October 29, 2020 4:09 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Thousands of Californians have been allowed to return to their homes as calmer winds helped firefighters beat back two wind-driven wildfires that had spurred widespread evacuations. Roughly 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate Monday after the wildfires broke out in brushy hills above cities in Southern California’s Orange County. On Wednesday, evacuation orders were lifted for all residents in the city of Irvine but remained in place for some other areas. Firefighters were trying to contain the two blazes as the fierce winds subsided. The cause of the Silverado Fire near Irvine is under investigation. The Southern California Edison utility reported to state officials that it was investigating whether its equipment might have sparked one of the fires.
October 29, 2020 4:07 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Millions of mail ballots have yet to be returned in key battleground states just days before the presidential election. That’s according to data collected by The Associated Press. Officials warn that time is running out for voters who want to avoid a polling place on Election Day. AP research shows that at least 35 million mail ballots had been returned or accepted as of early Wednesday. But millions more remain outstanding in Pennsylvania, Florida and other states. Election officials urge voters who have not returned their ballots to avoid the Postal Service and instead use drop boxes or deliver ballots directly to local election offices.
October 29, 2020 4:07 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden chased votes in Florida Thursday, a state all but essential to the Republican’s pathway to another term. Trump and Biden appeared in Tampa hours apart, visiting the western end of the state’s Interstate 4 corridor, The area is known for its rapid residential growth, sprawling suburbs and status as an ever-changing, hard-fought battleground during presidential elections. Both nominees are now focusing on encouraging voters to turn out on Election Day, next Tuesday. More than 73 million Americans have already voted, either by absentee or by mail.
October 29, 2020 4:05 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Duke Energy says more than 263,000 customers in North Carolina are without electricity after the remnants of Hurricane Zeta passed through the state. Catawba County reported there have been more than 19,000 customer outages. Mecklenburg County has just under 17,000 outages. The News & Record of Greensboro reports that four early voting sites in Guilford County had to rely on generators on Thursday after Zeta knocked out power. County election officials say voters were still able to cast their ballots and things were continuing “smoothly” at all polling sites. At least three people are known dead as the result of the storm.
October 29, 2020 3:59 am
BOSTON (AP) – Federal agencies say cybercriminals are unleashing a major ransomware assault against the U.S. healthcare system. Independent security experts say it has already hobbled at least five U.S. hospitals this week, and could potentially impact hundreds more. In a joint alert, the FBI and two federal agencies say they have credible information of an imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers. They say malicious groups are targeting the sector with ransomware that could lead to data theft and disruption of healthcare services. Although the attacks coincide with the U.S. presidential election, there is no immediate indication they are motivated by anything but profit.
October 29, 2020 3:55 am
Wednesday was National First Responders Day and an appropriate day to have Washington County Commissioners launch their Washington County First Responders/Public Safety Board. The board is comprised of the three county commissioners, five fire chiefs, one police chief and five consultants in the emergency services profession. The meeting started with Director of Public Safety, Jeff Yates presenting a comprehensive review of everything that the Department of Public Safety does. The committee was asked to give their thoughts on what improvements may be made in the area of public safety, and every one that commented stated that radio communications are deficient and need to be addressed immediately. Commissioner Diana Irey-Vaughn recognized that there is no one to represent emergency medical responders and promised to make that adjustment. The committee will meet monthly.
October 28, 2020 9:25 am
(AP) – A member of the White House coronavirus task force says the increase in U.S. cases isn’t just because of more testing. Admiral Brett Giroir says the proof of the increase is the uptick in hospitalizations and deaths nationwide from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. President Donald Trump has been saying the U.S. is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic. The president also contends the news media are spending too much time focusing on the health crisis. Giroir, who was put in charge of coronavirus testing by Trump, says the nation is at “another critical point” in the response to the pandemic. He is urging people to keep wearing masks, wash their hands and practice social distancing. Giroir says a safe and effective vaccine is “around the corner.”
October 28, 2020 4:20 am
WARM SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) – Joe Biden has traveled to the hot springs town where Franklin Delano Roosevelt coped with polio to declare the U.S. is not too politically diseased to overcome its health and economic crises. He pledged during a campaign stop Tuesday to be a unifying force who can “restore our soul and save this country.” With one week to go before election polls close, President Donald Trump focused on the Democrats’ “blue wall” states he flipped in 2016 – Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Melania Trump was on the road, too, the first lady leading her first political rally of 2020.
October 28, 2020 4:19 am
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Surging COVID-19 cases in Chicago have prompted Gov. J.B. Pritzker to ban indoor dining and bar services and limit the number of people gathering in one place. The rules announced Tuesday take effect Friday and will force diners and bar patrons outdoors and shut down service at 11 p.m. in the nation’s third-largest city. Gatherings are limited to 25 people or 25% of a room’s capacity. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she isn’t sure Pritzker’s new restrictions are targeting the right people and will adversely affect the city’s economy. Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state public health director, said positive test results are climbing and have remained above 8% for three consecutive days. Officials are also troubled by an increase in hospital admissions .
October 28, 2020 4:19 am
A record surge in coronavirus cases has pushed hospitals to the brink in the border cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, confronting health officials in Texas and Mexico with twin disasters in the metropolitan area of 3 million people. Health officials are blaming the spike on family gatherings, multiple generations living in the same household and people under 40 going out to shop or conduct business. The crisis – part of a deadly comeback by the virus across the U.S. – has underscored how closely connected the two cities are economically, geographically and culturally, with lots of people routinely going back and forth across the border to shop or visit with family.
