FORMER President Donald Trump (Flickr/Gage Skidmore).

The gag order on former president Donald Trump has been partially lifted in the “hush money” trial in New York.

Now that Trump has been convicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records, Judge Juan Merchan agreed to allow Trump to be able to speak about the jurors and witnesses in the case.

He is still restricted from comments about lawyers and  others in the New York state attorney’s office until his sentencing scheduled for July 11.

Trump’s campaign criticized the ruling, saying it was “unlawful” and promised to challenge it.

Primary elections in three states

2024 ELECTION

Political observers will be watching the returns from primary elections Tuesday (today) in New York, Utah and Colorado for possible hints into the Nov. 5 general elections.

Among the most closely-watched races is in Colorado’s Fourth District, where controversial Rep. Lauren Boebert is in a six-way race for the Republican nomination, after having left the Third District, where she achieved a close victory over her Democratic opponent in 2022.

Also being watched closely is New York’s 16th District seat in the House of Representatives, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman – a frequent critic of Israel – is challenged by pro-Israel George Latimer, who is leading in recent polls.

Is gun violence a “health crisis?

Gun violence is a national “health crisis,” the U.S. Surgeon General declared on Tuesday.

IS GUN violence a “health crisis”? (Shutterstock).

Vivek Murthy, who has recently warned about the mental heath consequences of social media, noted that firearm-related deaths are on the rise and those most affected are African Americans and young people.

About 50,000 people die from gun violence annually in the U.S., and he urged better access to mental health services and increased “secure storage” of guns to deter suicides or accidental fatalities.

Since 2020, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teenagers.

Election 2024: Biden by a nose

President Joe Biden has crept into a small lead in 538.com‘s latest average of recent national polls on the 2024 presidential election. 

Biden’s support is 40.9 percent to 40.7 percent for former president Donald Trump.

The margin of 0.2 percent isn’t much, but its significance may come from it’s the first time the Democrat has held any lead since mid-April.

Weather: Sun makes a U-turn

The slow decline in the thermometer reading should reverse itself moderating in our West Orange County area soon. Wednesday’s forecast calls for a daytime high of 81 (with an overnight low of 65) will dip to 80 (65) on Thursday,  but rise to 82 (64) on Friday and Saturday.

All of that will take place under partly cloudy skies with a 5 percent chance of rain.