Daily Archives: December 23, 2021

Roy Douglas Doug Wead in the Oval Office with President Trump

By Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org

A longtime conservative political commentator and author under federal indictment for conspiring to illegally funnel Russian money to the Trump campaign in 2016 has died.

Roy Douglas Doug Wead, 75, of Bonita Springs, died Dec. 10 after suffering a stroke and heart failure, according to his Twitter account.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden of the District of Columbia was notified of Weads death Friday by his attorneys, Jane Serene Raskin of Coral Gables and Washington, D.C.s Jay Sekulow. Sekulow was one of President Donald Trumps lead attorneys during his first impeachment trial in 2020.

Wead, a former special assistant to President George H.W. Bush who served as an advisor to multiple presidential campaigns, and co-defendant Jesse R. Benton of Louisville, KY, pleaded not guilty in September. Wead was released on his own recognizance, Benton on a $25,000 bond.

No trial date has been set. If convicted, the men each faced a range of maximum penalties from five to 20 years in prison for each of the three counts against them.

Benton, 43, ran the pro-Trump Great America super PAC and got a December 2020 pardon from Trump for his 2016 conviction on conspiracy and other charges arising from a 2012 campaign scheme to buy a political endorsement in the 2012 Iowa caucuses for ex-congressman Ron Paul. Benton worked on two of Pauls failed presidential campaigns, and also on the Senate campaigns of Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.

Notably, conservative media news stories about Weads death put out by Boca Raton-based Newsmax, One America News and the evangelical news outlet Charisma News neglected to mention his pending criminal case.

Federal prosecutors said Wead and Benton conspired together to solicit a political contribution from a Russian foreign national, then later filed false campaign finance reports to make it appear as if Benton made the contribution. It is illegal for foreign nationals to donate to U.S. campaigns.

The Russian is not named in the indictment but is described as a business associate of Wead who wired $100,000 from a bank in Vienna, Austria to a political consulting business owned by Benton. Wead had told his Russian friend that in exchange for the payment he could meet Trump.

Shortly after the Russian committed to transfer the funds, Benton reached out to his contacts at the Republican National Committee and arranged for both the Russian and another foreign national who worked as a Russian/English translator for Wead to attend and get a picture taken with Trump at a Sept. 22, 2016 fundraiser in Pennsylvania. Benton even used his personal credit card to pay the $25,000 cost of the Russians ticket to the event.

Wead and Benton later created a fake invoice for consulting services and invented a cover story to disguise the true purpose of the funds transfer, according to a Department of Justice press release that accompanied the indictments release.

Benton filled out a contributor form that he not the Russian contributed the $25,000, but paid off his credit card using the Russians money. The release notes dryly, Benton retained the remaining $75,000 of Foreign National 1s money.

Because Benton falsely claimed to have given the contribution himself, three different political committees unwittingly filed reports with the FEC [Federal Elections Commission] that inaccurately reported Benton as the source of the funds.

The 20-page grand jury indictment does not name Trump, and Department of Justice prosecutors have taken unusual precautions to prevent public disclosure of confidential and law enforcement-sensitive information in the case. A court protective order now veils documents disclosed to the defense as part of the governments pre-trial discovery obligations.

Still, the Washington Post reported shortly after the indictments release that the account of Bentons $25,000 contribution in support of political candidate 1, a candidate for president during the 2016 election cycle, matches a donation in public records that Benton made to Trump Victory. Trump Victory raised money for both the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Wead and Benton were both charged with one count of conspiracy to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effect a conduit contribution and cause false records to be filed with the FEC, one count of contribution in the name of another and three counts of making false entries in an official record.

Wead was the author of the 2019 book Inside Trumps White House: The Real Story of his Presidency. An obituary on Charisma News called him a Bush family insider who is credited with coining the phrase compassionate conservative.

According to Weads Twitter feed, a celebration of his life will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3 at Orlandos Greeneway Church. The service will be livestreamed on Weads Facebook page.

See more here:
Conservative Florida pundit accused of funneling Russian money to Trump campaign dies - Florida Bulldog

If knowledge is power, then an education in motorsport is basically added horsepower, especially considering that any substantial modification to the drivers skill set is arguably the most important upgrade for any vehicle. There are heaps of great racing schools out there, but after recently going through the curriculum at Ron Fellows Performance Driving School based out of Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club in Pahrump, Nev., I now have a favorite.

The Ron Fellows school is pretty similar to the BMW Performance Driving School Ive previously attended. Both are conducted at motor resorts where luxury residences flank the track. Both offer go-faster instruction catering to varying abilities. And both are staffed with incredibly talented instructors. These racing schools were basically separated at birth. The only major difference is that at the BMW program youre training in its eponymous cars, obviously. At Fellows, the official high-performance driving school of the latest Chevrolet Corvette, the mid-engine C8s cockpit is your classroom. But that difference has nothing to do with why the Vette school is my choice thus far.

It all simply comes down to duration. My BMW program was one day (though BMW also offers two-day instruction), and the Corvette Owners School is two days. In fact, all four of the Vette programs that Ron Fellows offers are two days. Extended seat time gave my mind and muscle memory more opportunity for things to click. Of course, it didnt hurt that my precision driving skills were still fresh from having recently completed the BMW school. Case in point, this proclamation from Ron Fellows instructor Payten Murphy at the beginning of my second day: Ive never seen a student get under 30 seconds [around the autocross] on the first try. I consider myself a driver of unremarkable ability, so to receive an accolade like that speaks to the power of seat time . . . even passenger-seat time.

A couple of weeks before arriving at Spring Mountain, I put too many miles on my right Achilles tendon and busted it. I was walking without a limp by the time I arrived in Pahrump, but the first day of track exercises meant heavy use of my right foot for hard braking, leading to my limps inauspicious return. I opted out of left-foot braking as a bandage to the situation, so in the interest of preventing further injury, I decided to sit shotgun for the second day of lead/followsand Im so happy I did.

Riding with the instructor while he led students on track showed me the effectiveness of slowing down. When youre behind an instructor on a lead/follow lap, its natural to try driving as fast as possible, but for a budding racer, thats the opposite of what you should do. Ive been taught slow in, fast out of corners for most of my life. Id be Silicon Valleyrich if I had a dollar for every time Ive heard about smoothness winning the race. Ive experienced numerous racing-driver hot laps, witnessing first-hand how the speed sausage is made. But all that stuff didnt really click until riding along with a leader on a track exercise where Id already followed. It was astounding to see how light my instructor was on the brakes, especially before corner entry. That part felt slow, but then because of the extra settlement time in the braking zone, the Corvette was better set up to devour the turn. As a result, my instructors cornering speeds were about 10 mph higher than mine, and that speed was achieved in a manner that appeared Sunday-drive easy.

Something else astonishing was learning that during lead/follows, the racing instructors are peering into their rearview mirrors roughly 80 percent of each lap to keep track of the students behind. And theyre leading the pack with only one hand on the steering wheel, while the other hand managing two walkie-talkies; one for student comms and the other to communicate with supervising instructors. Thats talent.

The efficacy of passenger-seat time really became evident to me two weeks later when testing out the new Subaru BRZ at Lime Rock Park, the racetrack synonymous with the racing side of actor Paul Newmans career. Id wanted to drive this hallowed facility for years. Getting to rip around Lime Rock was a dream come true, but the deal was sweeter knowing I had that Corvette training under my belt. Theres minimal runoff at Lime Rock, so theres little room for error. A few months earlier, that would have made me really nervous, thus detracting from my enjoyment. With the Corvette Owners School experience in my back pocket, though, I was able to drink larger gulps of Lime Rocks greatness.

With my Achilles now healed enough for track duty in the BRZ, I got to practice my brake lift-off technique into corners so that I could maximize my front-end grip on turn-in. Towards the end of the day, I asked Lime Rocks track ace Paul to ride along with me for some added coaching. After my first lap or so, he asked, Who taught you how to lift off the brakes like that into corners? I told Paul about my Ron Fellows training two weeks earlier, and he was pleased with my results, enthusiastically commending me at the end of our session.

Another parallel between Corvette Owners School and BMW Performance Driving School is that both programs have autocross time trials. I came in second place out of six students in BMWs program, but out of 14 Corvette Owners School entrants, I was crowned autocross champion. Again, Im nothing special behind the wheel, so if I can be no.1, almost anyone else can be, too. Its all in the training, and thats why I wholeheartedly believe performance driving school is something for every licensed driver.

Corvette Owners School retails for $3,695, not including room accommodations, but when you buy a brand-new C8 Corvette, your tuition is slashed to $1,000, and that includes a one-night stay in a Spring Mountain trackside condo. The three more-advanced Corvette programs range from around $4,000 to $5,500 each, and rooms cost around $150 per night. But the return on investment is exponential. After its over, youll feel a little safer every time you get behind the wheel, and that peace of mind is priceless.

Read more:
At This Driving School, the C8 Corvette Is Your Classroom - Robb Report

Theres a Dutch saying that goes something like: Government forced cars on us. Now we need the government to get rid of cars so then we can get rid of the government. Last week, Elon Musk (who looked a lot like the villian from The Fifth Element) gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal in which he laid out a hypocritical view of the governments role in transportation. The government, he claimed, should not be subsidizing anything. Asked about the Democrats transportation and social bill, he said it would be better if they did not pass.

Mr. Musk can correctly point out that if he hadnt run an electric car company, it would have taken longer for electric cars to be a thing. But he cannot take all the credit. In Norway, electric cars make up 20% of all cars on the road, and accounted for 90% of cars bought last month. Norway stands out in this achievement compared to other countries because they offer massive government subsidies for electric cars. The first and fourth top selling cars in Norway are Teslas.

In the interview, Mr. Musk went on to say that the government shouldnt give any subsidies to anyone for anything, including fossil fuels. The role of the government should only be to referee the market. His argument is that society would move better without the force of the government interfering in the market. In the same interview he also called for double-decker freeways and tunnels to counter extreme traffic.

In so many ways, the costs of cars are passed on to others. A free market does not take this into account.

This got me thinking about what our society would look like if we completely stopped subsidizing cars. From parking mandates that require you build a certain number of car parking spaces, to single-detached zoning which makes everything far away and requires most people to have to own a car to get around, to the social subsidy from a loss of community and isolation. What is the cost of our childrens lost freedom because cars are always threatening them? In so many ways, the costs of cars are passed on to others. A free market does not take this into account.

If we did get to a place where people paid the true cost of cars, I think we would have a much better society. I would also bet that a lot more people would ride bicycles in cities, because they are simply the best way to get around.

By calling attention to government subsidies, Musk is calling attention to all the ways our society pays for driving. Many years ago, I was waiting in line to testify against the original Columbia River Crossing bridge and talking with a self-described libertarian whose entire car was covered in Ron Paul stickers. He could not see that this massive public freeway project he was about to testify in favor of was the government interfering in the market. In the end, I guess most of us are just self-interested and can only reason so far.

In a society as complex as ours, having a representative democracy that can at least try to account for these costs might be the best solution we have. Yes, lets subsidize electric bikes! Yes, lets build double-decker bike lanes! Both have many positive social outcomes that are not accounted for by markets. In the long run, both of these things will make us less reliant on the government and better people too.

There is a better way to move ourselves than only in cars. But it will require a lot more good government to get us there. In the long run, we will build an urban bike utopia because cars, even electric ones, require too many finite resources. Also in the long run we will all be dead from climate change. So, before that happens lets use good government policy to make this world a nicer place to live!

Got an opinion? Email jonathan@bikeportland.org and well consider posting it here.

Front Page, Opinion elon musk

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Guest Opinion: Man who made $300 billion selling products subsidized by government says government should not subsidize anything anymore -...

Eve Babitz in Hollywood around 1980. (Los Angeles Times)

The jacket of my 1982 copy of L.A. Woman says, Eve Babitz holds the primal knowledge of what it is to be a woman in what she convinces us is the capital of civilization.

That capital is, of course, Los Angeles, and when Babitz died last week, a part of the city went with her. She embodied the permissive and pleasurable reputation of her native Hollywood, offering a breathy laugh over all of its endemic contradictions and frustrations.

With Colette as role model, her love affairs were material for her stories and, like the French author, she treated them with drollity and affection. She never married but had dozens of boyfriends throughout her life, many of whom remained besotted with her.

For Eve, sexual frankness was an expression of her power. Certainly, that is the case in Julian Wasssers 1963 photograph of her sitting naked at a chessboard with the Dada artist Marcel Duchamp. The photograph was Eves self-styled revenge on her married lover Walter Hopps, then curator of the Pasadena Art Museum, who had organized the show. I always wanted him to remember me that way, she told me. Babitz told me so many of these stories that it led me to construct my 2011 book, "Rebels in Paradise: The Los Angeles Art Scene and the 1960s," as a narrative about that decade.

Though she survived decades of hard partying, Eve was felled by an accident in 1997 when the ash from a cigarillo torched her polyester skirt while she was driving. The fabric seared onto her skin, leaving her with third-degree burns. She was hospitalized for months, and those boyfriends and girlfriends came through with the funds to help her recovery. Harrison Ford: $100,000. Steve Martin: $50,000. A benefit at the Chateau Marmont brought donated art by Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Ed Moses, Ron Cooper and other artists, musicians and actors she had befriended. Yet she never fully recovered, and she disappeared socially and creatively afterward. She died Friday at age 78.

Story continues

Artists Ed Ruscha and his brother, Paul Ruscha, were longtime friends of Eves and involved with her off and on for decades. I asked them to share memories of her.

Hunter Drohojowska-Philp: Do you remember your first impressions of Eve?

Ed Ruscha: Oh, it was the early 60s, but she was a great part of my growing up. I know I was with her when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. I was in bed with Eve and we were watching this on live TV, a little black-and-white set. So you can date me from there anyway and probably earlier.

But anyway, she lived in this house behind her parents house. She kept a sloppy quarters because she had a lot of cats who had their way. Her parents lived up at the front house on Bronson near Franklin. And I knew her parents well. Mae was a beautiful, sweet Texan who was an artist, and she drew pictures of the gingerbread houses on Bunker Hill. And Sol was the musician, violinist. They were very sweet people. So I would see Eve a lot in those early days, but right away I could see that she seemed to have everyone's number. She was real quick to spot hypocrisy in any way.

She could be infuriating, confounding, but at the same time, she was very funny, streetwise and serious. I noticed that people were constantly checking in with her, to get her view on things, and then there was Mirandi, of course, who was the perfect sister. They were able to play off of one another.

HDP: Did you ever double-date when [artist] Joe Goode was dating Mirandi?

ER: We went to Musso and Franks. That was Eve's favorite spot and mine too. And we would go to openings, go to Barney's Beanery, places that were hot at the time. In the early 60s, she was always talking about Walter Hopps. She even wrote a rough screenplay on Walter Hopps, and I recall buying the rights from Eve. I read all her books and I found them to be dead on. She was committed to her writing. I've always thought about her as like being carved out of marble. Even her name, Eve, suited her.

HDP: Didnt you do a drawing of her name?

ER: I did, with really soft lines. Very faint. I don't know whatever happened to that. But I think she had to sell almost everything. Shes never really made any wise choices for finances or money. She didn't seem to care about making it, and she was more interested in the daily thinking of just her culture in the world.

HDP: Was yours an exclusive arrangement or loose?

ER: In the 1960s? No, no, it was loose and spotty. I guess that's just the way we lived back then. But always having good feelings about each other, and I never really had a conflict with her.

HDP: Do you think she introduced you to some ideas about old Hollywood glamour that would have been influential for you?

ER: It was an abstract connection that she was able to spin yarns that she found and talk about things. Somehow she just knew a lot of people and had a damn good life. If you ask me, an enviable life.

HDP: Do you think that she had any influence on you in terms of the evolution of your own art?

ER: Oh, I guess I'm influenced by everything. There's nothing that crosses my path that doesn't influence me in some way or other. Even if I reject it, I'm influenced by it. And, so, sure. I mean, she was a strong figure and I think everybody respected her. All the artists respected her, and and we were curious about her because she was a hot number. She did well with it, you know. (laughs)

HDP: How did she come to be Pauls girlfriend?

ER: I passed her on to him. (laughs)

Paul Ruscha: No. (laughs) I came to L.A. in 1973. We met at Jacks Catch All; it was this great thrift store. I was a veteran thrift shopper and so was Danna [Ed Ruschas wife]. She introduced me to Eve, who said, "Id like to have you over for dinner." Danna said, "I think she likes you. Eve knew that Ed and I were friends with [fashion model] Leon Bing. So she called Leon, who told Eve, "Well, no matter what you make for him, be sure that it's loaded with cilantro because he's just crazy about cilantro." Eve put it in the salad and the soup, and I hate cilantro and I couldnt eat it. All I could do is laugh. She called me the next day and she said, "I hope you let me make it up to you because I am a pretty good cook." So then we were just locked into each other.

It was great. I loved her cooking. It was very chuckwagon style, you know, where she tossed the cats off of the stove. If I spent the night with her, shed wake up before I did and then want me to leave. So shed throw coffee into a pot of boiling water and bang on it to make the grounds go down and to wake me up and say, "OK, here's your coffee. Now get out of here." And I'd laugh and then she'd say, "I think I've got something I'd like you to read." Then I'd read whatever she'd written the day before. I gave her my critique, and if she liked it, she let me stay, and if she didn't, she'd throw me out. So that was weird, but it worked for what it was. She loved to talk about her boyfriends. It was always fun and interesting to hear what was going on in their lives.

But we never lived together. After I got my house in the Valley, she would come over and stay with me, but because she was a Taurus I always called her the bull in my china shop. She just couldn't go anywhere without ruining something. She'd knock something over or break something, and the same thing at her house. I remember a couple of fur coats I gave her, and one of them she threw over this little space heater that she had. It caught on fire and it burned up her garage.

HDP: What was her lasting influence on you?

PR: She always did have an incredible way with language when she spoke. She never elaborated. She was just a woman of few words, but they were always words that counted. And I loved that about her.

HDP: I think she would be happy that her friends are sharing these stories and talking to each other.

PR: About her! (laughs)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Read more:
All about Eve Babitz: Artists Ed and Paul Ruscha on the late L.A. icon - Yahoo News

Sometimes the idea is to play the decade for laughs, as does Dick (1999), about Richard Nixon, or Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), about, yes, Ron Burgundy. Sometimes its to portray a specific event or set of events that took place in the 70s, rather than evoke the decade itself: Summer of Sam (1999), Munich (2005), Frost/Nixon (2008), Argo (2012).

Whats of more interest here are those movies that dont just use the 70s as a means to an end. Theyre the one for which the decade is an end in itself: the 70s as mood, style, attitude.

A partial list would include Richard Linklaters Dazed and Confused (1993), Ang Lees The Ice Storm(1997); Cameron Crowes Almost Famous (2000); Ridley Scotts American Gangster (that floor-length chinchilla coat Denzel Washington wears ringside at the first Ali-Frazier fight!) and David Finchers Zodiac (both 2007), J.J. Abramss Super 8 (2011); David O. Russells American Hustle (2013), which is so 70s its practically the decade in drag (thats a compliment); Craig Brewers Dolemite Is My Name (2019).

The cinematographer Harris Savides should get a 70s special citation. He shot both American Gangster and Zodiac the 70s from literally A to Z as well as the biopic Milk (2008), about Harvey Milk, the murdered San Francisco city supervisor and gay rights activist.

The appeal of the 70s for those filmmakers has little if anything to do with disco, earth tones, and Ultrasuede. It begins with the decades having been one of the great periods in Hollywood history, American films Silver Age. No one is more aware of that than Anderson. His chief artistic influence is a 70s master, Robert Altman. Boogie Nights and Andersons Magnolia (1999) are in a kind of one-way dialogue with Altmans Shorts Cuts (1993), also set in Southern California. More distantly and even more formative, that dialogue extends to Altmans Nashville (1975).

So focusing on the 70s can be a kind of paying homage. And the homage being paid need not just be to classics like Mean Streets (1973), Chinatown (1974), or the Altman pictures. The ferment in American film that decade very much included blaxploitation, which American Gangster touches on and Dolemite most happily embraces.

The 70s arent thought of as a great decade for music, certainly not as they are for movies. But there was a remarkable aural churn going on. The headlong rush of the 60s (60s movies are a very different subject) was succeeded by the going-in-many-different-directions of the 70s. Its hard to get more different, just to cite the most obvious examples, than disco and punk.

The nicest chiming of 70s music and 70s movie is Almost Famous, where Philip Seymour Hoffman has a cameo as the legendary rock critic Lester Bangs, and extends to Licorice Pizza, where Hoffmans son Cooper plays the male lead. In addition, the movie takes its title from a fondly remembered Southern California record-store chain that flourished in the 70s.

Other examples of 70s movies, musical division, would be Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), the Freddie Mercury biopic, and Rocketman (2019), the Elton John biopic both of them largely, though not entirely, set in the decade 54 (1998), about that late-70s sanctum sanctorum, Studio 54, and The Runaways (2010). Is there such a thing as band biopics?

The musical churn of the 70s was minor compared to the social churn: the decades cusp quotient. The 60s introduced sex and drugs and rock n roll, so to speak, but it was the 70s that domesticated them. Set in 1973, The Ice Storm quite creepily captures that process going on in upper-middle-class Connecticut. Its simply taken for granted by the high school students in Dazed and Confused, which takes place on the last day of class and through the next morning in 1976 (yes, the year of the Bicentennial, a very 70s event).

If the peak of the Silver Age is the first two Godfather movies (the first of which celebrates its golden anniversary next year), then its only fitting that The Godfather Part III should be set as the 70s were ending, in 1979. The decade really is kind of inescapable, isnt it? As Michael Corleone says in that movies most famous line, Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

Mark Feeney can be reached at mark.feeney@globe.com.

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Movies set in the 70s: Getting beyond disco and double knits - The Boston Globe

Ron Schenk cant remember how long its been since he started ringing a bell for the Salvation Army as a volunteer. A couple of decades? Probably in that category, he says. Every year its the same: From the beginning of December until Christmas Eve he works from noon-2pm, three days a week, in front of the Grove Market in Pacific Grove.

Schenk has an advantage in his quest to raise money for the nonprofit, because hes a former city councilmember and longtime volunteer all over town. I know a lot of people and some people feel guilty if they pass and dont put something in, Schenk says with a chuckle.

This year its even harder to pass him by without contributing, now that a pandemic beard of pure white and a red Santa hat gives him a striking resemblance to the Jolly Old Elf himself.

Schenk spent 37 years working for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, the only company he ever worked for, rising through the ranks from agent to regional vice president for the West Coast. Upon retirement in 1996, he and his wife of 46 years, Carolyn, moved to Americas Last Hometown and got busy helping others.

His volunteer efforts included founding the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop and serving in various capacities at his church, St. Angela Merici.

Other volunteer roles have included: serving as a United Way board member, Point Pinos Lighthouse docent and Bay Net docent on the Rec Trail. He was elected to the P.G. City Council in 2002 and lost a reelection bid in 2006. He also served on the board of the Business Improvement District.

I gravitated to [bell ringing] because I like helping people, Schenk says, as he rings away during a break between storms on a chilly afternoon. A woman he knows walks by. Hey, how are you sweetie? Are you going to put something in my kettle? The longtime friends catch up before Schenk resumes sharing about the ins and outs of his work.

Weekly: When you retired it sounds like you just threw yourself into volunteer work.

Schenk: Im just the type of person who likes to give back, who likes to get involved, thats all. You can give in many waysyour time, your talent, your treasury. I give treasury to this but I also think giving my time to it is important too, especially today when you freeze your tuckus off. (Laughs.)

Are there any other volunteer jobs that youre doing right now?

Not anymore. Im active in my church at St. Angelas. Im an usher and a greeter, and Im on the finance committee. I enjoy it.

Why do you volunteer as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army?

They dont discriminate. They help everyone. Especially this time of year, ringing the bell is my way of giving back, because it helps them raise money and it all goes back to our communities. You cant ask for more than that, its a good deal. [A man puts some bills in the bucket.] Sir, God bless you, thank you for helping us help others. Merry Christmas!

What does it take to be a good bell ringer?

To be cheerful, and greet people and thank them and I wish them Merry Christmas. Some people say, Its happy holidays, thats the proper thing. And I say, well theres a reason for the season. I just feel good about this, and I try to smile and try to be friendly to people and I think they appreciate that.

It helps a little bit that Im local rather than a perfect stranger.

Do you think you have an advantage with the Santa look?

I think it doesnt hurt. The pandemic started. My wife wasnt too crazy about [the beard].

Any memorable interactions with the people you meet while youre ringing the bell?

Its just the kindness of people. I had a woman just before you came, and I dont look at how much people put in, but I saw she put a dollar. And she said, I was really down on my luck and the Salvation Army helped me. I dont have much anymore but this is my way of helping.

Some people put in $20, here she gave me a dollar and I thought, God bless her, she appreciates that the Salvation Army helped her years ago when she and her family needed that help. Occasionally you hear those stories.

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Ron Schenk volunteers every holiday season to ring his bell for the Salvation Army. - Monterey County Weekly

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Longtime Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell is urging Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, one of his top allies in the chamber, to run for reelection next year.

"His party needs him in the Senate and the country needs him in the Senate," McConnell told Fox News when asked about Thune, who's mulling retirement after his current term ends.

"I hope that Sen. Thune will indeed after the holidays announce that he's going to run for reelection," the Senate minority leader and longtime lawmaker from Kentucky said in an interview Wednesday on Fox News' "America Reports."

THUNE CALLS GOP'S 2021 ELECTION VICTORIES REPUDIATION OF DEMOCRATS' POLICIES

Thune, who as Senate minority whip is the number two ranking Republican in the chamber, is up for reelection next year. Thune is one of two GOP senators along with Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin who have yet to announce if he'll run in the 2022 midterm elections for another six-year term.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters, as Sen. John Thune listens, after a Republican strategy meeting at the Capitol on Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

While giving no indication of which way he's leaning, Thune has told reporters on Capitol Hill that he'll make a decision by the end of the year.

But the 60-year-old Thune, who remains very popular in his home state of South Dakota and nears the end of his third-term (after serving six years in the House of Representatives) in the Senate, raised eyebrows earlier this month.

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The senator told a South Dakota reporter that his wife Kimberley wants him to return home.

"She is done with it," Thune said in an interview with the Black Hills Pioneer.

While McConnell's encouragement was public, other Republican senators have been privately urging Thune to stick around.

Republicans need a net gain of just one seat in the 2022 midterms to win back the majority in the chamber they lost when they were swept by the Democrats in the Jan. 5 twin Senate runoff elections in Georgia. And Thune would be one of the top contenders to succeed the 79-year-old McConnell whenever he's ready to step down as Senate GOP leader.

Sen. John Thune asks questions during a Senate Finance Committee meeting on Capitol Hill, May 12, 2021. (Susan Walsh/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Thune earned the ire of former President Donald Trump late last year and early this year, for publicly speaking out against Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to now President Biden.

Trump briefly urged South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a close ally of the former president, to launch a primary challenge against Thune in 2022. But Noem dismissed any bid for Senate and is running next year for reelection as governor in the deeply red state.

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While Trump repeatedly criticizes and ridicules McConnell, he hasn't targeted Thune in months.

If Thune does run for reelection, he would face a primary challenge from first-time candidate Mark Mowry, who last spring launched a long-shot bid for the Senate seat.

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SPRINGFIELD As the end of the 99th annual Toy for Joy campaign draws near, foundations that help make their communities better are helping make children happier this Christmas season.

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts donated gifts totaling $5,000 to the Toy for Joy campaign that provides books, gifts and toys for children in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

The Brethren Community Foundation donated $2,000 to assist children and families in need.

For reasons out of their control, these children might not know the joy of Christmas without the generosity of citizens, companies and organizations in the region.

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts gifts came at the recommendation of an anonymous donor.

The Community Foundation is a collection of over 500 funds, each established by a generous local business, individual or family and pooled together to strengthen our region. Some of these funds have advisors who make specific recommendations for grants, said Katie Allan Zobel, the president and CEO of the organization. In this case, two different families who are advisors to funds recommended that the foundation make grants to the Toy for Joy campaign. We are honored to support their charitable ambitions and help ignite more joy this holiday season.

The Brethren Community Foundation, Inc., of Springfield supports educational and literacy initiatives focused on a multi-sensory approach for low-income youth. This year they donated $2,000 to Toy for Joy.

The Brethren Community Foundation supports educational and literacy initiatives focused on a multisensory approach for low-income youth. It also supports seniors, individuals and nonprofit organizations through philanthropic opportunities.

Each year, the foundation celebrates the annual Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to read federal orders that enslaved people were free. The Juneteenth celebration is one of the most popular events to honor this special holiday. This June 2022, the Brethren Community Foundation hosts its 20th consecutive year of what is now a state holiday.

We are proud to provide for families who are in need, resources for the holiday season, said Robert Cee Jackson, president of the Brethren Community Foundation. The brethren is an integral part of the fabric of the Springfield community, and we will continue to seek opportunities that impact youth, seniors and families.

Individuals continue to show their support of area children as well. Many do so to honored loved ones.

A personal donation came from Dianne Doherty, who is affiliated with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and who is the wife of the late attorney Paul Doherty. She donates in his memory.

I remember Paul coming home one night and saying, I want to make Western Massachusetts the most generous place in the country no, the world, Dianne Doherty recalled fondly. I said, Well, thats not too ambitious, is it?

Since Paul Dohertys passing in 2016, his passion for charitable giving has been continued by his wife, an annual Toy for Joy donor.

I do my year-end giving early. I used to do it anonymously, but now I think it may encourage others to give. I hope so, she said.

I honor Paul through Toy for Joy because of his love of children, Springfield and generosity.

Toy for Joy is now approaching its centennial next year. The campaign is a collaborative effort by the Salvation Army with The Republican, El Pueblo Latino and MassLive, along with media partners at Reminders Publishing and The Westfield News.

Pride Stores and Hampden County Sheriff Nicholas J. Cocchi are among the community partners supporting this years effort. This marks Cocchis third year assisting the holiday drive, while Pride Stores has been rallying its customers to support the effort for many years. Last year, Pride Stores donated $17,000 to the cause.

Pride is asking customers at its stores in Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut to contribute to Toy for Joy by purchasing $1, $5 or $10 donation cards.

Businesses, school groups and civic organizations are among the annual contributors to the campaign. Donations, which are chronicled daily in The Republican and on MassLive, go directly to cover the costs of toys and books for the children.

Each child will receive a book, a toy and a game or game-type toy. Donations can be mailed with the attached coupon to The Republican, 1860 Main St., Springfield, MA 01103, or made online at SalvationArmyMA.org/ToyForJoyDonation.

Contributions may be mailed with this coupon to The Republican, 1860 Main St., Springfield, MA, 01103.

Here is the list of the most recent contributions:

Merry Christmas from Frank, Peter, Marc, Bill, Lisa, Carol and Nancy, The Colvest Group $2,500

Merry Christmas from Alyssa, Aidan, Olivia, Brenson and Meghan $25

Merry Christmas from Eleanor $50

In loving memory of Mike and Gerry Garrity $25

Amy $50

In memory of Charles and Joyce Peetz from Melanie $25

I remember when $50

Happy holidays from Bruce $200

In loving memory of my wife Ellie from Tony $50

Craig and Barbara $40

Wishing all children a happy holiday season. Love, E and L $40

In memory of my mother Eva who loved Toy for Joy $25

Edie $50

In loving memory of my father, Robert Skorka, sister, Laurie, and brother, Rob. Love, Doreen $20

Maintain $100

In memory of Diane Donahue $25

Edith $1,000

In memory of Dad, Barb and Joseph $50

In memory of the Struziak, Chrzan, Tarozzi and Kozak families $50

In memory of Onyx $10

In memory of Dave and Bridie $100

In loving memory of our parents Glenrose and Francis Red Rollet and Doris and Henry Lamoureux from Sharon and Henry $25

In memory of my husband Ron Douville $100

In memory of all my guardian angels in heaven from Sue $1,000

In loving memory of my handsome grandson Niko. Miss you $40

Happy holidays from Jane and Dan $100

In loving memory of my husband Ken OConnor Sr. Love, Helen $15

In loving memory of my husband Charlie $100

Chester $50

Anonymous $50

In memory of my husband Rich. It was heaven here with you. Love forever, Maureen $200

In memory of Pierre, Finnegan, Kelsey, Melvin, Milton and, especially, Moses. Love, Fawn, Monkey and Starr $200

Anonymous $10

In memory of Zin Zin George, Papou George, Grandma Babineau, Grandpa Babineau, Auntie MaryAnne, Uncle JB, Uncle Mark, Uncle Billy and Moe Wischerth. Love, Stephanie and Michelle Pirroni $75

Merry Christmas from Ron A. $100

In loving memory of William Manegre, who passed away in 1974, and Catherine Manegre, who passed away in 2019. Sadly missed by daughter JoAnne, son-in-law Walter, grandson Robert and granddaughter Staunzy $10

In loving memory of John and Mary Ganley. Sadly missed by granddaughter JoAnne Gould $10

In memory of Basil and Eleanor Gould from Walter and Joanne Gould $3

In memory of Grandpa and Grandma Gould from Robert Gould $3

In memory of Walter and Bertha Edwards from grandson Walter Gould $3

In memory of Charles and Helen Edwards from nephew Walter Gould and family $3

In memory of Joe and Mary Dillon from nephew Walter Gould and family $3

In memory of Richard (Water Wheel) Savoy from the Gould family $3

In memory of Robin Fleming from the Gould family $3

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Fleming from the Gould family $3

In memory of Ken Fleming from the Gould family $3

In memory of our dogs, Buddy, Princess, Toby and Sandy girl from the Gould family $3

In memory of Benny and Peggy Bonavita from Walter Gould and family $3

In memory of our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. H. Hawley from the Gould family $3

In memory of our neighbor Stan, from the Gould family $3

In memory of our neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Kwist from the Gould family $3

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. George Pelletier from the Gould family $3

In memory of my pal, Josie from Robert Gould $3

In memory of Mary and Jerry Langone from the Gould family $3

In memory of Jay (Langone) and Randy Rewis from the Gould family $3

In memory of Jim Maher from Walter Gould $3

In memory of Harry Gallerani from the Gould family $3

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. ODiorne from the Gould family $3

In memory of Grandpa Larosa from Robert Gould $3

In memory of our friend, Anthony Larosa from Joanne and Walter Gould $3

In memory of our neighbor, Fred Kelleher from the Gould family $3

In memory of Aunt Gerry and Uncle Paul, Uncle John and Aunt June and Aunt Ruth from Joanne Gould and family $3

In memory of Ciro Langone and brother Jimmy Langone from the Gould family $3

Happy Holidays to all our friends from the Gould family $3

To the staff at Tonys Barber shop in Springfields South End, Merry Christmas from Walter and Robert Gould $3

In memory of Brian ODiorne, from the Gould family $3

In memory of retired Springfield police officer Mike J. Ristaino and Irene Ristaino from the Gould family $3

To my 13th Christmas as a Gould family member, Preston $3

In memory of Josephine Szczepanek and son Matt from the Gould family $3

In memory of Antonette Pepe from the Gould family $3

Thank you Eastfield Hospital for animals from Preston Gould and family $3

In memory of Bill Lapardo from Walter Gould and family $3

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Stenta from the Gould family $3

In memory of Shirley Nichols from Walter Gould and family $3

In memory of Mike and George Pelletier from Walter Gould and family $3

In memory of Jason Kenyon and his father Mark Kenyon from Walter Gould and family $3

To our grand dog Cooper from Grandma and Grandpa Gould $3

More here:
Foundations respond to Toy for Joy need - MassLive.com