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  • Blast of Winter Weather Hitting Midwest, East Coast and Could Bring Snow to Florida

    HOUSTON (AP) — A blast of winter weather was set to bring snowfall and subfreezing wind chills across the Midwest and East Coast on Saturday as well as near freezing temperatures in parts of the South, including in normally warm Florida.

    In northeastern Ohio, a snow squall — sudden bursts of heavy snow and gusty winds — was creating whiteout conditions, according to the National Weather Service. The snow squall conditions were moving into the Cleveland metro area on Saturday and expected to continue east into Pennsylvania and parts of eastern New York.

    “Expect visibilities of less than a quarter of a mile and rapid snow accumulation on roadways. Travel will be difficult and possibly dangerous in the heavy snow,” according to the National Weather Service.

    Below average temperatures were being forecast for the Central and Eastern U.S. this weekend into early next week, according to the National Weather Service.

    “The next few nights are forecast to be very cold for much of the Central and Eastern United States,” the Weather Prediction Center, part of the National Weather Service, said Saturday. “Sub-zero wind chills are forecast from the Plains to the Midwest and Northeast, with the coldest wind chills expected in the Upper Midwest on Sunday night.”

    Snowfall was expected by Sunday night to blanket Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with some areas getting up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow.

    The cold weather wasn’t going to be limited to the northern parts of the U.S. as Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were expected to have near freezing temperatures through at least the weekend.

    In Tallahassee, Florida, residents could see some snowfall on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. But if there is snow, it won’t last long.

    “So here in Tallahassee, the likelihood of any snow accumulation is not zero, but it’s very low. I mean, the ground will be just too warm for anything to stick and accumulate,” said Kristian Oliver, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Tallahassee.

    If there is snowfall in the Tallahassee area on Sunday, it would be the second time in as many years that Florida has experienced such winter weather.

    In January 2025, up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of the Florida Panhandle. This snowfall was part of a record breaking snowstorm that impacted the deep South in late January 2025, according to the National Weather Service. Areas that don’t normally see snowfall, including Houston, New Orleans and parts of Florida, were hit by last year’s winter storm.

    “On average w Associated Press e have an event like this maybe every few years. But having two, back to back, I’d say is pretty anomalous for the area,” Oliver said.

    Up to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow could fall on Sunday in parts of central Georgia, areas located south of Atlanta.

    “Plan on slippery roads during the snow, as well as on Sunday night into Monday morning as remaining water/snow refreezes,” said the National Weather Service’s Atlanta office.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Michael Schumacher, Wisconsin Author of Biographies of Alan Ginsberg and Eric Clapton, Dies at 75

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Michael Schumacher, a Wisconsin author who produced a diverse array of works ranging from biographies of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and musician Eric Clapton to accounts of Great Lakes shipwrecks, has died. He was 75.

    Schumacher’s daughter, Emily Joy Schumacher, confirmed Monday that her father passed away on Dec. 29. She did not provide the cause of death.

    Schumacher produced such varied biographies as “Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker’s Life;” “Crossroads: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton;” and “Dharma Lion: A Biography of Allen Ginsberg” — a prominent Beat Generation poet and writer.

    Other biographies included “Mr. Basketball: George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers & the Birth of the NBA” and ”Will Eisner: A Dreamer’s Life in Comics.” Eisner was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in American comic books and was a pioneer of the graphic novel concept.

    Though he was born in Kansas, Schumacher lived most of his live in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He studied political science at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside but left the school just one credit short of graduating, his daughter said. He gravitated toward writing at a young age, she said, and basically built two writing careers — one focused on biographies and another on Great Lakes lore.

    Living on the shores of Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Schumacher produced accounts of how the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior in 1975; a November 1913 storm that claimed the lives of more than 250 Great Lakes sailors; and how four sailors fought to survive on Lake Michigan after their ship sank in a storm in 1958.

    Emily Joy Schumacher described her father as “a history person” and “a good human.” She said he worked longhand, filling countless flip notebooks and later transcribing them on a typewriter. She said she still remembers the sound of the keys clacking.

    “My dad was a very generous person with people,” Emily Joy Schumacher said. “He loved people. He loved talking to people. He loved listening to people. He loved stories. When I think of my dad, I think of him engaged in conversation, coffee in his hand and his notebook.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Idaho Company Recalls Nearly 3,000 Pounds of Ground Beef for E. Coli Risk

    An Idaho-based company is recalling nearly 3,000 pounds of raw ground beef that may have been contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

    The recall involves 16-ounce vacuum-sealed packages labeled “Forward Farms Grass-Fed Ground Beef.” Affected packages were produced Dec. 16 and have a label telling customers to use or freeze the meat by Jan. 13. The affected beef also bears the establishment number “EST 2083” on the side of its packaging.

    The meat was produced by Heyburn, Idaho-based Mountain West Food Group and was shipped to distributors in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Pennsylvania and Washington.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which announced the recall Saturday, didn’t say which retailers may have sold the meat. The USDA and Mountain West Food Group didn’t respond to messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press.

    The USDA said there have been no confirmed reports of illness due to consumption of the meat. The issue was discovered in a sample of beef during routine testing.

    The USDA said the type of E. coli found can cause illness within 28 days of exposure. Most infected people develop diarrhea, which is often bloody, and vomiting. Infection is usually diagnosed with a stool sample.

    The USDA said customers who have purchased the affected products should either throw them away or return them to the place they were bought. The agency also advises all customers to consume ground beef only if it has been cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

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

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  • Winter Storm Packing Snow and Strong Winds to Descend on Great Lakes and Northeast

    A wild winter storm was expected to bring strong winds, heavy snow and frigid temperatures to the Great Lakes and Northeast on Tuesday, a day after a bomb cyclone barreled across the northern U.S. and left tens thousands of customers without power.

    The storm that hit parts of the Plains and Great Lakes on Monday brought sharply colder air, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain that led to treacherous travel. Forecasters said it intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops.

    Nationwide, more than 153,000 customers were without power early Tuesday, more than a third of them in Michigan, according to Poweroutage.us.

    As Monday’s storm moved into Canada, the National Weather Service predicted more inclement weather conditions for the Eastern U.S, including quick bursts of heavy snow and gusty winds known as snow squalls.

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned that whiteout conditions were expected Tuesday in parts of the state, including the Syracuse-metro area.

    “If you’re in an impacted area, please avoid all unnecessary travel,” she said in a post on the social media platform X,

    Snow piled up quickly in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on Monday, where as much as 2 feet (60 centimeters) fell in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Ryan Metzger said additional snow was expected in the coming days, although totals would be far lighter.

    Waves on Lake Superior that were expected to reach 20 feet (6 meters) Monday sent all but one cargo ship into harbors for shelter, according to MarineTraffic.com. Weather forecasting on the lakes has improved greatly since the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975 after waves were predicted at up to 16 feet (4.8 meters).

    The fierce winds on Lake Erie sent water surging toward the basin’s eastern end near Buffalo, New York, while lowering water on the western side in Michigan to expose normally submerged lakebed — even the wreck of a car and a snowmobile.

    Kevin Aldrich, 33, a maintenance worker from Monroe, Michigan, said he has never seen the lake recede so much and was surprised on Monday to spot the remnants of old piers dating back to the 1830s. He posted photos on social media of wooden pilings sticking up several feet from the muck.

    “Where those are at would typically be probably 12 feet deep,” he said. “We can usually drive our boat over them.”

    Dangerous wind chills plunged as low as minus 30 F (minus 34 C) across parts of North Dakota and Minnesota on Monday. And in northeast West Virginia, rare, nearly hurricane-force winds were recorded on a mountain near Dolly Sods, according to the National Weather Service.

    In Iowa, after blizzard conditions eased by Monday morning, high winds continued blowing fallen snow across roadways, keeping more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) of Interstate 35 closed. State troopers reported dozens of crashes during the storm, including one that killed a person.

    On the West Coast, the National Weather Service warned that moderate to strong Santa Ana winds were expected in parts of Southern California through Tuesday, raising concerns about downed trees in areas where soils have been saturated by recent storms. Two more storms were forecast later this week, with rain on New Year’s Day potentially soaking the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time in about two decades.

    Associated Press writers Julie Walker in New York; Corey Williams in Detroit; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; and Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed.

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

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Plan for $20 Million Firefighter Training Center Near the Site of Ohio Derailment Revived

    Norfolk Southern railroad worked with the state of Ohio and Youngstown State University to revive plans for a $20 million first responder training center near the site of the worst derailment in a decade in East Palestine, Ohio.

    Building a training center to help prepare firefighters to deal with a railroad disaster was quickly part of the plan after the derailment on Feb. 3, 2023, that forced the evacuation of roughly half the small town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and left residents with worries about the potential long-term health impacts.

    But Norfolk Southern said last January that East Palestine officials had agreed with the railroad as part of the town’s $22 million settlement that the training center wasn’t going to be feasible because of concerns about the ongoing operating costs. The railroad even agreed to give 15 acres of land it had bought for the center to the town.

    Now the railroad is going to partner with Youngstown State to build and operate the training center to help prepare first responders to deal with the unique challenges of a train derailment that can spill hazardous chemicals being carried in railcars. In East Palestine, the derailed train cars burned for days, and officials decided to blow open five tank cars of vinyl chloride because they feared those cars might explode.

    “By working together, we’ve turned this vision of an economic and educational center dedicated to enhancing community safety into a sustainable reality,” railroad CEO Mark George said.

    The railroad has committed more than $135 million to help the town recover from the derailment and agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action settlement with residents, though those settlement payments are on hold because of a pending appeal and accounting problems with the first company that was distributing checks.

    Local East Palestine first responders will have free access to training at the facility. Mayor Trent Conaway said this will “better prepare them to serve our village and the communities in our region.”

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

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  • Potential Presidential Candidates Are Less Coy About 2028 Plans: ‘Of Course I’m Thinking About It’

    NEW YORK (AP) — There was a time when presidential hopefuls played coy about their ambitions, crisscrossing the country under the guise of helping other candidates and deflecting when pushed on their obvious plans.

    Not so for some Democrats considering running in 2028. With no clear party leader and Democratic voters raring for a fight, some could-be candidates are being far more transparent about their intentions, doing away with pretensions as they try to gain maximum visibility at a time when authenticity is in high demand.

    “Of course I’m thinking about it. I haven’t ruled it out,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker recently told Fox News during a trip to early-voting New Hampshire, even as he stressed that his focus is on 2026, when he will be up for reelection.

    To be sure, many Democrats remain circumspect.

    Of the dozen potential 2028 candidates The Associated Press requested interviews with to discuss the changing dynamic, none was immediately available. Some Democrats deflect questions and say their attention is elsewhere even as they campaign for others in early-voting states.

    On the Republican side, an entirely different dynamic is brewing under the surface. Potential candidates are keeping low profiles amid expectations that President Donald Trump will play kingmaker in choosing his would-be successor.

    Presidential campaign strategists say the Democrats’ less guarded approach makes sense given the wide-open 2028 field and sheer number of candidates competing for attention. Among the others who have said they are considering a run: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also was a White House chief of staff, and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

    “Old rules just don’t apply to anything anymore,” said Jess O’Connell, a Democratic strategist who advised Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign. She said the change was a good thing for the party.

    “You’ve got to be out there every single day fighting and sharing your vision,” she said. “And I think the more runway they have to talk to people in this moment and to communicate about meeting the needs of the future,” then the better.

    Alex Conant, a veteran of the presidential campaigns of Republicans Marco Rubio, a former Florida senator who is now Trump’s secretary of state, and Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor, said the dynamics of the emerging Democratic primary, with no clear front-runner, have changed the calculus for candidates.

    “I think the Democratic primary is going to be the longest primary of our life. It’s hard to recall a field that is this wide open. And the Democratic base is so hungry for someone to take on Trump and win back the White House,” he said. “The more crowded it is, the more important it is to start early.”

    Candidates, he noted, are also “immediately more relevant if you might be the next president,” adding to the incentive to say the quiet part out loud.

    Voters these days are also turned off by the kind of politician-speak that was once the norm.

    “One of the takeaways from Trump is that people want authenticity,” Conant said. “Voters are rejecting candidates who sound like politicians, so the rhetorical tricks that politicians have used for decades to avoid answering questions now just irritates voters.”

    Not everyone has embraced the approach.

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker played coy on stage during a recent interview with journalist Kara Swisher, repeatedly dodging her questions about his expected timeline.

    “Blah, blah,” she responded as he tried to pivot to talking about the strength of the Democratic bench.

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been equally circumspect, refusing to acknowledge any White House ambitions or even commit to running again for governor, even as the shadow of 2028 follows him everywhere he goes. But during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club” podcast last month, as he reflected on the arson attack on his official residence, he sounded like someone who is eager to remain in the arena.

    “I love public service,” he said. “You can’t walk away now, with everything that’s on the line. … This is not a time to quit.”

    His perceived national ambitions have become a frequent attack line for his potential GOP rival for governor, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

    “We need somebody that is more interested in Pennsylvania and not on Pennsylvania Avenue,” Garrity said recently on a conservative radio show in Philadelphia.


    There are risks for candidates

    That is one of the risks for candidates, said Mike DuHaime, a longtime GOP strategist who advised the presidential campaigns of Chris Christie, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush.

    In 2013, he noted, Christie’s opponent in the New Jersey governor’s race often tried to use his national buzz as a campaign issue against him.

    Candidates, DuHaime said, also need to strike a balance and make that they are not distracting from midterm races by funneling money or attention away from candidates who need them.

    “I think it makes sense not to be so coy because people kind of get it, but they still should be careful about putting themselves in front of the country cause it could backfire,” he said. They “have to be careful that they still look a little bit like team players.”

    In other cases, candidates have genuinely not made up their minds, and may be lured by party leaders in early-voting states eager to draw rising stars to their events, DuHaime said.

    “It’s very intriguing and exciting for candidates and would-be candidates to be asked,” he said, with some deciding, “Let’s go experience it, the national circus. Let’s be part of that.”

    Along with potential legal considerations, O’Connell, the Democratic strategist, also noted that many of those expected to run have day jobs they need to balance. While picking fights with Trump certainly puts them in the spotlight, it could have ramifications for constituents if the Republican president retaliates, meaning that candidates will need to choose their moments wisely.

    “You have to fulfill your obligations to the states that you’re in,” she said. “It’s not so much that you’re playing a game, it’s that I think that there are some practical considerations.”

    “I think we’re going to see people struggling with that,” she added.

    She also urged candidates to embrace what she called a “Beyonce-Taylor Swift strategy,” referring to the pop stars’ boosting the economies of the cities where they performed on tour.

    “What I would advise anyone who wants to be president in 2028,” she said, “is to roll up your sleeves and help.”

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

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  • Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman Hospitalized After Fall, His Office Says

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman had what his office says was a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” that caused him to feel light-headed and fall during an early morning walk Thursday.

    Fetterman was doing well and hospitalized in Pittsburgh, his office said. He sustained minor injuries to his face and was under “routine observation” at the hospital while doctors fine-tune his medication regimen, his office said.

    Cardiomyopathy can impede blood flow and potentially cause heartbeats so irregular they can be fatal. Atrial fibrillation can cause blood to pool inside a pocket of the heart, allowing clots to form. Clots then can break off, get stuck and cut off blood, causing a stroke.

    Fetterman has said the stroke was atrial fibrillation. Fetterman, 55, underwent surgery after the stroke to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator to manage the condition.

    The lingering effects of his stroke include diminished auditory processing speed, called auditory processing disorder, which makes it harder to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning.

    Weeks after joining the Senate in 2023, Fetterman checked himself into the hospital for clinical depression. He was released six weeks later and has since urged people who are depressed to get professional help.

    Post-stroke depression is common and treatable through medication and talk therapy, doctors say.

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

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  • Unlucky Penny: US Mint in Philadelphia to Press Final Penny as the 1-Cent Coin Gets Canceled

    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Back in 1793, a penny could get you a biscuit, a candle or a piece of candy. These days, many sit in drawers or glass jars and are basically cast aside or collected as lucky keepsakes.

    But their luck is about to run out.

    The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia is set to strike its last circulating penny on Wednesday as the president has canceled the 1-cent coin as the cost of making them became more than their value.

    President Donald Trump has ordered its demise as costs climb to nearly 4 cents per penny and the 1-cent valuation becomes somewhat obsolete.

    The U.S. Mint has been making pennies in Philadelphia, the nation’s birthplace, since 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. Today, there are billions of them in circulation, but they are rarely essential for financial transactions in the modern economy or the digital age.

    “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote in an online post in February, as costs continued to climb. “This is so wasteful!”

    Still, many people have a nostalgia for them, seeing them as lucky or fun to collect. And some retailers have voiced concerns in recent weeks as supplies ran low and the last production neared. They said the phase-out was abrupt and came with no guidance from the federal government on how to handle customer transactions.

    Some rounded prices down to avoid shortchanging people, others pleaded with customers to bring exact change and the more creative among them gave out prizes, such as a free drink, in exchange for a pile of pennies.

    “We have been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted it to go,” Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores said last month.

    Some banks, meanwhile, began rationing supplies, a somewhat paradoxical result of the effort to address what many see as a glut of the coins. Over the last century, about half of the coins made at U.S. Mints in Philadelphia and Denver have been pennies.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach were expected to be in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon for the final production run. The Treasury Department expects to save $56 million per year on materials by ceasing to make them.

    But they still have a better production-cost-to-value ratio than the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to make. The diminutive dime, by comparison, costs less than 6 cents to produce and the quarter nearly 15 cents.

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

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  • Infant Botulism in 10 US States Linked to Formula Being Recalled

    Federal and state health officials are investigating 13 cases in 10 states of infant botulism linked to baby formula that was being recalled, authorities said Saturday.

    ByHeart Inc. agreed to begin recalling two lots of the company’s Whole Nutrition Infant Formula, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.

    All 13 infants were hospitalized after consuming formula from two lots: 206VABP/251261P2 and 206VABP/251131P2.

    The cases occurred in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington.

    No deaths were reported. The FDA said it was investigating how the contamination happened and whether it affected any other products.

    Available online and through major retailers, the product accounted for an estimated 1% of national formula sales, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    People who bought the recalled formula should record the lot number if possible before throwing it out or returning it to where it was purchased, the CDC said in a statement.

    They should use a dishwasher or hot, soapy water to clean items and surfaces that touched the formula. And they should seek medical care right away if an infant has consumed recalled formula and then had poor feeding, loss of head control, difficulty swallowing or decreased facial expression.

    Infant botulism is caused by a bacterium that produces toxins in the large intestine.

    Symptoms can take weeks to develop, so parents should keep vigilant, the CDC said.

    A ByHeart spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.

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  • Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Transferred to New Jersey Prison to Serve 4-Year Prostitution-Related Sentence

    NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs has been transferred to a prison in New Jersey to serve out the remainder of his four-year prison sentence on prostitution-related charges.

    The hip-hop mogul is currently incarcerated at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institute, located about 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of Philadelphia on the grounds of the joint military base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, according to his listing in the federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database as of Friday.

    It’s not immediately clear when Combs was moved from the troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he had been held since his arrest last September.

    Lawyers for Combs and spokespersons for the agency didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.

    Combs’ lawyers had asked a judge earlier this month to “strongly recommend” transferring him to the low-security male prison so that he could take part in the facility’s drug treatment program.

    FCI Fort Dix, one of several dozen federal prisons with a residential drug treatment program, would best allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts,” Teny Geragos, his lawyer, wrote in a letter.

    Combs has already served about 14 months of his 50-month sentence and is set to be released from prison on May 8, 2028, though he can earn reductions in his time behind bars through his participation in substance abuse treatment and other prison programs.

    Earlier this week, Combs’ lawyers asked a federal appeals court to quickly consider the legality of his conviction and sentence. The 55-year-old wants his appeal to be considered soon enough that he can benefit from a reduction of time spent in prison if the appeals court reverses his conviction, his lawyers said.

    President Donald Trump has also said Combs had asked him for a pardon, though the Republican did not say if he would grant the request.

    The founder of Bad Boy Records was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters in multiple places over many years. However, he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.

    In a letter to the judge before he was sentenced, Combs said he has gone through a “spiritual reset” in jail and was “committed to the journey of remaining a drug free, non-violent and peaceful person.”

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  • SNAP Has Provided Grocery Help for 60-Plus Years; Here’s How It Works

    Originally known as the food stamp program, it has existed since 1964, serving low-income people, many of whom have jobs but don’t make enough money to cover all the basic costs of living.

    Public attention has focused on the program since President Donald Trump’s administration announced last week that it would freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1 in the midst of a monthlong federal government shutdown. The administration argued it wasn’t allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it to help keep the program going. But on Friday, two federal judges ruled in separate challenges that the federal government must continue to fund SNAP, at least partially, using contingency funds. However, the federal government is expected to appeal, and the process to restart SNAP payments would likely take one to two weeks.

    Here’s a look at how SNAP works.

    There are income limits based on family size, expenses and whether households include someone who is elderly or has a disability.

    Most SNAP participants are families with children, and more than 1 in 3 include older adults or someone with a disability.

    Nearly 2 in 5 recipients are households where someone is employed.

    Most participants have incomes below the poverty line, which is about $32,000 for a family of four, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, says nearly 16 million children received SNAP benefits in 2023.

    People who are not in the country legally, and many immigrants who do have legal status, are not eligible. Many college students aren’t either, and some states have barred people with certain drug convictions.

    Under a provision of Trump’s big tax and policy law that also takes effect Nov. 1, people who do not have disabilities, are between ages 18 and 64 and who do not have children under age 14 can receive benefits for only three months every three years if they’re not working. Otherwise, they must work, volunteer or participate in a work training program at least 80 hours a month.


    How much do beneficiaries receive?

    On average, the monthly benefit per household participating in SNAP over the past few years has been about $350, and the average benefit per person is about $190.

    The benefit amount varies based on a family’s income and expenses. The designated amount is based on the concept that households should allocate 30% of their remaining income after essential expenses to food.

    Families can receive higher amounts if they pay child support, have monthly medical expenses exceeding $35 or pay a higher portion of their income on housing.

    The cost of benefits and half the cost of running the program is paid by the federal government using tax dollars.

    States pay the rest of the administrative costs and run the program.

    People apply for SNAP through a state or county social service agency or through a nonprofit that helps people with applications. In some states, SNAP is known by another, state-specific name. For instance, it’s FoodShare in Wisconsin and CalFresh in California.

    The benefits are delivered through electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, cards that work essentially like a bank debit card. Besides SNAP, it’s where money is loaded for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program, which provides cash assistance for low-income families with children, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

    The card is swiped or inserted in a store’s card reader at checkout, and the cardholder enters their PIN to pay for food. The cost of the food is deducted from the person’s SNAP account balance.

    SNAP benefits can only be used for food at participating stores — mostly groceries, supermarkets, discount retail stores, convenience stores and farmers markets. It also covers plants and seeds bought to grow your own food. However, hot foods — like restaurant meals — are not covered.

    Most, but not all, food stores participate. The USDA provides a link on its website to a SNAP retail locator, allowing people to enter an address to get the closest retailers to them.

    Items commonly found in a grocery and other participating stores that can’t be bought with SNAP benefits include pet food, household supplies like toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning products, and toiletries like toothpaste, shampoo and cosmetics. Vitamins, medicines, alcohol and tobacco products are also excluded.

    Sales tax is not charged on items bought with SNAP benefits.


    Are there any restrictions?

    There aren’t additional restrictions today on which foods can be purchased with SNAP money.

    But the federal government is allowing states to apply to limit which foods can be purchased with SNAP starting in 2026.

    All of them will bar buying soft drinks, most say no to candy, and some block energy drinks.

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

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  • A Man Who Spent 43 Years in Prison Before His Conviction Was Overturned Now Faces Deportation

    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — After waiting more than four decades to clear his name in a friend’s 1980 killing, Subramanyam Vedam was set to walk free from a Pennsylvania prison this month.

    Vedam and Thomas Kinser were the 19-year-old children of Penn State University faculty. Vedam was the last person seen with Kinser and was twice convicted of killing him, despite a lack of witnesses or motive.

    In August, a judge threw out the conviction after Vedam’s lawyers found new ballistics evidence that prosecutors had never disclosed.

    As his sister prepared to bring him home on Oct. 3, the thin, white-haired Vedam was instead taken into federal custody over a 1999 deportation order. The 64-year-old, who legally came to the U.S. from India when he was 9 months old, now faces another daunting legal fight.

    Amid the Trump Administration’s focus on mass deportation, Vedam’s lawyers must persuade an immigration court that a 1980s drug conviction should be outweighed by the years he wrongly spent in prison. For a time, immigration law allowed people who had reformed their lives to seek such waivers. Vedam never pursued it then because of the murder conviction.

    “He was someone who’s suffered a profound injustice,” said immigration lawyer Ava Benach. “(And) those 43 years aren’t a blank slate. He lived a remarkable experience in prison.”

    Vedam earned several degrees behind bars, tutored hundreds of fellow inmates and went nearly half a century with just a single infraction, involving rice brought in from the outside.

    His lawyers hope immigration judges will consider the totality of his case. The administration, in a brief filed Friday, opposes the effort. So Vedam remains at an 1,800-bed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in central Pennsylvania.

    “Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in an email about the case.


    ‘Mr. Vedam, where were you born?’

    After his initial conviction was thrown out, Vedam faced an unusual set of questions at his 1988 retrial.

    “During your teenage years, did you ever get into meditation?”

    Gopal Balachandran, the Penn State law professor who won the reversal, believes the questions were designed to alienate him from the all-white jury, which returned a second guilty verdict.

    The Vedams were among the first Indian families in the area known as “Happy Valley,” where his father had come as a postdoctoral fellow in 1956. An older daughter was born in State College, but “Subu,” as he was known, was born when the family was back in India in 1961.

    They returned to State College for good before his first birthday, and became the family that welcomed new members of the Indian diaspora to town.

    “They were fully engaged. My father loved the university. My mother was a librarian, and she helped start the library,” said the sister, Saraswathi Vedam, 68, a midwifery professor in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    While she left for college in Massachusetts, Subu became swept up in the counterculture of the late 1970s, growing his hair long and dabbling in drugs while taking classes at Penn State.

    One day in December 1980, Vedem asked Kinser for a ride to nearby Lewisburg to buy drugs. Kinser was never seen again, although his van was found outside his apartment. Nine months later, hikers found his body in a wooded area miles away.

    Vedam was detained on drug charges while police investigated, and was ultimately charged with murder. He was convicted in 1983 and sentenced to life without parole. To resolve the drug case, he pleaded no contest to four counts of selling LSD and a theft charge. The 1988 retrial offered no reprieve from his situation.

    Although the defense long questioned the ballistics evidence in the case, the jury, which heard that Vedam had bought a .25-caliber gun from someone, never heard that an FBI report suggested the bullet wound was too small to have been fired from that gun. Balachandran only found that report as he dug into the case in 2023.

    After hearings on the issue, a Centre County judge threw out the conviction and the district attorney decided this month not to retry the case.


    Trump officials oppose the petition

    Benach, the immigration lawyer, often represents clients trying to stay in the U.S. despite an earlier infraction. Still, she finds the Vedam case “truly extraordinary” given the constitutional violations involved.

    “Forty-three years of wrongful imprisonment more than makes up for the possession with intent to distribute LSD when he was 20 years old,” she said.

    Vedam could spend several more months in custody before the Board of Immigration Appeals decides whether to reopen the case. ICE officials, in a brief Friday, said the clock ran out years ago.

    “He has provided no evidence nor argument to show he has been diligent in pursuing his rights as it pertains to his immigration status,” Katherine B. Frisch, an assistant chief counsel, wrote.

    Saraswathi Vedam is saddened by the latest delay, but said her brother remains patient.

    “He, more than anybody else, knows that sometimes things don’t make sense,” she said. “You have to just stay with stay the course and keep hoping that truth and justice and compassion and kindness will win.”

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  • 7 Charged in 2024 Pennsylvania Voter Registration Fraud That Prosecutors Say Was Motivated by Money

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A yearlong investigation into suspected fraudulent voter registration forms submitted ahead of last year’s presidential election produced criminal charges Friday against six street canvassers and the man who led their work in Pennsylvania.

    The allegations of fraud appeared to be motivated by the defendants’ desire to make money and keep their jobs and was not an effort to influence the election results, said Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, a Republican.

    Guillermo Sainz, 33, described by prosecutors as the director of a company’s registration drives in Pennsylvania, was charged with three counts of solicitation of registration, a state law that prohibits offering money to reach registration quotas. A message seeking comment was left on a number associated with Sainz, who lives in Arizona. He did not have a lawyer listed in court records.

    The six canvassers are charged with unsworn falsification, tampering with public records, forgery and violations of Pennsylvania election law. The charges relate to activities in three Republican-leaning Pennsylvania counties: York, Lancaster and Berks.

    “We are confident that the motive behind these crimes was personal financial gain, and not a conspiracy or organized effort to tip any election for any one candidate or party,” Sunday said in a news release. Prosecutors said the forms included all party affiliations.

    In a court affidavit filed with the criminal charges on Friday, investigators said Sainz, an employee of Field+Media Corps, “instituted unlawful financial incentives and pressures in his push to meet company goals to maintain funding which in turn spurred some canvassers to create and submit fake forms to earn more money.”

    The chief executive of Field+Media Corps, based in Mesa, Arizona, said last year the company was proud of its work to expand voting but had no information about problematic registration forms. A message seeking comment was left Friday for the CEO, Francisco Heredia. The Field+Media Corps website did not appear to be operative.

    Field+Media was funded by Everybody Votes, an effort to improve voter registration rates in communities of color. The affidavit said Everybody Votes “fully cooperated” with the investigation and noted its contract with Field+Media prohibited payments on a per-registration basis.

    “The investigation confirmed that we hold our partners to the highest standards of quality control when collecting, handling and delivering voter registration applications,” Everybody Votes said in a statement e-mailed by a spokesperson.

    Sainz, who managed Pennsylvania operations from May to October 2024, is accused of paying canvassers based on how many signatures they collected. The police affidavit said Sainz told agents with the attorney general’s office earlier this month he was unaware of any canvassers paid extra hours if they reached a target number of forms.

    “Sainz had to be asked the question multiple times before he stated he was not aware of this and that ‘everyone was an hourly worker,’ ” investigators wrote.

    One canvasser said she created fake forms to boost her pay and believed others did, too, according to the police affidavit. Another told investigators that most of the registration forms he collected were “not real.” A third reported that when she realized she was not going to reach a daily quota, “she would make up names and information,” police wrote, “due to fear of losing her job.”

    The investigation began in late October 2024, when election workers in Lancaster flagged about 2,500 voter registration forms for potential fraud. Authorities said they appeared to contain false names, suspicious handwriting, questionable signatures, incorrect addresses and other problematic details.

    The suggestion of criminal activity related to the election came as the battleground state was considered pivotal to the presidential election, and then-candidate Donald Trump seized on the news. At a campaign event, he declared there was “cheating” involving “2,600” votes. The actual issue in Lancaster was about 2,500 suspected fraudulent voter registration forms, not ballots or votes.

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  • Learn About Diwali, the Festival of Lights

    It is celebrated across faiths by more than a billion people in the world’s most populous nation and the diaspora. Over five days, people take part in festive gatherings, fireworks displays, feasts and prayer.

    Diwali is derived from the word “Deepavali,” which means “a row of lights.” Celebrants light rows of traditional clay oil lamps outside their homes to symbolize the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.


    Diwali’s date is based on Hindu lunar calendar

    The dates of the festival are based on the Hindu lunar calendar, typically falling in late October or early November.

    This year, the holiday is being celebrated on Oct. 20.


    Diwali’s underlying theme

    While Diwali is a major religious festival for Hindus, it is also observed by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. The origin story of Diwali varies depending on the region. All these stories have one underlying theme — the victory of good over evil.

    In southern India, Diwali celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna’s destruction of the demon Naraka who is said to have imprisoned women and tormented his subjects. In northern India, Diwali honors the triumphant return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita, and brother Lakshmana, from a 14-year exile in the forest.


    The celebrations feature lights, fireworks, feasting

    The festival brings with it a number of unique traditions, which also vary by the region. What all celebrations have in common are the lights, fireworks, feasting, new clothes and praying.

    —In southern India, many have an early morning warm oil bath to symbolize bathing in the holy River Ganges as a form of physical and spiritual purification.

    —In the north, worshipping the Goddess Lakshmi, who symbolizes wealth and prosperity, is the norm.

    Gambling is a popular tradition because of the belief whoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the year. Many people buy gold on the first day of Diwali, known as Dhanteras — an act they believe will bring them good luck.

    Setting off firecrackers is a cherished tradition, as is exchanging sweets and gifts among friends and family. Diwali celebrations typically feature rangoli, which are geometric, floral patterns drawn on the floor using colorful powders. While several northern states had instituted partial or total bans to combat rising air pollution levels during the festival, India’s Supreme Court recently ruled allowing the sale of “green fireworks” believed to be less polluting.


    Some other faiths have their own Diwali stories

    Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs have their own Diwali stories:

    —Jains observe Diwali as the day the Lord Mahavira, the last of the great teachers, attained nirvana, which is liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

    —Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas — a day that overlaps with Diwali — to commemorate the release of Guru Hargobind, a revered figure in the faith, who had been imprisoned by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

    —Buddhists observe the day as one when the Hindu Emperor Ashoka, who ruled in the third century B.C., converted to Buddhism.


    New in 2025:
    California makes Diwali an official state holiday

    The law, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, would authorize public schools and community colleges to close on Diwali. State employees could elect to take the day off and public school students will get an excused absence to celebrate the holiday. The new law recognizes that Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

    Pennsylvania was the first U.S. state to make Diwali a statewide holiday in 2024, followed by Connecticut earlier this year. In June 2023, New York City officially declared Diwali as a public school holiday. Several school districts in New Jersey also observe the holiday with a day off.

    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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  • Philadelphia Officials Seek Tips About Kada Scott, Who Disappeared 2 Weeks Ago

    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities in Philadelphia said Friday that they are no closer to locating a missing 23-year-old woman who disappeared from her nursing home job nearly two weeks ago, urging residents to come forward with even the smallest of potential clues.

    District Attorney Larry Krasner used an afternoon news conference to lament “systemic issues” that he said led to 21-year-old Keon King, the man arrested and charged with kidnapping, stalking and other charges in the disappearance of Kada Scott, to go free after being charged in a similar case earlier this year.

    “There is no doubt that there’s a list of people in this office, outside of this office — and, no, it doesn’t matter who they are — but there’s a list of people who made a lot of good decisions and a couple decisions that could have been made better,” he said.

    Krasner pointed, in part, to the cash bail system. He said that prosecutors sought bail of just under $1 million in the earlier case but that the judge set the amount at $200,000 — which King was able to pay.

    That meant his accuser would have had to come to the courthouse and testify “knowing that the defendant will walk out the same door she came in.” That reality likely deterred her from testifying against King, he said, which resulted in the charges being dropped. Since Scott disappeared on Oct. 4, charges in the earlier case have been refiled.

    In the Scott case, King’s bail has been set at $2.5 million and he remains in custody. Krasner urged any other women he has victimized to come forward now with their stories — promising that they will be kept safe.

    Police have found a damaged car they believe King was driving at the time of Scott’s disappearance and other evidence linking him to the missing woman. Authorities also say King was the last person in contact with Scott, but Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said Friday that investigators are no closer to locating her or determining what happened to her.

    King has a preliminary hearing in the Scott case on Nov. 3. A message was left seeking comment for a lawyer listed as his defense attorney.

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  • China Sanctions 5 US Units of South Korean Shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean Over Probe by Washington

    HONG KONG (AP) — China’s Commerce Ministry said Tuesday it was banning dealings by Chinese companies with five subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean in the latest swipe by Beijing at U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to rebuild the industry in America.

    The ministry also announced that it was also investigating a probe by Washington into China’s growing dominance in world shipbuilding and threatened more retaliatory measures. It said the U.S. probe endangers China’s national security and its shipping industry and cited Hanwha’s involvement in the investigation.

    The U.S. Trade Representative launched the Section 301 trade investigation in April 2024. It determined that China’s strength in the industry was a burden to U.S. businesses.

    “China just weaponized shipbuilding,” said Kun Cao, deputy chief executive at consulting firm Reddal. “Beijing is signaling it will hit third-country firms that help Washington counter China’s maritime dominance.”

    International shipping and shipbuilding have yet another areas of friction between Washington and Beijing. Each side has imposed new port fees on each others’ vessels that took effect on Tuesday.

    Hanwha Ocean’s shares traded in South Korea fell as much as over 8% on Tuesday.

    The company said Tuesday via email that it was reviewing the situation.

    The sanctioned entities are Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC and HS USA Holdings Corp.

    A truce in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appears to have unraveled after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a new 100% tariff on imports from China, expressing frustration over new Chinese export controls on rare earths.

    The escalation of antagonisms raised doubts over whether Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will go ahead with a meeting planned for late this month. But Beijing said on Tuesday that China and the U.S. held working-level talks on Monday and have maintained communication.

    South Korea and the U.S. have been building closer ties in shipbuilding in response to China’s dominance as the world’s largest shipbuilder.

    Last year, Hanwha Ocean also secured contracts with the U.S. Navy to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work for U.S. naval vessels.

    China said its new port fees would apply to ships owned by U.S. companies or other entities or individuals, those operated by U.S. entities including those having a U.S. stake of 25% or more, vessels flying a U.S. flag and vessels built in the United States, mirroring in many aspects the U.S.’s port fees on Chinese ships.

    U.S. businesses represents just 2.9% of world fleet ownership by capacity and 0.1% of global shipbuilding tonnage. Trump has vowed to help rebuild the industry as part of his broader push to expand U.S.-based manufacturing.

    Hanwha Ocean said in May that it was withdrawing from a joint venture in China.

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  • A Candidate Disappeared Months Ago After an Ocean Swim. Can He Still Win?

    LONG BEACH, N.Y. (AP) — A political candidate in the New York City suburbs went for a night swim in the Atlantic Ocean this past spring and never returned.

    Petros Krommidas’ phone, keys and clothes were found on the sands at Long Beach on Long Island. The 29-year-old former Ivy League rower, who was training for a triathlon, had parked his car just off the picturesque wooden boardwalk.

    As the months passed, local Democrats attempted to field a replacement to run for the seat in the Nassau County Legislature.

    But two Republican voters took them to court and won: a state judge recently ordered Krommidas’ name to remain on the November ballot, ruling that he’s still considered missing and not officially deceased.

    Now, as Election Day approaches, voters in Long Beach and other South Shore communities have a curious choice: reelect the Republican incumbent or the Democrat who seemingly vanished at sea.


    Democrats want to elect the missing candidate

    James Hodge is among those calling on residents to cast their ballots for Krommidas regardless — hoping to trigger a special election in which Democrats can put forward another candidate to run against County Legislator Patrick Mullaney.

    The Long Beach resident worked with Krommidas at the Nassau County Board of Elections and had been tapped by Democrats to run in his place.

    “We need to stand by and honor his name and memory,” Hodge told The Associated Press. “Let’s give him that victory. It’s the right thing to do.”

    The Republican voters argued in their lawsuit that Democrats couldn’t claim Krommidas was dead because authorities still considered him a missing person. Under law, someone needs to be missing for at least three years to be legally declared dead, they argued.

    Judge Gary Knobel agreed, writing in his Sept. 29 ruling that “‘missing person’ status does not qualify as a vacancy that can be filled.”


    Dead candidates have won elections before

    The justice, in his ruling, noted a similar situation decades earlier in Alaska.

    U.S. Rep. Nicholas Begich Sr. disappeared in a plane crash weeks before the 1972 vote but still won reelection. The Alaska Democrat was eventually declared dead, and his Republican opponent claimed the seat in a special election.

    More recently, Dennis Hof, owner of the Nevada brothel featured on HBO’s “Cathouse” documentary series, died weeks before the 2018 election but still captured a seat in the state Legislature. In 2022, Pennsylvania state Rep. Anthony DeLuca won reelection after dying from lymphoma the month prior.

    Hodge and other Democrats argue that Republicans only sued to assure themselves victory as they seek to bolster their majority in the county legislature. They say the lawsuit has only prolonged the anguish for Krommidas’ family.

    “I understand politics, but there’s a time to stop and be a human being,” said Ellen Lederer-DeFrancesco, who met Krommidas through the local Democratic Party. “Petros is someone’s son, brother, friend.”

    Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr., in a statement, vowed the party and its candidates will “show the highest level of sensitivity during these challenging times for the Krommidas family.”

    Krommidas’ family declined to comment when reached by phone, but his mother and sister each took to Facebook recently to share a post calling for residents to “honor and vote” for him.

    “My Peter cared deeply about people and his community and continues to inspire kindness and unity in our community,” his mother, Maria, wrote in her post.

    Eleni-Lemonia Krommidas, his sister, described him in her own post as a first-generation American who loved his country and “believed in equality, education, and the power of unity.”


    Voters weigh in on the beach where he vanished

    In the days after his disappearance, family and friends joined first responders in scouring Long Beach’s broad, more than 3-mile-long (4.8-kilometer-long) swath of sand, which is located just east of the New York City borough of Queens.

    Some of the missing persons fliers they put up with images of Krommidas’ youthful, smiling face are tattered and faded but still visible on telephone poles around Long Beach.

    Meanwhile campaign signs for Mullaney, his opponent, are prominently displayed on fences along the main thoroughfares and on tidy residential lawns. The Republican didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

    Along the Long Beach boardwalk last week, longtime resident Maude Carione was dumbstruck at the choice facing voters in November.

    “It’s insane to leave his name on the ballot. You’ll confuse people,” said the 72-year-old, who supports Republican President Donald Trump but didn’t have plans to vote in the upcoming election, which features mostly local races. “In fairness, you have to give another candidate a chance for the Democrats. You have to.”

    For resident Regina Pecorella, the decision, while grim, was clear.

    “If it’s between those two, I’m voting for the person that’s alive,” said the 54-year old independent, who voted for a straight Republican ticket in the previous election. “I don’t know how else to answer that.”

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

    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.

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  • Abrego Garcia Wins Request for Hearing on Whether Smuggling Charges Are Illegally ‘Vindictive’

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge has concluded that the Department of Justice’s prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia on human smuggling charges may be an illegal retaliation after he successfully sued the Trump administration over his deportation to El Salvador.

    The case of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was a construction worker in Maryland, has become a proxy for the partisan struggle over President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration policy and mass deportation agenda.

    U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw late Friday granted a request by lawyers for Abrego Garcia and ordered discovery and an evidentiary hearing in Abrego Garcia’s effort to show that the federal human smuggling case against him in Tennessee is illegally retaliatory.

    Crenshaw said Abrego Garcia had shown that there is “some evidence that the prosecution against him may be indictive.” That evidence included statements by various Trump administration officials and the timeline of the charges being filed.

    The departments of Justice and Homeland Security did not immediately respond to inquiries about the case Saturday.

    In his 16-page ruling, Crenshaw said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern,” but one stood out.

    That statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News program after Abrego Garcia was charged in June, seemed to suggest that the Department of Justice charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case, Crenshaw wrote.

    Blanche’s ”remarkable statements could directly establish that the motivations for Abrego’s criminal charges stem from his exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights” to sue over his deportation “rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct,” Crenshaw wrote.

    Likewise, Crenshaw noted that the Department of Homeland Security reopened an investigation into Abrego Garcia days after the U.S. Supreme Court said in April that the Trump administration must work to bring back Abrego Garcia.

    If convicted in the Tennessee case, Abrego Garcia will be deported, federal officials have said. A U.S. immigration judge has denied Abrego Garcia’s bid for asylum, although he can appeal.

    In 2019, he was arrested by immigration agents. He requested asylum but was not eligible because he had been in the U.S. for more than a year. But the judge ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador, where he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family.

    The human smuggling charges in Tennessee stem from a 2022 traffic stop. He was not charged at the time.

    Trump administration officials have waged a relentless public relations campaign against Abrego Garcia, repeatedly referring to him as a member of the MS-13 gang, among other things, despite the fact he has not been convicted of any crimes.

    Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have denounced the criminal charges and the deportation efforts, saying they are an attempt to punish him for standing up to the administration.

    Abrego Garcia contends that, while imprisoned in El Salvador, he suffered beatings, sleep deprivation and psychological torture. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has denied those allegations.

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  • South Carolina Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty in Murder Case After Biden Reduced Sentence to Life

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A local prosecutor in South Carolina said Tuesday he will seek the death penalty against a man whose federal death sentence for killing two bank employees in a robbery was commuted to life in prison by President Joe Biden at the end of his term.

    Brandon Council, 40, did not appear in state court in Horry County as prosecutors formally let the court know that if he is convicted of murder they will ask a jury to sentence him to death.

    State murder, armed robbery and other state charges against Council were dropped in 2019 after a federal jury found him guilty of similar charges and sentenced him to death.

    But in December, Biden reduced the death sentences of 37 federal inmates, including Council, to life in prison, saying he felt the federal use of the death penalty had to stop and he did not want the next administration to resume executions he had halted.

    That led Solicitor Jimmy Richardson to obtain new indictments against Council in Horry County in August which open the door to a state death penalty trial.


    A deadly bank robbery leads to a death sentence

    Council walked into the CresCom Bank in Conway in August 2017, waiting for a minute before shooting Donna Major as the stunned teller held papers in front of her face trying to protect herself. He then followed manager Katie Skeen into her office and shot her in the forehead as she hid under her desk, authorities said.

    Council left the bank with $15,000. He was arrested in North Carolina several days later after buying a Mercedes with the stolen money, according to his confession read in court.

    Families and law enforcement angry at Biden’s decision urged local officials to review cases. In Louisiana, prosecutors in Catahoula Parish were able to get a first-degree murder charge refiled against Thomas Steven Sanders in the 2010 death of a 12-year-old girl. That would allow the state to seek the death penalty against him.

    Richardson said prosecutors had dropped the state charges in case anything ever happened to change the outcome of the federal case, including commuting his sentence.

    “If there was a bump, we could always come in and try our case. And that’s why we dismissed them. So our powder could be dry,” Richardson told reporters after the hearing.


    Families and Bondi angry about the commu

    The other inmates who had their sentences reduced are being moved to Supermax prisons “where they will spend the rest of their lives in conditions that match their egregious crimes,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media last week.

    Bondi called the commutations a betrayal of the families of victims and a stain on the justice system, comments that Richardson echoed when Biden’s decision was announced.

    The bank teller’s daughter, Heather Turner, said the victims of the crimes weren’t considered.

    “The pain and trauma we have endured over the last 7 years has been indescribable,” Turner wrote on Facebook, describing weeks spent in court in search of justice as “now just a waste of time.”

    “Our judicial system is broken. Our government is a joke,” she said. “Joe Biden’s decision is a clear gross abuse of power. He, and his supporters, have blood on their hands.”


    Council’s lawyers said he was remorseful

    Attorneys for Council argued at his federal trial his life should be spared because of a troubled childhood, especially after the grandmother who raised him died. They said he showed remorse and cooperated with investigators.

    After his arrest, Council asked investigators if the women at the bank were still alive and cried when he found out they were dead, investigators said.

    “I’m a doofus. I’m an idiot,” Council told police. “I don’t deserve to live.”

    Horry County had a second inmate have a federal death sentence commuted. Chadrick Fulks was convicted of kidnapping a woman from the parking lot of a Conway Walmart and killing her during a series of crimes across several states. His state charges were dismissed and court records indicate they have not been reinstated.

    Biden did leave three men on federal death row.

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