TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) â It was the hottest September in more than a century in parts of South Florida, and Dwayne Wilson could hear his 81-year-old fellow inmate gasping for breath and crying out for help at the Dade Correctional Institution, 45 miles southwest of Miami on the edge of the Florida Everglades.
The elderly man was confined to a wheelchair and for weeks had been complaining of severe chest pain and difficulty breathing in the unventilated dorm where he was serving his sentence, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed this week on behalf of Wilson and two other inmates at the prison.
Early on the morning of Sept. 24, the wheelchair-bound inmate, who is identified in the lawsuit as J.B., was heard once again begging for help, according to the lawsuit. A prisoner wheeled him to the infirmary, where within 15 minutes medical staff ordered him to return to his cell, according to legal filings.
Soon after, J.B. was found unresponsive, his mouth gaping open, the lawsuit says.
Attorneys said that on the day the 81-year-old died, the exhaust fans in his dorm weren’t working and the heat index had climbed to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Living in the prison’s unairconditioned cells could feel like âbeing locked in a sardine can with no air to breathe,â an inmate identified in the lawsuit as G.M. said, and the heat had taken a toll.
The lawsuit filed this week by the prison reform advocacy group Florida Justice Institute says that heat at the facility has contributed to the deaths of four people there and that prison officials have failed to take âmeaningful actionâ to mitigate the risk posed to the elderly and disabled inmates in their care.
The lawsuit, which names the Florida Department of Corrections, the secretary of the department and the warden of DCI as defendants, argues that the conditions violate the protections of the Eighth Amendment, which bar cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
âWe had to file this lawsuit because theyâve thus far ignored the concerns of incarcerated people and their advocates. And so it appears they need a court to order them to do what they should have done on their own,â said Andrew Udelsman, an attorney with the Florida Justice Institute.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation and stated that the agency has no record of being served the lawsuit.
Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization. While deadly heat is not new, scientists say it has been amplified in scale, frequency and duration with climate change. Last year, the United States had its most recorded heat deaths in more than 80 years, according to an Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Yet the majority of incarcerated individuals in sweltering Florida are serving their sentences in cells that don’t have air conditioning, even as the state’s rising temperatures continue to break records. The risk is even greater for the elderly and those with medical conditions that make them more susceptible to heat-related illness.
According to testimony that Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon gave to state lawmakers last year, 75% of the state’s prison housing units are not air-conditioned. Bills filed last year that would have mandated the department install air conditioning in state prisons died in the Republican-controlled legislature.
âWhen you are in the facility and you visit a dorm that does not have air conditioning, you look at the guards who are tasked with maintaining security in those spaces, it is absolutely oppressive,â Republican State Sen. Jennifer Bradley said at a hearing last October.
âThere are things we can do in our system to mitigate the heat. Or Florida will find itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit,” she warned. “And it will be a lot more expensive.â
Florida is not alone in facing lawsuits over dangerously hot prisons. Cases have also been filed in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico. One filed in Georgia in July alleged a 27-year-old inmate died after he was left in an outdoor cell for hours without water, shade or ice.
Udelsman said he hopes the Florida lawsuit will help compel the courts to set consistent safety standards for incarcerated individuals at risk of deadly heat exposure, at a time when climate change is compounding the threat for the country’s increasingly aging and invalid prison population.
âCourts are increasingly confirming that these kind of conditions are not constitutional,â Udelsman said. “We hope this lawsuit will be another in that line … that these dominoes will continue to fall.”
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Abortion and reproductive rights have been central to the races for president and governor in North Carolina, a battleground state that has more moderate abortion restrictions than its Southern neighbors.
That’s been even truer in the fight for a seat on the state Supreme Court that abortion rights supporters say will play an important role in determining whether Republicans can enact even more restrictions. Registered Republicans currently hold five of seven seats and could expand that majority even further in Tuesday’s election.
Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat who is running for reelection, is focusing heavily on the issue and touts her support for reproductive rights. Her first television ad featured images of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, who prefers to restrict abortions earlier than the current 12 weeks. She says her GOP rival for the court could be a deciding vote on the bench for such restrictions.
âThis is an issue that is landing in front of state Supreme Courts, and it is one that is very salient to voters now,â Riggs said in an interview.
Her Republican opponent, Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, said Riggs is saying too much about an issue that could come before the court.
âI think itâs an inappropriate manner, a clear violation of our judicial standards, our code of conduct,â he said.
The North Carolina race emphasizes how much abortion is fueling expensive campaigns for Supreme Courts in several states this year. Groups on the right and left are spending heavily to reshape courts that could play deciding roles in legal fights over abortion, reproductive rights, voting rights, redistricting and other hot-button issues for years to come.
Experts say the campaigns show how the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning constitutional abortion protections that had been in place for half a century has transformed races for state high courts.
âWhat Dobbs did was made clear to both political stakeholders and the public that these state courts that hadn’t got a lot of attention are actually going to be really important and they’re going to be deciding some of the biggest cases that people might have expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court,â said Douglas Keith, senior counsel in the judiciary program at the Brennan Center, which has tracked spending on state court races.
Thirty-three states are holding elections for 82 Supreme Court seats this year. The 2024 election cycle follows record-breaking spending for judicial races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania last year.
Groups on the left have ramped up their spending on state courts considerably this year. The American Civil Liberties Union has spent $5.4 million on court races in Montana, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio. Planned Parenthood and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee earlier this year announced they were collectively spending $5 million, focusing on court races in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
âWe have never invested this heavily in state Supreme Courts before,â said Katie Rodihan, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes. âThis is really a groundbreaking move for us, and I expect this will be the norm for us moving forward.â
The targets include Ohio, where Republicans hold a 4-3 majority on the court. Democrats are defending two seats on the court, while a third is open, and Democratic victories in all three races are considered a longshot in the Republican-leaning state.
Control of the court could be key if the state appeals a judge’s ruling that struck down the most far-reaching of the state’s abortion restrictions. The ruling said the law banning most abortions once cardiac activity is detected â as early as six weeks into pregnancy and before many women know theyâre pregnant â violated a constitutional amendment approved by voters last year that protected reproductive rights.
Two seats are up for election on Michigan’s court, where Democratic-backed justices hold a 4-3 majority. Court races are technically nonpartisan, but candidates are nominated at party conventions. Republicans would need to win both seats to flip the court in their favor.
Justice Kyra Harris Bolden is defending the seat she was appointed to two years ago by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Bolden was the first Black woman to sit on Michiganâs bench. She faces Republican-backed circuit court Judge Patrick OâGrady for the remaining four years of the eight-year term.
Republican state Rep. Andrew Fink is competing against University of Michigan law professor Kimberly Anne Thomas, who was nominated by Democrats, for the other open seat that is being vacated by a Republican-backed justice.
Groups backing Bolden and Thomas are framing the races as crucial to defending abortion rights, with one group’s ad warning that âthe Michigan state Supreme Court can still take abortion rights away.â
The most heated races are for two seats on the Montana Supreme Court, which has come under fire from GOP lawmakers over rulings against laws that would have restricted abortion access or made it more difficult to vote.
Former U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry Lynch is running against county attorney Cory Swanson for chief justice, while state judge Katherine Bidegaray is running against state judge Dan Wilson for another open seat on the court.
Progressive groups have been backing Lynch and Bidegaray. Both said in an ACLU questionnaire that they agreed with the reasoning and holding of a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling that the constitutional right to privacy includes the right to obtain a pre-viability abortion.
Groups on the right have been painting them both as too liberal and echoing national Republicans’ rhetoric, with text messages invoking the debate over transgender athletes on women’s sports teams.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, a longtime player in state court races, said its Judicial Fairness Initiative planned to spend seven figures in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
The group’s ads are focusing on issues other than abortion. In one touting three Republicans running for Ohio’s court, the group shows images of President Donald Trump along with images related to immigration.
A super PAC backed by conservative donor and shipping executive Richard Uihlein also has given to groups involved in state Supreme Court races in Montana and Ohio.
Progressive groups are even focusing attention on longshot states such as Texas, where Republicans hold all the seats on the Supreme Court. They’re trying to unseat three GOP justices who were part of unanimous rulings rejecting challenges to the state’s abortion ban.
One group, Find Out PAC, has been running digital ads in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston criticizing justices Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine and Jane Bland. In its ad, the group accuses the three of âplaying doctor from the bench.â
In North Carolina, Riggs’ campaigning on abortion rights has prompted complaints from Republicans who say she’s stepping outside the bounds of judicial ethics. But Riggs said she’s not saying how she would rule in any case and is merely sharing her values with voters.
âI’m going to keep talking about my values because, at the core, our democracy works best when people cast informed votes,â she said.
__
DeMillo reported from Little Rock, Arkansas. Associated Press writers Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.
HENDERSON COUNTY â An 83-year-old Crockett man was charged with promoting child pornography into Henderson County and arrest documents allege he was in the process of downloading the material when an investigator stopped by. According to our news partner KETK, an investigation began on Oct. 2 when a device successfully downloaded files that contained child porn and later the IP address was traced back to a Crockett home.
On Oct. 24 an investigator stopped by the home and made contact with Bert Franklin Burris, 83 of Crockett, who was sitting at his computer in the living room, documents said. âThe suspect stated that he does download and watch child pornography on a regular basis and the youngest child that he remembers seeing in child pornography is approximately 5 years of age,â the affidavit said.
Burris then told the investigator that he was downloading the material onto his computer when he made contact with him and that he had been viewing child pornography since he was about 50-years-old, the arrest documents said. Continue reading 83-year-old admits to download of child porn
TYLER â For the past two weeks people have been able to get out and vote early before Election Day on Nov. 5. But as we get into the final hours some counties are seeing fewer people turning up to the polls. Smith County is worried about what election day will look like after getting a low turnout on Friday, according to our news partner KETK.
âEarly voting started out really very, very strong,â but the last few days had been slow, so weâre hoping to pick up because our goal is to beat 2020, That is extremely low for the last day of early votingâ Smith County election administrator Michelle Allcon said.
Polling locations have run across a few issues this year and are reminding people to follow the Texas election code when voting. âPlease donât wear your hats or your t-shirts or your buttons, keep your flags in the car,â Allcon said.
East Texas Friday Night HS Football Scoreboard – Week 10 – Longview Lobos 21, North Forney 0; Forney 40, Tyler Legacy 14. More high school football scores from around East Texas on the East Texas Friday Night HS Football Scoreboard!
(HOUSTON) -- Public hospitals in Texas will now be required to ask patients if they are in the U.S. legally and keep a record of the funds spent on illegal migrants after an executive order went into effect Friday.
Public hospitals are required to collect information regarding the "cost of medical care provided to illegal immigrants," the number of inpatient discharges and the number of emergency visits, then submit that data to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on a quarterly basis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in an August statement announcing the measure.
While facilities must ask patients of their legal status, patients are not required to respond.
The new policy will also be enforced at hospitals enrolled in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and any other facilities identified by the commission.
The first submission is due on March 1, 2025, according to the governor's office. The commission will then submit the total cost for medical care provided to illegal migrants to the governor, lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house on an annual basis beginning on Jan. 1, 2026.
Patients are to be told that the collection of this information will not affect patient care, according to the executive order. Federal law mandates patients be told their answers will not affect their medical care.
The executive order also states that the federal government "may and should be obligated to reimburse the state of Texas for the costs that its open border policies have imposed on Texans."
"Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state," Abbott said in the statement, though migrant encounters at the border began rising while Donald Trump was president in the months after April 2020 through the November election. "Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants."
Immigration advocacy groups condemned the action as it went into place Friday.
"Abbott's latest executive order -- which takes effect today and goes against federal law -- is a calculated attempt to drive immigrants into the shadows and make our communities fearful of being targeted in the very places we should feel safe. Going after immigrants in hospitals is just the first step towards enacting Trump's Project 2025 agenda," said Michelle Ming, political director of United We Dream Action, an advocacy group for immigrants.
ABC News' Armando Garcia contributed to this report.
(ORLANDO, Fl) -- The mayor of Orlando, Florida, is cracking down in the city's entertainment district after two people were killed and several others injured in a Halloween night shooting.
The suspect, 17-year-old Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, has been taken into custody, Orlando police said.
Officers responded to reports of shots fired just after 1 a.m. Friday, and within minutes, the officers witnessed a second shooting, police said.
One person was killed at the first scene and the second victim was killed at the second scene, police said.
Nine people, aged 18 to 39, were injured, some critically, police said.
The suspect walked by more than 10 officers just before opening fire, Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said.
Surveillance video captured the chaos of people fleeing the scene as officers apprehended the suspect.
Edgar has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and six counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, police said.
A motive is unknown, Smith said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he's issuing a local state of emergency for establishments in the downtown entertainment area, which will ban alcohol sales after midnight and implement a curfew from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
"It's unfortunate that the changes in the state concealed weapons laws [in 2023] have made it even easier for people to carry guns," Dyer said at a news conference.
"You can legally carry a firearm unless you fall into a certain kind of category: underage, convicted felon," Smith explained. "For most people, it allows them, without getting a concealed weapons permit, to carry a gun concealed."
ABC News' Jason Volack contributed to this report.
HOUSTON (AP) â A helicopter pilot was speaking with an air traffic controller in Houston when the aircraft crashed into a radio tower, killing all four people on board, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Pilot Samantha Grandbouche had contacted the controller after taking off on Oct. 20 for a sightseeing tour of the area and was told minutes later to maintain visual separation from another helicopter in the area, according to the report.
âThe pilot was reading the instructions when the radio transmission abruptly ended,â the report said. âNo further communications from the accident helicopter were received.â
The helicopter crashed into a 1,003-foot-tall (306-meter-tall) radio tower about 100 feet (30 meters) from its top and exploded as both the helicopter and tower fell to the ground with portions of the helicopter, including the fuselage, embedded in the tower, the report said.
Grandbouche died in the crash along with passengers Marie Alonso, her former husband Julio âCesarâ Lerma and their elementary-school-aged son Dylon Lerma.
Two of the tower’s three light beacons could be seen flashing on surveillance video, while the third beacon was not visible, according to the report.
The owner of the tower, SBA Communications, told investigators there were no outages to the tower.
The company did not immediately return a message for comment Friday to The Associated Press.
SBA Communications previously said it is cooperating with investigators and a Notice to Air Missions, which informs pilots of potential flight hazards, had been filed, but declined further comment citing the ongoing investigation.
The NTSB report said the notice was filed Oct. 16 after the company acquired the tower in September.
The preliminary report does not provide a probable cause of the crash, which would come in the final report that is expected in 18 to 24 months.
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(NEW YORK) -- Daniel Penny "used far too much force for far too long" and though he may be an "honorable veteran" and "nice young man," he was reckless with Jordan Neely's life because "he didn't recognize his humanity," Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in her opening statement Friday during the trial over the fatal chokehold.
"He was aware of the risk his actions would kill Mr. Neely and did it anyway," Yoran said.
Penny is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the May 2023 death of Neely, a homeless man who was acting erratically on a New York City subway car.
"Jordan Neely took his last breaths on the dirty floor of an uptown F train," Yoran told a rapt jury.
Neely entered a moderately crowded subway car at the Second Avenue stop and began making threats about hurting people, scaring many of the passengers, Yoran said.
She pointed at Penny as she told the jury, "This man, took it upon himself to take down Jordan Neely. To neutralize him."
Thirty seconds later, the train arrived at the next station and all the passengers left the train car, except two men who were helping Penny restrain Neely. The prosecutor said Penny hung onto Neely for 51 seconds after Neely's body went limp.
"By doing so, he pushed Mr. Neely to the point of no return," Yoran said. "He left Mr. Neely lying on the floor unconscious and didn't look back."
Penny has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely's death. His attorneys have said Neely was "insanely threatening," but Yoran said Penny's actions were unnecessarily reckless because he continued the chokehold for 5 minutes and 53 seconds after the subway car was empty of passengers. "A grasp that never changed," Yoran called it.
"The defendant did not intend to kill him. His initial intent was even laudable," Yoran said. "But under the law, deadly physical force such as a chokehold is permitted only when it is absolutely necessary and for only as long as is absolutely necessary. And here, the defendant went way too far."
The prosecutor told jurors they would see video of the chokehold.
"You will see Mr. Neely's life being sucked out before your very eyes," Yoran said, appearing to upset one of the jurors who grimaced and briefly shut his eyes.
She also said jurors would see body camera video of Penny's initial encounter with police, four and a half minutes after letting go of Neely.
When the officer asked Penny what happened, the prosecutor said Penny replied that Neely had been threatening. "Then he said, 'I just put him out,'" Yoran told the jury.
The defense is set to give its opening statement on Friday following a break.
Protest audible from courtroom
The sounds of a sidewalk protest over the death of Neely were audible in the 13th-floor courtroom ahead of opening statements. Protesters were heard calling Penny a "subway strangler."
Judge Max Wiley said he would instruct jurors to ignore "noise outside the courthouse."
Penny, in a slate blue suit, strode confidently into the courtroom and took his seat at the defense table ahead of opening statements.
The jury of seven women and five men, four of whom are people of color, will be asked to do something prosecutors concede is difficult: convict someone of an unintentional crime.
To convict, prosecutors must prove Penny's use of lethal force was unjustifiable and that Penny acted recklessly and consciously disregarded the substantial risk of putting Neely in the chokehold for so long. Prosecutors do not have to prove Penny intended to kill Neely, which defense attorneys have said Neely did not intend to do.
Wiley denied Penny's bid to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter case in January.
The case has fueled political narratives about urban crime and captivated a city in which the subway is indispensable.
Differing accounts of the incident
While there is no doubt that Penny's actions led to Neely's death on May 1, 2023, witness accounts differ regarding the events that led up to Penny applying the fatal chokehold, according to various sources.
Many witnesses reported that Neely, 30, who was homeless at the time of his death and was known to perform as a Michael Jackson impersonator, had expressed that he was homeless, hungry and thirsty, according to prosecutors. Most of the witnesses also recounted that Neely indicated a willingness to go to jail or prison.
Some witnesses also reported that Neely threatened to hurt people on the train, while others did not report hearing those threats, according to police sources.
Additionally, some witnesses told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train. However, others have said that while Neely had exhibited erratic behavior, he had not been threatening anyone in particular and had not become violent, according to police sources who spoke with ABC News following the incident.
According to prosecution court filings, some passengers on the train that day said they didn't feel threatened. One said they weren't "really worried about what was going on," while another called it "like another day typically in New York. That's what I'm used to seeing. I wasn't really looking at it if I was going to be threatened or anything to that nature, but it was a little different because, you know, you don't really hear anybody saying anything like that."
Other passengers, however, described being fearful, according to court filings. One said they "have encountered many things, but nothing that put fear into me like that," while another said Neely was making "half-lunge movements" and coming within a "half a foot of people."
Neely had a documented history of mental health issues and arrests, including alleged instances of disorderly conduct, fare evasion and assault, according to police sources.
Less than 30 seconds after Penny allegedly put Neely into a chokehold, the train arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette Station, according to court records.
"Passengers who had felt fearful on account of being trapped on the train were now free to exit the train. The defendant continued holding Mr. Neely around the neck," said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass in a court filing objecting to Penny's dismissal request.
According to prosecutors, footage of the interaction, which began about two minutes after the incident started, captures Penny holding Neely in the chokehold for about four minutes and 57 seconds on a relatively empty train, with a couple of passengers nearby.
Prosecutors said that about three minutes and 10 seconds into the video, Neely ceases all purposeful movement.
"After that moment, Mr. Neely's movements are best described as 'twitching and the kind of agonal movement that you see around death,'" prosecutors said.
The case is expected to feature testimony of passengers who were aboard the subway at the time, as well as a roughly six-minute video of the chokehold.
Jury to hear eyewitness statements
Before opening statements on Friday, Wiley granted a defense request to allow some of the statements that eyewitnesses to the chokehold made to police that were captured on body-worn cameras.
One witness, a Ms. Rosario, was captured on body-worn camera 15 minutes after the incident aboard the F train.
"I can see most of that statement coming in as an excited utterance," Wiley said.
The judge declined to allow a part of her statement in which an officer is heard asking whether she thought Neely was on drugs.
A Mr. Latimer is captured a minute later and Wiley said his statement is "well within the immediacy of the event" and could be admitted.
"This person displays emotion, excitement as he's describing what happened. It's narrative," Wiley said.
Most of the passengers who were aboard the train and who witnessed the event are expected to testify at trial.
Jury will see evidence that Neely did not have a weapon
The judge also previously ruled that the jury will see evidence that shows Neely was unarmed.
Penny's defense had sought to preclude evidence or testimony about the lack of a weapon recovered from a search of Neely's body but in a written opinion issued Thursday, Wiley said such evidence and testimony is relevant to the case.
"The fact that Mr. Neely was unarmed provides additional relevant information to aid the jury, namely, it clarifies what could have been perceived by someone in the defendant's position," Wiley wrote. "The possibility that a person in the defendant's situation could have been reasonable in mistakenly believing that Mr. Neely had been armed is appropriate for consideration by the jury and well within their capability."
The defense worried that including evidence that Neely was unarmed could bolster sympathy for the victim but Wiley said it would help the jury decide whether Penny's actions were justified.
Penny's lawyers and Neely's family speak ahead of the trial
Members of Neely's family were seated with the spectators for opening statements Friday.
"I loved Jordan. And I want justice for Jordan Neely. I want it today. I want justice for everybody and I want justice for Jordan Neely," his uncle, Christopher Neely, said before entering court.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office are expected to concede that Neely may have seemed scary to some subway riders, but will argue Penny continued the chokehold well past the point where Neely stopped moving and posed any kind of threat.
Penny's attorneys have said that they were "saddened at the loss of human life," but that Penny saw "a genuine threat and took action to protect the lives of others," arguing that Neely was "insanely threatening" to passengers aboard the subway train.
While Penny's defense will argue that he had no intent to kill Neely, prosecutor Steinglass has noted that the second-degree manslaughter charge only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.
"We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny's actions in putting aside his own safety to protect the lives of his fellow riders, will deliver a just verdict," Penny's lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, said earlier this year, after Penny's request to dismiss the charge was denied.
"This case is simple. Someone got on a train and was screaming so someone else choked them to death," Neely family attorney Donte Mills said in a past statement to ABC News. "Those two things do not and will never balance. There is no justification."
"Jordan had the right to take up his own space. He was allowed to be on that train and even to scream. He did not touch anyone. He was not a visitor on that train, in New York, or in this country," Mills added.
WASHINGTON (AP) â The nation’s deep partisan divisions extend to trust in the vote tallies for this year’s election, as a new poll finds that Republicans are much more skeptical than Democrats that ballots will be counted accurately.
About half of Republican registered voters have âa great dealâ or âquite a bitâ of trust that the vote will be accurately counted by their local election officials and around 4 in 10 say the same about the vote count in their state, but only around one-quarter have at least âquite a bitâ of trust in the nationwide count.
Republicans voters’ overall level of trust in all three, however, is lower than it is among Democratic voters. Roughly three-quarters of Democrats say they have at least âquite a bitâ of confidence that votes will be counted accurately nationwide, in their state or by their local election officials.
This yearâs election marks the first presidential race since former President Donald Trump began a campaign of lies about a stolen 2020 election â a narrative that has undermined public confidence in election results among a wide swath of conservative voters, despite no evidence of widespread fraud.
Election experts have warned that Trump may be laying the groundwork to once again challenge the election if he loses.
David Farrington, a 78-year-old conservative in Fort Worth, Texas, said he distrusts mail-in ballots and ballot drop boxes, both common targets for claims of voter fraud and election conspiracies attempting to sow distrust in election results.
âItâs not the vote count that Iâm worried about,” Farrington said. âI have every faith in all the precincts and their ability to count the ballots that are there. But the ballots â we donât know if theyâre legitimate or not.â
Conversely, Ruth Edwards, a 28-year-old kindergarten teacher in Tampa, Florida, said she has ânever seen evidence that elections are rigged.â
âItâs just people who are upset about their candidate losing who are now claiming itâs rigged with no evidence,â said Edwards, a Democrat. âItâs ridiculous.â
Voters overall are more likely to believe that votes in the 2024 presidential election will be counted accurately by their local election officials or in their state than nationwide, according to the poll. About 6 in 10 voters have âa great dealâ or âquite a bitâ of confidence that votes in the 2024 presidential election will be counted accurately by their local election officials or in their state, while about half say this about votes counted nationwide.
About one-quarter in each case have âa moderate amountâ of confidence. About 3 in 10 say they have âonly a littleâ or no confidence in the nationwide count, while fewer say that about the tally in their state or by local officials.
Drew Inman, a 31-year-old Republican working in law enforcement in New Jersey, said he is skeptical that votes will be counted accurately at all levels, but especially in counties outside his own.
âI definitely trust my vote to be counted at a local level more than I trust the national vote count,” he said. “… When you go national, thereâs a lot more people involved and that can create corruption.â
Election officials have recognized that many skeptical voters tend to point to other jurisdictions with false claims of fraud. Some groups have tried to counter this perception by emphasizing that elections in every state are run at the local level.
âWhat is difficult is when we have national elections, oftentimes people will maybe throw election professionals under the bus from another state, and that is not helpful,â said Tammy Patrick, a former election official now with the National Association of Election Officials.
Older voters have more faith in the vote count at all levels than younger voters, including the count conducted by local election officials. About half of 18- to 29-year-old voters have at least âquite a bitâ of confidence that votes will be counted accurately in their state or by their local election officials, compared to around 7 in 10 voters ages 60 and older.
The gap is smaller for the nationwide vote count, though: About 4 in 10 18- to 29-year-old voters have at least âquite a bitâ of confidence, compared to about half of voters ages 60 and older.
Bill Sanchez, a 29-year-old criminal defense attorney in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, said older voters have been watching and participating in the election process for longer, giving them more time to build trust.
âYounger voters have less experience voting and have spent a lot of their lives surrounded by this kind of misinformation that weâre seeing more and more of,â Sanchez said. “… It just sets the base for younger voters to be more distrustful.â
About 6 in 10 Republicans say people voting who are not eligible is a major problem in U.S. elections, compared to 2 in 10 Democrats. Democrats and Republicans differ most sharply over whether mail ballots that are returned via the U.S. Postal Service or a drop box will be counted accurately. About 6 in 10 Democrats are âextremelyâ or âvery confidentâ that mail ballots that are returned by these methods will be counted accurately, compared to around 1 in 10 Republicans.
Democrats, meanwhile, are much more concerned about voter suppression than Republicans. About half of Democrats say voter suppression is a major problem, compared to about one-third of Republicans
And about 4 in 10 voters are concerned about other countries tampering with U.S. voting systems or election results, which is down slightly from when the question was last asked in February 2020. This is something that independent voters are at least slightly more likely to be worried about than Democrats or Republicans.
Sanchez, the attorney from Pennsylvania, said he is more concerned about voter suppression than widespread fraud or ballots being miscounted and called for the expansion of early voting and mail ballots to âmake voting as accessible as possible.â He also worries about the potential that false claims of voter fraud could incite violence and unrest, and said he hopes election officials’ attempts to inform voters ahead of the election will help.
âThereâs a lot of misinformation and disinformation about election security from bad faith actors who are trying to build distrust and take advantage of the fact that people donât always understand everything about the process,” Sanchez said. “And when we donât understand things, we end up fearing it.”
MINEOLA â WorldAtlas listed the top nine most comfortable towns in Texas for seniors, deeming them as charming towns ideal to settle down due to their slow paced life, cozy natural setting and outdoor activities. Both Mineola and Hawkins represented East Texas on the list. You can view the entire list here.
(WASHINGTON) -- U.S. hiring slowed in October, but fallout from hurricanes and labor strikes likely caused an undercount of the nationâs workers.
A fresh jobs report marked the final piece of major economic data before Election Day. However, the data offers little more than a blurry snapshot of the U.S. economy due to the one-off disruptions last month.
Employers added 12,000 workers last month, falling short of economist expectations of 90,000 additional jobs, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Friday showed. The unemployment rate stands at 4.1%, which matches the previous month's level and remains historically low.
The hiring in October amounted to a sharp slowdown from 254,000 jobs added in September, though it should be interpreted with a significant dose of caution, experts told ABC News prior to the data release.
âWorkers who werenât paid during the survey period due to work disruptions wonât be counted as employed, and workers and businesses may be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the storms to respond to surveys,â Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale University and former director of economic research at Indeed, told ABC News in a statement.
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 9. It ultimately left millions without power and much of the stateâs gas stations without fuel. In late September, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, prompting recovery efforts that have continued for weeks afterward.
Additionally, roughly 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job in mid-September, an action that's expected to manifest as missing jobs for the first time on the October report.
In all, the combination of hurricanes and work stoppages is estimated to have pushed the level of hiring 50,000 jobs lower than where it otherwise would have stood, Bank of America Global Research said in a note to clients this week.
âThis probably weighed on payrolls across the board, especially leisure and hospitality,â Bank of America Global Research said, pointing to Hurricane Milton. âThere was also likely a minor drag from Helene,â the bank added.
Despite an overall slowdown this year, the job market has proven resilient. Hiring has continued at a solid pace; meanwhile, the unemployment rate has climbed but remains near a 50-year low.
The latest hiring data arrived at the end of a week in which new releases showed an economy growing at a robust pace while inflation returns to normal levels.
U.S. GDP grew at a 2.8% annualized rate over three months ending in September, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data on Wednesday showed. That figure fell slightly below economists' expectations, but demonstrated brisk growth that was propelled by resilient consumer spending.
On Thursday, the Federal Reserveâs preferred inflation gauge showed that prices rose 2.1% over the year ending in September. Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of about 9% in 2022, though it remains slightly higher than the Fed's target of 2%.
The jobs report is set to arrive four days before Election Day. It also marks the last piece of significant economic data before the Fed announces its next interest rate decision on Nov. 7.
The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.â
OK, so was it Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential campaign? Was it William F. Buckley in a column at National Review? Or perhaps the redoubtable Dr. Charles Krauthammer on the FOX News Channel. Or was it Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign?
The answer: none of the above.
Though the words certainly resonate in todayâs fractious political climate, they were uttered more than 200 years ago by Thomas Jefferson, whose long list of accomplishments includes principal authorship of the Declaration of Independence.
That those words have such resonance more than two centuries later tells us that the basic questions facing societies never really change. Though independence from the tyranny of King George III of Great Britain was won in 1783, and though our Constitution was ratified six years later, the question remains on the table. Are we going to govern ourselves or are we going to abdicate that duty and forfeit that hard-won right in favor of the ministrations of a ruling elite?
That is the question that is on the ballot this coming Tuesday and it transcends Donald Trumpâs outsized, and to many, off-putting personality, and it transcends any significance that might be attached to the possibility of electing the first female U.S. president.
One vision of America is that of a nation filled with hard-working, decent people who want the freedom to live their own lives and pursue their own dreams and aspirations, do their part to pay the taxes that are necessary for a limited, but properly functioning government and otherwise order their own lives and dispose of the fruits of their own labors as they, themselves see fit.
The other vision is that of a nation that is overseen by a small cohort of ĂŒber-educated elites imbued with the power to order our lives down to what and how much we eat, where we live, how we transport ourselves and how we raise our children.
In the last third of the preceding century, the encroachment of that latter vision accelerated in government, academia and our cultural institutions. Those who have gained wealth, power and influence under that governing vision are loath to give it up, even as those in the great American middle class living in the heartland and doing most of the work that keeps the country running, have experienced incremental decline in wealth, power and influence.
Thus, the rabid hatred for Donald Trump, who, rejecting the politesse of Republicans like John McCain and Mitt Romney, dared to call the elites out. Todayâs top Democrats, who bear little resemblance to the FDR and JFK Democrats of previous generations, despise Donald Trump because of the existential threat to their power that he represents.
So, Jefferson was right. The issue today is, indeed, the same as it has been throughout all history.
SMITH COUNTY — A third person has been charged in connection to the March âcartel-relatedâ kidnapping of a Tyler man. According to our news partner KETK, Brandon Markeith Jeffrey, owner of Mile High Eatery in the Tyler Pounds Airport, is accused of taking part in the kidnapping and was taken into custody on Thursday.
In March, Smith County officials said a man was found safe in the DFW area after being kidnapped from his Tyler driveway. According to an affidavit, his captors, identified as Julio Cesar Cordova and Walybert Eron Cordova-Rascon, demanded $10,000 from the family to return the victim. At the time, the Smith County Sheriff said the kidnapping was âcartel-related.â Continue reading Third suspect charged in âcartel-relatedâ kidnapping
