07/17/23

Good morning! It’s Monday, July 17th.

National Lottery Day!

There were no jackpot powerball winners on Saturday, so as of right now the jackpot is $900 million.

If one of you win $900 million, I think you should give some to me. Don’t say yes right away, really think about it first. A cool $200 mill should do it.

And now, the news.

DeSantis Campaign Floundering

-via CNN

The first financial report for the 2024 presidential campaigns came out and while it’s a little like trying to see what animal a cloud is and using that to predict the future, it’s still worth knowing a little more about what’s happening with these campaigns.

So here’s what we’ve learned: although he raised $20 million out the gate, the DeSantis campaign is big time overspending. He earned $20 million in the first three months of the campaign, but is also spending about $8 million a month. Which is more than he made. So if you’re getting panicked emails from his campaign… well those are probably actually true.

Also, proving that there’s no way he’ll ever be the party’s nominee so, once again, the best possible option for him is to get therapy and go tell Coach Beard everything that happened after Donald Trump lost the election, in hopes of saving democracy… Mike Pence only raised $1.2 million in three months.

And while he was outraised by DeSantis, Trump has the most cash on hand with a $22.5 million wallet.

Meanwhile, on the Democrats side… Biden’s got money but he’s not spending it, having only spent $1.1 million and hired 4 staffer by the end of June.

And that’s been campaign finance report, with me. Kim.

Long Island Serial Killer Caught

-via AP News

The Long Island serial killer, who killed 11 people on Gilgo Beach, with their bodies discovered between 2010 and 2011. Of the 11 bodies that were discovered, nine were believed to be linked to sex work.

More than a decade later, though five police commissioners, and after thousands of tips and theories – police made an arrest on Friday: 59 year old Rex A. Heuermann an architect who police believe killed the women when his wife was out of town.

He was charged with three of the murders and is being called a prime suspect in the fourth.

Atlanta Shooting

-via ABC News and Gun Violence Archive

And then over to just outside of Atlanta, where over the weekend, four people were killed in broad daylight on Saturday morning prompting a manhunt that ended on Sunday after a shootout with the police left the suspect, Andre Longmore, dead.

Police are still looking for a motive and currently don’t believe he was related to any of the victims.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more than 380 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, leaving at least 425 people dead and 1,600 injured.

Carlee Russell

-via NPR

Let’s end of the story that was basically the biggest story of weekend, at least on my social media.

On Thursday night, Carlee Russell, from Hoover, Alabama, called 911 to say she’d seen a toddler walking lost on the side of the road. Then she called her brother’s girlfriend to say what she saw. On that call, it sounds like she approached the toddler, then screamed, and the call was disconnected.

At the scene, police found Carlee’s car, cell phone, and wig. But neither Carlee or the toddler were found.

Over the weekend this story and photos of Carlee were shared all over social media. And that, the attention on the case, may be why the story has the ending it has: because on Saturday night, Carlee returned home to her family’s house.

She was taken to the hospital and evaluated, and is back home on Sunday afternoon.

Now, I say ending but the truth is, no one knows right now what happened in the 48 hours she was missing, nor is there a suspect or any signs of the toddler that Carlee reported to 911. So there are obviously a lot of questions, but luckily Carlee is home. And that is a rare outcome for things like this.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of… the lottery. $900 million! Can you imagine? And before you’re like “okay well that’s before taxes. After taxes…” After taxes is $450 million… that’s still a lovely idea.

But more than that… because you understand that this podcast is legally binding and you do actually owe me $200 million (but it would be a write off!)… I’m proud of you.