Parking Garage Collapses in NYC

A parking garage collapsed yesterday in lower Manhattan, killing one person and injuring five.

The building was four stories high and at least 100 years old, and inspection records show serious structural integrity issues—including “first-floor ceiling slab cracks” and “missing concrete covering steel beams.” It’s not clear whether those issues were ever fixed.

Witnesses say that crushed cars were stacked atop each other “like pancakes” and that the collapse sounded like a commercial jet.

Jadess Spiller, a student, was near the garage when it collapsed. “[It] felt like an earthquake — like the earth opened up inside, like that’s how violent it was.”

Fox Settles Lawsuit with Dominion

Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for claims made on-air about the integrity of its voting systems in the 2020 election, and Fox has settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million.

It’s the largest-ever payout from a media company in a libel case, and the settlement happened just before the trial was set to begin. Fox’s Neil Cavuto announced the deal on air yesterday:

“We acknowledge the Court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

Washington Takes Aim at Parental Rights

It may become legal to hide children from their parents in the state of Washington—as long as the kids are receiving “gender-affirming” care.

The state house passed “Senate Bill 5599: An act relating to supporting youth," and now Gov. Jay Inslee will decide whether to sign the bill that would give the state unprecedented power over parents.

If the bill is signed, citizens of Washington will be allowed to “house youth without parental permission” and will not be required to inform parents of the children’s location nor inform them of medical interventions.

According to the bill, “two-spirit, transgender, nonbinary” children are eligible to receive “gender-affirming” care without parental consent.

➤ Two Democratic Senators have broken their promises to return donations from disgraced cryptocurrency titan Sam Bankman-Fried. FEC filings show that Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) have held on to their cut of the $40 million used by SBF to gain D.C. influence. (More)

➤ The Secretary of Education refused to define the word “woman” during a House hearing on transgender-related changes to Title IX. Miguel Cardona repeatedly ducked the substance of the inquiries about the people Title IX is designed to protect—women—and instead offered platitudes about his department’s role. (Watch)

➤ The Department of Justice is seeking a 24-year prison sentence for a January 6th rioter. It’s the stiffest penalty attempted yet by the DOJ related to the 2021 events at the Capitol. (More)

➤ The Warriors’ Draymond Green has been suspended for Game 3 of the playoff series versus the Sacramento Kings. Green stomped Domantas Sabonis in the chest and was quickly ejected from Game 2. (More)

➤ Damar Hamlin has been cleared to play football. He collapsed from cardiac arrest during a key regular season matchup between the Bills and Bengals, but he’ll be back next season. (More)

➤ Zach Edey has declared for the NBA draft, but he’s holding on to his NCAA eligibility, just in case. Edey was the consensus NCAA Player of the Year in 2023. (More)

Market Report   4/18/23

➤ Elon Musk is jumping into the AI race with a product meant as an alternative to the “trained lies” of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the unchecked capabilities of Google’s offering. He’s calling it TruthGPT. (More)

➤ REI is shutting down a high-profile location in Portland. A security investment of $800,000 hasn’t been enough to drive down theft or keep employees safe. (More)

➤ The CEO of Bank of America thinks the US is headed for a recession, albeit a small one. (More)

➤ A SpaceX rocket dumped fuel after a launch in California, and it created a spiral-galaxy lookalike in the middle of the Northern Lights. (See it)

➤ Traditional barcodes are on track to be replaced by QR codes by 2027. (More)

➤ A toddler successfully invaded the White House grounds on Tuesday. The little boy managed to slip through the fence before his parents could stop him, but the Secret Service returned him quickly. (More)

➤ A pizza delivery guy in Philly was minding his own business when a car chase ended right in front of him. Pizza box in hand, he stuck out his leg and tripped a fleeing suspect so the police could nab him. (Watch)

Today’s Trivia

Joe Woodland used the sand on a Miami beach to sketch his design for a world-changing tool. What did he invent?