News - Friday, October 25, 2024

As a child growing up in an impoverished West Virginia, Claudia Williamson Kramer would look across the Ohio River and wonder why all the businesses her family needed were located on the other side of the waterway. Ohio looked like the land of milk and honey compared to her home state, but she was too young to grasp the reasons.

One of the most fundamental obligations of the federal courts is to decide the cases before them. This is implied in Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution, which provides that the court’s judicial power extends to cases and controversies.

Chattanooga area Realtors who are seeking free continuing education have an option to attend a no-cost workshop if their calendar is clear the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Presented by Realty Title, the event will include two sessions covering the topics of divorce and probate.

The Chattanooga housing market continues to experience significant changes as homebuyers navigate changing priorities and a growing inventory of available homes. With a noticeable rise in new listings and steady buyer demand, the latest trends highlight how local factors align with national real estate patterns.

My dad would have disapproved if he’d known what I was doing Sunday morning.

When I was a kid, Sundays were for church. Nothing kept us away. My father stayed on task after I left home by asking me to tell him about the most recent sermon I’d heard.

After 33 years of providing resources, devices and training for self-sufficiency, Signal Centers’ Assistive Technology Services is beginning a new chapter with Deardra McGee as director.

McGee says she was attracted to the job because it places her “in the trenches, developing relationships for the betterment of the community.”

Assistant United States Attorney Mac Heavener will lead the efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office, in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program, for the Nov. 5 election.

The U.S. Attorney’s office has appointed Heavener to serve as the district election officer for the Eastern District of Tennessee. In that capacity, Heavener is responsible for overseeing the office’s handling of Election Day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff and election fraud – in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington.

If you’re a parent, you want to do everything you can to help your children succeed in life. Therefore, you might think that one of the best things you can do is to save for your children’s college education.

And this is certainly admirable, but could it conflict with your ability to prepare for another key goal – your own retirement?

NEW YORK (AP) — October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which means it’s the perfect time to learn how to protect yourself from scams.

“Scams have become so sophisticated now. Phishing emails, texts, spoofing caller ID, all of this technology gives scammers that edge,” says Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center.

The city of Chattanooga’s Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy will soon launch a new event series in partnership with the Chattanooga Public Library called “Culture on 4.”

The series will debut Saturday, Nov. 2 with a conversation between WTCI’s Alison Lebovitz and writer and producer Brent Forrester, known for Emmy-winning shows such as “The Simpsons,” “The Office,” “King of the Hill” and more.

Remember when presidential elections used to be relatively civil affairs? When you felt like the country was still going to be in responsible, adult hands, no matter who won?

Not lately. Not in a while.

I cast my first presidential ballot for Jimmy Carter in 1976, but I had no major fear of where Gerald Ford might steer the country. The guy who beat Carter in 1980, Ronald Reagan, was not my cup of tea, to say the least, nor was he in 1984, when he crushed the overmatched Walter Mondale. But I questioned Reagan’s politics, not his motivations.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga raised $2,899,459.06 from 2,201 donors during its fifth annual Mocs Give Day Oct. 1. The day’s original fundraising goal of $2 million from 2,000 donors was exceeded by nearly 45%.

“Almost 73% of all gifts on Mocs Give Day were $100 or less,” says UTC Vice Chancellor of Advancement Kim White. “When people who love UTC come together, we can make a big difference. From supporting scholarships and student athletes to the Counseling Center and WUTC, Mocs Give Day is a year-over-year success across our campus.”

The last kid picked. If you were ever in that position, you probably remember what it was like.

Being out of the loop, the last person tapped or the one left out never feels good, whether you’re a child, adult or employee. So how do you ensure that your team belongs? Read “Lead Bigger” by Anne Chow and choose it.

In today’s instant-gratification world, when it’s easy to engage real time on social media to offer opinions on everything from politics to pop culture, it’s not surprising that Tennessee Titans fans have their knives out.

At 1-5 with a first-year head coach, a struggling quarterback, two first-time coordinators on both sides of the ball and very few positives thus far, suggestions (demands?) for change are abundant.

For 30 minutes of game time Sunday, it appeared that the Tennessee Titans problems on offense had been solved with the insertion of Mason Rudolph.

Will Levis, who has been plagued by turnovers all season long, was scratched to rest his injured shoulder, and the offense with Rudolph at the helm looked sharper in the first half’s series.

The Titans are in the middle of what is probably their two most challenging games of the season, having been hammered in Buffalo 34-10 and now heading back on the road to face NFC North power Detroit this week. Here are the keys to what the Titans must do to have a chance to pull off the upset at Ford Field.

Technology features in modern vehicles can make driving easier and more enjoyable. But when buying your next car, it can be hard to know which features are useful and which ones are more like gimmicks. And many times, these features are only available on certain trim levels.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams announced Thursday he will accept a two-game suspension by the NFL for violating the league's performance-enhancing substance policy.

Williams had said he had "no choice but to take it on the chin" to a Monday report on the suspension. He issued a statement Thursday through his agent confirming he was notified of the suspension earlier this week.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Texas Longhorns and Vanderbilt Commodores finally are playing each other in football for the first time in nearly a century.

The stakes have never been higher.

The No. 5 Longhorns (6-1, 2-1 SEC) visit Music City on Saturday trying to avoid consecutive losses in their new league. They come in tied with No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1) in the SEC standings and needing a win to keep pace in the chase for a berth in the league title game and the 12-team College Football Playoff.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said Thursday that if he wins the White House, he will fire special counsel Jack Smith "within two seconds" of taking office.

Trump was asked during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would first pardon himself or terminate Smith to remove the legal cloud hanging over him. Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, has charged the former president over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida is suing the Justice Department to stop federal authorities from blocking the state's investigation into the second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, the state's Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a complaint against Attorney General Merrick Garland after the Justice Department told Florida to temporarily halt its investigation until the federal probe concluded. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis previously said that Florida would pursue state charges against the suspect, Ryan Routh, who is already facing federal charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is enlisting some of her most high-profile surrogates in the closing days of the campaign, hoping those names will help energize her supporters to vote early in the 2024 election.

On Thursday, Harris will headline a Georgia rally that will include a performance from Bruce Springsteen, whose career spans over five decades, and an appearance by former President Barack Obama, still one of the biggest names in Democratic politics.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Beyoncé is expected to appear Friday in her hometown of Houston at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Harris' presidential campaign has taken on Beyonce's 2016 track "Freedom" as its anthem, and the singer's planned appearance brings a high-level of star power to what has become a key theme of the Democratic nominee's bid: freedom.

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

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris went to a Philadelphia suburb on Wednesday night for a CNN town hall, where she faced questions from undecided voters. The event was arranged after Donald Trump declined to participate in a second debate with her.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Thursday it is launching a broad investigation into the state of competition in air travel, including the effect of mergers and joint ventures between airlines.

The investigation is being handled by the Justice Department's antitrust division and the Transportation Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) — New rules from the White House on the use of artificial intelligence by U.S. national security and spy agencies aim to balance the technology's immense promise with the need to protect against its risks.

The framework signed by President Joe Biden and announced Thursday is designed to ensure that national security agencies can access the latest and most powerful AI while also mitigating its misuse.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street drifted to a mixed finish Thursday after Tesla surged to one of the best days in its history, while IBM slumped to its worst in six months.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to break its first three-day losing streak since early September. It bounced between losses and gains through the day, and it was roughly evenly split between stocks rising and falling.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The unions representing more than 7,000 CVS workers in Southern California have reached a tentative agreement on a contract after workers went on strike over the weekend demanding better pay, staffing, and more affordable healthcare.

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines reached a settlement with an activist investor by agreeing to overhaul its board, ending — at least for now — a monthslong fight with Elliott Investment Management, which is pressuring the airline to boost profits and the stock price.

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions could be set up for a potential letdown.

The surging Lions (5-1) host the rebuilding Tennessee Titans (1-5) on Sunday, coming off an emotionally charged win at Minnesota that moved them into a first-place tie in the NFC North. After playing the Titans, the Lions will face division rival Green Bay on the road.

Nearly 1,000 hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will benefit this week from a new disaster aid program that employs a model not commonly used by philanthropy in the United States: Giving people rapid, direct cash payments.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tennessee voters will weigh in on the race for the White House in the Nov. 5 election, as well as races for Congress and the state Legislature.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump will compete for 11 electoral votes in a state that has supported the Republican nominee in the last six elections. That streak began in 2000, when then-Vice President Al Gore lost his home state to Republican George W. Bush. Tennessee was once a reliable presidential bellwether, having voted for every winning candidate from Democrat Lyndon Johnson through Bush's reelection, but today it is safe Republican territory. Trump won in 2020 by a 23 point margin.

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is expected to be arraigned Friday on federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges in a New York court.

Prosecutors allege that for nearly two decades, Michael Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man lured men into taking part in sex parties by dangling the promise of modeling for the clothing retailer, once famous for its preppy, All-American aesthetic and marketing with shirtless male models.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump told a federal judge Thursday that the election interference case against him should be dismissed, arguing that special counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed and that funding for his office should be cut off.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse have agreed to pay more than $102 million in cleanup costs to settle a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department, officials said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year's presidential election could come down to microscopic margins, so Kamala Harris is hunting for votes in even the most unlikely of places. One of her latest targets is Donald Trump 's demographic base — white people who didn't attend college.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Friday is heading to Texas — his first public campaign event in the state since receiving the Republican nomination — to sit down with the most listened-to-podcaster in the country, creating another opportunity for him to highlight the hypermasculine tone that has defined much of his 2024 White House bid.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Four score and seven years from now, the mystic chords of memory may recall the way Donald Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, lauded him one day and lambasted him the next. It is altogether fitting and proper that our descendants would examine why the 45th president, who hopes to be the 47th, keeps mentioning the 16th.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked this week if she thought Donald Trump was a fascist, and she replied, "Yes, I do." She subsequently called him the same thing herself, saying voters don't want "a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist."

HOUSTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will team up with Beyoncé on Friday for a rally in solidly Republican Texas aimed at highlighting the perilous medical fallout from the state's strict abortion ban and putting the blame squarely on Donald Trump.

CLARKSTON, Ga. (AP) — Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama lent their star power to Kamala Harris' quest for the presidency on Thursday, as the vice president implored Georgia voters to consider the "brutally serious" consequences if Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House.

NEW YORK (AP) — Progressive Democrats warn Kamala Harris risks losing the support of a small but significant portion of her political base unless she changes her campaign's closing message — and its messengers — immediately.

Specifically, several progressive leaders believe that the Democratic nominee has been too focused on winning over moderate Republicans in recent days at the expense of her own party's passionate liberals. And they say that Harris' closing message, which is increasingly centered on Republican Donald Trump and the threat he poses to U.S. democracy, ignores the economic struggles of the nation's working class.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said Thursday that China's leader would handle Vice President Kamala Harris "like a baby" if she's elected to the White House, as the former president and his top allies increasingly have moved to infantilize the Democratic nominee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the end of her abbreviated presidential campaign in sight, Kamala Harris is trying to put the focus squarely on Donald Trump and his threat to democratic institutions, echoing the strategy used by Joe Biden before he ended his reelection bid.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats backing Rep. Colin Allred's bid to defeat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are investing $5 million in an ad campaign focused on abortion, making a late-campaign play for what's seen as a safely Republican seat.

PHOENIX (AP) — President Joe Biden is at last making his way to Indian Country, paying a long-promised visit to a reservation in Arizona that Democrats hope could provide a boost to Vice President Kamala Harris' turnout effort in a key battleground state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare move, the Pentagon strongly pushed back Thursday against misinformation spread on social media that falsely suggests U.S. troops have been authorized to use force against American citizens during the election.

The misinformation — spread online by former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among others — suggests that a Defense Department policy revision released in late September was timed to interfere with the Nov. 5 presidential election.

A deadly outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounders has expanded, with at least 75 people sick in 13 states, federal health officials said Friday.

Twenty-two people have been hospitalized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Two people developed a dangerous kidney disease complication, and one person died.

NEW YORK (AP) — As news outlets get ready for election night, they're not only focusing on what happens. They're keeping watch over what doesn't.

Several plans to combat misinformation are in place across newsrooms that will follow the climax of a hard-fought campaign on Nov. 5. The Associated Press and others will take special steps to explain what they do. The New York Times is assigning reporters to comb the Internet for the first sign of new conspiracies. An NPR reporter will look for mischief created by artificial intelligence. ABC News has tried "pre-bunks" to prepare its viewers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A child psychiatrist who altered a first-day-of-school photo he saw on Facebook to make a group of girls appear nude. A U.S. Army soldier accused of creating images depicting children he knew being sexually abused. A software engineer charged with generating hyper-realistic sexually explicit images of children.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's central bank on Friday raised its key interest rate by two percentage points to a record-high 21% in an effort to combat growing inflation as government spending on the military strains the economy's capacity to produce goods and services and drives up workers' wages.

MIAMI (AP) — The last Kmart on the U.S. mainland sits at the west end of a busy suburban Miami shopping center, quiet and largely ignored.

All around it are thriving chain stores attracting steady streams of customers in sectors where the former box-store chain was once a major player: Marshalls, Hobby Lobby, PetSmart and Dollar Tree.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. District judge has halted the merger between the makers of Coach and Michael Kors handbags, saying it would reduce competition and hurt consumers.

In her ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon noted that Tapestry Inc. and Capri Holdings are "close competitors" and that the merger would result in "the loss of head-to-head competition" and raise prices for shoppers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is moving ahead with a new path to student loan cancellation for Americans who face steep medical bills, child care costs and other types of financial hardship that prevent them from repaying their loans.

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch pleaded not guilty Friday to federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.

Michael Jeffries, 80, declined to comment after he entered the plea in federal court in Central Islip, on Long Island. He is free on $10 million bond and is due back in court on Dec. 12.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

WASHINGTON (AP) — "Black Insurrectionist," the anonymous social media persona behind some of the most widely circulated conspiracy theories about the 2024 election, can be traced to a man from upstate New York. He's white.

With a profile photo of a Black soldier and the tagline "I FOLLOW BACK TRUE PATRIOTS," the account on the platform X amassed more than 300,000 followers while posting dubious claims about Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Some were amplified by former President Donald Trump, his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and Republican allies in Congress. Some of the most salacious claims have come in the closing weeks of the campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stacey Williams alleged this week that former President Donald Trump groped her at Trump Tower in early 1993 as disgraced hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein watched. The former model made the allegation during a video chat of sexual violence survivors supporting Vice President Kamala Harris ' campaign.

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

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

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Donald Trump tried Friday to turn a major celebratory event for Kamala Harris into an attack line tied to his favorite subject, immigration.

Hours before Harris was scheduled to appear with superstar Beyoncé in Houston, Trump made his own stop in Texas and accused Harris of hanging out with "woke celebrities" but not with the families of people who have been killed by migrants.

A deadly outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounders has expanded, with at least 75 people sick in 13 states, federal health officials said Friday.

A total of 22 people have now been hospitalized, and two have developed a dangerous kidney disease complication, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. One person has died in Colorado.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two more members of the Los Angeles Times editorial board have resigned after the newspaper's owner blocked the board's plan to endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Veteran journalists Robert Greene and Karin Klein announced their resignations Thursday, a day after the editorial page editor Mariel Garza left in protest over LA Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's decision not to endorse a candidate.

NEW YORK (AP) — Spirit Airlines is cutting jobs and selling off some jets worth millions of dollars as the budget carrier aims to cut costs amid looming financial struggles and an uncertain future.

In a Thursday regulatory filing, Spirit said it has identified about $80 million of cost-cutting measures set to begin early next year. Those cuts will be driven primarily by a "reduction in workforce," the Florida-based airline noted.

DETROIT (AP) — When a team's head coach has to defend the performance of his special teams coordinator, it probably wasn't a very good day.

That's what first-year Titans coach Brian Callahan had to do after Tennessee repeatedly gave up long returns to the Detroit Lions in Sunday's 52-14 embarrassment. The Titans allowed 262 yards and a touchdown on returns, sinking any hope Tennessee had of keeping the game close.

DETROIT (AP) — Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes but was far from the star for the Detroit Lions in one of the highest-scoring games in franchise history.

David Montgomery was the first of five Lions to score in the first half in a 52-14 rout of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Oregon, Georgia and Miami remained the top three seeds in The Associated Press College Football Playoff bracket projection on Sunday, with BYU overtaking Iowa State for No. 4.

BYU, promoted to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 after it its win at UCF, moved past the Cyclones as the projected Big 12 champion. ISU was tied with Clemson for 11th in the poll; both were idle Saturday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Lynn Williams and Lindsey Horan scored minutes apart in the second half and the United States rallied to beat Iceland 3-1 on Sunday.

Forward Emma Sears made her debut for the United States as a second-half substitute and scored in stoppage time. She also had an assist, becoming the first player with a goal and an assist in her first national team game.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene to allow the state to remove roughly 1,600 voters from its rolls that it believes are noncitizens.

The request comes after a federal appeals court on Sunday unanimously upheld a federal judge's order restoring the registrations of those 1,600 voters, whom the judge said were illegally purged under an executive order by the state's Republican governor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing national medication and anti-doping rules for horse racing to remain in effect while a court fight likely to wind up with the justices continues.

The court on Monday kept on hold a ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found Congress gave too much power to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the private entity that administers the rules.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A comic calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday that none of the vitriol at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally will support the dreams and aspirations of the American people but instead is "fanning the fuel of trying to divide our country."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris planned Monday to highlight how government funding for computer chip manufacturers could create factory jobs in the electoral battleground of Michigan, just days after Donald Trump criticized the bipartisan 2022 law that provides the money and said he would rather just charge tariffs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty reigns entering the final full week of the 2024 campaign with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a fiercely competitive presidential contest. What happens in the coming days will be pivotal in deciding the winner.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump hosted a rally featuring crude and racist insults at New York's Madison Square Garden, turning what his campaign had dubbed as the event where he would deliver his closing message into an illustration of what turns off his critics.

NOVI, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.

"I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation," the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is "great," but he thinks it "needs help."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in this year's presidential election are choosing between two conflicting visions of the United States offered by Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. The outcome will affect how the country sees itself and how it's viewed across the world, with repercussions that could echo for decades.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris said Sunday that "no one can sit on the sidelines" in this year's presidential election, capping a day of campaigning across the largest city in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania.

"We are focused on the future and we are focused on the needs of the American people," Harris said, "as opposed to Donald Trump, who spends full time looking in the mirror focused on himself."

WASHINGTON (AP) — American voters are approaching the presidential election with deep unease about what could follow, including the potential for political violence, attempts to overturn the election results and its broader implications for democracy, according to a new poll.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden slammed Elon Musk for hypocrisy on immigration after a published report that the Tesla CEO once worked illegally in the United States. The South Africa-born Musk denies the allegation.

"That wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here. No, I'm serious. He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. He wasn't in school. He was violating the law. And he's talking about all these illegals coming our way?" Biden said while campaigning on Saturday in Pittsburgh at a union hall.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At a campaign rally in April, President Joe Biden told a Wisconsin crowd about his latest "life-changing" plan for student loan cancellation, promising financial relief for more than 30 million Americans.

But Kamala Harris has steered clear of the issue at her political events since replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee for president. The vice president's platform mentions it just twice, and with no specific plan. As she courts moderate voters, Harris has focused on policies targeting Americans without a college degree.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance says Russia is a U.S. adversary but suggests it's counterproductive to approach Moscow as an enemy.

The Ohio senator also said Donald Trump is committed to NATO, the transatlantic military alliance seen as the bulwark preventing further Russian aggression in Europe, although the former president has pledged to "finish the process we began under my administration of fundamentally reevaluating NATO's purpose and NATO's mission."

Some Apple AirPods wireless headphones can be used as hearing aids with a new software update available Monday. It's a high-profile move that experts applaud, even if they only reach a small portion of the millions of Americans with hearing loss.

An estimated 30 million people — 1 in 8 Americans over the age of 12 — have hearing loss in both ears. Millions would benefit from hearing aids but most have never tried them, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Countless others have tried them, but don't use them because of cost, poor quality, poor fit, how they look or for other reasons.

Let no one accuse Brian Williams of trying to lower expectations a week before his election night special coverage on Amazon Prime Video.

"This will be the first — if you'll forgive the phrase — new product introduction in the election night space since color television," the former NBC News anchor said shortly after landing in Los Angeles, near where Amazon is building a set for him at its massive new studio.

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators from multiple federal agencies launched an "interagency operation" on Monday at the troubled New York City jail where Sean "Diddy" Combs is being held.

The investigators from the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department's inspector general's office and other law enforcement agencies descended on the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the Bureau of Prisons said in statement to The Associated Press.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Jeremy Ford hates wasting water. As a mist of rain sprinkled the fields around him in Homestead, Florida, Ford bemoaned how expensive it had been running a fossil fuel-powered irrigation system on his five-acre farm — and how bad it was for the planet.

BRUSSELS (AP) — North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to train and fight in Ukraine within "the next several weeks," the Pentagon said Monday, in a move that Western leaders say will intensify the almost three-year war and jolt relations in the Indo-Pacific region.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cori Bush went from helping to lead an informal movement for racial justice to winning two terms as a congresswoman from Missouri, with an office decorated with photographs of families who lost loved ones to police violence. One picture is of Michael Brown.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Polarizing. Challenging. A lot of wasted time.

That's how six lawmakers described what it is like being in the U.S. House — a particularly tumultuous period in American history that has brought governing to a standstill, placed their lives in danger and raised fundamental questions about what it means to be a representative in a divided democracy.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans never saw this coming, and now their challenge is trying to salvage something from a 1-6 start that is the franchise's worst since 2015.

The Titans spent a lot in free agency and draft capital to give first-year coach Brian Callahan plenty of help.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An actor known for his roles in the television comedies "Bob's Burgers" and "Arrested Development" was sentenced on Monday to one year in prison for his part in a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago.

Jay Johnston, 56, of Los Angeles, joined other rioters in a "heave ho" push against police officers guarding a tunnel entrance to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Johnston also cracked jokes and interacted with other rioters as he used a cellphone to record the violence around him, prosecutors said.

Hallmark Media executive vice president of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly instructed a former employee not to cast "old people" for Hallmark roles, saying that "our leading ladies are aging out," according to a lawsuit filed against the network this month and obtained by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats stepped up their attacks on Donald Trump on Monday, a day after a comedian opening the former president's Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage," a comment that drew wide condemnation and highlighted the rising power of a key Latino group in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Kamala Harris on Monday emphasized how government funding for computer chip manufacturers could create factory jobs in the electoral battleground of Michigan, days after Donald Trump criticized the bipartisan 2022 law that provides the money and said he would rather just charge tariffs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order in Pennsylvania that could result in thousands of votes not being counted in this year's election in the battleground state.

Just over a week before the election, the court is being asked to step into a dispute over provisional ballots cast by Pennsylvania voters whose mail ballots are rejected for not following technical procedures in state law.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In today's fragmented media environment, podcasts have become prized venues for politicians to reach voters. Kamala Harris recently conducted two interviews that were released this week. One was with Shannon Sharpe, a former NFL player who hosts "Club Shay Shay" and the other was with Brené Brown, an academic whose podcast is called "Unlocking Us."

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police said Monday that a "suspect vehicle" has been identified in connection with incendiary devices that set fires to ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state.

Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, Oregon, just before security personnel nearby discovered a fire inside the box on Monday, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner told a news conference.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transplant experts are seeing a spike in people revoking organ donor registrations, their confidence shaken by reports that organs were nearly retrieved from a Kentucky man mistakenly declared dead.

It happened in 2021 and while details are murky surgery was avoided and the man is still alive. But donor registries in the U.S. and even across the Atlantic are being impacted after the case was publicized recently. A drop in donations could cost the lives of people awaiting a transplant.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Stewart isn't done skewering the news — he's signed on to continue hosting "The Daily Show" on Mondays through the end of next year.

Paramount announced Monday that Stewart would continue hosting the Comedy Central series once a week, as he's done through much of 2024 in the runup to the U.S. presidential election.

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared.

Prices for crude spiked globally on October 2 after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatened to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed broadly higher Monday as gains by some Big Tech companies helped offset a skid in oil-and-gas stocks after the price of crude had its biggest drop in more than a year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%. The main measure of the U.S. stock market was coming off its first losing week in the last seven, but it's still near its all-time high set earlier this month.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tapestry Inc. and Capri Holdings Ltd. have filed their notice to jointly appeal the decision by a U.S. District judge to temporarily halt the merger between the makers of Coach and Michael Kors handbags, according to a court filing Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the U.S. presidential election just a week away, the Biden administration is not giving up hope for short-term deals for cease-fires between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But U.S. officials are mindful that political uncertainty in the United States has made the sides reluctant to commit to any significant agreements before it is clear who has won the White House.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nick Paul scored 3:22 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Monday night, spoiling the return of longtime captain Steven Stamkos.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos received a warm welcome when he returned to Tampa Bay on Monday night with the Nashville Predators. He got everything but a victory.

Stamkos had his first two assists with the Predators, who lost 3-2 in overtime to the Lightning.

NASHVILLE (AP) — During the six decades since United Record Pressing stamped out the Beatles' first U.S. single, the country's oldest vinyl record maker has survived 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, Napster, iPods and streaming services. Now, the Nashville-based company has rebounded so dramatically that some of its equipment and technology has been retrofitted to keep pace with an ever-growing demand for old-school vinyl.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday continued to block the head of Florida's health department from taking any more steps to threaten TV stations that air commercials for an abortion rights measure on next week's ballot.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker extended a temporary restraining order, siding with Floridians Defending Freedom, the group that created the ads promoting the ballot question that would add abortion rights to the state constitution if it passes Nov. 5.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will make the " closing argument " for her presidential campaign Tuesday from the same site where Donald Trumpfomented the Capitol insurrection, hoping it offers a stark visualization of the alternate futures that voters face if she or Trump takes over the Oval Office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Kamala Harris will deliver her campaign's "closing argument" Tuesday from the same spot in Washington where Republican Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

She chose the spot to draw a contrast between her vision for the country and Trump's continued lies about the 2020 election, and the risks she says his return to the White House would pose for the nation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After the 2020 presidential election, thousands of Donald Trump's most fervent supporters heeded his call to join a "wild" protest of his defeat. Following Trump's lies about a stolen election, hundreds of them stormed the U.S. Capitol under the banners of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other extremist groups and movements.

WASHINGTON (AP) — This presidential election, the first since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, will be a stress test of the new systems and guardrails that Congress put in place to ensure America's long tradition of the peaceful transfer of presidential power.

RED SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Native American communities were decisive voting blocs in key states in 2020, and with the 2024 race remaining stubbornly close both campaigns have tried to mobilize Native voters in the final weeks of the presidential election.

CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley received more Republican primary votes than anyone who challenged Donald Trump for this year's presidential nomination. She has said she's voting for him, and she released her delegates so they could support him at the Republican National Convention.

ATLANTA (AP) — Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots at one location in Vancouver, Washington.

At the other, in neighboring Portland, Oregon, it appears a fire suppression system worked to contain the blaze and limited the number of ballots damaged to three. Authorities are reviewing surveillance footage as they try to identify who is responsible.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $3 billion to boost climate-friendly equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including Baltimore, where a deadly bridge collapse killed six construction workers in March and disrupted East Coast shipping routes for months.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech power company CEZ signed a deal Tuesday with Britain's Rolls-Royce SMR to form a strategic partnership to develop and deploy small modular nuclear reactors.

Under the agreement, CEZ will acquire a 20% share in Rolls-Royce SMR for which it will pay several billion Czech crowns (hundreds of millions of dollars).

The number of newspapers endorsing a candidate for president has dwindled with the industry's financial troubles the past two decades, in part because owners reason that it makes no sense to alienate some subscribers by taking a clear stand in a politically polarizing time.

DETROIT (AP) — Stubbornly high warranty expenses and lagging cost-cutting efforts are holding back Ford Motor Co.'s profits this year, causing the company to lower its full-year earnings guidance.

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers are feeling quite a bit more confident this month as Election Day approaches, a business research group says.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped to 108.7 in October from 99.2 in September. It was the biggest monthly gain since March of 2021. Analysts forecast a more modest reading of 99.3.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings tumbled last month to their lowest level since January 2021, a sign that the labor market is losing some momentum. Still, posted vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the number of job openings dropped to 7.4 million in September from 7.9 million in August. Economists had expected the level of openings to be virtually unchanged. Job openings fell in particular at healthcare companies and at government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

NEW YORK (AP) — Google is changing the way its Google Local Services ads work, which could affect millions of small businesses.

Google Local Services ads run locally and are a big way that small businesses market their goods and services. Ads appear on the top of Google search results.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department, seeking to keep the Chinese military from gaining an edge in advanced technologies, issued a rule Monday to restrict and monitor American investments in China in artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing.

NEW YORK (AP) — CNN has banned conservative writer Ryan Gidursky from the network following a contentious on-air exchange where he told panelist Mehdi Hasan that "I hope your beeper doesn't go off."

"Did you just say I should die?" Hasan said, responding to Gidursky's apparent reference to September's attack where pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria exploded simultaneously. The attack was widely believed to be carried out by Israel.

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump on Tuesday called his rally at New York's Madison Square Garden, an event marked by crude and racist insults by several speakers, a "lovefest."

That's a term the former president also has used to reference the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in their California home was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit by six Republican members of Congress seeking to make Pennsylvania election officials institute new checks confirming the eligibility and identity of soldiers, sailors and others who vote from overseas.

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Urged by some allies to apologize for racist comments made by speakers at his weekend rally, Donald Trump took the opposite approach on Tuesday, saying it was an "honor to be involved" in such an event and calling the scene a "lovefest" — the same term he has used to describe the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $3 billion to boost climate-friendly equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including Baltimore, where a bridge collapse killed six construction workers in March and disrupted East Coast shipping routes for months.

NEW YORK (AP) — Veteran NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell said Tuesday that she plans to end her weekday MSNBC show after the inauguration of a new president and switch back to a reporting role.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's Truth Social is now worth more than Elon Musk's X, thanks to a recent run-up in the shares of the parent company of the former president's social media platform.

Trump Media & Technology Group is now valued at over $10 billion after its shares more than quadrupled since late September. Meanwhile, X Holdings is valued at around $9.4 billion, based on the most recent value the investment group Fidelity assigned to its stake in the company formerly known as Twitter.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is set to impose duties on imports of electric vehicles from China by Thursday after talks between Brussels and Beijing failed to find an amicable solution to their trade dispute.

Electric vehicles have become a major flashpoint in a broader trade dispute over the influence of Chinese government subsidies on European markets and Beijing's burgeoning exports of green technology to the bloc.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rallying technology stocks sent the Nasdaq composite to a record on Tuesday, but trading was mixed along the rest of Wall Street as homebuilders and Ford Motor sank following the latest profit reports.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to inch closer to its all-time high set earlier this month, even though most of the stocks in the index fell for the day.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.

The high court, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia's Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the criminal case of a man charged with trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump declined Tuesday to recuse herself, saying a defense request that she do so was without merit.

Lawyers for Ryan Wesley Routh had urged U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to step aside, saying her handling of Trump's classified documents prosecution created at least the appearance of bias in favor of the former president and current Republican nominee. They cited the fact that she was appointed to the bench by Trump and has been repeatedly praised by him for her rulings in the documents case, including her dismissal in July of the prosecution — a decision now being appealed by special counsel Jack Smith.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an emergency appeal to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the presidential ballot in two battleground states.

Kennedy wanted to get off the ballot in Wisconsin and Michigan after dropping his independent bid and endorsing Republican Donald Trump in the tight contest. He argued that keeping him on violated his First Amendment rights by wrongly implying he still wanted to be elected president.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris said Wednesday that she disagrees "with any criticism of people based on who they vote for," reacting after President Joe Biden's reference to Donald Trump's supporters and "garbage."

"I will represent all Americans, including those who don't vote for me," the vice president said.

NEW YORK (AP) — In the shadow of the White House, seven days before the final votes of the 2024 election are cast, Kamala Harris vowed to put country over party and warned that Donald Trump is obsessed with revenge and his own personal interests.

Less than 48 hours earlier inside Madison Square Garden, Trump called his Democratic opponent "a trainwreck who has destroyed everything in her path." His allies on stage labeled Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" and made a baseless claim that Harris, a former prosecutor and senator who is trying to become the first woman to be elected president, had begun her career as a prostitute.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris stood before an overflowing crowd near the White House on Tuesday and promised Americans she would fight for them every day as she urged voters to reject Donald Trump's efforts to sow division and fear, declaring, "It doesn't have to be this way."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris on Tuesday sought to remind Americans what life was like under Donald Trump and then offered voters a different path forward if they send her to the White House, in a speech billed as her campaign's closing argument.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris has Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Donald Trump has Kid Rock, Waka Flocka Flame and Hulk Hogan.

As the 2024 campaign whirls into its final week, Democrats are noticeably leaning on their star power advantage, calling on a diverse range of celebrities to endorse Harris, invigorate audiences and, they hope, spur people to the ballot box.

DILKON, Ariz. (AP) — Felix Ashley's red Toyota sends a plume of dust billowing along the sloping hills and boulders he traverses hours every week to pump water – the same roadway voters walk miles every four years to cast their ballots in presidential elections.

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — No scene has dominated U.S. politics since 2015 quite like Donald Trump on stage, waxing on for an hour-plus in front of a chorus of red "Make America Great Again" hats.

The stream-of-consciousness routine, the interrupting one of his thoughts with the next, is not a polemic Cicero or Lincoln would recognize. The former president and Republican nominee calls his style of speech "the weave," whipsawing from dystopian warnings to light-hearted storytelling to policy pronouncements.

NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in its nearly 20-year history, Reddit is turning a profit.

The social platform claimed a profit of $29.9 million, or 16 cents per share, for the period ending in September, and reported sales of $348.4 million, an amount surpassing the $312.8 million analysts had projected. Reddit also grew its number of daily users to 97.2 million, a 47% increase from the same time last year, according to a company statement.

BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen said significant cost cuts are urgently needed as it reported a steep decline in third-quarter earnings on Wednesday and faced employee representatives angry at the possibility of the automaker's first plant closures in Germany.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union has finalized its sharply higher customs duties on electric vehicles imported from China. EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and Beijing's burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc.

BALTIMORE (AP) — As a sprawling liability case takes shape following the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, the owner and manager of the container ship Dali are seeking to deflect responsibility and cast blame elsewhere.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. government chose winning bids Tuesday to develop wind power off New England in the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic coast.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a lease sale and selected nearly $22 million in winning bids for four lease areas from two firms. The sale is a major step toward accelerating President Joe Biden's goal of dramatically expanding offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a healthy 2.8% annual rate from July through September, with consumers helping drive growth despite the weight of still-high interest rates.

Wednesday's report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy's total output of goods and services — did slow slightly from its 3% growth rate in the April-June quarter. But the latest figures still reflect surprising durability just as Americans assess the state of the economy in the final stretch of the presidential race.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is still thriving while the company navigates through a pivotal shift to artificial intelligence and battles regulators trying to topple its internet empire.

The latest evidence of Google's prosperity emerged Tuesday with the release of its corporate parent Alphabet Inc.'s results for the July-September period. Both Alphabet's profit and revenue increased at a brisker pace than industry analysts anticipated, thanks primarily to a moneymaking machine powered by Google's ubiquitous search engine.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a sale of Tupperware Brands on Tuesday, paving the way for the iconic food-shortage company to soon exit Chapter 11 protection and continue offering its products while undergoing a hoped-for revitalization.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 398 firms across Russia, India, China, and more than a dozen other nations — accusing them of providing products and services that enable Russia's war effort and aid its ability to evade sanctions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many American voters are concerned that the ongoing Middle East conflict will escalate into an all-out regional war, a new poll finds. About half of voters are "extremely" or "very" worried about the possibility of a broader war in the region.

NASHVILLE (AP) — United Way Worldwide and Paramount Global on Wednesday announced they will host a benefit to raise funds for those impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

CBS Television and CMT will air the one-hour special at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, according to a news release.

NEW YORK (AP) — Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Nicky Jam has withdrawn his endorsement of Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election a month after appearing at a rally for the candidate.

Tony Hinchcliffe, a comic who called Puerto Rico "garbage" before a packed Trump rally in New York appears to be the catalyst.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Grammys will have a new broadcast home on ABC starting in 2027.

The network and the Recording Academy announced Wednesday that they had signed a 10-year deal to broadcast the Grammys beginning in 2027, moving the show from its decadeslong perch at CBS. CBS has aired the Grammys since 1973, taking over the show from ABC after a two-year stint. The first 12 ceremonies were aired on NBC.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes gave up an early gain and ended slightly lower following a mixed set of profit reports from giants like Google's parent company and Eli Lilly.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% from its record set the day before.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Kursk region near Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilizing development.