November 4, 2023 5:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Sheryl Crow and Olivia Rodrigo kicked off the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday night and Missy Elliott closed the show more than four hours later with a roof-shaking set, as the hall celebrated a strong representation of women and Black artists. Chaka Khan, Kate Bush, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, The Spinners and DJ Kool Herc were also inducted in a celebration of funk, art-rock, R&B and hip-hop, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Country music was represented by Willie Nelson, punk had Rage Against the Machine, the late George Michael repped pure pop and Link Wray defined guitar heroes.
November 4, 2023 4:52 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters will settle four statewide judicial contests in Tuesday’s election, filling an open seat on the state Supreme Court and three seats on two lower appellate courts. The state Supreme Court election is the marquee race on the ballot in the presidential battleground state. In recent years, justices have settled legal challenges emerging from a politically divided statehouse and a closely fought 2020 presidential election. The court is in line to reprise that role, with Pennsylvania expected to be one of several swing states that determine the winner of 2024’s presidential election. Judges and justices serve 10-year terms before they must run for retention to stay on the court.
November 3, 2023 8:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers scaled back their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market remains resilient despite economic uncertainties and high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and consumers. Last month’s job growth, though down sharply from a robust 297,000 gain in September, was solid enough to suggest that many companies still want to hire and that the economy remains sturdy. The United Auto Workers’ strikes against Detroit’s automakers likely shrank October’s job gain by at least 30,000, economists say. The strikes ended this week with tentative settlements in which the companies granted significantly better pay and benefits to the union’s workers.
November 3, 2023 5:03 am
BUREIJ REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) — Airstrikes in the Gaza Strip’s Bureij refugee camp have flattened entire apartment buildings, sending scores of injured Palestinians into a hospital unable to grant them bed space. In Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, young children covered in ash bled out on hospital floors as relatives and medics crowded around. Israel says its airstrikes are aimed at Hamas militants and accuses the group of using crowded residential areas for cover. But the strikes often cause heavy civilian casualties, stretching a medical system that has been strained by shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
November 3, 2023 5:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) – With Donald Trump due on the witness stand next week, testimony from his adult sons in his civil business fraud trial has wrapped up in New York. Eric Trump, like brother Donald Jr. before him, testified Friday that he relied completely on accountants and lawyers to assure the accuracy of financial documents that are key to the lawsuit against his father and the family business. The case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James accuses Donald Trump and his company of deceiving banks and insurers by exaggerating his wealth on his annual financial statements. The defendants deny any wrongdoing.
November 3, 2023 4:59 am
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A judge in Virginia has ruled that a teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in class can press forward with a $40 million lawsuit. That means that Abby Zwerner could get much more than just workers compensation for her injuries. The former first-grade teacher was hospitalized and endured multiple surgeries after a bullet struck her hand and chest in January. Zwerner alleges school administrators ignored warnings the boy had a gun that day. Lawyers for Newport News Public Schools argued that Zwerner was eligible only for workers compensation. Some legal experts expected Zwerner’s lawsuit to fail because the state’s strict workers compensation law covers allegations of negligence.
November 3, 2023 4:57 am
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden added a bouquet of white flowers Friday to a makeshift memorial outside Schemengees Bar and Grille, one of the scenes of the state’s deadliest mass shooting. They stood for a moment of silence before bending over to hug bar owner Kathy Lebel. Eight people died there in the Oct. 25 massacre, along with seven at the nearby Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley. Three others died at hospitals. Biden came to Lewiston to do what presidents do in these moments of horror and grief; lend comfort to the families of the victims and to show support for a reeling community. But it’s a type of trip that has become all too familiar, despite a bipartisan gun safety law passed last year after another mass shooting, and despite a series of executive orders by the president meant to stop gun violence. “Too many times the president and first lady have traveled to communities completely torn apart by gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on the eve of the Bidens’ trip on Friday. “We can’t accept it as normal.” Besides those killed, 13 people were injured in the shootings. (Photo: AP)
November 3, 2023 4:56 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York jury has convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried of fraud charges. The 31-year-old California man was convicted Thursday in Manhattan federal court by jurors who rejected his testimony that he didn’t defraud thousands of customers worldwide who counted on him to safeguard the billions of dollars they deposited in accounts. Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August, when a judge concluded he’d tried to influence prospective trial witnesses. He was extradited to the United States last December from the Bahamas, where he had operated the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and a hedge fund, among other businesses.
November 3, 2023 4:55 am
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against growing U.S. pressure for a “humanitarian pause” in the nearly month-old war to protect civilians and allow more aid into Gaza. Netanyahu insisted Friday that there would be no temporary cease-fire until the roughly 240 hostages held by Hamas are released. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third trip to Israel since the war began and reiterated American support for Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas after its brutal Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. He also echoed President Joe Biden’s calls for a brief halt in the fighting to address a worsening humanitarian crisis.
November 3, 2023 4:46 am
Washington City Council held their voting meeting Thursday and approved the new fee for solid waste and recycling collection. The new fee is $300 per year per dwelling. A one time late fee of $30 dollars will be assessed if payment is not made by the due date. The new service begins in January. Bigs Sanitation will be sending pickup schedules to all city residents by the end of the year. Council also adopted their preliminary budget. Currently the spending plan sits just over $15 million. The budget is still under scrutiny to locate any other savings. The budget does not include a tax raise. Taxes in the city have not been raised since 2019. Council approved the hiring of three public works employees. This will bring the department within one person of being fully staffed. City Hall will be closed on November 10 for Veterans Day. It will also close November 23 and 24 for Thanksgiving.
