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Queensland Singled Out Over Border Policy: Premier

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Wildfires Taint West Coast Vineyards With Taste of Smoke

TURNER, Ore.—Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. Wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington have survived severe wildfires before, but the smoke from this year’s blazes has been especially bad—thick enough to obscure vineyards drooping with clusters of grapes almost ready for harvest. Day after day, some West Coast cities endured some of the worst air quality in the world. No one knows the extent of the smoke damage to the crop, and growers are trying to assess the severity. If tainted grapes are made into wine without steps to minimize the harm or weed out the damaged fruit, the result could be wine so bad that…

Queensland Singled Out Over Border Policy: Premier

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged the Australian federal government to keep army forces in place at state COVID-19 border checkpoints ahead of the state’s agreement with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) expiring on Sept. 30.

Palaszczuk says her state is being singled out as the ADF will remain in place at the New South Wales (NSW), South Australia, and the Northern Territory until Oct. 19.

“I urge the Commonwealth to reconsider and treat Queensland like everyone else; stop singling Queensland out,” the premier said on Sept. 25.

Queensland Singled Out Over Border Policy: Premier Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during a press conference in the Mural Hall at Parliament House on June 11, 2020 in Canberra, Australia ( Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Following the premier’s comments, Deputy Premier Steven Miles accused federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg of lying about Queensland’s request for an extension of ADF support.

Speaking to reporters on Sept. 25, Miles said that Frydenberg had told the media that Queensland did not request an extension and said Frydenberg owed him an apology.

However, Frydenberg pushed back against the comments on 4CB radio on Sept. 25 declaring: “This bloke is a bumbling, stumbling, lightweight who’s completely out of his depth. He’s making it up as he goes. This is amateur hour.”

Queensland Singled Out Over Border Policy: Premier Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles speaks to the media during a press conference in Brisbane, Australia, on June 30, 2020. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

Responding to the remarks, Miles said: “They can call me all the names in the world they want to, but that is not going to affect my resolve or Queenslanders’ resolve to address this virus.”

The premier closed Queensland’s borders in response to an outbreak of COVID-19 in July. Since then, the federal government has criticised Palaszczuk for the decision, suggesting that it is a political move ahead of state elections in October, and have asked for transparency around the medical advice relied upon to close the borders.

The premier has rebuffed these criticisms, asserting that she is putting the health and safety of 5 million Queenslanders first.

The ADF was provided to Queensland to help state authorities at ground border crossings as well as at airports.

ADF told The Epoch Times that they advised Queensland authorities Sept. 11 of the need to transition ADF support on borders to alternative arrangements when the current agreement with ADF expires at the end of the month.

The ADF will reallocate its resources toward support for mandatory quarantine arrangements and to prepare for the high-risk weather season.

The day after the ADF is due to withdraw, Queensland will open its borders to allow 152,000 NSW residents into Queensland if they live within 100 kilometres of the border.

Queensland has gone 15 days without a new case of community-transmitted COVID-19 and has only five active cases.

Follow Caden on Twitter: @cadenpearson

Focus News: Queensland Singled Out Over Border Policy: Premier

DOJ: More Than 300 Charged With Crimes Committed Near or at Protests Since May

More than 300 people have been charged for committing crimes “adjacent to or under the guise of peaceful demonstrations since the end of May,” the Department of Justice announced Thursday. The crimes were committed in 29 states and Washington, authorities said. Assaulting a law enforcement officer, attempted murder, arson, and damaging federal property are among the charges filed. Approximately 80 people have been charged with offenses relating to arson and explosives; 15 have been charged with damaging federal property. Rioters inflicted millions of dollars of damage to city and federal property across the United States in recent months, including the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct, the Nashville City Hall in Tennessee, and the聽Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, a federal building, in Portland, Oregon. Criminals have also targeted small and big businesses,…