Infrastructure bill signing, Kyle Rittenhouse trial closing arguments: 5 things to know Monday
Biden to sign historic infrastructure bill into law
President Joe Biden is set to sign into law his sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure package Monday, an integral component of his domestic agenda. The bill will tackle nearly every facet of American infrastructure, including public transportation, roads, bridges, ports, railways, power grids, broadband internet, as well as water and sewage systems. The package, which includes $550 billion in new spending, is meant to repair and enhance the country’s beleaguered infrastructure, which has languished as investment has slowed. About $650 billion of the funding will be reallocated from already existing projects and funds. Biden has called the passage of the bill “a monumental step forward as a nation.”
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Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Closing arguments are expected Monday
The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse is likely to come to a conclusion next week, as closing arguments are slated to start Monday before the jury begins deliberating. Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with killing two men and injuring a third during chaotic protests in this city south of Milwaukee after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in August 2020. Rittenhouse faces counts of intentional homicide, reckless and attempted homicide and could get life in prison if convicted. He's accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, along with wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, 27. Ahead of closing arguments, Gov. Tony Evers has mobilized 500 Wisconsin National Guard troops to the Kenosha area to assist "hundreds of officers" in case of unrest after a verdict.
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Trial over Ahmaud Arbery's killing continues, Black pastors expected to protest this week
Witnesses will continue to take the stand Monday in the trial over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The murder trial continues after an investigator told jurors Friday that William "Roddie" Bryan, who captured cellphone video of the incident last year, "minimized" his involvement in the killing and changed his description of what happened that day. The day before that revelation, Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, took issue with Rev. Al Sharpton's presence in the courtroom. He said the presence of "high-profile members of the African American community" may pressure or intimidate the jury. He later apologized for the comments. Later this week, 100 Black pastors are expected to pray with Arbery's family outside the Glynn County courthouse, according to a tweet from Ben Crump.
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Jeffrey Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell faces sex-trafficking trial
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of helping procure underage girls for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, faces a trial Monday on charges that could bring up to 80 years in prison. Maxwell, 59, has spent the last 16 months awaiting trial in solitary confinement. Last week she was denied bail for the fourth time. Epstein, 66, was indicted in July 2019, accused of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls at his mansions in Manhattan, Palm Beach, Florida, and elsewhere from 2002 to 2005. Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 on charges that include transporting a minor for the purposes of criminal sexual activity and conspiring to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. Maxwell, who denies the accusations, has been in custody ever since.
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It's not too late, sign up for child tax credit payments
Child tax credits are hitting bank accounts soon, and the deadline to sign up is Monday. The credit provides up to $300 per month per child under age 6 for a total of $1,800, and up to $250 per month per child ages 6 to 17, for a total of $1,500. For those registered, a child tax credit payment should be coming to your bank account on Monday. The next scheduled payment after that is Dec. 15. The payments began in July and will last through December, based on the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden in March. According to the Tax Policy Center, 2.3 million children might be missing out on benefits because their families did not file income taxes in 2019 or 2020. Here's how to sign up if you haven't already.
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