Kim Davis Denied Him a Marriage License, and Now He's Running Against Her
A gay man who was twice denied a marriage license by the County Clerk in Rowan County, KY, now wants her job. David Ermold, an assistant university professor of English, is throwing his hat in the ring to run against Kim Davis, and joined Cheddar Monday to make a case for why the job should be his.
“We can change things if we want to change things,” he said. “That’s what we need in a position like that: someone who’s not going to be judgemental, someone who’s going to be willing to help anyone that walks through those doors.”
Davis made headlines in 2015 for defying a federal court’s order to issue same-sex marriage licenses, arguing that doing so would go against her religious beliefs. She spent five days in jail over her refusal to comply with the ruling, but garnered support from the right, including from then-presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
Ermold says his qualifications go beyond his disagreements with Davis. He says he has a strong background in community affairs. Before taking his position at the University of Pikeville, he served as faculty senate chair at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. He also worked at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, helping inmates reintegrate into society.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-david-ermold-decided-to-run-against-kim-davis-after-she-denied-him-a-marriage-license).
Rebecca Walser, President of Walser Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she discusses the factors behind Monday's surge on Wall Street and explains why investors will likely experience volatility in the market throughout the month of December.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello joined "Closing Bell" to break down the progress of the SAFE Banking Act in Congress as cannabis businesses operators struggle to find financial institutions that will service them. Banks face steep federal penalties, including the risk of losing a bank charter, if found to be servicing marijuana businesses even if their state has legalized operations. Aiello reported that while there was some bipartisan support for the measure in the Senate, the bill faces some opposition from conservatives with "longstanding concerns" about cannabis and progressives who prefer a more comprehensive approach to reform.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri is slated to testify this week in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee after a Wall Street Journal report that found the Meta-owned social media platform is negatively impacting the mental wellness of teen girls.
Chinese regulators are reportedly behind China-based ride-hailing company DiDi exiting from the New York Stock Exchange, just days after listing earlier this year. The regulators stated prior that DiDi had not received the necessary clearances to list in the states. Gordon Chang, Asian affairs expert, joined Cheddar to break down what the delisting says about the relationship between nations. "This really strikes me as an attempt to really to force a decoupling of China and the U.S. in the financial markets," Chang said.
U.S. Futures were pointing to a higher open to round out the week despite a miss on the November Jobs Report, which showed slower job growth than expected-- and as the omicron variant continues to spread across the country. Patrick Healey, Founder & President at Caliber Financial Partners joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Just days after the detection of the Omicron variant, the World Health Organization has agreed to start the process of establishing a global pandemic treaty or accord. Amy Maxmen, senior reporter for Nature, and Dr. Samuel Scarpino, managing director for the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention Institute, joined Cheddar to discuss this effort and what lessons can be learned from the many COVID-19 failures as the world prepares for future pandemics.
It's a mixed bag for the November jobs report. Hiring slowed last month as employers only added 210,000 jobs, massively missing the estimate of 550,000. But there was one bright spot: the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, with the number of unemployed people dropping to 6.9 million. Both of those numbers are considerably down from their highs at the end of the 2020 recession. Heather Boushey, a member of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, joined Cheddar to discuss the report and the state of the country's ongoing economic recovery.
