PROTESTERS rally near the site of the shooting of Rayshard Brooks, a black man, by Garrett Rolfe, a white police officer (Shutterstock/Pix Arena).

Murder charges will be brought against Garrett Rolfe, the Atlanta police officer who shot and killed a man in an incident near a Wendy’s hamburger eatery.

According to United Press International, Rolfe will also face three counts of aggravated assault and seven counts of violation of oath.

Rolfe shot Rayshard Brooks on Friday in an encounter that began amiably but ended in another well-publicized fatal shooting of a black man by a white policeman.

The officer has been fired from the Atlanta Police Department. His partner at the time, Devin Borsnan, is on administrative leave.  He has been charged with one count of aggravated assault, according to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, along with violation of his oath.

It all began with a routine encounter outside a hamburger eatery in which Brooks reportedly was sleeping in a car blocking the drive-through.

The officer gave the driver a sobriety test, which showed his blood alcohol content was above the legal limit.  As Rolfe moved to arrest Brooks, an altercation ensued in which Brooks allegedly grabbed a Taser stun gun from the officer and began to flee.

Brooks turned toward the officers and was shot.

In the aftermath, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned her job, and the Wendy’s was burned down.

Trump sought China’s help, says Bolton book

JOHN BOLTON (Flickr/Kenneth C. Zirkel).

An upcoming book by former National Security Adviser John Bolton claims that President Donald Trump asked for the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping in winning the 2020 election.

The book, titled “The Room Where it Happened,” has Bolton claiming that Trump – in a 2019 meeting – “pleaded” with Xinping to assist by buying more American agricultural products, according to the Associated Press.

The president responded by calling Bolton, whom he fired, “a washed up guy.”

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block publication of the book as containing classified information.

Coronavirus pandemic numbers rise

Wednesday’s count of confirmed coronavirus cases by Johns Hopkins University showed the total worldwide at 8,329,221,  a jump of about a third of a million in a few days. The U.S. is the leader with 2,162,851 cases. Following is Brazil with 955,377, Russia with 552,549, India with 354,065 and the United Kingdom/Great Britain with 300,717.

The global death count is now at 448,474 as of Wednesday evening. The U.S. has the most with 117,713, followed by Brazil with 46,510, the U.K with 42,238, Italy with 34,448 and France with 29,578.

It was a mixed day on Wall Street

Two of the top three stock indexes fell Wednesday on Wall Street, snapping a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 170.37 points to 26,119.61. That’s a loss of 0.65 percent. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping 11.25 points to 3,113.49, a decline of 0.36 percent. Again, Nasdaq defied the trend, rising 14.66 points, or 0.15 percent. Uncertainties about the coronavirus are blamed for driving some stocks down.

Weather staying cloudy for a while

If you like cool weather without a lot of that pesky sunshine, the National Weather Service has more good news for you. In the West Orange County area, the forecast of cloudy mornings and somewhat sunny afternoons continues right through next Wednesday. Highs will be around 75 to 77 degrees during the day and in the low 60s at night. Highs near the coast will be about five degrees cooler.

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