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  • Gambling is ‘public health threat,’ panel of experts says

    Gambling is ‘public health threat,’ panel of experts says

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    Gambling has emerged as “a neglected, understudied, and expanding public health threat” throughout the world, a panel wrote in The Lancet medical journal Thursday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Gambling has emerged as “a neglected, understudied, and expanding public health threat” throughout the world, a panel wrote in The Lancet medical journal Thursday

    • The Lancet’s Public Health Commission on gambling wrote in its report that the growth of the gambling industry has been fueled by online gaming, easier access through mobile devices, legalization and the introduction of commercial gambling to new areas

    • As a result, 46.2% of adults and 17.9% of adolescents are estimated to have gambled globally in the past year, according to the commission’s analysis

    • Arguing that balancing public health and economic interests is crucial, the commission issued a series of recommendations

    The Lancet’s Public Health Commission on gambling wrote in its report that the growth of the gambling industry has been fueled by online gaming, easier access through mobile devices, legalization and the introduction of commercial gambling to new areas.

    As a result, 46.2% of adults and 17.9% of adolescents are estimated to have gambled globally in the past year, according to the commission’s analysis. That translates into about 80 million of the nearly 450 million adults who placed bets experiencing a gambling disorder or problematic gambling, the report said.

    Some form of gambling is now legal in more than 80% of countries, with betters’ net losses projected to reach nearly $700 billion by 2028, the report said. And with online access, gambling is available everywhere, the authors added. 

    “Gambling can inflict substantial harm on individuals, families, and communities,” the commission wrote. “Beyond the obvious danger of financial losses and financial ruin, these harms can include loss of employment, broken relationships, health effects, and crime-related impacts. Gambling can heighten the risk of suicidality and domestic violence.”

    The report’s authors wrote that the consequences of the digitalization of the gambling industry — which also includes highly targeted advertising — have not yet been fully recognized. They said that the industry has developed partnerships with media and social media companies and sports leagues that make it part of a “corporate ecosystem” that “wields substantial influence over policy” and regulation.

    The gambling industry has staved off broader policy changes by focusing its narrative on individual responsibility, the commission wrote. 

    “However, framing the problem in this way and narrowly focusing policy attention on a small subset of the people who gamble draws attention away from industry practices and corporate behaviour,” the authors wrote in the U.K.-based journal. “We must also seriously examine the structures and systems that govern the design, provision, and promotion of gambling products.”

    Governments, meanwhile, are conflicted because of the tax revenues they collect from legal betting, the panel wrote.

    Arguing that balancing public health and economic interests is crucial, the commission issued a series of recommendations. They include effective regulation in all countries, even those where wagering is not legal, including bans or restrictions on gambling access, marketing and sponsorships. 

    The commission recommended regulatory provisions that would protect children and young people by enforcing minimum age requirements and mandatory identification. According to The Lancet’s analysis, more than 10% of adolescents have gambled online despite a widespread agreement that commercial betting among adolescents should be prohibited.

    The authors also call for affordable, universal support and treatment for gambling harms and campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers. And they suggested international coordination to develop strategies aimed at helping protect people from gambling harms.

    “Our conclusion is clear: gambling poses a threat to public health, the control of which requires a substantial expansion and tightening of gambling industry regulation,” the commission said. “Timely response to this growing worldwide threat necessitates concerted action at intergovernmental, national, and regional government levels.

    Joe Maloney, senior vice president for strategic communications at the American Gaming Association, a trade industry group for U.S. casinos, said in a statement to Spectrum News the “regulated U.S. gaming industry works diligently with state regulators to foster a safe and responsible environment for consumers,” adding it has in recent years “made significant investments towards advancing responsible gaming initiatives, expanding available consumer resources, and developing tools to promote safer gambling.”

    “We firmly support ongoing discussions and the adoption of best practices to ensure the continued implementation of effective safeguards,” Maloney said.

    Note: This article was updated to include the statement from the American Gaming Association.

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    Ryan Chatelain

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  • Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations

    Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations

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    A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting.

    What You Need To Know

    • A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting

    • The injunction was sought by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls to prevent errors

    • The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form

    • State officials said they will appeal, and Virginia’s Republican attorney general Jason Miyares criticized the ruling



    U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles granted an injunction request brought against Virginia election officials by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls.

    State officials said they will appeal.

    The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form.

    Justice Department lawyer Sejal Jhaveri said during an all-day injunction hearing Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, that’s precisely why federal law prevents states from implementing systematic changes to the voter rolls in the 90 days before an election, “to prevent the harm of having eligible voters removed in a period where it’s hard to remedy.”

    Giles said Friday that the state is not completely prohibited from removing noncitizens from the voting rolls during the 90-day quiet period, but that it must do so on an individualized basis rather than the automated, systematic program employed by the state.

    State officials argued unsuccessfully that the canceled registrations followed careful procedures that targeted people who explicitly identified themselves as noncitizens to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

    Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the state, said during arguments Thursday that the federal law was never intended to provide protections to noncitizens, who by definition can’t vote in federal elections.

    “Congress couldn’t possibly have intended to prevent the removal … of persons who were never eligible to vote in the first place,” Cooper argued.

    The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit, though, said that many people are wrongly identified as noncitizens by the DMV simply by checking the wrong box on a form. They were unable to identify exactly how many of the 1,600 purged voters are in fact citizens — Virginia only identified this week the names and addresses of the affected individuals in response to a court order — but provided anecdotal evidence of individuals whose registrations were wrongly canceled.

    Cooper acknowledged that some of the 1,600 voters identified by the state as noncitizens may well be citizens, but he said restoring all of them to the rolls means that in all likelihood “there’s going to hundreds of noncitizens back on those rolls. If a noncitizen votes, it cancels out a legal vote. And that is a harm,” he said.

    Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, issued an executive order in August requiring daily checks of DMV data against voter rolls to identify noncitizens.

    State officials said any voter identified as a noncitizen was notified and given two weeks to dispute their disqualification before being removed. If they returned a form attesting to their citizenship, their registration would not be canceled.

    Prior to Youngkin’s executive order, the state did monthly checks of the voter rolls against DMV data, in accordance with a state law passed in 2006.

    Youngkin said the Justice Department was wrongly targeting him for upholding a law that was followed by his predecessors, including Democrats, even if they didn’t take the extra step of ordering daily checks as he did in his executive order.

    “Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls.,” Youngkin said in a statement after Friday’s hearing.

    Giles, for her part, questioned the timing of Youngkin’s executive order, which was issued on Aug. 7, the very beginning of the 90-day quiet period required under federal law.

    “It’s not happenstance that this was announced exactly on the 90th day” of the quiet period, she said Friday from the bench.

    Her injunction requires voter registrations be restored for all of those canceled as a result of Youngkin’s executive order, and that letters be sent out within five days informing those voters of their restored status. The letters will also include a note of caution informing those individuals that if they are indeed noncitizens, that they are barred from casting ballots under federal law.

    The plaintiffs had asked the judge to grant those voters an extension of the deadline to request absentee ballots, but Giles denied that request, saying it would result in confusion.

    “We may not be able to achieve everything we would want,” she said.

    Virginia’s Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, issued a statement after Friday’s hearing criticizing the ruling.

    “It should never be illegal to remove an illegal voter,” he said. “Yet, today a Court – urged by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice – ordered Virginia to put the names of non-citizens back on the voter rolls, mere days before a presidential election.”

    U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who had alterted Justice Department officials to the removals. praised the ruling.

    “Governor Youngkin’s purges have served only one purpose – to disenfranchise thousands of lawfully voting citizens of the Commonwealth. That stops today,” he said.

    Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.

    A similar lawsuit was filed in Alabama, and a federal judge there last week ordered the state to restore eligibility for more than 3,200 voters who had been deemed ineligible noncitizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the 3,251 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.

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    Associated Press

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  • Judge upholds dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin

    Judge upholds dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin

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    SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge has upheld her decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.

    In a ruling Thursday, state District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer stood by her July decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin. She said prosecutors did not raise any factual or legal arguments that would justify reversing her decision.

    The case was thrown out halfway through trial on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense in the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”

    Baldwin’s trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers say investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate case file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.

    Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey can now decide whether to appeal to a higher court.

    Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

    A judge in April sentenced movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum of 1.5 years at a state penitentiary on an involuntary manslaughter conviction in Hutchins’ death.

    Gutierrez-Reed also has asked Judge Marlowe Sommer to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter conviction or convene a new trial on allegations prosecutors failed to share evidence that might have been exculpatory.

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    Associated Press

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  • Crew-8 returns home in splashdown off Florida’s coast

    Crew-8 returns home in splashdown off Florida’s coast

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    FLORIDA — After conducting various experiments and working onboard the International Space Station for seven months, NASA and SpaceX’s Crew-8 returned home in a splashdown off the coast of Florida early Friday morning.


    What You Need To Know

    • It took Crew-8 more than 30 hours before splashing down off of Florida’s coast
    • It will be a long and wild ride home, with intense speeds and temperatures
    • It will take Crew-8 more than 30 hours for a splashdown off Florida’s coast

    Estimated Splashdown Countdown

    Crew-8 members NASA astronauts Cmdr. Matthew Dominick, pilot Michael Barratt, and mission specialists Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin returned home in SpaceX’s Dragon space capsule Endeavour near Pensacola at around 3:29 a.m. ET to the cheers of NASA and SpaceX teams heard during a live feed.

    For the crew, it was an estimated 34-hour commute home after undocking from the International Space Station at 5:05 p.m. ET, Wednesday.

    Before this new undocking date was announced, (more on that down below), NASA stated that depending on the time of the undocking and other factors like weather conditions, it could have taken between six to 39 hours for the Crew-8 to return to Earth.

    For a long time, NASA did not reveal which of the various splash zones Crew-8 would be landing in because they had to monitor the weather forecast, but in the end, the Endeavour returned to Earth near Pensacola.  

    As Endeavour was floating in the Gulf Coast, crews raced in fast boats to inspect the spacecraft before towing it to SpaceX’s recovery vessel Megan before it scooped up the capsule. Once on board, all four space travelers got out of the capsule to waves before being inspected by medical personnel.

    Then they will take a helicopter ride to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

    The ride back home

    SpaceX Dragon specs:

    • Height: 26.7 feet tall

    • Diameter: 13 feet fall

    • Number of engines: 8

    • Passengers: It can carry up to 7 people

    • Parachutes: 2 drogue + 4 main = 6 parachutes

    The Dragon was fully autonomous from the moment it undocked from Harmony to the splashdown, yet the crew could take control if needed.

    “After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 34 hours later on Friday, October 25,” explained SpaceX and NASA.

    And it was one heck of a ride. Using a series of parachute deployments, the Dragon slowed down from an orbital speed of about 17,500 mph (2,816 kph) to 350 mph (482 kph) to about 16 mph (25 kph) when it softly landed off the coast of Florida.

    And things were a bit toasty for the Dragon has it experienced temperatures of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,927 degrees Celsius) once it entered Earth’s atmosphere, but special shielding and the air conditioning system kept the crew safe and cool.

    As the Dragon was screaming over, some lucky people may have heard a sonic boom.

    Learn all about sonic booms here.

    Trying to return home

    Crew-8 members NASA astronauts Cmdr. Matthew Dominick, pilot Michael Barratt, and mission specialists Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin took off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center back in March.

    They spent their time conducting a series of experiments, but they were originally supposed to return home in August, but the mission was extended several times, especially as NASA investigated Boeing’s troubled Starliner capsule.  

    What was supposed to be an eightish-day mission for Starliner’s Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams in June turned into a months-long odyssey as their craft suffered from thruster issues and helium leaks.

    NASA kept pushing their stay on the ISS as engineers launched an investigation, which resulted in the Crew-8 staying onboard longer in case an emergency occurred, where Wilmore and Williams would have needed SpaceX’s Dragon to return home.

    Eventually, the Starliner returned home without its crew. And Crew-9, which was launched to the ISS last month, will return to Earth with the Starliner pair in February 2025.

    Williams was made commander of Expedition 72. An expedition means the current crew in the International Space Station.

    And the International Space Station has gotten crowded these last few months. Usually it holds about seven people, plus any guests who plan on being there for a short time. But between the Starliner crew, Crew-8, Crew-9 and Soyuz MS-25, there are a total of 11 people.

    NASA and SpaceX were set to see Crew-8 undock on Sunday, Oct. 13, and splashing down on Monday, Oct. 14, but Hurricane Milton changed their plans.

    Other undocking dates were issued — Oct. 18, Oct. 20 and Oct. 21 — but weather conditions were unfavorable for the different splashdown zones.

    Late on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 22, NASA stated that the new undocking date was Wednesday, Oct. 23.

    However, poor weather was still a concern for undocking, with the U.S. space agency recently considering Tuesday night for the undocking. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the new date was given Wednesday but it all depended on the weather conditions.

    “Forecasters have seen improvement in expected weather at some of the landing sites off the coast of Florida and continue to monitor conditions while considering splashdown sites and exact timing. The next weather briefing is scheduled for 9 a.m., Wednesday,” NASA stated.

    Follow the Dragon

    Watch the splashdown

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    Anthony Leone

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  • RNC rebuilding legal operation after Trump allies’ failed efforts in 2020

    RNC rebuilding legal operation after Trump allies’ failed efforts in 2020

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    The last time Donald Trump ran for president, the lawyers most directly involved in his efforts to overturn the election wound up sanctioned, criminally prosecuted or even sued for millions of dollars.

    What You Need To Know

    • The last time Donald Trump ran for president, some of the lawyers most directly involved in his efforts to overturn the election wound up disbarred, criminally prosecuted or sued for millions

    • This time, Republican party leaders are aiming to turn the page from that chaotic and failed effort and say they’ll have a professional legal operation

    • Democrats are warning of a renewed potential to undermine confidence in the electoral process

    • Republicans and Democrats are already fighting in court over election rules, but the Trump team finds itself under a particularly intense microscope given the aftermath of the 2020 race
    • That’s when longshot legal efforts to challenge the results were dismissed by judges as frivolous

    This time around, Republican party leaders are working to present a more organized, skilled legal operation even as Trump continues to deny he lost the 2020 election and sows doubt about the integrity of the upcoming one.

    “It has been very important to make sure that in every aspect, we are going to have a fully professional operation,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley told The Associated Press.

    As Republicans and Democrats fight in court over election rules, the Trump team finds itself under a particularly intense microscope given the aftermath of the 2020 race when meritless legal efforts challenging the results were repeatedly rejected by judges appointed by presidents of both political parties. Scrambling to undo the results, Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent clash with law enforcement.

    The chaotic court challenges were pushed by a loosely organized group of lawyers who ascended in Trump’s orbit after experienced, establishment attorneys who had advised the then-president during the campaign backed away from his false claims of widespread fraud. This year, the Republican National Committee has launched a coordinated “election integrity” initiative that involves the recruitment of thousands of lawyers, polling-place monitors and poll workers, who officials insist will operate within the law.

    “What we have seen in court over the course of the last six months and as we’ve ramped up to these 130-plus lawsuits is a testament to making sure that we’re working with the states and working with the courts to get a really truly, responsible program up and running,” Whatley added.

    But there’s no guarantee that a well-credentialed team will equal better results if the arguments are again rooted in baseless claims, or that the effort, like in 2020, won’t be co-opted after the election by different attorneys.

    A new legal team takes shape

    Among the lawyers with prominent roles are Steven Kenny, the RNC’s senior counsel, who worked at the high-powered law firm of Jones Day; Gineen Bresso, who was nominated by then-President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and later became chair; and Josh Helton, general counsel for Mike Huckabee’s 2016 presidential campaign.

    David Warrington, who represented Trump during the congressional Jan. 6 investigation, has also been involved in lawsuits, including one in Michigan challenging the designation of voter registration agencies.

    The RNC’s litigation so far has been aimed at ensuring voter ID requirements; asserting that non-citizens are improperly voting; and challenging what they see as lax rules on mail-in and absentee voting.

    Democrats have sounded alarms about the election integrity initiative, calling it an effort to sow distrust in the process and pave the way to cry foul if Trump loses. They have warned that election deniers installed in voting-related positions may refuse to certify legitimate results. And they’ve assembled a team of veteran attorneys, including longtime Democratic lawyer Marc Elias, and filed their own lawsuits, including challenging Georgia rules they fear could be used by Trump allies to delay or avoid certification. A judge last week invalidated seven of the rules.

    The flurry of litigation is hardly surprising in a competitive election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, that could turn on about a half-dozen battleground states.

    Familiar figures from 2020 have resurfaced

    Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who participated in a January 2021 phone call in which Trump implored Georgia officials to “find” enough votes to declare him the winner, has championed lawsuits challenging rules on how overseas voters, including military members abroad, cast their ballots. (On Monday, judges in North Carolina and Michigan rejected efforts to disqualify ballots of certain overseas voters.)

    The RNC earlier this year named Christina Bobb to head its election integrity division. A former reporter for the conservative One America News Network, Bobb has been indicted by Arizona’s attorney general, accused of joining an effort to promote a slate of Trump electors after the 2020 election even though Democrat Joe Biden won the state. Her attorney, Thomas Jacobs, said Bobb “had no involvement in the arrangements to select or present these alternate electors” and would seek to dismiss the charges.

    Trump has been criminally charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election, yet his continued insistence that the contest was marred by fraud has been adopted by many within the party even though judges, election officials and Trump’s own attorney general found no evidence of that.

    Trump says there’s no evidence of cheating so far in 2024

    In May, Charlie Spies, a veteran election law attorney with ties to Mitt Romney and Ron DeSantis, resigned as the RNC’s chief counsel after about two months. He made waves at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference by saying there was “zero evidence” a voting machine software glitch had caused thousands of votes to switch in the 2020 election.

    Whatley said in a radio interview in the weeks after the 2020 election that there was “massive fraud.” But he has largely avoided using Trump’s characterization of Biden’s victory, and said in one 2021 interview that Biden “absolutely” was legitimately elected.

    Standing together Monday in North Carolina, Trump praised Whatley as having been “very much into stopping the steal” in 2020. Though Trump has said he hasn’t seen evidence of cheating in 2024, he has repeatedly raised doubts about the process, telling his supporters they need to turn out to make the result “too big to rig.”

    Among the established Republican political lawyers who resisted the legal challenges in 2020 was Justin Riemer, a lawyer for John McCain’s 2008 campaign who was later chief counsel for the RNC but clashed with Trump allies after the election. He warned an RNC colleague in a November 2020 email that the legal efforts were getting “laughed out of court.”

    “It’s setting us back in our fight for election integrity and they are misleading millions of people who have wishful thinking that the president is going to somehow win this thing,” Riemer wrote in the email about Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two lawyers who helped engineer Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

    Consequences for Trump-allied lawyers

    Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington; Ellis lost her law license in Colorado. The two, along with Sidney Powell, another lawyer central to advancing Trump’s claims, were among 19 people charged in Fulton County, Georgia, with conspiring to overturn the election.

    Both Powell and Ellis pleaded guilty.

    Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million to two former Georgia poll workers who sued him over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives. He subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

    “All of that,” said UCLA law professor Rick Hasen, “should be a deterrent to a thinking lawyer who might want to replicate something like that.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Home sales fell in September to slowest pace in almost 30 years

    Home sales fell in September to slowest pace in almost 30 years

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    Sales of existing homes in the United States have dropped to their lowest level since 1995, the National Assn. of Realtors reported Wednesday. Sales fell 1% in September and are down 3.5% from a year earlier.

    What You Need To Know

    • Existing home sales fell 1% in September and are down 3.5% from a year earlier, according to the National Assn. of Realtors

    • While sales fell, prices have continued to increase; he median price of an existing home for sale increased 3% in September compared with a year earlier to $404,500

    • The number of unsold existing homes increased 1.5% in September compared with a month earlier and 23% compared with a year ago

    • Homes are now sitting on the market an average of 28 days — up from 26 days in August and 21 days in September 2023


    “Home sales have been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unit pace for the past 12 months, but factors usually associated with higher home sales are developing,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. 

    “There are more inventory choices for consumers, lower mortgage rates than a year ago and continued job additions to the economy,” Yun said. “Perhaps some consumers are hesitating about moving forward with a major expenditure like purchasing a home before the upcoming election.”

    While sales fell, prices have continued to increase. The median price of an existing home for sale increased 3% in September compared with a year earlier to $404,500. It was the 15th consecutive month of price increases. 

    Mortgage rates are also increasing. As of October 17, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.44% — up from 6.32% a week earlier.

    The number of unsold existing homes increased 1.5% in September compared with a month earlier and 23% compared with a year ago. Homes are now sitting on the market an average of 28 days — up from 26 days in August and 21 days in September 2023.

    “More inventory is certainly good news for home buyers as it gives consumers more properties to view before making a decision,” Yun said. 

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates

    Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates

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    In battleground Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris warned that democracy and reproductive rights were at stake as she campaigned alongside a former Republican congresswoman. 

    Going to the same state the day before, Donald Trump served French fries at a closed McDonald’s.

    As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion on Nov. 5, Harris and Trump are embracing wildly different strategies to energize the coalitions they need to win. Both are making bets that will prove prescient or ill-advised.

    What You Need To Know

    • As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are embracing wildly different strategies

    • Both are racing to energize the coalitions they need to win the presidency on Nov. 5

    • Trump’s team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to target moderate voters in the final days before the election

    • His campaign is focusing instead on his base of fiery partisans and low-propensity voters — especially young men — with tough talk at rallies and media appearances


    Trump’s team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to broaden his message to target moderate voters, focusing instead on energizing his base of fiery partisans and turning out low-propensity voters — especially young men of all races — with tough talk and events aimed at getting attention online.

    Harris is leaning into a more traditional all-of-the-above playbook targeting the narrow slice of undecided voters that remain, especially moderates, college-educated suburbanites, and women of all races and education. More than Trump, she is going after Republican women who may have supported rival Nikki Haley in this year’s GOP primary and are dissatisfied with the former president.

    “It’s all pieces of a very complex puzzle,” Harris senior campaign adviser David Plouffe said this week. “This would all be a simpler exercise if you can focus just on one voter cohort. You can’t. And you got to make sure you know you’re doing well enough with all of them so that when you put all that together it adds up to 50%.”

    Trump’s team sees it as a much simpler equation.

    His aides insist that efforts to maximize turnout from Trump’s hardcore base do not mean he’s ignoring swing voters, even if he’s not tailoring a different message to reach them.

    “I just think that there’s a misunderstanding on what’s motivating those people,” Trump political director James Blair said. “I mean, the fact is the economy’s motivating those people. Those people overwhelmingly think that they’re worse off than they were four years ago … So then the question becomes: Who’s better equipped to fix it?”

    The divergent strategies underscore the stark differences between the candidates themselves, in personality and policy.

    Harris, a former California senator who would be the first female president, has promised to include a Republican in her Cabinet, while prioritizing efforts to protect democracy, reproducctive rights and the middle class. Trump, a former president, has vowed to fight for the working class as well. He also has promised a campaign of retribution against his politial enemies with an administration packed with loyalists.

    One point on which both camps agree: The election will be decided by voters in just seven swing states, a political map that has not shifted significantly or narrowed as Election Day speeds into view. They are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

    One Harris adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, described the situation as “still terrifyingly close in all seven.”

    Trump rejects the traditional pivot to the middle

    Trump is speaking largely to his loyal Republican base at the expense of moderate voters, especially suburban women. He peppers his rallies with profanity, personal insults against Harris and ominous talk of “enemies within.”

    He has said repeatedly over the last week that Democrats like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., represent a more serious threat to the United States than China and Russia do.

    Trump has also rejected recent opportunities to speak to more traditional audiences, turning down an interview with CBS’ popular “60 Minutes” and refusing to debate Harris for a second time unless it was moderated by Fox News, home to several of his favorite conservative hosts.

    Instead, his campaign is scheduling appearances on podcasts and online shows geared towards young men — especially working-class Hispanic and Black men, who typically vote less frequently and tend to favor Democrats.

    He’s attended sporting events including mixed-martial arts fights and football games, putting him in front of audiences who don’t typically engage with traditional media outlets.

    Josh Rouse, a 28-year-old Black man and registered Republican, said he’s only recently been drawn to politics. He didn’t vote in 2016, but voted for Trump in 2020.

    “If anything, I think it’s important to remember we’re all people, regardless of whether you’re white or Black,” said Rouse, who works in roofing and attended Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this week. “It doesn’t matter who you are. He speaks to all of us.”

    Trump’s team has also created viral moments in non-political settings like his trip to McDonald’s on Sunday, part of an extended campaign to cast doubt on Harris’ work history at the fast-food franchise. Trump also went to Coachella, California, and will host a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday — both in heavily Democratic states but where the related media attention and online content would surely reach swing-state voters.

    Trump has kept an aggressive schedule. He is set to visit every battleground state this week save Wisconsin.

    Harris makes Republicans part of her persuasion playbook

    Backed by an avalanche of campaign cash, Harris is holding in-person events but also launching a sprawling door-knocking operation, hyper-targeted online ads and a carefully designed media strategy to reach specific voting blocs.

    Harris’ team believes that roughly 10% of voters in the battleground states are still persuadable, either because they are truly undecided or because their support for Trump is soft. The campaign vows to keep trying to persuade such voters until the final minutes of in-person voting.

    Her team sees the possibility of significant growth among Republican, college-educated, suburban women alienated by Trump’s extreme rhetoric. Even small shifts in swing states could have massive electoral implications.

    The Harris campaign quickly produced digital ads last week highlighting Trump’s description of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as “a day of love.” And Harris spent most of Monday campaigning in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin alongside Liz Cheney, a Republican House leader during Trump’s presidency who swung sharply against him after Jan. 6.

    Harris is scheduled to visit Houston for an event Friday with women who have been affected by the state’s ban on all abortions, which took effect after the Supreme Court, including three justices nominated by Trump, overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She’ll be going there after spending time in Georgia, which banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

    Nicolette Milholin, 45, of Mont Clare, Pennsylvania, said she considered herself a political independent until Trump was elected in 2016.

    “To me, democracy is at stake,” Milholin said at a Harris event this week in Chester County, Pennsylvania. “We have a party that was built for a family and a dynasty. And then we have a party here represented by Kamala Harris, that was built for our country.”

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  • Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

    Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

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    Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man were arrested Tuesday on charges of luring dozens of men into sex parties held around the world, sometimes by dangling the promise of modeling for the clothing retailer.

    Jeffries, partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson “operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015, using Jeffries’ status, wealth and a web of household staffers to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires and keep it all secret, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn.

    What You Need To Know

    • A spokesperson for federal prosecutors says former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries and two other men have been arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges

    • Jeffries, partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson “operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015, using Jeffries’ status, wealth and a web of household staffers to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires and keep it all secret, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn

    • They come after years of sexual misconduct allegations from young people who said Jeffries lured them with promises of modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts

    • Jeffries’ attorney says he will “respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media”


    The charges follow sexual misconduct allegations, made in lawsuits and the media, from young people who said Jeffries promised modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts.

    Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, said by email he would “respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media.”

    Messages seeking comment were sent to attorneys for Smith and Jacobson.

    Jeffries and Smith were arrested in Florida and were due to make an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon in West Palm Beach. Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin and due in court in St. Paul, Minnesota. Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace and FBI and police officials were set to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

    Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

    According to the indictment, they paid for dozens of men to travel within the U.S. and internationally to engage in commercial sex with them and other men in New York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts. The indictment describes sexual bacchanals in which the recruited men were given drugs, lubricant, condoms, costumes, sex toys and, sometimes, erection-inducing penile injections that caused painful, hourslong reactions.

    The defendants led the men to believe that attending the events would help their careers, including their chances of getting Abercrombie modeling gigs — or that not complying could harm their prospects, the indictment says.

    Jeffries and Smith employed Jacobson to recruit and hire the men, who typically had to undergo “tryouts” by having sex with Jacobson first, according to the indictment. It says other, unnamed household staffers also helped facilitate the events, including by acting as security and providing alcohol, muscle relaxants, Viagra and other items.

    Jeffries became CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 and left in 2014. The New Albany, Ohio-based company declined to comment on his arrest. 

    Abercrombie last year said it had hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation after a report on similar allegations was aired by the BBC.

    The BBC investigation included a dozen men who described being at events involving sex acts they said were staged by Jeffries and Smith, often at his home in New York and hotels in London, Paris and elsewhere.

    The BBC report also described Jacobson as a middleman who recruited men for the events. He told the news outlet at the time that he hadn’t engaged in and didn’t know of “any coercive, deceptive or forceful behavior.”

    A lawsuit filed in New York last year accused Abercrombie of allowing Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure. It said that Jeffries had modeling scouts scouring the internet for victims, and that some prospective models became sex-trafficking victims. At the time, Bieber declined to comment on the allegations. 

    Abercrombie & Fitch traces its roots to a hunting and outdoors goods store that was founded in 1892. By the time Jeffries arrived a century later, the brand was a retail also-ran.

    He was credited with transforming it into a darling of turn-of-the-millennium teen mall culture, known for its nouveau-preppy aesthetic — and for some controversy surrounding it. Jeffries alienated some customers by talking about how the company went after attractive kids who could fit into its clothes. 

    After the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, A&F’s popularity started to fade again. By the time Jeffries left, a hedge fund had pushed the company’s board to replace him because of the company’s lagging performance. But the company has rebounded in recent years.

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    Associated Press

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  • Railroad Norfolk Southern tops third-quarter forecasts

    Railroad Norfolk Southern tops third-quarter forecasts

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    Railroad Norfolk Southern’s streamlined operations delivered strong earnings last quarter, even excluding boosts from insurance payouts related to the disastrous derailment in East Palestine and the sale of two rail lines.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Atlanta-based railroad recorded a $287 million gain on the sale of rail lines in Virginia and North Carolina, and for the second quarter in a row it collected more insurance payments than it paid out for last year’s derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border

    • Norfolk Southern earned $1.099 billion, or $4.85 per share in the quarter, the company said, which is up from a year ago

    • The railroad redoubled its efforts to lower costs in the spring, hiring Chief Operating Officer John Orr to help reduce the number of times railcars get switched and enable Norfolk Southern to operate fewer, longer trains

    The Atlanta-based railroad recorded a $287 million gain on the sale of rail lines in Virginia and North Carolina, and for the second quarter in a row it collected more insurance payments than it paid out for last year’s derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

    Norfolk Southern earned $1.099 billion, or $4.85 per share in the quarter, the company said. That’s up significantly from a year ago, when profits were hurt by mounting costs related to the derailment. Excluding one-time items, the railroad earned $737 million, or $3.25 per share, beating the $3.15 forecast by analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

    New CEO Mark George, who took over last month, isn’t expected to implement any strategic changes because he helped craft the plan a couple years ago that calls for keeping more employees on hand during a downturn, so the railroad can respond better when the economy recovers.

    “It’s really about building out consistent, safe, reliable service with a network that’s resilient and can bounce back from events,” like it did when Norfolk Southern got all its major lines running again within 72 hours after Hurricane Helene hit, said George, who was promoted from Chief Financial Officer after Alan Shaw was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with an employee.

    Norfolk Southern has been in the spotlight ever since the February 2023 derailment in East Palestine triggered a national focus on railroad safety. Earlier this year, the railroad also had to fend off a takeover bid from investment firm Ancora Holdings. The investor ultimately won only three seats, insufficient to make the sweeping changes it sought.

    The railroad redoubled its efforts to lower costs in the spring, hiring Chief Operating Officer John Orr to help reduce the number of times railcars get switched and enable Norfolk Southern to operate fewer, longer trains. Its operating expenses fell 34% to $1.46 billion.

    “We’re seeing the results. And I don’t have a whole lot of patience for lack of execution or acceptance of mediocrity,” George said.

    The railroad’s revenue of $3.05 billion was just below analysts’ expectation for $3.09 billion.

    Norfolk Southern is one of the nation’s largest railroads, with tracks crisscrossing the Eastern United States.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ members sue Trump for defamation

    Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ members sue Trump for defamation

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    Five men wrongfully convicted of assaulting and raping a woman in New York’s Central Park in 1989 have sued former President Donald Trump for defamation over comments he made in a debate against Vice President Kamala Harris last month.

    What You Need To Know

    • The five men known as the “Central Park Five” have sued former President Donald Trump for defamation over comments he made in a debate last month
    • They were wrongfully convicted of assaulting and raping a woman in New York’s Central Park in 1989; their convictions were vacated more than a decade later after someone else confessed to the crime

    • At last month’s debate, Vice President Kamala Harris hammered Trump for taking out a full-page ad in all four of New York’s major newspapers in the aftermath of the attack calling for the return of the death penalty 

    • Trump fired back by saying that Harris and other opponents had “to stretch back years” to come up with lines of attack against him, before falsely saying that the five men pleaded guilty and killed someone



    Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise, initially known as the “Central Park Five” and, later, the “Exonerated Five,” accused Trump in a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania of making “false, misleading and defamatory” statements about their case at the debate.

    The five men were convicted of the attack and sentenced to multiple years in prison. Their convictions were vacated in 2002, more than a decade later, after a serial rapist confessed to the attack, and DNA evidence confirmed he was involved. They sued the city the next year, accusing the city of false arrest, a racially motivated conspiracy to deprive them of their civil rights and a malicious prosecution, and they settled the case in 2014.

    At one point during last month’s debate, Harris condemned Trump for taking out a full-page ad in all four of the city’s major newspapers in the aftermath of the attack calling for the return of the death penalty. Trump fired back by saying that Harris and other opponents had “to stretch back years” to come up with lines of attack against him, before falsely saying that the five men pleaded guilty and killed someone.

    “[T]hey come up with things like what she just said, going back many, many years, when a lot of people including [former New York] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg agreed with me on the Central Park Five,” Trump said. “They admitted — they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty — then they pled we’re not guilty.”

    The five men did not plead guilty in the case, nor was the victim of the attack killed — as the lawsuit points out, while also pointing out that Ed Koch, not Bloomberg, was mayor at the time of the attack.

    “These statements are demonstrably false,” the complaint says, calling Trump’s rhetoric “extreme and outrageous” and charging that he “intended to cause severe emotional distress to Plaintiffs.”

    The Trump campaign has not responded to a request for comment from Spectrum News. A spokesperson for the former president’s campaign called the lawsuit “frivolous” in a statement to NBC News.

    According to the lawsuit, Salaam — now a New York City Council member — attempted to engage with Trump after the debate in the spin room. People asked Trump if he would “apologize to the Exonerated Five,” and after he didn’t respond, Salaam introduced himself to the former president.

    “Ah, so you’re on my side them,” Trump said, per the lawsuit.

    “No no no, I’m not on your side,” Salaam replied to Trump, who smiled, waved and walked away, according to the complaint.

    The lawsuit also makes note of other statements Trump has made about the case, including posts on his Twitter account from 2013 and a New York Daily News op-ed from 2014 calling the city’s settlement with the men a “disgrace.”

    The defendants are asking for “compensatory damages, for punitive damages and for costs, in an as yet unliquidated sum in excess of $75,000,” and asked for a jury trial to determine that figure.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Gerald Ford’s daughter endorses Harris for president

    Gerald Ford’s daughter endorses Harris for president

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    Ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ trip to Michigan on Monday, the daughter of the state’s only U.S. president has endorsed the Vice President.

    Susan Ford Bales, the only daughter of former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Betty Ford, acknowledged that she and Harris would “likely disagree on some policy matters” — after all, she, like her father, is a Republican.

    However, she continued, Harris’ “integrity and commitment to those same principles that guided Dad have led me to conclude” that she should be the next president.

    “She recognizes the good and the greatness in our country,” Ford Bales said. “I know she will defend the rule of law and our Constitution. And I know she will work to bring all Americans together to move us beyond partisanship. That is what America deserves from our President.”

    News of the endorsement was first reported by MLive.

    Former President Ford, who was born in Nebraska but raised Grand Rapids, Michigan, led Republicans in the House of Representatives before he was nominated to be Richard Nixon’s vice president in 1973. Ford became the president following Nixon’s resignation the next year, pardoning him for any crimes he may have committed as president and eventually narrowly losing the 1976 election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

    “When my father, Gerald Ford, was sworn-in as America’s 38th President, the nation was in need of a serious, compassionate and honorable leader who had the courage to do what was right and always to defend our Constitution,” Ford Bales said in a statement. “His dedication to those values helped bring our country through a turbulent time and restored Americans’ trust in our democracy.

    “We face a similar dynamic today,” she continues. “America cannot regress back to a divisive paradigm of loathing toward one another and disdain for our Constitution. We witnessed on January 6 the horrors of what that looks like, and we can never allow a repeat of that tragedy. The forces that incited it must be held accountable. They can never be in a position to ever do it again.”

    Ford Bales, the only daughter of the former president, helped launch National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with her mother in the 1980s and succeeded her mom as chair of the Betty Ford Center, the nonprofit addiction treatment center named for the former first lady. She is also the sponsor of the USS Gerald R. Ford, named for her father, which is currently the world’s largest aircraft carrier and the biggest warship ever built. 

    Earlier this year, Ford Bales joined first lady Jill Biden and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at the White House to unveil a postage stamp bearing the portrait of Betty Ford.

    Harris is heading to Michigan on Monday, in addition to fellow “blue wall” battleground states Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, for a series of moderated conversations with former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice president’s latest effort to appeal to moderate Republicans who may be disenchanted with former President Donald Trump.

    Ford Bales joins Cheney and a handful of other Republican officials who have endorsed Harris over Trump. 

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • A hot air balloon is one big science experiment

    A hot air balloon is one big science experiment

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    On a clear day in early fall, around sunrise, you might notice hot air balloons flying across the sky, but why do they navigate the skies so early in the day and how does weather play a role in their flight path?

    What You Need To Know

    • Hot air balloons fly early in the day or late in the day

    • The fire observed from a balloon is propane igniting to keep the air inside the balloon envelope warmer than the air surounding it

    • A hot air balloon pilot uses wind to steer and navigate their balloon

    Ideal weather for flight

    Mike Wadley, a second-generation Hot Air Balloon Pilot out of St. Charles County, Mo, explains the weather’s role in this high-flying activity.

    The weather conditions matter, and it’s not solely for capturing the best pictures from the treetops. There are many days the team will leave the balloon in the trailer and cancel the day’s flight.

    “If there’s any chance for rain, we don’t fly.”

    He says winds must be light as well and that includes winds higher in the sky. “We love to have weather about 5 mph of wind on the surface and 10 to 12 mph all the way up to about 2500 feet.” And that’s because they use the wind to steer the balloon.

    Winds are light early in the morning, around sunrise, and then again around sunset. Wind is created by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by the sun. Without sunlight, the air is less mixed and there is less wind. 

    “Since we can’t steer the balloon, we find wind directions and different speeds at different altitudes. And then we have to fly very level and be precise and that will carry us off to where we want to go.” But faster winds don’t mean better flying conditions.

    Science experiment

    “Hot air balloons and the way they operate is a big science experiment.” It follows the laws of physics. For the balloon to fly, the air inside the balloon must be warmer than the surrounding air.

    Hot air balloon pilots and workers test the propane on their balloon. Spectrum News/Stacy Lynn

    To achieve this, there’s a burner system connected to the basket and the balloon. Fueled by propane gas, the pilot uses a blast valve to adjust the rate of flow, keeping the balloon warmer than the air surrounding it.

    They may also give intermittent blasts during the flight to ensure the air inside the balloon remains at this temperature.  

    Weather while flying

    “So we are constantly paying attention to the weather, and we are paying attention not only before as we are doing our flight planning but also while we are actually flying.”

    They have instruments on board that tell them the direction and altitude they are flying. And it’s these parameters that assist them in landing. “We use the different wind speeds and directions at different altitudes to help us find the right target to land.”

    He will fly any day of the year that weather allows, but says May through September are the most popular and reminds us it’s colder higher in the atmosphere. “We’ll fly any time of the year, doesn’t matter how cold it is out. I’ve flown when it was zero degrees out. It’s uncomfortable.”

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • White House proposes rule to expand contraceptive access

    White House proposes rule to expand contraceptive access

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    As Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris makes reproductive rights a centerpiece of her campaign, the Biden-Harris administration on Monday proposed a dramatic expansion of contraception coverage.

    The proposed rule would require that insurers cover the cost of over-the-counter birth control and other measures designed to increase access to contraceptives.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Biden-Harris administration on Monday proposed a dramatic expansion of contraception coverage

    • The proposed rule would require that insurers cover the cost of over-the-counter birth control, including condoms and the nonprescription birth control pill Opill

    • About 65 million women are of reproductive age in the United States

    • The move comes more than two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the national right to an abortion


    “Every woman in every state must have reproductive freedom and access to the healthcare they need,” Harris said in a statement released by the White House. 

    Calling it the largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade, she said the “new proposed rule will build on our Administration’s work to protect reproductive freedom by providing millions of women with more options for the affordable contraception they need and deserve.”

    About 65 million women are of reproductive age in the United States, according to the World Health Organization. 

    Provided through the Affordable Care Act, the new rule would apply to condoms, spermicides and the nonprescription birth control pill Opill, as well as emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy if taken shortly after unprotected sex. 

    The ACA currently covers the cost of prescription birth control. The new rule would expand to apply to the over-the-counter version the Food and Drug Administration approved last year. 

    The move comes more than two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the national right to an abortion. Twenty-one states currently ban abortion or make access to the procedure more restrictive than what was allowed under Roe v. Wade. 

    In a concurring opinion to the Dobbs ruling, conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said that the high court should “reconsider” a number of high-profile rulings, including the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed married couples’ right to contraception. 

    Harris on the campaign trail has warned that Griswold could be at risk under a future Trump administration. 

    At least 13 states and Washington, D.C., currently have regulations that protect a woman’s right to contraception, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    In 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Right to Contraception Act to codify Americans’ right to contraception, but it failed to pass in the Senate.

    A 2022 poll conducted by FiveThirtyEight found widespread support for contraceptives, with about 90% of Americans saying they support condoms and birth control pills and 80% supporting intrauterine devices, or IUDs. Another 70% said they support emergency contraception including Plan B, and almost 60% said they support medical abortion or abortion pills.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Blinken heads to Middle East for 11th time since Gaza war began

    Blinken heads to Middle East for 11th time since Gaza war began

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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading again to the Middle East, making his 11th trip to the region since the Gaza war erupted last year and as Israel steps up attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

    What You Need To Know

    • Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East monday for his 11th trip to the region since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted last year

    • The State Department says Blinken will depart on Monday for a weeklong trip to Israel and a number of Arab countries, on a visit that also comes as Israel weighs retaliation against Iran for ballistic missile attacks earlier this month

    • The trip had been expected after President Joe Biden said he would dispatch Blinken to the region following Israel’s killing of Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar last week

    • Blinken will also raise the importance the administration places on reaching a diplomatic resolution to the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah



    The State Department said Blinken will depart on Monday for a weeklong trip to Israel and a number of Arab countries, on a visit that also comes as Israel weighs retaliation against Iran for ballistic missile attacks earlier this month.

    The trip had been expected after President Joe Biden said last week he would dispatch Blinken to the region following Israel’s killing of Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar, a move that some believe could open a window for new talks on a cease-fire proposal that has been languishing for months.

    “Throughout the region, Secretary Blinken will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people. He will continue discussions on post-conflict period planning and emphasize the need to chart a new path forward that enables Palestinians to rebuild their lives and realize their aspirations free from Hamas’ tyranny,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

    He said Blinken would also underscore the need for a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, something that Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear in a letter to Israeli officials last week. That letter reminded Israel that the Biden administration could be forced by U.S. law to curtail some forms of military aid should the delivery of humanitarian assistance continue to be hindered.

    In addition to the conflict in Gaza, Blinken will also raise the importance the administration places on reaching a diplomatic resolution to the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and elsewhere.

    “He will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to work with partners across the region to de-escalate tensions and provide lasting stability,” Miller said in the statement.

    Since the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and the Israeli response, Blinken has traveled to the Middle East 10 times seeking an end to the crisis. His previous trips have yielded little in the way of ending hostilities but he has managed to increase aid deliveries to Gaza in the past.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Hurricane Oscar headed for eastern Cuba

    Hurricane Oscar headed for eastern Cuba

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    After quickly becoming a tropical storm Saturday, Oscar is now a hurricane close to the eastern tip of Cuba. It’s the 15th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Oscar is a small hurricane

    • It will bring heavy rain and strong winds to the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba

    • It won’t affect the U.S.


    Hurricane Oscar has max winds of 80 mph and is moving to the west southwest at 7 mph. Hurricane and tropical storm conditions are likely in the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba over the next couple of days.

    It will not affect the U.S.

    Check to see how the rest of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is going so far.

    More Storm Season Resources


    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Frozen waffle products recalled due to possible listeria contamination

    Frozen waffle products recalled due to possible listeria contamination

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    OAK BROOK, Ill. — Hundreds of frozen waffle products sold in leading retailers including Publix, Walmart and Target are being recalled because of possible contamination by the listeria bacteria, according to the manufacturer.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hundreds of frozen waffle products sold at Publix, Walmart, Target and other retailers have been recalled due to possible listeria contamination

    • TreeHouse Foods said that it issued a voluntary recall after discovering possible contamination during routing testing at its plant

    • The illness is most dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, adults over 65 and people with weakened immune systems

    TreeHouse Foods said Friday that it issued a voluntary recall after discovering possible contamination during routing testing at its plant. It said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Canadian food regulators are aware of the recall.

    Listeria infections can cause mild illness including fever and diarrhea or more serious problems. The illness is most dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, adults over 65 and people with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

    The CDC estimates that 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year in the United States and 260 die.

    The recalled waffles are sold under a variety of names including Walmart’s Great Value, Target’s Good & Gather and private label brands sold by Food Lion, Kroger and Schnucks. TreeHouse published a complete list.

    TreeHouse said there have been no confirmed reports of illness related to the waffles.

    The company said consumers holding any of the products should dispose of them or return them to the store for credit.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Hurricane Oscar forms in the western Atlantic

    Hurricane Oscar forms in the western Atlantic

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    After quickly becoming a tropical storm Saturday, Oscar has now become a hurricane in the western Atlantic. It’s the 15th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Oscar is a small hurricane

    • It will bring rain and wind to the Turks and Caicos Islands, the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba

    • It won’t affect the U.S.


    Hurricane Oscar has max winds of 80 mph and is moving westward at 12 mph. Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba over the weekend.

    It will not affect the U.S.

    Check to see how the rest of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is going so far.

    More Storm Season Resources


    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Hurricane Oscar forms in the western Atlantic

    Hurricane Oscar forms in the western Atlantic

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    After quickly becoming a tropical storm Saturday, Oscar has now become a hurricane in the western Atlantic. It’s the 15th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Oscar is a small hurricane

    • It will bring rain and wind to the Turks and Caicos Islands, the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba

    • It won’t affect the U.S.


    Hurricane Oscar has max winds of 80 mph and is moving westward at 12 mph. Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba over the weekend.

    It will not affect the U.S.

    Check to see how the rest of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is going so far.

    More Storm Season Resources


    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Nadine is about to make landfall in Belize

    Nadine is about to make landfall in Belize

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    Tropical Storm Nadine formed on Saturday, Oct .19 in the Caribbean Sea. It’s the 14th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Nadine is a small tropical storm

    • It will bring heavy rainfall to Central America

    • It won’t affect the U.S.


    Tropical Storm Nadine has maximum winds of 50 mph and is moving westward. It will make landfall late Saturday morning in Belize.

    Nadine will move inland and quickly weaken. It will bring heavy rainfall across Central America and southern Mexico through early next week.

    It will not affect the U.S.

    Check to see how the rest of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is going so far.

    More Storm Season Resources


    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Blink 2024 dazzles both sides of the Ohio River with expanded light displays

    Blink 2024 dazzles both sides of the Ohio River with expanded light displays

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    NEWPORT, Ky. — BLINK, a biennial event, celebrated its milestone expansion across the river, featuring dazzling light installations and immersive art experiences, drawing thousands of visitors to explore its magic.

    What You Need To Know

    • BLINK one of the world’s largest public art shows, expanded over the Ohio River from Cincinnati into Newport for the first time

    • There are more than 80 light displays and installations spread across 30 city blocks

    • An estimated 2 million people are expected to attend the four-day event

    • BLINK runs from Oct. 17 to Oct. 20


    This year’s theme, “Let it Shine,” emphasizecommunity, art and creativity, as over 80 light displays and installations are spread across 30 city blocks. The festival officially kicked off with a vibrant parade as families and friends gathered to celebrate along the Ohio River. 

    Among the many participants in the parade was Dos Corazones Film Production, a small, local Cincinnati company eager to make its mark. “I think it’s special because it’s so diverse—not just the parade but all the performances, installations, and art around the city,” said Gabriel Martinez, a participant in the parade.

    One of the many installations was made by, “The Adventurer, organized d by Mike Demari and Kevin Kunz, who brought multiple artists to create an animated photo opportunity stand. Demaria said with so many installations, you may have to come back to see everything. “This is Newport on the Levee. There’s maybe 15 things here. Take your time and look at everything. There’s even the bridge… this is one of those events you have to see,” said Demaria.

    According to organizers, more than two million people attended the 2022 show. They expect approximately the same number to attend the four-day show.

    Festival attendee Chris Pinelo has been a fan since its early days. “This tradition goes all the way back to ‘Luminosity’. We love projection mapping, we love the artistry, and the fact that Cincinnati is an arts destination,” Pinelo shared as he danced with his family during the parade.

    For Pinelo, BLINK is about more than just the art—it’s about creating lasting memories with loved ones. “My boys are always going to remember this, just like I have memories from my childhood with my parents. Experiences like this are irreplaceable.”

    As families strolled through the streets, admiring the illuminated art displays, Demaria emphasized that BLINK isn’t just about the lights; it’s about bringing the community together. “This is one of those events where it just shows how cool and connected the community can be,” he said.

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    Ryan Hayes-Owens

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