THE “SAVE AMERICA” rally in Washington, D.C. that preceded the attack upon the U.S Capitol (Voice of America photo).

Six Republicans joined 50 Democrats on the first day of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial Tuesday to declare that the U.S. Senate did have the jurisdiction to try the former president on a charge of “incitement to insurrection.”

The session began with a video presented by Democrats depicting the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 by a mob waving pro-Trump flags. The attackers were seeking to stop official certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

“That’s a high crime and misdemeanor,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland). “If that’s not an impeachable offense, then there’s no such thing.”

He was referring to comments by the former president urging his backers to “fight like hell” to contest the certification, and other remarks.

Attorneys for Trump condemned the attack, but insisted that the impeachment process was rooted in a “base hatred” of Trump, according to the Associated Press. His comments were simply “political speech: and not incitement to commit a crime, they said, reported United Press International.

Republican senators voting with the Democrats were Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Opening arguments will commence on Wednesday.

News: Biden’s “rescue plan” advances

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN (Shutterstock).

Seeking to take advantage of a budget process that allows some bills to be passed by a simple majority, Democrats in the House of Representatives are pushing forward on President Joe Biden’s pandemic relief plan.

On Tuesday a House committee proposed adding another $130 billion to the bill as well as a gradual increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour from $7.25 over a five-year period.

Vaccines at the drugs store:  Injections to battle the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be available at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, it was announced on Tuesday.  The vaccine shots will be limited to certain parts of the population initially, including senior citizens.

Business: Stocks take a small tumble

Wall Street couldn’t keep up its winning streak forever, and two of three major stock indexes saw decreases on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Average fell 9.93 points to 31,375.83. The S&P 500 dipped 4.36 points to 3,911.23. However, the Nasdaq bucked the trend, rising 20.06 points to 14,007.70. Gold fell slightly and oil was even.

Sports: Chiefs’ coach Britt Reid suspended

Britt Reid, linebackers coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and son of head coach Andy Reid, has been suspended from his position.

The action was taken after the younger Reid was involved in a traffic accident last Thursday night in which a 5-year-old girl suffered critical injuries. According to Sports Illustrated, he admitted to having “two to three drinks” before driving in addition to taking the prescription drug Adderall. Police in Kansas City are investigating whether those substances were a cause of the crash.

Weather:  Some wind, some clouds, some rain

There was some drizzle on your windshield today, heralding a stretch of cloudy days, stronger winds and an increased chance of rain. For the West Orange County area, the forecast is for partly cloudy skies on Wednesday with a daytime high of 62 (overnight low of 48). Temps will bounce a bit after that, with Thursday’s high coming in at 69, dropping to 64 by Saturday. The chance of rain will be a modest 7 percent through Thursday, rising to 34 percent by Friday, with winds of 13 miles an hour.