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  • New Jersey Businessman Who Testified Against Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez Won’t Go to Prison

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    NEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey businessman who testified against former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife at separate bribery trials won’t go to prison, after a judge credited him at his sentencing Thursday for showing honesty on the witness stand and sincere remorse.

    Jose Uribe was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Judge Sidney H. Stein, who said he played a crucial role in the convictions “in a major conspiracy involving other countries and corruption of the highest order.”

    Menendez, 71, resigned from the Senate after his conviction last year on 16 charges, including having acted as a foreign agent for Egypt. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence. His wife, Nadine Menendez, was sentenced last month to 4½ years in prison.

    Their trials featured testimony about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz convertible that were paid in bribes to the couple by three New Jersey businessmen, including Uribe, in return for actions by the senator on their behalf.

    “I’m not going to incarcerate you. I think you’re extremely remorseful,” Stein said of Uribe, who was the government’s star witness at the Menendez trials.

    He ordered Uribe to serve six months of home detention, though he can leave home for work, education or religious reasons. The judge also ordered Uribe to forfeit $292,000 and pay $866,000 in restitution.

    Two businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also convicted in the bribery scheme. Daibes, a real estate developer, was sentenced this year to seven years in prison, while Hana, an entrepreneur, received an eight-year sentence.

    At trial, Uribe testified that he provided a $15,000 down payment in 2019 for the Mercedes and arranged monthly car payments from 2019 to 2022 in return for the senator’s help in shielding his company from New Jersey criminal probes of another trucking company.

    Uribe apologized for his “terrible” crimes, saying he was “sorry and embarrassed.” He became choked up as he apologized to his family.

    “I will never violate the law again,” he told Stein.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz called Uribe’s cooperation brave and valuable, noting that it was “not everyday a cooperator testifies at the trial of a sitting U.S. senator.”

    She said it was “easy to imagine why people were not lining up to testify,” since everyone knew that he was a particularly powerful senator who was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he was criminally charged in the fall of 2023. Menendez was forced from the position soon afterward.

    She called the criminal probe that preceded the trials a “long-running investigation of rare and historic gravity,” and said some of the criminal conduct would have gone unknown without Uribe’s help.

    Defense attorney Daniel Fetterman said his client was “actually harassed” as a result of his cooperation, citing a day in April 2024 when two strangers approached his wife outside a bank and asked inappropriate questions.

    “That was terrifying for him and his wife,” he said, though he noted that Uribe’s cooperation continued unabated.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • St. Petersburg to Vote on Flags for LGBTQ+ and Black Communities After DeSantis Erases Murals

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    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Florida city of St. Petersburg, long a bastion of LGBTQ+ rights and mindful of its racially segregated past, is considering approval of two flags recognizing those issues after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered similar street murals erased because of supposedly political messages.

    The St. Petersburg City Council is set to vote Thursday afternoon on the flags, which were designed by an artist who did one of the main erased street murals. The resolution’s sponsor, council member Gina Driscoll, said the goal is to assure residents and visitors that the city remains committed to diversity and inclusion.

    “As with most art, these flags and their colors have a meaning to each person that is as unique as we are,” Driscoll said before the vote. “Flags are a reflection of a city’s identity, and these flags will go a step further in representing the people of St. Petersburg — all of us.”

    One flag is dubbed “Harmony” and includes the city seal with a rainbow design. The city has long been known as a welcoming place for LGBTQ people and each year hosts one of the largest gay pride celebrations in the country. It also is a city where colorful murals are painted on buildings everywhere.

    The other flag, dubbed “History,” is a nod to the Black experience in St. Petersburg, which was once heavily segregated. In one example, Black police officers for years were prevented from arresting white people north of the Central Avenue boundary that cuts through downtown. A federal judge eventually overturned that practice.

    The flags are in reaction to a decision by DeSantis to erase street art around the state — the governor contends many are inappropriate roadway political messages — including at least five murals in St. Petersburg. One of those painted-over intersections was designed by artist Andrea Pawlisz, who also gave the flag designs to the city.

    “Recent events have erased art from our city. Censorship of expression,” Pawlisz said in an email. “It was important to design these flags to recognize all people and to validate artists as a part of our city,”

    DeSantis spokeswoman Molly Best said Thursday the flags are unnecessary because “we already have a flag that represents everyone.” She did not specify in an email whether that was the state or U.S. flag, nor whether the governor might challenge the St. Petersburg flags.

    The flags would be hoisted on city property at “appropriate times,” according to Driscoll’s resolution, which would most likely include Pride month in June and Black History Month in February.

    “The city should fly variations on the official flag to represent a shared sense of local identity, fostering a spirit of unity and belonging,” the resolution says.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Texas Appeals Court Again Pauses Execution of Robert Roberson in Shaken Baby Case

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    HOUSTON (AP) — Texas’ top criminal court on Thursday again paused the execution of Robert Roberson, just days before he was set to become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

    This was the third execution date that Roberson’s lawyers have been able to stay since 2016, including an attempt nearly a year ago that was stopped by an unprecedented intervention from a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers who believe he is innocent.

    The latest execution stay was granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Roberson had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 16.

    Since his first execution date more than nine years ago, Roberson’s lawyers have filed multiple petitions with state and federal appeals courts, as well as with the U.S. Supreme Court, to try and stop his execution. Over the years, they have also asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to stop his lethal injection, as part of their efforts to get Roberson a new trial.

    Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued that he hit his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis and violently shook her, causing severe head trauma. They said she died from injuries related to shaken baby syndrome.

    Roberson has long proclaimed he is innocent, telling The Associated Press in an interview last week from death row in Livingston, Texas, that he never abused his daughter.

    “I never shook her or hit her,” he said.

    The diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, like being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.

    His lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia. They say his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence.

    In their latest appeal with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Roberson’s lawyers had included what they say are new legal and scientific developments and expert analyses that show Nikki’s death was caused by illness and accident and not by abuse.

    Roberson’s lawyers also included a joint statement from 10 independent pathologists who said the medical examiner’s autopsy report, which concluded Nikki died from blunt force head injuries, was “not reliable.”

    His attorneys have also claimed that new evidence shows judicial misconduct in Roberson’s case. They allege the judge who presided over Roberson’s trial never disclosed he was the one who authorized circumventing Roberson’s parental rights and allowing Nikki’s grandparents to remove her from life support.

    The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as some medical experts and other family members of Nikki, maintain the girl died because of child abuse and that Roberson had a history of hitting his daughter.

    In a Sept. 26 op-ed in The Dallas Morning News, three pediatricians, including two with the Yale School of Medicine, said they reviewed the case and “are convinced that Nikki was a victim of child abuse.”

    Shaken baby syndrome has come under scrutiny in recent years as some lawyers and medical experts have argued the diagnosis has wrongly sent people to prison. Prosecutors and medical societies say it remains valid.

    Roberson’s supporters include both liberal and ultraconservative lawmakers, Texas GOP megadonor and conservative activist Doug Deason, bestselling author John Grisham and Brian Wharton, the former police detective who helped put together the case against him.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Trump’s National Guard Deployments Face Pair of Court Challenges

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    By Heather Schlitz, Renee Hickman and Dietrich Knauth

    CHICAGO (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s aggressive and unprecedented National Guard deployments will be further tested in two court hearings in different U.S. states on Thursday, as governors resisting the militarization of their cities challenge the federal government in court.

    A federal judge in Illinois will decide whether to temporarily stop the National Guard from deploying to Chicago, and an appeals court in California will review Trump’s initial appeal over his decision to send troops to Portland, Oregon, which a federal judge blocked over the weekend.

    A coalition of 24 states on Wednesday filed a brief in support of Oregon and California’s lawsuit opposing the National Guard deployment in Portland. In urging the appeals court to uphold the lower court, the states argued that the deployment defies the U.S. Constitution, overrides the state of Oregon’s authority, and endangers communities in Portland.

    As the legal battles play out, 500 National Guard troops stand at the ready near Chicago. 

    National Guard troops are state-based militia forces that, despite wearing U.S. Army uniforms, answer to their governors except when called into federal service. They are more typically deployed to assist with natural disasters.

    Trump says the troops are necessary to protect federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who he says are under threat from street protesters and Democratic elected officials who have refused to cooperate with the White House. Democratic governors and mayors in turn have accused the president of manufacturing a crisis out of political motivations.

    Trump is facing four lawsuits over his troop deployments to Portland, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Chicago. The deployments have been ruled illegal by the two trial courts that have reached early decisions, as judges ruled that protests in Los Angeles and Portland did not warrant a military response.

    But the California court has so far been overruled by the same appeals court that will oversee the Portland case, saying the president’s military decisions must be given great deference.

    Trump officials have branded as violent the street protests against his immigration crackdown, though the demonstrations have mostly been small and peaceful, especially when compared to the 2020 demonstrations that erupted across the country following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

    Outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, about 12 miles (20 km) west of Chicago, a dozen protesters gathered outside on Wednesday evening, smoking, vaping and eating burgers as they awaited the arrival of the National Guard.

    National Guard members from Texas and Illinois were expected to arrive to protect the facility in support of ICE officers, who have fired pepper balls, tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators.

    Protesters raised concerns the National Guard troops would escalate tensions.

    “I guess I’m ready to get hit by a live round,” said Will Creutz, 22, an administrative assistant from Chicago whose body is already bruised from pepper ball strikes. “When I survive this and I’m able to think about what I did when something horrible was happening, I will be able to sleep peacefully knowing that I did something.” 

    Several hundred people marched in downtown Chicago on Wednesday evening, protesting the deployment.

    In addition to the usual slate of protest chants, people shouted “Todos somos Silverio” or “We are all Silverio” after the fatal shooting of immigrant Silverio Villegas Gonzalez by ICE agents in a Chicago suburb in September.

    The Chicago police presence was relatively light at the event, with no obvious sign of federal agents.

    (Reporting by Heather Schlitz, Emily Schmall and Renee Hickman in Chicago and Dietrick Knauth in New York; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Federal Court to Weigh Trump’s Deployment of National Guard Troops in Chicago Area

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    President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois faces legal scrutiny Thursday at a pivotal court hearing that will occur the day after a small number of Guard troops started protecting federal property in the Chicago area.

    U.S. District Judge April Perry will hear arguments over a request to block the deployment of Illinois and Texas Guard members. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and local officials strongly oppose use of the Guard.

    An “element” of the 200 Texas Guard troops sent to Illinois started working in the Chicago area on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Northern Command, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details not been made public. The spokesperson did not say where specifically the troops were sent.

    The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, arrived this week at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days.

    The Guard members are in the city to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, according to Northern Command. Trump earlier sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington, and a small number this week started assisting law enforcement in Memphis.

    Those troops are part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, a collection of about a dozen federal law enforcement agencies ordered by Trump to fight crime in the city. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports using the Guard.

    The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

    Chicago and Illinois have filed a lawsuit to stop the deployments, calling them unnecessary and illegal. Trump, meanwhile, has portrayed Chicago as a lawless “hellhole” of crime, though statistics show a significant recent drop in crime.

    The Republican president said Wednesday that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Pritzker, both Democrats, should be jailed for failing to protect federal agents during immigration enforcement crackdowns.

    In a court filing in the lawsuit, the city and state say protests at a temporary ICE detention facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview have “never come close to stopping federal immigration enforcement.”

    “The President is using the Broadview protests as a pretext,” they wrote. “The impending federal troop deployment in Illinois is the latest episode in a broader campaign by the President’s administration to target jurisdictions the President dislikes.”

    Also Thursday, a panel of judges in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear arguments over whether Trump had the authority to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. The president had planned to deploy them in Portland, where there have been mostly small nightly protests outside an ICE building. State and city leaders insist troops are neither wanted nor needed there.

    U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut on Sunday granted Oregon and California a temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of Guard troops to Portland. Trump had mobilized California troops for Portland just hours after Immergut first blocked him from using Oregon’s Guard.

    The administration has yet to appeal that order to the 9th Circuit.

    Immergut, who Trump appointed during his first term, rejected the president’s assertions that troops were needed to protect Portland and immigration facilities, saying “it had been months since there was any sustained level of violent or disruptive protest activity in the city.”

    Associated Press writers Gene Johnson in Seattle and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Asian Shares Advance and Oil Prices Fall as Israel and Hamas Agree to Pause Fighting

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    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after US stocks hit records again following a brief stumble.

    Markets in mainland China gained more than 1% as they reopened following a weeklong holiday, while U.S. futures declined.

    Oil prices fell back after Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to pause fighting in Gaza so that the remaining hostages there can be freed in the coming days in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

    U.S. benchmark crude slid 44 cents to $62.11 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 38 cents to $65.87 per barrel.

    Gold shed some of its stellar gains but was still at $4,048.20 per ounce as of Thursday morning.

    Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3% to 48,369.90 as SoftBank Group surged over 11% amid its further expansion into artificial intelligence.

    On Wednesday, SoftBank announced a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up less than 0.1% to 26,840.95, while the Shanghai Composite index added 1.2% to 3,931.07 in its first trading session since Oct. 1.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 8,965.90 while Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.3%.

    On Wednesday, Wall Street resumed climbing and the price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,735.72, another record, a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged less than 0.1% lower to 46,601.78, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1% to its own record of 23,043.38.

    Advanced Micro Devices jumped another 11.4% to add to its rally from earlier in the week, when it announced an AI-related deal. AMD was the best performing stock in the S&P 500.

    Right behind was Dell Technologies, which piled more gains onto its own rally from Tuesday, when it talked up its growth opportunities related to AI. Dell rose 9.1%.

    Poet Technologies climbed 17% and likewise added to its surge from Tuesday, when it said it raised $75 million in investment to accelerate its growth. The company sells high-speed optical engines and other products used in the AI systems market.

    AI-related stocks have broadly been on a tear. Nvidia has soared nearly 41% so far this year. Oracle is up 73.2% over the same time, while Palantir Technologies has more than doubled with a nearly 143% surge.

    The performances have been so strong that criticism is rising about prices having gone too far, like they did during the 2000 dot-com mania. That bubble ultimately imploded, and the S&P 500 halved in value.

    In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar fell to 152.57 Japanese yen from 152.70 yen. The euro rose to $1.1646 from $1.1629.

    AP Business Writers Stan Choe, Matt Ott and Kelvin Chan contributed.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Indiana Man Convicted in 2001 Rape and Murder of Teenager to Be Executed by Lethal Injection

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    CHICAGO (AP) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl was set to die by lethal injection early Friday in the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year.

    Roy Lee Ward, 53, was scheduled to be put to death before sunrise at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

    He was convicted in the rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne and sentenced to death. The brutal crime, which happened in the family’s home in Dale, rocked the small community of roughly 1,500 people.

    Attorneys said Ward has exhausted his legal options after many court battles.

    “He’s very remorseful about this horrible crime,” said his attorney Joanna Green.

    Ward’s execution comes amid questions about Indiana’s handling of pentobarbital. Last year state officials ended a 15-year pause on executions, saying they’d been able to obtain drugs used in lethal injections but which had been unavailable for years.

    The Indiana Department of Correction said it had obtained “enough pentobarbital to follow the required protocol” for Ward’s execution. Ward’s attorneys though have raised concerns about the use of the drug and how the state stored it, including temperature issues.

    Ward’s expected execution in Indiana on Friday is the first of eight that are set to be carried out in October in seven different U.S. states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

    Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bar media witnesses. Ward’s witness list includes attorneys and spiritual advisors.

    His case has trailed through the courts for more than 20 years.

    Ward was found guilty of the crimes in 2002 and sentenced to death. But after the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, he pleaded guilty in 2007. A decade later, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In 2019, he sued Indiana seeking to stop all pending executions.

    Last month, the Indiana Supreme Court declined to stay the execution and Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ward’s clemency bid.

    The victim’s family members said they were ready for justice to be carried out, remembering Payne as an honor student and cheerleader with an influence beyond her short life.

    “Now our family gatherings are no longer whole, holidays still empty. Birthdays are sad reminders of what we lost,” her mother Julie Wininger told the parole board last month. “Our family has endured emotional devastation.”

    Ward, who declined interview requests through his attorneys, has said little publicly. He skipped a parole board interview for his clemency bid, saying he didn’t want to force the victim’s family travel to the prison and he can’t always say what he means.

    Attorneys say Ward was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which affects his ability to communicate.

    One of his spiritual advisers, Deacon Brian Nosbusch, said Ward has thought deeply about his actions.

    “He knows he did it,” Nosbusch said. “He knows it was horrendous.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Frustrated Lawmakers Say Lack of Trust Is Making It Harder to End the Government Shutdown

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — A president looking to seize power beyond the executive branch. A Congress controlled by Republican lawmakers unwilling to directly defy him. And a minority party looking for any way to fight back.

    The dynamic left Washington in a stalemate Thursday — the ninth day of the government shutdown — and lawmakers openly venting their frustration as they tried to gain traction without the trust that is typically the foundation of any bipartisan deal.

    “To have good-faith conversations, you have to have trust. There’s a real challenge of trust,” said Rep. Brad Schneider, chair of the New Democratic Coalition, a pragmatic group of House Democrats.

    Groups of lawmakers — huddled over dinners, on phone calls, and in private meetings — have tried to brainstorm ways out of the standoff that has shuttered government offices, kept hundreds of thousands of federal employees at home and threatened to leave them without a scheduled payday. But lawmakers have found themselves running up against the reality that the relationship between the two parties is badly broken.

    “We’re in an environment where we need more than a handshake,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who has engaged in talks with Republicans.

    President Donald Trump and Republicans have so far held to the stance that they will only negotiate on Democratic demands around health care benefits after they vote to reopen the government. They also say Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is beholden to the left wing of his party and only staging the shutdown fight to stave off a primary challenge.

    “There are some things that I think there is interest on both sides in trying to address when it comes to health care in this country,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday. “But you can’t take the federal government hostage and expect to have a reasonable conversation on those issues.”


    When a handshake deal is not enough

    Democrats have insisted they can’t take Trump at his word and therefore need more than a verbal commitment for any deal.

    “Donald Trump has no respect for law if he can push outside it, so I think we need some safeguards,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.

    Conflicts over spending power had already been raging before the shutdown as the White House pushed to assert maximum power over congressionally approved budgets. The White House budget office had canceled scores of government contracts, including cutting out the legislative branch entirely with a $4.9 billion cut to foreign aid in August through a legally dubious process known as a “pocket rescission.”

    That enraged Democrats — as well as irked some Republicans who criticized it as executive overreach.

    “I hate rescissions, to be honest with you, unless they’re congressionally approved,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican.

    Matt Glassman, a fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, said the president’s use of rescissions was “blowing up the underlying dynamic of the bargaining” because it inserts intense partisanship into the budget appropriations process that otherwise requires compromise, particularly in the Senate.

    Then, as the government entered a shutdown, Trump’s budget director Russ Vought laid out arguments that the president would have even more power to lay off workers and even cancel pay due to furloughed federal workers once the funding lapse is solved. Vought has also announced that the administration was withholding billions of dollars for infrastructure projects in states with Democratic senators who have voted for the shutdown.

    Trump has cast Vought’s actions as the consequences of Democratic obstruction, even sharing a video that depicted him as the grim reaper. But on Capitol Hill, there has been an acknowledgment that the hardball tactics are making it harder to negotiate.

    “I think with senators carrots work better than sticks,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican.


    One Democratic idea may win GOP support

    Before they vote to reopen the government, Democrats’ main demand is that Congress take up an extension of subsidies for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. Trump has sounded open to a deal, saying that he wants “great health care” for Americans.

    What’s received less attention is that Democrats also want new safeguards in the law limiting the White House’s ability to claw back, or rescind, funding already approved by Congress. While final appropriations bills are still being worked out, Republicans have been open to the idea.

    “When you end the shutdown and get back to regular order within the appropriations bills, there’s very clear language about how we feel about rescissions,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I think you’ll find hard, solid support from Republicans to see that what we agree to will be executed on.”

    In the meantime, the main sticking point for lawmakers this week has been finding any agreement on extending the health care subsidies.


    The consequences of an extended shutdown

    As the shutdown drags on without sign of significant progress to ending the impasse, lawmakers are looking ahead to the dates when federal employees will miss a payday.

    Active-duty military troops would miss a paycheck on Oct. 15. Some lawmakers are getting nervous about both the financial implications for the troops and the political blowback of allowing soldiers to go without pay.

    As he argued with Democrats on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson pointed out that House Republicans have already passed a stopgap bill that would “keep the government open to make sure TSA agents, Border Patrol agents, the troops and everybody else gets paid.”

    There has been some discussion in Congress of passing partial government funding legislation to ensure that military members are paid, but so far Republicans have tried to keep the pressure on Democrats to vote for their bill.

    Lawmakers seemed ready to dig in and try to push each other to the brink.

    “I would not challenge Donald Trump’s resolve on this if I was anybody,” Cramer said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Trump Receives Urgent Note From Rubio on Mideast Peace Deal During Antifa Roundtable

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was holding a roundtable event with conservative influencers about antifa Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio, standing in the back corner of the White House’s Blue Room, caught his eye.

    He had news for Trump, he said, but it would have to wait until after the media left. Then Rubio passed the president a note. News photographers in the room zoomed in on the handwriting on White House stationery that read, “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”

    It prompted Trump to proclaim, “We’re very close to a deal in the Middle East.”

    The influencer event had already been going on for nearly two hours when Rubio first approached. The president invited him to come in, and Rubio whispered something to Trump before handing him the note.

    The note’s urgent tone came as Trump’s top Middle East adviser, the prime minister of Qatar and other senior officials joined a third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas at an Egyptian resort Wednesday — a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza.

    Trump had kicked off the influencer event by telling assembled journalists that he planned to travel to the Middle East “toward the end of the week” and could even “make the rounds” in the region to Egypt and possibly the Gaza Strip.

    After Rubio passed Trump the note, Trump continued to talk to the influencers and take questions from the media as Rubio appeared visibly anxious.

    After several more minutes, the president wrapped by saying: “We’re gonna get peace in the Middle East. That’s what we want to do.” He left without further elaborating.

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  • Here’s a Look at California’s Five Most Destructive Wildfires

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Palisades Fire was the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles to date and among the five worst in California‘s history.

    Federal authorities said Wednesday that they have charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old man who had lived in the area, with starting the deadly fire that destroyed much of the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The fire started on New Year’s Day and was initially extinguished by fire crews but continued to smolder underground before reigniting during high winds on Jan. 7.

    Here’s a look at the state’s five most destructive wildfires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

    The Camp Fire in 2018 in Paradise is the state’s most destructive blaze and one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed more than 18,800 structures, including some 11,000 homes. The town was almost entirely destroyed. It caused over $12.5 billion in damages.

    At least 26,000 people were displaced. Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. power lines sparked the Northern California blaze, officials said.

    The Eaton Fire that erupted on Jan. 7 destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures and killed 19 people in the community of Altadena in Los Angeles County. Southern California Edison said this spring that it was starting a program to compensate victims, even as the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

    The creation of the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program seems to suggest that the utility is prepared to acknowledge what several lawsuits claim: Its equipmentsparked the conflagration in Altadena.

    The Palisades Fire in Los Angeles was the most destructive in the city’s history. The blaze killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 homes and buildings in Pacific Palisades. The fire ripped through hillside neighborhoods, destroying mansions with spectacular ocean views.

    Rinderknecht was arrested Tuesday in Florida and made his first court appearance Wednesday in Orlando on charges including malicious destruction by means of a fire, which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison. He told a federal magistrate that he was not under the influence and did not have mental issues.

    The judge set a hearing for Thursday to consider bond and extradition proceedings. Aisha Nash, the federal public defender assigned to represent Rinderknecht, did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment.

    The October 2017 Tubbs Fire killed 22 people and destroyed more than 5,600 buildings in Northern California wine country. The city of Santa Rosa, where many homes were destroyed, was hit especially hard.

    State investigators said it was caused by a private electrical system.

    The Tunnel Fire that started in October 1991 killed 25 people when it roared down the densely populated hillsides of Oakland, trapping people in homes and on narrow, winding streets. It began as a small grass fire that firefighters thought they had contained, only to see it roar back to life when smoldering embers ignited other brush as fierce winds erupted. It claimed 2,900 homes and buildings.

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  • Last of the 10 New Orleans Jail Escapees From May Is Captured in Georgia, Authorities Say

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    ATLANTA (AP) — The only escaped Louisiana inmate who remained on the run following an audacious May jailbreak in which 10 men crawled through a hole behind a toilet has been found in Atlanta, the U.S. Marshals said Wednesday.

    Derrick Groves was taken into custody in a house after evading authorities for nearly five months, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair confirmed. Sgt. Kate Stegall, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police, also said Groves was in custody after a brief standoff.

    The other nine escapees had been recaptured within six weeks of breaking out of a New Orleans jail on May 16, and most were found still in Louisiana.

    Groves, 28, had been convicted of murder and was facing a possible life sentence before the jailbreak. He had the most violent criminal record of the escapees and authorities had offered a $50,000 reward for tips that lead to his recapture.

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  • Indiana Set to Execute Man Convicted of 2001 Rape and Murder of Small-Town Teenage Girl

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    CHICAGO (AP) — Indiana will put to death a man who was convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl, the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year.

    The execution of Roy Lee Ward is scheduled before sunrise Friday at the state prison in Michigan City, Indiana. The 52-year-old has exhausted his legal options to challenge the sentence.

    Ward’s execution by lethal injection comes amid questions about Indiana’s handling of pentobarbital, the drug it has used in recent executions.

    Here’s a closer look at the case:


    A brutal death shocks an Indiana town

    Authorities say Ward entered the home of 15-year-old Stacy Payne on July 11, 2001, raped her and struck and stabbed the girl repeatedly with a dumbbell and a knife. She was airlifted from her town of Dale to a hospital and died hours later.

    Matt Keller, former town marshal, discovered Stacy and arrested Ward who was still at the home.

    “I cannot imagine the immense pain, suffering, and sheer terror that Stacy experienced during the last moments of her young life,” Keller said at Ward’s clemency hearing in Indianapolis last month.

    Payne’s death rocked the southern Indiana community, which is home to about 1,500 people. Her father still lives at the house, her Raggedy Ann doll collection untouched.

    A nearby church has planned a prayer vigil to honor the girl hours before the execution “with the sharing of cherished memories.”

    Ward’s case has wound through the courts for decades. He was found guilty of murder and rape in 2002 and sentenced to death. But the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.

    Ward then pleaded guilty in 2007. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in 2017.

    Two years later, he sued Indiana seeking to halt all executions. He argued that Indiana’s manner of carrying out “capital punishment is arbitrary” and “offensive to evolving standards of decency.”

    The Indiana Supreme Court declined to stay the execution last month. That’s also when Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ward’s clemency after board members noted the killing’s “brutal nature.”

    Arguing against clemency, the state’s attorneys mentioned Ward’s criminal history, including indecent exposure charges and a robbery conviction.

    “He is a murderer and a rapist,” Deputy Attorney General Tyler Banks told the parole board. “He’s also predatory and manipulative.”

    Ward has exhausted his legal avenues, attorneys said.

    “He is pretty resigned to the fact that it’s happening and has been for awhile,” said Joanna Green, one of Ward’s attorneys. “He said, ‘If I could take every bit of the pain I caused with me, I would.’”


    Questions about execution drugs

    Indiana resumed executions in 2024 after a 15-year hiatus. State officials said they’d been able to obtain drugs used in lethal injections that had been unavailable for years.

    But those drugs came at a high cost, more than $1 million for four doses. In June, Braun said the state wouldn’t immediately buy more, raising questions about if Indiana would consider a new execution method. The first-term Republican cited the high cost and short shelf life.

    Ward’s attorneys challenged the use of the drug in court, saying it can cause flash pulmonary edema, in which fluid rushes through quickly disintegrating membranes into lungs and airways, causing pain similar to being suffocated. They noted that witnesses to the May execution of Ben Ritchie said the man lurched forward before he died.

    “There are still a lot of unanswered questions about what happened during Ben’s execution,” Green said.

    Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bar media witnesses.

    Indiana Department of Correction officials confirmed Wednesday that the agency “has enough pentobarbital to follow the required protocol” for the execution but didn’t comment further.

    Green said they discovered through their lawsuit that the pentobarbital to be used in Ward’s execution is manufactured and not compounded. Ward’s attorneys said that means fewer concerns about the drug deteriorating quickly and they received assurances about proper handling of the drug, including temperature control. The lawsuit was dropped, as was another legal challenge over execution chamber conditions.


    Remembered for a love of life

    Relatives said Payne, who loved the song “You Are My Sunshine,” was full of life.

    An honor student and cheerleader, she was saving money from her pizzeria job, her mother Julie Wininger told the parole board.

    “Stacy’s life was so short but was filled with so much meaning,” she said.

    Wininger tallies each of the 8,000 plus days since Payne’s passing. She asked the parole board for justice to be carried out.

    “We will never see Stacy smile again,” Wininger said, crying. “We will never hear her voice, never have the joy of watching her grow into the incredible woman she was meant to be.”

    Ward, who declined interview requests through his attorneys, has said little publicly.

    He didn’t comment when sentenced in 2007. He also declined a parole board interview, saying he didn’t want to force the victim’s family travel to Michigan City. Attorneys also said he’s remorseful but has a hard time expressing it.

    Ward was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, an issue attorneys had raised in challenges.

    In a Sept. 17 affidavit, Ward said he declined a parole board appearance because “due to my learning disability and language impairments the messages I mean to convey are sometimes difficult for me to accurately express.”

    While behind bars, he lost relatives, including his mother who moved to Michigan City to be closer to him. Through a prison program, he took care of a cat named Sadie, who was rehomed ahead of his execution.

    He’s renewed his faith and was baptized in prison. He keeps close contact with spiritual advisers who say he’s expressed regret.

    “He’s not hiding the fact that it happened,” said Deacon Brian Nosbusch. “He’s definitely a changed person.”

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  • Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Tireless Advocate for Detroit, Dies at Age 80

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    DETROIT (AP) — Former Detroit Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick has died at age 80, according to her family.

    The family announced Cheeks Kilpatrick’s death Wednesday in a statement, calling her a “tireless warrior” for Detroit and an “unwavering champion for her constituents.”

    “For over 32 years, Congresswoman Kilpatrick held elected office with passion, integrity, and an unyielding commitment to bringing positive change to our community,” the family said. “She will be deeply missed, not only by her family and friends, but by the entire Detroit community that she loved so dearly.”

    A Democrat, Cheeks Kilpatrick became the second Black woman to serve in the U.S. House following her election in 1996. By her second term, she was assigned to the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where she worked to secure federal resources for Detroit, according to a biography on the U.S. House website.

    She was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and served as its chair from 2007-2009.

    A former school teacher, Cheeks Kilpatrick first was elected in 1978 to the Michigan House of Representatives, where she served nine consecutive terms.

    In 2008, her son, then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice in a civil trial involving retaliation against police officers. He later resigned as mayor.

    Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted in 2013 of federal racketeering, fraud, extortion and tax crimes and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. He was released in 2021 after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.

    “Congresswoman Kilpatrick leaves behind a legacy of service that shines as an example to all who knew her,” the Congressional Black Caucus said Wednesday in a statement.

    In addition to her son, Cheeks Kilpatrick is survived by a daughter, Ayanna, and eight grandchildren.

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  • Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested in Boston After Clash With Police

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    BOSTON (AP) — Thirteen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in Boston after a chaotic clash with police that resulted in four officers being sent to area hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

    Everyone arrested at Tuesday’s protest was from the area and ranged in age from 19 and 27, police said. They are due to be arraigned Wednesday and Thursday, most on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace.

    Local news footage showed protesters and police officers shoving one another and even wrestling on the ground. Video showed protesters shouting, “Get off of him,” as officers were restraining someone.

    The protest was one of many around the world that coincided with the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 people, and Israel responded with a massive military campaign that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.

    According to a police news release, officers were stationed at Boston Common to monitor the rally starting at 5:30 p.m. About an hour later, about 200 to 300 protesters clashed with officers a few blocks away. The crowds blocked a road, chanted over amplified bullhorns and interlocked arms to prevent police vehicles from passing as officers attempted to respond to an “unrelated emergency,” the department said.

    When officers tried to move the group to the sidewalk to allow emergency vehicles to pass, protesters surrounded police cruisers, kicked their doors, and ignited smoke devices and flares, police said.

    Several officers were assaulted, including one who was struck in the face, and four members of law enforcement were transported to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, the department said.

    “They tried to block the police cars trying to come down Tremont Street and it was wild,” witness Brody Greland told WHDH-TV. “After they tried to block the police cars, the police got involved and started making arrests and trying to clear the road, and it got really chaotic. I think there were some fights — some people started throwing punches, it got crazy.”

    The Boston protest was organized by area Students for Justice in Palestine groups, according to social media posts. The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson College’s student newspaper, reported that organizers called on protesters to urge their universities to divest from companies with economic ties to Israel.

    Associated Press reporter Kathy McCormack contributed.

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  • El Paso Bishop Brings Pope Leo XIV Desperate Letters From Migrants in Crosshairs of US Crackdown

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    VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Texas bishop on the front lines of the U.S. immigration crackdown met Wednesday with Pope Leo XIV and brought him a packet of letters from immigrant families “terrorized” by fear that they and their loved ones will be rounded up and deported as the Trump administration’s tactics grow increasingly combative.

    El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz also showed Leo a video detailing the plight of migrants, and told The Associated Press afterward that Leo vowed to “stand with” them and the Catholic leaders who are trying to help them.

    “He had a few words for us, thanking us for our commitment to the immigrant peoples and also saying that he hopes that the bishops’ conference will speak to this issue and continue to speak to it,” said Seitz, chair of the migration committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

    Catholic leaders in the U.S. have denounced the Trump administration’s crackdown, which has split up families, incited fears and upended life in American churches and schools that serve migrant communities. The administration has defended the crackdown as safeguarding public safety and national security.

    “We don’t want to get into the political fray, we’re not politicians, but we need to teach the faith,” and especially the Gospel message recognizing the inherent dignity of all God’s children, and to care for the poor and welcome the stranger, Seitz said.

    The letters and video he brought to Leo detail the fear that even legal migrants are facing every day. U.S. citizens, immigrants with legal status and children have been among those detained in increasingly brazen and aggressive encounters by federal agents. In Leo’s hometown of Chicago, agents have stormed apartment complexes by helicopter as families slept, deployed chemical agents near a public school and arrested a city councilman in the hospital.

    “They can’t go out. They are afraid to shop, to go to church and so they stay home,” wrote Maria in one of the letters delivered to Leo. Originally from Guatemala, she has lived in San Francisco for a quarter-century and qualified for asylum years ago, but has relatives in the U.S. who are not legal.

    “The pope needs to talk to Trump and ask Trump to think about what he’s doing to immigrants,” she wrote. “The pope needs to plead with Trump and Trump needs to listen to him. Trump has to change what he’s doing.”

    Just before he died, Pope Francis strongly rebuked the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations, warning that the forceful removal of people purely because of their illegal status deprives them of their inherent dignity.

    History’s first U.S. pope has followed in Francis’ line. Last weekend, Leo celebrated a special Holy Year Mass for migrants, denouncing the “coldness of indifference” and the “stigma of discrimination” that migrants desperate to flee violence and suffering often face. Asked by reporters this week about the crackdown in Chicago, Leo declined to comment.

    On Wednesday, Leo was running late for the audience with Seitz and the delegation of around a dozen people, including members of the Hope Border Institute, an advocacy group formed in partnership with the El Paso diocese. The delegation members assured Leo that they would stand with him as they chatted in a Vatican reception room.

    “Later on in the meeting he said, ‘I will stand with you,’ so it was a beautiful little exchange,” said Seitz.

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • Scary Season: Performers at Michigan Haunted House Learn Tricks of the Terrifying Trade

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    PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Grotesque makeup, menacing props and intimidating costumes are just one part of a Michigan haunted house’s 25-year-old formula to terrify guests.

    It starts by educating the actors looking to provide the most horrifying experience to its visitors. At Scare School, they learn all the tricks of the trade.

    Lessons begin weeks before the four-level walk-through scream factory opens to visitors, introducing fresh talent to the get-ups, face paint and unnatural body movements proven to petrify thousands of customers since the turn of the century.

    The actors’ report card of sorts is the “Wimp Out Score Board” in Erebus Haunted Attraction’s ground-level lobby, tallying the numbers of visitors who flee before making it through all four levels or who join the “wetters, pukers & fainters” total.

    And, yes, they really tally it.

    The one-time abandoned parking structure in Pontiac consistently lands on lists of the scariest haunted houses in America. Operations managers and brothers Zac and Brad Terebus said the coaching and training performers receive isn’t just about what they wear or how loud they can shout.

    “Scare School really comes down to the psychology of fear,” Zac Terebus said. “Fear is not an accident. Fear is an art.”

    In the weeks before Erebus opened for the Sept. 19-Nov. 2 Halloween season, managers auditioned and hired dozens of scare actors, then coached them to be as frightening as humanly — or rather, supernaturally — possible.

    In an upstairs room in early September, Erebus veterans schooled the newbies on the finer points of zombie shuffling and demon shrieking, walking on stilts and wielding a spiked (plastic) club. The new hires also learned about make-up application, costuming, how to get into their roles and personas as well as rules about interacting with the guests.

    It’s all part of an effort to bring out their inner fiend, Brad Terebus said.

    “Let’s say they’re a lawyer by day,” he said. “They can come here, break their shell off and just release this monster within them.”

    Alan Tucker, who portrays a bloodthirsty clown, said scare acting is “therapeutic.”

    “You never really think that you can be something else for a couple hours and scare people. But then when you really actually get to do that, it’s so entertaining. It’s so fulfilling,” said Tucker, who is in his second year as a scare actor.

    Renee Piehl is in her third year, this time around playing Nyx, based on the Greek goddess of night, who frightens guests waiting in line to enter the haunt.

    “They come here to be scared. It’s Halloween. It’s fun,” she said. “We are to be ugly and scary and bloody.”

    Plus, the scarier the actors are, the bigger the numbers will get on the Wimp Out Score Board.

    The board currently lists 10,711 “wimps” and 1,246 “wetters, pukers & fainters” both cumulative totals since the Terebuses’ father and uncle opened the attraction.

    “What we have throughout the haunted house, we call them ‘chicken exits.’ They’re actually fire exits,” Zac Terebus said. “But, at any point in the show, if you say, ‘I want out,’ we take you out, we escort you down, you end up here in the exit lobby, you can wait for your group to come on out.

    “It’s a competition among our monsters to see who can really scare the pee out of somebody.”

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  • Sherrill, Ciattarelli to Meet in Final Debate in New Jersey Governor’s Race

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    NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli will go head-to-head Wednesday in their final debate for New Jersey governor, as the federal government shutdown, Sherrill’s military records and the high cost of living have become major issues in the closely watched race.

    New Jersey is one of two states, along with Virginia, electing governors this fall — contests that are being viewed as a measure of how voters feel about President Donald Trump’s second term and how Democrats are responding.

    The hourlong debate gives the candidates a chance to cement their pitches to voters, who have already begun mailing in ballots ahead of the Nov. 4 election. Early in-person voting is scheduled for Oct. 25 to Nov. 2.

    New Jersey has gone Democratic in presidential and Senate contests for decades, but it’s alternated between Republicans and Democrats in its odd-year elections for governor. Going back to the 1980s, voters went with the nominee from the party opposite of the president’s. But term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy broke that pattern in 2021 when he won reelection narrowly over Ciattarelli, now in his third campaign for governor.

    The state, however, has grown more conservative in recent years, with Trump losing last November to Democrat Kamala Harris by just 6 points — a dramatic swing from his nearly 13-point deficit in 2016.

    In their first debate, the candidates clashed pointedly, with Ciattarelli calling his opponent’s promises vague and dishonest and Sherrill tying Ciattarelli to Trump and questioning the former business owner and accountant’s math skills. Trump endorsed Ciattarelli in the GOP primary, saying he’d gone “ALL IN” and was “now 100% (PLUS!)” on the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, despite past criticism.

    Here’s what to watch for in the debate, televised locally on ABC:


    Shutdown and the Hudson River tunnel

    Sherrill, a four-term congresswoman elected during Trump’s first midterm to a longtime GOP-held seat, has advocated for funding throughout her time in office and has sharply criticized the freeze, holding a news conference outside a suburban New York rail station.

    She could lean into the effect the shutdown could have on the project, which is continuing work for now, though it’s unclear when federal reimbursements might run out if the shutdown drags on.

    “Trump has frozen the funding for this all important project. And what has Jack Ciattarelli said? Not much,” Sherrill said at the recent event in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

    Ciattarelli has blasted Sherrill as responsible for the shutdown as a member of Congress. Look for him to criticize her for voting for previous continuing resolutions that kept the government open under former President Joe Biden despite voting against the current Republican-backed measure.


    The release of military records

    Another topic likely to be raised in the debate stems from two related but separate stories about Sherrill’s time in the Navy. One story detailed how Sherrill’s mostly unredacted military record was released to a Republican operative close to Ciattarelli’s campaign. The other centers on news that Sherrill did not participate in the 1994 graduation from the Naval Academy amid fallout that year from a well-documented cheating scandal.

    Sherrill said she was barred from walking because she did not turn in fellow classmates. She still graduated, was commissioned and went on to become a helicopter pilot.

    Ciattarelli’s campaign has called on her to release additional records to back up that defense, but she has declined.

    “If those sealed disciplinary records match Representative Sherrill’s current explanation, we are unsure why she would refuse to release the records and put this matter to rest,” the campaign said in an email.

    In a recent interview, Sherrill said her files show a “record of service.”

    “I’m certainly not going to allow him,” she said, “to rampage through the records of my classmates at the academy.”

    Instead, Sherrill’s campaign has seized on the improper release of information to the National Archives with personal information unredacted.

    Her campaign has publicized an inspector general’s investigation into the release, and she’s published letters online from the archives, including an apology saying the records were given out “in error.”

    It’s not clear whether any of the records the National Archives released in error were related to the reasons she was not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony.


    Affordability and who’s to blame

    Both candidates are hammering the high cost of living in New Jersey. Sherrill has said she’d issue an executive order freezing utility rates, which have climbed steadily over the summer. Ciattarelli talks about capping sky-high property taxes as a percentage of home value.

    Ciattarelli blames the economic woes on longtime Democratic control of the state Legislature and the governorship for the past eight years. Calling for a change in Trenton has been a central plank of his campaign.

    Sherrill, meanwhile, points to the president’s tariffs and trade wars as the cause of voters’ belt tightening. She regularly asks voters to elect her to stand up to Trump’s policies, which she casts as out of touch in the Democratic-leaning state.

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  • A Veteran Defense Lawyer Turned Judge Will Oversee the Case Against Ex-FBI Director James Comey

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    ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Michael Nachmanoff has built a quiet reputation in the federal courthouse in northern Virginia — a onetime public defender turned judge known for methodical preparation and a cool temperament. On Wednesday, he’ll find himself at the center of a political storm: presiding over the Justice Department’s prosecution of former FBI director James Comey.

    Confirmed to the bench by President Joe Biden in 2021, Nachmanoff was randomly assigned to the case after a Virginia grand jury indicted Comey last month on charges including obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The assignment instantly drew Donald Trump’s attention. The president, long fixated on Comey, blasted him as a “Dirty Cop” and derided Nachmanoff as a “Crooked Joe Biden appointed Judge” while celebrating the charges as “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!”

    Despite the political noise, lawyers who know Nachmanoff say he is unlikely to be swayed.

    “Whatever his personal politics are, I do not think that they will enter the courtroom,” said longtime Virginia defense attorney Nina Ginsberg, who has tried cases before him. “He’s confident enough in his ability to judge fairly that I don’t think he’s going to be influenced by politics or the media coverage.”

    Nachmanoff, 57, came to the bench after more than a decade as the Eastern District of Virginia’s top federal public defender, where he argued and won a Supreme Court case that helped reduce racial disparities in crack cocaine sentencing. He served six years as a magistrate judge, handling some politically tinged cases. In 2019 he oversaw the first appearances of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, releasing them on $1 million bonds. More recently, he refused to block the CIA from firing Dr. Terry Adirim, a Pentagon physician targeted by Trump allies over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

    “He was an aggressive advocate, the kind of lawyer who left no stones unturned,” Ginsberg said of the judge. She said he conducts his courtroom in an even-handed, respectful manner.

    Timothy Belevetz, a defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, said Nachmanoff was “always a worthy adversary.”

    “He’s been around the courthouse for years and years and years,” Belevetz said. “He’s very well-respected. He’s very smart, he’ll give parties a fair shake, he listens to the arguments.”

    Comey was charged late last month with lying to Congress. Days earlier, Trump appeared to urge Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute the former FBI director and other political enemies.

    Comey himself has acknowledged the political backdrop but expressed confidence in the court system. In a video after his indictment, he said: “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial.”

    The clash between Trump and Comey has been building for years. Trump fired the FBI director in 2017, just months into his first term, as the bureau investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election. Since then, the former president has repeatedly called for Comey’s prosecution and, in the days before the indictment, publicly pressed Bondi to act.

    For lawyers who’ve worked with Nachmanoff, that kind of political noise is unlikely to matter. They point to his long record of independence and constitutional rigor. “Federal public defenders are renowned for their fidelity to the Constitution and due process,” said Lisa Wayne, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

    She said the White House should welcome Nachmanoff’s involvement as a safeguard “against the appearance of partisan political attacks.”

    Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Eric Tucker and Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • Staffing Shortages Cause More US Flight Delays as Government Shutdown Reaches 7th Day

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    Staffing shortages led to more flight delays at airports across the U.S. on Tuesday as the federal government shutdown stretched into a seventh day, while union leaders for air traffic controllers and airport security screeners warned the situation was likely to get worse.

    The Federal Aviation Administration reported staffing issues at airports in Nashville, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia, and at its air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The agency temporarily slowed takeoffs of planes headed to the first three cities.

    Flight disruptions a day earlier also were tied to insufficient staffing during the shutdown, which began Oct. 1. The FAA reported issues on Monday at the airports in Burbank, California; Newark, New Jersey; and Denver.

    Despite the traffic snags, about 92% of the more than 23,600 flights departing from U.S. airports as of Tuesday afternoon took off on time, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

    But the risk of wider impacts to the U.S. aviation system “is growing by the day” as federal workers whose jobs are deemed critical continue working without pay, travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said. The longer the shutdown drags on, the more likely it is to affect holiday travel plans in November, he said.

    “I’m gravely concerned that if the government remains shut down then, that it could disrupt, and possibly ruin, millions of Americans’ Thanksgiving holidays,” Harteveldt said in a statement.

    Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that there has already been an uptick in air traffic controllers calling out sick at a few locations. When there aren’t enough controllers, the FAA must reduce the number of takeoffs and landings to maintain safety, which in turn causes flight delays and possible cancellations.

    That’s what happened Monday afternoon, when the control tower at Southern California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport shut down for several hours, leading to average delays of two-and-a-half hours.

    When a pilot preparing for takeoff radioed the tower, according to communications recorded by LiveATC.net, he was told: “The tower is closed due to staffing.”

    Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the shutdown highlighted some issues his union’s members already face on a regular basis due to a national airspace system that is critically understaffed and relies on outdated equipment that tends to fail.

    A couple of controllers missing work can have a big impact at a small airport already operating with limited tower staffing, he said.

    “It’s not like we have other controllers that can suddenly come to that facility and staff them. There’s not enough people there,” Daniels said Tuesday. “There’s no overtime, and you have to be certified in that facility.”

    Air travel complications are likely to expand once a regularly scheduled payday arrives next week and air traffic controllers and TSA officers don’t receive any money, the union leader said. If the impasse between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on reopening the government persists, the workers will come under more pressure as their personal bills come due, Daniels said.

    “It’s completely unfair that an air traffic controller is the one that holds the burden of ‘see how long you can hang in there in order to allow this political process to play out,’” he said.

    Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter that represents TSA workers, said he was hearing concerns from members about how they will be able to pay bills, including child support and mortgage payments, and if they’re at risk for termination if they have to miss work during the shutdown.

    “The employees are struggling. They’re assessing what they need to do and they’re assessing how this is all going to work out,” said Jones, who has worked as a screener since the TSA was established.

    Some TSA officers already have called in sick, but Jones said he did not think the numbers were big enough to cause significant problems and delays at airports.

    Aviation unions and U.S. airlines have called for the shutdown to end as soon as possible.

    The unions are also making appeals to food banks, grocery chains and airports to secure support for workers during the shutdown. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was offering federal workers $15 food vouchers and allowing them to park in the terminal, according to Jones.

    John Tiliacos, the chief operating officer of Florida‘s Tampa International Airport, said the facility started preparing for the shutdown well before it began.

    Nicknamed “Operation Bald Eagle 2” among airport staff, the efforts center around pulling together resources for the roughly 11,000 federal employees who are working at the airport without pay, including security screeners and air traffic controllers.

    Tiliacos said the help would include a food pantry, free bus rides to work and a program with the local utility provider to keep the lights on at the homes of the workers.

    “Whatever we can do to make life a little easier for these federal employees that allows them to continue coming to work and focus on keeping our airport operational, that’s what we’re prepared to do,” he said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • What to Know About Former LSU Receiver Kyren Lacy and New Video of a Fatal Highway Crash

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    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana state police have released video evidence in a deadly 2024 car crash that authorities contend was caused by reckless driving by Kyren Lacy, a former Louisiana State University football star who took his own life days before a grand jury was convened to review the case.

    The 11-minute video released Tuesday came in response to other footage given to a Louisiana TV station by Matthew Ory, Lacy’s defense attorney, who said it showed the former wide receiver couldn’t have caused the wreck because he was too far away from the collision. In a statement, Louisiana State Police defended their original findings that Lacy was responsible and urged the public “to rely on the full body of facts.”

    Louisiana’s attorney general said this week the case remained under review but maintained that eyewitnesses identified Lacy as having put December’s deadly crash in motion. Louisiana Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation and LSU coach Brian Kelley faced renewed questions about the case.

    Here are some things to know.


    The fatal crash on a Louisiana highway

    In December 2024, Lacy was allegedly “recklessly” driving a green Dodge Charger — speeding and crossing into the oncoming traffic lane to pass cars in a no-passing zone, according to Louisiana State Police.

    In an effort to “avoid impact” with Lacy, a driver swerved and crashed head-on into another vehicle, police said. Herman Hall, 78, died in the crash.

    Police said Lacy “fled” the crash scene without stopping to render aid or call 911.

    The 24-year-old Lacy, who had declared for the 2025 NFL draft, turned himself into police and was booked on negligent homicide, felony hit and run and reckless operation of a vehicle. He was released on bail.

    Days before a grand jury hearing on his case in April, Lacy died of an apparent suicide after fleeing a traffic stop near Houston and being pursued by police, authorities said.


    Attorney says Lacy was too far behind crash to be blamed:

    Nearly six months after Lacy’s death, his defense attorney on Friday went on a local news station in Houma, Louisiana, and presented what he says is evidence showing the LSU wide receiver was too far behind the deadly December wreck to be at fault.

    Ory, who did not respond to email seeking comment, acknowledged that Lacy had passed multiple cars but questioned how Lacy could be responsible for a crash that occurred so far in front of him.

    After Ory released footage of the crash, Louisiana State Police published their own video Tuesday. The agency detailed their findings, releasing a timeline, crash report, interviews with witnesses at the scene and surveillance footage — where the collision can be heard and Dodge Charger can be seen, but the wreck itself is out of view.

    A narrator in the agency’s video said that state police “never reported” that the Charger “impacted” any of the involved vehicles.

    “However, all evidence collected supports the conclusion that Lacy’s reckless operation of the green Charger in oncoming traffic triggered the chain of events involving the other drivers, ultimately resulting in the fatal crash,” the narrator said.


    Calls for more investigations

    On Monday, Louisiana’s Democratic Party called for Republican State Attorney General Liz Murrill to launch a “full-scale” investigation into the “wrongful accusations made against Mr. Lacy.”

    In a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Murrill said that she is reviewing all evidence in the case, but added that “the evidence is not disputed.”

    She said that the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s office was prepared to present evidence to a grand jury, which included showing that Lacy returned to his lane of travel while driving; “However, that does not absolve Kyren Lacy of responsibility in this matter.”

    Murrill said that “every witness” identified Lacy’s green Dodge Charger as “having put the events in motion” that led to the deadly crash. Murrill said she is continuing to review evidence from state police.


    Reaction in the football world

    On Monday, LSU Football Coach Brian Kelly was asked about Ory’s comments.

    “I thought that this is a process that takes time,” Kelly said. “I think I said back when this occurred that let’s wait until all the information comes out. For us to make these universal statements early on it just doesn’t serve anybody well.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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