10/16/2026
Schuylkill Indivisible-October 15, 2026 - Josephine Kwiatkowski Report
Action:
*NO KINGS Rally-October 17th, 11:00am to 12:30pm. This Saturday! Four corners in Pottsville. The theme is different at this rally. The focus will be on Voting. We are asking that you be mindful of the parameters of the No Kings organization. The purpose is to urge everyone to vote in this crucial midterm election – vote for democracy, fairness, equal opportunity and the public good. For that reason, we’re asking people to avoid signs that single out parties or candidates. For example, a simple sign like “No Kings. Vote!” gets the message across.
*Attend a County Commissioners’ meeting at 10am on Wednesday, October 21st at the Court House.
*Add this phone number to your contacts list-866 Our Vote, or better yet, 1-866-687-8683. This number can be used on election day if you see any intimidation, such as ICE or other federal agents at the polls, or any other groups trying to deter people from voting.
* Visit VOTE411 today to check your polling place and the candidates on your ballot.
Save the Date: Thursday, November 5th, 5:30 PM, Tremont Municipal Building, 139 Clay St., Tremont. Community Meeting focusing on Natural Soil Products. This is your opportunity to provide input concerning Natural Soil Products. Sponsored by DEP.
Save the Date: County Zoning Board hearing on November 10th at 6 pm, Court House. This will be in reference to Natural Soil Products zoning.
Contact Info: Senator Fetterman (202) 224-4254, Senator McCormick (202) 224-6324, Dan Meuser (202) 225-6511 or (570) 871-6370 If you're freaked out about calling authority figures, don't be. They work for us. You literally pay their paycheck. Make sure they have the phone call they deserve. 5 Calls app has topics and scripts if you need any.
World
Trump’s War of Choice-Iran
* Ken McCallum, the head of MI5 in the UK is warning that Iran is now shifting its attacks to military sites, intelligence facilities and other high-security targets.
*Iran-backed Houthis have attacked the airport in the Saudi capital killing at least 12 people. The King Khalid International Airport has been targeted multiple times.
*Tuesday night a Houthi strike damaged Saudi oil giant Aramco executives’ offices. No casualties were reported.
The Rest of the World
*The US has charged former Venezuelan President Maduro with torture of Americans and heading a system of repression.
*Putin has agreed to supply diesel fuel to the global marketplace, President Donald Trump said, a move that could ease prices somewhat but effectively aligns Washington with Moscow and against Ukraine and its bombing of Russian energy infrastructure. The announcement comes less than a month after Trump signed a sweeping sanctions bill intended to pressure Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine. Temporarily lifting the sanctions that were put in place to stop Russia from making money could now be used to fund the war in Ukraine. Push back on the deal has come from both sides of the aisle.
*Trump said Ukraine should get a new president as he blames Zelenskyy for high US diesel prices.
*Russian strikes have damaged 30 Ukrainian energy facilities despite Trump’s claim there is an energy ceasefire.
*Ukraine reports that SpaceX limited its access to Starshield, the military version of Starlink, and it affected its operations affecting its air defense and drone operations. The cut in service was unannounced. SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk. Musk stated that “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government and that limits on speed or usage are determined by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” The WH has not commented.
* SpaceX is a defense contractor for the U.S. government, currently receiving more than $16 billion through NASA, the Department of Defense, the Space Force, the National Reconnaissance office, and the Space Development Agency, with as much as almost $30 billion forthcoming if it exercises all its options. SpaceX operates the U.S. military’s primary satellite communications—the same system limited last night in Ukraine—and launches most of the classified intelligence satellites for the U.S.
*Russia took six weeks to build a drone base on an empty field in the Rostov region. An intelligence expert said it should be operational within weeks.
*Ukraine began attacking Russian refineries again after pausing to accommodate President Trump’s surprise announcement of an energy-target ceasefire. “The block is out,” Zelenskiy told the Financial Times. “We’re done.” (Reuters)
*The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the government was discussing problems faced by Russian technology and AI company Yandex after Ukraine struck three of its data centers.
*7.7 and 6.6 magnitude earthquakes have rocked Panama.
*Rubio announced that the US imposing full blocking sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), sharply escalating a fight against the judicial body over criticism that it’s unjustly pursuing war crimes cases against Israel, American service member and the Trump administration. Sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court include, cutting it off from American banks, financial services, technology companies, and the use of U.S. dollars, with limited temporary exemptions. The Trump administration has already sanctioned 13 of its judges and prosecutors and pressured other countries to withdraw their support. Oddly, the announcement coincided with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a former judge of the ICC. The ICC slammed the move as an assault on the rule of law. ICC President Tomoko Akane has stated that the body firmly rejects the US retaliation. The ICC based in The Hague was created in 2002 to address global atrocities when countries are unable or fail to intervene.
*Hackers raised the temperature in French grocery store freezers and refrigerators, ruining millions of dollars of food. The temp was raised to 122 degrees in some stores.
Nation
General
*Farm debt is at an all-time high as farmers borrow from non-traditional avenues and getting vendor credit.
*Trump has appointed Katie Zacharia to replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.
*Trump has escalated the fight against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, creating a commission to assess the mortgage fraud allegations that his allies have levied against her. The Supreme Court in June blocked Trump from immediately removing Cook from the Federal Reserve without good cause, while the lawsuit over her attempted dismissal played out in the courts.
Arlington County’s Democratic board is arguing that Trump’s planned arch needs more review. The county is currently suing to block the construction.
*Agents with Homeland Security Investigations searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn) home as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Oman condemned the raid calling it “political intimidation.” Agents have also confiscated her cell phone.
* Kelly Johnson, wife of Mike Johnson, reoriented a religious nonprofit she was running back home in the Shreveport area into a ministry focused on female congressional staffers. Its new purpose, according to an IRS filing, was to help “the hundreds of unreached young women” working around Capitol Hill “find purpose, belonging, and Christian community.” In 2024, financial disclosures show Johnson was paid $50,000 for 10 hours of work per week. The nonprofit, Onward Christian Education Services, is listed as a non-profit, but does not disclose its donors. (WP)
* The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America. The agency said the fines stem from years of failures in the bank's anti-money-laundering controls and its compliance with U.S. sanctions laws. Treasury says those failures violated both sets of statutes. (The Brief)
Ugh
*The USDA scrapped a plan to vaccinate US egg-laying hens against bird flu amid concerns that it would clash with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine views, according to Politico.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump extended CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s access to the White House following President Donald Trump’s decision in September to ban the news outlets.
*Social Security checks will go up by 3.6% or about $75.
*Inflation rose by 3.7% annual rate in September, which is higher than experts expected. Nominal wages grew by only 3%, meaning workers received a pay cut due to higher prices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 1.3% last month, up 6.3% for the year. Both increases are being fueled by energy prices.j
Military
*The US has sustained damage to at least 81 aircraft since the Iranian war began, the cost of the damages or losses if over $3 billion.
*Hegseth reported that the firing squad ex*****on of Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood in December will be live streamed.
*The Pentagon has raised the death toll from Trump’s War of Choice to 21, but only after the Washington Post for weeks reported that the Pentagon was not reporting the death toll accurately. 865 military members have been wounded, some seriously.
Immigration
*Vance says foreign workers at Microsoft will no longer be able to apply for permanent resident state in the US under the permanent labor certification program, which allows companies to hire foreign workers permanently. He has accused the company of abusing the process.
*A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired at least seven rounds into a car on a crowded New York street Thursday afternoon, city officials said, wounding an immigrant they were trying to detain while a 5-year-old boy sat in the back seat. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that an ICE officer had fired during a “targeted enforcement operation” and said Friday morning that the man had rammed his car into ICE vehicles before the shooting. The agency said it was attempting to apprehend a “criminal illegal alien” from the Dominican Republic with a criminal record that includes a conviction for grand larceny and multiple past arrests. (WP)
Health
*Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas filed lawsuits claiming the medical⁸88 I'm providers are creating a “public nuisance” by mailing abortion drugs over state lines.
* In Erie County, New York, just south of Buffalo, health officials are reporting a travel associated diphtheria case, according to local media. Respiratory diphtheria can include a sore throat and fever, and an adherent grey pseudomembrane that can cover the tonsils and mucosa of the pharynx, larynx, and nose. Enlarged anterior cervical lymph nodes and oedema of the surrounding soft tissue can cause a characteristic ‘bull-neck’ appearance. Untreated, respiratory diphtheria can be life-threatening. Cutaneous diphtheria presents as chronic, nonhealing sores or shallow ulcers which may have a grey membrane. (Infectious Disease News)
Environment
* U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes excoriated the Trump administration Monday morning for cutting down hundreds of trees at East Potomac Golf Links, the historic course eyed for redevelopment by President Donald Trump, telling government lawyers they had cost their credibility by ignoring her repeated warnings to give notice before work continued. Government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes at an emergency hearing that approximately 430 trees were removed Saturday and that another 299 are still targeted for removal.
Education
*Vance has announced that Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, University of Pittsburg, Arizona State, MIT, California Institute of Technology and the University of California, Davis will be investigated over foreign visas. “Elite universities bring in foreigners to undercut the wages of American residents,” Vance said. (The Hill) This is viewed by many experts as an attack on higher education and part of a greater plan.
Tariffs
Lawsuits/Judicial
*DOJ has opened an antitrust investigation into ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC. The department is examining whether the five networks violated federal antitrust law by jointly boycotting White House coverage. The networks briefly suspended their participation in the White House TV pool after President Trump blocked several outlets, including CNN. (The Morning Brief)
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon in Manhattan issued a temporary order Sunday blocking the Trump administration from airing taxpayer-funded campaign-style television commercials. But the administration blew past a Sunday evening deadline and ran two of the ads into the early hours of Monday, advertising data from AdImpact shows.
* Senate Republicans are preparing to rush through judicial nominees after the midterms, aiming to get many of Trump’s picks locked in before this Congress ends. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is planning to hold two judicial nomination hearings in November, when the Senate is scheduled to be in D.C. for less than two weeks. Additional hearings are expected during the three-week December session. (Punchbowl)
Voting
👏Democracy Forward a pro-voting group has sued ICE for failing to respond to FOIA requests regarding the agency's increased involvement in investigating allegations of voter fraud. (DD)
* Trump has refused to invite international election observers to monitor our upcoming midterm elections. ThIn July, Tuscarora State Park became the 45th Pennsylvania forest to be inducted into the Old Growth Forest Network (OGFN) and the first in Schuylkill County, according to the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). The OGFN includes 367 forests across 41 states. Pine Creek Gorge in Tioga County and the Glens Natural Area at Ricketts Glen State Park are also old growth forests.
Other News
*The site of the first working canal in Pennsylvania received a state historical marker last weekend. In which present-day county was this former canal located?
A. Cumberland
B. Schuylkill
C. Delaware
D. York
*Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge who oversaw a UN report that concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize "for her efforts to promote peace and international law."
*Rober Hall and Michael Woodford-winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics for developing ground-up models currently used by central banks and finance ministries across the world to stabilize economics.
*Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle has resigned due to detailed claims that she threatened to use US influence to undermine the Greek government and claims that she asked a political donor to pay her $100,000 American Express bill.
💛
*Cornell bans fraternity houses from hosting parties as the r**e investigation continues.
* Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer, the Vatican announced, after surgeons operated Tuesday to remove a cancerous growth from his lung. The procedure removed the lower lobe of his right lung. The Vatican described the surgery as successful and said the pope had a peaceful night in the hospital afterward.
*Winnie the Pooh marks 100th anniversary since teddy bear's first book of stories on Oct. 14, 1926.
ANSWER: D. York
“Democracy will not protect itself from Trump’s lies. It requires people willing to stand up and speak out — loudly, persistently and in plain language.”
Marc Elias
“How much can we squeeze out of the grid that we have? How much can we squeeze out of the power gen that's out there, and where do we need to upgrade both of them We're also agnostic on what the end use of the power could be. We're saying, ‘Where can you bring more power into the grid in a place that the grid can accept it?’” — Tom Murphy of the economic development nonprofit Team Pennsylvania, on a study to identify potential locations for new power generating facilities.
