October 7, 2024 5:15 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Sunday night showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys has started after a lengthy weather delay. The original scheduled start time of 8:20 p.m. was delayed nearly 90 minutes when a line of thunderstorms made their way through downtown Pittsburgh at around 8 p.m. The Steelers were just about to be introduced when the delay was called. With plenty of lightning around Acrisure Stadium, fans retreated to the concourse during the hour-long downpour.
October 7, 2024 5:27 am
BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Milton strengthened rapidly into a Category 5 hurricane on a path toward Florida. The system is threatening the densely populated Tampa area with a potential direct hit and menacing the same stretch of coastline that was battered by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago. The center of the storm could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a head-on hit by a hurricane in more than a century. Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, though it is still forecast to hit as a Category 3 hurricane or higher.
October 7, 2024 5:29 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s top disaster relief official says false claims and conspiracy theories about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, which are being spread most prominently by Donald Trump, are “demoralizing” aid workers and creating fear in people who need recovery assistance. Deanne Criswell of the Federal Emergency Management Agency tells ABC that “it’s frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people.” She says the unfounded allegations have created a sense of fear and mistrust from residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground.
October 7, 2024 8:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — No one is likely to be happy with the projected higher deficits laid out in a new analysis of Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s economic plans. The analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests a Harris presidency could increase the national debt over 10 years by $3.5 trillion. That’s even though the vice president’s campaign insists her proposed investments in the middle class and housing would be offset by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. The same analysis says former President Trump’s ideas could heap another $7.5 trillion onto the debt and possibly as much as $15.2 trillion.
October 7, 2024 5:19 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — Police in Bethel Park say they have found a missing man who is autistic and bipolar. Nathyn Patrick Hoffman, 24, was last seen at the Dollar General in the Hillcrest Shopping Center Sunday evening. He was last seen wearing a black polo shirt, blue shorts and sandals. He often spends time in Pittsburgh’s North Shore and Downtown communities. No information on where he was found has been released. (Photo: Bethel Park Police Department)
October 7, 2024 5:30 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has spent a record of at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began and led to escalating conflict around the Middle East. That’s according to a report by Brown University’s Costs of War project released Monday on the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel. The report says an additional $4.86 billion has gone into stepped-up U.S. military operations in the region since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, including the costs of a Navy-led campaign to quell strikes on commercial shipping by Yemen’s Houthis. It’s one of the first tallies of these estimated U.S. costs. The research was completed before Israel opened a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
October 7, 2024 5:28 am
RE’IM, Israel (AP) — Israelis are holding vigils and somber ceremonies to mark a year since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest in the country’s history, an attack that sparked the war in Gaza and scarred Israelis indelibly. The surprise attack, which caught Israel unprepared on a major Jewish holiday, shattered Israelis’ sense of security and shook their faith in their leaders and their military. Its aftershocks still ripple one year later. In Gaza, which is still buckling under the weight of the ongoing war, no formal commemorative event was planned. Israelis are expected to flock to ceremonies and cemeteries around the country on Monday.
October 6, 2024 6:25 am
Elon Musk heralded Donald Trump on Saturday as the only candidate “to preserve democracy in America.” The SpaceX and Tesla CEO stood alongside the GOP nominee at a rally in Butler, the Pennsylvania city where Trump survived an assassination attempt earlier this year. Clad in a black-on-black cap bearing the “Make America Great Again” slogan of Trump’s campaign, Musk jumped in the air as he made his way to the podium. The appearance marked the first time that the billionaire businessman appeared publicly at a campaign event since endorsing Trump in July. He’s hosted Trump in a rare public conversation on X, agreed to lead a government efficiency commission if Trump wins reelection and created a super PAC supporting the Republican nominee.
October 6, 2024 6:22 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged ongoing federal support for those affected by Hurricane Helene as she visited North Carolina. The Democratic presidential nominee met with state and local officials Saturday in Charlotte, where she praised the work of strangers helping strangers. She also helped pack aid kits and met with volunteers, calling them “heroes among us.” It was her second trip in four days to the disaster zone. Republican nominee Donald Trump was in the state a day earlier, and has been spreading false claims about the federal response to the disaster. But Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper says that federal officials have been on the ground in the state helping “since the very beginning.”
October 6, 2024 6:15 am
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The death toll from Hurricane Helene has inched up to 227 as the grim task of recovering bodies continues more than a week after the monster storm ravaged the U.S. Southeast. Helene came ashore Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane and carved a wide swath of destruction as it moved northward from Florida. It destroyed homes, washed away roads and knocked out electricity and cellphone service for millions. The death toll could rise even higher. It is not clear how many people are unaccounted for or missing. Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005.