October 12, 2021 4:58 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A top Netflix executive says Dave Chappelle’s special “The Closer” doesn’t cross “the line on hate” and will remain on the streaming service despite fallout over the comedian’s remarks about the transgender community. In an internal memo, reported by Variety, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Netflix managers that while some celebrities may join third parties in calling for the show’s removal, Chappelle’s special won’t be pulled. The company responded to news reports it had suspended three employees, including one who’d criticized Chappelle’s special online. Netflix said it supports open disagreement by workers. One employee was suspended, but a person familiar with the situation said it was for unauthorized attendance at a Netflix management meeting.
October 12, 2021 4:44 pm
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – A coroner in Wyoming says slain cross-country traveler Gabby Petito was strangled. The 22-year-old woman’s body was found last month near an undeveloped camping area in remote northern Wyoming along the border of Grand Teton National Park. Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue said in a news conference Tuesday he was prevented by Wyoming law from saying much more about the case. The coroner had earlier classified Petito’s death as a homicide but had not previously disclosed how she was killed. Petito’s boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, is considered a person of interest in her disappearance and remains unaccounted for. (Photo: CNN)
October 12, 2021 12:44 pm
(WPXI) – A bomb threat made at a Catholic school in Pittsburgh late Tuesday morning led to an evacuation of all students and staff at St. Benedict the Moor in the Hill District neighborhood according to a spokesperson for the diocese. School officials say 162 kids and 21 staff were evacuated. We’ll have further details when they become available.
October 12, 2021 8:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Members of the House are scrambling to Washington to pass a short-term lift of the nation’s debt limit. The vote Tuesday will ensure the federal government can continue fully paying its bills into December. House Democrats are expected to have enough votes on their own to ensure that President Joe Biden can sign the bill into law this week. A default would have had immense fallout on global financial markets, and routine government payments to Social Security beneficiaries, disabled veterans and others would have been called into question. But the relief provided by the bill’s passage will only be temporary, forcing Congress to revisit the issue in December.
October 12, 2021 4:44 am
Officials in the Ringgold School District say they were alerted to a possible threat of violence at the High School. In a letter, Principal Jason Minniti says the tip was reported through the Safe 2 Say Something program. An individual was implicated in that tip. Officials then decided to close the High School building. Students are learning remotely through Zoom. Minniti says “extensive security measures are in place to help us maintain a safe campus.” He says “we have excluded the implicated individual from school property. We will continue to investigate to determine any ongoing credibility of threats and follow the recommendations of the Ringgold School Police and local municipal agencies, in accordance with Ringgold School District policy.” The letter asks parents to speak with their children about the importance of school safety and encourages students to feel comfortable in reporting any information they may have that compromises their safety and/or the safety of others.
October 12, 2021 4:19 am
SANTEE, Calif. (AP) – Recordings show a twin-engine plane that killed at least two people and left a swath of destruction in a San Diego suburb nose-dived into the ground after repeated warnings that it was flying dangerously low. The Cessna 340 smashed into a UPS van, killing the driver, and then hit houses just after noon Monday in Santee, a San Diego suburb. The plane’s owner, who may have been the pilot, also died, and an elderly couple on the ground were hurt. Authorities say neighbors helped rescue them from a burning home. Meanwhile, a federal investigator will be on the scene Tuesday.
October 12, 2021 4:17 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Biden administration is again urging courts to step in and suspend a new Texas law that has banned most abortions in the state since early September. The latest request came Monday night as clinics in Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states remain busy with Texas patients journeys hundreds of miles away to get care. The law known as Senate Bill 8 amounts to the toughest abortion restrictions in the U.S. It bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant. A federal judge halted the law for a brief 48-hour window last week but it was reinstated after Texas quickly appealed.
October 12, 2021 4:16 am
MIAMI (AP) – Miami officials have decided to fire the city’s new police chief six months into his stormy tenure, after he was lambasted by city commissioners who he accused of meddling in the police department and internal affairs investigations. Miami City Manager Art Noriega said Monday that he suspended Chief Art Acevedo with the intent to terminate his employment. Noriega says the relationship between Acevedo and the organization has become untenable and needed to be resolved promptly. Art Acevedo was recruited by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and was sworn in in April. At two raucous meetings over the past month, commissioners attacked Acevedo and his leadership. The Associated Press was unable to reach Acevedo for a comment about his firing Monday night.
October 12, 2021 4:14 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Blustery winds are still surging through California after downing trees, fanning wildfires and shutting off power to about 21,000 customers in the northern and central regions. Red flag warnings of dry, gusty and dangerous fire conditions are continuing Tuesday in mountains, valleys, canyons and deserts around the state. Pacific Gas & Electric has shut off power to customers in 20 counties to reduce the risk that power lines could be toppled and spark blazes. Meanwhile, winds are pushing a fire west of Santa Barbara through dense chaparral, burning thousands of acres and prompting evacuations of campgrounds and ranches.
October 11, 2021 5:29 pm
SANTEE, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say at least two people were killed and two others were injured when a small plane crashed into a suburban Southern California neighborhood, setting two homes ablaze. The crash happened shortly after noon Monday in the city of Santee, about 20 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. Officials didn’t immediately know conditions of the survivors or whether they were in the plane or on the ground. The FAA says the plane was a twin-engine Cessna. It wasn’t known where the flight originated, how many people were on board, or where the plane was headed. (Photo: CNN)
