Big picture: Mail voting was a divisive issue in 2020 amid former President Donald Trump's baseless allegations of widespread election fraud. But both Democrats and Republicans have come to embrace it. Mail ballots have already been sent out in some states and it is expected to make up a significant portion of the electorate again.

2) Lost and found

An iconic photograph stolen from a Canadian hotel has been recovered.

  • The backstory: Yousuf Karsh snapped the legendary "Roaring Lion" photo of Winston Churchill in 1941 after the British prime minister addressed Canada's parliament. The photographer later gifted the original to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.

  • The heist: A staffer realized the portrait had been removed from its frame and replaced with a replica in August 2022. Officials said the original was stolen when the hotel was closed for a Covid-19 lockdown eight months earlier. Police then launched a global hunt.

  • The news: Authorities tracked the photo down in Italy earlier this year, determining Sotheby's in London had unknowingly sold it to an unwitting buyer before the hotel realized it was stolen. Canadian police then arrested Ottawaman in late April, charging him with the crime. The portrait is expected to be returned to the hotel later this month.

3) Hill fallout

The NFL player involved in a controversial incident with police said he could have handled it differently, but called for a cop to be fired.

  • What happened: Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was detained, handcuffed and taken to the ground by police last Sunday while driving to the team's stadium. He was observed speeding without a seatbelt. Hill was released with a traffic summons and still played in the game while an involved officer was placed on administrative leave.

  • The reaction: Police union officials defended the officers, but body camera footage sparked more public outrage about the incident. An incident report then said police observed Hill going 60 MPH in a 40 MPH zone, but did not have a radar reading before pulling him over.

  • The comments: The wideout told reporters, "I will say I could have been better," acknowledging he did not immediately pull down his tinted window after being instructed to. “Does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me? Absolutely not.” Hill is also reportedly considering a lawsuit.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

  • Speaker of the House Mike Johnson pulled a stopgap government spending bill due to Republican opposition. The government is facing a partial shutdown on Oct. 1; Johnson can only lose four GOP votes to pass legislation without Democratic help (More)

  • An explosion injured six people at the Kansas State Fair. A canned food item got too hot inside a concession trailer and exploded; two people were hospitalized for cuts and later discharged (More)

  • More FDNY members have now died of Sept. 11-related illnesses than were killed in the terrorist attack. The department now recognizes 360 people who passed away after becoming sick; 343 died at Ground Zero (More)

World News

  • An ancient artifact accidentally broken by a child has been restored. The Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel, has pieced the Bronze Era jar back together and returned it to display; the boy and his family were invited back to see the 3.5K-year-old piece repaired (More)

  • French authorities said they thwarted three terrorist attacks during the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. The plots were against institutions and people with ties to Israel, but Israeli Olympians were not directly targeted; five people were arrested on suspicion of involvement (More)

  • Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori died of cancer at 86. He led the South American nation for a decade and oversaw an economic turnaround, but was accused of human rights violations and later convicted on corruption charges (More)

Campaign News

  • Former President Trump cast doubt on his participation in another presidential debate. Vice President Kamala Harris challenged him to a second encounter in October after over 67M watched Tuesday's event; Fox News and NBC are pushing to host the next debate (More)

  • Delaware Gov. John Carney will likely be the next mayor of Wilmington, the state's largest city. The term-limited Democrat won his party's nomination; no Republican candidate is running in the general election (More)

  • Taylor Swift's social media post endorsing Harris referred over 337K visitors to Vote.gov in less than 24 hours. The General Services Administration released the figures as of 2 p.m. ET yesterday; the pop star posted to 283M Instagram followers (More)

Business & Markets

  • Major indexes closed higher yesterday after a topsy-turvy session. The Dow Jones fell over 700 points on new inflation numbers before rallying (Dow +0.31%, Nasdaq +2.17%, S&P 500 +1.07%).

  • Inflation was 2.5% YoY in August, the lowest reading since February 2021. The continued cooling makes it unlikely the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by more than 0.25% this month; a 0.3% MoM spike did exceed projections (More)

  • The Federal Aviation Administration is "almost finished" with its safety review of United Airlines. The probe was launched in March to ensure carrier compliance after a series of safety incidents; United has delayed the start of new international routes as a result (More)

Entertainment & Sports

  • Justin Timberlake struck a plea deal in his Long Island DWI case. The pop star will plead guilty to a traffic offense and pay a $300-500 fine in return for drunk driving charges being dropped; his driver's license remains suspended after he refused a breathalyzer test (More)

  • The NFL set a new Week 1 ratings record. An all-time high average of 21M people watched each game, a 12% YoY increase; 123M people saw part of at least one game, the most since 2019 (More)

  • Michael B. Jordan will star in and direct a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. The actor will also be a producer; the film will be released exclusively in theaters by Amazon MGM Studios (More)

Quick Hitters

  • Feel Good: A woman battling cancer was cheered up by a neighbor's Halloween decorations each day as she drove to chemotherapy sessions. She left a note of gratitude in the mailbox and got a big surprise before her last treatment.

  • Go Deep: Many consumers and politicians have blamed corporations for grocery inflation. But is greedy price gouging actually happening?

  • History Lesson: There have been many infamous bank robberies over the years. Some remain unsolved decades after they occurred.

  • Take Note: Unsure whether to use avocado or olive oil when cooking? You came to the right place -- here are the critical differences, according to dieticians.

  • Life Hack: This easy knee exercise supposedly makes you feel a decade younger by targeting the often-overlooked shins.

An explainer of how the U.S. Interstate System is organized (and aims to make sure drivers are never lost)

Looking Ahead …

Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party, said he will call for a no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the earliest opportunity. If it succeeds, it will force a snap election.

Question of the Day

How will you vote this fall?

Let us know!

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Yesterday’s results:

Who won the debate?

  • Harris (51%)

  • Trump (29%)

  • It was a draw (20%)