October National News 2023

Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It won't be easy

"How would you be different as speaker, compared to Mr. Boehner?" a reporter asked then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in September 2015 as the California Republican pursued, and eventually gave up, his first attempt at the speakership. McCarthy laughed while standing next to outgoing Speaker John Boehner — who had just stepped down after facing a threat of removal — and joked that he was from a different generation and wouldn't be as tan. Eight years later, McCarthy is finding that there are fewer differences between them as he faces a conservative revolt against his speakership. "If somebody wants to remove (me) because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try," McCarthy told reporters Saturday. https://apnews.com/article/motion-to-vacate-kevin-mccarthy-republicans-congress-eba874f3a76ab8ebe03236514d981810

The fatal stabbing of a Palestinian American boy is being investigated as hate crime

A 71-year-old man from Illinois, accused of fatally stabbing a boy and seriously injuring a woman because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war, has been charged with murder and hate crimes, among other offenses, authorities said. Both victims, a 32-year-old woman and a 6-year-old boy, were found with multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso and upper extremities, inside a residence in the unincorporated Plainfield Township outside of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media. The woman, identified as Hanaan Shahin, was transported to the hospital in serious condition, with more than a dozen stab wounds to her body, and is expected to survive. Her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was pronounced dead at the hospital, the sheriff's office said. An autopsy found the boy was stabbed 26 times. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/15/1206046190/boy-killed-anti-muslim-attack-illinois

Stricter state laws are chipping away at sex education in K-12 schools

A dozen state or county agencies have parted ways with tens of thousands of dollars in federal grants meant to help monitor teenagers' sexual behaviors and try to lower rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The withdrawals reflect a shift in many states that is further complicating and polarizing sex education in K-12 schools as some Republican-led legislatures more strictly regulate when and what students learn about their bodies. The new laws are part of a broad push to fortify " parents' rights " and strike LGBTQ+ content from the classroom, core themes that have flooded the campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. Experts are concerned students won't reliably learn about adolescence, safe sexual activity or relationship violence, topics they say are especially important since sexually transmitted diseases rose after the pandemic and access to abortion is increasingly restricted. Anne-Marie Amies Oelschlager, a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist at Seattle Children's Hospital, said a trained, trusted adult is critical for young people to get good information versus other, less trustworthy sources like social media. https://apnews.com/article/sex-education-us-laws-kentucky-florida-mississippi-bd6fffcb3a9a25babc32a143001f4ae1

Judge to hear arguments from TikTok and content creators who are challenging Montana's ban on app

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday in a case filed by TikTok and five Montana content creators who want the court to block the state's ban on the video sharing app before it takes effect Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula is not expected to rule immediately on the request for a preliminary injunction. Montana became the first state in the U.S. to pass a complete ban on the app, based on the argument that the Chinese government could gain access to user information from TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing. Content creators say the ban violates free speech rights and could cause economic harm for their businesses. https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-montana-lawsuit-1c58d56064f6b53992196649249e1dc8

Judge says Georgia's congressional and legislative districts are discriminatory and must be redrawn

A federal judge ruled Thursday that some of Georgia's congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner, ordering the state to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, in a 516-page order, also ordered the state to draw two new Black-majority districts in Georgia's 56-member state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in its 180-member state House. Jones ordered Georgia's Republican majority General Assembly and governor to fix the maps by Dec. 8, saying he would redaw districts if lawmakers did not. Hours after the ruling, Gov. Brian Kemp issued a call for a special session to begin Nov. 29 to redraw congressional and legislative districts. Jones' ruling follows an eight-day September trial in which the plaintiffs argued that Black voters are still fighting opposition from white voters and need federal help to get a fair shot, while the state argued court intervention on behalf of Black voters wasn't needed. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-redistricting-voting-rights-3a29f4d5662e8908cc083aa07c37abd4

A test case of another kind for the Supreme Court: Who can sue hotels over disability access

A few years back, Joseph Stramondo was a last-minute replacement as a conference speaker in Salt Lake City. He went online and made a reservation for a room accessible for people with disabilities. "I figured, 'OK, I should be set,'" Stramondo said. But when he checked in, the room he was given looked like a standard room, without bars in the bathroom or a door wide enough to accommodate his wheelchair. Returning to the front desk, Stramondo learned the room was accessible — for people with hearing loss. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-disability-civil-rights-lawsuits-e71ec6e9ee0a5c50c7b2651fb0db534c

Former NSA worker pleads guilty to trying to sell US secrets to Russia

A former National Security Agency employee from Colorado pleaded guilty Monday to trying to sell classified information to Russia. Federal prosecutors agreed to not ask for more than about 22 years in prison for Jareh Sebastian Dalke when he is sentenced in April, but the judge will ultimately decide the punishment. Dalke, a 31-year-old Army veteran from Colorado Springs, had faced a possible life sentence for giving the information to an undercover FBI agent who prosecutors say Dalke believed was a Russian agent. Dalke pleaded guilty during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore. He only spoke in answer to questions from Moore about whether he understood the terms of the deal. He acknowledged that he has been taking medications for mental illness while being held in custody for about a year. https://apnews.com/article/nsa-russia-spy-classified-colorado-dalke-51c4b13ef035f3dca8b62c433e6149d5

Judge upholds most serious charges in deadly arrest of Black driver Ronald Greene

A judge delivered a victory Monday to the state prosecution of white Louisiana lawmen in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, allowing the most serious charge of negligent homicide to go forward against a trooper captured on body-camera video dragging the Black motorist by his ankle shackles and forcing him to lie facedown in the dirt. The case had been steeped in uncertainty in recent months after the judge dismissed obstruction charges against two other troopers, leaving three officers still facing charges. "My heart is lifted by this," said Greene's mother, Mona Hardin. "We shouldn't have waited four plus years, but we're still moving forward." https://apnews.com/article/police-brutality-race-louisiana-misconduct-ronald-greene-7ebc9b2ba67501e32389b67b946b3c7f

Judge scolds prosecutors as she delays hearing for co-defendant in Trump classified documents case

A judge on Thursday scolded federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against Donald Trump as she postponed a hearing to determine if the lawyer for one of the former president's co-defendants had a conflict of interest. U.S District Judge Aileen Cannon admonished prosecutors for "wasting the court's time," telling them they had presented arguments during Thursday's hearing that had not been properly raised in earlier court filings. She said she would continue the hearing at a later date for Walt Nauta, a Trump valet charged with conspiring with Trump to conceal classified documents from investigators. Special counsel Jack Smith's team had asked for hearings to ensure that Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira were aware of potential conflicts because their lawyers have represented other key figures in the case. Both men were charged alongside Trump with obstructing government efforts to recover classified documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago, the former president's Florida estate. https://apnews.com/article/trump-maralago-justice-department-40ded79fea04c90f96414fa41dbae6cd

More Americans support striking auto workers than car companies, an AP-NORC poll shows

A majority of Americans support higher pay for auto workers who are on strike against Detroit's Big Three carmakers, although approval of the workers' other demands is more mixed, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll found that 36% of Americans sympathize with the workers in their dispute with the automakers, 9% support the automakers, and the rest back both or neither. https://apnews.com/article/labor-unions-auto-workers-poll-b6f0efba4892d1f5d2a829effd514f7d

Grand jury indicts Illinois man on hate crime, murder charges in attack on Muslim mom, son

A man accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an attack on a Palestinian-American woman and her son was indicted Thursday by an Illinois grand jury. The eight-count indictment against Joseph Czuba, 71, tracks the charges that were filed soon after the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and the wounding of Hanaan Shahin on Oct. 14. Authorities said the victims were targeted because of their Muslim faith. Shahin told police that Czuba, her landlord in Plainfield in Will County, was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them after she had urged him to "pray for peace." Shahin, 32, is recovering from multiple stab wounds. Hundreds of people attended her son's funeral on Oct. 16. The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy's death as the result of "exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior." https://apnews.com/article/palestinian-family-attacked-illinois-hate-crime-israel-fd2f24b1df537d15fab8617ff81d50e2

Man charged with stealing 'Wizard of Oz' slippers from Minnesota museum expected to plead guilty

A man charged with the museum heist of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the "The Wizard of Oz" was expected to change his plea to guilty in court Friday, pulling back the curtain on a whodunnit mystery dating back 18 years. Terry Jon Martin, 76, was indicted in May on one count of theft of a major artwork. The shoes from the film were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the actress' hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and recovered in 2018 by the FBI. No one was arrested in the case until Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, was charged earlier this year. Martin's attorney, Dane DeKrey, said his client, who is in poor health, has been cooperative with authorities. "I think Terry is facing his own mortality and I think when people are reaching that point in their life, they cut through the pleasantries and talk turkey," DeKrey said in an interview ahead of Friday's scheduled hearing. https://apnews.com/article/wizard-oz-stolen-ruby-slippers-judy-garland-f2bd6d4455a9821c311d1d0a03f6d77a

Maine towns are locked down and search is on for shooter who killed at least 16 people and escaped

A man shot and killed at least 16 people at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, and then fled into the night, sparking a massive search by hundreds of officers while frightened residents in multiple communities stayed locked in their homes Thursday under a shelter-in-place advisory. A police bulletin identified Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest in the attack that sent panicked bowlers scrambling behind pins when shots rang out around 7 p.m. Wednesday. Card was described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine. The document, circulated to law enforcement officials, said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide details about his treatment or condition but said Card had reported "hearing voices and threats to shoot up" the military base. A telephone number listed for Card in public records was not in service. https://apnews.com/article/lewiston-maine-shootings-49da6d06a8b5a15d3b619b3927bc33ff

A new RSV shot for infants is in short supply

A new shot for infants against RSV is in short supply, and U.S. health officials told doctors they should prioritize giving the drug to babies at the highest risk of severe disease. Infants less than 6 months who have chronic lung disease or other underlying conditions should be given priority, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told doctors in a Monday evening advisory. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of coldlike symptoms that can be dangerous for young children. A seasonal virus, it's being widely reported in the southern United States and is expected to continue to spread over the next month or two. The new, one-time shot is a lab-made antibody that helps the immune system fight off the virus. Sold under the brand name Beyfortus, the drug was developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi. https://apnews.com/article/rsv-shot-shortage-infants-dc57b7788813cb3c00b081791b4c8ad3

North Dakota state senator, his wife and 2 kids killed in Utah plane crash

A state senator from North Dakota, his wife and their two young children died when the small plane they were traveling in crashed in Utah, a Senate leader said Monday. Doug Larsen's death was confirmed Monday in an email that Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue sent to his fellow senators and was obtained by The Associated Press. The plane crashed Sunday evening shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Moab, according to a Grand County Sheriff's Department statement posted on Facebook. The sheriff's office said all four people on board the plane were killed. "Senator Doug Larsen, his wife Amy, and their two young children died in a plane crash last evening in Utah," Hogue wrote in his email. "They were visiting family in Scottsdale and returning home. They stopped to refuel in Utah." https://apnews.com/article/utah-plane-crash-moab-killed-a7064a4f3a883be6f920fb647d10c6ca

Group of Texas Republicans in U.S. House want to change the rules for removing a speaker

After a single Republican member of Congress instigated Kevin McCarthy's removal as House speaker, a handful of Texas Republicans are trying to change the rules to make it impossible to happen again. Under rules negotiated in January during McCarthy's tumultuous first election, any member of the House can motion to vacate the chair — a procedural move that will force a vote to remove the speaker. That was how the process worked until 2019, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi significantly raised the threshold. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, an ultraconservative Florida Republican with a notorious antipathy toward McCarthy, launched the vote this week to remove McCarthy, leading to the first time in American history that a speaker was actually ousted by the measure. But some Texas Republicans are sick of the leverage the rule has had over the conference, saying it has pushed leadership into the hands of the most extreme right-wing members of the party. "I voted NO on the rule in January due to the 1 member threshold to vacate the chair. After electing a Speaker, a rule change needs to be the first order of business," U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, posted on social media Friday morning. Gonzales also said in January he opposed the rules package out of concern that an accompanying agreement to lower federal spending could impact defense funding. A host of other Republican members, including U.S. Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Houston and Michael McCaul of Austin, signed onto a letter Thursday to the rest of the party demanding the conference "address fundamental changes to the structure of our majority to ensure success for the American people." https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/06/texans-rule-change-house-speaker/

A riled Trump sounds off outside the New York fraud trial that accuses him of lying about wealth

Aggrieved and defiant, former President Donald Trump sat through hours of sometimes testy opening statements Monday in a fraud lawsuit that could cost him control of Trump Tower and other prized properties. "Disgraceful trial," he declared during a lunch break, after listening to lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James excoriate him as a habitual liar. The state's lawsuit accuses the business-mogul-turned-politician and his company of deceiving banks, insurers and others by misstating his wealth for years in financial statements. "They were lying year after year after year," Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in James' office, said as Trump sat at the defense table. He looked straight ahead, arms crossed, facing away from a screen that showed details of Wallace's presentation. https://apnews.com/article/trump-letitia-james-fraud-lawsuit-new-york-eb98c99fe918da139b0d8b6347211afe

Amazon launches test satellites for its planned internet service to compete with SpaceX

Amazon launched the first test satellites for its planned internet service on Friday as a rival to SpaceX's broadband network. United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket blasted off with the pair of test satellites, kicking off a program that aims to improve global internet coverage with an eventual 3,236 satellites around Earth. Amazon plans to begin offering service by the end of next year. Elon Musk's SpaceX has a huge head start over Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos, who has his own rocket company, Blue Origin. https://apnews.com/article/amazon-internet-satellite-launch-ca7b4bacb9c329df58db80aa3cf78a1f

Oklahoma judge dismisses case of man who spent 30 years in prison for Ada rape

An Oklahoma judge on Tuesday exonerated a man who spent 30 years in prison for a 1987 rape and burglary, after post-conviction DNA testing from a rape kit showed he did not commit the crime. Pontotoc County District Judge Steven Kessinger issued a final order that vacates Perry Lott's conviction and permanently dismisses the case. "I have never lost hope that this day would come," Lott, 61, said in a statement. "I had faith that the truth would prevail, even after 35 long years. "I can finally shut this door and move on with my life." https://apnews.com/article/wrongful-conviction-innocence-project-oklahoma-perry-lott-0dc97f7527a243dfce68098a7e0713d1

Men took over a job fair intended for women and nonbinary tech workers

An event meant to be a career-builder for women and nonbinary tech workers turned into yet another symbol of the industry's gender imbalance after self-identifying men showed up in droves. The Grace Hopper Celebration takes the name of a pioneering computer scientist and bills itself the world's largest annual gathering of women and nonbinary tech workers. Tickets for the four-day event, which took place in Orlando, Fla., last week, ranged in price from $649 to $1,298, and included a coveted chance to meet one-on-one with sponsors such as Apple, Amazon, Salesforce and Google. With some 30,000 annual attendees, that career expo was already a competitive space, according to past participants. But this year, access was even more limited by what the organizers described as "an increase in participation of self-identifying males." https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1203845886/women-tech-conference-men-grace-hopper

An off-duty pilot is accused of trying to shut down the engines of a Horizon Air jet in midflight

An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the crew, according to a pilot flying the plane. Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44. He was being held Monday on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. The San Francisco-bound flight on Sunday diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it was met by officers from the Port of Portland, who took Emerson into custody. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, a regional carrier, did not name Emerson, but said Monday that the threat was posed by one of its pilots who was off duty but authorized to occupy the cockpit jump seat. https://apnews.com/article/alaska-airlines-safety-security-457e4bc7a1eca47842ce64aebe512c24

Amy Coney Barrett says she supports an ethics code for Supreme Court justices

As members of the U.S. Supreme Court continue to face scrutiny over potential ethical transgressions, one justice said this week she supports implementing an ethics code for the high court. Speaking at an event at the University of Minnesota on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said she favors the idea of an ethics code. "I think it would be a good idea for us to do it, particularly so that we can communicate to the public exactly what it is that we are doing in a clearer way than perhaps we have been able to do so far," Barrett said. Barrett added that she couldn't say when the court would impose such a set of rules, or what any future code of conduct might look like. "All nine justices are very committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct," Barrett said. "And we're in agreement about what to do. And that we want to continue to follow the highest ethical standards," she said. Supreme Court justices are supposed to abide by financial disclosure provisions that apply to all federal judges. But the high court isn't beholden to other federal ethics rules, and the justices alone decide when to recuse themselves from cases. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1206509876/amy-coney-barrett-ethics-code-supreme-court

Police found 115 bodies at Colorado 'green' funeral home while investigating putrid smells

At least 115 decaying bodies were found at a storage facility for a "green" funeral operator, after neighbors reported abhorrent smells emanating from the location in rural southern Colorado, police said Friday, calling it a "disturbing discovery." The owner tried to conceal the improper storage of corpses and claimed he was doing taxidermy at the facility, according to a suspension letter sent to him by state regulators that was made public Friday. No one has been arrested or charged yet. The Return to Nature Funeral Home facility in the small town of Penrose had been unregistered with the state for 10 months on Wednesday when owner Jon Hallford spoke by phone with a state regulator the day after the smells were reported and police launched an investigation. Hallford acknowledged that he had a "problem" at the property, though the Colorado Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration document obtained by The Associated Press didn't explain what Hallford meant with his taxidermy claim or how he tried to conceal improper storage of human remains. https://apnews.com/article/colorado-funeral-home-green-burials-investigation-4c77ec13d8dfb1394e61da8881426deb?user_email=ced6163b6653040f63f09b7d76e75bfeb9b648019f166afb6d391416e45d2bd5&utm_medium=Afternoon_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=AfternoonWire_Oct6_2023&utm_term=Afternoon%20Wire

At least 7 dead in massive vehicle crashes in Louisiana caused by 'superfog'

At least seven people were killed after a "superfog" of smoke from south Louisiana marsh fires and dense fog caused multiple massive car crashes Monday morning involving a total of 158 vehicles, authorities said. Twenty-five people were injured and the number of fatalities may increase as first responders continue to clear the crash scenes and search for victims, Louisiana State Police said in a press release Monday evening. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a call for blood donors and asked for prayers "for those hurt and killed." Videos of the wreck showed what looked like an endless junkyard of cars overtaking the busy interstate near the community of Manchac. Vehicles were crushed, rammed under one another and some were engulfed by flames. Many people stood on the side of the road looking in disbelief at the disastrous scene, while others remained in their car waiting for aid. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/23/1208149273/massive-car-crash-louisiana-superfog

Ex-Trump attorney Jenna Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia election interference case

Attorney Jenna Ellis has entered a guilty plea in the Georgia election interference case. Ellis is the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the broad racketeering case focused on efforts to keep then-President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 loss to Joe Biden. Lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell entered guilty pleas last week just before their trial was set to begin. Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, pleaded guilty in September. In exchange for truthful testimony at future trials, Ellis pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. She had been charged with two counts, including racketeering. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/24/1208198441/jenna-ellis-georgia-guilty-plea

Suspect in police beating has ruptured kidney, headaches; his attorneys call for a federal probe

Attorneys for a drug suspect who was repeatedly punched, elbowed and kneed by officers in northeast Florida during a traffic stop said Tuesday that they are petitioning the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the case. Le'Keian Woods suffered a ruptured kidney, throws up whenever he eats and has migraine headaches following the confrontation on Friday, his attorneys said at a news conference outside the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office headquarters. Mug shots taken after Woods' arrest shows him with both eyes swollen shut and bruises and cuts on his face. "He is in excruciating pain," attorney Marwan Porter said. "He is really, really hurting." Porter likened the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officers' behavior to an Ultimate Fighting Championship "ground and pound beatdown by trained professionals, allegedly." https://apnews.com/article/florida-law-enforcement-black-motorist-beaten-cb35d416a7de2890c605341bacf3804b

Autopsies confirm 5 died of chemical exposure in tanker crash

Autopsies have confirmed that five people who died when a chemical tanker overturned in central Illinois last month died from exposure to caustic anhydrous ammonia fumes, an official said Monday. The official results confirmed preliminary findings from the Sept. 29 crash, Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said. The victims, including two children, suffered severe chemical burns to their entire bodies, as well as their eyes and respiratory systems, she said. The crash involving a tanker truck carrying the agricultural fertilizer occurred about 8:40 p.m. on U.S. 40 just east of Teutopolis, 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis. Killed in the crash were Danny J. Smith, 67, of New Haven, Missouri; Vasile Cricovan, 31, of Twinsburg, Ohio; 34-year-old Kenneth Bryan of Teutopolis and his children Walker, 10, and Rosie, 7, of Beecher City.

Maine passed a law to try to prevent mass shootings. Some say more is needed after Lewiston killings

Barely four years before a gunman's deadly rampage in Maine, a state that is staunchly protective of gun rights, the governor signed a law aimed at preventing a mass shooting like the one Wednesday night that claimed at least 18 lives. It was called a "yellow flag" law, different from the "red flag" laws cropping up in other states to seize weapons from gun owners viewed as a threat. In a sign of the pro-Second Amendment mindset in Maine, a gun-rights group helped write the law, and critics said that, while it was a first step toward stronger gun safety measures, the state could save more lives by doing more — like passing a red flag law. The yellow flag law and permissive gun measures in Maine are coming under greater scrutiny in the aftermath of a massacre that authorities say was carried out by a man who was committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer and had reported "hearing voices and threats to shoot up" a military base. It was not clear whether anyone had used the yellow flag law in the suspect's case, but gun-control advocates on Thursday blamed the killings on what one called Maine's "weak gun laws." https://apnews.com/article/gun-control-lewiston-maine-shooting-c0ea366da50bd9d9dd4fb1aac256c049

Four years after fire engulfed California scuba dive boat killing 34 people, captain's trial begins

By the time the scuba dive boat sank off the Southern California coast after catching fire, 34 people had been killed in the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. The Labor Day tragedy in 2019 spurred changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and civil lawsuits. Now four years later, a federal trial for the Conception's captain, Jerry Boylan, is set to begin Tuesday with jury selection in Los Angeles. It's been a long, frustrating wait for the families of those who perished. They say a judge's ruling that their loved ones should not be called "victims" at trial has only added to their pain. "The past four years have been like living in a nightmare that you don't wake up from," said Kathleen McIlvain, whose 44-year-old son Charles was killed. https://apnews.com/article/california-conception-boat-fire-seamans-manslaughter-1143c34ea0c0e0f7cac4d2e66824cc3c

She's the star witness against Sam Bankman-Fried. Her testimony was explosive

Caroline Ellison, the former girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried and a top executive in his cryptocurrency business empire, has long loomed as the U.S. government's star witness in the ongoing trial of the disgraced founder of FTX. And over a day and a half of testimony in a federal court in Manhattan, she delivered. In testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday that got tearful at times, Ellison accused Bankman-Fried of being the mastermind behind a concerted effort to steal billions of dollars from customers, investors and lenders. And as Bankman-Fried's former girlfriend, she had intimate knowledge of both the company and the former crypto celebrity who now faces seven criminal charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Here are five takeaways from Ellison's explosive testimony. Painting Bankman-Fried as the mastermind Prosecutors are trying to prove that Bankman-Fried engineered and orchestrated a massive fraud. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1205045583/sam-bankman-fried-trial-caroline-ellison-ftx-alameda-research

Star witness Caroline Ellison says FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hoped to be US president someday

Caroline Ellison, the tech executive who ran Sam Bankman-Fried 's hedge fund while sometimes dating him, testified Tuesday that he directed her to commit crimes before his cryptocurrency empire collapsed last November. She also revealed that her former boss and boyfriend thought he might be U.S. president someday. With Bankman-Fried looking on from his seat in the courtroom, Ellison, 28, testified at the New York City trial that she committed fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering along with Bankman-Fried and others. "He directed me to commit these crimes," she said of Bankman-Fried, when asked by a prosecutor about his involvement. Repeatedly, Ellison made clear that Bankman-Fried was behind the biggest financial moves in his companies, to the point that bitcoins he created were sometimes called "Sam's coins." https://apnews.com/article/bankman-fried-trial-caroline-ellison-ftx-sbf-bdab0230730ec079fad8e2086cf9b3f6

Schools near a Maui wildfire burn zone are reopening. Parents wrestle with whether to send kids back

Children take their places at folding tables on a church patio several miles from where their school burned down. Plastic tubs hold brand new textbooks quickly shipped from a publisher. Recess is on the resort golf course across the street. The wind-driven wildfire that leveled the historic Maui town of Lahaina this summer displaced many pupils not just from their homes, but from their schools, forcing their families and education officials to scramble to find other ways to teach them. Now, more than two months after the Aug. 8 wildfire killed at least 98 people, the three public schools that survived are set to reopen this week, posing an emotional crossroads for traumatized children and their families as they decide whether to go back to those campuses or continue at the other schools that took them in. Some parents said they won't send their children back because they worry the fire left toxins behind, despite assurances from education officials that the campuses are safe. https://apnews.com/article/maui-lahaina-fire-schools-reopen-eb727f3d5e7345d098777708071716bb

Mourners in heavily Palestinian Chicago suburb remember Muslim boy killed as kind and energetic

Crowds of mourners in a heavily Palestinian Chicago suburb paid respects Monday to a 6-year-old Muslim boy killed in an alleged hate crime, hours after authorities revealed new details about the evidence used to charge the family's landlord with stabbing the child and his mother. Wadea Al-Fayoume, who had recently had a birthday, died Saturday after being stabbed dozens of times in a brutal attack that drew condemnation from local elected officials to the White House. Authorities said the family's landlord, Joseph Czuba, was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them after the boy's mother proposed they "pray for peace." In Bridgeview, which is home to a large and established Palestinian community, family and friends remembered Wadea as an energetic boy who loved playing games. His body was carried in a small white casket — which was at times draped with a Palestinian flag — through packed crowds. https://apnews.com/article/illinois-israel-hamas-war-hate-crime-chicago-palestinian-9f30f422e47ed8ef36ea6a25a4052341

To tackle homelessness faster, LA has a kind of real estate agency for the unhoused

Dan Valdez's mission can seem impossible. Every day, he's on the hunt for vacant units — lobbying landlords to take in some of the tens of thousands of unhoused people in one of the tightest and most expensive real estate markets in the U.S. "There's cold-calling involved. There's knocking on doors. There's ... canvassing throughout L.A. County, which is a quite wide area," he says. Valdez is with the nonprofit Brilliant Corners, which partners with L.A. County's Department of Health Services to act like a kind of real estate agency for the unhoused. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/24/1207461308/homelessness-housing-losangeles-la-real-estate-unhoused

Republicans nominate Steve Scalise to be House speaker but struggle to unite quickly and elect him

Deeply divided Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unify and elect the conservative in a public floor vote after the historic ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job. In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader. The Louisiana congressman, who is battling blood cancer, is seen as a hero to some after surviving a shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice in 2017. "We have a lot of work to do," Scalise said afterward. A floor vote of the whole House was expected but then abandoned by nightfall. Tensions are still running high among Republicans and the House is at a standstill amid bitter infighting after McCarthy's stunning removal last week. The House was gaveled into a brief session, then closed, with next steps uncertain. https://apnews.com/article/kevin-mccarthy-ousted-speaker-jordan-scalise-b90b887d079a4b58e35da7b213916457

Lawyers and judge hash out juror questions for Powell and Chesebro trial in Georgia election case

Defense attorneys and prosecutors sparred Monday over questions for potential jurors who have to report later this week for the trial of Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who are accused along with former President Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Lawyers for Powell and Chesebro met with prosecutors and the judge overseeing the case to hash out what will be asked on a lengthy questionnaire when the first group of 450 prospective jurors arrives at the courthouse on Friday. Whether that should include questions about their opinions about potential witnesses, the other defendants and issues that go to the heart of the case dominated that discussion. Powell and Chesebro were indicted in Fulton County in August along with Trump and 16 others, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to keep Trump, the Republican incumbent, in the White House even though he had lost the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. All 19 defendants initially pleaded not guilty, but one pleaded guilty last month to five misdemeanor charges after reaching a deal with prosecutors. Trump and the remaining 15 will not be tried with Powell and Chesebro, and a trial date has not yet been set for them. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-election-fraud-trial-powell-chesebro-jury-5b78ff44f8befa60d2b3724546d7b228

Rep. Jamaal Bowman triggered a fire alarm in a House office building amid voting on a funding bill

Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman acknowledged triggering a fire alarm Saturday in one of the U.S. Capitol office buildings as lawmakers scrambled to pass a bill to fund the government before the midnight shutdown deadline. The fire alarm sounded out around noon in the Cannon House Office Building and prompted a building-wide evacuation at a time when the House was in session and staffers were working in the building. The building was reopened an hour later after Capitol Police determined it was not a threat. The GOP-controlled House Administration Committee, which oversees issues pertaining to the Capitol complex, posted a picture of a person pulling the fire alarm who appeared to be Bowman. The New York lawmaker told reporters hours later that it was a mistake and that he was rushing to get to votes and was trying to get through a door that is usually open, but was closed due to it being a weekend. https://apnews.com/article/congress-fire-alarm-jamaal-bowman-house-bc9c1cca01fa918999621e0f7eb27165

104-year-old Chicago woman dies days after making a skydive that could put her in the record books

Dorothy Hoffner, a 104-year-old Chicago woman whose recent skydive could see her certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest person to ever jump from a plane, has died. Hoffner's close friend, Joe Conant, said she was found dead Monday morning by staff at the Brookdale Lake View senior living community. Conant said Hoffner apparently died in her sleep on Sunday night. Conant, who is a nurse, said he met Hoffner — whom he called Grandma at her request — several years ago while he was working as a caregiver for another resident at the senior living center. He said she had amazing energy and remained mentally sharp. "She was indefatigable. She just kept going," he said Tuesday. "She was not someone who would take naps in the afternoon, or not show up for any function, dinner or anything else. She was always there, fully present. She kept going, always." https://apnews.com/article/dorothy-hoffner-oldest-skydiver-record-769c936a6b2e9f6bf3333cd6f4219244

Pepper X marks the spot as South Carolina pepper expert scorches his own Guinness Book heat record

Ed Currie, the South Carolina hot pepper expert who crossbred and grew the Carolina Reaper that's hotter than most pepper sprays police use to subdue unruly criminals, has broken his own world record with a pepper that's three times hotter. Pepper X was publicly named the hottest pepper in the world on Oct. 9 by the Guinness Book of World Records, beating out the Reaper in Currie's decadelong hunt to perfect a pepper that he says provides "immediate, brutal heat." Currie said when he first tried Pepper X, it did more than warm his heart. "I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. Then the cramps came," said Currie, one of only five people so far to eat a entire Pepper X. "Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain." https://apnews.com/article/pepper-x-carolina-reaper-guinness-ed-currie-9c28d8cace1db200e1f9339e783cfbf3

Captain likely fell asleep before ferry crash in Seattle last year, officials conclude

Fatigue and complacency led to a passenger and car ferry crashing into a terminal in Seattle last year, causing $10.3 million in damage to the ferry, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's final report. The Cathlamet ferry departed Vashon Island on July 28, 2022 and crossed Puget Sound with 94 people on board. It was approaching its dock in West Seattle when it struck an offshore piling part of the dock called a dolphin, the NTSB said in the report released Thursday. One minor injury was reported. The dolphin had $300,000 in damage, officials said. The ferry captain "did not take any action to correct the ferry's course, slow down or sound the alarm before the contact," according to the report. Investigators said the captain also didn't recall what happened and seemed unaware of how the ferry wound up hitting the pilings. Those events are consistent with incapacitation from a microsleep, a period of sleep lasting a few seconds, because of fatigue, NTSB investigators said. "Mariners should understand the performance effects of sleep loss and recognize the dangers of fatigue, such as microsleeps," NTSB investigators said in the final report. Mariners should avoid being on duty when unable to safely carry out their responsibilities, investigators added. https://apnews.com/article/seattle-ferry-crash-report-cause-7ef91dc3d5c6761e0938045e523742ac

Stoneman Douglas High shooting site visited one last time by lawmakers and educators

Florida lawmakers and education leaders from several states on Saturday took what is likely the final tour of a building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where a former student shot 17 people to death and wounded 17 others on Valentine's Day 2018. The 1200 Building is scheduled to be demolished next summer, the local school district announced last month. Authorities told WPLG-TV that Saturday was the last day for people to tour the building, which has been preserved as evidence by the Broward Sheriff's Office. Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex Schachter was killed in the massacre, led Saturday's tour. "I wanted to have as many people, leaders of school districts around the country, to come to the building and understand the failures and lessons learned," he said. People from 25 states, including school board members, superintendents and national Parent Teacher Association members, went on the tour to see how they could make schools safer, WFOR-TV reported. https://apnews.com/article/stoneman-douglas-high-school-shooting-demolition-florida-34e8e51d7ca69e3d995a8af3e295e80f

A look at the contenders for House speaker and the demands they're facing from fellow Republicans

For Republicans, it's a question with no clear answer: Who becomes House speaker after Kevin McCarthy? Despite former President Donald Trump's endorsement of House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio on Friday, it's not at all certain that any of the GOP candidates will be able to round up enough votes — 218, if all lawmakers are present and voting — to ascend to one of the most powerful positions in government, second in line to the presidency. Jordan and a fellow longtime party stalwart and hard-liner, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, have begun making their case though phone calls and texts to colleagues. With the House trying to pick a new leader as soon as next week, others are waiting in the wings, including Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who as chair of the Republican Study Committee leads the largest faction of Republicans in the chamber. McCarthy's chaotic election as speaker in January took 15 punishing rounds and left him in a weakened position that contributed to his unprecedented downfall. Now, top Republicans want party members to work it out behind closed doors before a floor vote. "Look, just like in January where you had all the circus on the House floor, I think this is circus-like and chaotic right now," said Rep. Garret Graves, R-La. "It just doesn't make sense." Republicans on Tuesday plan to kick off the process, in private, at an evening forum where candidates can address their colleagues. Republicans would vote on an endorsement, with only a majority tally needed. But a decision could be delayed. https://apnews.com/article/scalise-jordan-hern-speaker-election-house-republicans-64fa61123be7a7af585233903256c0f9?user_email=ced6163b6653040f63f09b7d76e75bfeb9b648019f166afb6d391416e45d2bd5&utm_medium=Afternoon_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=AfternoonWire_Oct6_2023&utm_term=Afternoon%20Wire

'Barbenheimer' was a boon to movie theaters and a headache for many workers. So they're unionizing

For movie theater owners around the country, the same-day release of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" this summer meant record box office sales and a gratifying sign that the public still craved entertainment on the big screen. But for some employees at the Alamo Drafthouse in Manhattan, "Barbenheimer" was the breaking point. "That really pushed us to the edge," says Maggie Quick, a guest attendant. "It was just the constant understaffing and the emotional exhaustion." "People were waiting longer than usual for their food and that makes them short-tempered and impatient," recalls Tyler Trautman, a shift leader. "We're the ones facing customers. It takes a toll, a mental toll, to be yelled at by guests because their drink has been taking an hour." https://apnews.com/article/alamo-drafthouse-union-1ea5960fd7decdd3b8782c1d5edc64b1

Ford recalls over 238,000 Explorers to replace axle bolts that can fail after US opens investigation

Ford is recalling more than 238,000 Explorers in the U.S. because a rear axle bolt can fail, potentially causing a loss of drive power or allowing the SUVs to roll away while in park. The recall comes after U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation into the problem after getting two complaints that repairs didn't work in two previous recalls this year and in 2022. Affected are certain Explorers from the 2020 through 2022 model years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Friday on its website that the rear axle horizontal mounting bolt can fracture and cause the driveshaft to disconnect, increasing the risk of a crash. https://apnews.com/article/ford-recall-explorer-roll-away-park-axle-bolt-investigation-cbfb877ddf638fb2093f845e5a60eb33

Donald Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. "Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio's 4th Congressional District," Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight Friday. "He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!" The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to back Jordan's bid and after Trump said he would be open to serving as interim leader himself if Republicans couldn't settle on a successor following McCarthy's stunning ouster. Trump, the current GOP presidential front-runner, has used the leadership vacuum on the Hill to further demonstrate his control over the Republican Party. House Republicans are deeply fractured and some have been asking him to lead them — a seemingly fanciful suggestion that he also promoted after inflaming the divisions that forced out McCarthy as speaker. https://apnews.com/article/trump-speaker-mccarthy-capitol-hill-432f89f6826b2b4f51990ae4b4d293fb

Donald Trump is returning to his civil fraud trial, but star witness Michael Cohen won't be there

Former President Donald Trump returns to a New York City courthouse Tuesday to be a spectator at the civil fraud trial threatening to disrupt his real estate empire. Trump voluntarily attended the first three days of the trial, Oct. 2-4. He turned his appearance into a campaign stop by complaining about the case at every opportunity to TV cameras in the hallway outside the courtroom. Now he will be back, according to his lawyer, accompanied by bolstered security inside and outside the Manhattan courthouse. His appearance was initially supposed to coincide with testimony by Michael Cohen, his former attorney turned foe. But Cohen's planned appearance on the witness stand was delayed until at least next week, due to a health problem. Cohen said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he isn't dodging Trump. On Monday, he said he expects his estranged ex-boss to be in the courtroom when he does testify. https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-trial-net-worth-new-york-067501b1d742d4dccba2521ac3262fdb

Lawsuit to block New York's ban on gas stoves is filed by gas and construction groups

Gas and construction trade groups are suing to block New York's controversial state ban on gas stoves and furnaces in new buildings. The organizations argue the law violates the federal government's rules around how gas appliances are regulated, and filed the case against New York on Thursday in federal court. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, approved the ban this spring on the installation of fossil-fuel equipment in new buildings. It's set to take effect in 2026 for structures of seven stories or less and in 2029 for larger buildings. The law would not apply to existing buildings. Similar policies have been approved by dozens of Democrat-controlled cities and local governments as supporters say they are aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve indoor air quality. The rule quickly became the source of partisan outrage over climate change, with Republican officials and other opponents criticizing it as an infringement on consumer choice. https://apnews.com/article/gas-stove-ban-new-york-lawsuit-climate-1cdb46211813bd0275b1d4a162817f3e

Georgia Power will pay $413 million to settle lawsuit over nuclear reactor cost overruns

Georgia Power Co. will pay $413 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the utility of reneging on financial promises to one of its nuclear reactor partners. The payments to Oglethorpe Power Corp., announced Friday, could hold down future bills for millions of electric cooperative customers in Georgia. Oglethorpe sued Georgia Power in June 2022 in a contract dispute over who should pay for cost overruns for a third and fourth reactor at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta. Atlanta based Southern Co., which owns Georgia Power, said it would write off a $152 million loss on the settlement. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-power-vogtle-nuclear-plant-oglethorpe-lawsuit-899e34f518cb137a5d57542b51d1244b

75,000 Kaiser nurses, pharmacists and other workers have walked off the job

Health care workers at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical facilities across the U.S. walked off the job on Wednesday morning, in an effort to ramp up pressure on their employer to fix a staffing shortage that has intensified since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 75,000 workers — including nurses, emergency department technicians, pharmacists and hundreds of others — went on strike in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, D.C. It is the biggest health care strike in U.S. history, according to the unions. Kaiser, headquartered in Oakland, California, is one of the largest nonprofit health care providers in the United States, serving nearly 13 million patients. Most Kaiser workers who have walked off the job will be on strike for three days, until Saturday morning — except those in Virginia and Washington D.C., who will be on strike for 24 hours. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1203225614/kaiser-permanente-historic-strike-health-care-workers-nationwide

ACT test scores for U.S. students drop to a 30-year low

High school students' scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test. Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the class of 2023 whose scores were reported Wednesday were in their first year of high school when the virus reached the U.S. "The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career," said Janet Godwin, chief executive officer for the nonprofit ACT. The average ACT composite score for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8. The average scores in reading, science and math all were below benchmarks the ACT says students must reach to have a high probability of success in first-year college courses. The average score in English was just above the benchmark but still declined compared to last year. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205404298/act-test-scores-college-admissions-30-year-low

Deadly bird flu reappears in US commercial poultry flocks in Utah and South Dakota

Highly pathogenic bird flu has made its first appearances in U.S. commercial poultry flocks this season, affecting one turkey farm in South Dakota and one in Utah and raising concerns that more outbreaks could follow. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that avian influenza, which is deadly to commercial poultry, was confirmed in a flock of 47,300 turkeys in Jerauld County, South Dakota, on Oct. 4 and at a farm with 141,800 birds in Utah's Sanpete County last Friday. The outbreaks are the first reported among commercial flocks in the U.S. since the disease struck two turkey farms in the Dakotas in April. Infected flocks are normally destroyed to prevent the flu's spread, and then the farms are decontaminated. Before last week, the only reports of bird flu in recent months in the U.S. in recent months were sporadic appearances in backyard flocks or among wild birds such as ducks, geese and eagles. While wild birds often show no symptoms of avian influenza, infections in them are a concern to the poultry industry because migrating birds can spread the disease to vulnerable commercial flocks. https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-avian-influenza-outbreak-virus-7b83ed4d76607bf874685e84b969ceae

House is expected to move to second vote after Jordan fails to win speaker's gavel

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed to win enough votes to be elected speaker of the House on the first ballot. Jordan and his allies anticipated this failure and he is expected to call for further rounds of voting. The House voted 200 to 232, with 20 Republicans voting against Jordan. Several members voted for previous candidates for the job, including former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. It was clear within the first 10 minutes of the lengthy and occasionally raucous vote that Jordan did not have the support to win the first round. Jordan will have to convince virtually every Republican to support him in order to win the gavel. Every member of the House who was present in Washington was called to the chamber ahead of the vote. They filled nearly every seat, standing to occasionally cheer and jeer. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1206422464/house-speaker-vote-news

Voting is underway as Republicans make a third attempt to nominate a speaker

House Republicans are going back to the drawing board to select a nominee to be House speaker, three weeks after a vote to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy threw the chamber into disarray. Republicans have restarted the process of voting on a nominee in a secret ballot election. This will be the third election of its kind in as many weeks and it remains unclear if any of the new candidates win the votes needed to become Speaker. Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan were both named the party's nominee, but pulled their candidacies after they failed to secure enough support to succeed on the floor. Scalise withdrew before trying on the floor and Jordan failed on three ballots by the full House. Four members remain in the race after Reps. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and Gary Palmer, R-Ala., dropped out and Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Jack Bergman, R-Mich., and Austin Scott, R-Ga., lost on earlier ballots. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/24/1208026638/house-republicans-to-vote-on-their-third-speaker-nominee-in-as-many-weeks

Race for Speaker of the House slides into uncertainty, again

House Republicans once hoped they could quickly select a new Speaker of the House and quell the drama within their ranks, but by Thursday afternoon an easy resolution seemed to be slipping further away. Less than 24 hours after a narrow majority of House Republicans selected Steve Scalise, R-La., as "speaker designate," his chances of winning enough votes to be elected speaker in a vote on the House floor seemed to be shrinking. Any candidate would need roughly 217 votes to be approved. By Thursday morning, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was far from encouraging about Scalise's path. "It's not an easy task," McCarthy said. "It's a big hill." Scalise won 113 votes during a closed door vote on Wednesday. That was enough to beat House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, but still far from enough to win on the House floor. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205466751/race-for-speaker-of-the-house-slides-into-uncertainty-again

House to enter 22nd day without a speaker, but with a new nominee for the job

House Republicans voted late Tuesday night to select Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to be their latest nominee for speaker even as it remains unclear that any candidate can win enough votes to be elected on the House floor. "Democracy is messy sometimes, but it is our system," Johnson told reporters at a press conference after the vote. "We are going to restore your trust in what we do here, you're going to see a new form of government and we're going to move this quickly. This group here is ready to govern." Johnson said the full House will vote on his nomination at noon on Wednesday. Members celebrated Johnson's selection by inviting reporters into the room where GOP members had been meeting, and voting all day. Cheers rang out and members chanted "Mike" as reporters raised questions about Johnson's viability on the House floor. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/24/1208372102/house-enters-22nd-day-without-a-speaker-with-a-new-nominee-for-the-job

Voting begins in Ohio in the only election this fall to decide abortion rights

In-person voting for a November ballot measure over abortion rights began Wednesday in Ohio, the latest state where voters will decide the issue after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to the procedure last year. Ohio is the only state to put an abortion rights question before voters this fall, making it a testing ground for messaging ahead of the 2024 elections when it's expected to be on the ballot in more states and a major factor in races up and down the ballot. Election officials throughout the state are generally predicting heavier-than-normal turnout for an off-year vote because of the high-profile campaigning over Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that seeks to enshrine abortion rights. Mary Weiss was among the voters who entered an early voting center in Toledo during the first day of early in-person voting ahead of Election Day on Nov. 7. https://apnews.com/article/election-2023-ohio-abortion-marijuana-early-voting-eaf1fce0cac0a309efd487e0f594ea8f

Detroit police say they've identified several people of interest in synagogue president's killing

Investigators have identified several people of interest in the fatal stabbing of a Detroit synagogue leader but no one who can be publicly declared a prime suspect, police said Monday, two days after the woman's death. Chief James White invited reporters to hear an update on the investigation, though he released few new details and declined to disclose Samantha Woll's connection to any of the people of interest. "We have to be very, very cautious as to what information we share," White said. "There are very intricate details about this case that, if revealed, could really damage what we're trying to accomplish. "There are facts that are known only to our suspect," he said. https://apnews.com/article/samantha-woll-synagogue-president-detroit-e1140e058e691a12827dfcd550a3bab7

Elite pilots prepare for 'camping out in the sky' as they compete in prestigious gas balloon race

It's been 15 years since the world's elite gas balloon pilots have gathered in the United States for a race with roots that stretch back more than a century. The pilots will be launching for this year's Gordon Bennett competition during an international balloon fiesta that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators to the heart of New Mexico each fall. The race has been held in the United States only 13 times before, and this will be the fifth time the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has played host. The launch window opens Saturday evening for what is billed as one of the most prestigious events in aviation. Some worry that the massive spheres could be mistaken for Chinese spy balloons as they traverse the upper reaches of America's airspace. But the pilots who will be racing aren't worried. They're more concerned about charting a course that will keep them out of bad weather and give their hydrogen-filled balloons a path to victory. https://apnews.com/article/international-gas-balloon-race-albuquerque-gordon-bennett-2035151ceefa4d94d60ec43521da266b

1 of 2 Colorado officers convicted in Elijah McClain's death after neck hold, ketamine injection

Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer of homicide Thursday and acquitted another of all charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was put in a neck hold, pinned to the ground and given an overdose of the sedative ketamine by paramedics. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault by a 12-person jury. They found officer Jason Rosenblatt not guilty. Roedema, who kept his head bowed after the verdict was read, faces up to three years in prison on the more serious homicide charge. Rosenblatt hugged his supporters as he walked out of court. McClain's mother listened to the verdict from the front row, where Attorney General Phil Weiser had his hand on her shoulder. Sheneen McClain held her right hand high in a raised fist as she left the courtroom. She expressed disappointment in the verdict. https://apnews.com/article/elijah-mcclain-death-officers-trial-0b6005e56557ae251b5479be29723349

Trump's lawyers file challenges to Washington election subversion case, calling it unconstitutional

Lawyers for Donald Trump are raising new challenges to the federal election subversion case against him, telling a judge that the indictment should be dismissed because it violates the former president's free speech rights and represents a vindictive prosecution. The motions filed late Monday in the case charging the Republican with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost are on top of a pending argument by defense attorneys that he is immune from federal prosecution for actions taken within his official role as president. Special counsel Jack Smith's team urged a judge last week to reject that argument and is expected to do the same for the latest motions. It is routine for defendants to ask a judge to dismiss the charges against them, but such requests are rarely granted. In Trump's case, though, the challenges to the indictment could at a minimum force a delay in a prosecution that is set for trial in Washington next March. Taken together, the motions cut to the heart of some of Trump's most oft-repeated public defenses: that he is being prosecuted for political reasons by the Biden administration Justice Department and that he was within his First Amendment rights to challenge the outcome of the election and to allege that it had been tainted by fraud — a finding not supported by courts across the country or even by Trump's own attorney general. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-riot-jan-6-bb5ccb68a6c054ef362eff6bf57203df

Trump's lawyers seek to postpone his classified documents trial until after the 2024 election

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have asked a judge to postpone his classified documents trial until after next year's presidential election, saying they have not received all the records they need to review to prepare his defense. The trial on charges of illegally hoarding classified documents, among four criminal cases the Republican former president is facing, is currently scheduled for May 20, 2024, in Florida. In a motion filed late Wednesday, Trump's lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to push back the trial until at least mid-November 2024. The presidential election is set for Nov. 5, 2024, with Trump currently leading the GOP field in the months before the primary season. The defense lawyers argued that a postponement was necessary because of scheduling conflicts — another federal trial is scheduled for March 2024 in Washington, and one of Trump's attorneys, Christopher Kise, is also representing him in an ongoing civil fraud trial in New York — and because of what they say are delays in obtaining and reviewing the classified records cited in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment. https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-37a360519244eb3c211a56cd9355adc8

Arkansas AG sets ballot language for proposal to drop sales tax on diapers, menstrual products

Menstrual hygiene products and diapers are a step closer to being exempt from sales taxes in Arkansas after the state attorney general's office approved a second attempt to get the issue on next year's ballot. Just over two weeks after rejecting the initial ballot language for ambiguity, Attorney General Tim Griffin on Tuesday gave the OK for organizers to begin the labor-intensive process of collecting enough valid signatures to put the issue on the ballot next year. If that happens and voters were to approve the measure, Arkansas would join 29 other states that have such an exemption. The proposal is an attempt by the Arkansas Period Poverty Project to make tampons and other menstrual hygiene products more accessible to women and, according to the newly-approved language, would include diaper products for infants and adults as well by exempting such products from state and local sales taxes. The group is represented by Little Rock attorney David Couch, who submitted the original ballot proposal as well as the revised version. He said Tuesday that with the first hurdle cleared he plans to hit the ground running, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. https://apnews.com/article/menstrual-hygiene-products-sales-tax-ballot-arkansas-6e17ae2ea80abb65a24684c3d4fef4a6

Social Security benefits will increase by 3.2% in 2024 as inflation moderates

Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, far less than this year's historic boost and reflecting moderating consumer prices. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, means the average recipient will receive more than $50 more every month beginning in January, the Social Security Administration said Thursday. The AARP estimated that increase at $59 per month. "This will help millions of people keep up with expenses," said Kilolo Kijakazi, Social Security's acting commissioner. About 71 million people — including retirees, disabled people and children — receive Social Security benefits. Thursday's announcement follows this year's 8.7% benefit increase, brought on by record 40-year-high inflation, which pushed up the price of consumer goods. With inflation easing, the next annual increase is markedly smaller. https://apnews.com/article/social-security-cost-of-living-adjustment-cola-ef9255c0da3c3d2391dadac4515db2e7

Funeral-goers mourn the death of a 6-year-old boy killed in an anti-Muslim stabbing

Mourners gathered outside Chicago on Monday for the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was stabbed to death in his home late last week in an apparent anti-Muslim hate crime. Authorities say the family's landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, attacked Wadea and his mother because they were Muslim. Illinois prosecutors have charged Czuba with hate crimes and other offenses. Wadea's mother, 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin, was seriously wounded in the Saturday morning attack in unincorporated Plainfield Township but is expected to survive. A prayer service was held at a Bridgeview, Ill., mosque Monday afternoon, drawing dozens of mourners, some of whom waved Palestinian flags, WBEZ's Anna Savchenko reported. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1206292210/funeral-goers-mourn-the-death-of-a-6-year-old-boy-killed-in-an-anti-muslim-stabb

Take a peek at what NASA brought back from an asteroid

NASA has shared its first glimpse of the black rocks and dust brought back from an asteroid, but the bulk of the material remains locked inside a sample collection device that researchers need to slowly disassemble. Still, the tiny amount of material analyzed so far shows that the asteroid, named Bennu, contains abundant water and carbon, adding to evidence that asteroids may have seeded the early Earth with ingredients needed for the emergence of life. "We're already thrilled with the results," says Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which sent a spacecraft on a seven-year mission to Bennu and back. In 2020, the spacecraft briefly tagged the surface of the asteroid, over 200 million miles from Earth, nabbing some rocks in a device called the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism, or TAGSAM. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205300000/take-a-peek-at-what-nasa-brought-back-from-an-asteroid

NCAA President Charlie Baker to testify during Senate hearing on college sports next week

NCAA President Charlie Baker is expected to testify in front of a Senate committee next week during the 10th hearing on Capitol Hill over the last three years on college sports. The Senate Judiciary Committee announced it has scheduled a hearing on Name, Image and Likeness, and the Future of College Sports for next Tuesday. Baker, the former governor of Massachusetts, took over as NCAA president in March and has been spending a lot of time in Washington lobbying lawmakers to help college sports with a federal law to regulate how athletes can be compensated for their fame. Several bills have been introduced by federal lawmakers lately, including two bipartisan efforts from the senate, but still there has been little movement toward serious action on a issue that has been a topic of conversation since the summer of 2020. https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-senate-hearing-nil-athlete-compensation-afd0dcb4751b689610b6eb1285289a87

Theodore Roosevelt National Park to reduce bison herd from 700 to 400 animals

National park officials are planning to gather and reduce the bison herd in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, rehoming the animals to a number of Native American tribes. The "bison capture" is scheduled to start on Saturday and continue through the week in the park's South Unit near Medora. The operation will be closed to the public for safety reasons. The park plans to reduce its roughly 700 bison to 400. The park will remove bison of differing ages. Bison removed from the park will be rehomed and come under tribal management, InterTribal Buffalo Council Executive Director Troy Heinert told The Associated Press. The bison will provide genetic diversity and increase numbers of existing tribal herds, he said. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will receive bison; more bison could go to other tribes, depending on demographics, said Heinert, who is Sicangu Lakota. https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-bison-theodore-roosevelt-national-park-e8c772d13ea6682cc728e1cb2558323d

Nearly 1,000 migrating birds died after crashing into Chicago building

Nearly 1,000 birds died late last week after flying into a Chicago convention center during their migratory journey south. 964 birds crashed into McCormick Place Lakeside Center, a mostly glass building located on the shore of Lake Michigan just south of downtown Chicago. Douglas Stotz, a conservation ecologist with the Chicago-based Field Museum, called Wednesday evening the biggest night of migration Chicago had seen in the last century. "In one night we had a year's worth of death," he told NPR, noting that typically, between 1,000 and 2,000 birds die each year from flying into the building. The Field Museum monitors the building for dead or injured birds. Before getting to work on Thursday morning, Stotz saw what he described as "clouds of birds" in the sky. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/09/1204641722/nearly-1-000-migrating-birds-died-after-crashing-into-chicago-building

Netflix plans to open brick and mortar locations

Netflix recently shuttered the longstanding mail-order DVD service that led to the closure of video stores around the world and ushered in the era of streaming. But now the company appears to be embracing brick and mortar. According to a Bloomberg report quoting Josh Simon, the company's vice president of consumer products, Netflix aims to open a network of stores offering retail, dining and live entertainment that leverage its TV shows and movies. Netflix has not announced what it will be selling at the locations; it's unclear if DVDs or any type of physical media will be part of the inventory. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/14/1205971022/netflix-house-brick-and-mortar-locations

Nets coach Vaughn says team from Israel wants to play exhibition game Thursday despite war at home

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said their opponent from Israel still wants to play an exhibition game Thursday night in Brooklyn, days after the country was attacked by Hamas militants. Maccabi Ra'anana will be opening a three-game tour against NBA teams. Nets center Nic Claxton questioned Wednesday whether the game should be played because of the ongoing war that has already claimed more than 2,300 lives. "We feel for the players that we're playing against," the center said. "I don't know if we should be playing the game personally. I don't think we should be playing the game." Asked why he felt that way, Claxton responded: "Because there's bigger things in the world going on than basketball." https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-nets-0026224ba889f04b951c7eb82e7e62ed

New York governor dodges questions on who paid for her trip to wartime Israel

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is refusing to disclose who paid for her to travel to wartime Israel last week for a self-described solidarity mission, a trip that her office said is still awaiting clearance from a state ethics board. The Democratic governor and a handful of staff and state police were in Israel between Oct. 18 and Oct. 20, meeting with government officials and families displaced by the conflict, while touring various parts of the country. Hochul, who as governor has no direct role in diplomatic affairs, has sidestepped multiple questions on who funded the trip, with her office saying only that a nonprofit group had pledged to cover the costs. She has said taxpayers paid for her state police detail. "I just said I have to get over there. Follow all the ethics rules and get me there," Hochul said this week when asked about the trip's funding, directing follow-up questions to a spokesperson. https://apnews.com/article/hochul-israel-trip-funding-2a04a02b3c877d663a6bc964bfb65f49

Further evidence points to footprints in New Mexico being the oldest sign of humans in Americas

New research confirms that fossil human footprints in New Mexico are likely the oldest direct evidence of human presence in the Americas, a finding that upends what many archaeologists thought they knew about when our ancestors arrived in the New World. The footprints were discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in White Sands National Park and date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science. The estimated age of the footprints was first reported in Science in 2021, but some researchers raised concerns about the dates. Questions focused on whether seeds of aquatic plants used for the original dating may have absorbed ancient carbon from the lake — which could, in theory, throw off radiocarbon dating by thousands of years. https://apnews.com/article/human-footprints-new-mexico-ancient-white-sands-33e086dac71d4054cd5f5122810a73bf

US Border Patrol has released thousands of migrants on San Diego's streets, taxing charities

Over five years, the largest U.S. city on the Mexican border developed a well-oiled system to shelter asylum-seekers. That system is being tested like never before as U.S. Customs and Border Protection releases migrants to the streets of California's second-largest city because shelters are full. Since Sept. 13, about 13,000 have been dropped at transit stations with notices to appear in immigration court at their final destinations in the U.S., with about 500 more arriving daily. Migrant aid groups blame a mix of circumstances for the shelter crunch: reduced government funding; CBP's practice of sending migrants from Texas and Arizona to be processed in San Diego; and a surge in illegal crossings. Last week, President Joe Biden's administration advanced plans for a border wall in Texas' Rio Grande Valley and said it would resume deportation flights to Venezuela. Before they are released in San Diego, some migrants being dropped off have been waiting between a double-layer border wall or camping under Border Patrol watch in remote mountains east of the city. CBP closed a major pedestrian border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico, on Sept. 14 and assigned more officials to processing migrants. https://apnews.com/article/biden-border-migrant-shelters-afd3a60803902eb4e1d6890785275a2c

Thousands of US health care workers go on strike in multiple states over wages and staff shortages

Picketing began Wednesday morning at Kaiser Permanente hospitals as some 75,000 health care workers go on strike in Virginia, California and three other states over wages and staffing shortages, marking the latest major labor unrest in the United States. Kaiser Permanente is one of the country's larger insurers and health care system operators, with 39 hospitals nationwide. The non-profit company, based in Oakland, California, provides health coverage for nearly 13 million people, sending customers to clinics and hospitals it runs or contracts with to provide care. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system's employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, D.C. The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments. https://apnews.com/article/kaiser-health-care-workers-strike-b8b40ce8c082c0b8c4f1c0fb7ec38741

Biden's dog Commander has left the White House

President Biden's dog Commander is no longer staying at the White House as the first family tries to figure out how to stop him from biting Secret Service officers. The German shepherd has been involved in a series of altercations. The most recent known incident was on Sept. 25, when he bit a Secret Service officer, who was treated by medical personnel at the White House. "Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated," said Elizabeth Alexander, a spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, in a statement. CNN was first to report his departure. Alexander said the Bidens "care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day. They remain grateful for the patience and support of the U.S. Secret Service and all involved, as they continue to work through solutions." She did not say where Commander was staying, or whether he would be returning to the White House. His departure follows that of another Biden dog, a German shepherd named Major, who was sent to live with a family friend in Delaware in 2021 after biting people at the White House. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1203808674/bidens-dog-commander-has-left-the-white-house

Biden postpones trip to Colorado to discuss domestic agenda as the Israel-Hamas conflict intensifies

President Joe Biden postponed a trip to Colorado on Monday to stay in Washington and focus on the growing conflict in the Middle East, setting aside an opportunity to pitch his economic accomplishments as he runs for reelection. Biden had been heading to the district of Rep. Lauren Boebert, where he was to visit CS Wind, the world's largest facility for wind tower manufacturing. But the White House said just a few hours before Biden was set to take off for the trip that it would be rescheduled. Instead, Biden is expected to hold a series of high-level meetings with aides on Israel and the growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza. The Democratic president is weighing a decision to visit the region in what would be a striking symbol of support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-boebert-colorado-economy-ab1424ffde9a8178083fe987db5cc839

Biden interview in special counsel documents investigation suggests sprawling probe near conclusion

President Joe Biden's interview with prosecutors over his handling of classified documents signals that a sprawling investigation that has included questioning of some of his closest aides and at least one cabinet member is nearing a conclusion. The White House revealed on Monday night that Biden was interviewed on Sunday and Monday by special counsel Robert Hur's team, meaning that he was fielding questions from investigators during the same hours that his administration was consumed by the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. "As president, he has to do multiple things at once," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. It's a familiar dynamic for a president who over the last year has had to fulfill his duties as commander in chief while dealing with scrutiny over his own classified records retention and the legal problems of his recently indicted son, Hunter. https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-justice-4c657c8d19e3b1f232952a266eccc9b6

Biden's pick to be ambassador to Israel tells senators he'll ensure the US ally 'has what it needs'

President Joe Biden's nominee to be ambassador to Israel told senators Wednesday that he would "ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself" and would work with the U.S. ally to end the attacks by Hamas if he were confirmed. Jacob Lew, a treasury secretary under President Barack Obama, promised to coordinate with the international community and address the humanitarian crisis facing civilians in Gaza amid Israeli military strikes. His hearing came as Biden visited Israel to reinforce U.S. support and try to ease tensions in the latest war with Hamas. "At this moment, there is no greater mission than to be asked to strengthen the ties between the United States and the State of Israel and to work toward peace in a region that has known so much war and destruction," Lew said in his opening statement. https://apnews.com/article/israel-senate-lew-confirmation-ambassador-2c672dfc9a3b05c4d2d20ec894caa876

Mike Johnson is the new House speaker, but the ally of Donald Trump faces same GOP challenges ahead

Republican Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House, but the ally of Donald Trump inherits many of the same political problems that have tormented past GOP leaders, tested their grasp of the gavel and eventually chased them out of office. When the House convenes Thursday it will be a bustle of activity, making up for lost time during the weeks of chaos since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. But the goodwill toward Johnson blurs the political fault lines challenging the Louisianan's ability to lead the GOP majority as it faces daunting issues ahead. By Nov. 17, the Congress must fund the government again or risk a federal shutdown. President Joe Biden wants an additional $105 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Israel and Ukraine. And Republicans are eager to resume their impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son's business dealings. "This has been a grueling process," Johnson said Wednesday after he took the gavel. "The challenge before us is great but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down." https://apnews.com/article/congress-speaker-johnson-republicans-trump-98143477c7cd0069d8d59e59594a277b

GOP's Jim Jordan fails again to win vote to become House speaker and colleagues seek other options

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan failed again Wednesday on a crucial second ballot to become House speaker, the hard-fighting ally of Donald Trump losing even more GOP colleagues who are refusing to give him the gavel. Next steps were highly uncertain as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. A bipartisan group of lawmakers floated an extraordinary plan — to give the interim speaker-pro-tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., more power to reopen the immobilized House and temporarily conduct routine business. What was clear was that Jordan's path to become House speaker was almost certainly lost. He was opposed by 22 Republicans, two more than he lost in first round voting the day before. No further votes Wednesday were scheduled. "We'll keep talking to members, keep working on it," Jordan, a founding member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, said after the vote, vowing to stay in the race. https://apnews.com/article/jim-jordan-house-speaker-mccarthy-trump-994067b90a874ed46dd6a1766d89a163

GOP's Scalise ends his bid to become House speaker as Republican holdouts refuse to back the nominee

Republican Steve Scalise ended his bid to become House speaker late Thursday after hardline holdouts refused to back the party's nominee, throwing the GOP majority into deeper chaos and leaving the chamber still unable to function. Scalise told GOP colleagues at a closed-door evening meeting of his decision and pointedly declined to announce backing for anyone else, including his chief rival, Rep. Jim Jordan, the far-right Judiciary Committee chairman backed by Donald Trump who had already told colleagues he no longer would seek the job. Next steps are uncertain as the House is essentially closed while the Republican majority tries to elect a speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy from the job. "I just shared with my colleagues that I'm withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee," Scalise, the House majority leader, said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting at the Capitol. https://apnews.com/article/kevin-mccarthy-ousted-speaker-jordan-scalise-1492ca6b58604c51186015c23f7efccd

Swing-county Kentucky voters weigh their choices for governor in a closely watched off-year election

Republican voter Mark Cook stuck with his party in Kentucky's last election for governor. Next month, he's leaning toward crossing over to support the Democrat he voted against in 2019, Gov. Andy Beshear. Cook is a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and has only disdain for Democratic President Joe Biden. But Cook views one of the nation's most closely watched off-year elections through a prism firmly grounded in the Bluegrass State. He thinks Beshear, known to many Kentuckians as much by his first name as his last, has been a good steward of the state's economy. "He's brought a lot of work to Kentucky," Cook said last week while picking up lumber at a hardware store on the outskirts of Bowling Green. "I've seen what he's done. I'm satisfied what he's doing." Voters across Kentucky, from Appalachia to the banks of the Mississippi River, are weighing their decision in the Nov. 7 race between Beshear and Republican Daniel Cameron, the state's attorney general. Once again, Warren County, which includes the leafy, fast-growing college town of Bowling Green, looms as a potential swing area. https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-governor-race-abortion-pandemic-beshear-cameron-508573d2aeb8d8ab4039dbd834609519

The House is set to vote on a new speaker. Here's what to know

Republicans are heading to the House Tuesday for the second time this Congress to try and elect a speaker, marking what they hope will be a unifying moment for a party that has been in turmoil for weeks. GOP lawmakers are expected to rally their votes behind Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to be the next speaker despite reluctance from some who are wary of his hardline approach. Conservatives have been mounting an intense pressure campaign to persuade the final holdouts to support him. Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, won the GOP's nomination for speaker in a secret ballot on Friday. But a second round of voting showed that more than 50 Republicans would oppose Jordan on the floor, leaving him well short of the 217 votes needed to win the gavel. Since then, with the help of former President Donald Trump and some in conservative media, Jordan has managed to flip a substantial number of detractors in his favor. But he'll need the backing of nearly every Republican to become speaker, as Democrats are certain to back their own nominee, Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Republicans control the House 221-212. https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-vote-guide-jordan-410d2f46378a7ab2fee9d6534fd2ef76

RFK Jr.'s independent run for president draws GOP criticism and silence from national Democrats

Republicans attacked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday as the longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist launched an independent bid for the White House, reflecting growing concerns on the right that the former Democrat now threatens to take votes from former President Donald Trump in 2024. The Republican National Committee and Trump's campaign both took aim at Kennedy's liberal background while national Democrats stayed silent as Kennedy insisted in a speech in Philadelphia that he was leaving both political parties behind. "Voters should not be deceived by anyone who pretends to have conservative values," said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung in a statement. He labeled Kennedy's campaign "nothing more than a vanity project for a liberal Kennedy looking to cash in on his family's name." The fiery response exposes the unknowns that lie in Kennedy's long-anticipated decision to run as an independent. The move is likely to impact the 2024 race, which appears to be heading toward a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, but it's still unclear exactly how. https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-presidential-campaign-independent-2024-30d940109c4956de9c81f332ec418463

North Carolina Senate advances congressional map plan that could give Republicans a 3-seat gain

Republicans in the North Carolina Senate advanced a map proposal Monday for the state's congressional districts beginning in 2024 that could position the party to pick up at least three seats in the U.S. House next year. The potential gains would be a boon to congressional Republicans seeking to preserve and expand their majority in the narrowly divided chamber. The Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee approved a plan for North Carolina's 14 U.S. House seats, creating 10 districts that appear to favor a Republican, three that favor a Democrat and one that could be considered competitive, according to statewide election data included with the proposal. Both parties currently hold seven seats each in the state's congressional delegation after a panel of trial judges fashioned temporary boundaries for the 2022 election. The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on the proposed congressional map, and it could receive final approval in the similarly GOP-led House as early as Wednesday. Redistricting legislation cannot be vetoed by the Democratic governor. https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-congress-map-redistricting-d287cb668138e88db64a7c2e5e25fd0f

Republicans will try to elect Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan as House speaker but GOP holdouts remain

Republicans will try to elect a firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan as the new House speaker, elevating a chief ally of Donald Trump to a center-seat of U.S. power and showing just how far the hard-right flank has moved into the GOP mainstream. On Tuesday, the House is scheduled to start voting at noon in what could become a showdown for the gavel. At least a handful of holdout Republicans are refusing to give Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio Republican as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency. But with public pressure bearing down on lawmakers from Trump's allies including Fox News' Sean Hannity, it's not clear how long the holdouts can last. Jordan swiftly flipped dozens of detractors in a matter of days, shoring up reluctant Republicans who have few options left two weeks after Kevin McCarthy's ouster. "The American people deserve to have their Congress and House of Representatives working, and you can't have that happen until you get a speaker," Jordan said after a late-night meeting Monday at the Capitol. https://apnews.com/article/jim-jordan-house-speaker-mccarthy-trump-f2b2bf9dc834742bde93d5fc918d9940

An Oklahoma man used pandemic relief funds to have his name cleared of murder

Ricky Dority spends most of his days playing with his grandchildren, feeding chickens and working in the yard where he lives with his son's family. It's a jarring change from where he was just several months ago, locked in a cell serving a life prison sentence at Oklahoma's Joseph Harp Correctional Center in a killing he said he didn't commit. After more than two decades behind bars, Dority had no chance at being released — until he used his pandemic relief funds to hire a dogged private investigator. The investigator and students at the Oklahoma Innocence Project at Oklahoma City University, which is dedicated to exonerating wrongful convictions in the state, found inconsistencies in the state's account of a 1997 cold-case killing, and Dority's conviction was vacated in June by a Sequoyah County judge. Now, the 65-year-old says he's enjoying the 5-acre property in a quiet neighborhood of well-to-do homes in the rolling, forested hills of the Arkansas River Valley outside of Fort Smith. "If you're gone for a lot of years, you don't take it for granted anymore." https://apnews.com/article/innocence-project-wrongful-conviction-oklahoma-fbb59bbfb46d44a375704f172b6fc786

An empty-nest mama bear just won Fat Bear Week

She didn't need to win to prove anything. She just needed to eat hundreds of pounds of salmon so she could survive hibernation. But the bear known as 128 Grazer chomped and she romped, and now she is a Fat Bear Week champion. "She has been putting in the work," ranger Felicia Jimenez said as the 2023 bracket was unveiled. "She was quite dainty in early summer, but now she is huge." A dominant bear, 128 Grazer brooked no nonsense at Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve this summer: "For example, a large adult male, 151 Walker, regularly avoided her approach," the park noted. Grazer took care of business at the ballot box as well, trouncing rival bears at every stage of the tournament. She dispatched past champions 747 and Holly to reach the final and a faceoff with 32 Chunk, an enigmatic and immense bear. Grazer earned 108,321 votes to Chunk's 23,134 to win her first championship. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1205207955/an-empty-nest-mama-bear-just-won-fat-bear-week

Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election interference case

Sidney Powell, a onetime attorney for former President Donald Trump who helped orchestrate his legal efforts to try to overturn his 2020 election defeat, has pleaded guilty in the sweeping Georgia election interference case. Powell spread baseless claims of widespread election fraud after the 2020 contest, and worked to access voting machines in Coffee County, Ga., and elsewhere to further those assertions. Powell is one of 19 people, including the former president, who were charged with racketeering in the case tied to failed efforts to reverse his defeat in Georgia. She also faced six other charges for her role in organizing an effort to illegally copy election data from rural, Republican-heavy Coffee County. There is no evidence of fraud in Georgia's thrice-counted 2020 election results. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1207076719/sidney-powell-georgia-guilty-plea

Thousands of US health care workers go on strike in multiple states over wages and staff shortages

Some 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walked off the job Wednesday in multiple states, kicking off a major health care strike in an extraordinary year for U.S. labor organizing and work stoppages. Kaiser Permanente is one of the country's larger insurers and health care system operators, serving nearly 13 million people. The nonprofit company, based in Oakland, California, said its 39 hospitals, including emergency rooms, will remain open during the picketing, though appointments and non-urgent procedures could be delayed. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system's employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, D.C. "They're not listening to the frontline health care workers," said Mikki Fletchall, a licensed vocational nurse based in a Kaiser medical office in Camarillo, California. "We're striking because of our patients." https://apnews.com/article/kaiser-health-care-workers-strike-b8b40ce8c082c0b8c4f1c0fb7ec38741?user_email=ced6163b6653040f63f09b7d76e75bfeb9b648019f166afb6d391416e45d2bd5&utm_medium=Afternoon_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=AfternoonWire_Oct4_2023&utm_term=Afternoon%20Wire

Rising long-term interest rates are posing the latest threat to a US economic 'soft landing'

Surging interest rates are intensifying the challenges for the U.S. economy and threatening to derail the Federal Reserve's drive to tame inflation without causing a deep recession. Since mid-summer, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for many loans, has steadily climbed, causing a spillover rise in other borrowing costs. The costs of mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt have all risen in response. The collective impact of higher rates across the economy could also weaken the government's own finances. The jump in longer-term rates coincides with other threats, from higher gas prices and this week's resumption of student loan payments to autoworkers' ongoing strike and the risk of a government shutdown next month, all of which could leave consumers with less money to spend to power the economy. The strike by the United Auto Workers, now in its third week with no resolution in sight, could reduce vehicle sales in coming months. And the threat of a government shutdown, narrowly averted this past weekend, looms large, especially given the chaos over the leadership of the House of Representatives. Far-right Republican House members deposed their leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, on Tuesday for working with Democrats to temporarily avoid a shutdown. https://apnews.com/article/rates-inflation-prices-economy-yields-federal-reserve-911e5289f4830c11877410d46d62fc3e

Hollywood studios break off strike talks with actors, who slam 'bullying tactics'

Talks bitterly broke off between Hollywood actors and studios late Wednesday, killing any hopes that the three-month strike by performers would come to an end anytime soon. The studios announced that they had suspended contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to make continuing worth it, despite an offer as good as the one that recently ended the writers strike. The actors union decried their opponents' "bullying tactics" and said they were wildly mischaracterizing their offers. On Oct. 2, for the first time since the strike began July 14, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had resumed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in strike talks. When negotiations resumed with writers last month, their strike ended five days later, but similar progress was not made with the actors union. https://apnews.com/article/actors-strike-talks-suspended-hollywood-writers-06c035134a1f3b8b8d0531ed247557cb

'Ring of fire' solar eclipse will slice across Americas on Saturday with millions along path

Tens of millions in the Americas will have front-row seats for Saturday's rare "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun. What's called an annular solar eclipse — better known as a ring of fire — will briefly dim the skies over parts of the western U.S. and Central and South America. As the moon lines up precisely between Earth and the sun, it will blot out all but the sun's outer rim. A bright, blazing border will appear around the moon for as much as five minutes, wowing skygazers along a narrow path stretching from Oregon to Brazil. The celestial showstopper will yield a partial eclipse across the rest of the Western Hemisphere. It's a prelude to the total solar eclipse that will sweep across Mexico, the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, in six months. Unlike Saturday, when the moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the sun from our perspective, the moon will be at the perfect distance on April 8, 2024. Here's what you need to know about the ring of fire eclipse, where you can see it and how to protect your eyes: WHAT'S THE PATH OF THE RING OF FIRE ECLIPSE? The eclipse will carve out a swath about 130 miles (210 kilometers) wide, starting in the North Pacific and entering the U.S. over Oregon around 8 a.m. PDT Saturday. It will culminate in the ring of fire a little over an hour later. From Oregon, the eclipse will head downward across Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas, encompassing slivers of Idaho, California, Arizona and Colorado, before exiting into the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi. It will take less than an hour for the flaming halo to traverse the U.S. https://apnews.com/article/ring-of-fire-eclipse-what-to-know-df2bd3b1d69854421f241bf9b49cf123

More Americans say they support political violence ahead of the 2024 election

Tensions are high among American voters ahead of presidential contests next year, according to a new national survey released today by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Brookings Institution. Researchers found that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe democracy is 'at risk' in the upcoming presidential election — and about a quarter of those surveyed said they think "American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country." "I think we're in for a pretty challenging election season between now and the presidential election in 2024," said Robert Jones, the CEO and founder of the PRRI — a nonpartisan group that conducts research on the intersection of politics, culture and religion. According to the PRRI study, 75% of Americans surveyed said they agree that the "future of American democracy is at risk in the 2024 presidential election." Democrats were more likely to hold this view with 84% support, but supermajorities of Republicans and independent voters said they also agreed with that statement. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208373493/political-violence-democracy-2024-presidential-election-extremism

Kevin McCarthy is out as speaker of the House. Here's what's next

The House of Representatives is entering uncharted territory after a far-right effort to remove fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speakership succeeded thanks to support from Democrats. A resolution — titled a motion to vacate — from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., passed Tuesday with the support of eight Republicans and all the Democrats present and voting. The vote made McCarthy the first speaker in history to be removed from office, a bitter humiliation that came after less than nine months on the job. The California Republican told his conference shortly after that he would not run for the job again. It is a stunning outcome in the House that shocked lawmakers of both parties and left them wondering what the future will bring. Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, now the acting speaker, declared the House in recess until both parties can decide on a path forward. There is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority now that McCarthy has opted not to run for the job again. https://apnews.com/article/mccarthy-gaetz-speaker-motion-to-vacate-congress-3542dd134dccf35bc67db3463baec53b

Wisconsin Senate to pass $2 billion income tax cut, reject Evers' $1 billion workforce package

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate was scheduled Tuesday to approve a $2 billion income tax cut as part of a package also targeting child care costs, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is expected to veto. Republicans gutted a $1 billion Evers package that he called on them to pass in a special session last month and instead put forward an income tax cut that Evers has already vetoed. The governor's spokesperson discounted the package it was part of as an "embarrassing response" and a "completely unserious proposal." Evers and the Legislature have been tussling for months over tax cuts and funding for child care services. Evers on Monday announced that he was tapping $170 million in federal pandemic relief money to keep the Child Care Counts program running through June 2025. https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-senate-tax-cut-child-care-e20646b8c78fc9db1d7fc4d475c1e4cd

The Supreme Court leaves in place a court victory for PETA over North Carolina's ag-gag law

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected North Carolina's appeal in a dispute with animal rights groups over a law aimed at preventing undercover employees at farms and other workplaces from taking documents or recording video. The justices left in place a legal victory for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in its challenge to the law, which was enacted in 2015. PETA has said it had wanted to conduct an undercover investigation at testing laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but feared prosecution under the law. An appeals court ruled that the law could not be enforced against PETA — and likely others in similar situations — when its undercover work is being performed to conduct newsgathering activities. The law is similar to so-called state ag-gag laws — aimed at gagging undercover activists who record footage of the animal agriculture industry — that have been struck down by several courts around the country over free speech concerns. The Supreme Court has so far refused to weigh in. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-peta-animal-rights-aggag-law-d919c48d79db6c3a972af30c135b0e9e

The Supreme Court signals support for a Republican-leaning congressional district in South Carolina

The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to preserve the Republican hold on a South Carolina congressional district against a claim that it treats Black voters unfairly. The outcome could shape the fight for partisan control of the House of Representatives. The court's six conservative justices signaled skepticism with a lower court ruling that ordered South Carolina to redraw a coastal district that is held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. Chief Justice John Roberts said a ruling for Black voters who challenged the district "would be breaking new ground in our voting rights jurisprudence." When Mace first won election in 2020, she edged Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham by 1%, under 5,400 votes. In 2022, following redistricting driven by the 2020 census results, Mace won reelection by 14%. She is one of eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-redistricting-south-carolina-racial-gerrymander-840b39465b24b8d82b334dda53c908fa

The Supreme Court opens its new term with a case about prison terms for drug dealers

The Supreme Court opened its new term Monday with a case about prison terms for drug dealers and rejections of hundreds of appeals, including one from an attorney who pushed a plan to keep former President Donald Trump in power. The court turned away attorney John Eastman's effort to have a lower-court ruling thrown out that said Eastman and Trump had "more likely than not" committed a crime by trying to keep Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Justice Clarence Thomas, who once employed Eastman as a law clerk, did not take part in the court's consideration of Eastman's appeal. The only case argued Monday concerns the meaning of the word "and" in a federal law dealing with prison terms for low-level drug dealers. The length of thousands of sentences a year is at stake. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-new-term-drug-dealers-e6bcb8eb37d6a2fdd286dbc3c1799441

House Republicans are mired in chaos after ousting McCarthy and rejecting Scalise. What's next?

The U.S. House has been without a leader for more than a week after majority Republicans threw out Speaker Kevin McCarthy and refused to rally around his No. 2, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise. On Friday, Republicans nominated Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, but the vote was split. Jordan had lost to Scalise just days earlier, and the Freedom Caucus founder has a long way to go to win enough support from his colleagues ahead of a House floor vote. The path forward is uncertain as lawmakers prepared to return Monday evening. Many Republicans in the majority were feeling frustration and an increased urgency to find a successor to McCarthy as a new war in Israel rages abroad and government funding expires in five weeks. https://apnews.com/article/speaker-jordan-scalise-mccarthy-election-votes-explainer-db85c1d80dcc36f296245851ad1278ab

Supreme Court tells Fifth Circuit to stop its defiance in ghost gun case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday once again stepped in to leave in place the federal government's ban on so-called "ghost guns." These are unassembled and unmarked guns that can be bought online, and then assembled into fully operative guns. In August 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives issued regulations that required any such disassembled gun parts to carry serial numbers and required anyone buying them to pass a background check, in the same manner as in-person gun-buyers. The gun manufacturers challenged the regulations in court, and Federal Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas issued a nationwide injunction barring the rule from going into effect The Supreme Court, however, blocked those decisions from going into effect, whereupon two of the manufacturers returned to Judge O'Connor's court, and won an order barring the government from enforcing its regulations. The Fifth Circuit upheld that order, too. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1206245991/supreme-court-ghost-guns

UAW strikes at General Motors SUV plant in Texas as union begins to target automakers' cash cows

The United Auto Workers union has turned up the heat on General Motors as 5,000 workers walked off their jobs Tuesday at a highly profitable SUV factory in Arlington, Texas. The move comes just a day after the union went on strike at a Stellantis pickup truck factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, north of Detroit. The Texas strike brings the total of UAW members that have walked off their jobs to 46,000 in a series of strikes that is entering its sixth week. UAW President Shawn Fain last week threatened further strikes in an effort to get GM, Ford and Stellantis to increase their pay offers. https://apnews.com/article/general-motors-strike-united-auto-workers-uaw-f16005a7b20a6f1772947957854d1017

Autoworkers reach a deal with Ford, a breakthrough toward ending strikes against Detroit automakers

The United Auto Workers union said Wednesday it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford that could be a breakthrough toward ending the nearly 6-week-old strikes against Detroit automakers. The four-year deal, which still has to be approved by 57,000 union members at the company, could bring a close to the union's series of strikes at targeted factories run by Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis. The Ford deal could set the pattern for agreements with the other two automakers, where workers will remain on strike. The UAW called on all workers at Ford to return to their jobs and said that will put pressure on GM and Stellantis to bargain. Announcements on how to do that will come later. "We told Ford to pony up, and they did," President Shawn Fain said in a video address to members. "We won things no one thought possible." He added that Ford put 50% more money on the table than it did before the strike started on Sept. 15. https://apnews.com/article/auto-workers-strikes-ford-general-motors-stellantis-08a81503d72e44d4efa40549f684d5a2

Auto workers escalate strike, walking out at Ford's largest factory and threatening Stellantis

The United Auto Workers union significantly escalated its walkout against Detroit's Three automakers, shutting down Ford's largest factory and threatening Jeep maker Stellantis. In a surprise move Wednesday night, 8,700 members left their jobs at Ford's Kentucky truck plant in Louisville. And Thursday morning, union President Shawn Fain hinted at further action against Stellantis. "Here's to hoping talks at Stellantis today are more productive than Ford yesterday," Fain wrote on X, formerly Twitter, without saying what might happen. Ford's truck plant makes heavy-duty F-Series pickup trucks and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs, hitting the company's most lucrative products. The vehicles made at the plant generate $25 billion per year in revenue, the company said in a statement. https://apnews.com/article/uaw-strike-ford-gm-stellantis-75015ef1a27439218b44b24f58227d62

Wisconsin Senate is scheduled to pass a Republican bill to force setting a wolf hunt goal

The Wisconsin Senate was scheduled to pass a Republican-authored bill Tuesday that would force state wildlife managers to set a firm numeric goal for the state's wolf population. The bill, which would next head to the Assembly, comes after the Department of Natural Resources did not set a hard cap on the state's wolf population in its new management plan, but said the population should be around 1,000. The state has operated since 1999 under a wolf management plan that limits the statewide population at 350 animals. The new plan calls for the DNR to work with advisory committees to monitor local populations and decide whether to reduce them, maintain them or allow them to grow. State wildlife officials told lawmakers last month that a lack of a hard limit gives the DNR more flexibility to manage the species, allows local wolf packs to fluctuate and gives the population a better chance at maintaining wolf abundance for years to come. Hunting advocates support setting a population limit, saying the lack of a goal leaves both wolves and people unprotected. Wolf population levels have been one of the most contentious outdoor issues Wisconsin has faced in the last 30 years. Farmers across northern Wisconsin complain annually about wolf attacks on their livestock as the species has regained a foothold in the state. Hunters are eager to kill them. Animal rights advocates insist the population is too fragile to support hunting. Wisconsin law mandates that the DNR hold an annual wolf hunt. Gray wolves are currently listed on the federal endangered species list, making hunting illegal. The DNR has been working to update its management plan in case wolves are delisted and hunting resumes in the state. https://apnews.com/article/wolf-hunt-wisconsin-ed99bc6eca181e0e383313a378ca0935

A company cancels its plans to recover more Titanic artifacts. Its renowned expert died on the Titan

The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck has cancelled plans to retrieve more artifacts from the site because the leader of the upcoming expedition died in the Titan submersible implosion, according to documents filed in a U.S. District Court on Wednesday. The decision could impact a looming court battle between the company and the U.S. government, which has been trying to stop the 2024 mission. U.S. attorneys have said the firm's original plans to enter the ship's hull would violate a federal law that treats the wreck as a gravesite. Paul-Henri Nargeolet was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc, the Georgia-based firm that recovers and exhibits Titanic artifacts. Nargeolet was lending his expertise to a separate company, OceanGate, when he and four others died on the Titan's final dive near the Titanic in June. Before the tragic dive, RMST planned to take images inside and outside of the wreck. The firm also wanted to retrieve items from the debris field as well as freestanding objects within the sunken ocean liner. https://apnews.com/article/titanic-artifacts-titan-nargeolet-law-grave-30c7316144e1233ded7bf2ad149576dd

Endangered red wolf can make it in the wild, but not without `significant' help, study says

The endangered red wolf can survive in the wild, but only with "significant additional management intervention," according to a long-awaited population viability analysis released Friday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also released an updated recovery plan Friday for "Canis rufus" — the only wolf species unique to the United States. It calls for spending nearly $328 million over the next 50 years to get the red wolf off the endangered species list. "This final revised recovery plan will help the conservation and survival of the Red Wolf, ensuring these endangered canids endure in the wild for future generations," Interior Department Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz said in a news release. But the announcement comes with a lot of caveats. The viability analysis says it will take drastic reductions in gunshot and vehicle deaths, stepped-up efforts to prevent wolf-coyote mixing, and creative methods to increase reproduction in the wild and captive wolf populations. https://apnews.com/article/red-wolf-endangered-species-recovery-e619610a2819f6de47da9aed07199493

Ex-treasurer for Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to conspiracy, tells of bogus loan and fake donors

The ex-treasurer for U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty Thursday to a fraud conspiracy charge and implicated the indicted New York Republican in a scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors. Nancy Marks, who was a close aide to Santos during his two congressional bids, entered the plea at a federal courthouse on Long Island, where she was a longtime political operative and bookkeeper for multiple candidates. Speaking to the judge, Marks briefly outlined a scam she said was intended to hoodwink Republican Party officials into throwing their support behind Santos, who at the time had lost an earlier race for Congress and was struggling to get financial support for a second run. To impress party leaders, she said, Santos submitted bogus campaign finance reports falsely saying he had loaned his campaign $500,000 even though in reality he didn't have that kind of money and the loan didn't exist. The fake loan made Santos look way richer than he really was, and also helped him hit fundraising thresholds needed to qualify for backing from a national GOP committee. https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-nancy-marks-4d249e9d5e83fd25ed1a19a9e13d3246

Biden administration settles lawsuit over Trump-era migrant family separation policy

The federal government will be prohibited from implementing a Trump administration immigration policy that separated children from parents who were accused of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, according to a legal settlement reached between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Biden administration on Monday. The agreement must still be approved by a federal judge in the Southern District of California in San Diego, where the ACLU filed its class action lawsuit in 2018. "When we brought this lawsuit, no one thought it would involve thousands of children, take us to so many countries searching for families, or last for years," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project and lead attorney in the lawsuit. "While no one would ever claim that this settlement can wholly fix the harm intentionally caused to these little children, it is an essential beginning." The policy that sparked a national scandal began with a pilot program in El Paso in 2017, when the Trump administration directed federal agents to criminally charge parents with illegally entering the country and separating them from their children, who were transferred to the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Publicly announced in May 2018, the policy resulted in immigration agents separating more than 4,000 children from their parents. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/16/biden-lawsuit-family-separation-border-settlement/

Judge imposes partial gag order against Trump in election-interference case

The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's election interference case imposed a partial gag order Monday against the former president, barring him and all other parties in the case from making statements targeting prosecutors and court personnel as well as inflammatory statements about likely witnesses. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan marked a partial victory for the Justice Department in its bid to impose additional restrictions on Trump's extra-judicial statements in the federal election interference case in Washington. "This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice," Chutkan said as she announced her decision from the bench. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1205769475/trump-gag-order

State Department issues global travel warning for Americans, as Gaza awaits aid

The first shipments of humanitarian aid could begin to arrive in the Gaza Strip as soon as Friday, nearly two weeks after the start of a punishing Israeli bombardment campaign targeted at the militant group Hamas and after the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Americans as tensions continue to build. The humanitarian situation in Gaza has grown dire, aid groups say. Friday's delivery, if it takes place, would be the first since Israel halted the flow of food, water, electricity and fuel to the territory earlier this month, in retaliation for a wave of attacks by Hamas on Israeli towns near Gaza on Oct. 7. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1207031537/gaza-humanitarian-aid-friday

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources secretary resigning after 10 months on the job

The head of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is resigning next week after spending less than a year leading the agency that has been at the forefront of fights over combating water pollution and hunting wolves. Adam Payne sent a letter to Gov. Tony Evers on Friday announcing his intention to leave the agency on Nov. 1 and retire next year. Payne called his departure "bittersweet" but said in the letter that he needed to spend more time with his aging parents and support his wife's role as caretaker. "I also want to spend more time with our four young grandchildren and focus more attention on my personal health and well-being," Payne wrote. Payne was appointed by Evers in December and began leading the agency in January. Evers' spokesperson Britt Cudaback said Tuesday that the governor will move "expeditiously" to name a replacement. https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-dnr-secretary-payne-61b09cc6b24b39bb2606e12f49922086

Alabama finally has a new congressional map after a lengthy legal fight

The lines on Alabama's congressional map have shifted — along with some of the state's political power. After a high-profile legal fight that lasted roughly two years, a panel of three federal judges on Thursday picked a map that will be used when Alabamians cast their 2024 vote for who will represent them in the U.S. House. The new map adds a second congressional district where Black voters' preferred candidate is projected to win a majority of the time. That's a win for Black Alabamians — and Democrats, who tend to receive those votes. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1203309716/alabama-2024-congressional-map

US employers added a surprisingly strong 336,000 jobs in September in a sign of economic resilience

The nation's employers added 336,000 jobs in September, an unexpectedly robust gain that suggests that many companies remain confident enough to keep hiring despite high interest rates and a hazy outlook for the economy. Hiring last month jumped from a 227,000 increase in August, which was revised sharply higher. July's gain was also healthier than had been initially estimated. The economy has now added an average of 266,000 jobs a month in the past three months. The sustained strength of the labor market makes it likelier that the Federal Reserve will raise its key rate again before year's end as it continues its drive to tame inflation. Friday's report from the Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8%, not far above a half-century low. The job market has defied an array of threats this year, notably high inflation and the rapid series of Fed interest rate hikes that were intended to conquer it. Though the Fed's hikes have made loans much costlier, steady job growth has helped fuel consumer spending and kept the economy growing, defying long-standing predictions of a forthcoming recession. https://apnews.com/article/jobs-inflation-rates-economy-federal-reserve-unemployment-8950494bcfcc717f7e6c18bc19ecaf6e

New US House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election, raising concerns about the next one

The new leader of one of the chambers of Congress that will certify the winner of next year's presidential election helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last one, raising alarms that Republicans could try to subvert the will of the voters if they remain in power despite safeguards enacted after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Mike Johnson, the Louisiana congressman who was elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday after a three-week standoff among Republicans, took the lead in filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election win. That claim, widely panned by legal scholars of all ideologies, was quickly thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court. After the 2020 election, Johnson also echoed some of the wilder conspiracy theories pushed by former President Donald Trump to explain away his loss. Then Johnson voted against certifying Biden's win even after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Johnson's role three years ago is relevant now not only because the U.S. Constitution puts the speaker second in the line of presidential succession, after the vice president. The House Johnson now leads also will have to certify the winner of the 2024 presidential election. https://apnews.com/article/congress-house-speaker-2024-election-certification-8cd7c5a9e6ae69635bbb4624cc78e5c5

Montana is appealing a landmark climate change ruling that favored youth plaintiffs

The office of Montana's Republican attorney general is appealing a landmark climate change ruling that said state agencies aren't doing enough to protect 16 young plaintiffs from harm caused by global warming. The state filed notice on Friday that it is going to appeal the August ruling by District Court Judge Kathy Seeley, who found the Montana Environmental Policy Act violates the plaintiffs' state constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The 1971 law requires state agencies to consider the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects and take public input before issuing permits. Under a change to MEPA passed by the 2023 Legislature, the state Department of Environmental Quality does not have to consider the effect of greenhouses gases when issuing permits for fossil fuel projects unless the federal government declares carbon dioxide a regulated pollutant. The plaintiffs argued they were already feeling the consequences of climate change, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation. The state argued that the volume of greenhouse gasses released from Montana fossil fuel projects was insignificant compared to the world's emissions. https://apnews.com/article/montana-youth-climate-change-lawsuit-appeal-3993eb1134982fa9c416eff2ad59b729

Government shutdown averted with little time to spare as Biden signs funding before midnight

The threat of a federal government shutdown suddenly lifted late Saturday as President Joe Biden signed a temporary funding bill to keep agencies open with little time to spare after Congress rushed to approve the bipartisan deal. The package drops aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of GOP lawmakers, but increases federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting Biden's full request. The bill funds government until Nov. 17. After chaotic days of turmoil in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly abandoned demands for steep spending cuts from his right flank and instead relied on Democrats to pass the bill, at risk to his own job. The Senate followed with final passage closing a whirlwind day at the Capitol. "This is good news for the American people," Biden said in a statement. https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-mccarthy-congress-republicans-732baaa19c91f981e492fd0e6a76aba8

Prosecutor won't seek charges against troopers in killing of 'Cop City' activist near Atlanta

The use of deadly force by Georgia state troopers who shot and killed an activist at the site of a planned police and firefighter training center near Atlanta was "objectively reasonable" and no charges will be sought against them, a prosecutor said Friday. Opponents, who derisively refer to the planned center as "Cop City," had occupied an 85-acre (34-hectare) tract of forest that is being developed for the massive facility. It is there that Manuel Paez Teran was killed. Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Christian announced his decision not to pursue charges in a news release. He was appointed to review the Georgia Bureau of Investigation file on the Jan. 18 shooting of Paez Terán after DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston recused herself from the case. State troopers were part of an "enforcement operation" at the site when they encountered Paez Terán, who was known as Tortuguita. When the activist refused to come out of a tent, the troopers fired a pepperball launcher and Paez Terán responded by firing a handgun four times through the tent, hitting and seriously wounding a trooper, the release says. Six troopers fired back, killing Paez Terán. https://apnews.com/article/cop-city-atlanta-activist-shot-no-charges-421f6fe392a9202523ea154b2ddabb7d

FDA faces pressure to act nationwide on red dye in food

There's new pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to take action on the synthetic food coloring, red No. 3, after California passed a law to ban it last week. California became the first state to ban four food additives, including red No. 3, and public health advocates are pushing to remove the dye from the food supply nationwide. "I think the passage of the bill in California creates undeniable pressure on the FDA," says Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. His group, joined by other consumer advocacy groups including Public Interest Research Group and Consumer Federation of America, filed a petition last October with the FDA to ban the use of red No. 3. Lurie says he thinks the action in California will "make it more likely that they grant our petition." https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/17/1206283813/red-dye-food-products-fda-ban

Dozens of union workers arrested on Las Vegas Strip for blocking traffic as thousands rally

Thousands of hotel workers fighting for new union contracts rallied on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday evening, halting rush-hour traffic before dozens were arrested for sitting in the street. The stepped-up labor unrest aimed to draw attention to negotiations with three major casino companies. Seated in two separate circles, workers in red T-shirts blocked cars in both directions for roughly 30 minutes as the sun sank in the west, casting golden rays across one of the most recognizable stretches of the Strip near the Bellagio fountain, the Eiffel Tower replica and Caesars Palace. Police officers with zip ties eventually started taking protesters into custody, leading them to a white police bus with flashing red and blue lights. Las Vegas police said 58 people were cited for assembling to disturb the peace, a misdemeanor. "The event was peaceful," Lt. Mark Lourenco said via text message. https://apnews.com/article/vegas-culinary-union-hotel-workers-labor-protest-e72fcaa90731e4b52a4ed25964dc5eb3

Columbus statue, removed from a square in Providence, Rhode Island, re-emerges in nearby town

Three years after a Christopher Columbus statue was removed from a square in Providence, Rhode Island, the bronze cast has re-emerged, this time in a park in Johnston, Rhode Island, about 9 miles (14 kilometers) west of the capital. The statue had been targeted by vandals, at one point being splashed with red paint with a sign reading "Stop celebrating genocide" leaning against its pedestal. In 2020, the statue was removed. Activists say celebrating Columbus ignores the rape, murder and genocide endured by Indigenous people during the European settlement of North America. Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. said residents of his heavily Italian-American town are pleased to give the statue a new home. https://apnews.com/article/christopher-columbus-statue-rhode-island-genocide-indigenous-f5f47581930b8c07658aecfaa0fd6cd5

Norfolk Southern investing in more automated inspection systems on its railroad to improve safety

To help quickly spot safety defects on moving trains, Norfolk Southern said Thursday it has installed the first of more than a dozen of a new generation of automated inspection portals on its tracks in Ohio — not far from where one of its trains careened off the tracks in February and spilled hazardous chemicals that caught fire. The new portals, equipped with high-speed cameras, will take hundreds of pictures of every passing locomotive and rail car. The pictures are analyzed by artificial intelligence software the railroad developed. Unlike previous versions, these new inspection portals will be able to capture all sides of a train that passes through them with well-lit images. The first of these new portals was recently installed on busy tracks in Leetonia, Ohio, less than 15 miles (24 kilometers) from where that train derailed in East Palestine in February. Other major railroads have invested in similar inspection technology as they look for ways to supplement — and sometimes try to replace where regulators allow it — the human inspections that the industry has long relied on to keep its trains safe. Rail unions have argued that the new technology shouldn't replace inspections by well-trained carmen. https://apnews.com/article/norfolk-southern-railroad-safety-derailment-automated-inspection-27cb90910e02da182b2a62fa5f40d48d

Fiery crash during prestigious ballooning race leaves 2 Polish pilots with burns and other injuries

Two balloon pilots from Poland who were competing in the prestigious Gordon Bennett Cup long-distance race were recovering Tuesday from burns, broken bones and other injuries after their hydrogen-filled balloon struck a high-voltage power line over Texas and exploded before falling to the ground. Race organizers said the team was flying at an altitude of 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) to pass over the Dallas-Fort Worth airspace around 3:30 p.m. Monday and started their descent a short time later. Within a few hours, the balloon's tracking device indicated that the aircraft's motion had stopped. Night already had fallen when the crash happened, according to authorities in Kaufman County, Texas. Flames were leaping from the side of the road where pieces of the balloon and basket had landed, not far from an electrical substation. Residents shared stories on social media about seeing the balloon come down as if it was landing and then seeing it suddenly explode. Some also reported that their power went out while others said their lights flickered. https://apnews.com/article/balloon-race-albuquerque-gordon-bennett-crash-poland-baba399a7acfb8e9ae52b4d51277344f

Rep. Santos faces new charges he stole donor IDs, made unauthorized charges to their credit cards

U.S. Rep. George Santos stole the identities of donors to his campaign and then used their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges, according to a new indictment. He then wired some of the money to his own personal bank account, prosecutors said, while using the rest to inflate his campaign coffers. The 23-count indictment filed Tuesday replaces one filed in May against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses. In the updated indictment, prosecutors accuse Santos of charging more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge. In one case, he charged $12,000 to a contributor's credit card and transferred the "vast majority" of that money into his personal bank account, prosecutors said. https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-credit-card-fraud-f723e69a777b02a2e6b87595f45c21ce

Chip Roy, Michael Cloud say they're still against Scalise after he wins party nomination for U.S. House speaker

U.S. Reps. Chip Roy, R-Austin, and Michael Cloud, R-Victoria, both vowed to vote against House Majority Leader Steve Scalise shortly after the Louisiana Republican won the party's nomination to be the next House speaker. Those votes, combined with a handful of other hard-right Republicans who have said the same, could be enough to stall Scalise from getting the gavel. Roy and Cloud were two of the three Texans who resisted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's leadership bid in January — contributing to gridlock that forced 15 votes to take place — in order to garner more influence for their wing of the party. U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, the other Texas holdout during those votes, said Wednesday on social media that he voted against Scalise during a closed-door Republican conference meeting before the House-wide vote. He was unclear about how he planned to vote during a floor vote. The House recessed Wednesday afternoon without voting on a new speaker. Republicans did not set a date for when they will vote next. Scalise is running against House Judiciary Chair and Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan of Ohio to replace McCarthy as speaker. McCarthy was removed from his perch following a rebellion by eight far-right members, none of them Texans, who had various grievances with McCarthy. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida led the push and said Wednesday he would support Scalise. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/11/chip-roy-michael-cloud-steve-scalise-house-speaker/

Congress didn't include funds for Ukraine in its spending bill. How will that affect the war?

Ukraine had little reason to celebrate when U.S. lawmakers approved a spending bill Saturday that averted a widely expected government shutdown. The measure didn't include the $6 billion in military assistance that Ukraine said it urgently needed. Now the Pentagon, White House and European allies are urging Congress to quickly reconsider. They warn that if the U.S. stops sending ammunition, spare parts and air defenses Ukraine will be at risk of losing ground in its counteroffensive to push back Russian forces. They argue that if Russia's invasion is not stopped in Ukraine, other nations — including NATO allies — could be endangered. The gridlock comes as top Pentagon leaders prepare to meet next week with allies in Brussels where Ukraine is likely to be a hot topic. A look at what's been provided to date and what's at stake. https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-aid-congress-money-russia-e8cf1bf75fc67a6126aee8b15b0a16d4

Utah sues TikTok, alleging it lures children into addictive, destructive social media habits

Utah became the latest state Tuesday to file a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging the company is "baiting" children into addictive and unhealthy social media habits. TikTok lures children into hours of social media use, misrepresents the app's safety and deceptively portrays itself as independent of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, Utah claims in the lawsuit. "We will not stand by while these companies fail to take adequate, meaningful action to protect our children. We will prevail in holding social media companies accountable by any means necessary," Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Salt Lake City. Arkansas and Indiana have filed similar lawsuits while the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to decide whether state attempts to regulate social media platforms such as Facebook, X and TikTok violate the Constitution. https://apnews.com/article/utah-tiktok-lawsuit-social-media-children-2e8ab3cfc92b58224ed9be98394278e0

Harris will attend an AI summit at a UK estate that was a base for World War II codebreakers

Vice President Kamala Harris will attend a summit on artificial intelligence in the United Kingdom next week, shortly after President Joe Biden issues a highly anticipated executive order on an emerging technology that has generated excitement and fear. She's scheduled to leave on Tuesday and return on Nov. 2, and she'll be accompanied by her husband, Douglas Emhoff, according to her office. Harris will deliver a speech outlining the Democratic administration's approach to artificial intelligence on Nov. 1 before attending a summit on the topic the next day. Emhoff is expected to participate in events with civil society groups and young leaders focused on science learning, gender equity and countering hate. Kirsten Allen, a spokeswoman for Harris, said the goal is a future "where every person is safe from the harms of AI and where every person can share equally in its benefits." https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-ai-artificial-intelligence-db8bbdc0e726f1993cced4b298eb8aa9

FBI report: Violent crime decreases to pre-pandemic levels, but property crime is on the rise

Violent crime across the U.S. decreased last year — dropping to about the same level as before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — but property crimes rose substantially, according to data in the FBI's annual crime report released Monday. The report comes with an asterisk: Some law enforcement agencies failed to provide data. But a change in collection methods in compiling 2022 numbers helped, and the FBI said the new data represents 83.3% of all agencies covering 93.5% of the population. By contrast, last year's numbers were from only 62.7% of agencies, representing 64.8% of Americans. Violent crime dropped 1.7%, and that included a 6.1% decrease in murder and non-negligent manslaughter. Rape decreased 5.4% and aggravated assault dropped 1.1%, but robbery increased 1.3%. Violent crime had also decreased slightly in 2021, a big turnaround from 2020, when the murder rate in the U.S. jumped 29% during the pandemic that created huge social disruption and upended support systems. The violent crime rate of 380.7 per 100,000 people was a tick better than 2019 — the year before the pandemic hit the U.S., when the rate was 380.8 per 100,000 people. https://apnews.com/article/fbi-crime-report-violence-property-carjacking-murder-fa7c6e3879d3bf16f93bdfa42683b100

Walgreens pharmacy staffers stage walkouts over work conditions

Walgreens has named a new CEO as pharmacy staff walked off the job this week over concerns that working conditions are putting employees and patients at risk. Tim Wentworth, who formerly headed Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager, was named CEO as of Oct. 23. Walgreens Boots Alliance's former CEO, Rosalind Brewer, stepped down in late August as the company was struggling with drug and staffing shortages. Health care is suffering from wider worker dissatisfaction and staffing shortages that are not isolated to drugstores, as the recent Kaiser Permanente strike shows. The exact scale of the pharmacists' protest was unclear. Organizers on Tuesday estimated that more than 300 Walgreens locations — out of nearly 9,000 nationwide — were affected by walkouts planned for Monday through Wednesday. A company spokesperson said "no more than a dozen" pharmacies experienced disruptions. https://apnews.com/article/walgreens-pharmacist-walkouts-ed9ff39eba9745a823710a95e541c857

Whales and dolphins in American waters are losing food and habitat to climate change, US study says

Whales, dolphins and seals living in U.S. waters face major threats from warming ocean temperatures, rising sea levels and decreasing sea ice volumes associated with climate change, according to a first-of-its-kind assessment. Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration examined more than 100 stocks of American marine mammal species and found more than 70% of those stocks are vulnerable to threats, such as loss of habitat and food, due to the consequences of warming waters. The impacts also include loss of dissolved oxygen and changes to ocean chemistry. The scientists found large whales such as humpbacks and North Atlantic right whales were among the most vulnerable to climate change, and that other toothed whales and dolphins were also at high risk. https://apnews.com/article/whales-climate-change-protection-food-habitat-loss-9129d7b70389a36d3265d08838e68266

Some want to grant temporary House speaker more power as Republican gridlock stalls Congress

When Rep. Patrick McHenry took the House speaker's gavel for the first time, he slammed it down with such force at adjournment that it gained viral internet attention as the defining image of a House in turmoil. But since his abrupt appointment as speaker pro tempore last week following the unprecedented ouster of Kevin McCarthy from the top spot, the North Carolina Republican has wielded the gavel with extreme care, making no attempts to test the limits of his unusual role. Day after day, McHenry, in his signature bow tie, follows a standard routine — gaveling the House into session, receiving a prayer from the chaplain and having a lawmaker recite the Pledge of Allegiance, before quickly gaveling out again. In doing so, he is technically keeping the House active but in a suspended state as both parties wait for Republicans to reach consensus on who will be the next new speaker. https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-powers-mchenry-875bebd218096a5252840cd8f52cc137

Auto worker strike highlights disparities between temporary and permanent employees

When Rhonda Naus got a job inspecting Jeep Wranglers fresh off the assembly line, her paycheck added up to roughly half of what her co-workers were making. But with that came an expectation that her temporary status eventually would become permanent with a big jump in wages. Six years later, she's still doing the same work as her colleagues at Stellantis and still making a lot less. "I knew I had to start at the bottom. I didn't think I'd be at the bottom forever," said Naus, who's among thousands of striking United Auto Workers nationwide pushing for pay and benefit increases along with an end to multiple tiers of wages for workers across the companies. From office workers to delivery drivers, companies have become increasingly reliant on temporary workers. Automakers have used the lower-paid workers for years to fill in for absent and vacationing full-time employees and to staff up when production increases. https://apnews.com/article/uaw-strike-ford-stellantis-general-motors-union-58cfc129b91b257b25c0a9254b2c44ec

Wisconsin committee sets up Republican-authored PFAS bill for Senate vote

Wisconsin Republicans moved closer Wednesday to a Senate floor vote on a bill that would spend tens of millions of dollars to address pollution from PFAS chemicals. The Senate's natural resources committee approved the legislation on a 3-2 vote Wednesday, clearing the way for a full vote in the chamber. Senate approval would send the bill to the Assembly, where passage would then send the bill to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for consideration. The measure looks doomed, though, after Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a email to The Associated Press that "Republicans still don't share our commitment to finding real, meaningful solutions to the pressing water quality issues facing our state." Republican lawmakers created a $125 million trust fund for dealing with PFAS in the state budget. A group of GOP legislators from northeastern Wisconsin introduced a bill in June that would create avenues for spending it. https://apnews.com/article/pfas-remediation-wisconsin-dnr-bill-republicans-grants-b06e589fd20f335f0b85e18e27367a37

Kentucky had an outside-the-box idea to fix child care worker shortages. It's working

With most of the federal government's pandemic relief money for child care now spent, it's up to states to step in with new ideas to solve the many problems plaguing the sector. A year ago, Kentucky came up with a creative solution that is already paying dividends. The state made all child care employees eligible for free child care, regardless of household income. "That is a beautiful incentive," says Jennifer Washburn, who owns and runs iKids Childhood Enrichment Center in Benton, Ky. "Any of my teachers who have children — they can work for me, and their children are paid for by the state." Drop in low-income children in child care led to a discovery The idea emerged after the state saw a sharp drop in the number of children accessing child care subsidies in the pandemic — from roughly 30,000 to just 17,000 children. Sarah Vanover, who was then director of Kentucky's Division of Child Care, says that remained true even after the state raised the income eligibility threshold, making many more families eligible for subsidized care. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/1203182131/kentucky-free-child-care-day-care-workers