Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions
Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions. The KRAK 11 News hour: The World Desk, Criminal Intent, Animals, A Quick Look At Sports. Real stories from named sources, read by Chip Marlowe and Deb Sarkissian.
Aired 2026-08-23 06:48 UTC · 5 segments · 8 min · complete transcript below
Rundown
KRAK 11 NEWS
Good morning. I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian. Two in the morning here in Fairmont, and we have a full hour ahead.
The World Desk starts us off — the prime minister of Canada announces retaliatory tariffs this morning as President Trump says Canada wants the benefits of statehood.
Criminal Intent after that — we are bringing back the Florida Man Tribute, and this one ended with a suspect surrendering to SWAT without his pants.
Animals at the half hour — the sea urchin video is still number one on our countdown, and I have thoughts about that.
You've watched it nineteen times.
And A Quick Look at Sports to close the hour — the Supreme Court has ruled on the Trump ballroom construction case. Still ahead on The World Desk, Canada and the United States in a trade war, and what both leaders said in the last six hours.
THE WORLD DESK
Good morning. You are watching KRAK 11 News, Wexler County's number one rated newscast.
It is two in the morning and we are still here.
The news does not sleep, Deb.
We begin this morning with follow-up from Britain, where the housing minister's announcement about mayoral planning powers has drawn sharp reaction from local councils across England.
Under the new rules, mayors in major cities will be able to override local council decisions on housing developments. The housing minister says it is essential for meeting construction targets.
This is similar to what happened in Manchester in the nineties.
Manchester is one of the cities that will gain this authority. It did not have it in the nineties.
Well, they were doing something with planning back then.
They were building the Bridgewater Hall. The national government approved that project directly.
Which is what this new policy does.
This policy gives the authority to mayors, not to Westminster. The housing minister says the change should speed up construction in cities where housing shortages are most acute.
In trade news, the dispute between the United States and Canada has entered its second day.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said this morning that his country's retaliatory tariffs will take effect at midnight tonight, covering American steel, aluminum, and agricultural products.
The White House says Canada benefits economically from being close to the United States and should accept the original tariff terms.
Prime Minister Carney said this morning he was announcing the tariffs reluctantly, and accused the United States of starting a trade war that neither country needs.
In Australia, the organizers of the Sydney Marathon are standing by their decision to hand out medals with the wrong stadium engraved on them.
Ten thousand runners will receive medals at the 2026 Sydney Marathon that feature an engraving of a stadium in Munich, Germany.
That seems like something you would fix.
The race director said this morning they ordered fifteen thousand medals and the engraving error was not caught until after production was complete. He said, quote, we're not going to run from it.
That is a pun.
It is a pun.
He made a pun about the marathon while announcing they had ordered the wrong medals.
The race is fourteen months away. He said runners have been calling it a collector's item.
In Kenya, the gold prospectors who arrived in West Pokot County three weeks ago are still searching the stream beds where a goat herder found a two-hundred-dollar nugget last month.
Local officials say hundreds of people are now working claims along a twelve-mile stretch of river. Most are hoping a single gram of gold will change their lives.
How much is a gram of gold worth?
About eighty dollars at current prices. The county administrator says the original nugget weighed just over two grams.
So the goat herder found a hundred and sixty dollars.
The original reporting said two hundred. Gold prices move, and the county may have rounded up.
Still ahead this morning, Criminal Intent, with stories from Wexler County and around the state.
A Fairmont man is in custody after leading deputies on a chase that ended when his car broke down on Route Eleven.
That is Criminal Intent, in just a few minutes on KRAK 11 News.
CRIMINAL INTENT
Good morning. Time now for the Krak 11 Blotter.
Four stories tonight, and they all happened somewhere else.
Which is what makes them Florida Man Tributes.
Chip keeps a tally.
We begin with our first tribute — and this one comes to us from Santa Clarita, back in March of this year.
A SWAT team surrounded a residence, searching for an armed suspect. Hours passed. The perimeter held. And then the man emerged from the home — wearing no pants.
Police said he surrendered without incident.
That is the detail that makes it a Florida Man Tribute, Deb. The tactical advantage of pants was simply not a consideration.
Back in October of last year, an image of former President Barack Obama DJing in Arizona went viral — millions of views across TikTok and Instagram.
The photographer later confirmed it was AI-generated — what he called a stunt. No turntables were involved.
A doctor in the United Kingdom, back in September of last year, left an operation halfway through for what he described as a comfort break.
Investigators allege that break involved a nurse, and that the surgery was still underway when he left the room.
The patient was not harmed, according to reports.
Back in November of last year, Vice President JD Vance posted a short video of himself in a curly brown wig.
He was dressing up as his own viral meme for Halloween — leaning into an internet joke that had followed him for months.
One hundred and seventeen Florida Man Tributes in forty-three weeks.
I keep a tally.
You do.
Still ahead this morning on Krak 11 News — the sea urchin video remains at number one on the animal countdown for a sixth consecutive day.
And Chip has thoughts about that.
I have watched it nineteen times, Deb. That is Animals, coming up.
ANIMALS
Time now for the good news desk.
This is the KRAK 11 animal countdown. Three videos, ranked by how many views they gained in the last four days.
And one of them has now been at the top for a full week.
We start at number three.
Number three is called Check For Context. It was posted by Benji Void on the sixteenth of August. Two and a half million new views in four days.
Number two is When Kindness Goes Both Ways. That one was posted by Windypaws two days ago. Four point nine million new views.
And at number one for the seventh consecutive day, the sea urchin video. Posted by Nick DiGiovanni on the nineteenth. Five point seven million new views in four days.
Seven days.
That is a week at number one. That is a genuine phenomenon.
You have watched it nineteen times.
And I stand by every single viewing.
All three are on the KRAK 11 News Reel. The link is in the description.
If you are watching this morning on YouTube, a subscription helps a station our size more than you might think.
Coming up in just a few minutes, a quick look at sports. Pete Crow-Armstrong has done something nobody in baseball history has ever done, and he did it again last night.
Thirty-four straight. We will have that when we come back.
A QUICK LOOK AT SPORTS
Time now for a quick look at sports.
The scoreboard at two in the morning.
The news does not sleep, Deb.
Pete Crow-Armstrong did it again. Cubs beat the White Sox in walk-off fashion, five to four in the tenth. That is thirty-five consecutive games with a walk-off RBI for Crow-Armstrong, extending his own major league record.
Thirty-five straight.
The Brewers won their forty-sixth straight game, beating the Cardinals nine to two. Forty-six wins in a row. Still going.
Ohio State opens their season ranked fourth in the Yahoo Sports preseason poll. They are favored to beat Michigan and make the playoff.
Coming up at the top of the hour on KRAK 11 News, breaking news from Wexler County and the world.
Good morning, Wexler County. We will see you in a few minutes.
Reporting behind this episode
- Trump says Canada wants 'benefits' of being US state as Carney says countries in trade war
- Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions
- 'We're not going to run from it': Sydney Marathon laughs off medal error
- Did a goat herder's lucky $200 nugget spark a gold rush in western Kenya?
- Pantless suspect surrenders after SWAT search of armed man in Santa Clarita
- AI-generated image of Obama DJing in Arizona goes viral
- VP JD Vance dresses up as his own viral meme for Halloween
- UK doctor left in the middle of surgery to have sex with nurse: Reports
- Sea Urchin
- When Kindness Goes Both Ways.
- CHECK FOR CONTEXT