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Since Donald Trump has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the health of the president is suddenly an issue. And given the nasty trajectory the disease is capable of taking, the possibility of presidential disability must be considered. Unsurprisingly, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has taken the opportunity to score political points by considering legislation to change the specific procedures on how to deal with presidential disability a move that is sure to go nowhere but no doubt thrills her partys liberal base.

Political angling aside, there are some basic questions members of the public are surely wondering. What happens if the president is incapable of discharging his duties? What do law and history tell us? While it is unlikely that these will actually come into play, its no doubt possible, and understanding what our government is supposed to do can be useful.

The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, deals with vacancies in the executive office. It explicitly affirms that if the presidential office is vacated, the vice president becomes president. This had been understood by implication and historical tradition, but when President William Henry Harrison died in 1841, it was not entirely clear whether Vice President John Tyler became president in his own right or simply acting president. Tyler importantly asserted that he was the president arguably his only positive contribution to American history (he would later vote to secede from the Union as a member to the Virginia Convention in 1861). The 25th Amendment also calls for vacancies in the vice presidential office to be filled through a process of nomination by the president and ratification by Congress. It gives the president the power to transfer executive power to the vice president when he is unable to perform his duties. And in the case that the president is not able to make a formal transmission, it invests the power in the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide.

It is this latter provision that is garnering attention right now. How sick is the president? is a question for the medical team attending to him. How sick is too sick to continue to be president, and are we nearing that point? are, ultimately, political questions asked of the men and women of the presidents Cabinet.

Pundits have wondered if the Cabinet should transfer power to Vice President Mike Pence while Trump has been recuperating. That is a matter for the political process, which is informed under the 25th Amendment by our constitutional systems doctrine of separation of powers. If the president is to be declared incapable of discharging his duties, that decision rests with the principal officers of the government not Congress or the courts. The only direct role Congress has in the process of presidential disability (beyond establishing the laws to effectuate the 25th Amendment, a power it shares with the president) is to resolve a dispute within the executive branch namely, if the Cabinet and the vice president believe the president is still unfit but the president believes he is well. If the president is going to be stripped of power because of disability, that decision is to be made within the executive branch alone. James Madison hinted at this reasoning in Federalist 51, in which he noted that the separation of powers requires that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others. Otherwise, members of one branch might seize power by interfering with the officers of the other branches.

The congressional version of this is located in Article 1, Section 5, which gives each chamber the exclusive power to be the Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members ... determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Similarly, judges on federal courts enjoy tenure for good behavior and cannot be removed by any traditional reason. The only exception to these rules, whereby the members of each branch are independent from the others, is the power of impeachment and removal, which is housed exclusively in Congress. But impeachment cannot be for no reason the Constitution states that the impeached must be guilty of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. It also requires the House to indict and two-thirds of the Senate to convict. That is a high bar.

So, outside of clear instances of executive malfeasance, the president or the Cabinet gets to decide whether the president can fulfill his duties. Thats it. Congress mainly arbitrates disputes between the two, while the people only get a say at the ballot box. And though the 25th Amendment was only ratified in 1967, the executive historically has been protective of its prerogatives on questions of presidential capacity, even when that has meant not disclosing fully to the people what is going on. This long history of such concealment no doubt informs the public and the medias skeptical dissection of every update on Trumps condition.

The first presidential health scare came very early, when George Washington contracted influenza and pneumonia in 1790. Rumors circulated around Congress, at that point located in New York City, that the president was sure to die, or that if he lived, he would be deaf. But Washington recovered, and the executive administration of the government was not interrupted. In the summer of 1813, Madison became extremely ill during a special session of Congress called to deal with the problems of the War of 1812. Madison usually fled the swampy climate of Washington, D.C., for the more pleasant environment of his Montpelier estate, located in the Virginia piedmont, but he had stayed to give direction to Congress when he became severely ill. Again, rumors swirled that the president was not long for the world, and since Vice President Elbridge Gerry was recovering from a stroke (and would die the following year), there was the possibility of two vacancies in the executive. But Madison recovered, never yielded the executive authority, and indeed never fully disclosed to Congress what had afflicted him.

The first real succession crisis occurred with the assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881. Charles Guiteau shot Garfield at a train station in Washington, D.C., on July 2, but the president did not die right away. In fact, the early prognosis seemed hopeful, but the efforts of the presidents doctors to remove the bullet only made matters worse, and he died on Sept. 19. All the while, Vice President Chester A. Arthur was waiting in the wings but unwilling to take over the executive duties officially, lest he appear to be grasping for power even though Garfield was too weak to carry them out.

Arthurs successor in the White House, Democrat Grover Cleveland, would also have a health scare during his second term. Clevelands doctors discovered an abnormal growth in his mouth in 1893, at which point the country was sinking into the worst economic downturn outside of the Great Depression. Doctors performed a secret surgery on the president aboard a boat, under the cover story that the president was vacationing. Cleveland had part of his jaw removed and later was given a rubberized prothesis as a replacement. When the press grew suspicious, the administration leaked false information that he merely had two bad teeth replaced.

In 1919, Woodrow Wilson was barnstorming the country in support of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I and created the League of Nations. Exhausted from the tour, Wilson returned home in September, only to suffer a severe stroke the next month, which left him partially paralyzed. Not only was the country at large not informed of the presidents condition, Wilson himself was never told how badly he had been injured. Political insiders knew of the graveness of his condition, but Vice President Thomas Marshall refused to assert a constitutional claim to the presidency.

Wilsons assistant secretary of the navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, would go on to become president some 13 years later, and remain in office for more than a decade thereafter, guiding the country through both the Great Depression and World War II. All this had a terribly debilitating effect on the presidents well-being, which is evident when one compares pictures of him at the start of his presidency in 1933 to those at the end, in 1945. Like Wilson, FDR was not fully informed by his doctors how badly his health had suffered. And there were certainly no details leaked to the public. Indeed, FDR had carefully hidden the ravages of polio from the people, taking care never to be pictured in his wheelchair. Still, political insiders who spent any time with the president knew there was a high chance he would die in office, which led to one of the most consequential vice presidential nominations in 1944, as party insiders competed with one another to secure the preferred candidate. Ultimately, the bosses chose Harry Truman because they could all live with him.

President Dwight Eisenhower, who had served under FDR as the supreme commander of allied forces, became president in 1953. He had a serious heart attack in 1955 that left him hospitalized for six weeks. During that period, Vice President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State John Dulles took on most administrative duties in the executive branch. Later in his administration, Eisenhower suffered a stroke and also had surgery due to Crohns disease.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley. Though this occurred after the enactment of the 25th Amendment, power was never officially transferred to Vice President George H.W. Bush, and there was a great deal of confusion in the immediate aftermath. When Reagan was struck, the vice president was in Texas, and Secretary of State Alexander Haig, speaking to the press, assured the country that he was in control here, in the White House, although technically he was fourth in the line of succession.

Ironically, for all the drama surrounding presidential health and successions up until the enactment of the 25th Amendment, its invocations have been anodyne. President Reagan formally transferred power under it to Vice President Bush in 1985 to have colon surgery, and President George W. Bush invoked it twice, in 2002 and 2007, when he underwent colonoscopies. It likely should have been invoked when Reagan was shot in 1981, but the confusion surrounding the assassination kept the Cabinet from acting swiftly.

Indeed, the events of 1981 probably serve as a lesson for why it would be hard in practice to declare a presidential disability in an orderly fashion. It is the flip side of the virtues of a unitary executive. The Founding Fathers wanted a single person to be president rather than a council because he can provide vigor, direction, and swift action when it is called for. The 25th Amendment, meanwhile, empowers a council the presidential Cabinet that will inevitably be slow to act relative to what the president can do as a single individual. Factoring in the presidents desire to keep physical weakness as quiet as possible, the vice president not wanting to look like hes grasping for power, and the doctrine of separation of powers that keeps Congress mostly out of these considerations, it is hard to see anything but confusion surrounding presidential health scares. The 25th Amendment offers guidance and clarity, but it is just a text that has to be carried out by people in the midst of a crisis with multiple competing interests. Each such crisis is unique but similarly confounding.

Jay Cost is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a visiting scholar at Grove City College.

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COVID in the capital - Washington Examiner

# 1 Constitutional Amendment, Article VI, Section 2: NO

The ACLU recommends to vote NO:

Vote No on ballot initiative 1, the so-called Citizenship Requirement to Vote in Florida Elections. The amendment purports to limit voting toonlyU.S. citizens. However, federal and state law are already clear voting rights are strictly for U.S. citizens, and there are no movements to expand voting rights to noncitizens in Florida.This amendment is xenophobic and unpatriotriotic. It fails to strengthen our democracy or protect our elections. Instead, it opens the door for additional measures that would subvert and endanger the right of every citizen to vote.

RECOMMENDED READING: Florida General Election November 2020: Who To Vote For In Coral Gables & Miami-Dade County

The League of Women Voters recommends to vote YES:

Raises minimum wage to $10 per hour effective September 30th,2021. Each September 30th thereafter, minimum wage shall increase by $1 perhour until the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour on September 30th, 2026. Fromthat point forward, future minimum wage increases shall revert to being adjustedannually for inflation starting September 30th, 2027.

Support.The League supports secure equal rights and equal opportunity for all, and promotes social and economic justice for all Americans. Floridas present minimum wage yields $17,800 a year for a full-time worker, which doesnt come close to a living wage for a family of four.

RECOMMENDED READING: Use This Checklist to Prepare For The Florida General Election November 2020

The ACLU recommends to vote NO:

Vote No on ballot initiative #3, misleadingly titled, All Voters Vote in Primary Elections for State Legislature, Governor and Cabinet. This amendment would have a negative impact on Black voters and effectively silence their voices. Additionally, it would create a top-two electoral system that could prevent voters in the general election from voting for members of their own party in state legislative, governor and cabinet races. The measure also raises First Amendment concerns by hindering political dissent and a political partys freedom of association, as well as the ability to select its candidates and messaging.

The ACLU recommends to vote NO:

Vote No on ballot Initiative #4, disingenuously and misleadingly titled Voter Approval of Constitutional Amendments. This amendment is a political effort to obstruct voters ability to pass future constitutional amendments, even those with support from a supermajority of voters. This ballot initiative disregards the will of the people and renders their voices mute on the issues Floridians care about most.

The League of Women Voters recommends to vote NO:

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution, effectivedate January 1, 2021, to increase, from 2 years to 3 years, the period of time duringwhich accrued Save-Our-Homes benefits may be transferred from a priorhomestead to a new homestead.

Oppose.The League has a position that no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution.

The League of Women Voters recommends to vote NO:

This would amend Section 6 of Article 7 of the Florida Constitution toallow a homestead property tax discount to be transferred to the surviving spouseof a deceased veteran. This would be in effect until the spouse remarries, sells ordisposes of the property.

Oppose.The League has a position that no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution.

Referendum: Shall the County Charter be amended to create an Independent Office of Inspector General who shall, at a minimum, be empowered to perform investigations, audits, reviews and oversight of County and County-funded contracts, programs, and projects for abuse, waste and mismanagement, and provide Inspector General services to other governmental entities, with such offices appointment, term, powers, duties and responsibilities to be further established by Ordinance?

It codifies it into the charter, rather than being something the mayor or the commissioners could change or get rid of, saidMonica Skoko Rodriguez, president of the Miami-Dade League of Women Voters. It secures that office.

Click here to read The Miami Heralds complete breakdown of the Miami-Dade County referendums for the 2020 Florida General Election on November 3rd.

Referendum: Shall the Charter be amended to require that when the Mayor or member of the County Commission resigns prospectively to run for another office the vacancy will be filled by election during the Primary and General Election rather than by appointment or by subsequent Special Election?

Vote YES to avoidspecial elections. Special elections generally have lower voter turnout than primary and general elections. Plus, special elections incur additional costs to taxpayers.

Doug Hanks from The Miami Herald further explains this referendum:

Thesecond charter amendmenton the Miami-Dade ballot would end special elections to replace mayors or county commissioners when they resign in advance to run for a different office.

State law requires local elected officials to give up their seats once they file to run for a different position (federal offices, such as Congress or president, are exempt from the rule). The resignations can take effect any time before the winner of the race would assume office. The proposed charter change would allow the county to elect a replacement for an outgoing commissioner or mayor in the same election that sparked the required resignation.

Click here to read The Miami Heralds complete breakdown of the Miami-Dade County referendums for the 2020 Florida General Election on November 3rd.

Referendum: Shall the Charter be amended to require, commencing with the qualifying for and holding of the General Election in 2024, that, contingent on a change to State law, the election of the Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, and Supervisor of Elections be conducted on a nonpartisan basis and that no ballot shall show the party designation of any candidate for those offices?

This referendum would change the ballot to remove the REP or DEM label next to the candidates running for Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, and Supervisor of Elections.

Click here to read The Miami Heralds complete breakdown of the Miami-Dade County referendums for the 2020 Florida General Election on November 3rd.

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The Constitutional Amendments in the 2020 Florida General Election - coralgableslove.com

By the early 1930s, Robert E.Howard was already writing fantasy stories for pulp magazines like Weird Tales. He had previously created a barbarian hero named Kull, who lived in the legendary kingdom of Atlantis. In a 1931 story called "People of the Dark," which deals with reincarnation, Howard first mentioned a black-haired barbarian named Conan, who worshiped a god named Crom. He expanded on the character in 1932, when he rewrote a rejected Kull story into something new. He changed the title from "By This Ax, I Rule" to "The Phoenix on the Sword" and changed the hero from Kull to Conan.

The two characters were similar in many respects, althoughConan was more interested in women. Also, whereas Kull hailed fromAtlantis and had adventures on that mythical continent, Conan came from a place called Cimmeria, but never visited it in any of Howard's stories.Conan was always a wanderer, an outsider in the kingdoms where he found himself. Even when he became a king, as he did in that first 1932 story, it was through a combination of circumstance and his martial skill, never anything to do with birthright or inheritance. Conan swore by a god named Crom, but didn't exactly worship him, because Crom was a colder, more distant god than that.

Howard would go on to write a total of 17 Conan stories and novellas for Weird Tales, with the latter being serialized across multiple issues. An 18th Conan story by Howard was published in the magazine Fantasy Fan. By 1936, his interests as a writer had largely turned to Westerns, but that same year, upon learning that his mother was dying of tuberculosis and not expected to regain consciousness, Robert E. Howard died by suicide.

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The untold truth of Conan the Barbarian - Looper

On November 5, people across Great Britain celebrate Guy Fawkes Night with bonfires and fireworks. Centuries after his failed attempt to blow up the British Parliament, Fawkes's image remains prevalent in popular culture, thanks to films like V for Vendetta (2005). Here are 10 fiery facts about Fawkes and the holiday his treasonous attempts inspired.

Guy (also known as Guido) Fawkes was born in 1570 in Yorkshire, England. He was raised by a Protestant family, but secretly converted to Catholicism as a young man. When he was 21, he went to fight alongside the Spanish Catholics in Flanders. During the fighting, he became an expert on explosives. This, alongside his fanatic Catholicism, is what got him recruited to the Gunpowder Plot.

England became a Protestant country after the Reformation. As such, Catholics were persecuted and forced to practice their religion in secret. A wealthy Catholic named Robert Catesby decided the only solution to this discrimination was to overthrow King James I and his government. He recruited a number of other Catholics, including Fawkes, and together they plotted to plant gunpowder under the British Houses of Parliament and blow it sky-high.

The conspirators rented a cellar underneath the Houses of Parliament. Disguised as a servant named John Johnson, Fawkes began filling it with barrels of gunpowder. Once the explosives were in place and Parliament was confirmed to be sitting, ensuring the House of Commons would be full of MPs, the date for ignition was set: November 5, 1605.

Everything was going according to plan, until one of the conspirators decided to write an anonymous letter to a Catholic member of Parliament, Lord Monteagle, warning him to stay away from the Houses of Parliament on the night of November 5. Monteagle, sensing danger, showed the letter to the King, who ordered the area to be immediately searched. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden beneath piles of firewood in a storeroom below the House of Lords. Fawkes, found at the scene while armed with long fuses and dressed for his escape, was arrested.

After his capture, Fawkes was sent to the infamous Tower of London, where he was tortured until he confessed and gave the names of his fellow conspirators. Soldiers were soon dispatched to Staffordshire to apprehend Catesby, the mastermind behind the plot. Catesby and his two compatriots died in a gunfight while attempting to combat the approaching soldiers.

Fawkes, meanwhile, was sentenced to death. Treason carried the harshest punishment, and he was to be hung, drawn, and quartered. On the day of his executionJanuary 31, 1606Fawkes managed to wrestle free from the soldiers guarding him and jumped (or fell) from the gallows, fatally breaking his neck. The executioners were not going to let him escape his full punishment: They cut his dead body into quarters, then set the pieces of his corpse to the four corners of the kingdom as a warning to others.

The day of the ill-fated Gunpowder Plot was decreed a day of celebrationafter the attack was prevented, people lit bonfires to toast the King's safety. November 5 was declared a day of thanksgiving, and the first official celebration took place exactly a year after the failed Gunpowder Plot, on November 5, 1606. People across Britain gathered around bonfires and burned effigies of Fawkes.

The festivities developed over the years. It became customary for children to make a life-sized dummy of Fawkes, which they would take around their neighborhood in a wheelbarrow while asking for a penny for the Guy to collect money to buy fireworks. Huge bonfires were built in every village and town, and a Fawkes dummy would be placed on top and set alight. The traditional brightly colored firework displays represent the explosives that were meant to ignite under the Houses of Parliament.

Various songs and rhymes to help school children remember the story of the Gunpowder Plot were created, including this one from the 18th century:

Remember, remember, the fifth of NovemberGunpowder treason and plotWe see no reasonWhy Gunpowder treasonShould ever be forgot

Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night) is still honored on November 5 across Britain and parts of the former British Empire. Some people celebrate with friends in their gardens, while others gather in their village green, parks, and other public spaces. Bonfires are lit and effigies of Fawkes (or more often, modern political leaders or societal villains) are burned while fireworks burst in the sky. Traditionally, people feast on baked potatoes and toffee apples.

One of the most famous celebrations takes place in Lewes in East Sussex, where a number of bonfire societies, each with their own special traditions, host festivities across the city. Before the fires are lit, effigies of political figures are paraded through the town and the streets throng with people.

Numerous pictures and engravings were produced of the dramatic moment Fawkes was apprehended. His big black floppy hat, leather riding boots, and manicured mustache and beard became iconic. Centuries after the thwarted Gunpowder Plot, Fawkess image is still easily recognizable.

The main character in the comic book V for Vendetta (and 2005 movie of the same name) wears a mask of Fawkess face to keep his identity a secret as he fights against a dystopian authoritarian government. As a result, the Guy Fawkes mask has become synonymous with rebellion, and is often worn by anti-establishment protestors.

When Guy Fawkes was captured, he was supposedly holding an iron lantern to light his way in the dark cellars. Peter Heywood, who helped carry out the search of the Houses of Parliament on the night of the failed Gunpowder Plot, kept the beacon as a souvenir. When he died, the lantern went to his brother Robert, who worked at the University of Oxford. Robert gifted the iron lantern to his workplace in 1641. It was put on display at the Bodleian Librarys picture gallery, then later transferred to the Oxfords Ashmolean Museum, where you can still find it today.

Though the failed Gunpowder Plot occurred more than 400 years ago, it's still tradition for the Yeomen of the Guard to search the cellars of the Houses of Parliament before the State Opening each year. The original spot where Fawkes hid his gunpowder burned down during a fire at the Palace of Westminster in 1834, but officials still scour the existing cellars, just to be sure. However, the searches are performed more for tradition and ritual rather than security.

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Buffalo Bill's House From The Silence of the Lambs Is Up for Sale - Mental Floss

Under a string of new deals, the content line-up on STV Player will be bolstered by drama programmes East West 101, Striking Out and Devils Dust. They will join what the firm described as an already stellar line-up which includes the likes of Catching Milat, The Bridge and Janet King.

The catch-up window on network content has also been extended, meaning hit dramas like Des and Honour will be available on the player platform for longer.

The group is also adding 140 hours of new sport to the video-on-demand service as part of the latest catalogue expansion. Weekly football analysis shows Lifes a Pitch and The Football Review lead the new additions, alongside petrolhead-friendly titles Garage Dreams, The Racing Years and Shifting Gears with Aaron Kaufman.

STV said it had ordered a wealth of new content from distribution partners DCD Rights, Fred Media, Inverleigh and Broken Arrow.

In total, STV Player now offers some 1,750 hours of exclusive content with seven live channels. The latest programme additions follow a year of accelerated digital growth for STV, with online streams up 66 per cent year-on-year, and the number of minutes watched rising from 719 million to 1.32 billion an 84 per cent year-on-year increase.

The past year has also seen the player being launched UK-wide on Freeview Play, Virgin Media and YouView, making it automatically available in around half of the UKs 42 million internet-enabled TV devices.

Richard Williams, managing director of digital at STV, said: Its been a truly landmark year for the STV Player in which weve not only seen a surge in viewers watching the fantastic network content on offer, but also a rapidly increasing number of viewers from across the UK enjoying our diverse selection of Player-exclusive content.

Our focus on bolstering our Player-only offering is being well-received by viewers and with 1,750 hours of content now more easily accessible than ever, we hope they will continue to make STV Player their go-to destination for free on-demand TV from around the world.

A new partnership with Fred Media sees a range of lifestyle, reality and factual titles being launched, including true crime series City of Evil and The Trouble with Murder, international food series Peter Andres Greek Odyssey and Lee Chans World Food Tour, and hit Australian reality format Tattoo Tales.

Last month, STV pointed to a recovery in advertising revenues and added another producer to its growing studios portfolio after the pandemic dragged the group to a first-half loss.

Releasing results for the six months to the end of June, the broadcaster said it had seen its highest audience growth ever, up 12 per cent, with all time viewing share of 19.2 per cent. That growth had continued as lockdown measures were relaxed, it added.

While total advertising revenue slumped 20 per cent as the industry was battered by the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, the group pointed to an improving picture.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

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Editorial Director

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These are the 250 hours of drama, sport and reality TV being added to STV Player this autumn - scotsman.com

Work on the base began on Olavsvern in 1964, at which time it was seen as a vital future facility to support naval operations in the Barents Sea and surrounding areas in the event of a major conflict with the Soviet Union. Building the base, which is situated less than 300 miles from Russia, deep underground offered added defense against an initial onslaught if war were to break out.

Building the base, plans for which were initially a closely-guarded secret, was an immense undertaking for Norway and was completed with significant financial assistance from the NATO Alliance. It ultimately took 30 years for the facility to be completely finished, by which time the Soviet Union had collapsed.

Of course, it's worth noting that Norway is hardly the only country to have built large subterranean military facilities, including underground naval bases capable of accommodating submarines, as well as other warships. China's Yulin Naval Base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea is one of the best known examples, which you can read about in more detail in this War Zone piece.

However, the Norwegian government subsequently determined that the base was extraneous to its post-Cold War needs. Two years after formally shuttering it in 2009, authorities in that country put it up for sale on the open market, with an asking price of around $17.5 million. The eventually winning bid from Olavsvern Group Limited was just under $6.5 million. This was a fraction of the cost to build the base in the first place, which was reportedly some $500 million, in the end, a figure that may not fully account for inflation after construction began in the 1960s.

To add insult to injury, one of the first entities that Olavsvern Group rented the base to after that was an operator of underwater seismic survey ships that was linked to Russia's partially-state-owned energy company Gazprom. It's not immediately clear how long that arrangement lasted, but it would have been increasingly politically untenable as Norway, among others, hit Russia with sanctions after the Kremlin illegally seized Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.

Whatever the case, in 2019, Norwegian firm WilNor Governmental Services Limited acquired a controlling stake in the Olavsvern Group and subsequently announced its intention to make the base available to the Norwegian military, as well as those of Norway's allies. Four years earlier, WilNor had received a wide-ranging contract from the Norwegian Defense Logistics Organization to provide logistics support to the Norwegian Armed Forces.

This deal with WilNor could make it relatively easy for Norwegian authorities to reopen Olavsvern and make it available to American submarines, as well as other ships. How long it might actually take for the U.S. Navy to begin operations there and what improvements or additions the facilities might need to support nuclear-powered submarines is unclear. Whether or not American submarines will actually be able to fit inside the base, or will simply dock outside, with internal areas simply providing operations and storage space, remains to be seen, as well.

NRK's report also indicated that Norwegian officials may be looking to offer Olavsvern as an alternative to above-ground berthing in ports in and around Tromso. In September, shortly after USS Seawolf's unusually public appearance the Malangen fjord, authorities in Norway announced plans to expand facilities in that city to accommodate American submarines. Local authorities have reportedly voiced concerns about the potential safety risks of having nuclear-powered submarines in their ports.

"The decision to use Grtsund harbor [near Tromso] was made after consultation with the American authorities," Norwegian Minister of Defense Frank Bakke-Jensen told NRK. He declined to confirm or deny any plans for the U.S. Navy to use Olavsvern and had also previously told the state broadcaster that the Defense Ministry reserved the right to overrule any local objections to basing arrangements.

"When it comes to Olavsvern, there is currently talk of storing equipment for the Norwegian army and HV [Heimevernet; the Norwegian Home Guard]," he added. NRK further reported that the U.S. Navy did not appear to be interested in giving up its ability to use above-ground facilities in the area, though it was open to using the underground naval base, as well.

"The U.S. and Norway have a great relationship, and our ability to use facilities in and around Tromso would provide a strategic location for our visits," a U.S. defense official had told Breaking Defense in September. "It would give us flexibility for not only the U.S. but allied countries to exercise in the High North."

The Navy is particularly interested in ways to expand its presence in the Barents Sea and the Arctic amid growing Russian activity in the region, which includes a significant uptick in Russian Navy submarine operations and the notable physical expansion of a constellation of air and other bases across Russia's territory in the far north. The Barents Sea is a major transit point for Russian submarines and other warships heading from their bases in the northwestern part of the country toward the Atlantic via the so-called Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom (GIUK) gap.

The U.S. military's interest in the ability to operate from naval and other facilities in this general region is only likely to increase in the near future, in general, as well. The U.S. Marine Corps actually already uses another underground bunker complex in Norway, near the city of Trondheim, to store vehicles and other equipment to support rapid deployments.

This broad area has seen a large amount of military activity, in general, both on the Russian and NATO sides, in recent years. Norwegian authorities have also accused Russian forces of conducting mock attacks on its territory, including simulated strikes on a secretive radar facility in Vardo, on multiple occasions as part of exercises.

Depending on how discussions between U.S. and Norwegian officials proceed now, American submarines operating out of the caves at Olavsvern could become a new addition to the strategic equation in this region.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com

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This Is The Cave Facility In Norway That US Navy Submarines Could Soon Operate From - The Drive

A majority of the St. Joseph City Council voiced their support Monday for a behind-schedule project that will see a new fire station built on Missouri Western State University property.

The new station will include a shell for an emergency operations shelter to replace a cramped space serving as an EOC inside another firehouse.

We need about another $200,000 to get to the $3 million that weve negotiated the price (of the new station) down to, St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray said.

The project originally was budgeted for $2.9 million, though the city has paid a penalty to the associated contractors because the project is a year behind schedule, and some funds already have been spent on preliminary issues. The $200,000 shortfall will be paid by money found in a Tax Increment Funding account.

To pay for the EOC, the city will draw some $285,000 from a Capital Improvement Plan account. In total, the new firehouse and EOC will cost about $3.3 million. The EOC will only be roughed in, according to McMurray, meaning it will be functional but still needing additional work.

The new station will be built on Mitchell Avenue near Interstate 29, on Missouri Western property. Originally, the firehouse was to include a police station for the university, though officials backtracked on that plan after an acrimonious process in which planners couldnt accommodate the police departments needs, according to St. Joseph Fire Chief Mike Dalsing.

St. Joseph will pay the university $275,000 for a 99-year lease of the land where the station will sit.

McMurray and council members Madison Davis, Kent ODell, Russell Moore, PJ Kovac and Brenda Blessing voiced their support for the project. Gary Roach and Brian Myers were absent, though their votes wouldnt be enough to stop construction.

Construction on damaged bridges in St. Joseph will begin next year, city officials told council members at the work session Monday. Voters approved $20 million in bonds to finance the project during a

The Corby Pond will be drained later this year following an agreement between the city and state. City officials told council members Monday that the pond will be drained and then rebuilt to accommodate more water. It will also receive a new retaining wall. The city and state are under an agreement that the project will finish by the end of 2021.

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Deal reached to build new fire station | Government - News-Press Now

A woman and her son died and two others suffered injuries when boulders came rolling down the hill slope following heavy rain, crashed onto the retaining wall, resulting in the rubble falling into their house, at Ganapathi Nagar under Gajuwaka Police Station limits, here late on on Sunday night.

The concrete retaining wall fell on the asbestos roof of their house and it collapsed. K. Ramalakshmi, who was eight months pregnant, and her two-year-old son Gyaneswar were trapped under the rubble and died on the spot. Ramalakshmis husband Lokanadham and her mother Parvathi sustained injuries, according to the Gajuwaka police.

The bodies were extricated from the rubble by the police with the help of Fire Service personnel, and shifted to the mortuary.

The continual downpour due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal led to rainwater overflowing on the roads at some places and flooding of low-lying areas. The strong winds resulted in the snapping of cable and telephone lines and falling of branches and trees at some places on Monday.

In some areas like Sankara Matam, the movement of traffic was disrupted for some times as trees fell across the roads. They were cleared by people of nearby areas and GVMC staff. Some of the low lying areas in the city were flooded due to the heavy rain but the water receded later.

GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana said the clogged drains were being cleared on a war-footing.

Rainwater overflowed on the streets and entered the cellar of an apartment near the Ayyappa Swami temple at Sheela Nagar. The residents of the area staged a protest demanding a permanent solution to the problem. They alleged that the unauthorised shops and constructed on the drains, were obstructing the flow of water.

Motorists had a tough time driving through the rainwater, which collected on the road below the railway bridge at Chavulamadhum on Monday.

Meanwhile, Visakhapatnam West MLA PGVR Naidu (Ganababu) visited the Ganapathi Nagar on Monday and met the family members of the victims and expressed his condolences. He appealed to the government to provide relief to the bereaved family members. He advised the officials concerned to initiate relief measures in the low-lying areas submerged due to incessant downpour due to the depression in the Bay of Bengal.

He felt that it was unfortunate that the government and officials had not taken preventive measures, though there was prior information about heavy rains, which resulted in the deaths.

TDP corporator nominee Lalam Lavanya, TDP leaders Nakka Lakshman Rao, Rambabu, Sattibabu, Ram Shankar, Prabhakar and Rammohan Naidu were among those who accompanied the MLA.

Link:
2 die, 2 injured in roof collapse due to heavy rain - The Hindu

In both bedrooms the windows on two walls meet at a corner, affording a 180-degree view of the woods beyond, which are home to deer and several barred owls.

An acre lot allows the outdoor pool to be offset from the back of the home, where it becomes a destination. The walk to the water first passes a large patio enclosed by a low stone wall accentuated by built-in planters at the corners. The walk continues through a second small patio and down a hill before arriving at the pool gate.

We were fortunate the previous owner left us 10 pieces of John Salterini wrought iron furniture, Lara says. He was a well-known midcentury furniture designer whose work is still sought by collectors.

Laura enjoys collecting area rugs, and the daughters bedroom displays two on the floor layered on top of each other. The owls on the walls are paper cutouts Lara created before their daughter was born.Several real barred owls live in the woods nearby.

Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com

The couple spent a month last summer removing overgrown shrubbery and taking down a collapsed stone retaining wall in front of the home. Reusing the same stone, they reconstructed the wall themselves, and then landscaped the area anew. It was a lot of work, but we are happy with how it turned out, Ehren says.

The residence features exceptionally large windows in the front and back, and from the street passersby can clearly see through the residence into the backyard. When it is snowing, it looks like we are living inside a snow globe, Lara says laughing.

Ehren and Lara Leonberger, in their Affton mid-century ranch home, Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com

Lara and Ehren Leonberger

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At home: Her midcentury home in Lakeshire is one she used to know as a child - STLtoday.com

A 22 -year-old man is facing charges of impaired driving and refusing the breathalyzer following a collision with a parked car in St. Johns early Saturday morning.

The RNC say the charges were laid after the vehicle the man was driving collided with the car on The Boulevard at about 5 a.m. and then hit a rock retaining wall.

The man was originally taken to hospital but the RNC say he was not injured.

The male was released to appear in court at a later date.

EARLIER STORY:

One man was sent to hospital early Saturday morning after the car he was driving struck a parked vehicle and a retaining wall in St. Johns.

It appears the westbound car crossed over to the wrong side of the road on The Boulevard just before 5 a.m.,struck the parked vehicle and then swerved back to the right side of the road where it then hit the stone retaining wall. The parked car was moved several meters from its original location.

The owners of the car that was hit say this is the second time their car has been hit by another vehicle while it was parked near their home. The first time was when they lived at a different address.

Both carswere extensively damage.

The mans injuries were not thought to be serious.

The RNC is investigating the incident and more details will be provided as they become available.

Keith Gosse

The Telegram

keith.gosse@thetelegram.com

@TelyPhotoGosse

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Man charged with impaired driving after car crashes into parked vehicle in St. John's early Saturday morning - The Telegram