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Small Business Funding

Businesses help free inmates, reunite families for Thanksgiving [Video]

Seven men and women who were in custody at the Orleans Justice Center were released ahead of Thanksgiving, thanks to a compassionate donation of $5,600.

NEW ORLEANS — Families will reunite with their loved ones this Thanksgiving after local businesses paid the bonds of individuals in custody for minor offenses.

Seven men and women who had been held at the Orleans Justice Center were released, thanks to a compassionate donation of $5,600. These individuals were incarcerated because they could not afford to pay small bonds ranging from $150 to $2,000.

“The initiative highlights the power of community support and the importance of second chances,” The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a release.” By bonding out these individuals, the businesses aim to provide them with an opportunity to reset their paths and celebrate the holiday with loved ones.”

After they were released, they were greeted by the business owners and …

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Small Business Funding

President Biden mulls pardons for those targeted by Trump [Video]

President Joe Biden on Friday said he was still considering whether to give pardons to people who have been criticized or threatened by President-elect Donald Trump.Related video above: Biden grants clemency to nearly 1,500 people in historic moveSpeaking to reporters at the White House, Biden said he and his aides were playing close attention to rhetoric from Trump and his allies about his political opponents and those involved in his various criminal and civil woes.It depends on some of the language and expectations that Trump broadcast in the last couple days here as to what hes going to do," Biden said. The idea that he would punish people for not adhering to what he thinks should be policy related to his well-being is just outrageous."Biden has just 10 days left in office, and the institutionalist has been using his waning days in office to restore some of the transition norms broken by his predecessor-turned-successor. But issuing preemptive pardons for actual or imagined offenses by Trumps critics that could be investigated or prosecuted by the incoming administration would stretch the powers of the presidency in untested ways.Trump's frequent targets include Republican Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman, and Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. They helped lead the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. He has aimed particular criticism at special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.Biden, who Trump has said should be jailed, scoffed at the notion that he would pardon himself. What would I pardon myself for? he asked incredulously. No, I have no contemplation of pardoning myself for anything. I didnt do anything wrong.Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the Republican members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, rejected the prospect of a pardon from Biden earlier this week in an appearance on CNN.I understand the theory behind it because Donald Trump has clearly said hes going to go after everybody, he said. But the second you take a pardon and it looks like youre guilty of something Im guilty of nothing besides bringing the truth to the American people and, in the process, embarrassing Donald Trump.In his remarks to reporters, Biden said a decision by the social media giant Meta to end fact-checking on Facebook was really shameful, calling it contrary to American justice.The move to replace third-party fact-checking with user-written community notes, similar to those on Trump backer Elon Musks social platform X, was the latest example of a media company moving to accommodate the incoming administration. It comes on the fourth anniversary of Zuckerberg's banning Trump from his platforms after the insurrection.Biden added: You think it doesnt matter that they let it be printed? Where millions of people read it, things that are simply not true. I mean, I dont know what thats all about. Its just completely contrary to everything Americas about. We want to tell the truth.

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Small Business Funding

Gov. Phil Scott delivers inaugural address, once again preaching affordability [Video]

LAWMAKERS CAN OFFICIALLY GET TO WORK IN MONTPELIER. THE LEGISLATURE VOTED IN JOHN RODGERS... AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. AND GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT WAS SWORN IN FOR HIS FIFTH TERM, DELIVERING HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS YESTERDAY. SCOTT'S 42-MINUTE SPEECH HIT ON THE BIG ISSUES THAT HE SAYS...THE STATE HASN'T SOLVED. NBC 5'S STEPHEN BIDDIX BREAKS THEM DOWN FOR US. GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT THE 82ND GOVERNOR OF THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE. DELIVERING HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS...QUICKLY reinforcing ON HOW HE FEELS MORE RURAL PARTS OF VERMONT ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND AND HURT BY POLICES PASSED BY THE DEMOCRATIC SUPERMAJORITY THE LAST 2 YEARS.