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When Congress convened on Wednesday to certify the results from each respective states electoral college votes, from the previous month, it was clear there would be contention among representatives on the upcoming votes, however, few could have anticipated the actions that were about to be taken.

The siege on the U.S. Capitol would result in the death of a police officer, a woman being shot and killed, as well as damage to the historical building and its artifacts.

As with the following of each presidential election, Congress began Wednesday with the historical and ceremonial process of accepting each states certificate of votes from their respective Electoral College convenings.

In Ohio, for example, appointed members met on Monday, December 14 under the direction of Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted to affirm the states vote for president.

Ohio is a winner-take-all state, which means whichever candidate for president wins the popular vote within the state becomes the recipient of all of its states electoral votes.

Two states, Maine and Nebraska, divide their Electoral College votes by districts allowing for proportional allocation of electorates in selecting who will ultimately become the next president and vice president of the country.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia pledge their electoral votes not on who wins the popular vote within their state, but who nationally wins the popular vote.

At the completion of the convenings on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December, electors sign and record their votes on six certificates.

One certificate is sent to the President of the Senate, two are sent to the U.S. Federal Archivist, two are sent by registered mail to their own states Secretary of State and one is sent to the Chief Judge of the closest United States District Court.

Each certificate, which was sent to the Senate, is the official set of documents seen Wednesday in which is used to officially certify who will become the new leaders of the Executive Branch of the United States come January 20.

Numerous Senators and Members of the House of Representatives had publically stated before Wednesday their intent to challenge certain states allocation of electors.

Local Muskingum County U.S. Congressman Troy Balderson (R) said he would not contest the vote while the countys other U.S. Congressman Bill Johnson (R) said he would.

Due to the drawing of districts following the 2010 U.S. Census, Muskingum County is split and residents, depending on where they live, have either one of the two aforementioned representatives.

Both of Ohios U.S. Senators, Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D), made clear before Wednesday that neither of them would contest the vote.

While rare, and often lacking the necessary momentum to move forward, votes have been contested before such as in 2000 following issues within counties in Flordia having complications with hanging chads on voting cards.

In many cases, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives will object but lack a sponsoring Senator, which is required to allow further discussion on the topic.

In 2004, Democrats were able to delay the final certification process by objecting to Ohios selection of electors alleging numerous, serious election irregularities that led to an alleged significant disenfranchisement of voters.

That issue was overturned by a full vote of each chamber of Congress.

This year was different however in that while Democrats controlled the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate likely would have been split on partisan lines leaving Vice President Mike Pence in a precarious position to overturn the election.

Had that occurred on Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives would have chosen the next President and Vice President of the United States, however, each state would each only receive one vote, likely securing the next term for the incumbents, President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence.

The last time Congress selected a president was in 1877 soon after the Civil War.

As history would have it however while the certification process was ongoing individuals began to storm the U.S. Capitol.

During that siege, Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers were overrun as large groups broke past barriers and onto the Capitol steps before breaking windows and doors to gain access to the physical building.

One concerning sign of trouble, individuals chanting their intention to hang the Vice President on Capitol Grounds as they advanced, coincided with a noose and structure that had recently been constructed nearby.

Secret Service quickly extracted the Vice President and within the following minutes other congressional leaders, such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D), was taken away to a secure bunker under the Capitol Building.

Some members, including local representative Johnson, were unable to escape, forced to shelter in place as attackers got closer.

In an interview shortly after the incident, Johnson spoke on Fox News about his experience.

According to Johnson, during debate security came in and took Pelosi as well as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R) out of the House Chambers.

Soon after, security informed the representatives that the capitol had been breached and asked them to remain quiet.

Tear gas was being deployed in the Capitol rotunda and members were instructed to reach under their seats and retrieve masks.

The special CBRN Escape Hoods, designed to protect wearers from chemical, biological and radiological events was one of many security enhancements installed after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In a photo retrieved by Y-City News, Johnson can be seen sitting on steps in the House Chamber holding his escape hood.

You could actually hear the beating on the door, said Johnson, who spent a large portion of his career in the U.S. Military.

Johnson elaborated to the host on Fox News that the door that was being attacked was the very one the President of the United States would enter through when coming to present the yearly State of the Union address.

Soon after members were also extracted from the chamber, while Johnson didnt disclose where he was taken, other members he was near reported being taken to an underground bunker beneath the Capitol building, which until that day had yet to been publically proven to even exist.

Both Balderson and Johnson issued public comments, like many of their colleagues, condemning the act of violence and destruction.

Balderson, who did not respond to a request for comment from Y-City News on his experience during the siege, said he was deeply disheartened by the violence that occurred.

While I am a firm believer in the First Amendment and Americans right to protest, what our nation has witnessed on Capitol Hill today is not protected by the First Amendment, said Balderson in a written statement. These behaviors are deeply un-American and threaten the very foundation of our Republic.

Following his statement, Balderson issued another letter Friday where he called for a full investigation into how the events Wednesday were allowed to transpire and request for assurances that they would never occur again.

Johnson, like Balderson, thanked the heroic actions of Capitol Police and gave their sympathies to the family of Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed Wednesday.

Following the events Wednesday afternoon, Congress reconvened and finalized the certification of the election.

The siege caused many representatives who had previously said they would contest the election to cease their objections citing the need for a peaceful transition of power.

Johnson however continued to object to the certification of both Arizonas and Pennsylvanias certifications citing what he said he saw as an unconstitutional act in those states.

Further explained during his interview with Fox News, Johnson said his constituents felt their voices were being silenced by officials and judges in other states.

It was not about an attempt to overthrow or overturn the electoral college election, said Johnson. It was about bringing light to the fact that some states had violated their own constitution and that is wrong.

Citing Trump as the reason for the siege on the Capitol, almost every digital account held by the president was suspended or removed.

Most notably his Twitter account, which had the largest following, was one such account taken down, often the presidents chosen medium of communication.

Multiple members of his cabinet and staff resigned in protest, with the possibility of the invoking of the twenty-fifth amendment being enacted by the Vice President being alleged to be considered by Pence.

Sunday evening, Pelosi said the U.S. House of Representatives would move forward on Monday with a resolution giving Pence 24-hours to take control of the presidency.

If action is not taken, Pelosi said the House would move to impeach Trump by mid-week.

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Local leaders respond to siege on capitol - Y-City News

Over and over, he gave Trump cover and vouched for him with the evangelical voters who were a crucial part of Trumps governing coalition. He stayed when families were separated at the border and when the president pressured a foreign leader to find dirt on Biden. He stayed through the tweetstorms and tantrums and false claims of election fraud. He tends to seek approval from something bigger and more powerful than himself, Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister who prayed and read scripture with Pence when he was in Congress, told me. And in this case, its the president.

Read: A survival guide for the Trump White House

Embracing Trump was always a gamble. As Brendan Buck, a former House Republicanleadership aide, told me, There are no happy endings when it comes to Trump. In this partnership, the president got more out of the bargain. Pence comes away damaged, while Trump, at least, got a vice president who ran a functioning operation.

Pences office was a corner of the Trump administration that actually resembled a working executive office. His staff didnt turn over every three days. There was little public drama and, whatever you may think of his politics, a sense of mission. Career government officials with no love for the president told me that Pence was a fair intermediary whod listen to their arguments. Joseph Grogan, who left his job as the director of the White Houses Domestic Policy Council in the spring, said that when people ask him who they should call at the White House with a question or problem, he suggests Pences office. I tell them that thats the only place you can really go right now, because theyre still working, he said. Now that Trump is holed up in the White House nursing his grievances, Pence is, in some respects, stepping into the role of acting president. Yesterday, he went to the Capitol to thank the National Guard troops deployed to protect the building ahead of Inauguration Daythe sort of gesture a president would normally make.

Until the elections grisly aftermath, Trump seemed positioned to become a GOP kingmaker whod hold considerable sway over the political fortunes of any West Wing aspirants, including his vice president. (That is, if he himself didnt run in 2024.) Now the party faces a reckoning. Trumps inexcusable behavior likely blew himself up politically, which may become a huge gift to the Republican Party, said a former senior White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to talk candidly. The official framed Pence as a casualty of Trumps recklessness. His recent treatment of Pence showed a complete lack of character. What Trump was imploring Pence to do by rejecting the elections certification was not legal and not constitutional Its ridiculous.

Yet Pence has no obvious place in GOP electoral politics even if his party repudiates Trump. Grateful though they might be that Pence honored the popular vote, independents and Never Trump Republicans have plenty of plausible alternatives when the 2024 primary season rolls around. Consistent and unapologetic critics of the president, such as Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, would most likely attract those voters. In the meantime, the Trump base is more likely to gravitate toward one of the presidents adult children, or maybe one of the two GOP senators who pushed to reject the electoral-vote count: Ted Cruz of Texas or Josh Hawley of Missouri. Pence was never a lock for the presidency, but now he simply has no lane left.

The hardest core of the Trump crowd is going to turn on himand Trump is going to make sure that they do, Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee spokesperson, told me.

This week, Pence offered Trump one last act of service, rejecting House Speaker Nancy Pelosis call for him to invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and bounce the president from office. But come January 20, hell be in the same position as he was after the Capitol riot: out in the cold.

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Mike Pence Has Nowhere to Go - The Atlantic

Item 1.01. Entry Into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On January 8, 2021 (the "Effective Date"), Good Times Restaurants Inc. (the"Company") and each of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, as guarantors, enteredinto a Fifth Amendment to Credit Agreement and Waiver (the "Amendment") withrespect to the Company's Credit Agreement with Cadence Bank, N.A., as lender("Cadence") entered into on September 8, 2016, as amended on September 11, 2017by the First Amendment to Credit Agreement (the "First Amendment"), as furtheramended on October 31, 2018 by the Second Amendment to Credit Agreement (the"Second Amendment"), as further amended on February 21, 2019 by the ThirdAmendment to Credit Agreement (the "Third Amendment"), and further amended onDecember 9, 2019 by the Fourth Amendment to Credit Amendment (the "FourthAmendment" and, together with the First Amendment, the Second Amendment and theThird Amendment, the "Credit Agreement").

The Amendment, among other things, modifies the Credit Agreement as follows: (a)extends the Maturity Date (as defined in the Credit Agreement) to January 31,2023; (b) provides that the commitments of the lenders will be reduced from$11,000,000 as of the Effective Date of the Amendment to: (i) $10,000,000 onMarch 31, 2021; and (ii) $8,000,000 on July 1, 2021; (c) provides that therequired Consolidated Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) as ofthe end of any fiscal quarter is greater than 5.15 to 1.00; and (d) providesCadence's formal waiver of the event of default caused by the Company's failureto comply with the required Consolidated Leverage Ratio then in effect for thefiscal quarter ended March 31, 2020.

The forgoing description of the Amendment is qualified in its entirety byreference to the full text of the Amendment, a copy of which is filed in Exhibit10.1 to this current report on Form 8-K and is incorporated by reference herein.

The information contained in Item 1.01 regarding the Amendment is incorporatedby reference herein.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

*Filed herewith

Edgar Online, source Glimpses

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GOOD TIMES RESTAURANTS INC. : Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an...

A judge has denied a request by former West Linn Dr. David Farley to put a two-year hold on a civil case filed against him by 29 patients who allege he sexually abused them.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Melvin Oden-Orr noted in his ruling Monday that for some plaintiffs, 17 years have already passed. This consideration weighs heavily against granting the stay.

Four women initially filed a lawsuit against Farley and then another 25 women joined it last week. Together, the 29 women seek a total of $290 million in damages, alleging Farley performed unnecessary pelvic exams and engaged in sexual battery while they were in his care.

The Oregon Medical Board stripped Farley of his state medical license on Oct. 2 for dishonorable and unprofessional conduct and gross or repeated negligence. He remains under criminal investigation by West Linn police. A majority of the plaintiffs have made statements to police, according to their lawyers.

Karen OKasey, Farleys lawyer, argued that postponing the civil suit would protect Farleys Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the police investigation.

My client is facing a criminal investigation based on the same conduct, if not more, alleged by these same defendants, she told the court.

OKasey also argued that a delay wouldnt prejudice the women suing, noting the alleged conduct occurred five to 17 years ago.

But the judge found the arguments werent sufficient to grant a hold on the civil suit.

Citing case law, Oden-Orr wrote, Defendant has no absolute right not to be forced to choose between testifying in a civil matter and asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege.

Further, Oden-Orr said Farleys request isnt to simply delay a civil trail but also to delay gathering evidence in the case.

Farley can still protect himself by asserting his Fifth Amendment right when necessary, the judge wrote.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs told the court that theyve heard from dozens of other women who have come forward since the initial lawsuit was filed.

Allowing a stay in a civil matter whenever there is a pending criminal proceeding would render these civil cause of actions worthless and would deny victims of sexual assault the right to seek and obtain compensation for their pain and suffering, the plaintiffs lawyers wrote to the court.

The judge said he agreed, allowing the civil case to proceed.

Tom DAmore and John Manly, lawyers for the plaintiffs, said they have been contacted by more than 70 women who have reported alleged abuse by Farley.

Obtaining documents and testimony from Dr. Farley and those who worked with him at West Linn Medical Center, Legacy Meridian Park Hospital and Providence Health Services is crucial to hold those responsible for the pain and suffering of the young women we represent, DAmore and Manly said in a statement.

No criminal charges have been filed against Farley.

Farley moved to Idaho after leaving the West Linn Family Health Center and sending a retirement letter to his patients Aug. 12. He failed to mention he was under board investigation at the time.

As the civil case proceeds, Farley also is fighting to keep confidential the investigative records from the Oregon State Medical Board.

The plaintiffs lawyers had petitioned the Oregon attorney general to order the medical board to release its investigative records involving Farley. The attorney general ordered some released but not all. Farleys lawyers have argued in court papers that the records should remain confidential and are exempt under state law from public disclosure. Theyre seeking a temporary restraining order that would block the records release.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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Lawsuit filed by 29 women can proceed against former West Linn doctor while criminal investigation continues, - OregonLive

Every American needs to see Angela Marsdens tearful video as she pours out her frustrations as a small restaurant owner in Los Angeles. Forced to drastically curtail her business during Californias brutal shutdowns, she took out an $80,000 loan to meet all the expensive requirements to move her dining outside and salvage what was left of her lifes work. nstead, authorities arbitrarily changed the rules, and shut her down again a death sentence for her ten-year-old restaurant. Yet the same authorities permitted a film production company to offer the very same outdoor dining across the very same parking lot the day she had to close her business.

Im losing everything, she says through her tears. Everything I own is being taken away from me.

In Staten Island, police hauled a restaurant owner away in handcuffs for desperately trying to re-open his establishment just across the tracks from other restaurants where dining was allowed under precisely the same conditions.

When asked to explain these capricious standards, California Gov. Gavin Newsom smarmed, Im deeply empathetic. That must be a load off their minds.

The Fifth Amendment in our Bill of Rights specifically protects Americans from being deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Where are those rights today?

Congress is now discussing how to provide relief for the thousands of small-business owners, their employees, and the families that depend on them, who have been crushed by these reckless edicts. As usual, politicians measure their empathy by how much theyre willing to spend of other peoples money. But the fine point of the matter is this: Government cannot support the economy for any significant time because government does not finance the economy. The economy finances the government and when you shut down the economy, you shut down the revenues that go to government.

The only genuine relief from the COVID-19 lockdowns is to end the COVID-19 lockdowns. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?

By now, it should be obvious that the lockdowns have failed to contain this virus. After nine months of this unprecedented experiment in social engineering, the virus continues to spread. Common sense should tell us that the more infectious a virus and the deeper it has already penetrated into a population, the less effective mass isolation will be.

The plight of Angela Marsden and countless victims of these policies tell us clearly what we are very effectively accomplishing: we are destroying our society. We have set in motion countless, avoidable deaths by suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, deferred health treatments and health screenings and poverty that will stalk us for many years to come. We have cost our youth a year of their educations. Nearly half of American retailers say they are now in imminent danger of permanently closing. Forbes magazine reports: The number one worry on most small-business owners minds now is the threat of more government mandated business closures. Eleven million Americans who had jobs in February dont have them today.

Modern science and its many breakthroughs in immunology, epidemiology and virology has given us advanced treatments and vaccines unparalleled in human history. But science is grotesquely incompetent to reorder human societies or to change the laws of human nature. Nor does it give officials the omniscience to know what is best for every person in every circumstance. Nor does it give them the right to wantonly destroy peoples lives and livelihoods. After all, medicines most ancient command is First, do no harm.

We have arbitrarily and indiscriminately destroyed the lifes work and lifes dreams of millions of Americans like Angela Marsden. We have made the most sacred right of Americans to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, into a hollow and bitter mockery.

The American people dont need the governors empathy, and they dont need politicians handouts. They need a government that protects their right to make a living and to lead their own lives according to their own best judgment. They need their Bill of Rights back. And above all, they need their freedom back.

U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Rocklin, represents Californias 4th Congressional District, including Auburn, parts of Nevada County, and north Lake Tahoe.

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Tom McClintock: The only relief from lockdowns is to end them - The Union of Grass Valley