2023
April
07
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

April 07, 2023
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Peter Grier
Washington editor

The word “unprecedented” was used in news a lot this week. Mostly it preceded the word “indictment,” as outlets ran extensive coverage of former President Donald Trump’s arraignment in New York on charges related to hush money payments.

But the media’s focus on Mr. Trump left less room than usual for other big stories. Here’s what we may have missed this week while Mr. Trump dominated cable news:

Wisconsin voters tipped control of their Supreme Court to liberals, a shift that could end the state’s abortion ban. It was the most expensive judicial election in American history.

Chicago elected county Commissioner Brandon Johnson mayor. He defeated a more conservative Democrat who ran as being tougher on crime.

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated House expelled two Democratic members for their role in a gun control demonstration inside the State Capitol. The protest followed a deadly school shooting in Nashville.

The Biden administration, in a long-awaited report, admitted that the United States should have begun withdrawing from Afghanistan earlier than it did. The 2021 evacuation swiftly collapsed into violence.

Roy McGrath, who was briefly chief of staff for former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, died in an FBI shootout in Tennessee. Mr. McGrath was a fugitive after failing to appear at his March 13 trial on embezzlement and other charges.

And so on. The Trump story is big, no question. But the media spotlight is glaring and narrow. Many important events happen outside the framework of the top-of-the-hour headlines.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Ammar Awad/Reuters
With the Dome of the Rock behind them, Palestinians demonstrate in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as Muslims attend Friday prayers in the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 7, 2023.
Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/AP/File
Kids stand on stage near Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before he signs HB7, also dubbed the “Stop WOKE” bill, during a news conference at Mater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah Gardens, Florida, April 22, 2022. At least 18 states have enacted restrictions on teaching critical race theory since 2021.

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The Ditch Riders

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Levar Mullen leans on his bike next to the "Wheel Deal," a strip of Reisterstown Road in Baltimore famed among urban dirt bikers who perform stunts there.

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Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor
A poster shows what gang members are learning in a Chicago anti-gun violence program.

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Rep. Justin Pearson gestures in the Tennessee House of Representatives after the vote on April 6, 2023, in Nashville, to expel him after he broke legislative rules by participating in protests advocating for gun control in the House chamber. House members also voted to expel Rep. Justin Jones for the same reason, while Rep. Gloria Johnson, who also participated, avoided expulsion by one vote. Accusations of racism arose because Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jones are Black, and Ms. Johnson is white. Expulsion has been used extremely rarely, for offenses such as sexual harassment.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Come back Monday, when we’ll have a story about how former President Donald Trump is raising money after his arraignment this week in New York.

More issues

2023
April
07
Friday
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