Ambassador blocked by State Department

U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, was ordered by the U.S. State Department to not show up to the scheduled interview that the House committees are directing. The interview was supposed to take place on Oct. 8 as Sondland was going to be questioned on the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Sondland has an apparent major role in Trump’s attempt to get Ukraine’s newly appointed government to not only investigate into his political opponents but to do so publicly. Sondland had agreed to conduct the interview without a subpoena. According to NBC News, Sondland reportedly hopes that the State Department removes their block and continues to let him testify. 

Investigation of Paper Trail for Trump’s Corruption

House Democrats are investigating President Donald Trump’s administration and their choice of blocking aid that totaled nearly $400 million that would have gone to Ukraine. According to NBC News, the White House withheld the aid for two months. There is speculation that the White House failed to release the money in order to put pressure on the Ukrainian government so then they would publicly investigate some of Trump’s political opponents. Subpoenas were issued by House Democrats that are leading the impeachment inquiry to the Office of Management and Budget. The supposed reasoning for these subpoenas is that hold up on the $400 million would typically coincide with physical written communications.

Project failure causes losses in city of Fargo

Failure to complete a test on specific gravel that is being used for a project in Fargo resulted in federal aid to be pulled from funding. According to the Transportation Division Engineer, this is the first time that federal aid for a project in North Dakota has been withheld in years as reported by Valleynews Live. Fargo citizens are said to be verbalizing concern over this mistake and the fact that the people responsible don’t seem to be too upset about it. Community members are also afraid that they will see a higher cost in specials. Dan Eberhardt, the Special Assessments Coordinator, says that money from sales tax will be taken to cover the $50,000 and that citizens should expect to see a drop in specials for this specific project. Gorden assured that this mistake shouldn’t have any major impact on other city projects or funding.

Fargo women report sexual harassment during Uber rides.

Two Fargo women have reported two separate cases of sexually inappropriate encounters with Uber drivers. Melissa Weeks, who reported her case less than two weeks ago, was taking an Uber from Dilworth, North Dakota back to her home in Fargo, North Dakota. Valleynews Live reported that it was late at night when she got into the Uber. Weeks said that the ride seemed perfectly normal until they arrived in her neighborhood and the driver reportedly refused to let her leave, grabbing her arm so she could not exit the vehicle. According to Weeks, her driver told her, “I want to love you, let me love you.” Weeks jumped out of the car and called the Fargo Police department.

Kendall Kehres also experienced sexual harassment from an Uber driver while in Fargo. She described that her driver began “coming on” to her giving her his personal number while telling her that it would make it easier to get more rides from him in the future. Kehres reported that instead of keeping their communications on a professional basis, her driver sent her sexually inappropriate texts. Both women reported their cases to Uber and received their money back from the company.