October 9, 2024 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officials say was inspired by the Islamic State militant organization and was plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the U.S. That’s according to a Justice Department announcement Tuesday. Officials say 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi of Oklahoma City had taken steps in recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan. After he was arrested, the Justice Department said, Tawhedi told investigators he had planned an attack for Election Day that would target large gatherings of people.
October 9, 2024 3:46 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security recipients are expected to receive a smaller cost-of-living increase in January than in recent years as inflation moderates. The Social Security Administration will announce the increase Thursday. In advance, analysts are forecasting a 2.5% increase for 2025. The announcement comes as the national social insurance plan faces a severe financial shortfall in the coming years. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report in May that the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits.
October 9, 2024 4:47 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Early in-person voting is beginning in Arizona, making it the first of this year’s presidential battleground states where all residents can cast a ballot at a traditional polling place ahead of Election Day. The start of in-person voting on Wednesday in the closely contested state also is drawing the presidential tickets, with both campaigns scheduling visits there this week. Each of Arizona’s 15 counties is required to open at least one site for in-person voting, which runs until the Friday before the Nov. 5 general election. In-person voting begins next week in four more presidential swing states — Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada.
October 9, 2024 3:56 pm
(AP) – Sin City blew a kiss goodbye to the Tropicana in an elaborate implosion that leveled two hotel towers. The celebration in Las Vegas early Wednesday included a fireworks display. It was the first casino implosion in nearly a decade for a city that loves fresh starts. The Tropicana closed in April after 67 years to make room for a new baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland Athletics. Once known as the “Tiffany of the Strip” for its opulence, the Tropicana was a frequent haunt of the legendary Rat Pack. Its past under the mob has long cemented its place in Las Vegas lore. (Photo: AP)
October 8, 2024 5:19 pm
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida communities near Tampa Bay were devastated when Hurricane Helene made landfall two weeks ago about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the north. Now Milton is forecast to make a direct hit on the low-lying region that has a population of more than 3.3 million people. That means as bad as Helene was, Milton could be much deadlier and destructive. Storm surge causes more deaths than high winds and can remain powerful even if winds weaken, potentially leveling homes and businesses like a battering ram. Officials say the only way people living near the coast can assure their safety is to move to higher ground. To that end, thousands of people are streaming out of the Tampa Bay region ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit. Crews are working furiously to prevent furniture, appliances and other waterlogged wreckage from Florida’s last big storm from becoming deadly projectiles in this one. The preparations marked the last chance for millions of people in the Tampa metro area to prepare for killer storm surges, ferocious winds and possible tornadoes in a place that has narrowly avoided a head-on blow from a major storm for generations.
October 8, 2024 5:45 pm
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando’s tourism machine began grinding to a halt Tuesday with at least three major theme parks and the main airport announcing closures ahead of Hurricane Milton ’s expected hit as a major storm in Florida. Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Sea World will close their theme parks and respective entertainment facilities on Wednesday, with the latter two also closed on Thursday and Disney likely to remain closed. Universal also canceled Halloween Horror Nights scheduled for both days. The theme parks join Orlando International Airport, which said it would cease operations Wednesday morning. The airport is the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked. (Photo: AP)
October 8, 2024 2:16 am
Cecil Township Supervisors enacted an ordinance that officially established the Cecil Township Department of Fire and Emergency Services. It was a first step to reorganize and combine the township’s three independent volunteer fire departments under one set of operational guidelines. A committee consisting of members from all three departments have been working together for several months to achieve the cooperation goal. Fire Chief Ted Wolford said that the cooperation of the departments will be a precise process and will not be rushed. His first goal is to enhance the training of all firefighters in the township. Supervisor Chairman Tom Casciola pointed to the ability of firefighters to access equipment in all three stations at any time and the elimination of territorialism that had existed in past years between the departments as benefits to township residents. Wolford said that October has been busy with Fire Prevention Month. They have been to several daycares in the township teaching fire safety. They also have been working with North Strabane Township and Canonsburg Fire Departments in teaching fire prevention and running fire drills in the Canon-McMillan School District.
October 8, 2024 2:56 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined to step in and immediately decide issues related to mail-in ballots in the commonwealth with early voting already under way in the few weeks before the November 5th election. The commonwealth’s highest court on Saturday night rejected a request by voting rights and left-leaning groups to stop counties from throwing out mail-in ballots that lack a handwritten date or have an incorrect date on the return envelope, citing earlier rulings pointing to the risk of confusing voters so close to the election.“This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election,” the unsigned order said Chief Justice Debra Todd dissented, saying voters, election officials and courts needed clarity on the issue before Election Day. The lawsuit’s plaintiffs contend that multiple courts have found that a voter-written date is meaningless in determining whether the ballot arrived on time or whether the voter is eligible, so rejecting a ballot on that basis should be considered a violation of the state constitution. The parties won their case on the same claim in a statewide court earlier this year but it was thrown out by the state Supreme Court on a technicality before justices considered the merits.
October 7, 2024 2:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned away a challenge from Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania to a Biden administration executive order that is intended to boost voter registration. The justices did not comment Monday in rejecting an appeal from the Republicans, who claimed the order is an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the November election. Lower courts had dismissed the lawsuit. The justices separately rejected two appeals from Colorado and Pennsylvania stemming from baseless claims made by Republicans that voting machines and software of Dominion Voting Systems were responsible for Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020. presidential election.
October 7, 2024 4:44 am
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Gulf Coast is bracing for the impact of Hurricane Milton’s winds and expected massive storm surge. The storm could bring destruction to cities and towns already reeling from Helene’s devastation 12 days ago and still recovering from Ian’s wrath two years ago. Almost the entirety of Florida’s west coast was under a hurricane warning early Tuesday. Milton’s winds are some of the strongest seen. The strongest Atlantic hurricane on record is 1980’s Allen, which reached wind speeds of 190 mph. Milton’s center could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region. The area has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century.
