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Tag: Wisconsin

  • Jury mulls fate of 3 ex-Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating

    Jury mulls fate of 3 ex-Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating

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    The future of three former Memphis officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols’ civil rights in a beating that proved fatal is in the hands of a jury after a nearly monthlong federal trial.

    Jurors began their deliberations Thursday, a day after prosecutors and defense attorneys presented closing arguments in the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith. They were among five officers who were were fired from the Memphis Police Department after the Jan. 7, 2023, beating.

    What You Need To Know

    • The future of three former Memphis officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols is in the hands of a jury after weeks of testimony in federal court
    • Jurors began their deliberations Thursday in the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith. Prosecutors and defense attorneys presented closing arguments a day earlier
    • Haley, Bean and Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene, and obstructing justice through witness tampering
    • Two other officers pleaded guilty and testified for prosecutors. Jurors repeatedly watched clips of graphic police video of the beating and traffic stop that preceded it

    Prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told jurors that the officers wanted to punish Nichols for running from a traffic stop and that they thought they could get away with it. Prosecutors argued the beating reflected a common police practice that officers refer to as the “street tax” or “run tax. ”

    “They wanted it to be a beatdown,” Gilbert said. “That’s what it was.”

    Defense lawyers sought to downplay each of their client’s involvement.

    Bean’s attorney, John Keith Perry, told jurors that Nichols ignored commands such as “give me your hands” and said his client followed department policies.

    “The force was not excessive,” Perry said.

    Throughout the trial, jurors repeatedly watched clips of graphic police video of the beating and traffic stop that preceded it. The video shows officers using pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols, who was Black, before the 29-year-old ran away. The five officers, who also are Black, then punched, kicked and hit him about a block from his home, as he called out for his mother.

    As they held Nichols, officers said “hit him” and “beat that man,” prosecutor Forrest Christian said during closing arguments.

    “This was not a fight. This was just a beating,” Christian said.

    Nichols died three days later. An autopsy report shows Nichols — the father of a boy who is now 7 — died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and elsewhere on his body.

    Two of the officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty to depriving Nichols of his civil rights and testified for prosecutors. Haley, Bean and Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene, and obstructing justice through witness tampering.

    Defense lawyers sought to portray Martin as a principal aggressor. They also suggested without evidence that Nichols may have been on drugs — something Christian called “shameful.” The autopsy report showed only low amounts of alcohol and marijuana in his system.

    The five officers were part of the Scorpion Unit, which looked for drugs, illegal guns and violent offenders. It was disbanded after Nichols’ death.

    After the beating, the officers did not tell medical professionals on scene or at the hospital that they had punched and kicked Nichols in the head, witnesses said. They also failed tell their supervisor on the scene and write in required forms about the amount of force used, prosecutors argued.

    Martin testified that Nichols was no threat to officers

    Martin’s testimony provided a glimpse into the Memphis Police Department’s culture, which the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.

    Martin discussed an understanding between members of the Scorpion Unit to not tell on each other after they used excessive force and said they would justify their use of force by exaggerating the person’s actions against them. He also described feeling pressure to make arrests to accumulate “stats” to be able to stay on the street with the unit.

    The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden could invoke a 1947 law to pause the dockworkers’ strike

    Biden could invoke a 1947 law to pause the dockworkers’ strike

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Some manufacturers and retailers are urging President Joe Biden to invoke a 1947 law as a way to suspend a strike by 45,000 dockworkers that has shut down 36 U.S. ports from Maine to Texas.

    At issue is Section 206 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft-Hartley Act. The law authorizes a president to seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period for companies and unions to try to resolve their differences.

    Biden has said, though, that he won’t intervene in the strike.

    Taft-Hartley was meant to curb the power of unions

    The law was introduced by two Republicans — Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio and Rep. Fred Hartley Jr. of New Jersey — in the aftermath of World War II. It followed a series of strikes in 1945 and 1946 by workers who demanded better pay and working conditions after the privations of wartime.

    President Harry Truman opposed Taft-Hartley, but his veto was overridden by Congress.

    In addition to authorizing a president to intervene in strikes, the law banned “closed shops,” which require employers to hire only union workers. The ban allowed workers to refuse to join a union.

    Taft-Hartley also barred “secondary boycotts,’’ thereby making it illegal for unions to pressure neutral companies to stop doing business with an employer that was targeted in a strike.

    It also required union leaders to sign affidavits declaring that they did not support the Communist Party.

    Presidents can target a strike that may “imperil the national health and safety”

    The president can appoint a board of inquiry to review and write a report on the labor dispute — and then direct the attorney general to ask a federal court to suspend a strike by workers or a lockout by management.

    If the court issues an injunction, an 80-day cooling-off period would begin. During this period, management and unions must ”make every effort to adjust and settle their differences.’’

    Still, the law cannot actually force union members to accept a contract offer.

    Presidents have invoked Taft-Hartley 37 times in labor disputes

    According to the Congressional Research Service, about half the time that presidents have invoked Section 206 of Taft-Hartley, the parties worked out their differences. But nine times, according to the research service, the workers went ahead with a strike.

    President George W. Bush invoked Taft-Hartley in 2002 after 29 West Coast ports locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in a standoff. (The two sides ended up reaching a contract.)

    Biden has said he won’t use Taft-Hartley to intervene

    Despite lobbying by the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation, the president has maintained that he has no plans to try to suspend the dockworkers’ strike against ports on the East and Gulf coasts.

    On Wednesday, before leaving Joint Base Andrews for an air tour of North Carolina to see the devastation from Hurricane Helene, Biden said the port strike was hampering efforts to provide emergency items for the relief effort.

    “This natural disaster is incredibly consequential,” the president said. “The last thing we need on top of that is a man-made disaster — what’s going on at the ports.”

    Biden noted that the companies that control East and Gulf coast ports have made huge profits since the pandemic.

    “It’s time for them to sit at the table and get this strike done,” he said.

    Though many ports are publicly owned, private companies often run operations that load and unload cargo.

    William Brucher, a labor relations expert at Rutgers University, notes that Taft-Hartley injunctions are “widely despised, if not universally despised, by labor unions in the United States.”

    And Vice President Kamala Harris is relying on support from organized labor in her presidential campaign against Donald Trump.

    If the longshoremen’s strike drags on long enough and causes shortages that antagonize American consumers, pressure could grow on Biden to change course and intervene. But experts like Brucher suggest that most voters have already made up their minds and that the election outcome is “really more about turnout” now.

    Which means, Brucher said, that “Democrats really can’t afford to alienate organized labor.”

    ____

    AP Writer Colleen Long at Joint Base Andrews and AP Business Writers Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden could invoke a 1947 law to pause the dockworkers’ strike

    Biden could invoke a 1947 law to pause the dockworkers’ strike

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Some manufacturers and retailers are urging President Joe Biden to invoke a 1947 law as a way to suspend a strike by 45,000 dockworkers that has shut down 36 U.S. ports from Maine to Texas.

    At issue is Section 206 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft-Hartley Act. The law authorizes a president to seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period for companies and unions to try to resolve their differences.

    Biden has said, though, that he won’t intervene in the strike.

    Taft-Hartley was meant to curb the power of unions

    The law was introduced by two Republicans — Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio and Rep. Fred Hartley Jr. of New Jersey — in the aftermath of World War II. It followed a series of strikes in 1945 and 1946 by workers who demanded better pay and working conditions after the privations of wartime.

    President Harry Truman opposed Taft-Hartley, but his veto was overridden by Congress.

    In addition to authorizing a president to intervene in strikes, the law banned “closed shops,” which require employers to hire only union workers. The ban allowed workers to refuse to join a union.

    Taft-Hartley also barred “secondary boycotts,’’ thereby making it illegal for unions to pressure neutral companies to stop doing business with an employer that was targeted in a strike.

    It also required union leaders to sign affidavits declaring that they did not support the Communist Party.

    Presidents can target a strike that may “imperil the national health and safety”

    The president can appoint a board of inquiry to review and write a report on the labor dispute — and then direct the attorney general to ask a federal court to suspend a strike by workers or a lockout by management.

    If the court issues an injunction, an 80-day cooling-off period would begin. During this period, management and unions must ”make every effort to adjust and settle their differences.’’

    Still, the law cannot actually force union members to accept a contract offer.

    Presidents have invoked Taft-Hartley 37 times in labor disputes

    According to the Congressional Research Service, about half the time that presidents have invoked Section 206 of Taft-Hartley, the parties worked out their differences. But nine times, according to the research service, the workers went ahead with a strike.

    President George W. Bush invoked Taft-Hartley in 2002 after 29 West Coast ports locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in a standoff. (The two sides ended up reaching a contract.)

    Biden has said he won’t use Taft-Hartley to intervene

    Despite lobbying by the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation, the president has maintained that he has no plans to try to suspend the dockworkers’ strike against ports on the East and Gulf coasts.

    On Wednesday, before leaving Joint Base Andrews for an air tour of North Carolina to see the devastation from Hurricane Helene, Biden said the port strike was hampering efforts to provide emergency items for the relief effort.

    “This natural disaster is incredibly consequential,” the president said. “The last thing we need on top of that is a man-made disaster — what’s going on at the ports.”

    Biden noted that the companies that control East and Gulf coast ports have made huge profits since the pandemic.

    “It’s time for them to sit at the table and get this strike done,” he said.

    Though many ports are publicly owned, private companies often run operations that load and unload cargo.

    William Brucher, a labor relations expert at Rutgers University, notes that Taft-Hartley injunctions are “widely despised, if not universally despised, by labor unions in the United States.”

    And Vice President Kamala Harris is relying on support from organized labor in her presidential campaign against Donald Trump.

    If the longshoremen’s strike drags on long enough and causes shortages that antagonize American consumers, pressure could grow on Biden to change course and intervene. But experts like Brucher suggest that most voters have already made up their minds and that the election outcome is “really more about turnout” now.

    Which means, Brucher said, that “Democrats really can’t afford to alienate organized labor.”

    ____

    AP Writer Colleen Long at Joint Base Andrews and AP Business Writers Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

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    Associated Press

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  • No, Wisconsin Sen. Baldwin did not give federal money to a ‘transgender-affirming clinic’ for youth

    No, Wisconsin Sen. Baldwin did not give federal money to a ‘transgender-affirming clinic’ for youth

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    With about a month until Election Day, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., is leading Republican challenger Eric Hovde in the most recent Marquette University Law School poll. Criticisms of one by the other are at a fever pitch. 

    During a Sept. 16 appearance on the Vicki McKenna Show on WIBA (1310), Hovde dogged Baldwin for a federal earmark she requested for a Madison-area organization that serves at-risk youth. 

    In doing so, Hovde claimed, Baldwin “gave our taxpayer money to a transgender clinic, affirming clinic — which is their buzzword — that does it without even telling parents.” 

    His remark strays from the facts. Let’s take a closer look. 

    Hovde mischaracterizes organization’s work 

    When asked for the evidence behind the claim, a Hovde spokesperson pointed to the $400,000 in federal money that Baldwin requested from a $1.2 trillion government spending package passed in March for Fitchburg-based Briarpatch Youth Services, which serves runaway and homeless youth in Dane County.

    Its programs include a youth homeless shelter, employment services and help for people navigating the criminal justice system, among others. 

    The money was specifically for therapeutic and clinical counseling for youth who are experiencing homelessness, according to the request posted to Baldwin’s website. 

    But the move triggered Republican uproar because Briarpatch also runs a program called Teens Like Us, which supports LGBTQ+ youth ages 13 to 18. Last year, its website mentioned that youth did not need a guardian’s permission to join the program, and that gender-affirming clothing like chest binders and swimwear was also available.

    Neither point appears on the page today, a move the organization told Wisconsin Watch it made to protect youth safety. Briarpatch Executive Director Jill Pfeiffer told PolitiFact Wisconsin that in most cases, parents are the ones bringing their children to the Teens Like Us program to give them a safe place to explore their identity. 

    PolitiFact Wisconsin asked Hovde’s team to clarify what he meant in saying the organization “does it” without telling parents. His spokesperson declined to specifically answer the question, noting that news outlets reported the gender-affirming clothing offering and that youth can join the program without permission.

    But in the multiple times Hovde has offered variations of this claim, he doesn’t mention clothing. Instead, he’s made vague claims that the organization works with children on “transgendering them,” helps kids “go through the transgender process,” or, in the case of the specific statement we are examining here, “does it.”  

    After his statement, McKenna claimed the organization would “alter children, mutilate them surgically or put them on drugs that can have a permanent impact on their quality of life” — things Hovde didn’t dispute. 

    Taken together, this all connotes an element of gender-affirming medical care that Briarpatch does not provide. Not only does his phrase “transgender clinic” misconstrue the organization’s overall mission, law prohibits Wisconsin minors from getting medical treatment without a parent or guardian’s signature. 

    Second, the taxpayer money Hovde refers to is not going to the Teens Like Us program, Baldwin’s staff told the Journal Sentinel in March and Pfeiffer confirmed to PolitiFact Wisconsin. 

    Because the request came from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, a Baldwin spokesperson told the Journal Sentinel, the funds would be prohibited from being used for the activities described in the Teens Like Us program. Pfeiffer confirmed the money is for counseling for youth experiencing homelessness and other hardships. 

    Our ruling 

    Hovde claimed that Baldwin gave taxpayer money to a transgender-affirming clinic that “does it without even telling parents.” 

    Baldwin did secure funds for Briarpatch Youth Services, which has a program for LGBTQ+ youth that doesn’t require parental permission to join. But Hovde’s vagueness leaves room for the idea that there’s gender-affirming medical treatment happening, which is not accurate. On top of that, and most significantly, the funds Baldwin requested went to an entirely different program, and are not being used for the purpose Hovde claimed.

    We rate this claim False.

     

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  • Water and power outages from Helene test patience

    Water and power outages from Helene test patience

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    Many residents of the Carolinas still lacked running water, cellphone service and electricity Wednesday as rescuers searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage across the Southeast and killed at least 166 people.

    What You Need To Know

    • Many residents of the Carolinas still lack running water, cellphone service and electricity as rescuers continue their search for anyone still unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene’s remnants caused flooding far inland

    • More than 1.2 million customers still had no power Wednesday in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene tore far inland after initial landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast

    • More than 150,000 households have registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to rise rapidly in the coming days



    President Joe Biden will survey the devastation in the two states as floodwaters receded and revealed more of the death and destruction left in Helene’s path.

    More than 1.2 million customers still had no power Wednesday in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene tore far inland after initial landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Some residents cooked food on charcoal grills or hiked to high ground in the hopes of finding a signal to let loved ones know they are alive.

    “We have to jump-start this recovery process,” Biden said Tuesday, estimating it will cost billions. “People are scared to death. This is urgent.”

    While Biden is in the Carolinas, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in neighboring Georgia.

    Cadaver dogs and search crews trudged through knee-deep muck and debris in the mountains of western North Carolina looking for more victims. At least 57 people were killed in Buncombe County alone, home to city of Asheville, a tourism haven known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.

    In small Swannanoa, outside Asheville, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of others and mobile homes that had floated away. Sinkholes pockmarked roads caked with mud and debris.

    Cliff Stewart survived 2 feet of water that poured into his home, topping the wheels on his wheelchair and sending his medicine bottles floating. Left without electricity and reliant on food drop-offs from friends, he has refused offers to help him leave.

    “Where am I going to go?” the Marine Corps veteran said. “This is all I’ve got. I just don’t want to give it up, because what am I going to do? Be homeless? I’d rather die right here than live homeless.”

    Across the border in east Tennessee, a caravan including Gov. Bill Lee surveying damage outside the town of Erwin drove by a crew pulling two bodies from the wreckage, a grim reminder that the rescue and recovery operations are still very much ongoing and the death toll is likely to rise.

    In Augusta, Georgia, Sherry Brown converted power from her car’s alternator to keep her refrigerator running. She has been taking “bird baths” with water collected in coolers. In another part of the city, people waited in line more than three hours to get water from one of five centers set up to serve more than 200,000 people.

    What is being done to help?

    More than 150,000 households have registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to rise rapidly in the coming days, said Frank Matranga, an agency representative.

    Nearly 2 million ready-to-eat meals and more than a million liters of water have been sent to the hardest-hit areas, he said.

    The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, dumping more than 2 feet of rain in places.

    The administration of Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday that more than two dozen water plants remained closed. Active-duty U.S. military units may be needed to assist the long-term recovery, he said, adding that Biden had given “the green light” to mobilizing military assets soon.

    A section of one of the region’s main arteries, Interstate 40, reopened Tuesday after a mudslide was cleared, but a collapsed stretch near North Carolina’s border with Tennessee remained closed.

    How some of the hardest-hit areas are coping

    Residents and business owners wore masks and gloves while clearing debris Tuesday in Hot Springs, North Carolina, where almost every building along the main street was heavily damaged.

    Sarah Calloway, who owns the deli and gourmet grocery Vaste Riviere Provisions, said the storm arrived frighteningly quickly. She helped fill sandbags the day the night before, but they turned out to be useless. The water rose so rapidly that even though she and others were in an apartment on an upper floor, she feared they would not be safe. They called to request a rescue from a swift water team.

    “It was really challenging to watch how quickly it rose up and then just to watch whole buildings floating down the river. It was something I can’t even describe,” she said.

    In the Black Mountain Mobile Home Park in Swannanoa, Carina Ramos and Ezekiel Bianchi were overwhelmed by the damage. The couple, their children and dog fled in the predawn darkness on Friday as the Swannanoa River’s rapidly rising waters began flooding the bottom end of the park.

    By then, trees blocked the roads and the couple abandoned their three vehicles, all of which flooded.

    “We left everything because we were panicking,” Ramos said.

    Mobile service knocked out

    The widespread damage and outages affecting communications infrastructure left many people without stable access to the internet and cell service.

    “People are walking the streets of Canton with their phones up in the air trying to catch a cellphone signal like it’s a butterfly,” said Mayor Zeb Smathers, of Canton, North Carolina. “Every single aspect of this response has been extremely crippled by lack of cellphone communication. The one time we absolutely needed our cellphones to work they failed.”

    Teams from Verizon worked to repair toppled cell towers and damaged cables and to provide alternative forms of connectivity, the company said in a statement.

    AT&T said it launched “one of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support.”

    The efforts to restore service was made more challenging by the region’s terrain and spread-out population, said David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries.

    Destruction from Florida to Virginia

    Helene blew ashore in Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and upended life throughout the Southeast, with deaths reported in six states: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.

    With at least 36 killed in South Carolina, Helene passed the 35 people who were killed in the state after Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989.

    When Lee, the Tennessee governor, flew to the eastern part of the state to survey damage Tuesday, residents said the governor and his entourage were the first help they had seen since the storm hit.

    “Where has everyone been?” one frustrated local asked. “We have been here alone.”

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Firefighters battle blaze at Wisconsin railroad tie recycling facility

    Firefighters battle blaze at Wisconsin railroad tie recycling facility

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    WCCO digital update: Afternoon of Oct. 1, 2024


    WCCO digital update: Afternoon of Oct. 1, 2024

    02:06

    Firefighters spent all day Tuesday battling a blaze at a railroad tie recycling facility in western Wisconsin.

    The fire broke out early Tuesday morning at Omaha Track in the town of Campbell on French Island, just outside La Crosse, multiple media outlets reported. The facility grinds up scrap railway ties and materials into chips that can be used as biofuel.

    Flames and smoke could be seen for miles.

    Multiple fire departments were still fighting the blaze late Tuesday afternoon, WXOW-TV reported.

    No injuries had been reported. The cause of the fire is unclear. An email The Associated Press sent to Omaha Track Chief Growth Officer Lisa Roberts seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned. Roberts is listed as the contact for the Campbell facility on the company’s website.

    A similar fire erupted there in 2015 after a woodchipper caught fire, WKBT-TV reported. That blaze released toxins into the air that forced residents to shelter in place.

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    CBS Minnesota

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  • Joyce became a tropical storm but never impacted land

    Joyce became a tropical storm but never impacted land

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    Joyce formed in the eastern tropical Atlantic early on Sept. 26. It was the ninth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and the sixth hurricane.

    What You Need To Know

    • Joyce formed in the eastern Tropical Atlantic

    • It was the ninth named storm of the season

    • Joyce peaked with winds of 50 mph and it never made landfall


    Joyce formed from an African Easterly Wave, a disturbance that moved off the coast of west Africa. It formed in the eastern tropical Atlantic early on Sept. 26, becoming a tropical storm on Sept. 27 with winds of 50 mph. 

    50 mph would be its peak intensity as it began to weaken, becoming a tropical depression on Sept. 29. It was downgraded to a remnant low by Oct. 1.

    Here’s a look at the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season 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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  • Attorneys for man charged with trying to assassinate Trump pleads not guilty

    Attorneys for man charged with trying to assassinate Trump pleads not guilty

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    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Attorneys for Ryan Routh, the man accused of trying to assassinate former president Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, entered a not guilty plea Monday at a federal court in West Palm Beach.

    What You Need To Know

    • The man charged with an assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump in West Palm Beach pleads not guilty

    • Ryan Routh’s arraignment in federal court lasted less than 5  minutes

    • U.S. Secret Service agents spotted a gun sticking through the fence line, ahead of where Trump was playing, and later arrested Routh

    • Routh has been charged with an assassination attempt on a fomer president, assaulting a federal officer and three firearms charges

    Routh was in the courtroom for an arraignment hearing that lasted less than 5 minutes.

    A grand jury in Miami indicted Routh on five counts, including an assassination attempt on a former president, assaulting a federal officer and three firearms charges in what federal investigators say was an assassination attempt on Trump on Sept. 15.

    Federal agents and local law enforcement arrested the 58-year-old on I-95 — within about an hour of spotting him at the fence line of Trump’s golf course. U.S. Secret Service agents spotted a gun sticking through the fence line, ahead of where Trump was playing, authorities said.

    The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away and was arrested in a neighboring county.

    Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight, officials have said. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food.

    Prosecutors have said that he had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his Sept. 15 arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish the job.” That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.

    Monday’s hearing was held before a magistrate judge. But further proceedings will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump and was also assigned to the criminal case accusing the former president of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

    Cannon generated scrutiny for her handling of Trump’s criminal case, which she dismissed in July — a decision now being appealed by special counsel Jack Smith’s team.

    Routh’s arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart a potential attack in Florida.

    Routh was initially charged in a criminal complaint only with gun offenses before prosecutors pursued additional charges before a grand jury. Prosecutors will often quickly bring the first easily provable charges they can and then add more serious charges later as the investigation unfolds.

    Other charges he faces include illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina. He’s also accused of having a weapon with a serial number that was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye, in violation of federal law.

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    Associated Press

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  • How to request help locating a missing person during Helene recovery

    How to request help locating a missing person during Helene recovery

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    At least 600 people are missing after storms from Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding in western North Carolina, washing away businesses, roads and homes, according to officials.

    Communities in the North Carolina mountains lost power, communication services and a way out due to blocked, broken and flooded roads. Families in North Carolina are desperate to reach their friends and loved ones.

    Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin E. Miller confirmed 35 people in Buncombe County died in connection with Helene. County officials said they have received 11,000 requests from people trying to get in touch with loved ones.

    Over the weekend, Buncombe County officials said at least 600 people were still missing. Most people cannot be reached because of spotty service. 

    “Our goal is to try and get more volunteers to help knock on doors to those who need it,” Buncombe County officials said. 

    There are several ways to request assistance with a missing person. 

    North Carolina Department of Public Safety

    The public may call 211 to report a missing person or to request a welfare check.

    “Please note that 211 is not an emergency processing resource and any emergencies should be routed to 911,” NCDPS said. 

    Click here for more resources from NCDPS.

    American Red Cross

    The Red Cross may be able to help connect with a missing person if the person meets the following criteria, according to the National Guard:

    • They are elderly, have a functional or access need, suffer from a medical or mental condition, or has difficulty understanding English
    • They are a member of the military community
    • They lived in the same home as you prior to the disaster or you have been in contact with them within the past year 
    • Please call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), select disaster and provide as much detail as you can to assist in potentially locating your missing loved one


    The National Guard recommends contacting local emergency officials for well-checks, since they will be the ones performing them. Other ways to get in touch with loved ones, according to recommendations from the National Guard, are: 

    • Sending a text message, which may go through when phone calls cannot
    • Check your loved one’s social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), as they may have already gone online to tell their story
    • Send an email
    • Call friends and relatives who may have already been in contact with your loved one
    • Call people and places where your loved one is well-known; neighbors, employer, school, place of worship, senior center, social club/center, union, or fraternal organization

    Click here for more help with finding a loved one with the help of American Red Cross. 

    Related article: Recovering from Helene: Shelters, resources and closings

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    Jennifer Gamertsfelder

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  • Trump Reverts Yet Again to Personal Attacks, Calling Harris “Mentally Disabled” As Some Republicans Wince

    Trump Reverts Yet Again to Personal Attacks, Calling Harris “Mentally Disabled” As Some Republicans Wince

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    In a Saturday speech that Donald Trump called “dark,” the Republican presidential nominee again hurled personal attacks toward his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. This time, he called her “very dumb,” claimed only a “mentally disabled” person could have done her job the way she has, and said she was born “mentally impaired.”

    “Joe Biden became mentally impaired, Kamala was born that way,” Trump said during a rally in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The crowd could be heard responding with laughs and cheers.

    The backlash was swift, with some Republicans urging Trump to focus on the issues.

    On CNN’s State of the Union, South Carolina senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham said that while he believes Harris to be “crazy liberal,” he thinks “the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country.” When pressed during an interview with ABC’s This Week, US Representative Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, said, “I think we should stick to the issues. The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. Those are the issues.”

    Former governor and frequent Trump critic Larry Hogan of Maryland, also a Republican who is in a tight race for the Senate there, was more direct when addressing the nominee’s comments.

    “I think that’s insulting not only to the vice president, but to people that actually do have mental disabilities,” Hogan said. “Trump’s divisive rhetoric is something we can do without.”

    “Trump made a great deal of the cognitive abilities of Joe Biden,” Eric Holder, the former attorney general who served in the Obama administration, said on MSNBC. He added, referring to the former president’s cognitive state, “If this is where he is now, where is he going to be three and four years from now?”

    Following Saturday’s speech, Sarafina Chitika, a Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that “Donald Trump is finally telling the truth to voters: He’s got nothing ‘inspiring’ to offer the American people, just darkness.”

    Disability rights advocates were also quick to denounce Trump’s remarks.

    “Trump holds the ableist, false belief that if a person has a disability, they are less human and less worthy of dignity,” Maria Town, CEO and president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “These perceptions are incorrect, and are harmful to people with disabilities.”

    Trump’s comments, Town noted, “say far more about him and his inaccurate, hateful biases against disabled people than it does about Vice President Harris, or any person with a disability.”

    Since Trump had to pivot from running against President Joe Biden to combating an energized Harris bid, his advisors and some Republicans have urged the former president to veer away from personal attacks, like those about her gender and race. He, to put it briefly, hasn’t listened.

    In an August speech, Trump went after Harris’s appearance, saying, “I’m much better looking than her. Much better. Much better. I’m a better looking person than Kamala,” and he’s taken a liking to calling Harris a “bitch,” per reporting from the New York Times based on two people who heard the remark on different occasions.

    On Truth Social, the former president amplified a false claim that Harris used sexual acts to get ahead, reposting a photo of her and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which included the text, “Funny how blowjobs impacted both careers differently…”

    Back in July, during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump lied about how Harris has portrayed her racial identity.

    “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said of the vice president. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black.”

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    Katie Herchenroeder

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  • Trump attacks Harris as ‘mentally disabled’

    Trump attacks Harris as ‘mentally disabled’

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    Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her “mentally disabled.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Some Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s latest escalation of personal attacks on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris
    • His comments came during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin that devolved into a list of his personal grievances
    • While his tactics are nothing new, it’s not yet clear how those insults will land with undecided voters
    • And with just over a month left before the presidential election, his allies are hoping he instead talks about the economy, immigration or other issues important to the GOP



    Trump escalated his personal attacks on the vice president during what was billed as a speech on immigration following Harris’ trip to the U.S.-Mexico border.

    “Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said. “Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.”

    Trump has already falsely claimed Harris “turned Black” and regularly insults her as “stupid,” “weak,” “dumb as a rock” and “lazy.” With just over a month left before the presidential election, his allies pushed him publicly and privately to talk instead about the economy, immigration and other issues.

    “I just think the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked about Trump’s comments. “They’re crazy liberal.”

    When asked whether he approved of the remarks, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., sidestepped during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

    “I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America,” said Emmer, who is helping Trump’s running mate JD Vance prepare for Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate. “I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse as the administration that we’ve witnessed for the last four years.”

    When pressed, Emmer said: “I think we should stick to the issues. The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. Those are the issues.”

    Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, running for the Senate as a moderate Republican, brought up Trump’s false claims that Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, had previously downplayed her Black heritage. Harris attended Howard University, a historically Black college, and has identified as both Black and South Asian consistently throughout her political career.

    “I’ve already called him out when he had the one interview where he was questioning her racial identity, and now he’s questioning her mental competence,” Hogan told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And I think that’s insulting not only to the vice president but to people who actually do have mental disabilities.”

    If elected, Harris would be the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to be president. She has not commented on Trump’s recent attacks but has said when asked about other comments that it was the “same old show. The same tired playbook we’ve heard for years with no plan on on how he would address the needs of the American people.”

    Trump said last month that he was “entitled” to personal attacks against Harris.

    “As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country,” he told a news conference then. “I’m very angry at her that she would weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her. I think I’m entitled to personal attacks.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Earth will have a temporary ‘mini moon’ for two months

    Earth will have a temporary ‘mini moon’ for two months

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    Earth’s moon will soon have some company — a “mini moon.”

    The mini moon is actually an asteroid about the size of a school bus at 33 feet. When it whizzes by Earth on Sunday, it will be temporarily trapped by our planet’s gravity and orbit the globe — but only for about two months.

    The space rock — 2024 PT5 — was first spotted in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid using a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa.

    These short-lived mini moons are likely more common than we realize, said Richard Binzel, an astronomer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The last known one was detected in 2020.

    “This happens with some frequency, but we rarely see them because they’re very small and very hard to detect,” he said. “Only recently has our survey capability reached the point of spotting them routinely.”

    The discovery by Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos was published by the American Astronomical Society.

    This one won’t be visible to the naked eye or through amateur telescopes, but it “can be observed with relatively large, research-grade telescopes,” Carlos de la Fuente Marcos said in an email.

    Binzel, who was not involved in the research, said it’s not clear whether the space rock originated as an asteroid or as “a chunk of the moon that got blasted out.”

    The mini moon will circle the globe for almost 57 days but won’t complete a full orbit. On Nov. 25, it will part ways with the Earth and continue its solo trajectory through the cosmos. It’s expected to pass by again in 2055.

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    Associated Press

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  • Russia downs over 100 Ukrainian drones in one of the largest barrages of the war

    Russia downs over 100 Ukrainian drones in one of the largest barrages of the war

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    More than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia Sunday, officials said, sparking a wildfire and setting an apartment block alight in one of the largest barrages seen over Russian skies since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

    What You Need To Know

    • Russian officials say more than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down, sparking a wildfire and setting an apartment block alight in one of the largest barrages over Russian skies since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022
    • Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that it had shot down 125 drones overnight across seven regions
    • The southwestern region of Volgograd came under particularly heavy fire, with 67 Ukrainian drones reportedly downed by Russian air defenses
    • In Ukraine, 16 civilians were injured in an overnight barrage on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia after Ukrainian military leaders warned that Moscow could be preparing for a new military offensive in the country’s south.

    Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that it had shot down 125 drones overnight across seven regions. The southwestern region of Volgograd came under particularly heavy fire, with 67 Ukrainian drones reportedly downed by Russian air defenses.

    Seventeen drones were also seen over Russia’s Voronezh region, where falling debris damaged an apartment block and a private home, said Gov. Aleksandr Gusev. Images on social media showed flames rising from the windows of the top floor of a high-rise building. No casualties were reported.

    A further 18 drones were reported over Russia’s Rostov region, where falling debris sparked a wildfire, said Gov. Vasily Golubev.

    He said that the fire did not pose a threat to populated areas, but that emergency services were fighting to extinguish the blaze, which had engulfed 20 hectares (49.4 acres) of forest.

    Russian ground assault warnings

    Elsewhere, 16 civilians were injured in an overnight barrage on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia after Ukrainian military leaders warned that Moscow could be preparing for a new military offensive in the country’s south.

    The city was targeted by Russian guide bombs in 10 separate attacks that damaged a high-rise building and several residential homes, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov wrote on his official Telegram channel. More people could still be trapped beneath the rubble, he said.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that the Zaporizhzhia attack had damaged the city’s transport links. “Today, Russia struck Zaporizhzhia with aerial bombs. Ordinary residential buildings were damaged and the entrance of one building was destroyed. The city’s infrastructure and railway were also damaged,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

    The Ukrainian leader appeared Sunday at a memorial service to make the 83rd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, one of the most infamous mass slaughters of World War II.

    Babyn Yar, a ravine in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation.

    “Babyn Yar is vivid proof of the atrocities that regimes are capable of when led by leaders who rely on intimidation and violence. At any time, they are no different,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “But the world’s response should be different. This is the lesson the world should have learned. We must guard humanity, life, and justice.”

    The Ukrainian military warned Saturday that Russian forces may be preparing for offensive operations in the wider Zaporizhzhia region. Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, said that Russia was amassing personnel in this direction.

    Ukraine’s air force also reported that 22 Russian drones were launched over the country overnight. It said that 15 were shot down in Ukraine’s Sumy, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions, and that five more were destroyed using electronic defenses. The fate of the remaining two drones was not specified.

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    Associated Press

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  • At least 64 dead after Helene’s deadly march across the Southeast

    At least 64 dead after Helene’s deadly march across the Southeast

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    Massive rains from powerful Hurricane Helene left people stranded, without shelter and awaiting rescue, as the cleanup began from a tempest that killed at least 64 people, caused widespread destruction across the U.S. Southeast and knocked out power to millions of people.

    What You Need To Know

    • Massive rains brought by Hurricane Helene have left many people stranded or homeless as the cleanup begins from the monster tempest that killed at least 64 people
    • Helene has caused billions of dollars in destruction across a wide swath of the southeast U.S.
    • More than 3 million customers were without power Saturday, and some face a continued threat of floods
    • Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams
    • Deaths from the storm have occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia

    “I’ve never seen so many people homeless as what I have right now,” said Janalea England of Steinhatchee, Florida, a small river town along the state’s rural Big Bend, as she turned her commercial fish market into a storm donation site for friends and neighbors, many of whom couldn’t get insurance on their homes.

    Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday with winds of 140 mph.

    From there, it quickly moved through Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it “looks like a bomb went off” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air. Weakened, Helene then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

    Western North Carolina was isolated because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. All those closures delayed the start of the East Tennessee State University football game against The Citadel because the Buccaneers’ drive to Charleston, South Carolina, took 16 hours.

    There have been hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday. And the rescues continued into the following day in Buncombe County, North Carolina, where part of Asheville was under water.

    “To say this caught us off guard would be an understatement,” said Quentin Miller, the county sheriff.

    Asheville resident Mario Moraga said it was “heartbreaking” to see the damage in the Biltmore Village neighborhood and neighbors have been going house to house to check on each other and offer support.

    “There’s no cell service here. There’s no electricity,” he said.

    While there have been deaths in the county, Emergency Services Director Van Taylor Jones said he wasn’t ready to report specifics, partially because downed cell towers hindered efforts to contact next of kin. Relatives put out desperate pleas for help on Facebook.

    The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, was expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

    It unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. One community, Spruce Pine, was doused with over 2 feet of rain from Tuesday through Saturday.

    And in Atlanta, 11.12 inches of rain fell over 48 hours, the most the city has seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878.

    President Joe Biden said Saturday that Helene’s devastation has been “overwhelming” and pledged to send help. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funding available for affected individuals.

    With at least 25 killed in South Carolina, Helene is the deadliest tropical cyclone for the state since Hurricane Hugo killed 35 people when it came ashore just north of Charleston in 1989. Deaths also have been reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

    Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Helene in the U.S. is between $95 billion and $110 billion.

    Evacuations began before the storm hit and continued as lakes overtopped dams, including one in North Carolina that forms a lake featured in the movie “Dirty Dancing.” Helicopters were used to rescue some people from flooded homes.

    Among the 11 confirmed deaths in Florida were nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation area on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

    None of the victims were from Taylor County, which is where the storm made landfall. It came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 20 miles northwest of where Hurricane Idalia hit last year at nearly the same ferocity.

    Taylor County is in Florida’s Big Bend, went years without taking a direct hit from a hurricane. But after Idalia and two other storms in a little over a year, the area is beginning to feel like a hurricane superhighway.

    “It’s bringing everybody to reality about what this is now with disasters,” said John Berg, 76, a resident of Steinhatchee, a small fishing town and weekend getaway.

    Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes in a matter of hours.

    Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.

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    Associated Press

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  • Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in New York

    Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in New York

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    Former President Donald Trump on Friday touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office
    • Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy in New York on Friday
    • Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine 
    • The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week as the result on Nov. 5 could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its battle with Russia
    • Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage

    Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Friday. 

    “I think long before Jan. 20, before I would take the presidency — it’s Jan. 20, but long before that — I think that we can work out something that’s good for both sides,” Trump said during brief remarks to the press. 

    With Zelenskyy standing by his side during the remarks, Trump spoke highly of the Ukrainian leader, calling him a “piece of steel” and noting that he has “been through a lot.” The former president also went on to assert that he has a “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

    His relationship with both, Trump said, would allow him to nail down a deal to end the more than 2½-year-old war. 

    “I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said. “But, you know, it takes two to tango, and we’re going to have a good meeting today, and I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign.” 

    Trump also asserted that Zelenskyy stood up for him by saying the former president “did nothing wrong” on a 2019 phone call between the two that was at the center of Trump’s first impeachment.

    For his part, Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine. He noted the two had not met in person in five years and acknowledged the uncertainty around the election. 

    “That’s why I decided to meet with both candidates,” Zelenskyy added. 

    The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week, where he attended the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and huddled with lawmakers, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, in Washington. 

    The result on Nov. 5, both in the presidential race as well as contests that will decide which party controls the House and Senate, could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. 

    Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage. 

    “So then, the United States supports Ukraine, not out of charity but because it is in our own strategic interest,” Harris said Thursday. “We will continue to provide the security assistance Ukraine needs to succeed on the battlefield.” 

    Trump has lobbed criticisms at Ukraine and Zelenskyy on the campaign trail this week, describing the country as “demolished” and “in rubble” with its people “dead” and questioning the amount of aid the U.S. is providing to its war effort. 

    “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump said at a campaign event this week. 

    In an interview with The New Yorker this week, Zelenskyy pushed back on the former president’s assertions that he could settle the war in Ukraine and criticized Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance as “too radical.” 

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Judge orders US government to leave Wisconsin reservation roads open

    Judge orders US government to leave Wisconsin reservation roads open

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    Morning headlines from Sept. 27, 2024


    Morning headlines from Sept. 27, 2024

    03:10

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to temporarily leave roads open on a northern Wisconsin reservation, giving non-tribal homeowners hope that they can maintain access to their properties for a while longer. 

    U.S. District Judge William Conley’s preliminary injunction is the latest twist in an escalating dispute between the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the town of Lac du Flambeau and scores of non-tribal property owners who rely on the roads to access their homes. 

    The tribe granted easements in the 1960s allowing public access to about 1.3 miles (2 kilometers) of reservation roads. The easements allowed non-tribal people to move onto the reservation and build homes there. 

    The easements expired about a decade ago and the tribe and the town have been unable to negotiate new ones. According to Conley’s injunction, the tribe has asked for up to $20 million for the right-of-way.

    The tribal council in January 2023 warned the town and the homeowners that they were now trespassing on the reservation. The tribe that month barricaded the roads, allowing the homeowners to leave only for medical appointments. The tribe opened the roads that March by charging the town for monthly access permits. 

    Conley’s injunction said the arrangement has depleted the town’s entire road budget for 2024. The tribe has threatened to block the roads again if the town doesn’t make a payment in October. 

    The U.S. Department of Justice sued on the tribe’s behalf in May 2023 seeking damages from the town for trespassing. More than 70 homeowners have joined the lawsuit in hopes of establishing access rights. 

    Conley’s injunction orders the U.S. government to do nothing to block the roads while the lawsuit is pending. The judge stopped short of applying the injunction to the tribe, noting it’s unclear whether forcing the tribe to abide by the order would violate its sovereign immunity. But he ordered the Department of Justice to share the injunction with the tribe and tell tribal leaders that he expects them to leave the roads open. 

    Myra Longfield, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Madison, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Tribal spokesperson Araia Breedlove and the town’s attorney, Derek Waterstreet, also did not immediately respond to emails. 

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    The Associated Press

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  • Residents below Lake Lure dam told to evacuate immediately

    Residents below Lake Lure dam told to evacuate immediately

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    Flooding from Helene forced evacuation orders in western North Carolina Friday morning. 

    In Rutherford County, residents down river of Lake Lure dam have been told to “evacuate to higher ground immediately!!” Dam failure was imminent, according to a post from the county’s emergency management officials.

    The county says water is already overtopping the dam, and anyone who lives below the dam needs to evacuate to higher ground immediately.

    Evacuations are also underway for parts of Charlotte, Asheville and McDowell and Haywood counties. 

    In Charlotte, officials ordered people on Riverside Drive, along the Catawba River, to evacuate as floodwaters rise.


    In Asheville, Buncombe County issued a mandatory evacuation order at 6:30 a.m. for people along the Swannanoa River, starting at the North Fork Reservoir. Water at the reservoir has gone over the spillway, officials said.

    “What we are seeing is unlike anyone alive has seen in Buncombe County,” Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder told reporters Friday morning. “Our rivers have not yet crested. This emergency will get worse.”

     

    Buncombe County also ordered evacuations in Black Mountain.

    “Due to flooding of a lake with a dam at Camp Ridgecrest for Girls, a mandatory evacuation order is in effect for 105 Balsam Road from the camp south to Highway 70 in Black Mountain,” emergency officials said.

    Emergency officials warned that the flooding in Buncombe County will continue after Friday until the rivers crest.

    “It’s going to reach above any record levels we’ve ever had,” said Ryan Cole, with Buncombe County Emergency Services. He said there had been more than 50 water rescues so far during the storm.

    He also warned that the county was getting 911 calls that it could not respond to because they are too busy and emergency workers cannot reach some areas.

    Officials also reported a mudslide on Tunnel Road in Asheville.



    “Do not delay – take action to protect your loved ones. We understand that evacuation can be challenging, but the safety of our residents is our top priority. We urge everyone in the affected areas to take this order seriously and evacuate as soon as possible. If you can’t, emergency personnel will help you,” said Pinder. 


    “All residents in the following areas are required to evacuate,” the county said: “Individuals between North Fork Road to Old 70, following the Swannanoa River all the way to Biltmore Village should evacuate.”

    That includes: North Fork Road south to Highway 70; Highway 70 west to Old Farm School Road; Old Farm School to Azalea Road; Azalea Road to Swannanoa River Road; and Swannanoa River Road to Biltmore Village.


    Helene made landfall Thursday night along the Big Bend coast of Florida as a Category 4 storm. The storm is now weakening as it tracks to the north, bringing flooding rain, strong wind gusts and the threat for tornadoes to North Carolina.

    Haywood County Emergency Services reported flash flooding in Cruso, Clyde, Canton and low-lying areas in Waynesville early Friday morning, along with road closures, water rescues and flooded homes. Those areas saw devastating flooding three years ago during Tropical Storm Fred.

    “Flood waters are extremely dangerous. Getting caught up in floods may result in injury or death. LEAVE NOW. Climb to higher ground. Do not drive through water,” emergency workers warned.

    A mandatory evacuation was issued for Bungalow Drive off of Garden Creek Road in Marion at 4:30 a.m. Friday.

    “Please move to higher ground immediately!” McDowell County EMS posted on Facebook. 

    Flooding started in parts of the mountains of western North Carolina Wednesday afternoon. Up to 18 inches of rainfall is expected in some communities. 

    Related article: Helene brings potential for catastrophic flooding and tornadoes to North Carolina

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    Jennifer Gamertsfelder

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  • The U.S. is mailing Americans COVID tests again. Here’s how to get them

    The U.S. is mailing Americans COVID tests again. Here’s how to get them

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    Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes.

    The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.

    What You Need To Know

    • Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, straight to their homes

    • The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household in the U.S. to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits to their doorstep through the website, covidtests.gov

    • The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week

    • The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get a an updated COVID-19 vaccine booster and their yearly flu shot


    The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 booster and their yearly flu shot.

    “Before you visit with your family and friends this holiday season, take a quick test and help keep them safe from COVID-19,” U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in a statement.

    U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat the recent virus strains and, they hope, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.

    Using the swab, people can detect current virus strains ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season and the holidays. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year. Insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of the tests.

    Before using any existing at-home COVID-19 tests, you should check the expiration date. Many of the tests have been given an extended expiration from the date listed on the box. You can check on the Food and Drug Administration’s website to see if that’s the case for any of your remaining tests at home.

    Since COVID-19 first began its spread in 2020, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into developing and purchasing COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines. The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the government still has on hand.

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    Associated Press

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  • U.S. economy grew at 3% rate last quarter, final estimate says

    U.S. economy grew at 3% rate last quarter, final estimate says

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    The American economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual pace from April through June, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said Thursday, leaving its previous estimate unchanged.

    The Commerce Department reported that the nation’s gross domestic product — the nation’s total output of goods and services — picked up sharply in the second quarter from the tepid 1.6% annual rate in the first three months of the year.

    What You Need To Know

    • The American economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual pace from April through June

    • It was boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said

    • The nation’s gross domestic product — the nation’s total output of goods and services — picked up sharply in the second quarter from the tepid 1.6% annual rate in the first three months of the year

    • The final GDP estimate for the April-June quarter included figures showing that inflation continues to ease, to just above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target


    Consumer spending, the primary driver of the economy, grew last quarter at a 2.8% pace, down slightly from the 2.9% rate the government had previously estimated. Business investment was also solid: It increased at a vigorous 8.3% annual pace last quarter, led by a 9.8% rise in investment in equipment.

    The third and final GDP estimate for the April-June quarter included figures showing that inflation continues to ease, to just above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The central bank’s favored inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at a 2.5% annual rate last quarter, down from 3% in the first quarter of the year. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation grew at a 2.8% pace, down from 3.7% from January through March.

    The U.S. economy, the world’s biggest, displayed remarkable resilience in the face of the 11 interest rate hikes the Fed carried out in 2022 and 2023 to fight the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Since peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022, annual inflation as measured by the consumer price index has tumbled to 2.5%.

    Despite the surge in borrowing rates, the economy kept growing and employers kept hiring. Still, the job market has shown signs of weakness in recent months. From June through August, America’s employers added an average of just 116,000 jobs a month, the lowest three-month average since mid-2020, when the COVID pandemic had paralyzed the economy. The unemployment rate has ticked up from a half-century low 3.4% last year to 4.2%, still relatively low.

    Last week, responding to the steady drop in inflation and growing evidence of a more sluggish job market, the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point. The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflected its new focus on shoring up the job market now that inflation has largely been tamed.

    “The economy is in pretty good shape,’’ Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, wrote in a commentary.

    “After a big rate cut in September and considerable further cuts expected by early 2025, interest-rate-sensitive sectors like housing, manufacturing, auto sales, and retailing of other big-ticket consumer goods should pick up over the next year. Lower rates will fuel a recovery of job growth and likely stabilize the unemployment rate around its current level in 2025.’’

    Several barometers of the economy still look healthy. Americans last month increased their spending at retailers, for example, suggesting that consumers are still able and willing to spend more despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and high borrowing rates. The nation’s industrial production rebounded. The pace of single-family home construction rose sharply from the pace a year earlier.

    And this month, consumer sentiment rose for a third straight month, according to preliminary figures from the University of Michigan. The brighter outlook was driven by “more favorable prices as perceived by consumers” for cars, appliances, furniture and other long-lasting goods.

    A category within GDP that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a solid 2.7% annual rate, though that was down from 2.9% in the first quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.

    Though the Fed now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.

    On Thursday, the Commerce Department also issued revisions to previous GDP estimates. From 2018 through 2023, growth was mostly higher — an average annual rate of 2.3%, up from a previously reported 2.1% — largely because of upward revisions to consumer spending. The revisions showed that GDP grew 2.9% last year, up from the 2.5% previously reported.

    Thursday’s report was the government’s third and final estimate of GDP growth for the April-June quarter. It will release its initial estimate of July-September GDP growth on Oct. 30. A forecasting tool from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta projects that the economy will have expanded at a 2.9% annual pace from July through September.

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    Associated Press

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  • Tropical Storm Isaac forms in the north-central Atlantic

    Tropical Storm Isaac forms in the north-central Atlantic

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    Tropical Storm Isaac has formed in the north-central Atlantic Ocean.

    Isaac formed in the north-central Atlantic on Wednesday, Sept. 25. It’s the ninth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season .

    What You Need To Know

    • Tropical Storm Isaac formed late Wednesday night in the north-central Atlantic

    • It’s expected to become a hurricane by Saturday

    • It poses no threat to land


    Isaac has winds of 50 mph and is located about 750 miles east northeast of Bermuda. It is forecasted to become a hurricane by late Friday or early Saturday. 

    It will pass north of the Azores by late weekend or early next week and does not pose any risk to land. 

    Here’s a look at the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season 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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