Three things for September 23
1. State of emergency declared in Louisville
Mayor Greg Fischer issued a state of emergency for Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday, “due to potential risk for civil unrest,” according to a statement given by the mayor’s office.
The Louisville Police Department has restricted access to downtown Louisville in anticipation of a court decision in Breonna Taylor’s case.
Police have erected barricades covering a 25 block perimeter in the downtown area. Access to five parking garages and on-street parking is also restricted.
To ensure they are fully staffed, the police department has ceased all vacation and time off requests until after the court decision is released.
The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, stated he is not at liberty to comment on discussions concerning the timeline of the decision.
2. GOP lawmakers wish to move forward with Supreme Court nomination
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and most other Republican lawmakers are expressing interest in confirming President Donald Trump's Supreme Court justice nominee.
There are only two Republican senators who have rejected the Republican party’s attempt to move forward. Senior Senator of Maine, Susan Collins, and Senator of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, agree Republicans should wait until after the election to nominate a new justice.
A majority vote of 51 is needed to nominate a new justice. With the senate currently sitting at 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats, four Republicans and all of the Democratic members would need to vote against the nomination, according to AP News.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the last Republican swing vote, agrees the Senate should move forward with the nomination.
Speaking at a rally last night, Trump told his supporters he hopes to announce a nomination by the beginning of next week, following Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s weekend burial.
3. Microsoft makes a $7.5 billion deal to buy Bethesda Softworks
The Microsoft Corporation made a $7.5 billion deal with Bethesda Softworks to purchase the video game publishing company this week. This deal could negatively affect what games are available on the coming PlayStation 5.
Major publisher Bethesda Softworks is known for their works such as “Elder Scrolls,” “Fall Out” and “The Evil Within.”
Future releases of Bethesda titles will be allowed multi-platform releases on a case by case basis, according to Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of Xbox.
All previous commitments for non-Xbox releases, such as “Deathloop” and “Ghostwire: Tokyo,” will be honored by Microsoft. Bethesda games previously released to other consoles, such as PlayStation and Nintendo, will remain on those consoles.
“Elder Scrolls Online” will continue to be available on other consoles, such as PlayStation.
According to AP News, Bethesda Chairman and CEO Robert Altman said, “This is a thrilling day for this company, our employees, and our fans. We have enjoyed a close partnership with Microsoft for decades, and this deal is a natural progression of those years working together.”
